Together Again • JJ Maybank

Fourteen

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My eyes and body felt heavy as the knocking on my bedroom door startled me awake from my much needed deep sleep. Sun was slicing through the crack in my curtains and I could hear the comforting but loud seagulls squawking outside. It was morning, but after such an insane wild night, there was no way the few hours of sleep I had gotten was enough.

"Abby dear, I know it's early but Shoupe wanted you all down the station to run through your official statements." Nana's sweet voice called through the closed door. After keeping her in the dark and lying to her once again, I was so grateful that she didn't freak out when the police dropped JJ and I at the door at 2am this morning. I was even more grateful that she let him stay the night after we explained everything to her.

"OK, getting up now Nana." I called back, trying to ignore the desperate need in me to roll over and fall back to sleep.

A smirk grew on my lips the second I heard the groaning beside me. "Why are you shouting? It's so early." JJ's sleepy voice croaked into the pillow he was shoving his face into. Rolling over to face him, I studied his messy head of blonde hair and relaxed, albeit slightly bruised, face.

Reaching forward, I brushed a lose strand of hair away from his face as his blue eyes fluttered open to look at me. "Quit watching me sleep, you creep." He muttered with the playful smirk I had missed so much.

"I'm just glad you're still here." I instantly regretted my choice of words the second I said them, watching as his smirk dropped and his eyes fell heavy. "I didn't mean it like that... it wasn't a dig." I quickly tried to recover, shuffling closer and reaching for his body as if I was worried he would bolt again.

But to my joy, he lifted his arm letting me setting into his chest before wrapping it securely around my back. "You have every right to mean it like that. I've not exactly stuck around this long lately."

Burying my nose into his chest, I took a moment to appreciate his scent before looking up at his now serious face. "But you were there when I needed you most. That's all that matters now." His eyes glanced down at me before flicking away so I reached for his face, placing my hands on either side to pull his attention back to me. "I mean it. It's all forgotten JJ." 

Placing a kiss on his lips, I felt as the corners of his rose slightly as he smiled into the kiss. But as much as I'd missed this, and him, I was all to aware of Nana the other side of the thin wall. Placing my hand on his chest, I gently pushed him back before we could get too carried away.

"As much as I'd love to stay in bed with you all day, we have a long day of police interviews to get to. The sooner we get them done, the sooner John B can come home."

JJ's blue eyes glistened, his smile growing wider even as we reluctantly separated our entwined limbs from each other and climbed off the bed. "True. Plus I know Nana didn't verbally object to me staying with you in your room last night, but I'm pretty sure she glared at me a second longer than was necessary with eyes that definitely said she would castrate me if she had to. I love you, but I need my balls Abby." 

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The day at Kildare police station was long and draining, particularly on such little sleep. But for the first time in months I finally felt like all our hard work was paying off and people were finally listening to us.  

The police separated the four of us so that we could each give as much detail in our statements against Ward and everything we knew and had discovered. I lost track of how many times I repeated the same story over and over, but Shoupe was being thorough, making sure nothing slipped through the cracks and would risk Ward going free.