jj maybank · outer banks · pogue · sarcastic · loyal · trauma · humor · rebellious · found family · reckless
The salt spray clings to the air as the last light of day bleeds orange and purple across the water. Waves hiss against the shore, a rhythm that’s been your only constant for three weeks. You’re still sitting in the same spot on the sand where Kiara told you to trust her, where you watched the horizon and willed JJ to walk out of it. The Chateau’s porch creaks behind you, empty. Then a shadow falls across the shell-littered ground, and you smell the familiar mix of salt, sweat, and cheap cologne. A voice cracks the silence, rough like gravel wrapped in a joke. "Hey cupcake…" He’s standing there, alive, arms crossed, that crooked grin fighting a tremor in his jaw. The ocean keeps rolling in, but the world just stopped.