Together

122. He'll be okay

You can meet me outside
Take a bruising to the pride
Wouldn't kick you when you're down
But I hate it when you lie
Tried to make me lose my cool
And you thought I would have ran
Every time I get a chance
Baby, I'm a better man
-Ellie Goulding

After JJ recovers from the heart attacked Kie gave him, he walks her back into the Wreck. She wants to show her dad her acceptance letter. Even though she and Mike are at odds momentarily, it's still a big deal and of course he's gonna want to praise her for the accomplishment.

For everyone's sake, JJ decides to hang in the front. Better to let Kie tell Mike without him reminding the guy that he's coming with. Kie tried to convince him it would be fine, but she didn't put up too much of a fight when he raised his skepticism, and left him to wait while she made the joyful announcement.

He looks at his acceptance letter again, smiling to himself. It's going to be so great to get out of OBX and do something that isn't working at the Marina. Now he just needs to figure out what it'll be when he actually gets there. Surfing was an extra curricular, not a major.

He hasn't given it too much thought. The worry of getting in at all was his main focus the last few months. Didn't really want to start planning out a future he wasn't sure he'd have at the time. He has it now.

What makes him the happiest, sappy as it is, is that for once he wasn't doing it on his own. Of course, he was the one that did the actual work, but he had people now. He had Shoupe, who really believed and expected him to be better than he thought he could. He had Ben, who saw his potential and wanted him to go far with it. Fuck, he even had Ms. Taylor reaching out to get him right with his grades.

And Kie. Above all he had Kie. Be lost without her for sure.

He can't believe they are actually going to college together. He starts to think about what that future could look like. Spending every day together, surfing, going to classes. Living life in California with no one to hold them back. It's gonna be great.

When Kie returns, JJ's happy to see her smiling. The conversation went well, he assumes. Mike comes out and gives a short congratulations to him as well, which JJ promptly thanks him for.

Kie still has a shift and JJ wants to tell Shoupe about his acceptance letter too. So, he bids the Carreras a good bye, giving Kie another congratulatory kiss and shuffles out of the Wreck.

Once outside he remembers that he hasn't taken his med today and quickly retrieves it from his backpack, popping the prescription open and taking the pill dry. His face scrunchies up, nearly choking when it gets stuck in his throat like an idiot.

He's so distracted by nearly dying of a coughing attack he doesn't notice that someone has followed him out of the Wreck.

"Hey, JJ!" Travis calls. "Wait up a minute."

JJ stiffens, eye turning critical as he watches Travis complete the minimal steps it takes to be in his personal space.

"What?" he asks sharply. His patience with this guy was already bone dry, so he makes no attempt to be even a hair less than hostile.

"Heard you're going to San Diego, that's pretty cool."

"You and I," JJ indicates between them. "We don't talk," he reminds, turning to get back on his bike.

Travis doesn't mind the blow off, which doesn't surprise JJ at this point. Travis was a cocky motherfucker. And stupid. Like a dog getting skunked twice, he didn't ever seem to learn his lesson the first time around. JJ was just waiting for the opportunity to strike again, and Travis seemed more than willing to provoke it.