Summary: Based on ‘Where Were You in the Morning’ by Shawn Mendes.
Word count: 2,360
Warnings: PURE SMUT! Grinding, oral sex (male receiving and female receiving), fingering, slight choking kink, bandana kink, small praising/ good girl kink, protected sex.
You straddled John B’s lap as your tongues fought for dominance. His hands trailing up the small of your back, giving you goosebumps. He gripped your hips as he easily flipped you underneath him.
Your lips danced with each other’s, every piece of your mouth’s were explored by each other’s tongue. He lightly sucked on your already swollen bottom lip. His hand trailed up your chest, skimming your breasts as it made its way up to your neck. His fingertips applied pressure on the side of your neck, earning him a moan of pleasure which aroused John B.
He swiftly ran his tongue along your collarbone as he breathed heavily. “Lay back,” you demanded. He laid back, his eyes showing hunger for you. You crawled back on top of him, straddling his waist. You dipped your head down towards his neck, lips hovered over him, warm breath hitting his skin. His hands massaged your butt, guiding it to grind down on him.
You planted a small kiss on his neck, enjoying the small shudder he released at the overwhelming feeling of your clothes area rubbing against his. Peppering small kisses around his chest and neck, you found his sweet spot. As soon as your lips attached to it, he let out a moan at the contact.
That sound. That sound immediately made your core ache for his touch, wanting to just rip his clothes off he enjoyed the feeling of your lips attached to his neck. Harshly sucking on the area, you soothed it, running her tongue gently across the mark.
You placed kisses from his shoulders to his neck, your lips and tongue lightly traced his jawline. You two could hear both of your heartbeats racing against time. One of his hands held your waist as the other continued to guide your lower half across his covered cock. You quickly pulled away from him and stood up, ignoring your whimper at the loss of his touch, your eyes never breaking contact.
You reached down and pulled his shirt off your torso, exposing the maroon laced bra you luckily wore. His eyes roamed to your chest, while yours looked at the large tent forming in his boxers. After taking his shorts off, you were left only in the bra and matching underwear. He admired the way your curves looked. His eyes were gentle, yet looked like they wanted every piece of you.
You couldn’t help but blush at this small gesture. John B bit his lower lip as he wondered how lucky he got with you. Not for your looks, but for your personality. He stood up, making his way towards you. His hands touched your now naked skin, rubbing down your shoulders and towards your back.
“So beautiful,” he whispered under his breath, earning a small blush from you. You leaned up towards him, your soft lips ghosting his, mumbling “you’re wearing too much clothes.” Your hands wandered around his body, lightly tugging at the end of his shirt. He quickly pulled his shirt off, showing his broad chest.
His hands stroked down your arms and stopped at the hands, carefully taking yours in his. He gave your hands a small squeeze, asking if you wanted to continue. Instantly, you gave him a nod, a smile rising to both your faces. He’s gentle, he’s caring, he’s handsome. 'God he’s gonna be the death of me.’ You thought to yourself.
You got down on your knees, fingers teasing at his waistband. You could feel his entire body tense up as you placed a solid kiss at his v-line. For a moment you could swear he stopped breathing as he stared down at you. John B’s stomach flipped at your soft touch. He didn’t know how but he was jello under your touch. Maybe it was your eyes or the way your mouth and hands worked, but something just got to him.
You tilted your eyes up, an innocent smile on your face as your fingers slowly pulled down his pants. He stepped out of them, his eyes never leaving yours. You couldn’t help but get tingly down there as he stared down at you. Eye contact was such an intimate thing for you. You gently rubbed him through the fabric of his boxers, being proud as you felt him melt into your touch. Your eyes flickered up at him, he already had his head back, his jawline filled with small marks you gracefully left.
You rubbed him for a few more seconds before deciding he’s had enough. Looping your fingers around his waistband, you pulled them down to his ankles. His erected cock sprang up, bouncing around a bit. Suddenly your mouth felt like it had gotten dry, but another area of you was soaking wet.
You listened to his breath hitch when you grabbed his shaft. You flattened your tongue out, licking along the side of his cock.
He moaned in pleasure as he tangled his hands in your hair. Swirling your tongue around his tip, you began to take more of him in.
You focused your eyes on him as you pushed herself forward, his tip hitting the back of the throat. The way he withered under your touch. The way he moaned your name. The way he would lick his lips and watch you please him. “Fuck Y/N.” John B groaned, his fingers gathering a bundle of your hair.
“Just like that.” He mumbled as you began to bob her head up and down. “Fuck. That pretty little mouth of yours is gonna make me cum.” His words encouraged you as you grabbed the back of his thighs to steady yourself.
