❝SLUT❞ ‣ JJ MAYBANK ❪ OUTER BANKS. ❫

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

"Nothing , JJ." She answered quickly. She
sniffed away the snot running down her nose and tugged at the puffy skin around her eyes. "I'm okay." Lana tried to lie , but her voice sounded broken.

JJ opened the door slowly , peaking his head around. He stared at Lana who stood there with nothing but his t–shirt from the day before. If it wasn't for the tears stained cheeks she wore so sadly , he would've made a cheesy comment about how sexy she looked wearing his clothes.

"You're crying." JJ said simply and rushed
towards her , wrapping his arm around her
waist and his other craddling her head that fell
right into his chest. "Who made you cry , angel?"

Lana clutched onto JJ tightly. Almost like she was scared that if she let go in the slighest , he'd disappear. Everything around her seemed to fade away as he distracted her sadness by sneaking his hand up her shirt to draw circles on the skin of her back. He kept her in his arms tightly , occasionally pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head.

JJ could feel his shoulder getting wet with
Lana's tears and instead of being aggravated like
he usually would've been if it was any other person , it made his heart hurt to feel her be so sad. "Talk to me , Lana. I don't like knowing you're so sad." He pulled away , cupping her chin with his thumb.

Lana looked up in his eyes and sighed at how concerned he looked. She smiled a sad smile ,
and stood on her tip toes to press a soft kiss to
the side of his mouth. "Don't squint your eyes
so hard , you'll get wrinkles." She joked softly.

JJ sighed. "Lana , stop. You can talk to me."

"It's just my mom. She called me and instead
of caring enough to talk about me , she just asks
for me to send her money." Lana's eyes glanced around as she talked. "I'm not mad at her. Just disappointed that she doesn't care like she should." The blonde explained and JJ understood.

His relationship with his dad was anything
but rosey. With no mom around in his life , he depended on his dad to make up for loss of
affection and love but instead , his dad gave him
the exact opposite. It hurt him and it took him awhile to accept that he couldn't change what his father was doing— it just was what it was. He
didn't want Lana to have to feel that type of
neglect or pain ever. JJ caressed Lana's cheek and sucked in a deep breath. He was never good at saying encouraging words or consolidating someone , but he wanted to help Lana.

"It fucking sucks but she's a trashy bitch who married rich anyway—" he insulted. Lana's fallen expression made him curse under his breath at his terrible choice of words. "Shit— baby I'm sorry. I'm not good at fixing things but just know that you don't need her to complete you. I'll love you enough so nobody else can make you feel empty."

Lana chuckled. "You're all I need , Maybank."

"You're all I got , Bingham. . ."

【☦︎】

WHEN LANA SAW JJ NEXT , SHE DIDN'T TO SEE HIM rummaging around his room like a crazy person. . . Lana had been waiting at home for her dad while the Pogue's were supposed to go out and pawn the gold they had found. But Lana rushed over to John B's when he called her , telling her JJ was about to do something dangerous and stupid and she needed to get there asap.

Lana rushed into the Chateau and pushed the
door open. "JJ? John B? What's going on?"

The sound of her voice made JJ's head to snap
to the side and glare at John B. "Why did you call
her here?" He shouted.