Together

20. It's gotta be you

How can I forget you in the morning?
How can I forget you?
I was dreamin' you were stand' there wearin' my t-shirt
Wishin' that you could still be here
How can I forget?
I can't, I can't
-MKTO

JJ returned home—no—to Shoupe's house. This wasn't his fucking home. He didn't have one. He was leaving, this wasn't his anymore. It probably never was.

He looked around the room. He had started packing some of his stuff already. He was expecting that Darcy would tell him where he was going and then they would just leave. He didn't want to wait around longer than he had to after knowing.

Talking to John B and Pope went about as good as he expected. He was at least satisfied that they seemed to drop asking him meddling questions like why he was leaving and what happened with Kie. His abruptness probably helped with that. The shock and awe of it all.

He lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He lifted his head up when he heard Shoupe knock at the partially opened door and peek his head inside. He held up two bags from the Wreck.

"Got food, kid," he said.

Food from the Wreck. The place where his girl—he means ex-girlfriend works. The one her dad owns. Her dad that forced him to make this god-awful fucking choice that was ruining his life.

"I'm not hungry."

Shoupe dropped his arm, sighing. He thought this kid was an unquenchable pit with his hunger. Lately he's barely been eating. Didn't think he'd miss the high grocery bill.

He clicked his tongue to his teeth and makes a decision. He headed out to his garage and opened it. It was chock full of shit he had just been throwing in there over the years. He made his way to the back and dug around until he found what he was looking for.

JJ heard Shoupe leave but didn't bother to investigate his whereabouts. He heard him back at the door a few minutes later, sporting swim trunks and a Kildare County Sheriff t-shirt. He turned his head and gave him a confused look.

"Get in the truck, we're going surfing."

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"You're sure?" JJ asked from the passenger seat as they pulled up to Rixon's Cove. Shoupe didn't miss the familiar teasing look in JJ's eye. Thank God. He thought the kid had lost all emotion the last few days.

Shoupe smiled with a small mock offense laugh. "Hey, it's been a couple decades, but I can handle it."

JJ couldn't help but throw a knowing yikes face as they exited the truck. He wasn't sure what Shoupe was getting at by wanting to surf but at least this was going to be entertaining.

JJ was right. Despite Shoupe's insistence that surfing was like riding a bike, spoiler: it's not, he took more than one hard fall. JJ tried not to laugh but it was just too good. The guy had been so confident and just kept eating it.

"Need training wheels?" JJ called, as Shoupe returned from another horrible run.

"Alright, wise guy let's see you out there," Shoupe threw at him as he tried to catch his breath.

The waves were pretty high, and he was confident that JJ would struggle at least a little bit out there. JJ just threw him a confident smirk and paddled out, taking one of his choice waves.

Shoupe had never been more impressed. JJ handled those waves like he owned them. He could see that JJ was more than mildly gifted at the sport. Shoupe has lived in the Outer Banks his whole life, he knew surfing. JJ was good.