comfort in the closet
MARTHA AND JJ ARRIVE BACK AT the Hollands' home, completely drenched in mother nature's heavy tears. They drive towards the back of the house because Martha said that her bedroom window is open and that her father would never allow him here.
JJ and Marty quickly hop off his dirt bike as she pulls him towards the tree by her window. The violent winds howl and shake the trees surrounding the plantation. Thunder rumbles darkly, scaring the two kids, and lightning strikes down on some nearby light poles and wires, creating a dangerous flame. Rain droplets pelt down on their bare skin —bruising them with black and blue spots. The water sticks to their faces, sliding down their cheeks and available skin creating goosebumps and shivers along their path.
"Hurry! We can sneak in using the tree!" Martha shouts over the commotion, running over to the big oak tree.
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" JJ yells, running right behind her.
Martha finally gets to the trunk of the wooden tree and tries to climb up the bark but it's too slippery to do so. "I can't, I can't climb, the bark's too wet!" She yells, trying her best not to sound too scared over the fact that they are caught up in a storm, and it'll be all her fault if something happened to JJ.
She cared about him more than herself.
Suddenly she feels his hands grip her hips before she is lifted off the ground and pressed against the tree branch. She immediately wraps her arms and legs around the branch, hauling herself up, "next time warn me before, will ya?!" She exclaims, looking down to an amused JJ.
"Yeah, yeah, help me up," he states, holding out a hand for her to take and pull him up onto the branch alongside her.
"I barely could lift weights," she grabs his hand, "how do you expect me to," and tugs upwards, and before she could finish her sentence she eats her words because he climbs up right next to her.
"Okay then, be careful where you step," Martha warns JJ, as she sidesteps on the drenched bark, and JJ grabs her left hand, securing themselves together. The tree sways in the harsh wind, the rain droplets pelt on their faces making them red from abrasions.
The pair finally reach the propped open window, Martha huffs as her fingers grip the wet edge pushing the window up, and then finally, clawing at the flap of plastic, she pushes up the screen —tearing her pointer nail.
"Oww! Fuck!" She yells, seething through her teeth as her hand shakes from the pain. Her fingernail almost tore off, the under layer of skin bleeding and red.
She heaves as she crawls into her bedroom, being careful not to hurt her finger anymore. She grabs the edge of her dresser in order to stabilize her and help her move into her room with barely any sound. Once she's finally inside, she turns around to help JJ into the warmth. The two teenagers were shaking from the cold and beaten in the storm.
She grabs his hand pulling him into her dainty sky blue angelic room, but before he could indulge her peaceful and cozy atmosphere, his foot slips and he falls right on top of her. Martha shrieks as she lands on her wooden floor —creating a big thud through the ceiling downstairs.
JJ's body is pressed against her petite figure, the only thing stopping him from crushing her was his hands catching his heavy body. He can smell her delicious scent from where his face was, he saw the delicate bruises on her neck and the goosebumps from the cold. He saw her gulp anxiously as she stared into his lightning blue orbs. But what intrigued him the most, was the fact that her legs were gently hugging his waist.
'She must've done that when she got scared because she doesn't know the position we are in,' he thought to himself, making him smirk uncontrollably.
The only thing Martha could focus on was how close their lips were to touching, she giggles as she reaches up and strokes some of his wet hair to their original place. She trails her hand down the side of his face, tracing the light freckles one by one.
He smiles at her doing so, they were very light —no one ever realized he had any.
"Clumsy fuck," she whispers, laughing quietly as her fingers glazed over his pink lips. He locks eyes with her as she does so, he memorizes the shape of her face, and how the chameleon green intertwines with the hazelnut brown creating specks of forest green.
"Wow, I didn't know you were such a meanie." He whispers back, leaning down closer to her lips as she brushes her hand on his neck, grasping the nape of where his shoulder blade and his neck meet.
"It's called tough love, baby." She smiles with him, as she leans up, eyes fluttering shut as his left-hand snakes his way behind her head, holding it as he leans down. Their lips barely touch, they could just feel the excitement and adrenaline rush from their breaths hitting their faces...
"MARTHA?!"
Martha's eyes pop open from hearing her mother and her footsteps climb up the old and creaky steps. "Fuck," she whispers, whimpering away from JJ's lips. "It's my mother," she whispers.
"MARTHA? IS THAT YOU? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"
"Holy shit! My mother! Get up!" She whisper-yells at JJ, automatically unclasping her legs around his waist. JJ scurries off, pushing himself up as he groans in frustration. 'The ultimate cockblock,' he thinks to himself before sighing outwardly.
