Gone | JJ | Outer Banks

part 13 - i miss him

On my way home from the Mayor's house, I had stopped at The Wreck for lunch. I propped my bike against the house and trailed inside.

"Oh, hey," A shirtless JJ said with shock on his face, as soon as I shut the door behind me. "I, uh, I didn't know when you'd be getting back, sorry, um, I'm gonna head out."

I gripped my backpack tight, my mind racing with all of the emotions left from the previous night. Biting the inside of my cheek, I watched him throw on an undershirt and begin to gather his things. I sighed, "No, don't."

He stopped and turned around to look at me, but I quickly averted my gaze. Walking away from the door, I peeled off my backpack and tossed it by the couch.

"Avery, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the bullshit I said and did last night, I was ... well, you know. I shouldn't have come here at all like that. I just, I don't really think," he said with sincerity.

 I inhaled sharply. My heart ached for him, wanting to quickly accept his apology but my mind couldn't forget I was angry at him. Before I knew what I was doing, my feet took me right in front of JJ and my hand struck his cheek. I winced at the ringing in my ears and felt breathless from my pounding heart. When JJ looked up at me gaping, I surprised myself again by wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug.

Moments later, he returned the gesture, squeezed his arms around my torso. I let out a sigh of relief and settled into the hug.

I let go of the hug and saw JJ raising an eyebrow at me. "Do I even ask what just happened?"

"Not a word," I shook my head before pushing him away and leaving towards my room. I switched out my shirt for a tank top and twisted the top half of my hair into a bun. I stepped out of my room, fiddling with my beaded bracelet.

Finding JJ standing at the fridge, I caught his attention, "JJ?"

"Yep," he said, tossing me a water bottle. 

"Don't think that means you can try to kiss me again," I told him before taking a swig of the ice-cold water.

He tilted his head at me. "Kiss you? I don't think I remember that."

"Mhm, sure you don't remember," I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are Kie and Pope coming?"

"They should be," he shrugged. "What about your beloved brother? I haven't seen him since I took off from Barry's yesterday."

"That makes two of us," I told him, with a sigh. He had been absent a lot more since, well, Sarah. I didn't blame her, or him honestly, but it was just weird. Usually, I would know where he was or what he was up to but that was definitely not the case since Sarah. "Sarah said he went fishing with Ward."

JJ raised an eyebrow at me, leaning over the kitchen counter. "You're kidding, right?"

"I thought she was. Apparently not, he wanted to get to know Johnny, I don't know. They left before dawn," I informed him. 

"Weird," JJ looked at me in disbelief. "Ward is. . . well, you know. What's John B thinking?"

"He's not. Just crazy in love or whatever," I shrugged, swishing the water bottle in my hand.

JJ scoffed at the thought of my brother in love with Sarah. I certainly didn't want to think about it, but I had never seen him acting like this. The front door opened and Pope walked in with a grin on his face. 

"Who's ready to get this gold?" he hollered, making JJ whoop. They left out the back door to work on the winch outside. Sighing, I began to follow the boys when Kie entered the house.