The College JJ Series

dousing flames

REQUESTED: tbaby013

Summary: You head back to the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving break, and a girl from JJ's past tries to start trouble.

~

Your family get together for Thanksgiving always took place the Saturday after the holiday due to everyone's work schedules, so when JJ invited you to Kildare Island to celebrate Thanksgiving with him (with Big John's resounding approval), you had agreed to come.

You, JJ, John B, and Pope piled into the Twinkie for the trip, blasting throwback songs and singing at the top of your lungs the entire way. After dropping Pope at his parents' house, you headed to the chateau where Big John welcomed you with open arms. Despite being a little older and grayer, he hasn't changed at all. Same warm smile, same calm and even demeanor, same teddy bear personality you remembered from your childhood.

You spent the afternoon after you arrived catching up with him. He knew what you had been up to since he talked to John B and JJ all the time, but it was nice to cut out the middle man and actually talk with him instead of relaying messages through the boys. He even offered to give you a ride to and from the bars in the cut that night while you attended the (apparently) annual Thanksgiving Eve bar crawl for the boys' graduating class.

The bars in the cut weren't anything like the bars you frequented on campus in Columbia. The bars of the cut were low key in dress and expectations, but they made up for it on rowdiness. You wore a simple, comfortable outfit for the night after JJ convinced you that you didn't need to dress up in the slightest.

"There's literally no one here to impress. We all saw each other at 8:00 am every single day of the week. You think anyone will care to see you in heels and a fancy dress? Be comfy. We have a lot of drinking to do."

Big John dropped you off at one of the bars, a pool hall it seemed, around 10:00 that night, reminding John B to text him when you were ready to head home. With your hands clasped in JJ's, you enter the dimly lit, hazy bar and look around, recognizing a handful of faces immediately.

JJ tells you to pocket your fake ID when you start to slide it out of your wallet to present it to the bartender. "No need," he says, pushing it back down in the slot for you. "You're in pogue territory. There's no drinking age."

"Really?" you ask, surprised at this. "I can just walk up to the bar and ask for a drink?"

"You could, but I'm buying," he says with a grin. "You want a beer or a liquor drink?"

"I should pace myself. I'll take a beer. Whatever you order is fine," you answer him.

"Cool. Be right back," he says, leaning down to give you a quick kiss before heading to the bar.

You sidle up to Pope, talking with a guy you don't know. He's telling him about the classes he's taking.

"They actually let us into the crime scene houses now. The other day we did a homicide that was staged to look like a suicide. They had brains splattered all over the walls, shot gun on the ground beside the body. It looked so real one of the girls got sick. It was my favorite one yet," Pope explains, and the guy's eyes grow wide.

"Gnarly," he says, eyeing you as you lean in to listen. "Who's your friend? We haven't met."

"Oh," Pope say, throwing an arm around your shoulders. "This is Y/n."

"Hi, nice to meet you," you say, shaking the guy's hand.

"Likewise. Bold move bringing an outsider to the bar crawl, Heyward," he says, taking a drink of his beer.