stevie | outer banks | JJxOC

40- it fucking sucks

TW: mentions of depression and grief and struggles with eating

John B and Sarah's death plagued the outer banks. A place that was nowhere, where nothing happened, suddenly was mixed up in tragedy. First the disappearance and death of Big John then the shock of Scooter Grubbs. Followed by the murder of the chief of the police and the wrongfully accused suspect died at sea with his girlfriend. And at the end of it, a cloud of sorrow hung over the island.

Stevie spent the next month broken. She couldn't even bring herself out of bed. Most days she was crying if not just sleeping dreamlessly. Pope spent time in her room when he could, sometimes just reading to her to let her know she was not alone. He too would cry but he didn't want to upset Stevie further but she could hear him. Kie also came over to comfort both Pope and Stevie- often spending time with Stevie in her room first before going out with Pope. Kie would just lay in bed with her, holding her if she was crying. They spent hours curled up together normally in silence. She didn't talk a lot.

JJ's visits were normally the most heartbreaking. He came over as much as he could but he recently got more hours at the country club so was more busy. He tried his hardest to help her but it was hard when all the teens were grieving. He would make sure she showered and that her hair was clean. He learnt how to use the products that she liked so her hair would be slightly curly, the way she liked it. When he noticed her hair getting close to matting due to her constant lying in bed without brushing it, he got kie to teach him how to French and Dutch braid it to keep her hair protected.

He was the only one who could get her to eat. Mama Heyward would make her plates but often they came back down a few days later cold and completely untouched. And her health was taking a hit. When JJ came over he tried his hardest to get her to eat but every time he saw her his heart broke slightly. He hated that he couldn't do anything to make her better. That he could only sit there whilst she cried and cried over eating food. That she could barely look into his eyes without crying. Then Stevie felt shit all over again for putting JJ through this. That he was grieving too but he put her before him.

JJ had rushed over to the Heyward residence after his shift, part of him felt guilty for not visiting the day before. He parked up his bike before swinging by the back entrance and walking into the kitchen where Mrs Heyward was cooking in the kitchen.

"JJ my love," She greeted him, happy that he was here. She loved Stevie for the person she was and felt helpless. Mrs Heyward grew to adore JJ more than she ever had, his resilience and love for Stevie hit her hard. The effort he put in made her smile even in a shit situation.

She softly kissed him on his forehead, "Thanks"

"You just come from work?" She inquired.

"Yeah, yeah," JJ answered before Pope walked into the room, "hey," he gave Pope a quick hug.

"You good?" Pope asked and JJ kinda just shrugged his shoulders but Pope understood. They were both feeling something very hard to explain.

"You here to see Stevie?" Mrs Heyward asked delicately and JJ nodded, "Could you take this up to her, please?" She held up a small bowl of pasta. She looked almost desperate and JJ released Stevie clearly hadn't eaten in a while.

"You're the only one that can get her to eat," Pope explained what JJ had kind of thought.

"I'll try," JJ picked up the bowl and carried it upstairs. Like always when he was visiting her, she was curled up in bed with nothing of her face visible. "Evie?" JJ asked, testing to see if she was awake, which she was this time. JJ couldn't help but notice all the plates of full meals scattered around the room, completely untouched. "When was the last time you ate?" He asked as he came to sit next to her.