He held your head in place as he began to thrust into your mouth. Looking up to see his face beginning to scrunch up, he was signalling he was close to releasing himself.
“That’s it, fuck.” he moaned, swinging his hips front to back. Your hands pumped the area you couldn’t fit, his low grunts and moans were music to your ears.
Your hand reached down into your underwear, gently swirling your ring finger and middle finger on your clit. His eyes averted from your mouth to your hand, his head falling back, neck vein popping out and throbbing.
He held your head in place as his other hand reached around, entangling itself into your hair. He let out hisses as he released himself in your mouth, his chest heaving heavily as you licked his tip clean. You stood back up, your lips pressing together as if your lives depended on it. Your lips molded like a puzzle, with each move was a new completed piece.
His hands reached behind you and unclipped the bra, leaving you only in the underwear. He gently kneaded your breasts with both hands, his lips making small nips at your neck. “John B.” You moaned out when he found your sweet spot. He let out a hushed, almost animalistic growl as he pushed you backwards onto the bed.
His fingers hooked into your underwear and roughly pulled them down. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” He gaped, looking at your center. “Wait, I want to try something.” He said, standing up from his spot. He grabbed onto a bandana from his dresser, walking towards you. “Can I blindfold you?"
You thought for a moment before nodding your head. "Let me know if you need me to stop or take it off of you.” He said softly, trying the fabric around your eyes. You nodded your head, grinning after he gave you a reassuring kiss. You felt him get back into the position he was originally in before. You felt him place delicate kisses along your thighs, creeping up slowly to your core.
“Please John B-” you were about to beg, only to stop yourself as soon as he licked a flat strip along your folds. You squirm underneath his touch, letting out a moan as his tongue flicked your sensitive numb. He lapped up your juices, holding your pelvis down with his hands, restraining you from moving too much.
He pulled away from your core, his fingers collecting your juices on his fingers before letting a drop of spit fall onto your folds. He inserted his index and middle finger into you before you could blink. He was pumping them in and out at a rapid pace, please with himself as he held open your thighs that were attempting to shut. “That’s a good girl, you like it when I fuck you with my fingers, don’t you?” He asked, picking up the pace.
All of a sudden he stopped his hand, you sighed loudly, slowly feeling a building sensation in your stomach. He waited a moment before moving only the tips of his fingers, curling them up and brushing against your G-spot. You bit your tongue when he used his thumb to apply pressure on your clit.
“Come on baby, you’re almost there.” John B praised before reaching down and adding his tongue to your pleasure. His tongue slithered between your folds, grinning against your skin as your fingers latched onto the hairs on his head. You clenched around his fingers, releasing yourself of the pent up feeling. Your chest heaved up and down as your vision spotted.
“That’s my good girl.” He grinned, reaching up to kiss you so you could taste yourself. His hand reached up behind your head, untying the bandana from your eyes, he pulled away from you, “Seeing you squirm under my touch was one of the fucking hottest things I’ve ever seen.” He leaned in and gave you another kiss before lying you back down on the bed.
He quickly rolled on a condom he had pulled from his dresser. He teasingly rubbed his cock up and down your slit as you attempted to catch your breath. Your arms wrapped around the back of his neck, pulling his face close to yours. The two of you smiled as you shared a kiss, which was something new compared to the other guys you had been with. The guys before were just quick, and wanted what they wanted. But John B, God he was so different.
He kissed you with ease, with more passion than before. You needed him more than ever as his hands roamed your body. His lips never left yours as he guided himself into you. You moaned into his mouth as he hunched over, gripping your hips as he swayed back and forth. Your back arching every time he hit your spot. His hand reconnected with your throat, pushing you to use your nails to scratch down his back, surely leaving marks.
“Fuck you feel so good.” John B groaned. He wasn’t going at a fast pace which surprised you. It was a soothing pace, making sure to pull out a bit before thrusting himself back in. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as he slowly slammed his hips into you, applying more pressure to your throat.
His other hand roamed to your chest, his thumb and index finger softly pinched at your nipples. Your eyes widened when an idea popped into your head. “John B, stop.” He immediately pulled out and released your throat, a worried look on his face. “Did I do something wrong? Was the-” you cut him off, “I want to ride you.” His mouth dropped open a bit as he tried to speak. He only nodded as he laid on his back. You straddled over him, using your hand to guide his cock back into you.
