UNTOLD | JJ Maybank

Chapter 1

"Yo, Kie, have you heard of the theory, that whenever someone gets a tattoo, a baby unicorn dies?", JJ asked loudly and Malou quickly raised her head to look at JJ in shock.

"What? Kie, you killed a baby unicorn?", Malou asked in disbelief and Kiara innocently looked at her.

"I didn't know before. But it must be in unicorn heaven now, playing with the millions of other baby unicorns.", Kiara explained and smiled at Malou, who broke into tears right away. Kiara and JJ chuckled and even Pope and Sarah couldn't help but smile.

"I wanted to get a tattoo, now I can't!", Malou cried out and hid her face in her hands. For a few more minutes, the pogues told Malou all kinds of ridiculous stories of baby animals. Even John B had to suppress laughter at how childish his sister was and Sarah laughed, until she cried. It probably was a mean thing to do, but the best friendships consist of mocking each other, right? And when Sarah saw, how sweetly the pogues took care of Malou after making fun of her, she knew, that their friendship was a real one.

"What happened then to the baby leopard?", Malou asked with big eyes and stared up at JJ, who had told her some weird story of a lost baby leopard. Chuckling, he looked down on her sweetly.

"He found his family.", JJ said and smiled at Malou.

"Really?", Malou asked and JJ nodded his head.

"Really. They lived happily ever after." Malou smiled and hummed in relief, before she rested her head against JJs shoulder and wrapped her arms around his left one. Knowing exactly what she wanted, JJ placed his hand on Malous lap immediately. Sarah watched the both of them and smiled to herself, when Malou sleepily played with the bracelets that JJ wore around his wrist. Slowly, it got quieter and Sarah caught JJ running his hands through Malous hair a few times, until she eventually drifted off to sleep. Gently, JJ picked her up and carried her into the Château with Sarahs gaze following him. A few minutes later, he came back outside. JJ sat on the stairs of the porch and lit up a cigarette.

"I'm just gonna get another drink.", Sarah told John B and watched him nod, before he went back to his conversation with Pope. Sarah walked past JJ, grabbed another beer from the fridge and went back outside to sit next to him.

"You alright?", JJ asked and turned his head to look at the blonde girl.

"Yeah. Why?", Sarah answered with a smile and JJ shrugged his shoulders.

"You watched Malou the whole night." Sarah blushed and quickly took a sip of the beer to cover up her embarrassment.

"You saw that?", she asked and saw JJ smirking.

"I have a sense for someone staring at her.", JJ explained with a cheeky smile and Sarah nodded.

"I see. You're very protective over her. I mean, you're protective of all your friends, but it's different with her.", Sarah stated and JJ nodded, when he blew out some smoke.

"You saw that?", JJ repeated Sarahs earlier words and she smiled.

"I guess everyone can see that.", Sarah smiled and JJ shook his head.

"Nah, it's not like that. The pogues know we're just friends.", JJ answered and let the cigarette drop to the ground, before he stepped on it to expire it. Resting his arms on his knees, he stared ahead.

"But are you really?", Sarah wanted to know and looked at him with raised eyebrows. JJ looked at her and huffed, before he turned his head back again.

"Yes."

"But do you like her?", Sarah asked further and even though he stared ahead, she could see him smile a little.

"Are you kidding me? I love that girl to death. She's my ride or die. It's her or no one.", JJ answered honestly and chuckled quietly at Sarahs sudden, shocked expression.

"I don't get it.", Sarah admitted confused and JJ nodded his head, as he looked at her again and smiled sadly.

"I'm not good for her. I know it, you know it and even worse, John B knows it. He would never allow me to be with her and it's probably for the best. I can barely deal with myself, I get in trouble a lot and I will probably end up dead or in jail before I turn 30. She deserves better than me.", he explained sadly and Sarah tilted her head as she looked at him with sad eyes.

"JJ...", she started, but JJ shook his head.

"It's fine. I mean, I get to spend my life with her anyway, right? I get to see her every day and I can make sure, that she's fine. It's all I need. Anyway, Sarah Cameron, you're officially a pogue now and I need you to know, that it's strictly forbidden to share secrets of another pogue. To be fair, there's also a rule, that pogues don't lie to each other, but I like to bypass that rule, when it comes to secrets. I mean – hiding something from others isn't exactly lying, right? Anyway, you're in the power of my secret now and if you want me to live any longer, you better not tell it anyone, especially your boyfriend." JJ said and smirked cheekily again, like he hadn't just told her the most heart-breaking secret.

"I promise.", Sarah smiled and bumped her beer can against his to make a toast on his secret and her promise.