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Bronwyn's POV
"JJ?"
"B-Bronwyn? Is that really you?" He asks completely dumbfounded.
"Um yeah..." I reply furrowing my eyebrows slightly. "JJ, what the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"
I can sense that he's tense just by the way he keeps looking behind my shoulder, just before he focuses his gaze on me. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Yeah well I don't seem to be running away from something." I say crossing my arms in front of me.
"Touché." He says without moving his eyes off of me. Before I know it a huge smile spreads across his face and he grabs me into a hug. "I missed you so much Miller."
I wrap my arms around him, just realize how much he's grown, and how short I am compared to him. "I missed you too, so so much." I feel his grip tighten around me and we stay like that for a minute until he lets go and steps away.
"Wait, does Kie know you're back?" He asks kicking a stone by his feet around.
"Nope I haven't told anyone. We just got back actually so it wasn't like a big secret."
"Ah." He looks distracted and a silence falls between us for a moment before JJ clears his throat. "Well I'm sure glad you're back."
"I'm glad to be back." I reply placing my hands in my sweatshirt. "Why do you look so paranoid right now?"
JJ looks up at me, past my shoulder, and then back at me. "Well I kinda pissed off some kooks earlier and then my old man got really drunk so I walked out but I'm not exactly in the mood to get jumped by a bunch of pansies right now. So I'm taking a walk but keeping aware of my surroundings."
"Gotcha. When aren't you pissing off some kooks though." I laugh looking down at my shoes. He chuckles and kicks my shoe with his.
"Very true. I just don't feel like going home anytime soon."
"I bet." For a minute I don't know what to say so I don't. Until the silence between us makes me a bit anxious so I say the first thing that comes to my mind. "Do you wanna come crash at my place for the night?"
I pick my head up and see that JJ was already looking, a small smile on his face.
"Are you sure Mills?" He asks, a glint in his eyes.
"Of course. It'll be just like old times." I say shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
"Ok. Just like old times." He says wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pushes us to start walking. "Well lets go, I'm exhausted."
//
JJ and I snuck back up the old, creaky ladder and climb through my bedroom window. I lead the way and push open the glass then pull myself through. JJ follows but struggles slightly since he is bigger than me. He finally lands with both feet on the ground but makes a large "thud" noise.
"Shhhh!" I say chuckling slightly as he tries to compose himself. He pats down the front of his shirt and looks up with a smile.
"Wow, this looks nothing like how I remembered it." JJ says scanning my room and turning in a complete circle.
"Well we had to change it for the renters. That way it was more universal to whoever stayed here." I reply, sitting on my bed to take off my shoes. JJ sits down next to me and falls backwards onto my bed.
"Man Mills, we really missed you." He says with a big exhale.
"I missed y'all too. I honestly didn't think we would be back so soon, or ever really." I set my shoes at the end of my bed and lay down next to JJ's side. He's still laying on his back as I turn on my side to face him.
"So how did Michigan life treat ya?" He turns to look at me and for a moment my heart stops. I forgot how nice it felt to look into his eyes.
"Well we lived in a house on the lake which was really nice but it's not surfing material ya know. Like there wasn't any ten foot waves like there is here." I say playing with a tassel off of one of my blankets.
JJ props his head up on his arm and grabs a tassel to fidget with. "So what you're saying is you actually missed Outer Banks?" He tries to make it a question, mocking one of our conversations years prior.
"I missed certain things about it yes. But the snow is really pretty in the winter up there and the fall is even more beautiful. I think it could give this place a run for their money."
"Anything's better than this shithole." He says sitting up and raising his hands over his head to stretch. JJ lets out a large yawn and turn to look at me. "Do you have an extra blanket in all those boxes?"
"Yeah somewhere but I couldn't begin to know which one." I say sitting up and turning on the lamp next to my bed. "Do you really think you'll need another blanket, it's like eighty degrees outside?"
"Well I would like at least one, you have hardwood floors." He replies with some sarcasm.
"Do you actually think I would make you sore on the floor?" I ask with a slight chuckle and his face looks puzzled for a moment.
"Um- I just-well I thought that-" he stammers and I stop him.
"JJ shut up and get into bed." I pull my blankets away from the top of the bed and pat the side next to me. He takes off his sweatshirt and leaves him in a plain white t-shirt that exposes every muscle on his body.
He crawls under the covers and shimmeys around for a moment before settling down. "Goodnight Roni."
