Sailor (1) | JJ Maybank UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Angel

"What do you want your future to look like in ten years?"

Bailee dangled her feet off of her bedroom roof with JJ by her side; the lit-up pool beneath their feet a story down made the night glow in water colored patterns. JJ and Bailee's shoes had been taken off when they got into the house after dropping off Pope and Kiara, along with their shirts. 

Whenever they were on the roof, they had ended up drinking too much and taking their shirts off. It had just become something they did now, sitting on the smaller side of the tall house with their shirts and shoes off.

"Ten years? Away from this island with you- even if we don't get the gold. We'll run away to somewhere without our parents or our aunts. It'll be just us." 

"What about the pogues? Don't you want to stay with them?" Bailee questioned with a small cock of her head, to which JJ shrugged.

"I'll always be a pogue, no matter where I am. Pope will go off to college, Kie will become a rich socialist, John B will either be gone with child services or, by your standards, married to Sarah. It's just us." JJ looked down at the pool and took a small sip of the bottle before letting out a heavy sigh,  "I want us to all stay together, obviously, but I don't know if it'll happen."

Bailee leaned onto JJ's shoulder and looked up at him. "They're your best friends, J. The memories will always be there. I'm not talking about the pogues, I'm talking about you. Just- just think about you for once. What do you want?"

JJ looked down at Bailee, studying her face before answering. "I want to go to Australia. I'll be a pro surfer and own a surf shack on the beach. You can go to a university and become a marine biologist like you want, and we'll be together." He paused for a second and took a deep breath.

"To be honest, like... completely honest, I want to be with you. We can have the small house away from our families, have the kids we talked about, sit out on the ocean, and live. I just want you." JJ shrugged and looked down, not meeting Bailee's eyes as much as he wanted to, "I've been crazy in love with you for, like, forever. Future to me seems stupid without you."

Love.

JJ loved Bailee.

Bailee smiled so wide her mouth hurt and placed her hand on JJ's, toying with his ring. When he didn't look up, she spoke. "We'll catch fish in the morning and take our kids to school. I'll make the chocolate pancakes we love and watch the ocean waves every night. We can go to drive-in movies and you and I can teach 'em how to surf and swim."

He finally met her gaze, strengthening the hold on her hand as she spoke. JJ was in complete and utter awe of the girl in front of him, and for a moment, he was scared she'd disappear if he let go for even a second.

Bailee's smile widened when JJ's did. "J, you're the only person for me. I didn't realize how in love with you I was until what I thought was too late - and I don't ever want to feel like I'm going to lose you like that again."

JJ leaned in, eyes fluttering closed. He kissed her softly, pouring every ounce of love he had into it. Bailee cupped his jaw and did the exact same. 

Even after they broke the kiss, they stayed there. Bailee's hands kept on JJ's jaw and his hand stayed on her knee with their labored breaths and foreheads pressed together. She eventually swung her leg over both of his, buring her face into JJ's neck and breathing in his cologne deeply.

"How much do you want to bet that Pope and Kie are going to kill us?" Bailee asked as JJ snorted.

"I think they'll be fine. Besides, I knew you way before they knew you." JJ rested his chin on her head that was still buried in his neck. "I've got dibs."

JJ rubbed small circles onto Bailee's back just like every single time she had gotten hurt and they ended up on this roof.

The first time JJ had seen Bailee cry and coincidentally the first time they met, it was terrifying to see what little confidence she had brake so easily. He held her delicately that night, like she was glass. He held a broken girl in between his broken arms. 

The first time she saw JJ cry was only a few days after that. He showed up at her door in the pounding rain with blood running down his cheek. Bailee had immediately brought him inside her room, careful not to wake her aunt and uncle. She had cleaned him up in the bathtub, JJ only speaking about what happened once the two had gotten in her bed.

Neither knew those would be the first of many, but neither could imagine their lives without it anymore.

JJ sighed as Bailee leaned out of his touch. She stood on the roof, exiting JJ's hold before holding her hand out for him to grab. She smirked when he did and pulled JJ closer to the edge of the house. The pool beneath them was glowing blue in the dark beneath their feet. Their toes sat just after the roof had ended, the air being the only thing between them and the water.

"You ready?" Bailee looked to JJ, who grinned and nodded as he gripped her hand tighter.

"Aren't I always?" JJ said. Both of them looked down and back up. The two mentally communicated it seemed because, at the same time, Bailee and JJ jumped into the air.

It was a split second before they splashed into the water a few stories down, the adrenaline racing. Once they hit the bottom of the pool, the two turned to each other as they held their breath. Each smiled before coming back up for air.

Bailee cheered with JJ like it was the first time they had jumped into the pool. Her fist raised into the air as she continued to tread in the deep blue, the two swimming into a stand-able area. JJ ducked his hands below the water and wrapped Bailee's legs around his waist, making her squeal.

"We're gonna live forever!" JJ screamed as Bailee laughed. He looked at her, his hair soaking wet and making a mess on his face "That never gets old." 

"It never will." 

The silence overtook them as they stood in the pool and looked into the night sky before JJ spoke up. "I was serious, you know."

Bailee paused her star gazing to look at JJ. "What do you mean, J?"

"About the future. God, we've only been together for a day, but I want you in my life every day after that, too." JJ chuckled as he ran his hands through his wet hair.

"J, we've been a part of each other's lives for two years - mostly in love with each other without knowing the whole time. Even before the kiss, we said we were gonna have kids. Just because we we've only technically been together for a day doesn't mean that the future we planned is now crazy; it always has been."

"How do you do that?"

Bailee's confusion spread across her face at JJ's question. "Do what?" She focused her attention solely on him, her arm moving to touch his shoulder.

"That. Make me feel like I'm the most important person in the world. How do you always know exactly how to deal with me?" JJ confessed. Bailee laughed quietly, which made him even more confused.

"I don't have to deal with anything. I just listen. You're not a problem, J, especially not to me. You're an amazing person with interests and feelings and the need to be loved, just like everyone else. You're important... I guess I just try to show you how important you are to me." Bailee shrugged softly.

JJ turned to Bailee and walked through the water until his chest was pressed against hers. He cupped her face in his hands and her hair sloppily lay on her back, dripping into the pool.

Her eyelashes looked stuck together from the water and her face shined with a tint of blue. JJ, at that moment, truly thought she looked like a goddess. He didn't speak for a moment, just holding her in his hands.

"You're an angel." He whispered, making Bailee's cheeks turn rosy, "You simply have to be. There's no other explanation for it."

His blond hair stuck to his forehead as small beads of water dripped onto his nose. Bailee didn't respond to his words for a moment. She stared into his deep blue eyes as the water stilled slowly against them.

"Then I'm your angel, J." Bailee decided on before connecting her lips to his.

_____
edited.

(sorry this one is shorter!! i promise the next few won't be)