The Pogue Life || JJ Maybank

Meaningless

JJ stares at me in shock.

"Meaningless? There's nothing meaningless about it! I've never felt this way about anyone, Bianca," JJ demands, "you came sauntering into this little town with your Australian accent and weird ways and you took my feet right out from under me!"

He sounds almost angry but the way he's looking at me gives me butterflies. He's so vulnerable right now. Perfectly raw. Perfectly perfect. I smile and grab his neck, pulling his lips down to meet mine. Our lips meet with force at first and then we both press a little less harshly. We break apart and he lays his forehead on mine and I breathe out a laugh.

"Oh god," I say, "Our first kiss and my mouth tastes like vomit."

He laughs and pulls me into his chest, "well we can always have a redo in the morning, presuming you're still alive."

I laugh at him and wrap my arms around his waist.

"Don't laugh. I think you nearly drank MY body weight in alcohol," he states, pulling back and looking at me with mock seriousness, "I'm surprised you don't need your stomach pumped!"

"Well considering I just threw most of it back up, I think I'm good," I say, "but there's probably more to come later if I'm honest."

"That's fine. I'm more than happy to spend the night holding your hair back if it means when your fully sober again I get to ask you to officially be my girlfriend," he says.

I look at him in surprise and happiness for a moment before I get hit with a wave of nausea. He sees it on my face and turns me back to the bushes, taking the water bottle so I can lean on a tree to stabilise myself. This isn't exactly the most adorable confession of feelings on the planet, but at least it happened. Here's hoping I remember it in the morning.

JJ gets me to drink a bunch of water and then convinces me that I need to go to sleep. He takes me to John B's spare room and tucks me into the bed. He smiles at me in the most adorable way and presses a soft kiss to my forehead, before turning toward the door. Immediately I grab his hand.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go get you a bucket, and probably tell Zac where you are," he says, squeezing my hand

"Zac left earlier. That friend of his invited him to a kook party," I say, only recalling the fact because he told me he was leaving BEFORE I was drunk.

"Well I still need to get you a bucket," he insists.

I nod and snuggle under the blankets when he leaves. He comes back with more water and a bucket and manages to convince me to drink the water. He goes to leave again but when I ask him to stay with me he quickly resolves and kicks off his shoes, crawling into the bed beside me. I fall asleep in his arms for a few hours. I wake up a little nauseous and creep out of the bed to head for the bathroom. I grab my toothbrush from my bag in the lounge room as I go and note that the only people left at John B's house are Kiara, Pope, JJ and I. Everyone else must have made their way home when the party died. I try to be quiet as I make my way to the bathroom and wait for the vomit to come. I sit beside the toilet for a few minutes while my stomach churns, until I finally spew. Then I brush my teeth thoroughly so I won't have to wake up to the taste of vomit or with the smell of it on my breath. When I make my way back to the bedroom, I drink some more water before crawling back into the bed with JJ. He rolls toward me when my weight shifts the bed and swings an arm around me. I allow my body to mould against his and fall asleep again.

I wake up the next morning when JJ shifts behind me, stirring awake himself. I roll over sleepily and blink as my eyes adjust to the morning sun. It takes me a moment to register that I'm in bed with JJ. My body turns stiff and I run a hand down to make sure I'm fully dressed as I try to remember what the hell happened last night. The memories of throwing up in the bushes and getting mad at JJ before he told me he likes me come flooding back. My face heats up and I can't stop the small groan that escapes my lips. Of course, I had to be drunk as a skunk AND throwing up when that happened. My groan alerts JJ that I'm actually awake and he turns to face me, rocking the bed as he does.