Taste ≫ outer banks

12

when hazel woke she looked at the small alarm clock on the side of the bed and saw that it was only three in the morning. she didn't know why she was up so early, but a sigh escaped her lips as she rolled over to face the other way. she was surprised to see john b sleeping next to her and a small smile formed on her face as she watched his face twitch a bit, probably from some sort of dream he was having.

she looked around for her phone and spotted it on the nightstand. as she reached over for it her stomach made a weird noise making her glance over at the boy to make sure it hadn't woken him. she was thankful that it didn't and she scrolled through her notifications, furrowing her eyebrows when seeing a missed call and a voicemail from millie. her parents had gotten the eight year old a track phone and put in her mom, dad, and sister's numbers so if there was ever an emergency she could call one of them.

millie absolutely hated the track phone. she said it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen, so hazel was quite confused as to why her sister would have called her. she clicked on the voicemail and pressed the phone to her ear, listening to it.

// milie was crying, "hazel, where are you? i need you. mom and dad are fighting and it's scaring me." hazel could hear her parents shouting in the background, meaning millie must've been sitting on the other side of her closed door, trying to hide from them. it was silent for a moment before hazel heard glass shatter and her eyes widened as the voicemail ended.

she quickly shook john b awake and he looked startled as he quickly sat up. "what's wrong?" hazel played the voicemail for him and he nodded, climbing off the bed. "let's go."

they got themselves ready and headed out of the house, ignoring jj as he questioned where they were going. he was sitting on the enclosed porch, smoking a joint as always. neither sixteen year old asked why he was awake at such an ungodly hour as they rushed to john b's van and climbed in. john b sped to hazel's house, reaching it in record time as they both got out and headed up to the front door.

it was quiet inside and it scared hazel. what had happened? where was millie? where were her parents? she unlocked the front door with her key and made her way inside, turning on the lights. the downstairs was empty, so they made their way upstairs, towards millie's room. the girl's door was closed and hazel quietly opened it, seeing the little girl sleeping in her bed, clinging to a stuffed animal.

hazel walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, shaking millie awake. "hey," she whispered to the little girl and millie quickly hugged hazel.

"it was so scary, hazel." millie blurted out. "i was so scared."

"what happened?" hazel asked, running her fingers through millie's hair. john b kneeled down on the floor in front of the girl and millie leaned forward, hugging him tight before she looked at hazel again.

"they fight all the time, but today was different. today they were the angriest they had ever been and i don't know why." millie started to cry. "daddy broke the lamp in their room and left."

"what do you mean, 'left'?" hazel asked.

"he drove his car away and didn't come home." she said and it made hazel frown.

"i'm so sorry you had to witness that, millie." she hugged her sister again. "i wish i was here to protect you."

"i'm okay." she assured her older sister. "but i don't think mommy and daddy are. they were so angry at each other."

"get some sleep." hazel pressed a kiss to millie's forehead. "i'll talk to mom in the morning."

"okay." she sighed, laying back down. she glanced over at john b. "are you going to sleep over?"

"do you want me to?" john b asked the little girl and she nodded. "then i'll stay." millie smiled at him before closing her eyes. they sat and waited until she was asleep before leaving the room. they made their way to hazel's room and she closed the door, letting a sigh escape her lips.

"i can't believe this happened." her head was still pounding, so she sat on her bed and felt tears form in the corners of her eyes. "i should've been here with her."

"it's okay, hazel." john b sat next to her. "she's safe. everything's okay."

"everything's not okay." she started to cry. "my parents have been fighting for who knows how long and i didn't even know about it. my eight year old sister did though."

john b wrapped an arm around her and pulled her on to his lap. she cried into his shoulder for awhile before pulling away to wipe at her eyes. she sniffled and sighed, "thank you for staying. i don't know what i'd do without you, john b."

"you'd be lost without me." he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

it made her smile and she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "if you say so." she climbed off his lap and laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "will you sleep in here with me?"

"of course, i will." he nodded, laying next to the girl after he kicked his shoes off. "i'd do whatever i had to do to make you feel safe." she rolled on her side so she was facing him and he did the same, facing her. he brought his hand up, caressing her cheek with his thumb. they stared at each other for a few minutes until john moved closer to the girl, pressing his lips to hers. she kissed him back hard, her fingers tangling in the hair on the back of his neck. she brought herself closer to him so their chests were touching and he tilted his head, deepening the kiss. they kissed for a few minutes before pulling apart and john b let out a shaky breath. "wow."

"wow." she copied, eyes locked with his. "that was...." she trailed off.

"amazing." he finished her sentence and a smile formed on her face as she leaned in to kiss him again.

i'd like to write a
jj book too, but i
need some ideas!!!
if you have an idea
that you're unable to
write throw it at me
and maybe i can write
it!! preferably an au
because i write them
better than books that
are entirely related to
the show. also, thank you
so so much for 14k reads!!
that's freaking amazing guys!!