PINKY PROMISE - JJ MAYBANK ⁽¹⁾

part twenty seven

soon after john b left, the four teens were taken by police and brought to the tents that were set up in search for him.

"stay put, we've got a lot to talk about" shoupe instructed the pogues as they all took their seats next to eachother.

"im not telling you shit." madilyn gritted.

"shh" jj whispered, tracing circles over the girl's arm to calm her down.

shoupe turned back to glance at madi before deciding to shrug off her comment and go back outside.

the thunder was painstakingly loud and the rain was coming down so hard that you could barely hear the person next to you.

madi made herself comfortable next to jj, curled up and leaning on him, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

she'd never gotten bad anxiety with storms before, but this time was different. she wasn't sure if it was because she didn't have her brother by her side, or what caused it, but this time she was terrified. her hands and legs were shaking, which jj took note of and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, tracing small circles over top of the fabric of her shirt.

"you're okay" he cooed to the girl, "just breathe"

"and them? will they be okay?" madi looked up pleadingly at the blonde.

"im sure they will" jj forced a smile. he turned his head to look outside. just with how bad the storm was, he knew john b would struggle driving the boat in the choppy waters, no matter how experienced he was. however jj remained optimistic; he remained hopeful. not just for himself but for his friends too.

"fuck" pope muttered and they all turned their heads, looking out to see the phantom, clear as day, exposed by the lights.

suddenly ward was yelling. they heard the faint staticky voice of john b, although madilyn couldn't make out what he was saying or what was going on. the only thing she could make sense of was what ward was saying, which included a lot of begging followed by a lot of silence.

shoupe walked in with two officers after a long while of what felt like the silent treatment.

"did you find them?" pope questioned. all four pogues sprung up from their seats and walked towards the three adults.

shoupe shook his head, "no."

"so they got away" kiara turned to look outside of the tent. her voice was strained but hopeful.

"we uh.. we lost them." shoupe paused, "im sorry."

madilyn's breath hitched at shoupe's words. jj's arms tightened around her as her legs gave out from under her.

she could hear yelling around her, but nothing made sense. the words mixed together as if they were gibberish. her ears began to ring uncomfortably loud and the only thing audible to the girl were the sound of her sobs.

she fell to the ground, clutching her knees to her chest. memories of the two of them flashed through her head as her heart tore open. him being protective, shotgunning beer, swimming, decorating the château, their first day of school, looking for constellations, arguing, when their dad left, him trying to comfort her after she fought with big john, him telling her no boys, surfing, playing hide and seek, going on rides in the twinkie, her taking his hat.

john b. her big brother. her protector. her other half.

she screamed from the bottom of her soul.

jj tore away from the heywards and joined the brunette on the ground. he brought her head down onto his lap and ran his hands through her hair.

"im so sorry, im so sorry, im so sorry" he kept repeating. madi's entire body began to shake. the tears didn't stop.

"jj i- i can't breathe- help" she gasped between sobs.

"it's okay, it's going to be okay, i got you" he hugged her body against his. she could feel the blonde's warm breath against her hair.

officers eventally approached the pair on the ground. madi faintly  heard shoupe ask jj if they could get them anything, to which jj declined.

kiara and pope soon joined the two on the ground, sitting beside them for awhile. kie eventually leaned on top of madilyn as well, whispering sweet nothingness to her to help calm her down.

all madi could think about was how distant she had been with sarah. she wasn't even sure she had told her about jj and her new relationship. and now she would never get the chance.

she was gone.

her best friend was gone. both of them were.

it hurt jj that he couldn't comfort madi in the way that she needed. the blonde wanted nothing more than to wipe all of her tears and take all of the pain away, even if it meant piling it all on himself.

he didn't know what to do; he wasn't exactly used to these type of emotions. what he did know though, was that he loved madi, and that he would stay with her, on that ground, for as long as she needed, until she was ready to get up.

"im here love" he cooed, and he really meant it too. whatever she needed, he would do it. as much pain as he was in right now, he couldn't imagine the feeling of losing a sibling.

the two of them stayed in eachother's embrace for so long that they didn't even notice that pope and kiara had gone home with their families.

"i can't do this" madi said quietly after her cries finally slowed.

"yes, you can. were going to do this together, okay? ill be with you through the entire thing, were going to heal together." jj said softly, still tracing shapes on her back.

"pinky promise?" the brunette girl looked up. jj looked at her tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes before looking down at her hand with her pinky held out.

"pinky promise."