Together

10. Pinky Promise

Someone give me some paper
Someone give me some crayons
I'm feeling like a child
I need something to play on
I'm trying hard to trust you
When you say give me your hand
Baby, I'm falling
I hope you catch me when I land
-Kat Dahlia

The party is far from over but JJ and Kie remain upstairs. They head to the bathroom to clean up. Under the bulb lights of the bathroom mirror Kie puts on her panties and adjusts her dress while JJ buckles his belt and inspects his hands.

They aren't that bad, other guys got it way worse. There's a reason he wears rings. He flexes them, making sure his skin doesn't break at the movement.

Kie eyes JJ's scrapped knuckles, reminding her of the last hour. She feels suddenly sad by the whole thing. It was terrifying to really think about it, from the danger she was in to JJ throwing himself into a confrontation with three guys. JJ catches her looking at his hands in the mirror and sees she's upset.

"Hey, hey," he says turning around, wrapping his arms around her as she hides her face in her hands. He runs his hand down her hair, comforting her. "It's alright, you're okay, you're safe," he murmurs into her hair, feeling her stifle a cry into his chest. "I'm okay too," he adds, knowing she's not only thinking about herself.

Kie shakes her head as she attempts to pull herself together, stepping away and wiping her eyes quickly. She leans against the counter, hugging her middle. JJ leans against the wall across from her, giving her space as she settles herself. He can sense a change in the mood.

"Are you mad about the way I handled those guys?" he asks, scratching the back of his head. He'd thought she would be upset about it before, just because she said she was sorry didn't mean she wasn't mad about the fight he started.

She gives him a confused look. "How could I be? Not like I didn't react the same way a week ago," she says, averting her eyes. She was worried about bringing this up. For a second she thought she could avoid it, just apologize and not think about it again. That didn't feel right though. They needed to talk about it.

"I'm sorry, when did you kick the shit out of someone?" He says with a small laugh.

"You know what I mean, Jay," she says, taking a deep breath. "I didn't exactly handle things how you wanted me to with those cops. And I get why you went off on those guys," she says, now meeting his eye. "I really do get it, JJ."

He thought about her words, swishing his own in his mouth before speaking.

"I'm sorry," he says quickly.

"What?"

"I get why you went off too," he concedes. "Sorry I was a dick about it." She smiles softly at him and he feels relief that she isn't holding his actions against him.

"It doesn't mean I should have done it though," she ventures. "I'm sorry I told them about Shoupe. That wasn't cool."

He nods in understanding. He is ready to put this behind them. He knew she didn't do it to hurt him, Kie only ever acted to protect him. He couldn't be mad at that, especially because he does it too. That was proven tonight.

"C'mere," he says, pulling her to him and kissing her forehead. He rests the top of his head on hers as he holds her to him. "I'm not sorry about kicking the shit out of them though."

She gives a small laugh and playfully hits his chest, still hugging him. "Didn't expect you to be."

"Sorry if it scared you."

She looks at him, needing to lift her head back nearly completely because of their closeness. She searches his face. She sees a bruise starting to appear on his cheek, a faint blue hue coloring his features. He may have won the war but he still earned a purple heart in the process.