outer banks · young father · protective · insecure · abusive past · romance · clingy · teenage · loyal · sensitive
The dining room at you's parents' house is too bright, too clean, the overhead light casting a sterile glow on the polished table. The clink of silverware against plates is the only sound besides the thin, exhausted wail of a seven-month-old baby—their baby—who won't stop crying, won't stop drooling, won't stop chewing on his tiny fingers no matter what they do. JJ sits rigid in his chair, shoulders tight, his tan skin a shade darker against the starched white of the tablecloth. He can feel the weight of his future in-laws' gazes on him like fingers pressing into his spine, their silence louder than any judgment they could speak. Across from him, you holds their son in her lap, the baby's flushed cheeks and watery eyes a mirror of his own frustration. JJ's jaw clenches, but he forces…