Outer Banks (JJ Maybank x Female Reader) Book 3

The Fishermen

A bell rings loudly in my ears, over and over again. I groan, burying my head deeper into JJ's neck. "You have a bed, you know," He mutters, stroking my hair. "I'd rather sleep with you," I mumble into his shoulder, closing my eyes again. The bell keeps ringing, only stopping when John B storms up to the porch, riding his skateboard back and forth across the deck. "It's something about the dude's face, you know?" He asks. "Like the whole, "No hard feelings, bro", you know what I'm saying?" He asks, imitating Topper's voice. 

JJ blinks against the sunlight as I roll over. "No hard feelings? It's kinda hard not to have hard feelings about that," JJ sighs, sitting up and pulling me with him. "It's just that... that look. That Kook look, you know?" John B asks. "It was clear provucation," JJ nods. "Provocation," I mutter, correcting him. "Provocation, and, uh, I mean, you had to do what you had to do. No choice about it," JJ says. "Thank you, no choice," John B nods. I shake my head, standing up. "I'm not at all saying that what Sarah did wasn't wrong, because it was fucked up as hell, but you shouldn't have punched him," I say. "What if you get arrested?" I ask. 

"Arrested?" John B mutters. "I mean, you beat him up really bad, John B, and he didn't defend himself," I say. John B groans. "Anyway, we gotta figure out a plan to get to South America, like, yesterday," John B says, walking to the door. "I mean, they've got my dad," He says, walking inside. "You have any food, real quick, though?" JJ asks as he gets up and follows us. "So, I was thinking passports, right? We don't have those, therefore, we can't fly commercial. So, we need other ideas," John B says. 

"Okay, well, don't you got that money that you took from Portis?" JJ asks as John B opens the fridge. "I gave that to my dad," John B sighs, smelling a pack of something from the fridge. "So then, what about a boat?" I ask. John B coughs, gagging on the smell. "If we got a boat, maybe we could get down there, 'cause the HMS... yeah, you know about the HMS," I say as John B puts it back in the fridge. "Oh, Limbrey! Limbrey has a boat, what if we took that one down?" JJ asks, sticking his head in the fridge as John B rummages through the cabinets.

"Yeah, no, she took that back. And the HMS is not gonna make it down to the Port of Spain, so out on the boats," John B says, turning to face us. My stomach grumbles. JJ takes a bite of whatever John B put back in the fridge and I half-gag, hiding my face in my shirt. "So what you're saying is... we don't got any money, and we also don't have a boat that can make it to South America," JJ says, his mouth full of food. 

"Unbelievable," I mutter, not looking at whatever he's still eating. "Great," JJ nods. "Actually, I might know a guy," JJ says. "I'm onto something!" He says. "Uh-oh," John B says suddenly, dropping to the floor of the kitchen. "You don't start with "uh-oh", dude!" JJ groans. "You're so negative, dude!" JJ doesn't get to finish because John B yanks us to the floor. "Get down! Get down! Shoupe is out front, right now!" He hisses. "See! I told you, arrested!" I hiss back. "Not helping, y/n," John B groans. We all freeze.

"Alright, John B!" We hear Shoupe yell. "Shit!" JJ hisses, slamming the fridge as we all drop to our hands and knees, crawling for the next room. "Yoo-hoo! Anybody home?" He calls. "John B!" He shouts again. "Go under there! Under there!" JJ hisses, pushing John B under a table. We follow him under, squeezing tightly under the small desk. "Alright, John B, I know you're in there!" Shoupe calls, banging on the door. We all tuck our legs in, trying to stay quiet. "Shut up, shut up," John B hisses as Shoupe knocks again. 

"If he sees you, that's game over," JJ whispers as Shoupe peers through the door. "I know, I know, okay, JJ?" John B hisses. "You don't get that," JJ whispers. "I know you can hear me in there!" Shoupe calls, still banging. "You need to come out and talk to me, it'll be a whole lot worse if you don't," He says. He sighs and we hear the porch door slam. "Okey-doke! Have it your way, you know where you can find me!" He calls.