someone to stay, ⁹¹¹

𝟎𝟐𝟗.

"We need to talk, sweetheart."

JJ stood there for a second longer after Buck's words, chest rising and falling just a little too fast.

She swallowed. Hard. "About what?" she asked, even though her voice was too small. It wasn't defiance. It was desperation. Denial tried to dig its claws in one last time, but she knew there was no use.

Sophia opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked at Buck, this was his to lead now.

Buck took a slow breath, the kind that felt like he was forcing his heart to keep steady for a second. "About what's been going on with you. About... the pills."

JJ flinched. It was physical. A full step back. Her hand gripped the edge of the wall like she needed it to stay standing, she probably did.

"No," she whispered. "No, no. Soph—" her eyes snapped to her best friend, filled with betrayal and something else. Shame. "You promised."

Sophia stepped forward, gently. "I warned you that you'd have until after Christmas, JJ. That if you didn't tell them by then, I would. I had to. You need help—"

"I don't need help!" JJ cried, too loud, too sudden. It echoed off the Diaz walls. "I'm not even on it anymore—I stopped, okay? I stopped! It's over." Her hands were trembling.

Buck stepped toward her, slowly like she was a wounded animal. "Sweetheart..." he said, voice cracking on the endearment. "You were abusing Adderall. Since the tsunami? That's months. That's not nothing. That's not... over."

JJ choked on a sob as it clawed out of her throat. "I didn't know how else to survive!"

The room went still.

And JJ collapsed, metaphorically, and emotionally. Her shoulders sank as the tears came fast and mercilessly. She covered her face with both hands, gasping through it.

"I didn't mean to! I didn't even really want to... it just made the noise stop and I could breathe and I could focus and I wasn't stuck in the water every time I closed my eyes—"

Buck was crying before he even knew it. Silent tears. Just watching his daughter unravel broke something inside of him.

JJ looked between all of them with tear-glazed eyes. "I'm sorry," she said again and again. "I'm so sorry—I didn't want to lie. I just—" She hiccupped. "I thought if I could get better on my own, I'd never have to tell you. I didn't want you to look at me like this."

Eddie finally stepped forward, jaw tight, but his voice was calm and controlled, for her. "We don't look at you like anything, mija. You're still you. But this—this isn't something you should go through alone. "

JJ wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie. "I didn't even realise it was a problem until I tried to stop and everything felt... empty. Like I couldn't even laugh without it feeling fake."

Sophia's voice was soft. "You've been doing better. Every day."

"Not good enough," JJ whispered.

"You're clean," Buck said. "That's enough for now."

Then Eddie gently added, "We should look into treatment. Rehab. Just outpatient maybe—"

"No!" JJ snapped, backing up like he'd slapped her. "No. You can't send me away. You can't—"

She started to panic, her breath hitching as she shook her head. "No, no, no—please. You can't send me away. I'll be good, I promise. I'll do anything. Just don't send me away."

The fear in her voice wasn't abstract. It was lived-in. It was rooted. Deep.

Buck stepped forward then, all the way this time. His arms wrapped around her like a shield. She clung to him instantly.