Sea You Soon // An Outer Banks Fanfiction

22- Our Place

Close to midnight, John B poked his head in my door. "Sarah and I are going to bed now. She's going to stay with me tonight."

I just looked at him and didn't say anything.

"Goodnight," he said. I just slightly nodded my head.

When he closed my door, I grabbed my phone and texted JJ, "They just went to bed. I'll wait 30 minutes to make sure that they're actually asleep."

JJ responded in seconds, "You still haven't told me what we're doing."

"I know, it's a surprise ;)"

"You're a bully."

":(((("

"Jk, you're cute."

"😘"

I gathered up a few blankets and dressed in a sweatshirt and some sweatpants. I planned to take JJ back to the cove and it was going to be really cold down by the water.

I quietly opened my door and went to listen outside of John B's room. It was quiet, so I assumed that they were already asleep. I grabbed the keys to the Pogue and crept back to my room. I sent JJ another quick text, "I'm leaving my house now. Dress warm."

I slid my window open and grabbed the keys and the blankets. I crawled through and closed the window behind me quietly.

I started down the hill toward the boat. Once I reached the Pogue, I threw the blankets in and started it up. I docked close to JJ's house and I called him. The phone rang for a minute and went to his voicemail. I sighed and turned the boat off. I got out and started toward the house. As I got closer, I could see JJ's dad sitting on the porch with a bottle of beer.

If I wasn't careful, he might see me. If he did, then he would probably know that JJ was here. I walked out more to the right, walking away from the house and swinging back around when I got closer to JJ 's window. I slowly opened it and crawled in. He was asleep on his bed.

I crouched down next to him and started rubbing his back. "JJ, wake up," I whispered.

He slowly started to stir, and when he opened his eyes, he looked confused. "What are you doing here, Pais? I told you it's not safe."

"I'm here to pick you up," I responded, kissing his forehead. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He got up out of bed and went to put a shirt on. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the cove," I said.

A smile crossed JJ's face.

"Do you have any extra blankets we can take with us? It's going to be freezing," I asked.

"I'll keep you warm," JJ said, winking. He pulled the comforter off of his bed. "We can take this."

"Okay," I said, laughing.

He helped me out the window and then crawled out after me. "JJ," I whispered. "Your dad's sitting on the porch. We need to be careful."

"Or we could just make a mad dash for it," JJ said, laughing. "He can't do anything to me if I'm not here."

JJ grabbed my hand and we started running toward the boat. As we ran past the house, we could hear his dad yelling at us. We couldn't make out a word he was saying because he was drunk off his ass.

JJ jumped into the boat and he leaned over to lift me in. He started up the boat and sped off toward the cove. We were laughing so hard that neither of us could breathe.

I sat down on the floor of the boat, shivering.

JJ looked back at me and said, "Come here." He pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist, grabbing the steering wheel.

When we got to the cove, JJ and I carried the blankets down into the cave, trying to find some dry sand.

Once we found a dry enough spot, I spread out one of the blankets and we sat down. We grabbed the rest of the blankets and spread them over us. JJ laid down and pulled me down with him. I rested my head on his chest. 

"Thanks for everything you did today," I said.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked. 

"You protected me from Topper, even though you knew John B was going to get mad at you. I really appreciate it."

"I couldn't let him hit you, Pais. No guy should ever treat a girl like that, especially you."

We sat in silence for a minute before I said, "Hey JJ?"

"What's up?" he responded.

I looked up at him and said, "I love you, too."

"Wait, what?" he asked, sitting up slightly.

"I heard everything that you said when you were fighting with John B, and well, I love-"

JJ cut me off with a kiss. "I don't give a shit about what John B says."

I kissed him again. 

I laid my head back down on JJ's chest as he said, "Tell me something interesting about yourself. What do you want in life?"

I laughed lightly, "That's an interesting question coming from you." I paused for a second. "Well, after high school, I think it would be cool to go to college. I never thought I would be able to afford it, but now I can."

"What do you want to study?" JJ asked. He seemed genuinely interested in what I was telling him, and it was really sweet. 

"I don't really know. I've thought about becoming some sort of doctor, but I also think it would be fun to be a teacher."

"Ew, who wants to spend all day with a bunch of nasty kids?" JJ looked disgusted.

"I love kids," I said defensively.

"Let me guess, you want to have, like, 50 of your own when you're older?"

"I do want to be a mom, if that's what you're asking," I sassed.

"When I have kids, I'm never going to treat them the way my dad treats me. They're going to know that they're loved, and I'm going to give them the world," JJ said seriously. 

I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his cheek. "What about you, JJ? Have you thought about what you want to do with your life?"

"Honestly, no. I never even thought I would finish high school. I was planning on dropping out after junior year, but now I think I'll finish. I don't want to end up like my dad. He's useless. Hell, I might shock everyone and even go to college."

"I'm proud of you, JJ."

He let out a laugh.

"I'm serious," I said, looking up at him.

He kissed my forehead and said, "I want to leave this damn island. I know it's hard to believe because living in a place like this is everyone's dream, but I need to get away. As long as I'm here, I'll never be free from my dad." 

"I get that," I responded. "It would be nice to live somewhere else. Somewhere on the mainland, far from here."

"Once we get everything figured out and John B's name is cleared, we should all leave this place."

"I think that's a great idea," I said, kissing his cheek again.

It was really cold, so I moved even closer to JJ, and he hugged me tight against him. After a little while, we both fell asleep.