❛ how long can you wait to breathe deep? how long can you stay underneath? ❜
━━ in which despite their best intentions, they find themselves being pushed off the edge of the cliff again.
（ jj maybank x female oc ）
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TW: Guns.
The sun was barely beginning to appear over the horizon when JJ jolted himself awake, blinking blearily up at the open, morning sky. His muscles ached from the position he'd slept in that night, sore from the uncomfortable truck bed. Kiara's alarm on her phone was blaring, and she was patting around between herself and Pope's sleeping form looking for it.
JJ had barely slept that night, not just from the unfortunate sleeping arrangements, but also because his head was swimming with thoughts of the previous day, of Rylee, of the nearly identical letters delivered to two of his friends, of the trip they had to continue to make into Charleston to get answers.
The mechanic had finished with Heyward's truck late that evening. Between their exhaustion and the fact that they had to pick up Rylee the following morning, they decided to set up camp in the open field beside the shop instead of continuing into Charleston.
Kiara slipped into the truck stop diner to buy them all cups of coffee to go while JJ and Pope got the car loaded up. Shoulder to shoulder they sat quietly, still trying to wake up as they made the drive to the high school Rylee had been attending while in Quinby.
Pope had tried to probe JJ about how he was feeling for almost an hour after Rylee had left them, but JJ hadn't had any idea how to answer his questions. The feeling of relief that had washed over him when he saw her, when she sprinted towards him and wrapped her arms around him had calmed the painful, tight feeling in his chest almost immediately. A month since he had seen her and yet the way they held each other was like no time had passed at all, like there was no hurt there.
The relief had given way to a lot of different emotions once JJ had come to terms with the fact that Rylee really was there, that she was okay. Confusion, hurt, anger, relief, and love had all swirled inside of him making him confused and a little nauseous and desperate for a beer or a blunt, anything to take the edge off a little bit.
Pope pulled the truck up in front of a small, single level high school that seemed to be half the size of Kildare County. A handful of students were gathered around, but JJ's eyes found Rylee in an instant. She was sitting on the front steps next to a dark-haired girl, their hands clasped between them as they each scanned the surrounding area. When Rylee's eyes fell on the truck, he saw her face break out into a relieved smile that made JJ feel warm from head to toe.