The position was something new you were trying, but the feeling of it was something you found a new love for. His hands were firmly placed on your hips, holding you down as you started to rock back and forth. John B let out a deep moan as you whimpered, admiring the contact you were making with him. He forced his head against the pillows as his fingers dug into your skin. “Taking my cock like the good girl you are.” He smirked, his eyes burning into yours as you saw the beads of sweat start to form on his forehead.
“I could get used to this view.” John B joked, you dipped your head back down and laughed a bit. “You and me both.” “Holy shit” left your mouth as he pushed you down against his hips, thrusting himself into you. You leaned forward, wanting to try something else. Your hand wrapped around his throat, feeling his cock clench inside of you as you applied pressure. “Who knew John B had a choking kink.” You laughed before moaning as he lifted his hip from the mattress, colliding with yours. The only sounds anyone could hear at the moment were your moans and the sound of your skin being forced together.
“Y/N” your name rolled off his tongue as you grind your hips against his fast thrusts. A string of curse words slipped out of your mouth when his fingers were back to playing with your clit. You lightly squeezed his throat again, his thrusts got much faster, making your toes curl, getting a warm feeling in your stomach. You felt his cock twitch, signalling he was ready too.
Your eyes squeezed shut as you tilted your head back in pleasure. His hand cupped your chin, forcing you to look at him. “Open those eyes, I want to see you come undone." You clenched around him and released yourself, using one of your hands to hold onto his bicep that kept you from falling over. "John B!” You moaned out, which was followed by another string of curse words. His cock twitched inside of you, as your toes curled and legs clenched.
He slowed down his pace before pulling out of you. You fell next to him as you panted, your warm breaths mixed together, your sweaty skin stuck to one another. You smiled when he wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. You cuddled against him, leaving a tiny kiss right on his neck before closing your eyes, your hand resting on his chest.
It was another night and another kegger at the boneyard, probably the last one for the summer, to be honest. The days were growing shorter now and the heat from the afternoon sun didn’t linger in the air as much as it used to. But there were still barely dressed bodies littering the beach, empty beer cans stacked on top of slabs of driftwood and there was still a bonfire, roaring hot in the same scorched pit of sand.
The only difference was, JJ was sober.
It went fairly unnoticed by his friends, every time John B offered him another beer, he simply raised the can he was still nursing from when he arrived, his friend none the wiser to the fact it was the same one from two hours ago. He played dumb when a kook asked him for some weed, told him he didn’t have any and merely shrugged his shoulders when Pope raised his eyebrows at him. But the two boys brushed it off and didn’t ask questions. Everyone was either too busy or too drunk to notice.
The crossfaded touchy Kie fic that nobody asked for.
The boneyard was busy. It was the height of summer, the first Saturday in July and the temperature had soared throughout the day. Now it lingered over the bodies that danced together, slick skin everywhere and salt, tequila and sun cream sitting heavy on the breeze.
When John B had watched Sarah take a tumble into the sand as she danced with Kie a few feet away from the boys, he downed his last beer, chucked the keys to the Twinkie at Pope and went to retrieve his girlfriend from where she lay, laughing at Kiara’s feeble attempts to pick her up.
“God, they’re wasted,” Pope muttered to JJ, an affectionate smile on his lips as he watched John B try and fail to rally both girls together. Every time he took his eyes off one to herd the second towards the van, the other wandered back into the crowd of dancers.
JJ smirked and leant back against the Twinkie, his arms crossed and a laugh bubbling in his throat as he watched an extremely harassed John B trying to pick up the girls at the same time.
“Should we help him?” Pope asked, not sounding overly concerned.
“Nah.”
After around fifteen minutes, JJ grinned as he saw Kie and Sarah finally walking towards them and up the sandy embankments. They had their arms wrapped around each other, whispering and giggling as John B stood behind them, arms out like he was ready to catch anyone who decided to do a runner.
“Nice night, ladies?” JJ quipped, laughter playing in his words. He watched Kie’s eyes light up and the sound of his voice and she threw herself forward and into his arms.
“Oh shit,” he muttered, before dropping his empty can just in time for her to wrap herself around his neck. He placed his hands on her sides a little awkwardly, her body warm against his and god , she smelled like peaches and weed.
“JJ!” She exclaimed, as if she hadn’t seen him for weeks rather than just the hour her and Sarah had gone off to dance together.
“Hey, Kie,” he said back, frowning in confusion as he looked at Pope and John B for answers. Affection was something that Kiara wasn’t usually known for, “you doing okay?”
John B closed his eyes and rubbed tiredly at his brow, “ask her what they’ve had to drink.”
But before the blonde boy could ask anything, Sarah grabbed at his arm excitedly and gasped, her brown eyes wide and a little glassy. Kie still had her arms looped around his neck and she laughed into the crook of it.
