JJ Maybank awoke alone, his tired eyes slowly opening to see the empty area where June usually was. It was fairly early in the morning, the sun was just rising, and for a moment he considered going back to sleep and just ignoring her absence. But he wanted to hold her, he wanted to be near her and breathe her in and feel her skin, so he sat up, rubbing at his eyes and looking around. JJ stretched his arms above his head, yawning as the sound of the waves carried through the wind.
Finally he stood, deciding to not put his shirt back on and instead going on his search. He looked around for a few minutes, seeing that mostly everyone was asleep still. There were a few people missing, Pope, June obviously, and Tyler. There was the sound of voices that he picked up, and the closer he got he realized who was speaking. He would recognize her voice anywhere.
JJ approached the two in the grass, Pope talking with his back to the blonde boy, June sitting in front of him. Her dark hair brushed across her shoulders and her face was full of concentration, whatever he was talking about—she was invested. He watched as her eyes lit up when she noticed him approaching, dropping over his body and his lack of a shirt and then going back to Pope.
"Alright big man...give her back to me." JJ said on approach, Pope looking up at him with disappointment in his eyes.
"We're talking." The Heyward boy said, gesturing between the two of them as he looked up at JJ. June nodded at her boyfriend, her lips parting to speak and catching his attention.
"Yeah we're talking." JJ sighed, shaking his head and then gesturing towards their sleeping area.
"But I cant go back to sleep without you. Why cant you talk later?"
"Why can't you learn patience?" Pope said in a snappy tone, and June couldn't help but giggle at their exchange. JJ looked back at Pope with furrowed eyebrows, wondering why he couldn't just have her back and they could talk later.
"Go on JJ...I'll be there eventually." She said, using her hand to shoo him again. The boy put his hands on his hips, shaking his head as him and Pope glared at each other. She looked between the two, waiting for one to crack and then hearing Pope sigh.
"We can just talk later. Go with this drama queen. I need to try and sleep anyways." He had pushed himself up from the ground and started off before she could even protest, JJ getting a triumphant look on his face. He took a few steps closer to her, offering his hand which she was glad to take. He pulled her up, putting his arm over her shoulder and walking her back to where he came from.
"Why are you up so early?" June asked, looking up at him with a smile on her lips. She wasn't upset about seeing him at all, it was just sooner than she had expected.
"Well I was laying there and I could feel that the body of my super smoking hot future wife was not there. Why were you up so early?" June never wanted to admit she was having nightmares to JJ, she wanted things between them to be as good as they possibly could at all times. So bringing Rafe up, bringing him back into the equation over and over again, that wouldn't help them. JJ hated Rafe, got angry at the mention of him, even just the insinuation of him. There was no reason to upset him so early in the morning. She didn't like talking about him anyways.
"I just—I thought I heard something in the middle of the night. Spooked me a little bit y'know?" She explained, and nodded along to what she was saying. They returned to their designated sleeping area, JJ dropping his arm from her shoulders to her side and then grabbing her hips and standing behind her. He slid his arms around her, pressing a tender kiss to her shoulder and making her smile.
