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CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT Confession ‿︵‿︵‿︵
(PRESENT)
JJ's eyes immediately found the board leaning against the wall.
"Yo, who's board is that?" John B's voice brought the blond out of his daze. He looked over at his friend after he got silence for an answer, his dark eyebrows pinched together slightly.
The two strolled through the backyard and John B skipped up the porch stairs. He reached out a hand, stroking the smooth board with a faint smile. It was an expressive board. His honey eyes took notice of the engraved letters on the nose of the board. A finger slowly caressed it and his lips twitched into a smile.
Peering over his shoulder, he saw JJ awkwardly standing behind him. "Is this yours?"
"Uh, yeah, something like that" The blonde Pogue nodded his head, shrugging his shoulders lightly.
Holding his gaze, John B decided to not comment on his friend's behaviour that had suddenly shifted. He hummed and turned around, stepping to the side and pushed open the screen door. JJ hesitated, staring at the board a little longer, before following in suit.
The Creed girl was in the open kitchen, leaning against the counter with one of her old notebooks. Her head was hanging low and strays of hair was dropping from behind her ear. The sound of the rattling door made her glance up, acknowledging her two best friend's presence and flashed them a smile.
"Hey, Aves, guess what," John B bundled over to the girl with a childish smile. She couldn't help but giggle at him, not even getting a chance to answer as he pushed himself against the corner of the counter and answered for her. "We have everything ready for later. Rope, torches–"
"– Grappling hook?" She teased, making the boy's face drop onto a deadpan expression.
He couldn't resist the smile for long, "you ready to get the gold, Kate Kane?"
"Hundred percent, Dick Grayson. We are in the G-game" She beamed. John B outstretched his hand, she copied his action, and they did their handshake before the brunet excused himself.
JJ shuffled closer to the girl, noticing the half done diagram scribbled across the open page. His heart warmed at the sight, having missed seeing her doing what she loved, creating and making boards again. He shuffled into the space besides her and watched her carefully, his eyes falling from her side profile to the paper, studying her hand as it effortlessly danced around the page.
"Hi" Her voice was quiet and he could hear the small smile in her tone, confirming as he gazed up her and saw it for himself.
"Hi," The corner of his lip twitch slightly. He hummed, "Uh, I saw you found the board"
"Yeah. Dad said that you worked on it while I was gone," She curtly nodded and set down her pencil, twisting her body to lean her side against the surface, propping her elbow to support her. "I also noticed the additional detail you put on it"
The blond boy chuckled lowly at the reference to the engraved letters that spelt out their initials together. He nippled on his bottom lip as a smile threatened to spread, "It's my signature look. Every board I've ever owned has your initials craved into it"
"I like it" She smiled softly at him. There was a moment of silence between the two, letting them hold each other's gaze for a little longer. Avery was the first to look away and she pushed herself away from the side, wandering through the room.
A hand caught her elbow and carefully tugged her back, making her swiftly turn around. Avery felt her stomach swirl at the sudden action, being taken back to the afternoon in the woodland when she confronted him for being jealous. The same feelings started to soak through her, making her heart beat rise and skin prickle.
"I can't keep doing this," JJ admitted, his voice was thick and brittle. It made her extremely nervous and she couldn't bring herself to do anything but stare up at him with doe eyes, waiting for him to say something more. "I was scared to find out what would happen if I did this. And I still am. But I– I confess"
The simple word meant everything. For the last few weeks, it laid between them. They were bother riddled with fear of not knowing what would happen if they crossed the line, if they confessed their feelings to each other. The shift between them was about to make or break them.
The boy's eyes flickered between hers, searching for anything that would ease his hammering heart and clammy palms. He was still very unsure on how she felt, and in that moment was doubting it. The one thing he was desperate to keep was the friendship. No one had come close to Avery, she was his best friend, his person. He didn't know how he would cope without that, without her, he was for sure a mess.
There had been fleeting moments where Avery had felt her feelings change towards him. Midsommers sparked something so bright, she couldn't ignore it, even if she had tried to. But like she does, she pushed it away as much as she could. But right there, staring back at his ocean blue eyes, she knew, and felt, it too.
"You wanted me to let you in, right?" She mumbled. Her elbow fell out of his grip as he nodded in response. "I'm letting you in. Leaving town, leaving you and everyone else, and losing my mum. Then, I came back to trouble and a freaking treasure hunt. It has been a lot. But I have you, and everyone else, back. I have my dad back, that's all I need. It's taken time but I'm fixing everything I broke"
"Why didn't you just talk to me?" JJ softly asked, titling his head ever so slightly. He was afraid to push but he wanted to know.
"Because we were fighting Kooks, or raiding hotels, or dodging death," She deadpanned, cracking a smile. JJ chuckled shortly and agreed with her. "And I didn't want to let it be true, I'm scared too. I don't want to lose you either, ya know?"
"You aren't going to lose me, Flower. Not again" He consoled, every word was sincere. His hand reached up and gingerly moved her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear to get a better look at her gentle smile.
"It all makes sense," She whispered softly, her soft eyes gazed up to meet his. A smirk tugged the corner of his lips, he curtly nodded. "What happens now?"
"Will you ever stop worrying?" He lowly chuckled at her as she quickly shook her head, noticing her teeth peeking out from her wide, tight lipped smile.
Before she could respond, JJ's lips captured hers. They were warm and salty, a faint taste of weed. Her lips tugged upwards at the feeling that burst inside her chest, immediately kissing him back. His hand rested on her cheek, gently tugging her closer to him, as her arms snaked around his waist.
Reluctantly pulling away, Avery's eyes fluttered open and reconnected with JJ's bright blue pair. She breathed out, "this is gonna change everything"
"I like this change" He grinned, cupping her face and placing his lips back onto hers.