“We had wine!” She proudly told them all.
JJ shared a look with John B, who was still rubbing small circles at his temple and Pope snorted from behind him.
“So much wine,” Kie chimed in, her body swaying against the boys. He wrapped an arm around her waist for support, trying not to think about all the bare skin he was touching between the waistband of her shorts and her bikini. “The good shit too! From Sarah’s wine cellar.”
Sarah nodded happily in confirmation and everyone ignored Pope’s comment about how he never got offered ‘the good shit’.
“And, and, and,” Sarah continued, stumbling a little in the sand until her boyfriend settled his hands on her shoulders, “Kie got some weed off this guy at the kegs and yeah, she’s like,” she waved her fingers in front of JJ’s face, “she’s sparkled.”
“We’re adding another pogue rule”, John B groaned, “no weed from strangers, only JJ.”
“Wine and weed, that’s a brand new combination for Kie, isn’t it?” JJ mused, a little pride colouring his voice. He tried really hard not to grin when he pulled back from Kie a little, biting his lip at her mumbles of protest. He looked down at her big, brown eyes and let out a low whistle, “oh, girl, you’re gone.”
Kie actually giggled and whispered, “prove it,” before tapping him on the nose, “boop,” she laughed.
JJ just blinked and looked at the other boys, “uh, I don’t really know how to handle this.” But Kiara had already pushed her way back into his arms, her head against his shoulder and her fingertips softly playing with the hem of his tank.
“You smell good,” she said casually.
Pope choked on a laugh as he got into the driver’s seat of the Twinkie and he grinned when he hung out the window and saw JJ’s wide eyes.
“Dude, breathe.”
The ride back to the chateau consisted of Sarah arguing with Pope that no, the music was not loud enough, and yes, One Direction did count as music. John B just shrugged when Pope looked at him for help and petted his girlfriend’s hair.
Kie spent the journey with her head against the window and laughing every time they hit a bump in the road. Which was a lot. But she had her hand on JJ’s leg and she was tracing circles onto his shin with a lilac fingernail that Sarah had coaxed her into painting the night before.
When he moved, she followed, a pout on her lips and JJ eventually gave in, letting the goosebumps erupt over his body at her touch, ‘cause shit , he couldn’t say no to her.
Which is why he relented fairly quickly into giving her a piggyback from the van to the chateau. ‘Cause she told them all she didn’t wanna move and she tried to bite John B’s fingers when he attempted to take her hand and pull her out. Sarah had cackled and Pope had shook his head, lifted his hands in surrender and said:
“Nuhuh, I ain’t getting bitten, she’s yours JJ.”
And that’s how he had Kie on his back, her bare legs wrapped around his waist and his hands tucked under knees. She was warm, so warm against him, all over him and he tried to ignore John B’s smirk as he opened the door for them.
She slid down his back when they all piled into the living room and Sarah grabbed her hand, demanding that they both needed to pee. When the door to the bathroom slammed shut, there was only silence from the boys and the echo of giggles and a few thumps from the toilet.
“Okay, so weed and wine has, like, unlocked a brand new Kiara,” Pope murmured, his face painted in shock.
“She’s like a fucking Pokémon,”, John B whispered manically, “she just keeps evolving with different alcohol!”
JJ swiped a hand over his face, “dude, she’s so crossfaded.”
“Why’s she suddenly obsessed with you?” Pope asked the blonde boy who just widened his eyes in return and sank his hands into his hair.
John B snorted, “ha, ‘suddenly’. That’s funny.”
JJ glared and flipped him off just as the girls stumbled back out of the bathroom giggling and shushing each other despite no discernable words coming from their lips.
“Heyyy, babe,” John B said, overly cheery and bright. He wrapped an arm around Sarah, “time for bed?”
“Nope,” she replied and threw herself on the sofa, thumbing at the remote until the TV turned on and she found Jurassic Park playing on a channel.
“I fucking love dinosaurs,” Kie whispered, voice serious and she fell down beside Sarah, toeing off her shoes. She patted the space on her other side, looking up at JJ with a smile. “Sit next to me?”
The boy swallowed, hard.
He exchanged glances with the other boys and mentally deemed them fucking useless when they just grinned at him. John B winked and shot him a thumbs up.
JJ looked back at Kiara and ran a hand through his messy hair, ‘cause she was all long, tanned legs and bare skin - bare skin everywhere . Her bikini top was cherry apple red and JJ was pretty sure his face was turning the same colour because there was no fucking way he could sit next to her like that when all she wanted to do, apparently, was touch him.
