In elementary school, JJ Maybank spent eight months talking to himself until Shailene Kincaid finally uttered a word in his presence. Little did he know it was the best spent time of his life.
Childhood best friends JJ and Shay were separated young...
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Once the movie was long over and their random line of conversation died out, John B said goodnight to JJ and I, then moved back to his room. JJ and I would be sharing the pullout couch for the night. If it were anyone else, I would be so anxious I likely wouldn't have spoken the whole night and would be fidgeting like crazy. Now that the moment where we'd settle in had come, I was struggling to keep from picking at my nails, but other than that I was completely fine. After all, it was just JJ. And I trusted JJ more than almost anyone I knew.
JJ climbed down onto the pullout first and held his hand out to me, helping me down to the couch beside him. I knew he could tell I was nervous, so the hand (JJ's way of initiating contact) had its intended effect of calming me down.
"Are you feeling okay, Shayne?" he asked quietly as I settled down under a blanket. I nodded. "You're unconvincing when you won't speak to me."
I held out my hand to him, this time, and he took it, laying down beside me so we were facing each other. "I'm okay," I whispered.
JJ unlaced out intertwined fingers and, for a moment, my mood fell, until I felt him trace up my arm to my shoulder. Then, he trailed a single finger up my jaw. He stopped at my cheek when he noticed me inhale sharply. "Still okay?"
"Can we..."
"Use your words, Shayne," he encouraged with a small smile.
JJ laughed lightly and pulled me closer by my waist. I smiled and blushed, flipping around so my back was up against his chest. "Like that?" One arm was wrapped around my waist now, the other twisting a strand of my hair around his fingers.
"Mhmm." I could already feel my eyelids growing heavy as his thumb traced circles on my hip and his hand brushed through my hair softly. "That feels nice," I murmured.
His head moved down by my neck and my eyelids grew even heavier. It had been such a long day and the rain pounding against the windows, the only sound in the room other than the occasional shuffle of JJ's movements, was a comforting atmosphere. Not to mention, I'd never been touched like this. My family wasn't the touchy-feely type and that only increased when my aversion to touch began in middle school. So it was there I fell asleep, with the sound of the storm outside and the warmth of JJ's touch. I swore I felt his lips brush against my shoulder, but I must have imagined it. After all, by then I was already half-asleep.
-
I woke up with JJ's arm draped across my stomach and his chin nestled into my shoulder. I tried not to move much, only pushing a few stray, blonde hairs back from his face. Apparently, this was enough to wake him up. He smirked up at me mischievously. "This is the dream, huh, Shayne? Waking up in my arms?"
"And the spell is broken," I said quietly, despite my blushing cheeks, and pushed his head away.
"No, come back!" JJ said, latching onto my waist tighter.
