July 4th, 2021.
OuterBanks, North Carolina.
𓇼 𓇼 𓇼 𓇼 𓇼
Firework explosions erupted into the air across the horizon of the water once it had became dark. My father had turned on the lights that hung up outside. The bulbs had gleamed against our skin as my mother had made me sit at the end of the table, while JJ had held the cake in the palm of his hands with the sparkler lights lit. His face had been lit up with the light from the candles, a soft smile forming on his face. Kiara, Pope, Sarah, and John B had followed behind JJ and sang the sweet melody of "Happy Birthday to You". I had smiled as my face had lit up from the candles once JJ had sat the cake in front of me and had squatted beside me to keep singing. My heart had pounded in happiness while I had been surrounded by people I loved, and people that I had started to love. Sarah had held her hands in front of her chest with a large smile against her excited face. JB and Pope had smiled while they stood behind JJ, singing to the song that the rest of the group had done. Kiara had started at me with comfort and love forming in her eyes since we had been best friends since our beginning years in high school, although I had been a year older than her.
Once they had finished singing, I had blown the candles out with the air that came from my lungs with a large smile forming on my face. I looked back up to see the group staring at me with pure happiness on their faces. "Thank you." I spoke to them all while I had tucked my hair behind my ear. "Let me cut cake while you start on your presents." My mom spoke as she lifted the cake up and out of my sight, heading inside to cut the slices of cake. My father had left the presents at the end of the table where Rafe was supposed to be seated earlier in the night. Kiara had lifted her bag up from the end of the table, making her way towards me with a gentle smile forming on her tan skinned face. Looking up towards her, she had sat the present in front of me and spoke with a soft tone,"Open it!" She had excitement in her voice but wanted to keep collected in that moment. I nodded and stood up from the chair to dig into the purple bag that had blue and orange tissue paper out of the top. I sat the tissue paper onto the table and pulled out the present that had been hidden underneath the tissue paper. Pulling the present up with the grasps of my finger tips to see that Kiara had bought me a record player that I had been wanting for years, but never got around to buying because it was so expensive. Beside the record player had been Bob Marley and Sublime vinyls that she had picked out since we had listened to both artists multiple times with one another. I looked up at Kiara and had grabbed her into a hug. "Thank you Kie! I love you so much!" I told her and hugged her tightly in my grip which she had done the same to me before pulling away with a huge smile on her face due to my reaction. "I can't believe you bought that for me. I love it so much." I told her and had looked down at the record player that sat in front of me. JJ, JB, and Pope had been standing off to the side while Kiara and Sarah had been watching me open the present Kiara had bought for me. "I'm so glad you love it." She responded and took a seat where JJ had sat before during the dinner. Sarah had grasped ahold of hers that had been in a smaller pink bag with white tissue paper sticking out of the very top of the bag.
I smiled and grasped ahold of the tissue paper. I sat it on top of the tissue paper that was in Kiara's present. My hands grabbed against the present that had been underneath the tissue paper to pull out gold jewelry. The gold jewelry set was in separate boxes. The first box had been revealed as gold shark tooth earrings that would be perfect for my second hole piercing. The second box contained gold rings that had real seashells placed in the front of them and melted onto the ring. I smiled up at Sarah and had loved the beautiful gifts she had given me. "These are so beautiful, Sarah! Thank you so much!" I hugged her and smiled at her again with pure excitement to wear the jewelry she had bought for me. "Of course!" She responded and had taken a stance near John B, speaking to him in an excitement tone as he had been interested in her the whole night which had seemed to get under Kiara's skin.
Fifteen minutes had passed from opening gifts that had been meaningful and so beautiful. I had thanked everyone with a hug and a gentle tone in my voice while everyone had been eating cake and enjoying the fireworks that sparked into the dark night sky. Everyone had headed inside to keep chatting, everyone except for JJ. Pope, Kiara, JB, and Sarah headed inside and sat on the couch. From the view of the window, they had huge smiles forming on their faces and laughter had came out from the cracked open door. JJ sat on the grass with his legs in front of him, crossed over one another while his hands had sat behind him — holding his muscular body up. His eyes had sparkled from the fireworks that shot up into the night sky that had been covered with stars and the full moon. I had been cleaning up some things on the table before noticing him. I sat the products that I had been holding onto the table and headed towards him. "Can I join you?" I asked him and smiled at the young boy who had been a couple months younger than me. He had looked up and formed a dimpled smile against his cheeks while nodding. I sat down beside him and laid my legs out near his own. "You didn't want to go inside?" I asked him and leaned my head against his shoulder. He shook his head and smiled,"Not yet. The fireworks looked pretty." He spoke and stared out towards the firework sky.