“I, uh, I’m gonna go grab you a sweater,” he said, clapping his hands together.
“JJ, it’s eighty outside,” Pope chimed in.
“Shut the fuck up, Pope,” JJ hissed, “Kie, sweater?” He grinned at her, hoping to god his voice didn’t just crack.
“Your sweater?” She asked him, eyes hopeful, god she was so pretty, “the grey one? It says FastArch on it.”
“Yup, sure, I can do that,” and he strode down the hall to get away from his friend’s laughter but he swore he heard Kie whisper to the other girl, “that one’s my favourite.”
He tore what was now deemed his room apart, trying to find that one goddamn shirt, ‘cause honestly he hated disappointing Kiara at the best of times but this was quickly turning into a life or death situation. Her eyes were hazy and her curls were still wild from dancing all night and she kept smiling and goddamn pouting at him, all soft and shit. He was getting the girl what she wanted, okay?
“Oh thank god,” he breathed when he found the grey sweatshirt at the bottom of his drawers.
She beamed at him when he returned to the living room with it, shook his head and smiled when Sarah gave him a round of applause and tried his damn hardest not to let his jaw drop when Kie stood up and wrestled her way into his clothes.
The hem fell to her knees and she frowned a little as she tried to wiggle her hands out of the way too long sleeves, and shit, if that wasn’t the most adorable fucking thing JJ had ever seen.
He cleared his throat quietly, hoped the rest of the pogues were busy watching the T-Rex tear apart a jeep and told her, “it suits you.”
She grinned in return, clutching at his hand and pulling back onto the sofa with her, her legs thrown over his own. Which wasn’t anything overly new, not really, they’d all fallen onto sofas and into beds together before, drunk and stoned and sleepy.
But Kiara was looking at him and she kept shuffling closer into his space and he was sure he stopped breathing when she announced:
“You’re so pretty .”
The girl petted at his cheek, her thumb brushing at the corner of his mouth and he stilled, glancing over to where John B and Pope sat and he let out a curse on an exhale ‘cause the boys were staring.
“You’ve got the prettiest eyes,” Kie told him, looking into the depths of his goddamn soul. “Your hair is like, my favourite thing, it’s so soft . And I like your jaw,” she mused, running a fingertip along the edge of it.
“Isn’t JJ so pretty?” Kiara had his chin cupped in her palm and she was asking the rest of the room, her eyes sparkling.
Oh my god she was so fucking high.
“Should we be recording this?” Pope whispered to John B, but the other boy was nodding at Kie, his voice solemn when he replied at the same time:
“The prettiest.”
“Isn’t he!?” Kie exclaimed, nodding back at John B who winked at him.
JJ swore.
Somewhere from the other side of the couch, Sarah giggled and she left to sit on her boyfriend’s lap, watching the other girl with amusement.
“She’s done nothing but talk about him all night,” she whispered into John B’s ear. John B hummed in response, a smile pulling at his lips and he bit back a chuckle when JJ took a sharp breath in when Kie let her back hit his chest and lay against him.
“You good, Kie?” JJ asked into her curls, pointedly ignoring the laughter that came from across the room. “You need some water?”
Kiara nodded but wrapped her arms around the boy’s waist when he went to stand up. “You can’t go ,” she said, horrified.
“But, water,” he replied weakly, pointing towards the kitchen and decidingly not looking at her legs, the legs that were trying to wrap around his own. She was half way into his lap when he suddenly stood up, his heart hammering in his chest and Kie falling back onto the sofa.
“Water,” he repeated, his hand scratching at the back of his neck and he tried his damn best to act natural . But his chest was heaving and his throat felt tight and god, look at her.
Kiara was a puddle of soft, brown eyes, messy curls and his too big sweater. She pouted at him again and Jesus Christ, he was a wrecked, wrecked man when she did that.
“Water and food. You need food,” he nodded and he wasn’t sure if he was talking to the girl or himself.
“Ooh, do we have pizza rolls?” Sarah perked up, her hands busy making tiny braids in John B’s hair.
“Routledge, kitchen, help,” was all JJ could bark out and he watched as the other boy rolled his eyes and let his girlfriend tumble out of his lap before spinning on his heel and disappearing into the kitchen.
“You’re on babysitting duties, Pope,” he clicked his fingers at their third boy who was completely invested in the movie on screen.
John B walked into the kitchen with his hands already in front of him, palms out placatingly and his smile almost hidden.
“JJ, you need to chill the fuck out.”
“She keeps touchingme.”
John B smothered his grin with his knuckles, looking at the blonde boy who was pouring water into a glass with more concentration than was required.
