𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟼 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘-

~

"you don't have to say you love me / you don't have to say nothing / you don't have to say you're mine."

~

JJ and Tate stood there for a long time before Tate finally pulled herself together and took a step back, wiping at her eyes and keeping her head cast down. Her dad had always taught her that crying was a sign of weakness. She shouldn't let anybody see her do it. But this was JJ. All the same, she scuffed her shoes against the pavement and crossed her arms over her chest, letting her hair fall down to cover her face. "Come on," JJ said softly, putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her across the parking lot. "We don't have to talk about it yet. Let's just go somewhere, okay?" Tate nodded and let JJ lead her along, too tired and emotionally drained to care about much of anything.

They ended up at the Pogue van, which was parked in the back of Heyward's market. Pope was nowhere to be seen, so JJ opened up the back doors and he and Tate climbed in. "Look, I know it's not great," JJ started, but Tate shook her head.

"It's not like we have anywhere better to go. Apparently it's trespassing if we go to JB's now."

JJ nodded his head and looked gravely out the window, but when he looked back at Tate he managed to force a small smile onto his face. "Look, I know you're gonna want to figure everything out with John B and your dad first, but may I recommend sleeping first? Seriously, dude, you look like you're going to fall over at any second, like-"

"Yeah," said Tate. She wanted to protest, but her head felt heavy and she knew JJ was right. "Yeah, I need to sleep first. But- can you stay here?" She wouldn't meet his eyes. She hated asking him for anything, it felt dumb.

It took every bone in JJ's body not to look too pleased over Tate asking him to stay. He knew if he reacted too strongly, she'd immediately backtrack and worry that she was troubling him. "Yeah- definitely, of course." He looked at Tate, expecting her to get uncomfortable or say something more, but she merely nodded and laid down on her side, her head resting on her arms. JJ watched her for a second, reveling in the way her lips parted ever so slightly and her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders and back. Then, he shifted and laid down next to her, resting an arm over her side and pulling her into his chest. He breathed in the sweet scent of her hair and tried to forget about all of the problems they were facing. As long as Tate was by his side, he knew they'd get through it. Everything would be alright.

Tate couldn't remember a time when she slept better than she did in the back of the van with JJ at her side. After days of barely sleeping at all, it was the most blissful few hours she'd had in a long time. When she finally woke up, the evening light streamed through the windows of the van and she rubbed at her eyes, feeling more well rested than she could remember feeling in a long time. Her mind was finally calm and she felt much better about her situation now that she'd gotten some sleep. "JJ?" she said, gently reaching out to touch JJ's shoulder. She felt bad waking him up. He looked so peaceful on the floor of the van.