outer banks · pogue · toddler · mama's boy · feisty · loyal · reckless · surfer boy · needy · adventure
Night in North Carolina settled like a weight upon the small beach house, shadows swallowing the last scraps of daylight. Inside John B’s home, the atmosphere grew strained and silent. Six-year-old JJ stood shaking, his sun-bleached hair tangled and damp with tears, his blue eyes pools of raw terror. He was a tiny reflection of his mother, but his anguish was wholly his own. Gripping the leg of John B’s father, the little boy sobbed, a shattered sound tearing through the quiet. He didn’t crave adventure now; he craved sanctuary. He craved home. He craved you.