𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 - J.M

01, what happened?

I finally managed to fall asleep, but the small stones hitting my window prevented me from sleeping any longer and I had to get out of bed. I went to the window and immediately opened it to check who was disturbing my sleep.

"JJ?" I looked confused at the blonde who had just thrown the rest of the pebbles onto the ground. "What happened?" I asked only when I noticed that the boy looked depressed.

"I wanted to talk." he replied without much thought, looking down at me.

"In the middle of the night?" I asked myself and finally moved away from the window, closing it first. I put on a thicker sweatshirt because the nights on the Outer Banks can be cold even in the summer. I ran down the stairs carefully so as not to wake anyone up and left the house.

I started looking for JJ, who was standing at the gate, staring at the starry sky. he didn't even notice when I approached him.

"so, will you tell me what's going on?" I asked him again, wanting to get any information from the boy. I couldn't see his face because of his hood, so I couldn't read any emotions in his expression.

the blue-eyed man didn't answer my question and started walking forward. At first, I stood still, not believing that the boy had ignored me. After a while, however, I caught up with him and walked with him at an even pace. I had no idea where he was leading me, but I felt safe with him.

"Will you at least tell me where you're taking me?" I quickly said without even looking at my companion, but I looked at the ground.

"somewhere, you'll like it." I didn't knew much, but at least something. at least I heard his voice for the first time since I left the house, he had a terrible hoarseness, as if he had recently been crying and there was a lump of saliva stuck in his throat. I decided not to ask him anything more for now and obediently walked next to him.

Suddenly, JJ stopped on a deserted bridge that was built over a river that flowed into the ocean. it wasn't built for cars, but more for passersby. the wood was already old, which meant that this post had already survived several dozen springs.

I noticed the boy sitting at the end of the bridge and resting his chest on a stake running the entire length of the bridge. he looked down at me, patting the space next to him. I sat down immediately after the blonde took his hand away.

"will you finally tell me what we are doing here?" I asked once again, looking at the boy's profile, which wasn't very visible anyway. most of his face was covered by a hood and strands of his hair.

the blue-eyed man just looked at me, again I didn't get any answer. I sighed, wasted by endless questions about what was going on. I rested my arms on the stake, looking at the ocean in front of me.

"I don't know what the point of our conversation is if you don't even answer. You only spoke once throughout our walk." I muttered under my breath, looking back at the boy.

"you're right, we were supposed to talk." the blonde took a deep breath, after a while letting out all the air in a hiss.

"so what's going on J?"

He pulled out a flask from his pants and took a few large gulps. "after returning from this hotel room, we had a party on our part of the island so that no one would suspect anything. everything was fine until Sarah showed up with her boyfriend Topper. I offered her a beer, she refused, so I insisted, then Top poured a cup of alcohol on me. John b got angry and started fighting with that jerk, who then started drowning him. I couldn't stand it and took out the gun I found earlier from my backpack. I put it to Topper's head and fired it twice into the sky to make everyone confused." I listened carefully and tried to understand what I had just heard.

"wait, you stole a gun that could very well be an item in Mr. Grubbs' death?" she closed her eyes to control what happened while I was sitting in my parents' restaurant. "Did you get anything else from there?"

the boy bit his lip as if he was wondering if he could really tell me. "a few dollars." he muttered under his breath, looking at me. "I needed them, you know what situation I'm in."

Yep, the Maybank family. his mother left him when he was still little, and his father uses domestic violence on him because he looks too much like his mother. With a slight hesitation, I hugged JJ, it's the only thing I can offer him at this moment. words can't do much.

To my surprise, the blonde immediately returned the hug, wrapping his arms around my waist. JJ didn't like physical touch, so I was surprised by the hug. I placed his head on my shoulder and started slowly and gently playing with his hair. It always helped me relax and calm down when I was feeling bad.

I closed my eyes and listened only to the ocean waves, which were the only ones that made any sound. I don't even know how long I sat in such silence, but it wasn't awkward. more nice and soothing. Maybank was probably the first person I felt so comfortable with.

At some point, I even started to feel guilty that he was the only one in our group who didn't know about my incurable disease. he has no idea that I don't have much time left. but he can't know, he has too many problems.

"why did you come to talk to me? we're not even that good friends." I said, breaking the silence between us. maybe he got the wrong windows and actually wanted to talk to Kiara?

"I thought that if I told someone who knew me from a different perspective, it would help me." he mumbled into my neck, not letting go of me even for a second.

"did it help?" I looked at him uncertainly and stopped stroking his hair. At this gesture, the boy raised his head to look at me.

"you can't even imagine how much." for the first time that night I saw his face in full. his eyes were red from crying or smoking or both. and the bruises on his face were already starting to heal.

"I'm glad I could help you." I smiled gently, freeing myself from the hug. "my butt hurts from sitting on this bridge." I stood up while rubbing my sore butt.

"more like your tailbone, because there's nothing left of your ass." I opened my mouth in surprise, how could he do that.

"someone's mood is back." I laughed, digging my fingers into JJ's ribs. the blue-eyed man also started laughing with me.

"Kie! That's enough." hearing my sister's name stopped making me laugh. of all the names he could have come up with, it had to be my older sister's name?

"seriously J?" I lowered my hands limply, looking into the eyes of the blonde, who had probably already noticed his mistake. "it was so good." the boy tried to come up to me and hug me, but I pushed him away.

"Kate, I'm sorry..." Maybank looked at me with pity, as if I had done something wrong. I shook my head from side to side and moved forward, I had no idea where I was going, but I hoped it was as far away from him as possible.