hannah stood frozen, taking in the image in front of her. there were dried tears staining jj's cheeks, his eyes rimmed with red and multiple cuts littering his face. it wasn't the first time jj had shown up at her window unannounced after a fight with his father, but it didn't change how much it pained her to see him like this when he did.
"jay," hannah whispered, gently brushing her hand over the black eye that had already begun to form.
jj flinched, causing her to withdraw her hand.
quickly jumping out of her window, hannah grabbed jj's forearm. "come on," she said, tugging him along as she made her way through the underbrush and into a small clearing.
the blonde let out a small gasp as he took in the sight before him. there was a short dock with a few planks missing that went into the water, surrounded by a cluster of trees. at the end of the pier, one had a clear view of the sun setting below the horizon of calm water. hannah guided him to sit beside her at the end of the dock, dipping her toes into the marsh and causing ripples to oscillate around them.
"i've never been here before," jj marveled.
hannah nodded. "no one has. i've been coming here for years, and i've never seen anyone."
jj's head turned to her, hurt written across his face. "why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"i come here when i want to be alone," she confessed. "whenever my dad gets too much, or i just need to calm down, i always come here. it's quiet. i've never told anyone about it, until now."
"why did you bring me here?"
hannah looked down at her feet. "the first time i came here, i was actually four, almost five. my father had just gotten the worst beating i'd ever received, so far at least. he'd been hitting my mom, and i started yelling at him." she chuckled humorlessly. "stupid of me to think i could've stopped him." jj rubbed comforting patterns on her knuckles, encouraging her to continue. "my first thought was to run away. it didn't matter where to, i just wanted to escape. i managed to find this place, and, for almost a year, it became my safe haven. if i wasn't at home or at school, i was usually here."
"you say that like it changed," jj questioned, curiosity lacing his tone.
"it did," hannah stated. "i met you."
a small blush crept up the blond's neck. "what?"
she nodded. "yeah. around a year later, i met you at the beach. remember? you were rude and called my doll ugly-"
"i told you i was kidding!"
"whatever," hannah playfully rolled her eyes. "anyway, when i met you, something told me you'd be important." she smiled at the memory. "now, eight years later, and you're still my best friend. whenever i was with you, everything felt right. i didn't come here as much," hannah turned to face the blond, "because you became my safe haven."
a grin spread across jj's face as he pulled the brunette into his embrace. "you're mine too, babydoll. you didn't need to bring me here, all i needed was you."
hannah shook her head. "oh, jay, that's not why i brought you here," she said, reaching into the pocket of her hoodie to pull out a plastic baggie of marijuana. "this is."
jj's eyes widened. "where'd you get this?"
"my brother's plug."
"and you know how to-?"
she nodded. "figured it was time i introduced to you my craft."
"you know i've never... " jj trailed off, hoping she got the message.
luckily for him, she did. "of course, you would've told me if you did."
"what makes you so sure i would've told you?"
"jay," hannah laughed, "you can't keep secrets from me. remember in third grade when john b asked you not to tell me that he had a crush on me, but you did?"
"i-" jj went to defend himself.
"jay, you told me like half and hour after he told you this. you can't keep secrets from me."
"whatever," jj said. "now can we get to more of the smoking and less of the exposing jj?"
hannah giggled as she got out a slip of rolling paper to form the joint with and a metal lighter. "here," she handed it to jj. "it was supposed to be your birthday gift. i was planning for us smoking for the first time together, but i think you need it now."
jj smiled at her. how had he gotten so lucky to have her as a best friend?
"so, the first step to rolling is-"
"can i try?" jj cut her off.
"jay, you've never rolled a blunt in your life," hannah deadpanned.
"just let me try."
"alright." hannah handed him the supplied and watched jj's butchered attempts at forming the joint. "no, you're doing it wrong!"
"that's the whole point!" jj sputtered incredulously. "you're supposed to be teaching me how!"
hannah huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "i tried to, but you said you wanted to try it for yourself first!"
"you don't always have to be right, you know," jj pouted, passing her the slip of paper.
hannah sent her a victorious smirk, snatching the material from his hands and flattening it out in front of her. jj watched attentively as she reached into the plastic baggie beside her and pulled out a tiny handful of weed from her stash. with ease, she evenly spread the drug along the strip of paper before expertly bringing the joint to her lips to lick and seal it up.
