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"Can't say no to you, pretty girl."
- JJ Maybank
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[July 2019]
The two teens remain silent until they hear John B's door close. JJ lifts his gaze back to hers, and gestures towards the door. "I'm gonna take the couch outside—"
"Don't be ridiculous. We can share the pull out." She says, kicking her shoes off.
JJ doesn't move from his spot next to the table. "Are you sure—"
"Yes, we've done it before — besides..." she walks up to him, and grabs his right wrist, holding it up to show his bloody knuckles. "We gotta clean this up."
"Abby, it's fine—" he tries to argue, but she disappears into the bathroom before he can finish. She reappears a few moments later, with a wet rag and the first aid kit. "You don't have to—"
"Sit." She orders, gesturing to the pull out. JJ stares at her, her expression serious and unwavering, though he knows she's trying to cover up how she's really feeling.
He sighs, not wanting to fight with her, so he complies, for now. He kicks off his boots and sits down on the pull out. She shoots him a proud grin before sitting down in front of him on the mattress.
She takes his hand with both of hers, placing it in her lap as she gently applies pressure to his knuckles to check for broken bones, because she knows JJ will lie and say his hand doesn't hurt. She pushes her hair behind her ears before returning to his knuckles, JJ's eyes immediately landing on the small cut on her cheek. She's too focused on running her thumbs along his knuckles to notice. She grimaces at the sight of his knuckles, raw, bruised and red. "Jeez, J." She grabs the wet rag and begins to drag it across his knuckles.
He doesn't say anything, as he tries to think back on the last two months. He's beating himself up for not noticing sooner, because if anyone was gonna notice, it should've been him. God knows JJ understands what it's like when you get hit, how you think, how you act and make excuses. How could he have missed it?
To be fair, Abigail did a good job of covering it up. She concealed any suspicious marks or bruises with makeup and long sleeves, and she tried really hard not to act any different around the boys so they wouldn't suspect anything.
But, JJ did notice her behavior change. Her jumpiness, which was never a quality she showed in the past. She started talking about her relationship less and less, although JJ and the guys thought that was more because she knew they didn't like him. The most obvious one is the excuses. Anytime she couldn't hide a bruise, she would simply tell them she fell.
YOU ARE READING
In the Dark ~ j.m¹
RomanceAfter being abandoned by his mother at a young age, left to deal with his abusive father, JJ Maybank feels like he was stranded out at sea during a terrible storm, fighting to make it through each day. Even though he meets the Pogues at a young age...
