Trust Fall

Chapter 3

*Your POV*

"Y-You're what?" You ask, taken aback.

"I'm finally gonna be fighting Jake." JJ responds with a big smile, walking up to you. "9 months from now, it's on."

"Wow JJ! I'm so happy for you!" You tell him, reaching up and wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him into a hug as an attempt to hide the worried look on your face. JJ snakes his arms around your waist and pulls your body closer to his, sending a sensation over your body that you weren't expecting. He nuzzles his head into your neck and gives you a tight squeeze, but again, he pulls away sooner than you'd like. It's almost like he knows he's doing it.

Talia and Freya each give him a hug after you, and you can feel Ethan's eyes on you, but you shift your head to avoid his eye contact. Unfortunately, he knows you too well and speaks up.

"We need shots to celebrate! (Y/N/N), come help me in the kitchen?" Ethan says, more telling you than asking and you roll your eyes, knowing what's coming.

"Okay, okay but after next week, no drinking for me!" JJ calls out behind you and Ethan as you head towards the kitchen, and you hear the girls bringing up the idea to have the party to celebrate that weekend, while JJ can still drink before he starts his training again. Once you're out of earshot, Ethan starts interrogating you.

"What's wrong?" He asks you as he reaches up into a cupboard, pulling out shot glasses for everyone.

"Nothing, what do you mean?" You brush him off, pulling out bottles of liquor from a different cupboard.

"(Y/N/N), I've known you our whole lives. I think I know you well enough by now to know when something's up." He responds, grabbing your hand to try and make you stop what you're doing and look at him. A tactic you always tried to use when you didn't want to talk about something. You sigh and finally look him in the eyes, knowing there's no wriggling your way out of this one.

"I don't like the thought of JJ getting hurt. I know he has the best trainers and he's always prepared but I worry about him." You tell your older brother, letting go of a breath you didn't know you were holding in.

"I get that. But he does have the best trainers. And he is always super prepared. He would never go into something if he didn't think he could handle it...and even if he did, you know he would work and work until he was ready for it. You know him, (Y/N/N). He's ready for this. Nothing bad is going to happen to him." Ethan tells you sympathetically, not breaking eye contact with you and you smile at him.

"Thanks Eeth, I needed that." You smile and pull him into a hug.

"You just gotta trust that he knows what he's doing." Ethan says into the hug, rubbing your back supportively. Before you can thank him for reassuring you, the rest of the group come into the kitchen, probably wondering what happened to the shots they were promised.

"Are we doing this or not?!" Harry says impatiently, slipping past you and grabbing the bottle of vodka you had brought out, before pouring out shots for everyone. "You Paynes are too slow. I thought you two liked your alcohol."

"Jeez make us sound like alcoholics then mate." You say to Harry, shoving him a little with your arm and the group laughs.

"To JJ kicking both of the Paul brother's asses!" Harry says after he finishes pouring out everyone's shots. He raises his shot glass and everyone else does the same. "And please for the love of God, no one ring the sambuca alarm while we're drinking tonight."

Everyone laughs and takes their shot of vodka, and soon enough, everyone is back in the living room, drinking and talking about predictions for the fight. You stay in the kitchen, cleaning up the kitchen island that Harry was pouring the shots out on, because apparently he missed a few glasses and left some vodka spills. Just as you're at the sink, running the cloth under some water to clean it, you feel a hand on your lower back and turn your head to see JJ standing next to you.

"Will you be there for my fight? It's here in London so you won't have to travel anywhere." He asks you, looking down at you as his hand still lingers on your lower back.

"Of course I will, Jide. I wouldn't miss it." You tell him, putting the sponge down and turning your body so you're face to face with him, and he lets the hand that was on your back drop back to his side.

"Thank you." He smiles, but looks like he has something else to say. "Don't tell the boys but I feel like you're my good luck charm." He chuckles, obviously feeling a bit awkward as he looks down.

"Your good luck charm?" You ask him, wanting to know more.

"Yeah...I don't know how to explain it but whenever I see you in the crowd in between rounds, it makes me wanna go back out there and fight harder. You're one of my best friends and I wanna make you proud when I'm up there in the ring." He tells you and you smile warmly, meeting his gaze.

"JJ, you'll make me proud no matter what. Win or lose." You respond, feeling butterflies in your stomach; something you've never felt towards him before, but something about the way JJ is being so vulnerable with you, mixed with the low tone of his voice and his longing eye contact in this moment is making you feel like the rest of the world is slowly melting away.

"Thanks, (Y/N/N), that means a lot." JJ replies and smiles warmly at you, throwing his arm around your shoulders, leading you back out towards the living room. "Now let's get back to getting drunk."

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Hey! Thank you so so much for reading!!🩵