[rosemary] .jj maybank.

chapter sixteen

"hey! save some waves for us!" jj called out to john b and kie, who sat on their surfboards. "hey, where you been?" kie called back, smiling at her three friends. on their way into the water, rosie had put on a surfer shirt to avoid raising suspicion about the cuts from earlier, the ones from rafe and the ones from her mother and her beer bottles.

the pogues surfed for a few hours. after many little competitions between them, rosie and jj were tied for getting the largest amount of most impressive waves. that was until, rosie decided to leave the first place spot for jj who went above and beyond for the final wave.

"rosie, can i talk to you for a sec?" jj whispered to rosie once the five pogues were back at the château. "uh, yeah. of course. what's wrong?" rosie asked, furrowing her eyebrows. jj shook his head, grabbing onto her right hand and walking in the direction of the dock. "jj, what's wrong?" rosie asked again once the two of them reached the end of the dock. the blonde boy ran his hand over his face in stress.

"rosie, what happened?" the booker girl looked at him with confusion. "huh? what do you mean 'what happened'?"

jj gestured to her long sleeve shirt, "your shirt, it's like a thousand degrees out. i know you... and when you got here earlier, you were weird. there's something off." rosie chuckled, "weird? well thanks, jay." when jj's serious expression didn't budge, she rubbed up and down her left arm, suddenly worried that jj could see right through her. "i don't know what you're talking about," she said flatly.

jj looked up at the sky for a second before sighing, "look, rosie... i just want to look out for you. i know i give shit advice but let me be here for you. despite what john b says, i'm actually an okay listener. especially when it comes to you."

rosie debated her options, one; lie to jj (which she rarely, rarely did and hated to do) and potentially cause a rift in the friendship, or, two; just be upfront about her current family situation. she thought that maybe if she were to share what happened, maybe he could offer the best support. she groaned loudly, "fine." she silently pulled off her shirt, revealing her swimsuit top as she turned around, holding her hair out of the way so the cuts on her back were more visible to jj.

his eyes stung slightly, frowning at the little red markings on her skin, "why didn't you tell me?" rosie shrugged, "because i'll feel like a burden? i don't know, jj. i didn't want you to worry about me."

jj swallowed hard as he looked over all the blemishes on her skin, including the ones from rafe cameron. he pulled on her arm, spinning her around to look at him. "you can talk to me, okay? you will never be a burden to me. plus, i'll always worry about you. it's because i care about you," he spoke softly, putting two fingers under her chin so she would look at him. rosie's eyes teared up looking at his red-rimmed ones, abruptly pulling jj into a tight hug and burying her face in the crook of his neck. "thank you."

after rosie explained the cuts on her back, her and jj returned to their other friends, getting ready for bed. now, they were all laying near each other, in chairs or in the hammock, which was being shared by jj and rosie, who– for the record– was dozing in and out of sleep during the conversation that was taking place, adding comedic comments here and there.

"you really think it's out there? like, no bullshit?" pope wondered aloud. "my father thought it was," john b stated. rosie hummed softly, resting her head on jj's chest.

"but do you?" pope asked. "after hearing his voice on that tape... i think i do."

"only one way to find out." the two boys did their signature handshake, still looking up at the sky.

"look, we're gonna find it, you know? even jj believes," kiara said.

"oh, my god, jj, do you really believe?" john b teased.