"we're gonna be young forever, my beautiful girl!"
jj yelled with his words becoming slurred thanks to the effects of alcohol,
picking y/n up off her feet and swinging her.
y/n let out a laugh that echoed into the night sky,
illuminating the world around them.
the ocean felt warm tonight,
though jj was sure it was from his heightened body temperature.
their cheers could be heard from the other end of the island,
interrupting surely peaceful sleepers with their celebration of summer.
though neither of them would have it any other way.
the moon was high in the sky,
bringing light into y/n's eyes that were glittering with vitality.
jj began humming to a tune that y/n quickly caught on with,
their out of harmony voices increasing while they danced with one another.
y/n reveled in this happiness that bubbled inside of her,
rising and rising until she was nothing but a puddle of laughter.
jj's skin pressed against her own was enough to make her feverish,
but he always knew how to drive her further into bewilderment.
pressing his warm, alcohol coated lips to hers,
y/n felt her knees become limp,
only being held upright by the embrace of jj.
"you drive me wild,"
y/n whispered against his lips,
her blood so warm that she feared possible fainting.
jj chuckled,
used the pad of his thumb to slowly swipe it across her reddened bottom lip,
and whispered back,
"good."
y/n rolled her eyes at his teasing remark,
giving him a shove despite the weakness still lingering in her muscles.
jj didn't budge,
but he laughed all the same.
"we should get going."
y/n frowned at his words,
knowing that her mother would be expecting her home any minute now.
"i don't want to leave. it's perfect, right here, right now."
"i know, angel. but we have all the time in the world. forever young and all that,"
y/n giggled as he leaned in and placed another kiss on her lips.
the two began their walk back home,
hand in hand with stories filling the silence,
not wanting this night to end.
"call me if you need anything. i'll pick up,"
jj said as they now stood on her doorstep.
"on the first ring?"
y/n asked with a playful grin.
jj nodded with a smile of his own.
"on the first ring,"
he confirmed,
leaning in to press a kiss to her lips.
y/n hadn't thought to ask jj what he planned to do with the rest of his night.
she figured he'd go home and sleep the night away,
returning to her bright and early like always.
she couldn't help but smile at this.
even when she laid her head down,
hair wet from her shower and eyes heavy from needed sleep,
her smile never wavered.
***
y/n opened her eyes the next morning,
only to immediately flinch at the bright sunlight looming into her room.
it came as no surprise she had a headache,
considering how many drinks her and jj had thrown back last night.
but what did throw her off was the absence in her room.
jj hadn't showed up at the crack of dawn,
like he often did to spend the rest of the morning in her bed just after her mother left.
it had become a running joke between the two;
how jj couldn't bear being apart,
so he'd scale her wall and find solace in her arms.
yet here she sat,
alone.
deciding not to think too much of it,
thinking maybe he'd just slept in to cure his hangover,
y/n rolled over to search for her phone.
she realized her neglect to plug it in last night had turned her phone up dead.
so she waited patiently as it charged.
when it finally turned on,
y/n's phone had been piled with notifications.
more than she'd ever known to hit her phone.
but none from jj.
"have you seen this ??"
"girl...i'm so sorry."
"y/n? look at this"
y/n's heart was beginning to beat ferociously in her chest.
when she clicked open just one of the messages,
playing the video sent,
all she could do was stare in sheer horror.
jj was the main focus of the video,
cursing obscenities and thrashing around as his hands were cuffed behind his back.
she couldn't believe it.
jj had gotten arrested just hours after their departure.
she kept replaying the video,
hoping to find holes in it that proved it fake,
but every time she watched it,
it hurt just a little more.
y/n noticed bruises all along jj's face,
along with a split lip that was dripping blood down his chin.
"holy shit,"
y/n whispered beneath her breath,
hurrying to call john b.
"y/n?"
"dude! jj, is he-"
"he's in lockup right now. we've all been trying to call you. are you okay?"
"y-yeah, i'm fine. my phone was dead. is jj okay?"
y/n was near hysterical.
"he's fine...i think. we're all down at the county-"
"i'll be there."
she quickly hung her phone up and fumbled to dress herself,
having her time in the bathroom cut into a half.
y/n was on the run to where she knew the rest of her and jj's friends would be.
when she arrived,
out of breath, sweat beading at her forehead,
and the humid air having made her hair coil,
kie was the first to embrace her.
"are you okay?"
"i'm-i'm fine,"
y/n answered as best she could,
swallowing any doubt.
"we thought for sure you'd gotten hurt in the fight-"
"fight? what fight?"
kie tilted her head in confusion,
eyebrows knitted.
