JJ's biggest flaw was his recklessness, and his bad ideas. Honestly, that didn't seem that bad to Bexley.
Rafe's biggest flaw? Jealousy. Pure, uncontrolled jealousy.
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tw: asshole fathers, asshole Rafe
a/n: sorry it ended up as kind of a fluff chapter to end things with her old dad (also not me listening to Anatomy by Kenzie while writing this 😭)
"I've got it," JJ told Bexley, adamant on paying before she could. He handed the bus driver a five dollar bill, the bus fare for both of them.
They took their seats on the hot, unventilated public bus. It wasn't too crowded today, they were able to sit next to each other.
"Where'd you get that?" Bexley asked him as she sat beside him. "I thought you didn't have any money."
JJ shrugged. "Found it in my pants pocket."
She glanced down at what he was wearing. "Aren't you borrowing some of Pope's pants-"
"So how come you've never wanted your car back?" he asked her, cutting off the question and changing topics. "You were fine with just leaving it there?"
She paused. "Um, my keys are inside. And I just...haven't been back inside Susan's house," she explained. "Not, you know, since the morning I found out what happened."
"You haven't been back at all? So, like, not in months?"
"Rafe took me to his house the day Susan died. Then he took me to Hawaii. Then back to my house. Then back to his. There's never really been a time for me to go back. Besides, I don't know if I wanted to. I-I wasn't ready to go inside again."
"Someone could've gone and got it for you," he offered.
Bexley smiled a bit. "Actually, Rafe was going to. But, as soon as he left me alone, some pogue broke into my house while I was in the shower."
"Ohhh," JJ said, forming an embarrassed expression. "My bad, my bad. But, hey, it'll be more fun getting it with me anyway."
Bexley smiled to herself. She agreed wholeheartedly. "It will be more fun." Glancing up at his beautiful eyes, she said, "You're probably the funnest person I've ever met."
JJ's face became sheepish, timid. The compliment got to him. He leaned back in the seat. Cautiously, he placed his hand next to hers on her leg, and slowly overlapped a few of their fingers.
Her smile grew, as did her shyness. Her face blushed slightly, and she flipped her hand over, palm up. JJ placed his palm flat on hers, before slowly letting his fingers fall over the curves of her hand.
His skin was warm, but nowhere near as warm as her cheeks were. She looked away for a moment, and tried to think of something to say, anything so that she'd stop just staring at their hands like an idiot.
Then again, JJ was an idiot too. She was staring at their hands, he was staring at her.
"Are you good with directions?" Bexley finally came up with. "I've never driven there. I've only ever taken the bus."