“It’s fine!” John B, “dude, you touch each other all the time, shit, you’re usually chatting her up at every chance you get. It’s totally fine.”
JJ raised his brows and started ransacking the freezer for something processed and with cheese, “this is different,” he pulled out some pizza rolls and chucked them in the oven, batting away the other boy’s hands when he tried to lower the temperature.
“She called me pretty,” JJ whispered.
John B let the back of his hand stroke down the blonde boy’s face as he tried so, so hard not to laugh. His lips twitched, “you’re like, so pretty.”
He burst into laughter when JJ slapped his hand away, his cheeks warming in a way that felt very, very foreign to him. He scowled and pressed his fingers onto the oven dials until something beeped and a timer was set.
“Clearly, Kie wants some comfort right now, and water,” the brunette reminded him, passing him the glass he’d forgotten about, “and apparently, you , big boy,” John be clapped a hand on JJ’s shoulder, “are exactly the kinda comfort she wants.”
JJ had absolutely no retort for once, so he spun on his heel and left the kitchen, but not before John B landed a slap to his ass and whisper-yelled, “go snuggle!”
“Hey! Where’s the pizza rolls?” Sarah demanded as soon as JJ sat back down, handing Kie her water and making sure she drank a good amount of it.
“Jesus, Cameron, they’re cooking, alright?” He didn’t take his eyes off Kiara and he tried to keep his cool when she lay back down against his side as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He placed an arm around her shoulders and she smiled, taking his hand in her own two and playing with his rings.
Twenty minutes later, Sarah had monopolised the entire plate of pizza rolls, John B was snoring and Pope was searching Netflix for the second Jurassic Park movie.
JJ had wondered if Kiara had fallen asleep against him, her small body tucked into his side and her curls falling into her face a little. But she twisted around to look at him, both of them slumped low against the sofa, the chateau dark and quiet.
“Hey,” she whispered, looking at him in a way that made his knees weak. She had her hand in the cut out of his shirt, where his sleeves once were and her fingers were tracing the outline of his ribs. Honestly he wasn’t sure if he was breathing.
“Sup?” He replied and he watched her break into a grin before letting her head fall into his shoulder. He felt her breath huff out onto his neck, her lips brushing his collarbone before she spoke again.
“I just,” she sighed like it was effort to talk, “I just think you’re really pretty, J,” there was such sincerity in her voice and the boy knew his cheeks had turned pink. This was usually when he’d fire back a smartass comment, or something overly flirty. And that’s when Kie would normally send a punch to his shoulder or slap at his head.
But this Kie was still a little hazy around the edges and she could still taste rosé wine on her lips. This Kie liked to touch JJ and look at him with soft, appreciative eyes, she liked to whisper into his skin in the dark.
So, JJ licked at his bottom lip, tried not to grin too much when he pulled back enough to look at her and say:
“I think you’re really pretty too.”
The girls whole face lit up, a wide smile on her full lips and JJ swore down dead, there and then, that he’d tell her she was pretty every fucking day if it made her look at him like that.
It didn’t matter that she’d be sober tomorrow, that she’d be hungover and have a headache like she always did with too much weed. He didn’t care that the boys would make fun of him, make subtle jokes towards Kie about her behaviour. He’d call her pretty and hope she blushed like she did then.
He had quick reflexes, he could avoid any fists she’d surely send his way.
“Youdo?“ She gasped quietly, her fingertips dancing up his sides, still inside his shirt and across bare skin. God this felt illegal, a feeling this good should be illegal.
“Oh yeah,” he nodded seriously, smiling, “I think you’re the prettiest girl on this whole island,” and he ‘booped’ her on her nose, just like she’d done to him earlier.
He couldn’t get over how delighted she seemed with his words and it warmed his fucking soul when she sank back into him, her arm still looped through the low cut out sleeves of his tank and across his stomach. JJ wondered if Kie could feel his heart vibrate through his bones, if she knew his stomach had turned over and in on itself twenty plus times.
________
He was in the kitchen when she woke up the next morning, the sun still rising slowly across the marshes and the chateau was still quiet, bathed in orange and peach light.
Kiara knew she’d fallen asleep beside JJ, maybe even on him, ‘cause she’d been lulled by the movement of him breathing slow and steady underneath her. She had a crease imprinted on her cheek that looked like it came from a necklace she didn’t wear, a sweater that fell to her knees and a headache like a motherfucker.
He was leaning against the counter when she walked into the kitchen, barefoot and squinting at the sunlight. He was glowing in it, blonde hair too bright and blue eyes looking crystal clear. When he smiled at her, Kie swore it was golden.
