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

⤛ 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 ⤜

to avoid confusion: this chapter is JJ's version of events from the previous chapter. enjoy!

So many thoughts raced through JJ's head as he made his way over to the wharf to pick up Talia, but he buried every single one of them. She looked so small, standing there in the dark when he arrived. Her concerned expression made him do his best to appear cheerful. He had initially planned to take her home to John B and Pope, but with everything that had happened... Fuck it.

"I'm cashing in that favour right now," JJ said, a smile playing across his face. The rest of them could go screw themselves. He needed to unwind, and Talia was the only person right now who didn't hate his guts. Besides, he was still pissed at everyone else, so why not have some fun?

He felt her body pressed against his back while they rode off, and he wondered where to go now. There were thousands of places in Kildare that could entertain them for the night. He felt a pang of guilt at the thought of Kiara and the rest of them not being here. Couldn't everyone just be normal for once? JJ felt his anger returning as Kiara's last message to him flashed through his mind, and he remembered the shattered beer bottle he never got to finish. Now, there's an idea.

･༺༒༻･

JJ couldn't help but be amused at the sight of Talia attempting to drink straight from the tap. Honestly, this girl couldn't have been more ridiculous. She acted almost like a big, confident guy in a tiny girl's body. It was comical. He watched as half the beer missed her mouth and trickled down her clothes, already making them damp and sticky.

"At least try to consume some of it, man. What a waste," he said as he made his way over to her, bending his head next to hers in an attempt to salvage whatever alcohol didn't make it. To his surprise, she straightened up suddenly, grabbing a bottle of tequila from a nearby shelf. He didn't expect her to go this hard, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

He hid his smile as she coughed from her impressively large gulp before he took a few drinks from the bottle himself. After a while of drinking and chatting, he started to feel more relaxed, a noticeable feeling of warmth from the tequila buzzing all over his body.

"Okay," he said, turning to face her. "You wanna hear a funny story?"

Talia raised an eyebrow, her eyes glinting with curiosity. "Oh, absolutely," she replied.

JJ grinned mischievously, taking another sip from the bottle before beginning. "Okay, so this one time - it was like ages ago - me and this old friend of mine were trying to sneak into this fancy hotel pool, right?" Talia nodded, her attention fully focused on him.

"I mean, we thought we were being all sneaky and shit, but," he paused for a moment, "turns out wet thongs can make some pretty mean squeaks, and it had been raining because, of course, it had, right?" Talia chuckled along with him, and it fuelled his energy.

JJ took another swig from the bottle before continuing. "So, anyway, we ended up getting caught by this fat old man, and he was rocking a mean stache, like some real lonesome cowboy type shit. Had the funny little hat and everything. Swear to god."

As JJ continued, Talia's expression grew increasingly amused. With the most over-the-top southern accent he could muster, JJ mimicked the man. "And he was all, 'Y'all look a little lost. Can I show you fellas to the door?' but I looked at him and said..." he paused for effect, making an innocent expression with his face,

"'Oh, sorry sir. Actually, my buddy here-'" JJ gestured to his side, acting out the movements dramatically, "'is experiencing something incredibly serious called 'stache syndrome'. It's very rare. One in a million, in fact, probably - and very contagious. Causes terrible diarrhoea, actually, buckets of the stuff. But no need to worry, sir, I have it all under control. He just needs a nice whiff of some good ol' fashioned chlorine, and he'll be good as gold.'"