BETRAYAL | JJ Maybank Fanfic [outer banks]

THIRTY SEVEN

The sea breeze was blowing hard against the wood of the ship, but inside the small cabin, the air was charged with palpable tension. I had fallen silent, my eyes fixed on the floor, my mind caught in a whirlwind of thoughts and memories. The sound of waves crashing against the ship's hull was the only thing breaking the silence, a distant, almost surreal noise, as if the outside world were happening on another plane.

Sarah, John B, Kiara, JJ... they were all there, in the small room on the boat, looking at me with a mixture of concern, confusion and fear. They had discovered the truth, the truth that I had been hiding for so long, the truth that had haunted me since that Halloween night. Rafe Cameron. The name seemed alien to me, distant, as if it belonged to a place that no longer existed, but at the same time, the mere mention of it made the pain come back to hit me hard.

"Gina..." Kiara broke the silence, her voice soft but firm. "You don't have to say anything else if you don't want to. We just... want you to know we're here. You're not alone."

I looked up for a moment. My eyes, full of pain and despair, met the others', but I couldn't hold them for long. It was as if seeing their faces made me feel even more exposed, vulnerable. I didn't want them to see her that way. I didn't want anyone to see me weak. But the fear, the shame, the guilt? it all crushed me

."Gina had no idea what my brother had done." Sarah confessed in a trembling voice, evidently in shock at hearing what her brother had come to do. "He has no excuse."

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes tightly. I had spent so long keeping that secret, ignoring what had happened, as if I could simply bury it deep inside me. But there it was, in front of me, as real as ever. The memory of that night.

"And how would you know?" I whispered with a crack in my voice. "I didn't tell anyone, only John B. Because he was the one who saved me." or so I thought until the moment JJ related my story.

The air in the cabin was thick, charged with the tension of the words that had just been spoken. In my confusion, had been caught between fragmented memories and a truth that now hit me like a gale. The thought that John B had been the one who had saved me that night had been the only certainty I had ever had. But JJ's words changed everything.

"It wasn't me, Gina. It was JJ." he confessed. "At least he did most of it. Then at the lighthouse he told me all about it and came after you to your aid."

A heavy silence settled in the room, and all eyes turned to me, expectant, but also fearful. That wasn't easy to hear, especially for JJ, who had been there, but had never talked about what had happened. Somehow, he had kept that secret, perhaps thinking it would be for the best, that he didn't want anyone to see him differently. But now, in my eyes, the truth could no longer remain hidden.

I frowned, my heart beginning to beat faster, and confusion mingled with something else: a kind of disbelief. All this time I had believed that John B. was the one who had been there to save me. the one who had pulled meout of Rafe Cameron's clutches. That's the reason we started dating. But now, John B was revealing something to me that sent my whole world reeling.

"No... that can't be..." I muttered, my voice cracking as I looked at JJ, who remained in the corner of the cabin, staring at the floor, avoiding his gaze.

John B, opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't find the right words. He knew that what was going on was much more complex than everyone had believed. He knew JJ had been there, but how did they explain all of that to me without it seeming like unnecessary drama?

It was JJ who, at last, raised his head, and his eyes, usually full of sarcasm or jest, now reflected a vulnerability he had never shown before. He walked towards me, saying nothing at first, just looking into my eyes with an intensity that made me feel even more lost. As if he was waiting for me to understand, even if he wasn't sure he could explain it in words.