"Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again."
-Shakespeare,
Romeo and Juliet
---
I sunk my toes in the sand and looked out at the water.
"You beat the shit out of Rafe...". I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart. "Because he... hurt me?"
"Yeah".
My hands went up to my neck, where I could still feel the bruise. Kiara's mom had artfully covered it with makeup, but it was still tender to the touch where Rafe's hand had enveloped my throat.
But I hadn't told a soul.
"How'd you know?" I whispered.
He let out a deep huff.
"I know you".
He continued slowly. "Plus Rafe was talking shit. God, I wish I had the time to cave his head in, but his friends all came out of nowhere and cornered me".
I didn't respond, trying to keep my facade intact.
His hand touched my shoulder, and I shivered, not looking at him while he continued. "God why didn't you say something? I'll fucking kill him for touching you, I swear he won't ever bother you again Ti, I got you."
"No!"
He looked shocked at my outburst. "What?"
"Thats why I didn't tell you it was Rafe! Don't fight him- ok- I just-"
"He deserves it Ti! God I cant believe-"
"When does it end JJ? They hit us, we hit them, they just hit us back. An eye for an eye, and it never ends. I don't want you to get hurt."
"You don't want me to get hurt? God Ti, I don't want YOU to get hurt. Just the thought of him doing that to you- I don't even know." He clenched his fists angrily. "And that expression's stupid, you're not an eye, you're... you."
I laughed softly. That was such a JJ thing to say.
He looked frustrated, grabbing his hair in his fists. He looked so out of place, in his fancy waiter's outfit. I must have looked out of place too in my dress, barefoot beside him in the sand.
I stared at him, my heart clenching with the feelings that I had to acknowledge I felt for him.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" I suddenly remembered, changing the subject and looking away again.
He looked up at the sky frustratedly.
"Nothing."
I breathed.
"Hey JJ?"
He looked at me, nervous and tense, but stayed silent.
"Are we good?"
He sighed, unclenching his fists and running his hands through his hair.
"Yeah we're good princess".
---
The rest of the night went absolutely terribly.
John B had met Sarah, insisting it was a "business meeting" so she could give him the maps we needed to find the gold, and pissing off Kie in the process. Except then Topper had found them together and he'd pushed John B off a railing. The night had ended with us all at the hospital, praying he would be okay after his dramatic fall.
We'd finally gotten the okay from the doctor, letting us know he would not only live, but only had a broken bone to show for his fall.
Trust John B to be that lucky.
None of us had been allowed to stay since we weren't technically family, although Sarah somehow weaseled her way in since she was a Cameron and her father was "on his way".
Outside, I hugged Kiara, who had dried tears on her face, and then Pope, who held her hand and gently guided her towards the car.
"I'm giving her a ride home", he said, looking at me. "You're staying at her place right?".
I looked over at JJ, who swung John B's keys around, pacing back and forth erratically. "I'm gonna go back to the Chateau with JJ".
Pope nodded. "You guys gonna be good?"
"Yeah, man, we have John B's van. Plus I seriously doubt DCS is gonna come tonight" JJ brandished the keys. He sported dried tears too, which he'd valiantly tried to hide.
Pope nodded, getting in Kie's car while she followed him like a zombie.
JJ and I got in the hippie van, him sighing and gripping the steering wheel so hard his already banged up knuckles were turning white.
It took him a few seconds to get himself together enough to start the car and drive home.
And then when we'd gotten home we'd walked into the Chateau and both looked at it depressed.
It was missing John B.
JJ grabbed the cheap bottle of vodka he knew was hidden in the kitchen cupboard for "special occasions".
He'd looked at me questioningly, and I'd taken the first swig. I'd coughed, passing it back to him only for him to take a generous swig and hand it back.
That was 20 minutes ago.
"The vibes are soo heavy right now" he complained, slurring his words already.
"At least he's okay."
"Yeah. Coulda been so much... worse". He frowned, his eyebrows scrunching up cutely.
"It could have been worse", I agreed, nodding. "But goddamn, J. Guaranteed Topper won't even get in trouble for that."
"Probably not. Mommy and daddy will go apologize and throw shome moneys around and he's gooood".
"You're right" I shipsered. "They always always win". I voiced, the despair taking over my voice. "They always fucking win! The kooks, they get everything, and we-"
He caught my fist before it haphazardly swung at something, anything.
"I know, Ti" he whispered, cradling my fist. I let out a breath.
"I have an idea."
---
I'd told him I had an idea and immediately gone outside. I grabbed the bat on the porch and turned around to see him following me slowly and unsurely like a lost puppy dog.
He raised an eyebrow. "Ok.. you've gone crazy"
I just smiled. "Come on", jerking my head out towards the yard.
