MECHANIC | Rafe Cameron - JJ Maybank - Outerbanks

22 - bruised boy

The backyard of the Chateau was lit up with thousands of colored lights. Anastasia could see it from the street when she got out of her car.
The Twinkie was gone, John B had to go fishing early morning with Ward Cameron. Which meant that they'd have to get the gold tomorrow.
So Anastasia wondered, who the hell did all of this in John Bs backyard.

Her feet carried her towards the scenery and her mouth dropped open once she saw everything. Everything was decorated. Lights were everywhere. The entire tree was covered in small lights. This was beautiful.
In the middle of it all was a huge whirlpool.
With JJ in it, drinking Champagne from the bottle.

JJs eyes settled on Anastasia and he smiled. His vision was already blurry from drinking the liquor on his own. His voice was barely a whisper:"You came".

"You called".
Anastasia approached him slowly, still trying to take everything in. JJ could see how she admired his work. So he just watched her wide eyes look at everything, while her lips curled up into an even bigger smile.

"Why did you do this?". She asked, giggling softly because of the inflatable flamingo.

"I-", he cleared his throat,"I know I fucked up. I shouldn't have yelled at you or anyone. So I thought why not use the money for something that's gonna benefit all of us".

"This is gorgeous", Anastasia laughed along with JJ. She didn't care that she could've used the money for his restitution. Anastasia knew JJ did this for himself, his friends. Because he felt bad about the one time he did something for himself and stole the gold.

"You need to go inside", JJ started rambling,"This is the luxury version of the most expensive Whirlpool. Express delivery and everything-".

"What the hell is going on?!".

Anastasia and JJ both turned around, looking at their friends mad faces in disbelief.

JJ didn't just call Anastasia. He called everyone. And something about this made her heart drop a little.

Whereas JJs heart dropped because he had to listen to Kiara and Pope yell at him. Telling him he should've used the money for restitution or to buy supplies to get the gold out of the well.

Anastasia watched Pope and Kiara yell at JJ, wondering how they couldn't see the pain in his eyes. How sorry JJ was for everything he had done today. And something about the fact that Pope and Kiara just continued insulting JJ and his feelings made Anastasia snap.

"What the actual fuck, guys?!", Anastasia cut her friends off, making them stare at her in disbelief,"Can't you see that JJ is sorry?! This is his apology and you just talk down on everything he did for you, for us".

Kiara and Pope stayed silent, watching Anastasia in pure shock. They knew she was right.
"How about we just pull ourselves together, huh?".

JJ heard every word and it surprised him, how much Anastasia actually knew about him. She read him like a book. Whereas he never had a clue of what was going on in her mind.

"I'm sorry", JJ spoke up and got up on his feet, while he continued explaining how he got all of this for his friends - no, his family.

Anastasia didn't listen to a word he said, when her eyes settled on his naked upper body. He was covered in pitch black bruises. She was frozen, while Kiara immediately ran to hug JJ.
Her breath trembled, when JJs head dipped into the crook of Kiara's neck and he started sobbing.

Luke Maybank abused his son. Physically and mentally. Anastasia was disgusted by this. She felt sick herself. Her stomach turned and twisted and she felt nauseous.