He passed her a cup of coffee he seemingly had just poured, extra milky, just the way she liked it. She accepted it with a hum and a ‘oh my god, thank you’, and eyed the boy over the rim as she took a long gulp.
She wondered why she’d tasted like wine when she woke up, what she’d said last night, why she was wearing JJ’s clothes and why he was looking at her like she’d hung the moon.
But then he smirked, just a little, still soft and he looked at her through his lashes. It was too early and he was just looking far too-
HOME IS WHERE I WANNA BE (BUT I GUESS I’M ALREADY THERE) CH4. Slow It Down (Come Back To Bed)
“Slow it down, come back to bed Rest your arms, and rest your legs Don’t you frown when you’re feelin’ like that Only love can dig you out of this.”
- Slow It Down by The Lumineers
When Kiara woke up with a start, her foot kicked into the cool sand and there was an empty space beside. His shirt was still there, bundled up as a makeshift pillow but there was no blonde head resting on it.
The island was almost pitch black at night, the white sand turning grey under the moon and the ocean was so black it melted into the sky. It was like they were stuck on a tiny rock in the solar system, floating through darkness and no one knew they were there. A wave thundered onto the surf, too loud in the quiet of night. There were 4 other shapes laying around her, scattered in the sand. John B and Sarah were laying together, the girls head on his chest and Pope was flat out on his back near them. Cleo barely shifted from her spot when Kie stood up, wiped the sand from her skin and went searching for JJ.
She found him near the tree line, his back to the same palm tree he climbed that first day. He was shirtless and his head hung down, tired and drained and a little lost. Even in the dark, she could see blood scuffing at his knuckles and her heart clenched in her chest.
The girl stopped a few feet from him, dug her toes into the sand and softly called to him.
“Jay.”
It was a question, a cry for help, a longing for him.
He looked up at her, not entirely surprised to see her standing there. But she watched him with those soulful eyes and suddenly his chest hurt more than his fists did. He rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to hide how he’d hurt himself and when he saw her eyes water a little, he couldn’t meet them anymore.
He hung his head back down, looked at the sand and how it glittered, like it held the stars and all the gold they never got.
He muttered ‘fuck’ when Kie walked away, the breeze from the sea picking at her curls and playing with them. He watched her retreat, swallowing hard when he noticed the waistband of her shorts were a little looser on her than they were eight days ago. But she didn’t go back to their shelter, she walked to the sea instead, stood in the surf and let the waves lap at her feet.
She sat where the sand was still dry and she waited.
For him.
‘Cause Kiara knew JJ like JJ knew Kie, and she knew not to push. So she brought her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and let the breeze warm her skin.
Kiara didn’t have to wait long and when the clouds on the horizon took away some of the stars and turned tangerine, JJ sat down next to her. Close enough that his bare shoulder brushed hers, close enough she could count the new freckles that appeared by his nose.
It was too close. But that’s what seemed to be their new normal now and honestly, neither of them wanted it to change.
She felt the boy’s breath catch when she lifted her arms and pulled off her top, trying not to think about how she felt his eyes on all the skin she’d just exposed. But it was the same bra she wore when he took her out into the ocean and she knew she was being stupid when she felt her face warm under his gaze.
She soaked the shirt in the water, wrung it out and dropped down to her knees in front of JJ. He didn’t look at her but he spread his legs to let her shuffle into him, gave her his hand before she had to ask.
Kie dabbed at his knuckles and wondered when she became so used to the sight of blood. She watched the white material turn pink and knew she would ask Sarah when she woke to help her scrub it before hanging it on a branch to dry out. She wondered if she’d have to do it again.
The salt water stung at his cut up knuckles and JJ tried not to wince, but he must have flinched ‘cause Kiara’s fingers brushed against his palm, once, twice as she continued to clean him up as gently as she could. He looked up then, watched her concentrate on wiping away pieces of bark and dirt that clung to his cuts.
Her skin was a deeper shade than he’d ever seen it, her nose a little red from napping in the sun beside Pope that afternoon and her curls were falling in her eyes, still wild from sleep.
He brought up his free hand to push them back, trying not to wonder what it meant when she took her bottom lip between her teeth.
“So, what did the tree do to you?”
Her voice was soft and it mixed with the way the water crashed to the shoreline and shit, it warmed JJ’s bones and sat in his chest like a fire just for him.
“It looked at me the wrong way,” he cracked, his smile faltering on his lips ‘cause he finally let his eyes meet the girls and she looked so worried, so tired.
God, they were all so tired.
