𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank

Chapter 25: Fathers

Grace opened her eyes to see JJ's blonde hair. It was messily tangled in front of his face, his head on her chest and both arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Her shirt had ridden up in her sleep meaning his arms were directly on her skin. She smiled softly down at him and brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face. He groaned slightly making her laugh under her breath. She knew he was slowly waking up so she raked her fingers through his hair gently. When a smile grew on his face she knew he was awake.

"Hey J."

"Hey Sunshine."

He finally opened his sleepy eyes to look up at her. Her hands were still in his hair, running through and his arms were still tight around her. "G'morning," he grumbled. She only smiled in response. JJ reluctantly removed a hand from her waist to rub his eyes, "What time is it?"

She pulled her hand from his hair to check making him whine. "You're the one who asked," she giggled as she turned her phone on, "8:40." The second Grace put her phone down he grabbed her hand and pulled it back to his hair. She got the message and started playing with his hair again while muttering to him, "Pope and Kie will be here soon. We should get up." He sighed dramatically while pushing himself off of her. 

He got about a foot off of her then flopped right back down. She groaned, "JJ you're heavy." 

He put his arms back around her, "You're warm."

"We gotta get up, Pope's always early. He'll be here soon," Grace said.

He sighed then actually got off of her, "I hate when you're right." 

She smiled then sat up and pulled her shirt back down. JJ had taken off the blanket revealing the bruises. They looked a little less angry but still painful. "You wanna talk about it?" Grace whispered.

He shook his head.

She wasn't going to push, "If you ever want to..." she trailed off.

He nodded then kissed her gently and headed to the bathroom.

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Grace was hesitant to leave JJ at the Chateau but she promised Sarah she'd give her a lift over so she had no choice. After Pope and Kie arrived Grace gave JJ a kiss, staring into his eyes a little longer than necessary just to make sure he'd be alright without her, then hopped into her car and took off for Figure Eight. 

Grace pulled the car up to Tannyhill and put her feet up, bopping along to the reggae music coming from the speakers while waiting for Sarah to meet up with her. A banging on the window shook her out of her peace. Her eyes widened when she saw Ward, sweating and bleeding. She rolled down the window.

"What-" she started.

"Grace you need to listen to me. John B, he's gone insane."

"Dad, what're-"

"I took him out fishing and he lost his mind. All I did was ask about his dad's treasure hunting. He stabbed me...he tried to shoot me with a spear gun. I was just trying to get him to calm down."

Her brows furrowed, "I don't believe you."

Ward continued his rambling, "Grace you need to stay away from him. I know things have been rough between us but I care about you. I won't let him hurt you."

"Dad-"

"Just please, come inside the house. It doesn't have to be forever, just until the police have found John B."

Grace looked towards the house, desperately hoping Sarah would walk out and give her an escape. When she didn't Grace sighed. She didn't believe Ward, but he was standing in front of her bleeding, shaking and sweating and he wouldn't let her leave so she climbed out the car and followed him inside.