Together

133. For being you

When I go to sleep
I can't even fall asleep
Something's got ahold of me
Feel it taking over me
But when I'm older, I'll be moving onward
I just got a drunk text
(Meet me at our spot)
We caught a vibe
Baby, are you coming for the ride?
When I look into your eyes
I just wanna hold you all night
-ANXIETY, WILLOW, and Tyler Cole

JJ sits holding an ice pack to his cheek. The nurse came and gave everyone involved in the fight a once over, deciding to dole out bandages and cold compacts as appropriate. A couple of the guys across from them are also nursing their wounds.

He glances a look over Kie, triple checking that she wasn't in need of anything as well. She threw herself into the middle of the fight, which was the last thing he wanted. He stepped in to stop her from getting hurt, that was the whole point of him throwing the punch in the first place.

She gives him a short, assuring smile, like she can read his mind when his eyes dance across her face and body. A flash of anger rises just because he can't handle the thought of another person putting hands on her, but she eases that burn with a comforting touch on his hand, turning it over so she can interlock their hands.

He starts to doze off a little, probably concerning the girl next to him, as she nudges his shoulder a little when his eyes start to drift. He is fine, really. They didn't get in too many blows on him. No head injuries or nothing concerning like that.

He's just tired. The adrenaline that was in his system was long gone and the longer they sit and wait the heavier his eyelids become. He can tell he's enter a period of bargaining with his eyelids. Him knowing that closing his eyes isn't going to allow him to stay conscious while the rest of his body tries to convince him that letting them close for just a moment wouldn't be so bad.

"You okay," Kie whispers.

His eyes flutter open, concentrating on her words a little longer than he would if he weren't half way asleep. "Yeah, sorry," he says, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. She gives a short smile. "Fine, baby."

Kie doesn't look convinced, but there's no time for her to argue.

The door to the principal's office quickly opens. Shoupe, Mike, Anna, and some of the parents from the other kids walk out. None of them looking too pleased at having to be called to pick up their kids from a fight in the middle of the day.

Surprisingly, this was the first time that JJ was sent to the office for a physical fight. That may have something to do with the fact that he spent more time out of school than in it, and when he was there he kept his head down and saved fights for Kooks at the boneyard or anywhere else they decided to cause problems.

This was obviously a special circumstance.

Having his guardian coming into the school when he gets in trouble is weird. Mostly because he knew it wasn't gonna end with him getting the shit kicked out of him. But make no mistake, Shoupe definitely wasn't happy about this.

The Sheriff motions with his hand for JJ to get up and follow him out, nodding at Mike and Anna before heading out the door.

JJ quickly whispers to Kie that he'll call her and she squeezes his hand in understanding, standing to meet her own parents.

As they walk out the school doors Shoupe waits until they've hit the parking lot before he says anything.

"You wanna talk to me about what's going on?"

"He shoved Kie," JJ defends incredulously. "Literally pushed her, Shoupe, what was I supposed to do?"

Shoupe sighs. "I'm not talking about the fight, Jay."