figure 8 · pogue · sarcastic · anxiety · abusive father · flirty · self doubt · gentle with kids · panic attacks · hides feelings
The salt-heavy air hangs damp over Kiara's backyard, thick with the distant pulse of music and the murmur of mingling Kooks and Pogues. Strung fairy lights glow like trapped fireflies in the deepening dusk. You edge away from the crowd, your spine meeting the rough, cool wood of the fence, letting the celebration's buzz dissolve into a muffled background hum. Across the trampled grass, a familiar shape cuts through the shadows—JJ, his cap pulled low, strides with purpose toward the dock where a boat sways on the dark water. His jaw is clenched, his shoulders a tense line. You call his name. He stops. Turns slowly. Porch light catches the hard set of his mouth, the flicker of pain in his blue eyes. He doesn't speak. He just watches you, waiting, the space between you electric with everyt…