"you weren't there?"
"no! someone just tell me what happened."
"barry said something about you, jj wouldn't say what, but they ended up getting into this-this huge fight,"
pope explained from behind kie,
his elbows resting against his knees while he sat.
y/n's hand grabbed at her throat.
"so what are they saying is gonna happen to him? has anyone talked to my uncle?"
y/n asked,
referring to her well loved of a sheriff uncle.
"no. we haven't seen our dear uncle,"
john b answered now that he was back from the vending machine.
y/n marched up to the front desk and with as much conviction as she could muster and said,
"i demand to speak with sheriff l/n right now."
the woman looked up from her paperwork.
"well jeez, y/n, you could have just asked."
she felt a slight crawl of embarrassment while the woman called for her uncle.
but when he finally made himself present,
all of it dissipated to become replaced with desperation.
y/n ran to him with tears nearly falling from her eyes.
"you have to let jj out!"
"nice to see you too, niece."
"i'm serious! please."
her uncle ran a hand of consideration through his hair.
"look....the kid was fighting, roughly too! what kind of a sheriff would i be letting him go without some-some kind of punishment to be weary of?"
"what kind of uncle would you be letting my boyfriend rot in there after he defended me? hm?"
y/n crossed her arms,
trying to be as intimidating as she could,
though the worry was clawing at her from inside.
finally,
her uncle gave in beneath her stare and the detailed explanation from pope,
and went to release her boyfriend.
when her uncle's back was turned,
y/n let out the breath she'd been holding and quickly rested her head to kie's shoulder.
"i for sure thought he was going to say no."
"you did it though, y/n,"
kie reassured while giving her a pat on the back.
when y/n heard the doors opening to reveal jj,
battered, tired, and covered in dirt,
but grinning nonetheless,
she couldn't help but become filled with relief.
y/n let her friends be the first to greet him,
considering they'd been here longer than her.
but when he finally reached y/n,
he opened his arms widely and said,
"there's my girl."
y/n nearly knocked him off his feet when she hugged him;
grateful he was okay,
grateful he'd stood up for her when she wasn't there to do it herself,
grateful he was here.
"you idiot. you thickheaded idiot,"
y/n whispered against his chest.
"mm, but i'd do it all over again, y/n."
she pulled back to examine him,
making note of each bruise and cut on his face that would require cleaning,
"well...don't. i can only bail you out so many times."
jj chuckled at this and ran his hands down the length of y/n's arms.
"what? you think dating the sheriffs niece was coincidental?"
y/n rolled her eyes at him,
giving his shoulder a playful nudge,
then walked out of the station with all their friends by their side.
"god, this is the worst thing to have ever happened to me,"
jj said with a wince as y/n gently dabbed his cuts with the necessary disinfectants.
"you fought the towns notorious drug dealer, spent the night in jail, and this is where you decide to complain?"
"it stings,"
jj admitted lowly,
his fingers toying with the hemline of y/n's shirt.
"well, fortunately for you, we're done."
the girl leaned in and pressed a careful kiss to his bruised cheek.
jj hopped down from the bathroom sink while y/n began to make way to the kitchen,
but y/n was drawn back by the pull of jj.
"what's up?"
she asked,
but jj only answered by wrapping her into a hug.
she hugged him back,
despite her confusion,
and inhaled the scent of his soap and cologne.
"you're patient with me and that's more than i could ever ask for. i love you and i always will."
y/n took her head off his chest to look up at him,
pressed a kiss to his chin,
then nodded.
"i love you too."
the two finally settled into their designated room at the chateau,
falling asleep to the harmony of each other's breathing.
just until jj was awoken by the sounds of the rain beating against the roof.
he looked to see that the time had struck four am.
"y/n,"
he whispered,
shaking the girl gently.
jj's chest blossomed with fervor when y/n's bleary eyes fell on him.
how beautiful.
"you okay?"
she asked softly,
reaching her hand up to rake itself through his hair.
he nodded and pulled her hand down to lay gentle kisses there.
"yeah, i'm okay. come on, get up. it's raining!"
jj got y/n up from the bed and outside,
where the rain gathered onto their skin and fell.
he gathered y/n up in his arms,
dancing with her while a hum left the both of their lips.
it was a moment y/n only ever envisioned in stories, movies, media.
but here she was,
living out the perfect moment;
dancing in the rain with her perfect person.
"forever young,"
y/n celebrated,
lying her head to rest against jj's.
he smiled,
raindrops falling down his cheek,
and nodded.
"forever young, doll. forever young."