Chapter Fifteen // Daddy Issues

676 13 11
                                    




15. Daddy Issues

•••

"Go ahead and cry little girl
Nobody does it like you do
I know how much it matters to you
I know that you got daddy issues
And if you were my little girl
I'd do whatever I could do
I'd run away and hide with you
I love that you got daddy issues
And I do too"

~ Daddy Issues by The Neighborhood

•••

Trigger Warnings: Vague mentions of abuse/violence

•••

"I'm gonna do it!" Valerie called, her dark curly head peering over the edge of the roof.

"No way!" JJ called up to her, shaking his shaggy head in disbelief, "You'll never make it!"

She stood up, mentally measuring the distance between the edge of the shed's roof and the drop off into the water.

It was pretty far, but luckily she was a pretty good jumper. Sometimes she even beat JJ.

"I think I can make it." She argued, hands on her hips. "It's deep here. Right?"

JJ just shrugged, taking a sip from one of the beers he had stolen from his dad's fridge. Apparently it didn't take much alcohol for a couple of twelve year olds to start making bad decisions.

"Am I going to break my neck if I do this?" Valerie laughed, crunching up her own empty can and flinging it to the ground beneath her.

"Definitely."

"Cool."  She smirked down at him, "You gonna cry at my funeral, J?"

JJ scoffed, rolling his eyes, "No way. Crying's for pussies."

"You totally will." Her face broke out into a full smile as she danced around on top of the roof, her hair fluttering in the soft summer breeze. "I'm your best friend. If I'm gone who are you going to hang out with?"

"I dunno. John B.'s a pretty cool dude. He already thinks he's my best friend." He shrugged again, before pointing up at her. "So are you gonna jump or what?"

Valerie bit her lip and JJ could see that she was second guessing herself.

"Don't be a wuss!" He called.

"Okay, but like what if I DON'T make it?" She asked, her eyebrows drawn together apprehensively.

With a sigh, JJ put down his beer and moved to stand in the space between the shed and the water. "Then I'll catch you!"

"Oh my gosh!" She rolled her eyes, "No! I'll crush your scrawny ass if I fall from here!"

JJ waved away her concerns with a mischievous grin, "Nah. I got you, you just gotta trust me! Besides, you're my best friend, remember? If you go down. I go down."

•••

Curled into JJ's arms, Valerie inhaled deeply the comforting scent of him. Weed and body wash and salt water mixed with that distinctive JJ smell that she remembered so well from her childhood.

𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 // 𝕁𝕁 𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕜 Where stories live. Discover now