White Lies | JJ Maybank

chapter twenty nine

A/N: omg okay thank you guys soooooo much for 4.8k!!!! i love you all sm <3 also, sorry for not updating a lot... it's been super busy but i passed my permit test and can get my permit tomorrow!

"Lio!" JJ comes running up from behind her.

All of the noises pounded into Lio's ears, not a single one of them able to be heard. 

"Baby, hey," JJ cups his hands around her face, trying to gather her attention. 

All Lio could see was a blurred outline of JJ's face before everything went black.

She could see herself laying down in complete and utter pitch blackness. Memories of her father and her mother flooded in front of her, like little polaroids floating around her head.

☾☾☾☾☾

Lio stands up to get some watermelon from the fridge when all of a sudden, her phone begins to ring. She picks it up to read "Momma" glide across the screen.

"Hello?" Lio asks.

"Hey, Lio," her mother replies.

"Aren't you working?"

"Yes, well not anymore. I just found something out and I need to come home and tell you."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I cannot tell you this over the phone. Just promise me you won't say anything to anyone about this."

"Okay, okay, I promise."

"Not even JJ."

"Yeah, yeah. I promise."

"Okay I'll see you in a few. I love you, Lio. So, so, so much."

"I love you too, Momma."

The line goes dead, leaving Lio stand there in confusion. 

☾☾☾☾☾

Hours pass, Lio's mother still hadn't come home.

After another fourty-five minutes of pacing the floor, Lio calls her mom. Again. For the sixteenth time.

No answer.

The seventeenth time.

No answer.

She calls the only person she could trust in this moment... JJ.

"Hey, Lio!" JJ's voice cheers.

"JJ," Lio gulps.

"Woah, are you okay? What-"

"You need to come over. Now please."

"Okay, yeah, yeah. I'll be there in five."

"Okay..." Lio shakily hangs up and within minutes there was a knock at the door.

She slowly opens the door, but JJ shoves it open.

JJ steps into the door, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

"Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?" JJ spams her with questions and holds her face with his hands.

"Um, my- my," she stutters.

"Hey, hey, look at me. You're okay, I've got you."

"My mom hasn't come home..."

"Okay, but isn't she working?" 

"She was but then she called me and told me she was only a few minutes from home. And it's been hours, J. Hours."

He takes his thumb and wipes away the tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

"Okay, did you talk to the cops?"

"No, they can't do anything about it anyways. She's an adult which means I have to wait twenty-four hours to report anything."

"It's gonna be okay, Lio. I promise. She'll come home," JJ knew he was lying. There was no reason for her to disappear and he had a gut feeling she wasn't coming home.

☾☾☾☾☾

Lio wakes up in a dark room, someone laying by her side.

"JJ?" Lio panics.

"Hey, hey... I'm here, I've got you. You're okay, I've got you," JJ hushes her, pulling her closer to him.

"What happened?" Lio croaks.

"You blacked out," JJ replies, twirling her hair between his fingers.

"What about the kid?"

"What kid?" 

"The kid I was talking to..."

"Peterkin took him back to her office, he's okay."

"Where are we?" She asks, trying to sit up to see her surroundings.

"We're home now. We're in your bed, wrapped up in blankets," JJ kisses her forehead. "Oh, I also threw some clothes in the dryer and then changed you into them so you were warm."

"Wait... you remembered?"

"Of course I did, baby," JJ looks down to see her moonlit smile.

He remembered she always puts her pajamas in the dryer so they're warm for when she goes to bed. 

"I love you," Lio mumbles into his chest as she buries herself closer to him.

"I love you more."