ʷʰⁱᵗᵉ ᵗᵉᵉᵗʰ ᵗᵉᵉⁿˢ ᴶᴶ ᴹᴬʸᴮᴬᴺᴷ

the cat's ass

" i just, i can't believe he would do that " kiara and pope spoke in hushed whispers as evie came out of heyward's truck, the conversation stopping when evie slammed the door shut. the two had been talking about it the full car ride home after they dropped sarah and john b off at tannyhill. evie just wished they would stop talking, just sit quiet to let her think.

her eyes were trained on the ground, but her head shot up when she heard mechanical whirring.  her mind immediately went to jj. because no matter how much the boy pushed her away, or hurt her, or told her she wasn't enough she wouldn't leave him alone, because she knew he couldn't do it by himself.

" what the hell? " questioned pope, turning his head in the direction of the noise as he and kiara began walking towards it. " who the hell is that? " kiara asked, turning around to evie and reaching her hand out, which the girl accepted. 

they turned the corner to the back porch to see the tree covered in fair lights, and a hot tub in the middle. with jj fucking maybank inside. the boy popped open a bottle of champagne as he tilted down his sunglasses. 

" what did you do, jj? " asked pope, his eyes widened at the sight. evie's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she stared at jj. something wasn't right." i got a jet going straight in my butt right now " jj slurred, clearly drunk off his ass. 

" yall, should get in immediately, your hear me" he grinned, picking up one of the flamingo floaties which had a cup inside, filling it with champagne. " salud! " he cheered, before taking a swig from the bottle. " how much did this cost? " pope spoke, but evie couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. jj was not okay. 

" uh... well, with the generator, the petrol,  and oh, hey express delivery...pretty much all of it. yeah" he told the group, using his finger to list everything. " you spent all of the money in one day? " pope questioned. 

" yeah burned a whole right through my pocket. but i mean come on guys, like, look at this. finest in jet-based massage therapy, thats what they told me " jj laughed.  "evie, baby, what?" he asked, noticing the girl slowly shaking her head. 

" can't a man gave a little luxury in life?, come on, all this scrimpin' and scrapin...i mean like.. guys we- you only live once right ? " jj continued, taking off his glasses as evie noticed the cut on his lip.  " enough of this emotional shit. get in the cats ass. come on"

" in the what? " kie's voice was a low whisper.  " in the cats ass.that's what i named her" he grinned, a proud smile etched on his features as he outstretched his hands across the hot tub. 

" oh, hey,yo. i almost forgot " jj leaned over and pressed a button, causing a disco ball to start spinning as more lights flickered on. " disco mode "

" are you kidding me? you could have paid for restitution! " pope yelled, but evie was just staring at jj as kiara banged on about some charity. " or better yet, you could of helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold back! " pope argued, as jj rubbed his nose with his thumb and index finger. 

" okay, well i didn't do that! " he boomed, standing up as evie gasped. his torso was covered in bruises, the red covering his golden skin as evie felt tears come to her eyes as her hand came over her mouth. 

" i got a hot tub. i got a hot tub for my friends. no screw- that- for my family. and evie, princess i know i hurt you and i'm sorry but look, it's sweet right? " he spoke, digging into his pocket to pull out a gold diamond bracelet, his eyes shining with tears. " evie, you like it? i got it for you, because, you- you deserve everything, okay? " he continued, his voice breaking.

" i got this for you guys, guys look what i did for you !  all right? look at this " he spun to show off the hot tub, but when he turned they were only met with more bruises. before evie could  stop herself, her legs carried her to the hot tub as she climbed in, immediately wrapping her arms around the blonde. 

jj immediately broke down sobbing, his tired shoulders crouching over evie as he cried into the crook of her neck. evie held him tight, her own hot tears falling down her face as she held the boy in her arms. " i just couldn't do it- i was gonna kill him " jj's voice broke, sobs wracking his shaking body as evie stroked his golden hair. 

" i know, baby. i know " she mumbled, just as kiara and pope came into the hot tub, wrapping there arms around the two.  evie's hand ran up and down his back as he nuzzled his face into her shoulder, pleading with her to forgive him. " i'm sorry, evie. i'm so sorry " he repeated, clinging onto the girl who kissed his hair. 

" it's okay, j " she told him, sniffling slightly. " no, no it's not okay you deserve so much better " he sobbed, the bracelet still between his fingertips. she didn't know how to explain to the boy that he was enough, he was wanted, he was loved. so she just held him. because jj maybank deserved the whole fucking world.