JJ had laid his hand against my back with gentle grips on his finger tips. "I have something for you." He mentioned and removed his hand away from my back, pushing his hand into the pockets of his cargo shorts. I narrowed my eyebrows and looked at him confused. "You didn't have to get me anything." I responded to him and took my head off his shoulder to look at him with a better view as he pulled out a small wrapped box that had sat inside his pocket. He shook his head at me. "Open it." He smiled again and handed the box into the palm of my hand. He had watched me unravel the present with gentleness. He had watched my every move while I had taken the box out of the wrapping paper. The box had been black with a felt texture around it. My left hand had pulled the top of the box away from the bottom end of the box to reveal a gold necklace that was in the shape of a heart locket. I smiled and looked up at JJ with a shock running across my face. "You didn't." I told him as he had nodded and looked at me with the same dimpled smile against his face. "I did. Open the inside." He responded and looked back down at the small locket. My finger tips grasped against the locket to pull it open. There sat a photo inside that had been taken last summer. The same photo that I had hung up in my room. I had sat in JJ's lap while the rest of the group had crouched around us in the photo. Looking back at JJ, I held the necklace up and handed it to him. "Can you put it on me please?" I asked him as he had taken the necklace inside the palm of his hands.
He had nodded in response as I had pulled my hair off to the side to allow him to view the back side of my neck. He had unclasped the gold chain and put the necklace around my neck. JJ clipped the necklace chain against the other strand and let it hit the back of my neck before pulling my hair back to cover the backside. I turned back to him while the necklace had sat against my bare chest. "Thank you JJ. I love it so much. You don't understand how much I appreciate it." I told him and hugged him while the both of us had sat down. My arms wrapped around him while music had blasted from the speakers. He had wrapped his arms around me and left it there for the moment that we had with another. "You're welcome. I'm so happy you love it." He responded while letting go out of the hug. I had looked at him with a smile forming against my face once again. The fireworks had sparked into the sky while the both of us turned back towards the pitch black sky. I had leaned my head back onto his shoulder while hearing the sound of the French doors opening. Turning my head into the direction, Kiara had came out into the yard with the rest of them following behind her. "Isla! Come dance!" Kiara yelled across the yard while our friends had started dancing underneath the strung lights on the patio. I smiled and turned towards JJ,"Come dance with me." I told him and looked at him with gentleness forming in my eyes. He nodded and pulled himself up off the ground before pulling me up alongside him. We had walked into the direction of where our friends had been meanwhile the adults hung out in the fancy living room that was near the front of the house. Kiara had started dancing around with Pope, trying to loosen up the boy who had been extremely awkward and uptight most of the time. Sarah and JB had started to dance with one another which was shocking to finally see the two of them to like one another after just a couple of hours with being around each other. John B had spun the blonde haired girl around with the tip of his fingers while Kiara had done the same to Pope. I pulled JJ by his hands up onto the patio and held onto his shoulders. He placed his hands against my waist while moving into the motion of the song that had been playing. Smooth by Santana had been playing in the background while everyone had danced to their own beats.
JJ had grasped his hands against my waist with his movements of turning me around, wanting to dip me. He had dipped me while I laid my leg up against his hip and leaned my head back, letting my hair fall near the floor during the dip. Kiara and Pope had yelled in excitement from the dip. JJ had held onto me while lifting me back up and moving me up close to his body. JJ was by no means a dancer but he was able to move his body to any rhythm that was playing. I held onto his muscular shoulders while he had kept moving me to the rhythm. I smiled at the playful movements that we had done during dancing with one another. The whole group had moved themselves into a full group with us, dancing with one another in a full circle. We had been laughing and doing moves that were hilarious but also fun. It had gone on for what it had felt like forever but it was too fun to not enjoy it. Glancing back at JJ, his eyes had narrowed in confusion as he looked towards the direction of where the garage had been. I looked into the direction that he had been looking in as the rhythm had stopped moving his body.
