Audacious//JJ Maybank (Outerbanks)

Chapter 120

The fire crackled softly in the night as everyone settled into their own quiet conversations, wrapped in the warmth of each other and the flames. I sat beside JJ, carefully wrapping a fresh bandage around his wound. His face was tired, etched with lines of pain and frustration. He forced a bitter laugh, shaking his head as he looked away from me.

"You know," he started, voice heavy, "the funniest part is I actually thought he was coming back for me." He scoffed, voice thick with hurt. "But no, that was just Groff being Groff. Now Pope's a fugitive too. Welcome to the club, bro," JJ added, glancing over at Pope, who managed a tired smirk as he wrapped his arm around Cleo.

JJ's face darkened. "And now we have nothing. We lost everything," he said, his words tinged with a despair that made my chest ache. "And it's all my fault."

Without another word, he got up, brushing off his hands, and started to walk away from the warmth of the fire. I watched him go, feeling his pain pull me up and after him.

"Hey, hey," I called as I reached him, grabbing his hand. "It's not your fault, JJ," I insisted, squeezing his hand tightly, desperate for him to see things through my eyes.

But he shook his head, turning away again, unwilling to let himself off the hook. "Yeah, it is," he muttered. "I let Suzie down—again. What kind of father am I when I can't even provide for my own family?" His voice cracked as he shouted the words, his shoulders sagging.

The weight of his despair hit me hard, and I gasped at the raw pain in his voice.

"JJ," I said firmly, stepping closer and turning him to face me, my eyes locked on his. "You are an amazing father. Don't ever say that to me again."

He met my gaze, eyes glistening, but he didn't speak.

"Our daughter loves you more than anything, JJ. She idolizes you, and she's only one." I softened, reaching up to gently hold his face in my hands. "You've given her everything that really matters—she sees her hero in you, and that's the most precious thing of all. You're everything to her, JJ. You're everything to me."

His hands gripped mine, his eyes searching my face, and I felt him start to believe me. After a long, quiet moment, he pulled me in, holding me tightly, as though I were his anchor in this storm.

"I don't deserve you," he whispered into my hair, his voice thick.

"Yes, you do, JJ. You deserve us. And we're not going anywhere."

We stayed like that, holding on to each other in the dark, knowing that as long as we had this, we'd find a way through whatever came next.

We gathered again by the fire, the warmth wrapping around us, but there was a heaviness in the air that even the flames couldn't chase away. JJ sat on a log, his gaze distant as he stared into the fire, lost in thoughts I could only begin to guess at.

"Growing up, Luke would always tell me when he was drunk off his ass, 'If there's one thing I know, hell is other people,'" JJ finally spoke up, breaking the silence. We all glanced at him, a mix of curiosity and sadness in our eyes.

"When I was a kid, I didn't get it. It didn't make any sense to me." He paused, almost as if he were talking more to himself than us. "But then one day, I decided to ask him. I said, 'What do you mean, hell is other people?' He looked at me for a while, like he was trying to decide if I'd even get it, and then he just said, 'Just keep on living, and you'll find out.'" JJ's lips twisted into a bitter smile. "Luke's been wrong about a lot of things, but, man, was he right about that one."

The sadness in his voice cut deep, and I reached out, intertwining my hand with his, trying to let him know that he didn't have to carry that weight alone. But JJ withdrew, slipping his hand out of mine, his face turned away, his shoulders tense. He still thought he'd let me and Suzie down, that he hadn't done enough for us, that he was somehow not enough.