In which JJ might finally get his little bit of luxury.
Remember Barry the drug dealer, who works at the pawn shop? Well, he has a sister, and she's not one to be messed with either. Her and JJ are both from the wrong side of the tracks, stuck in li...
When we finally separated, he clenched his jaw and opened the door further, motioning for me with his head to come in, before quietly leading me to his room.
When we got to his room, he quickly closed the door behind us, locking it and taking a deep breath. He turned around to give his room a rapid once over, an embarrassed look on his face. I realized quickly that no one must ever see his room. Whenever he brought girls home it was always to John B's and never to his, as he'd always managed to keep even his closest friends away from his house.
His room was small and a mess. A twin mattress was on the ground up against the window-less wall, and a small dresser next to it held piles of clothes messily strewn about. But it smelled like saltwater and oak and marijuana. Like JJ. And it was the most comforting thing I'd ever smelled. I smiled, and squeezed his hand.
He scratched the back of his head, looking down at me sheepishly. "You can sleep in my bed. I'll um, I'll sleep on the floor".
I laughed softly. "We've slept in the same bed before, JJ." He looked at me through his eyelashes, smiling goofily "If you wanted to get me into bed you don't have to beg, Ti..." I shook my head at his antics and grabbed his arm, leading him to his own bed.
Crushed up against his wall, sandwiched between it and JJ's lanky body, I felt whole. Like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Like I was living this moment, not lost in my sad thoughts. My house was supposed to be safe, but it was dangerous. And JJ was supposed to be dangerous, but he felt safe.
He must have heard my breath catch in my throat, because suddenly he threw his arm around me from behind me and dragged me closer to him, pulling me close. Instinctively I let his body curl around mine, and snuggled closer into him as I felt his head just above mine, fitting me more snugly into the space between his shoulder and his neck.
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The next morning I woke up feeling at peace.
I forgot where we were for many blissful moments and just reveled in the feeling for as long as I possibly could, knowing I realistically could not stay wrapped in JJ's arms forever.
He shuffled around a bit and gave out a contented sigh.
And gasped. "Ti" he said, "what is that?" The arm that had been loosely wrapped around my waist tensed suddenly.
"What?" I responded groggily, hoping to extend my moments of peace further.
But the blond boy jolted up, wide awake. I rolled over, facing him to give him a look of tired confusion. "What's on your neck Ti?", he whispered, staring at me.
My hands flew to my neck. Shit. Rafe must have left a mark.
"Nothing, JJ" I attempted in a nonchalant voice, grabbing his arms and trying to pull him back down. But he didn't budge. He clenched his jaw, eyes still on my neck.
I sighed, closing my eyes. The moments of bliss could be extended no more and it was time to face the day. I sat up in bed next to him, avoiding his eyes and finally getting to my feet to walk over to his full-length mirror.
I bit my lip, inspecting my reflection and wincing as I brought a hand to my throat. It held deep purples bruises right where Rafe's fingers had wrapped around it the night before. I'd assumed it wouldn't bruise but it had overnight.
I just stared at my reflection numbly as JJ got up and approached behind me.
"Athena."
He was the most gentle I'd ever seen him in my life, coming up behind me softly and breathing out as he pushed the hair off my shoulder to fully clear my neck. He exhaled, jaw still clenched, but didn't lose his temper. He just looked at me gently, delicately taking my face in his hands and looking down at me.
"Athena, look at me." he tried again.
I gulped, still unable to meet his eyes. "It was Barry wasn't it?" he whispered.
I shook my head, willing myself not to let the tears that were starting to pool in my eyes fall. "No." I finally responded.
I felt the first tear roll down my cheek slowly, and I threw myself into JJ's arms to hug him, unable to bring myself to say anything else. He didn't question me further, just hugging me and squeezing me tightly in his strong arms, letting me stay there.
Finally, I collected myself enough to form the words I was looking for. "It's not him". I repeated.
"Who then".
"Its was- it was just a random guy" I whispered, "who came to collect. I didn't recognize him". My voice wavered on the lie but he didn't notice. I could feel his body tense but he didn't move.
I pulled away from his embrace reluctantly. "I'm fine JJ, seriously. It's nothing."
"Where was Barry?" he gritted out, fists clenched at his sides just itching to punch something. "God I'm going to kill him."
"Hey" I calmed him. "Calm down-" I flinched as we both heard the loud bang of the house's door slamming open as JJ's father no doubt came home from whatever bender he'd been on.
"Shit!" We heard him yell drunkenly, which was then followed by some shuffling around and a few crashes.
Eyes wide, JJ urgently brought his finger to his lips in a shushing motion. I nodded silently, heart beating fast but just standing in front of him unmoving. Both of our eyes darted to JJ's closed bedroom door that he had locked the night before.
It felt like we stayed frozen there an eternity, not even daring to breathe. Thankfully after hearing a few groans from his father the house became silent once again. JJ had started breathing normally again, which reassured me.
"He's probably passed out" he whispered. "Come on". I looked at him unsure, but he grabbed my hand encouragingly and I followed him. He kept me behind him, quietly checking that his father was in fact passed out on the couch before leading me through the hallway and out the door.
I finally let out the breath I'd been holding when we made it outside to his porch. We stared at each other for a second, not knowing what to say.
"Well, at least we both have issues" I let out, finally.
For the first time that day, I saw JJ crack a smile.
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Word count: 1569
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Hey lovelies!!!
Hope you enjoyed this mushy chapter because I definitely did.
Also I'm experimenting with inserting pictures for you guys at each section break, please let me know if you like it! If you don't I might go back to just having an image as the header like I was doing before.
Also this week is finals week so please pray for me. I think the fact that I am writing this instead of studying should tell you enough about how I'm doing in my classes..
