Together

129. Don't wanna go home

How could I go home when I feel like I belong
In your arms? It's like champagne
Feel it pouring in my veins
Yeah, I got myself too drunk on you to drive
So I'm crashing here tonight
-ILLENIUM and Bahari

When they are driving out of the parking lot of Rixon's, Kie stares out the window. JJ keeps one eye on her as they wind through the Cut. He wasn't gonna lie, he was a smidge shaken when she went under the water and didn't immediately come up. Knew he blew it a little when she got pissed.

Wasn't like he didn't have a valid reason to be afraid, that he was serious about. Just didn't want to make her feel like he thought she was fragile. That wasn't it at all for him. More like afraid of having her taken from him again.

He shakes his head, chastising himself. That isn't happening. Not again.

"I don't wanna go home," she says.

"What?"

"I'm not gonna get any sleep any way," she reasons, indicating momma and papa bear, who are more than surely still taking up residency in her bed.

It's not just that though.

"So what, you wanna just stay out all night?" JJ chuckles.

"Exactly," she says, smiling.

JJ's head turns, liking the sound of that. He throws her a mirroring smirk and turns his blinker on, taking a turn down a familiar path.

He parks the vehicle at the top of the lookout point. Before they got in the truck they had already taken off their wet suits, drying off on their towels and pulling on hoodies and sweat pants. Kie's hair is lying damp over the fabric of the sweater she has on, fingers tucked under her thighs like she's trying to warm them.

JJ turns off the truck and leans back, flipping the headlights off as well. The area is covered in a comforting shade of black as their eyes adjust to the view before them. Mostly stars and a few lingering lights from the docks ahead.

"I love it here," she says, propping her head up on her hand as she leans on the center console. JJ was having a hard time not looking at her, so he has to force his gaze to look ahead like she is.

He silently agrees. One of the best places in OBX in his opinion. "You scared of leaving?"

They had been talking about college a lot over the last two weeks. It was always a happy conversation, almost brought up like he was taking it out of his pocket as a distraction tool. Like she was a kid that fell off their bike and he was the friend offering a different game to play to get her mind off it.

It always worked, too. His quick change in subject when he realized she was getting a little squirmy with the thoughts that he knew were going through her head. Asking her about the campus, how close a drive it was to the beach, where she(they-maybe) would live. Even if she had caught on to his methods, she allowed it since it was a subject that she very much enjoyed.

She glances in his direction before answering his question, and sees that he looks...nervous. The face surprises her, and she looks at him in puzzlement. "Are you?"

"Hell no," he lies with false confidence.

Truthfully, he was terrified. Getting out of OBX was always on his to do list. Away from people that cared about his last name. Some place where the default response he got when people figured out who he was wouldn't be to clutch their pearls or scoff. He could just live.