Martha stands up, hesitating as she thinks of where to hide JJ. Finally, an idea pops into her head. "Get under the bed," she points, demanding him to shimmy under her bed.
"What?! No! Why can't I just go in the closet!" He whispers, pointing over the closet, which was directly opposite the window.
"No! It'll be the first place she'll check. Please, do it for me." She says, putting on her best puppy dog face as she rubs her hand down his wet chest.
JJ bites his lip as he looks down at her, before sighing a "fine." He makes it over to her bed, crawling quickly underneath it.
"Simp," Martha remarks under her breath and gets a quick "fuck you," in return.
She smiles, before frantically walking over to her door and opens it quickly to find her mother, Lola Holland with tear stains on her concerned face. "Mom, are you okay?"
Mama Holland grabs her only daughter, taking her and entrapping her in a big warm hug. "I was so worried about you, Agatha came earlier than expected and I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to my little girl."
"I'm okay, mom, really."
"No, you're not. You're shivering and soaking wet!" She yells, pushing back her daughter because she smelled like a wet dog from the rain.
Hearing that last bit, JJ couldn't help but chuckle.
"And- and I heard a bump from downstairs. I thought I told you to stop coming home through the window." Her mother scolds, walking into her daughter's bedroom. Lola Holland takes note of the water trail that divides her daughter's path and one that leads to the bed.
"Mama, it's been so long since I've done that. What's wrong with doing it once?" Martha lies, trying not to draw attention to the handsome boy under her bed.
"Well, what if that bitch Agatha decides to throw a tree trunk through your window?" Mrs. Holland, questions her daughter, before walking over to the open window and shutting it closed.
"Then I'll sleep in the closet, it's the furthest from the window."
Lola nods reassuringly. "How did work go?"
"It was fine, a bit chaotic in the morning, but I made a lot of tip money."
Lola turned on her heel, shifting from a concerned motherly stance to an intimidating one. She crosses her arms across her chest, "Is that all?"
Martha's face contorts with worry, but she keeps her voice calm. "Yes, why? Did something happen?"
"Because I received a call from your manager, and they told me that there was a slight altercation between you, another busser, and a well-respected customer," she bluntly states, walking over towards the closet to check if someone was hidden there. And then the bathroom.
Martha's hands start to sweat because she becomes increasingly anxious. JJ starts to sweat too, and he prayed that he wouldn't be spotted.
"What? Mom, nothing happened." Martha pleaded, she just wanted her mother out.
"You know, I don't like it when you lie to me." Lola scolds Martha.
"But I'm not"—
—"Martha Jane, enough," she interrupts. "I already know he is under the bed, but don't worry, I'd rather have him here than in the dangerous storm. I won't say anything to your father. Just make sure that you leave before Mr. Holland gets breakfast. Come out, I wanna see the man who protected my daughter."
JJ hesitates but slowly shimmies and crawls out from underneath Marty's bed. He's still cold and wet, and now he's shivering from the unfamiliar air. Martha walks over him, smiling reassuringly as she grabs his hand, interlocking fingers, and pulls him towards her mother.
"More like a boy, ma'am." He states, blushing at the feeling of Martha's hand holding his. Especially in front of her mother.
Mrs. Holland shakes her head, and smiles at the blond before saying, "a boy who protects a girl's honor is a man in my book, Mr. Maybank."
Martha and JJ's eyes widen at the choice of words the woman had used. Martha never said anything to her mother about her crush on JJ, or about her crush on Sarah for that matter.
After seeing their shocked faces she turns to JJ saying, "you're a spitting image of your father. I knew Luke back in high school. How-how he's been?"
'Knew? Knew, Lola? More like dated.' Mrs. Holland scolded herself inside her head. 'He doesn't need to know that, not yet anyway.'
"The same prick he's always been." He grits his teeth, he hates his father. 'How could she even see a resemblance to that dickhead? Am I just going to be just like him?' he tries to wrap his brain around it, but he knows that when he has children, he would never be like his father, ever.
Martha is shocked that he slightly cursed in front of her mother, but still reached out to comfort him by rubbing his arm.
Mama Holland nods knowingly, "yeah, that's Luke for ya. Always a hard ass. You can stay here for the night, take a hot shower, and if you're hungry, there's leftover dinner for the both of you downstairs in the kitchen. Goodnight." She says, before walking to the bedroom door and shutting it —leaving the two lovebirds inside for the night.
➵ ➵ ➵
MARTHA SAT ON THE EDGE OF HER BED as she waits impatiently for JJ to get out of the shower. She wanted to join him in there but was afraid of what he would be able to see, all the bruises on her body, every imperfection. Besides, would that be too forward? Would he push her away? Would he be disgusted by her? How could she be such a whore to suggest those things?
