❛ 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 ）
status...
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"How long, exactly, do you plan on sitting here, dripping all over my office, Edwards?" the bored voice of Sheriff Shoupe asked as he thumbed through a few pages of a file in front of him. His lunch, dropped off by one of the deputies, sat unopened on his desk. The smell made Rylee's stomach turn, a reminder of the meals she'd been going without.
Rylee continued to stare out of the window she was sitting beside, her leg bouncing up and down nervously. The Sheriff's department was the last place on Earth that she wanted to be, but she couldn't leave. Not until she knew if Cheryl and Shoupe were going to be showing up on the Château's doorstep and dragging her off to another home anytime soon. She had to do whatever she could to stay.
"If you're wondering if The Limbrey House has reported you missing, the answer is yes," Shoupe added again after another moment of silence passed. Rylee's stomach dropped out from under her at his words. He set down the file on top of his desk and rested his folded hands on top of it, "They're very concerned about your well being and want to make sure you're okay."
"Yeah, right," Rylee mumbled in response, her first words since she had entered the building and informed the deputy at the front desk she wasn't leaving without seeing Shoupe.
Shoupe drummed his fingers quietly on the surface of his desk. His gaze was burning on the side of her face, "Until you commit a crime, I don't really have anything to report," He said simply, "Cheryl may be a different story, but ..."
Rylee turned her gaze onto the man in front of her, her eyebrows knitting together. He wasn't in a rush to report her back to the state, to have her shipped back out. But ... Why?
"Look, I've been trying to not be rude, but I'm starving here," Shoupe said, reaching over to unwrap the brown paper bag beside him, pulling out a large basket of food from The Wreck. Rylee's stomach gave an audible grumble. He pushed the fries so they were closer to her, "Help yourself."
Rylee pushed down the urge to take him up on his offer, even as her stomach was all but shouting at her. She cleared her throat, "So if I ... I don't get into any trouble ... I can stay?" She asked.
Shoupe shrugged as he bit into a fried shrimp, "Not with me. You could always petition the court for emancipation. Get a job, prove you have an income, find somewhere to live."
