⤜---⤛ 𝔽𝕀𝕊𝕊𝕌ℝ𝔼 ⤜---⤛ ▬▬ 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕜𝕤 ∗ 𝕛𝕛 ▬▬

⤛ 𝕓𝕒𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 ⤜

Talia was waiting for JJ at the wharf when she saw him ride up on his bike. He looked different; she had never seen him like this before. His eyes were sad, and his face was troubled. She felt a pang of guilt about her experience with Noa, wondering just how bad his night could've been.

JJ parked his bike and gave Talia a once-over. His demeanour switched so fast that she began to doubt he was ever upset. "Looks like you need a ride," he teased.

Talia rolled her eyes and climbed on the back of the bike. "Thanks, JJ. I seriously appreciate you coming out after all of this."

"Eh, it's no biggie. Got nothin' else to do." Although JJ was trying his best to seem nonchalant, Talia could still pick up a twinge of sadness in his words. "You owe me one, though, and I'm cashing that favour in right now."

Talia tilted her head in confusion as he offered his helmet. As they rode off, she held onto him tightly, feeling the wind rush past her. They arrived at a small pier and made their way to a seemingly empty nearby bar.

She watched as JJ climbed through an open window and opened the door for her, gesturing inside. "After you, Your Highness."

Talia rolled her eyes, pretending to be over his sarcasm, but she couldn't hide her smile. She entered the building, and JJ shut the door behind her, then nodded towards the tap.

"Ready to drink straight from the source?" he asked, grinning.

She watched as he ducked his head under the open tap, mouth open wide as beer began to flow out. "Is that legal?" she laughed.

He shrugged. "Is breaking and entering legal?"

"No." She stared at him, trying her best to hide her amusement by crossing her arms.

He wiped the beer from his lips, motioning for her to join him. "Come on, your turn."

Talia tried and failed to stifle a laugh as she attempted to drink from the tap as JJ did. But unlike him, the majority of the cool liquid ran straight down her neck and onto her shirt.

He watched in awe. "I gotta be honest. I've never seen someone be that bad at drinking before."

"Shut up." She tried to glare at him, but it only resulted in more beer spillage.

"At least try to drink some of it, man. What a waste," he whined, as he sauntered over, attempting to drink from the same tap. Talia couldn't help but be hyper-aware of how close his head was to hers. She knew she was going to need something stronger to get through the rest of this night.

Spotting a bottle of tequila on the shelf, she freed herself from the beer waterfall and twisted it open, taking a long swig. "Woah, easy does it," he said, looking at her with a slightly worried expression as she took a seat at the bar and coughed through the fumes. Then, he grabbed the bottle himself, taking several deep sips with ease.

They sat for a while, talking about trivial things in between drinks. Talia lost track of time and before she knew it, she was feeling dizzy. Uh oh. She stumbled, but caught herself on the bar bench. JJ stood up, looking concerned. "You're really that much of a lightweight?" he frowned.

"I didn't eat much today, to be honest," she said. She had been far too nervous about her date with Noa so she hadn't eaten much throughout the day. Man was that coming back to bite her in the ass.

"That'll do it," JJ sighed, hoisting himself up to sit on the bench next to her. He began rifling through his pockets and took out a joint. "This might agree with you more?" he offered the joint to her.

Talia eyed it, hesitating. She knew her brother and the others smoked all the time, and she had been around it before, but she had never tried it herself. JJ seemed to read her mind as he drew back his hand.