Grace felt like she was floating. To go from assuming the love of her life is sunken in the blue to having his arms wrapped around her in the span of hours had left her reeling.
She couldn't latch onto a single emotion before it escaped her clammy grip. First terror, then despair, then pure, unfiltered relief, and now... She wasn't sure.
Maybe it was fear again for what was ahead. Maybe it was comfort from the beating chest she was laying against. Or maybe it was just a break from feeling any emotion at all. It was yet another calm before yet another approaching storm.
"I think next time we take a trip, we should maybe plan ahead," mused John B.
"We can stay in a hotel next time," added Sarah.
"And a shower!" Piped in Kie.
"Yeah, I smell awful," Sarah complained.
John B poked away at the fire. "I smelled myself today-"
His wife cut him off. "You weren't the only one who smelled you."
The group erupted in their usual laughter.
The feeling of JJ's chest rumbling against her cheek forced a grin onto Grace's lips.
Now she could place it. Gratitude. That was what she was feeling. By some will of nature, they were all alive and all together. That wasn't something to take for granted, and after everything, she would never be able to.
She peeled her eyes from her giggling sister to look up at her husband. JJ was wearing a massive smile as he joined in on teasing John B.
Grace didn't even bother listening to the overlapping voices; she just stared up at him, a content smile on her lips.
JJ's hands were absentmindedly drawing on her hip as he held her close. The feeling was so soothing that she'd have fallen asleep if it weren't for the Pogues' boisterous chatter.
Feeling overwhelming adoration, Grace kissed him. From her position against his chest, she couldn't reach very high up, and the kiss ended up landing closer to his collarbone than his neck, but neither of them minded.
JJ's smirk that appeared whenever he was teasing John B and was always especially wide when a friend would join in (this time, it was Sarah) softened into a gentle smile at Grace's small gesture.
He'd been so worried about finding her again after washing ashore, and now that she was back in his arms, he could finally relax.
Sarah told John B that he saved her, but if he was honest, she saved him too.
Over the hours of walking through the dunes, they motivated each other, keeping positive despite all odds. When their feet grew particularly sore, and their morale began to dip, she came up with a game. Sarah would give JJ an embarrassing story about her sister, and in return, JJ would supply her with one of John B.
Sarah had noticed the worried expression on JJ's face and had come up with it, telling him that once they reunited, they would have plenty of ammo to embarrass their spouses with. Once, not if.
JJ's soft smile remained plastered to his face as he imagined little Grace and little Sarah performing an eccentric dance to convince Ward to let them have a sleepover in the boat.
His fingers continued to doodle away on the skin of her thigh.
Grace picked up on it when his random squiggles transformed into more precise movements.
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He continued joking around with Sarah as if he weren't doing anything at all.
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𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank
FanfictionGrace Cameron was a Pogue. Always has been. Sure her dad and half-siblings were the Kookiest a Kook could get but her mom had grown up on the Cut so she did too. Her friend group vowed to have a good time all the time but when a boat goes down in th...
