The girls made their way up the dock and the boys raised their beer bottles in greeting. Pope had left about an hour ago leaving John B and JJ alone to wait for them to return. Kiara sat down on one of the empty stumps by the fire as Sarah went to sit on John B's lap. Madison was so focused on her argument with Peyton she went right inside without speaking to anyone and slammed her bedroom door hard enough that they could hear it from outside.
"That's new," JJ commented, turning from the house back to the girls waiting for an explanation.
Kiara and Sarah stared at each other not wanting to be the one who spilled the news. John B could feel the uneasiness flowing off of Sarah and he lightly squeezed her thigh.
JJ wasn't going to wait all night for them to spit it out and he went in the house to go check on Madison.
"What's going on?" John B asked, rubbing his thumb back and forth on Sarah's thigh.
As much as she wanted Madison to be the one to tell him she knew he wouldn't let it go. "Peyton brought up the idea of JJ leaving like your dad did."
"Yeah, after admitting to be fuck buddies with Rafe," Kiara added.
JJ went to walk into Madison's room but stopped short when he realized the door was locked. He knocked but the only answer was her soft cries on the other side. He rested his forehead on the door, "Maddie, it's me." There was still no answer and while he would have normally let her have her moment there was something that was telling him he needed to see her. "Please, open the door."
Madison wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and block out the rest of the world. It had taken almost a year but she finally accepted that her dad was dead. It wasn't an easy feat to say the least but there had been a huge relief lifted from her shoulders. Or so she thought until today and Peyton's words repeated in her head like a broken record.
Hope he doesn't leave you like your dad did.
"Baby, please don't make me crawl through the window," JJ pleaded with her.
Knowing they were in the house alone if he was using the nickname he kept just for her, she finally got up and unlocked her door but didn't bother to open it. He heard the soft click and stepped into her room before closing the door behind him. She stood facing the window, her back to him.
"Maddie..." he wanted to ask if she was okay but the question died in his throat. She was clearly upset but without knowing why he wasn't sure how to help.
He took a step towards her and right before he could touch her arm she spun, facing him with unshed tears in her eyes. "You can't do that to me again."
JJ let his hand fall as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Do what?" They had been fine when she left that morning, at least he thought they were, and it pained him to think he had been the one to cause whatever this was.
She tried to blink back the tears but it was futile as they slipped down her cheeks, "You walked away."
Hope he doesn't leave you like your dad did.
He was about to ask what she was talking about until it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Because you don't care about getting hurt." His gaze fell on her eye that was no longer swollen or black and blue but a faded yellow, just enough of a reminder of what she risked for him. "Do you understand it could have been so much worse? And then what? You end up dead over some stupid fucking restitution?"
Hope he doesn't leave you like your dad did.
Madison scoffed, the concern in his voice when he first came into her room had quickly been replaced with anger. "Yeah, well, I'm fine, okay?"
YOU ARE READING
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...