In that moment, Rafe had stood there with a present in the palm of his hand. He had stared in the direction of the group dancing with one another which had stopped to turn and look in the direction that JJ and I had been looking at. His eyes had been dilated and his neck had marks against it from what I had assumed to be hickeys from a female. Sarah looked at her own brother with disgust forming in her eyes at the sight of him. JJ had grabbed my back with the gentle touch of his hand while he had seen Rafe walk closer with the bag inside the palm of his hand. "I'm going to go grab a drink inside? Anyone care to join me?" Kiara asked to avoid the awkwardness from the staring. JB and Pope had nodded as Kiara headed into the house from the French doors that stood beside the patio. I had looked towards JJ and nodded at him to go inside with Kiara while Sarah had walked up towards her brother in an angrily mannerism in her movement. "You can go inside with them too. I'll be inside in a little." I told JJ, feeling him take his hand off my back and head into the house that our friends had been waiting inside of. Sarah had started arguing with her brother who hadn't shown up on time. My hand reached up to the necklace that JJ had put on me, moving it in the tips of my fingers to keep myself distracted.
"You are such a shitty person. You piece of shit." Sarah told her brother and pushed his chest away with the palm of her hand. I walked up towards Sarah, grabbing her shoulders to calm her down from the anger that had built up inside of her from her bother not showing up. Rafe stared at me with sadness forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He spoke to me and handed me the bag that had something inside of it. I had been upset that he had not shown up on time, nonetheless came to the party with hickeys against his neck and slight alcohol against his breath. I nodded my head at him and started a frown against my face from the anger that started to form in my heart. "You smell like shit too. Go home. You've done enough damage by not showing up." Sarah told her older brother and turned her back against him before storming into the house with rage. I narrowed my eyebrows at Rafe in disappointment. "You should go home." I responded to him and held the bag in my hand. I looked up at the male who had been towering over me, shaking my head at him. "Can you please give me a chance?" He asked me with sadness forming in his eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood in silence. Thinking about what to say because I wanted to see the best in him but his sister and Kiara had started to prove points that I didn't want to believe. "I tried to give you a chance to redeem yourself around my friends but you seem to have better things to do." I spoke to him and turned away from his tall body that had stood over me. He had stood in the silence of his own presence as I started to walk to the door in an annoyed mannerism. "Oh and by the way, thank you for the flowers." I spoke and stepped inside the house while shutting the door behind me with anger. He had stood there in disbelief. He crossed his arms over his chest and had turned around, walking towards the house he had lived inside of. Nervousness had flown through my bloodstream as the issue had actually brought sadness into my heart. I sat the present down on the small table in the kitchen while Sarah had been talking to her father about her brother in the hallway near the bathroom. Ward stood with his hand on his hip and shook his head in disgust. JJ and Kiara leaned up against the counter in the kitchen while JB and Pope sat at the table I had sat the present on. I shook my head as they had directed their eyes towards me.
This hadn't been what I expected for my birthday but it was eventful and bittersweet in the end.
It meant more to me that my friends were here to celebrate with me even though my heart had broken at the sight of Rafe.
His forehead was covered with sweat. He had smelt like whiskey and his neck had slight hickeys against it. He looked like a lost puppy that was looking to be saved but I didn't even know him that well enough to help him out. I did not want to take the chance of being used if what his sister and Kiara had said was truthful about him.
Kiara lifted a beer up to her mouth and swung the glass around in a gentle motion. JJ had taken the glass from her and lifted it up to his mouth. "I'm sorry for that issue out there." I told them as I stood against the island in the kitchen, crossing my arms over my chest. John B had shook his head and looked up towards me. "You now know why we don't hang around Kooks." He spoke and ran his fingers through his hair. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Kiara, who had been considered a Kook just like I had been. "You didn't deserve that either, especially on your birthday." Pope had spoken in his silent tone as Sarah had came into the kitchen with an upset expression on her face. I shook my head while she had stood beside me. "I'm sorry for my piece of shit brother ruining the moment for everyone. I was really enjoying it with all of you." Sarah spoke after she had leaned herself against the counter, resting her hands behind her. JJ nodded at her and had formed a gentle smile on his face. Looking at her, I shook my head again. "Don't be. We can still have fun." I reminded them a formed a fake smile against my face. Kiara had crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her head to the side as she had the beer taken away from her again. "We could play the good ol' game of Truth or Dare?" Pope recommended almost like he had been in middle school again, however the game seemed to be a form of therapy and fun for all of us.
