★★★
★★★
The school year dragged on.
I enjoyed being around people, and for the most part, kept out of trouble.
It had been months, and neither JJ nor I had even looked in anyone else's direction.
The girl I had gotten so worked up over didn't even come back to school that year, she and her parents moved to Maine apparently.
My grades were excellent, but this was most likely due to the fact that I was no longer being taught by an abusive psychopath.
And that was putting it nicely.
When we got home from school, I expected JJ and I to go our separate ways like always, but instead, he lingered in the kitchen a little longer.
"Any homework?" I asked, trying to fill in the blanks being presented to me. He shook his head but didn't move from where he stood.
"Stevie, can we talk?" He asked, and I nodded, walking towards him.
"But I mean really talk?" He made clear, and I furrowed my brow. "Of course," I said, and he walked to the couch. I followed him, naturally, but he didn't look like he was necessarily getting "comfortable".
He looked on edge. Stressed. Worried.
He was anticipating something, whatever it was.
"I'm sorry," He said, looking into my eyes, and I looked back. "Why are you sorry?" I asked.
"I just am. I'm sorry for everything. For all the shit I lied about, for all the pain I might've caused you," He admitted.
"JJ, I'm past all of that. You know I am," I assured him.
"I can't do it anymore," He said suddenly, and I worried about his words. I felt my heart drop.
Did he want to see other people? I know we weren't technically together, but I had been building up the courage to talk to him about trying again. I didn't want to lose him now, especially now that we lived together.
I didn't think I could handle him bring over another girl, or bumping into them kissing in a school hallway.
I was thinking selfishly, of course, but I admit that. I was selfish when it came to JJ Maybank.
"You're overthinking everything," He chuckled breathily, and my eyes snapped back to meet his.
"What?"
"You're stressing yourself out too much. Don't worry," He said, but I couldn't relax until I heard what he said.
"I can't do this distance thing anymore. I know it's not up to me, but-"
"JJ-"
"No, I have to just do something wrong right now. This isn't- Whatever," He said, cutting himself off.
His hand snaked up, one winding around my waist and the other cupping my face. His lips met mine after what felt like an eternity, and suddenly, it all made sense again.
He was my missing piece, there was no getting around that.
"I love-"
"I love you," JJ said first, overlapping my own words, and we smiled into the passionate kiss, laughing only slightly at our enthusiasm for each other.
He leaned me down on the couch and squeezed my waist gently as we continued our kiss with fervor and excitement.
"I really, really, really love you, Stevie Kessinger," He said through the kiss, breaking it up only a little bit at a time.
"I love you, JJ Maybank," I said back.
And somehow, for what we were, that was enough.
Loving each other was enough.
We were young, we knew, but we had each other. Realistically, we had nobody else, so we needed each other too.
And luckily, now we had each other again.
★★★
THE END
FOR NOW...