PAPER RINGS | jj maybank

011. patch you up

Athena sighed before grabbing the rope ladder she had there for when her and Sarah have snuck out before. She hung it over the balcony so JJ could climb up. He grabbed onto the ladder, it swinging slightly before he successfully climbed up it. He pulled himself over the railing, now standing next to the girl.

The two smiled at each other before Athena turned to her door, knowing it would be locked, and knocked five times in a specific rhythm her and Dorota had come up so the woman knew it was her. Athena knew Dorota would be up because, firstly, it wasn't that late, and two, Dorota never went to bed until she knew Athena was either at home or safe wherever she was supposed to be. Dorota appeared in front of the balcony doors, unlocking them and letting the two in, shooting a confused look to Athena when she noticed the boy.

"JJ meet Dorota, Dorota this is JJ." Athena introduced them both. JJ stood awkwardly, holding his hand up to wave slightly as Dorota stared at him for a second.

"This is the blond pogue you talk about?" She wondered looking at Athena.

"You talk about me?" JJ asked, a smirk on his face as he turned to the blonde next to him.

"I talk about all of you guys, Dorota knows everything about everyone, all of time." Athena explained, watching amusedly as JJ's eyes widened. "I'm going to patch JJ up now, Dorota you are free for the rest of the night."

"Thank you. Have a good night Miss Athena. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Dorota thanked her before leaving the two alone in Athena's bedroom.

"Come on." Athena grabbed JJ's hand, dragging him into her bathroom and forcing him to sit on counter. She turned around, getting the first aid kit out of the cabinet. She then turned back to face JJ, who gave a small smile. Athena placed the kit beside the boy before moving so she was standing in front of him.

"You know you don't have to do all of this." JJ told her. Athena had gotten a cloth wet, beginning to wipe the dry blood off of his face when she furrowed her eyebrows at his statement.

"Do what?" She wondered. Athena never realised that what she was doing was out of the ordinary. She had always wanted to be kind, ever since she was young she was taught that kindness was her greatest strength, which is why she wanted to start her charity and help people. What Athena never realised was just how little kindness people on the island got and then how incredible her bare minimum kindness was to JJ, who had been on his own for most of his life.

"All this, worrying about me, bringing me back to your house and patching me up." He stated. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"You get on that many fights on your side of the island." Athena joked, glancing up at him with a teasing smile for a second.

"Nah, my dad just has a killer right hook." Athena froze at his shrugged off statement. It was spoken so casually that if they were in any other situation, if anyone else was in the room, she wouldn't have registered the severity of what he actually said with how causally it was spoken. She lifted her head from where she was still wiping blood from his cuts so they made eye contact. "It's nothing to worry about."

"JJ, that's serious." Athena told him, her eyebrows knitting in concern. Athena looked over his face for a moment seeing no trace of him actually thinking about his situation. Athena knew child abuse existed she wasn't an idiot but to have someone sitting in front of her admitting to being hit by their parent was a whole new experience, one that put everything in perspective.

Athena could never think of being in JJ's situation. She may joke about Rafe hurting her but she fully believed he would never do that purposely, not without something being very wrong, and he would never harm her intentionally. And as for her dad, Ward was one of Athena's favourite people in the world. He was her dad, the person who took care of her when she was ill and spoke to her when she was angry or sad without judgement, and above all he cared for and never made her feel overlooked or ignored in the house, and he had managed to bring up three healthy, happy daughters.