When he just continued to look at me like I'd gone batshit insane I rolled my eyes dramatically and grabbed his arm, literally having to drag him with me through the grass to the abandoned trailer on the next lot over from John B's.
It was basically a junk yard, with an old broken down trailer surrounded by heaps of trash and scrap auto parts and random household items. We usually just avoided it.
"Ok..." JJ raised an eyebrow at me, stopping and looking around us.
I pulled out an old shabby wooden stool and placed an old vase on it. I looked at him, grinning as my intentions seemed to dawn on him.
I swung the bat, shattering the vase in a satisfying crash.
He looked at me impressed, swaying a bit. "Damnnn tell me how you really feel".
"Your turn".
He gave me a look, grabbing the bat I held outstretched to him. I ran to the trailer, grabbing another vase. He made sure I was far enough away, and gave it a good swing. He paused for a second, turning around to give me a huge grin.
"This" he said, out of breath, ''is better than therapy".
"Like you've ever been to therapy".
He shrugged. "We both need therapy".
"That shits expensive".
He smirked. "And this is free."
I grabbed an old ceramic pot, placing it on the stool and backing away to let him take out his anger on it. "Welcome to therapy".
He did one more, whooping and taking a swig of the vodka in celebration, then let me have the bat again.
I put an old stereo on there and started smashing it, letting all the anger I'd held in the past few days finally come out as I just hit it repeatedly.
He whistled.
When I was done, he came up from behind me to take the bat since it was his turn.
Suddenly though our bodies were real close.
Both of us were breathing hard from the excitement and the exertion, and the presence of him so close to me only served to make my heart beat faster.
He looked down at me under hooded eyes, the front of our bodies inches away from touching. His hand reached to grab the bat from mine.
I looked back at him, making eye contact and feeling that electrifying shock again where I felt lost in his blue-grey orbs.
He sees you as a friend.
I jerked away, letting the bat stay in his grasp.
He looked at me oddly, eventually turning around to swing the bat yet again.
I took a huge swig of the vodka he'd left set down in the grass, hoping to dull the pain I'd started in my chest with my own thoughts.
I was confused when he moved the stool we'd been using to the side, and instead walked up to the scrapped car by the trailer. It had been mostly stripped of it's parts and was more like a car's skeleton with a few windows somehow still standing.
JJ gripped the bat tightly, clenching his jaw.
And started slamming the bat into the the existing windows with all his force.
He just kept hitting it, over and over, letting out yells and grunts, his face turning red. The windows were all shattered but yet he kept hitting the old car, letting out pent up anger as I had.
Finally, he stopped.
I looked at him, not sure whether to feel awe or concern.
"Are you okay" I whispered.
"Yeah"
When I looked at him, he elaborated, shrugging. "I was pretending it was my dad's car".
My heart broke into more pieces than the glass he'd just smashed.
I took a few steps towards him. "It has been getting worse hasn't it"
He looked at the ground between our feet.
"J-"
"I don't want to talk about it! I don't, okay?" He let out a heated outburst, still out of breath from his angry attack on the car but getting frustrated again.
"You have to tell someone-"
He took another step closer to me so we were almost touching again. "What about you huh? You gonna tell-?"
"I just, I don't understand you!" I interrupted him, looking up at him and immediately regretting it when I noticed just how close we were.
I could feel his breath on my face, smell him. I could see the cuts on the side of his face, the freckles on his nose.
He sighed frustrated, looking down at me again with a look in his eyes. I looked back at him, breath catching in my throat and heart squeezing.
And then his lips were on mine.
Feverishly, my body responded to the kiss, instinctively putting my hand on his chest to pull his shirt towards me before my brain had even registered what was happening.
He was kissing me.
We were kissing.
His hands wrapped around my waist roughly, grabbing me and lifting me up to push me against the wall, never letting our lips lose each other.
I swear I felt like my whole body was on fire, exploding at his fingertips as they moved all over me furiously.
My hands tangled in his hair. My lips moved against his. My brain was just pleasure.
Burning.
He let me back down to the ground so gently, contrasting with the ferocity he'd displayed just moments before.
I think we were both dazed for a moment, breathing hard, our bodies still close.
I had no idea what was happening.
Was this real?
We stayed there for a few moments, neither of us saying a word. I tried to formulate sentences but absolutely nothing made sense to say right now.
Eventually he let out a long uneven sigh, backing away from me as if he too was confused about what he'd just done. What we'd just done.
"We're drunk" he mumbled. "We should just get some sleep", he turned away, leaving me to process what had just happened.
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Word count: 1967
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soooooo uhhhh, lemme know how you felt about that one
and pop a vote on this chapter for that KISS
(!!!!!!)
<3