"I'm going to to change." I spoke to them and moved myself off the counter. Walking towards the hallway where Ward had stood, talking to someone on the phone. He had stood with his hand on his hip while he seemed to be agitated. I had snuck past him and into my room, trying to not interrupt him during the phone call. I shut the door to my bedroom behind me and pulled the dress over my head, into the basket. I stood in my room naked before heading over to the dresser that had been across the way from my bed. My fingers grasped against the drawer handles, pulling them open to grab a pair of gray and white striped elastic shorts. I pulled them up over my legs and up my hips before reaching down into the drawer to grab an old t-shirt that I bought my freshman year of high school. The shirt had been a light blue shirt with a wave on the front in a dark blue color. I slid it over my head and through my arms, pulling it down. I had pushed the dress into the woven laundry hamper and put my shoes into the slots that sat on the floor against the wall. The noise of a creaking door had echoed throughout the room, making me turn around out of the walk in closet.
Narrowing my eyebrows, Kiara had snuck into my room with her arms across her chest. "Do you mind if I spend the night?" She asked and tucked her hair behind her ear. I shook my head no and sat myself against my bed. "You can borrow the clothes that are in the top and middle drawer. I think most of the stuff is things we shared before." I told her while hearing Ward talk about a business deal outside of the door. Kiara had been going through the dresser loudly as I had pushed myself off the bed, putting my ear to the door. "Kie, shh." I told her and put my pointer finger against my lips. She turned around with her hands still in the dresser drawer. She had been silent, wanting to listen to what I had been listening to. Ward spoke with a stern tone in his voice,"No. I want that gold before anyone else can find it and if I have to do it myself, I will." He spoke with aggression. My eyes widened at Kiara as she walked towards my door in a slow motion to avoid any noises to create a distraction. "The gold is located in South America. You need to find the cross first." Ward told the person on the phone with anger forming in his voice from the moment he had with the person on the phone. I looked at Kiara as she put her ear against the door, listening to him speak too. "Big John had a bunch of things that lead to the ship and the gold. We need a compass." He responded again to the person who he had business deals with. Kiara and I had faced one another with our ears pressed against the door. Mouthing at her,"What the fuck?" In confusion to how Ward Cameron would know anything about the shipwreck or any of the gold. It was a famous shipwreck but I didn't think anyone could be as insane for it as Big John Rutledge had been for it. "I got to go, I except you to find that gold before Monday." He spoke before hanging up the phone and sighing to himself in annoyance. We listened closely to hear his footsteps exit the hallway before we had started whispering to another, shocked.
"He knows where the gold is to the Royal Merchant that Big John had been searching for? Do you think he had anything to do with him going missing?" I narrowed my eyebrows and had stared at her with a blank look across my face as she went back to my dresser to find clothes that would be comfortable enough for her to wear. "After that hurricane, a man went missing and we found his hotel room where John B found the compass that his dad owned. That man, we believe was working for Ward but JJ and John B found more than what they should have found." Kiara said as I say myself on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. She had stripped herself from her pink dress and had put on the similar outfit as me. She had tucked her hair behind her ears and sat herself on the end of my bed with the dress laying behind her. "You guys searched a missing guys hotel room? That's so illegal Kie." I told her and shook my head, my hands rubbed against my eyelids. "JJ took his gun and John B took the compass. We have been searching for any clues ever since until we found a ship that had clues to finding the gold. John B has been so infatuated with the idea of carrying his dads legacy that I think we will end up with the cops after us." She responded and pulled her legs up towards her chest while a loud knock had came from the door. "House keeping!" The male voice had said which made us turn to look at the door, a grin forming against my face. "Come in!" I yelled in the silent room. Watching JJ open the door and peak his head throughout the side before he had taken a full step into the room. Pope, John B, and Sarah followed behind them.
