Sea You Soon // An Outer Banks Fanfiction

15- Seventeen

The next couple of days passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening. JJ and I told Pope and Kiara all about the phone call with John B, and the four of us tried to think of a way that we could help them get home. Even with Pope's help, we had little success. We called and talked to John B and Sarah a couple more times. We were all just relieved to hear their voices and know that they were safe.

A few days after that first phone call from John B, I woke up late in the morning and heard a bunch of clattering in the kitchen. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but I hoped someone wasn't breaking in.

I climbed out of my bed and quietly walked out of my room. I peeked around the corner to look into the kitchen, and I saw JJ standing in front of the stove flipping pancakes. His back was turned to me, so I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his bare back. He jumped slightly and said, "Shit, you scared me."

JJ covered my hands with his before setting down his spatula and turning around to hug me back. He gave me a kiss before saying, "Happy birthday, Paisley."

I pulled back from his embrace slightly and said, "Wait, how did you know?"

"What do you mean, how did I know? How could I forget about your birthday?" He lightly kissed my forehead.

"I just assumed you wouldn't remember because I didn't say anything," I answered.

"Yeah yeah, you thought you were being slick by not mentioning it, but that didn't work, did it?" JJ joked.

He turned back to the stove to flip a few more pancakes. After a couple of minutes, he put them onto a plate that already had a ton of pancakes stacked on top of it. The plate looked pretty heavy, and I could see the muscles in his arms flex as he carried it over to the table. I just stood there for a second and stared. Holy shit. JJ turned around and caught me staring, and he just smirked.

My face turned bright red, and I suddenly felt self-conscious standing there in my pajamas with my hair a mess.

He walked back into the kitchen to grab a stack of plates and the bottle of syrup.

"Why do we need so many plates, JJ?" I asked, giving him a confused look.

"We may or may not be having some guests over in a few minutes." JJ winked at me.

"Shit, I have to go get dressed. I look gross." I rushed to my bedroom.

JJ yelled, "I think you look hot!"

I smiled to myself. I put on the first thing that a saw in my closet and I ran a brush through my hair. Luckily I was having a good hair day.

When I walked back into the kitchen, JJ was sitting at the table, and I noticed that there was a huge bouquet of sunflowers sitting in the middle. Sunflowers are my favorite, and I didn't think JJ knew about that. Sitting next to the vase was a couple of wrapped packages.

JJ looked up at me and said, "I think that's the fastest I've ever seen you get ready."

I ignored him and said, "JJ, how did you know that sunflowers are my favorite?"

"Lucky guess." He smiled at me.

I was now starting to realize how much of a good listener JJ was. It means a lot to know that he cares about the little things that are important to me.

"Pais, you can open these now, if you want to," JJ said, holding out the presents.

I walked over to take them from and he patted his legs, indicating for me to sit down.

I rolled my eyes and said, "You're a dork," as I sat down on his lap.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Okay, open them now," he said excitedly.