𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 pt.1

♥ ♥ ♥

"So Y/n, tell me. What are your plans for the future?" Mr. Heyward asked as he was scribbling something on his notepad. Kie and I had decided to stop at his shop and see if he needed a hand or two. He gladly accepted our help with Pope's great relief because this meant he had less stuff to do. I was working with Heyward on the groceries when we started talking. I've always seen Pope's old man as a father figure so opening up with him wasn't hard at all. I thought about my answer for a second and then spoke. "Well.. my biggest dream would be moving to the mainland and going to college there. Nothing too fancy of course" I stopped there because I didn't want to say too much about what my future was actually starting to look like. I had in fact been offered a scholarship to the New York University to study journalism but not a lot of people knew except for Pope and Kie.. I knew eventually I had to tell JJ yet, I was just too scared at the moment.

Heyward smiled at me and I sensed he felt there was more that I wasn't telling him.

"What would you study?" "Uhm.. journalism-"

"Oh, you're talking about your scholarship! You're finally starting to brag!" Pope interrupted me as he and Kie walked up to us. I shot him a killer look and he immediately understood he had made a mistake. Heyward's face lit up with joy and the next second I was being squeezed in between his strong arms.

"I'm so proud of you, Y/n! Why wouldn't you tell me tho?" he then asked, as soon as he pulled away. I smiled bitterly thinking of a real answer to give him. I didn't even know it myself..

"I really don't know.. I guess I wanted to keep it a secret" I glanced at Pope once again. "Until I'd make my decision"

Heyward looked at me confused. "What's there to decide? You're going!" he said with a straight face. I looked down at my feet, blushing a little.

"You know dad.. sometimes we have some stuff that holds us back" Pope tried to explain. The three of us had talked about this subject before.. the subject being JJ, of course. Me going away meant leaving JJ and the Pogues behind and I wasn't ready to do that yet. We'd lost JB and Sarah almost a month ago, I couldn't bare to leave my family behind in less than a year from now.

"What could possibly hold her back from this opportunity??" Heyward asked, raising his hands in frustration. But then his eyes widened as we heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. A sound we all knew too well.

As realization hit him, his severe face turned into a soft smile. "Ohh I get it now.."

"Hi everybody!" JJ's voice echoed in the shop. Heyward greeted him with a smile, while Kie and Pope did the Pogue handshake with him.

"Hey girl" JJ whispered in my ear, stopping behind me and wrapping his hands around my waist. I put my hands on his and tilted my head to the side. JJ looked down at me and leaned in, pecking my lips in a quick kiss.

I turned around and my eyes locked with Heyward who was watching me with an unreadable look on his face. I knew it was about the scholarship and the fact that he understood that the only thing keeping me on the island was the guy behind me. I nodded slightly at him and he did the same, before turning around and starting to boss everyone else in his shop.

"What are y'all up to?" Kie asked, motioning to me and JJ. JJ raised his head up from my shoulder and took my hand in his. "We gotta go to work now"

Kie scoffed annoyed. "Meet you guys tonight?" I asked, hoping to light up her mood. I did and she nodded smiling.

JJ guided me to his bike and passed me his helmet. "Why was Heyward looking at you like that before?" he asked as he helped me put the helmet on my head. I shrugged and he just let it go.