JJ sat himself in the small hammock that my father had hung up in my room with large hooks that stuck into the white painted walls. He kicked his shoes off and pushed himself inside the tan hammock, putting his hands behind his head in a comfortable mannerism. John B sat himself on the woven chest that sat on the wall nearest to the bedroom door. Pope had sat on the rug that had laid across the carpeted floor and leaned back, in a tired position almost like he was about to fall asleep in that moment. Sarah stood behind the door with her head peaking around it. "I'm going to head home, Isla! But I had a great time with all of you! Thank you guys for being so nice to me. It was nice to see all of you guys again without having any issues with another." She had spoke to all of us while Kiara had sat with her back up against the wall that my bed was pushed up against, crossing her arms. She nodded her head as she had only been around Sarah because she had no choice, meanwhile the boys started to love her presence because she didn't act stuck up like they had thought she once was. "Thank you so much for coming Sarah!" I smiled at her as the boys all waved at her. She nodded and waved at John B, in particular with a smile forming on her lips. She had shut the door behind her and left the premises which had left my group and I with one another like we used to be. "Does anyone have a J?" JJ asked as he had lifted his hat off of his face. Rolling my eyes at him,"No smoking in the house. Have you heard of smoke alarms?" I asked him and leaned my head against the head board of the bed. JJ started laughing and shook his head at me, staring me in the eyes.
"No. Mine stopped working years ago." He had laughed and sat his hat over his face again. I shook my head at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "John B seemed to be getting along with Sarah pretty well." Pope mentioned and had a smirk forming against his face. John B shook his head. "Me? Never." He spoke and ran his tan fingers throughout his hair. I closed my eyes and sat in talkative room while John B and Pope had kept talking. "I still don't like her." Kiara said as she had an attitude forming in her voice. "Get over it Kie." JB told her and leaned himself against the back of the wall with tiredness in his eyes. Kiara sat up in defensiveness with more of an attentive attitude. "You know what, why are you falling for a Kook. Isla? You too!" She had spoken in an attitude that had forced me to open my eyes. I widened my eyes,"Huh? I don't even know Rafe that well." I told her while John B had started to get defensive over Sarah. "Don't call her a Kook when she clearly doesn't act like it." John B spoke towards Kiara as JJ and Pope sat there in silence, watching the argument form into something that it didn't need to. "I saw the way that you wanted him to be here! But you forgot that you have JJ, who you have loved for so many years!" She spoke with an angry tone as she had pointed her hand towards JJ. I looked at her with a sincere look forming on my face before looking towards JJ, who looked like he had been confused and nonetheless saddened.
I hadn't had feelings for either of them, at least not now. I hardly had known Rafe and only spent one night getting to know him which isn't nearly enough. I was just being friendly to him. However, I had always crushed on JJ — we all had made a pact on not dating one another. I did not meaningfully expect that comment from Kiara despite the fact that she had a crush on Pope for some time now — which was wrong but the heart wants what it wants in the moment.
"Kie, we made a pact and you can't get mad at anyone for finding someone outside of our group." I spoke and tucked my curled hair behind my ears before opening my mouth again. "And thanks for putting the fact out there that I had a crush on JJ for multiple years when that wasn't your business to share! Who cares if I wanted to be around Rafe? At least he felt normal to me due to the fact that I don't constantly focus on the pogue and kook bullshit that I don't care about and neither should any of you!" I spoke to them in a full rant that had brought anger into my soul that had been kind once. Tears started to form in my eyes at the annoyance that she had shared the fact that I had a crush on JJ for some time but I had lived by that friendship pact. If I wanted to move on from the situation potentially in the future with Rafe once I was able to know him, that would be okay for me to do because it didn't go again the friendship pact. "Do you guys always want to live be associated with being a pogue your whole life?" I asked them as I had glanced at JJ who had been silent but had been staring at the floor, almost like he had been thinking. "And not even just that, if you want to be with someone that makes you special, so be it! Kie, you can't always dictate what anyone does. If John B has a thing for Sarah, you can't stop him because that is what his heart wants and you better support him!" I told them while a tear had flown out of my eyelid and against my left cheek. "That goes for all of you because there will never be a damn time in this world where I will never not support you guys and I expect the same in return." I had spoken one last time and wiped the tear away with the backside of my hand that was covered in rings. "I didn't want to cry today but you guys have to move on at some point. John B, I will support you endlessly if you want to pursue Sarah and I'm proud of you." I told him before I had stood up. I grasped the hem of my shorts to pull them down a tad against my hips before I had grabbed the brass handle on the white door.
