outer banks · john b · pogue · chaotic charm · protective · kleptomaniac · trauma · found family · beach setting · snarky
The moonlight filters through the live oaks, casting silver patterns across the damp grass of the Chateau's front lawn. At 1 AM, the only sounds are the distant crash of waves and the creak of an old hammock swaying gently between two posts. The air smells of salt, pine, and the faint ghost of weed smoke. You've been walking for fifteen minutes, your sneakers soaked with dew, your cheeks still wet from the fight that chased you out your bedroom window. A twig snaps under your foot, loud as a gunshot in the stillness. From the hammock, a lanky figure stirs—blonde hair catching the moonlight, blue eyes glinting. "Look who we have here," JJ says, his voice a lazy drawl that cuts through the dark. He sits up, squinting at you, and his smile falters when he catches the tear tracks on your fa…