Later that night, Madison was laying in her bed, staring out the window. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders now that everyone knew her secret but a new one replaced it knowing how mad they all were. There was a light knock on her door but she didn't bother to answer. She could hear the door open and then close before the bed dipped behind her. She wished it was JJ but the deep sigh let her know she couldn't be that lucky.
"You should have told me."
She pushed herself up into a seated position, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, giving John B her full attention. "I know but if I did you would have stopped me."
"Damn straight I would have," John B hadn't come in wanting to start an argument. He wanted to check on her because her face really did concern him and he knew with JJ walking away she wasn't going to be in the best headspace but it was so incredibly difficult to not be angry. "What the hell were you thinking?"
Madison was so physically and mentally exhausted her face was void of emotion as she rested her chin on her knees. "I was thinking he had thirty thousand in restitution and you know damn well Luke wasn't going to do anything about it." And he's all I have, she added in her head because it was her brother sitting right in front of her and while she loved him, JJ had been the one that was truly always there for her no matter what.
"Maddie, if you got seriously hurt..." He trailed off and offered her the bag of carrots that were now no longer frozen but were still pretty cold. She took it from him and winced as she held it against her face. "You know you can talk to me, right?"
"JB, can we not do this tonight...please?" She knew the conversation was going to come from him sooner or later. She just hoped it would have been the latter.
"Yeah," he nodded, getting off the bed and kissing her on top of her head. He couldn't help but feel guilty that he hadn't noticed or questioned her being gone all hours of the night or the fact that she had lied to him when he asked about her coming out of the police station. "Get some sleep."
JJ waited until he knew everyone would be asleep before he made his way back to the Chateau and into the house. He stood there for a minute and listened to make sure no one else was awake and placed his hand on Madison's bedroom door knob. He was scared it was going to be locked after he had walked away from her, and understandably so, but with a deep breath he turned the knob and was able to open the door. He closed it quietly behind him and let his gaze fall on her swollen face, the bag of carrots now completely melted and tossed to the floor.
He wanted to be so damn angry at her, and he was for her putting herself in a dangerous position, but the fact that she did it for him was almost unfathomable to him. Sure she had said the words, I love you, and he had said it back but for the first time he truly understood the meaning of actions speak louder than words.
He pulled his boots off, carefully setting them to the side so as to not wake her, and pulled his shirt over his head. He slid into the bed next to her and knew she was in a deep sleep when she didn't even move. He took the opportunity to really study her face and it was in that moment that he promised himself the next time he saw Barry he was going to make sure he felt every ounce of pain that he knew all too well Madison was feeling at that very moment.
He snaked an arm around her, pulling her into him as much as humanly possible with her back against his chest. He kissed the back of her head and fell asleep holding on to the only thing he cared about more than life itself.
X-X-X
The next morning the Pogues were out on Heyward's boat with the drone in search of the Royal Merchant. Madison had woken up with one of the worst headaches she ever had and both John B and JJ tried to assure her the Royal Merchant wasn't going anywhere as people were trying to find it well over a hundred years and that it could wait one more day she absolutely refused.
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Sink or Swim || Outer Banks || JJ Maybank
Fanfiction"And lastly, that's Madison, or Mads, my little sister who is also trying to climb up the broken lifeguard tower. We're only a year apart. When she's not doing some odd job for extra cash she is on the HMS Pogue with the rest of us. Most loyal perso...
