Sea You Soon // An Outer Banks Fanfiction

36- Spaces Between Us

I heard a soft tap on my door and the doorknob began to slowly turn before I could grant or deny entry to whoever was on the other side. JJ peeked his head around the door and gently spoke, "Is it okay if I come in?"

I gave him a shy smile and responded, "Of course." He entered the room and I patted an empty spot on the bed next to me, indicating for him to sit down. 

He sat down, and we both were quiet for a couple of minutes. I hated that things were still a little bit awkward between us ever since the pregnancy scare. JJ and I really hadn't talked much in the past couple of weeks, and I tried to convince myself that it was because we were both busy, but I knew that wasn't the real reason. JJ and I were both terrified about being parents, and no matter what JJ told me, I know that he wouldn't have taken it well if we had found out that I was actually pregnant. 

"Hey, Pais," JJ said quietly, pulling me out of my thoughts. "We need to talk." He paused slightly before continuing, "I know that we haven't really interacted much in the past couple of weeks, but I need you to know that I still love you." He grabbed my hand. "And nothing is going to change that. I just needed to clear my head and think about things after, well, you know..." His voice trailed off, and once again, we were left sitting in silence. 

I sat there and thought, but I couldn't think of a good way to respond to him. It was like I forgot how to talk to him, which I know sounds absolutely ridiculous. I looked up at JJ, meeting his eyes and said, with my voice breaking slightly, "JJ, I love you, too, so much. Can we just try to go back to how everything was before?"

JJ nodded and responded, "I would really like that. I'm tired of feeling like I can't talk to my best friend." He gave me a crooked grin before looking down at his lap. "Do you want to go get lunch?" he asked timidly. 

I gently squeezed his hand and responded, "I would love to."

JJ immediately stood, pulling me up with him. I grabbed my phone and wallet off of my nightstand and followed him out of my room. 

Naturally, we headed down the hill to The Wreck, hand-in-hand, laughing and talking like we always did. Everything felt so normal, it was difficult to believe that the past couple of weeks had actually happened, and I was relieved that they were finally over. 

When we had almost reached the bottom of the hill, JJ's phone started ringing. A sorry look crossed his face as he dropped my hand to dig his phone out of his pocket. I couldn't make out who was talking on the other end or what they were saying, but JJ didn't look very pleased. 

After a short minute, JJ hung up the phone and swore under his breath. He turned to me and said, "Your dumbass brother got the Pogue stuck, so I have to go and try to help him." he shook his head angrily and continued, " I'm sorry, bug. I really did want to spend time with you."

"I can wait, JJ. We can just eat a little bit later." I ended my statement with a small smile, trying to convince JJ that everything was fine. 

"No, I know that you haven't eaten all day. Just go ahead and get something without me. I'll try to catch up with you once I'm done helping John B."

Without saying goodbye, he trudged away toward the water. I continued on the path to The Wreck, feeling disappointed that JJ hadn't told my brother to ask someone else to help him. 

When I entered The Wreck, the restaurant was pretty much empty, except for a boy sitting at a table in the corner. Kie's mom greeted me and told me that I could sit wherever I wanted. As I walked over to the tables, I realized that the boy was Braeden. I don't know if it was the fact that I felt distant from JJ or the fact that I felt like he had just betrayed me, but I decided to approach Braeden. I felt guilty for a slight second because I knew JJ wouldn't be happy about it, but then I reminded myself that Braeden and I were just friends.