"voilá, mon ami," she grinned, passing the blunt to him.
jj nodded impressed at her handiwork. "may i?" he asked, gesturing to her creation.
she giggled. "you may."
he eagerly brought the blunt to his lips, and begun trying to light it with shaky hands.
hannah rolled her eyes. "here, let me." she swiped the lighter from jj's hands and scooted over to him.
jj watched intently as hannah leaned closer to his face to get a better angle. he noted how she cupped one hand over the end of the joint as she lit it. jj took a deep breath, but was soon forced into a coughing fit, sputtering as he tried to collect himself.
"that'll happen the first few times," hannah patted his back. "you'll get used to it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"i dare you to get my name tattooed on your inner lip."
hannah's jaw dropped at the blond's words. "jay, you cannot be serious."
"serious as pope studying for tomorrow's biology test."
"you're an asshole."
jj shrugged. "i've been called worse,."
hannah huffed. "fine, let's go," she stated, grabbing jj's wrist and pulling him towards his bike.
"wait, you're really doing this?" jj gaped at her in disbelief.
"yeah," hannah said as she swung her leg over jj's bike and revved the engine. "coming?"
"what makes you think i'm letting you drive?" jj asked, placing a helmet atop her head.
"because you love me," hannah chirped, "also, i'm not wearing a helmet. i look like i've got a bowl on my head."
jj sighed, placing the helmet on the ground. "if you crack your head open and die, i'm never gonna forgive you."
"nah, you love me too much," hannah giggled as she sped off into town towards the tattoo parlor.
a petrified squeak left jj's lips as hannah zipped along the road. "i swear to god, you're gonna get us killed," jj yelled into hannah's shirt.
the brunette laughed. "live a little, jay!"
jj tightened his arms around hannah's torso, causing a small smile to creep onto both their lips.
...
"so you want 'jj' on your bottom lip?" the tattoo artist scratched his head in bewilderment.
hannah rolled her eyes. "i've said that the past three times, leo. come on, please?" she pouted, causing leo to huff as he got out his tools. leo had been good friends with hannah's brother, so the two had grown to regard one another as family. after her brother's disappearance, the two had grown closer as they dealt with the loss.
while hannah went to get her lip prepped for the tattoo, jj took the opportunity to talk to leo. "if i were to potentially also get something, where would you recommend?"
"what're you thinking?"
jj pulled out a small slip of paper to show the man his idea.
leo grinned. "nice, man. i've got just the place."
"alright!" hannah reemerged from the bathroom, clapping her hands together in excitement. "let's do this shit." she eagerly took a seat in the chair beside the tools and jj took the place beside her.
as leo began the process of tattooing hannah's lip, another tattoo artist was on jj's other side beginning his tattoo. the brunette's hand squeezed jj's for reassurance, too distracted by the pain to notice her blond best-friend was being tended to.
"and you're done!" leo stepped away to grab a mirror, showing hannah his design.
she gasped. "holy shit, i love it!"
leo chuckled. "it's going to be very swollen and sensitive over the next few days. make sure to clean it and try your best to eat foods that won't irritate it." he turned to jj. "and you just need to clean yours routinely, so that it won't get infected."
hannah turned to jj in shock. "you got a tattoo?"
the blond nodded coyly.
"well can i see it?" hannah watched as jj brushed his hair to the side and pulled down his ear to reveal 'babydoll' neatly printed behind the shell of his ear. "oh my gosh," she whispered, lightly brushing her fingers over the inked skin. "i love it."
"i felt it was only fitting since you got my name."
"jay, this is the sweetest thing you've ever done for me." she wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling back, a sly grin on her face. "you know what this means, right?"
jj shook his head.
"we've got matching tattoos," hannah laughed. "we've practically imprinted on each other."
a deep blush stained jj's cheeks. "oh god," he groaned, "our friends are gonna harass the fuck out of us, aren't they?"
"not if they don't find out."
but two drunk hannah and jjs later, all of the pogues were well aware of the pair's marks— their own personal claim on one another— and they were just fine with that.