VENUS → JJ MAYBANK [hiatus]

001. moments like this

𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗦 𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗘 was a hopeless romantic living in an empty world. She saw the world differently than everyone else, with more colour and hope than there was. She was untouched from the cruelness this world help. Some would call her naive, but those closest to her knew it was just her purity and they would do anything to protect that. 

Her parents were childhood lovers, Rebekah Lilly Ambrose, who was the American dream of a woman. Her beautiful blond hair and blue eyes complimented the pale skin she somehow always had. Venus's father, Noah James Ambrose, was every girls dream of a man. Noah was a clean cut doctor with piercing blue eyes and a year-round tan that complimented his blond hair. Together they had sixteen-year-old Venus, thirteen year old Sebastian, and four years old Rhys. The perfect family.

You'd assume that the perfect family was judgmental and particular in who they associated with. That was only true to and extent. The association part, not the judgmental. Rebekah and Noah couldn't care less about someones social statues. They cared about the way you treated others. When there family friends fell into poverty and drug addiction they tried to help, but there was only so much they could do.

It broke them, watching there friends turn into these unrecoqnizable people. It broke them when they watched a mother adbandon her four year old almost as much as it broke them the first time the four year old Venus brought home a bloody and beaten JJ Maybanks.

Venus snuggled up closer in the boys arms as she became more focused on her drawing book. JJ tried to get a glance at what she was drawing but let out a playful groan the secound the book slammed shut.

"Are you ever going to show people your drawings?" JJ quetioned, traicing his own drawings on her leg with his finger.

"I do," Venus pointed out flicking at the piece of paper beside them. She had drawn a quick sketch of a turtle smoking a joint as requested by JJ. "Just not the ones in my book."

JJ thought she was quite the drawer and could spend hours watching her deep in focus as she curled up with her book and pencil. As a matter of fact, he did. Anytime things got back at home he'd go to the Ambrose's house and spend hours wacthing the way Venus looked when she'd finish her mysterious drawings.

At one point she had drawn a sunflower JJ's bicep and had managed to somehow get orange marker on her cheek. JJ gently brushed the pad of his thumb against her skin. She looked up at him and smiled.

It was moments like this that feed into her hopeless romantic mindset. Summer break surounded by friends looking out at the ocean. But it was also moments like this that made Venus have life-long memories. Sitting at a house under renovation drinking beer.

Kiara was inside looking around at the fancy new house, Pope was messing around with some power tools, John B was balancing on the roof, and JJ was focused on Venus carfully drawing more sunflowers on his bicep.

"That's what, a three-story fall to the deck? I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival." Pope said. 

Pope was the smart one of the group, currently a finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst merit scholarship. When Venus found out about it, her family decided to have a dinner with the group as a celebration. Rebekah cooked salmon and Noah spent hours talking about the opertunities Pope has after graduation, and even offered him a future job.

"Hmm," John B said licking his finger and holding it up high to determine the winds direction. "Should I do it?"

"I really don't want to see you hurt, John B." Venus said looking up from her drawing and frowning.

John B was always the impulsive one when it made him look brave. The ringleader of the pouges. He was also the eason behind the one time Rebekah and Noah yelled at there daughter. He had convinced Venus to jump from the docks and she had slashed open her leg on a rock leaving a nasty scar.