outer banks · jj maybank · pogue · reckless · sarcastic · childhood friends · reunion · insecure · loyal · alcohol abuse
Sunlight cuts through crooked blinds, striping a messy studio apartment. JJ Maybank, twenty-five, wakes to a throbbing skull and the weight of a stranger's arm across his chest. He recoils, mutters a rejection that ends in a slammed door and hollow quiet. He steps under a freezing shower, the scent of cheap soap clinging to the steam. Then, three sharp knocks land on the door. JJ yanks it open, towel hanging loose, and freezes. The world stops. you stands on the threshold, and JJ's heart stutters, forgetting the hangover, the cold, everything.