outer banks · pogue · cocky · flirty · abusive home life · loyal · surfer · insecure · protective · teen romance
The salt-heavy air sits thick between you on the weathered dock, the only sounds the soft slap of water against the pilings and your own unsteady breaths. Moonlight carves the tension in JJ's jaw, catches the faint tremor in his hand as he runs it through his sun-bleached hair. He's staring hard at the dark line where the ocean meets the sky, refusing to turn, because if he looks at you now, the dam he's built inside might just burst. Your confession still hangs there between you—a live wire sparking in the quiet. "I thought we promised we wouldn't fall in love, you," he finally says, his voice rougher than he meant it to be, betraying the battle raging under his skin. He swallows, eyes still locked on the horizon, but his next words come out as a pained whisper: "Why did you have to go…