stevie | outer banks | JJxOC

58- you drive like a maniac

Wiping his eyes so no one else saw the small salty tears that had fallen down from his eyes, JJ made his way into the lounge where the rest of the pogues were sitting waiting to see if Stevie would make it. The four of them stopped talking when he entered, trying to read his emotions from his body language. With his head hung low so they couldn't see his eyes, they knewJJ was upset.

He sat alone on a worn down sofa in Ricky's lounge, shortly joined after by Sarah.

"Are you ok?" She asked softly so the others couldn't hear even though they knew this had affected JJ, possibly more than it had affected John B.

"I just-" JJ sighed. His mind was swimming in thoughts of losing Stevie, the way it felt when her eyes shut after the Hawk's Nest and the fact that she had left him, they were no longer together and he couldn't fully understand why. "I don't know if I've dodged a bullet or lost the love of my life"

Maybe he was better off, maybe Stevie wasn't the right person. But his heart couldn't believe that. It refused to.

"If it helps, she's not doing too well either." Sarah tried to comfort him, "She misses you. She just needs to sort her shit out,"

"I always thought I was gonna be the problem. That it would be me that freaked out," JJ admitted.

"You love her?" Sarah asked simply. He took a second but the answer would never change.

"Yes," He replied.

"It will work itself out. Just don't give up. She's scared of being left unloved so don't leave her. Don't smother her, but don't let her slip away from you"

"What if she doesn't wake up-"

"She will," Sarah barely let him finish speaking, not allowing doubt to creep in.

"Guys!" Ricky shouted from the kitchen where Stevie was lying, "She is waking!"

Without skipping a beat John B and JJ sprinted to be by her side, bursting with relief as her eyes fluttered open. She coughed a few times before sitting up, everyone around her with beaming smiles, then when her lungs settled she started to overheat. "I'm really hot," she complained whilst taking her jacket off, the rest of the Pogues were just happy she made it.

"Hey, hey, hey" JJ stabilised her by her shoulders before Stevie pushed past him trying to get outdoors.

"I'm hot" she complained again before running outside, quickly followed by John B, who was trying to check on her. She ran around, loving the smell of the grass, the feeling of the breeze and the slight heat in the air. There was a new lease of life in her which made them all laugh, thankful that it went ok and she survived. "Let's go get that cross!" Stevie yelled as she charged at the car.

"What are you doing?" John B questioned as she made her way to the driver's side.

"You lot never let me drive. I feel great right now, so I think it's finally my turn," Stevie's lopsided grin made everyone slightly worried as she overestimated her ability to drive.

"You never drive 1. Because you don't want to and 2. Because you drive like a maniac," Pope explained to the girl as she tried to get into the driver's side.

"Hush your butts and get in," Stevie seatbelted up and turned to look at the worried faces in the back of the car, "you guys worry too much, I'll be fine"

She was not fine.

Stevie tried to defend her driving too fast, feeling bad that they had missed the whole day and had left the cross all because of her. After recklessly driving way over the speed limit and passing a car into oncoming traffic, Stevie lost focus and hit one of the oaks that lined the way that John B had just warned her about, sending the pogues into the ditch on the side of the road and activating the airbags.