Nothing Lasts Forever - JJ Maybank

EP 5: Slowly but Surely

After the graveyard "adventure"- according to JJ- they went to drop me off back at my house. John B shut the headlights off as we pulled up and he parked the van.

"It was nice to meet you guys." I say.

"Nice to meet you." Kiara sweetly says.

"Nice meeting you." Pope says.

"Bye, JJ." I say as I look over at JJ with a small smile.

"How about I stay with you?" He suggests making John B raise his eyebrows.

"H-huh?" I respond as I look into his eyes.

"I could stay with you for a bit. It'll be fine. My place isn't far from here." JJ says.

"Uh... sure." I say, I wasn't sure if he wanted a hook-up with me right now. I just wasn't that type of girl though.

He opens the van and we get out. He shuts the door and goes up to the passenger window, "Well, yonder ye. We'll be uh-going." JJ tells them before turning around and walking with me as we head sneakily to my bedroom window.

I open it carefully and sneak inside before JJ follows, but of course, he trips a bit as he gets in. We both freeze after the noise, and I pray it does not wake anyone up. Luckily, we heard nothing after a few moments and I let out a relieved sigh before going over to my bedroom door and making sure it was locked.

I take my shoes off before getting in bed. JJ gets in bed as well, not really waiting for an invite or anything. I don't mind though as we lay side by side.

"So, what was tonight even all about?" I softly ask, my voice having to keep quiet as to not wake anyone up.

JJ sighs, "John B's dad died a while back and... he's kind of in denial about it. He thinks that his dad is out there and that he's for some strange reason left clues for John B to find him. Like... a treasure hunt or some shit."

"Well, that sucks." I say. "But it's nice that the three of you are going along with it."

"Yeah, I mean, he's my bro so..." JJ trails off, shrugging a little.

"That's sweet of you." I softly say.

"You think so?" He asks in a teasing tone, his hand going up and resting on my hip. I blush a little at his touch as I nod.

"I still feel a bit bad about... about how I reacted at Lana's house." I admit.

"Why?" JJ asks.

"I should've comforted her... not- not walked out." I say.

"It's fine. You were fine." JJ says. "I... didn't exactly want to be there either." He tells me.

This side of JJ was much different from what I was used to and I was honestly shocked that I was even seeing this side of him so early into knowing him but it was comforting. I hadn't felt this comfortable around anyone else in a while and honestly, this was just the beginning of me opening up.

"Just... it brought me back to.. a time that I don't want to go back to." That is all I say. I was intentionally being a bit vague, to be honest. Though, even saying that was a lot for me.

JJ's eyes glance over my face for a moment before responding. "I get that." Is all he says before looking away. Obviously, there was stuff neither of us were ready to talk about. Not yet.

I sigh as I take a shaky breath, wiping a tear that seems to be forming in one of my eyes. Honestly, everything that happened was quite fresh so I was still dealing with... coping with it, I guess you could say.

"You good?" JJ asks.

"Yeah." I sniffle as I wipe the tear, taking a deep breath in.

Neither of us said anything and all I wanted to do right now was be hugged but I was scared. I knew that things were moving fast, in a way, or at least it felt that way to me. I refused to initiate that type of affection despite how much I wanted it.

Suddenly, JJ is pulling me in against him, his arms wrapping around me as my face rests against his chest. We just lay there in silence for a while before eventually, I drift off to sleep, JJ following shortly after.