Kiara had sat in silence while the rest of them had been in shock about the blow up that had came upon me. I walked down the hallway and into the kitchen as my parents had been outside, cleaning up alongside Kiara's parents. I had opened the fridge and pulled out a beer that had belonged to my father, popping the top off with the side of my teeth. I sat the beer bottle top on the counter and headed back to my room. Kaia and Wheezie had been in her bedroom, playing with the dolls that Kaia had received for her birthday that we had celebrated about a month ago. Kiara had sat in silence still as JJ had looked back up me after I had shut the door behind me. I sighed to myself as the tears in my eyes had dried while anger overcame my body. "I'm sorry that I had told everyone but we all knew it." Kiara had an attitude still while she had spoken to me. "Do you realize who your talking to?" I asked her and narrowed my eyebrows in annoyance while I held the beer in my hands. The grip around the glass was strong enough to break the glass all over the carpeted floor. "Yeah I do! I'm speaking to a bitch that is choosing a piece of shit guy over her own best friends!" She spoke and stood up from the bed, rushing herself out of the room to where her parents had been outside with mine. I stood there in shock and on the verge of tears but I had tried to keep myself composed. Looking towards the boys, I opened my mouth to speak. "You guys should go before she gets upset with you guys too." I spoke to them and tucked my hair behind my ear. John B and Pope stood up while JJ had stood up from the hammock but didn't want to go with them. He stuck his hands in his pockets and shook his head in disbelief over the small argument that Kiara and I had. "You guys go get Kiara back at the chateau and calm her down. I got Isla." He spoke to them and formed a fake smile across his face to show comfort to the two other boys who has seemed anxious and more concerned about the group than anything else in life. John B and Pope nodded, heading out of the room and closing the door behind them. JJ had stood across from me and watched my every movement. I sat the beer against the nightstand near my bed and sat on my bed, pulling my legs up towards my chest as tears formed against the edges of my eyes. I turned the lamp on that sat on the nightstand. JJ had walked towards the light switch, turning off the light however the lamp had still shared light against my skin. "I'll turn this off so you aren't embarrassed." He spoke as he had crawled over my bed to sit beside me. He had laid his hand against my knee cap to grasp my attention. His eyes focused on my face as tears had flown down my cheeks. I had never fought with Kiara that way before which had sent me through a spiral of emotions because it was so painful to fight with someone I loved for so long.
He watched the tears fall against my cheeks as my face had turned red. "Why did you stay with me?" I asked him and looked at him. He shook his head and took the back of his hand, wiping the tears off my cheeks. "Because I will always have your back and I don't like seeing my girl in pain." He spoke and formed a small dimpled smile against his face, in hopes to lighten the mood and make me feel comforted. I shook my head while tears rushed out of the corners of my eyes in huge droplets. "Come here." He spoke as he tapped his chest with his finger tips. I laid my head against his chest and snuggled against him in a comforting mannerism. He held his hand on the top of my head and hushed me almost like I had been a child. He ran his finger tips through my hair and rested his chin against the top of my head to comfort me more. "It'll all be okay. She'll apologize to you when she has time to think." He had explained and held me tighter against his own chest that had been covered with the black button up shirt he had worn. He left his red hat in the hammock that sat across the room near the large windowsill. "I just don't understand why she would put me in that position and be so unsupportive about everything and everyone." I explained to him while I had expressed my own feelings that had been held up inside. "I don't even like Rafe like that! Did I think he was cute? I did but did I want anything with him? I didn't." I told him and laid my head against his chest as he kept hushing me to calm me down.
JJ laid his head against the headboard as he had listened to me speak. "It's okay. No one is upset, I'm not upset with you." He told me and laid his cheek against the top of my head while his hand had ran throughout my curled hair. I shook my head. "I just wanted him to redeem himself." I told him and looked up towards him while my cheek had stayed against his cheek. "I know and you're a great person for that. You have a big heart and care about everyone despite their issues. Kiara is extremely stubborn and usually holds grudges against others." He spoke with a softness in his voice. He wiped the tears away from my face as I had lifted my head off of his chest. Staring into his ocean blue eyes with a soft look on my face in vulnerability. JJ had began to get closer towards my face with his lips inches away from mine. He had laid his thumb against my cheek while he cradled my head in the palm of his hand, rubbing the excess tears away. He had pulled my face towards his and pressed his lips against mine. During the feeling of being vulnerable with one another — stupid things could happen in the moment but nothing was ever a mistake. This didn't feel like a mistake and it was meant to happen.
The unhappiness from the argument between my best friend and I had faded away. Almost like JJ was able to take any pain away, however he had made me feel the same way that Rafe had when he was around me.
Everything had faded away in that moment. It felt like my soul had left my body and extended into the heavens above which was an out of body experience to ever face.