She was too busy wrapping her head around the self-degrading thoughts, that she didn't hear the shower being turned off, or the sound of light shuffling on the tile.
JJ opens the bathroom door, walking out in just a white towel hanging low on his hips. Steam was radiating off of his tan skin, and Martha couldn't help her eyes travel down his abs and his subtle but prominent v-line.
She gulps as her eyes connect to his, his smirk making her nervous. "Like what you see?"
Her cheeks inflamed, looking away momentarily before returning to him with a sly comment. "Cocky much?"
"Very much so." He remarks under his breath, but Martha catches it. She rolls her eyes and gets up from her bed, walking over to the pillow fort in her closet.
"Do you want clothes?" She asks, stepping on pillows trying to grab her father's sweatshirts and sweatpants she stole.
"Are you sure you want me to wear clothes?" He whispers into her ear, and before she could say anything back, she feels his frontside press into her backside. He felt so warm. She felt so cold.
He gripped her waist as he reached up to get her father's sweats. She was wearing one of her dad's old cotton shirts with nothing underneath, except underwear, it was like a dress on her. His towel accidentally pulls the delicate fabric upwards, exposing her thighs to him.
He picks up the grey sweatpants and blue sweatshirt from the top shelf and hands it down to her. "Here, you go baby McFly." He whispers so close to her ear that she swore she felt his lips kiss the nape of her neck.
She grabs the fabrics, before turning around and facing JJ's extremely handsome and extremely close face. "Thanks, baby, and yes." She shoves the clothes into his stomach, unexpectedly knocking the wind out of him.
"Ugh, who knew you were such a tease!" JJ groans jokingly, before walking out of the closet and back into the bathroom to change.
"A tease? Aren't you the one who's always on top of me?" She asks the bathroom door.
JJ opens it, revealing himself in her father's sweats. They were a bit baggy, but for the most part, fit his body well. "Oh, please. Don't act like you don't enjoy it." He looks down at her with his hands on his hips.
Marty grins mischievously, "okay, but at least I'm not a simp!" She laughs before playfully pushing him away from her and she takes off to the safety of her pillow fort inside of her closet.
JJ grins at her actions before running after her. As she reaches the closet door, he picks her up from behind and starts to tickle her.
"Stop! Stop! I'm going to pee!" Martha yells as quietly as she could, she starts to laugh uncontrollably as JJ's hands tickle her mercilessly. Through Marty's fightback, JJ falls on the fort, taking Martha with him.
She's on top of him this time, her bare legs on either side of his torso, but she doesn't care. Her hands hold his own above his head, trying to stop the merciless torture of tickling. She sees his soft features, falling head over heels again.
She sees his cerulean eyes flock down to her lips, her breasts, and her body flushed on top of his, and back up to her hazelnut coffee optics. She leans down, swallowing away her thoughts about what he might think of her, and just went for it.
Her lips press into his, molding them together as he kisses her back moaning in satisfaction; her hands fall down as she grabs his neck, her body permanently on his; his hands grab the back of her head, never wanting to let her go.
Martha pulls back for a quick breath of air, before kissing him once more —this time with much more passion and fire.
Her hands rake through his blonde streaks of hair, this time she moans in satisfaction, and one of his hands fall to her neck and jawline holding it in place. JJ leans up from the pillowed floor, instantly shuffling Martha on his lap and he wraps one arm around her waist —enjoying the euphoria.
This time they both pull away smiling at each other. JJ leans in and places fluttering kisses on Martha's cheeks, jawline, neck, and lips. She keeps her eyes open for each one, relishing at the moment that not only did he not reject her kiss but is also giving her a plethora of kisses. She strokes his jawline with her thumb as he finally pulls away from her face.
"Martha, I wanna know."
"Are you sure?" She tilts her head, knowing that she would have to tell him someday. She thought that telling people what happened that night would just get easier, but instead, it's just harder. Why would anyone want to remember that trauma?
"Yes, please, baby. You don't have to tell me if you don't"—
—"It's okay, I'll tell you. I'm not afraid anymore." Her eyes filled with tears but her smile made JJ think they were happy tears.
"Afraid? Why would you be afraid?"
"I thought you would look at me differently after I told you the truth." Then she broke down crying, and JJ immediately wrapped both his arms around the shaking and broken girl on his lap, welcoming her with a warm hug —a hug that she needed from him.
"I would never do that to you, I promise." He said before kissing her forehead and letting her cry into the comfort of his neck.
fez speaking!!
I can't believe I have to say this but Lola is NOT JJ's mother. Luke and Lola dated in high school. lol sry for the confusion but so many people were confused and I just had to clarify.