JJ clenched his jaw before he spoke and he swiped his eyes against his shoulder, not wanting to take his hand away from where Kiara was still gently holding it.
“Uh,” he coughed a little, trying to clear the lump that was suddenly stuck in his throat, “I keep having dreams, y’know?”
Kie looked at him with sad eyes, but she didn’t say anything back, just picked up his other hand and continued cleaning. She waited.
“It’s like, I can just remember that guy coming at you with the knife and then it all goes black,” he felt Kiara still her movements, heard her take a breath in.
“But in my dream, I’m awake and I’m in the sea, but I just can’t move,” he let his words slip out too fast and he frowned, “I can’t fucking move. And I can see John B and everyone telling me to swim and I can’t.”
JJ looked up, looked at Kie through messy, blonde strands and god, his eyes were wide and full of terror. She clutched at his hand, her T-shirt discarded on the sand beside them.
“You’re there,” he told her, voice quiet, “you’re there in the water with me and I can’t move and I can’t speak and you keep telling me you’re too tired.” He sniffed, trying to ignore the tear he accidentally let fall.
“JJ,” Kie’s sounded a little broken and he squeezed his eyes closed at the sound of his name on her lips.
“I keep dreaming that I’m dragging you down with me, Kie, and we’re just sinking and sinking,” his eyes were full of tears now and he tried so hard to keep them at bay but she was crying too and goddamn, it felt a little better now he was talking.
“Sometimes, a hand drags me out,” his jaw tightened and he looked past her, out to the horizon and his eyes went blank, “but it’s my dad and he leaves you behind and he drags me all the way back to the cut,” he paused and swallowed hard, “and I realise you’re at the bottom of the fucking sea, I’ve left my friends behind and my dad didn’t save me at all.”
Kiara dropped his hands just to push her way into his arms instead, crawling into the space he’d left for her between his legs and she flung her body into his chest. She closed her eyes in relief when he pulled her to him, shifting in the sand until she was half on his lap.
The girl let her tears fall onto his shoulder, her face in his neck and breathing in the last scents of home that clung to him. Kie felt his chest hitch with every quiet sob he let out, soothed her hands over his hair and let him hold her back.
‘Cause they were a group of teenagers on an island in the middle of the fucking ocean but Kiara didn’t think she’d ever felt as safe as she did in JJ’s arms.
When she felt the last tear fall from his cheek and into her curls, she turned into him, so her words fell onto his jaw when she spoke.
“You’re safe, JJ.”
“Yeah, cause you saved me,” he interrupted her, voice hoarse.
“How many goddamn times have you put your life on the line for me, huh?” Kiara whispered to him fiercely, her hands around his neck, pulling him into her so her lips brushed at his skin, “for all of us?”
He pulled away to look at her, his hands flexing against her where they lay just above her knee. Before he could answer, Kie spoke again.
“JJ, you’ve grown up with a shit dad, a man who taught you nothing but pain and anger and…” she took in a shaking breath, told herself not to cry, not again, “and you’re the most selfless, loving person I think I’ve ever met.”
She smiled at him, soft and a little watery and she pushed the tips of her fingers into his hair and made sure he looked right at her when she continued.
“The only reason I was able to jump in to save you, is ‘cause you took the hit that was meant for me. And you’ve been hit too many times Jay, I don’t wanna see you hurt anymore so please, please,” she took her hands in her own, brought his curled fists up to her chin and rested her lips on them.
“Please stop hurting yourself. You don’t deserve it and I don’t think I can take it.”
JJ let his forehead drop to Kie’s, mumbled, “m’sorry.”
“You don’t have to say sorry JJ, just please don’t do it again. Come talk to me instead, or John B or Pope or-,” she was stammering, her eyes searching his own for a clue that he understood, that he was really listening to her.
‘Cause sometimes the boy thought with his fists and she couldn’t stand the sight of blood on his skin anymore.
“I’ll come to you,” he said and Kie’s breath caught in her throat, “I’ll come find you. I’ll talk to you.”
And god, wasn’t that an admission of something so much more?
But Kie just nodded, smiled softly and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug that he gladly returned. He was warm, like always and his hair tickled at her nose when she buried her face into his neck. They both chose to ignore the goose bumps that danced across her bare back when his hand skimmed the clasp of her bra.
He just held her to him tighter instead.
When the sun started to rise from above the waves out at sea, Kie turned in his arms, settled her back against his bare chest and bit down on her smile when he rested his chin on her head. Together, they watched the sun turn the ocean back to blue and green, watched it wash away the blackness that the night brought and just like that, everything felt a little bit better again.
