When June March imagined her 17th birthday she had never imagined anything close to how she was spending it. 6 months ago she had sat in her bedroom with Zach Roberts and planned a party to end all parties for her 17th. Her mother had ordered the cake months ahead of time so that it would be just perfect and her dad had actually given her permission to raid his alcohol stash after the party for a small group of friends to stay. She couldn't help but wonder if the cake would still show up. If the pink frosting would be a haunting and painful reminder to her parents of what they had lost. Or maybe they wouldn't care...hell, at this point she wouldn't either if she were them.
6 months ago June had an entirely different life. 6 months ago her closest friend was Zach, the craziest thing she had done to date was when she went parasailing in Spring, and her mentality was that she was a cold and detached little island, far off from everyone else but still known.
No, she had never imagined her birthday in survival mode, where she was partaking in hunting and gathering methods, sleeping on a makeshift cot that Sarah had spent a week weaving with leaves, and not a pink frosted cake in sight. And while usually this combination of things on your birthday may have been a bit of a downer, June could help but stare up at the night sky and thank whoever was up there for giving her the chance to see her 17th birthday.
She had had too many close run ins with death in the last 6 months, and although sometimes she woke up from nightmares that reminded her of the horrors she had seen, she was thankful she could still dream. And she missed her family a whole lot more everyday that they were there, something that plagued her every afterthought. She could only imagine what today would be like for them, because nobody on this island knew what day it was, but her parents were probably sitting around the kitchen table, staring at a pink frosted cake that had the words Happy 17th Birthday June! etched into it. The guilt of being in the island was something else entirely, putting them through this again. But she hadn't meant to be here, she hadn't meant to be kidnapped.
"What is my beautiful girl thinking about?" The voice came from behind her and June turned her head, seeing JJ starting to sit up from the corner of her eye. Her pink lips turned up into a smile and JJ couldn't help but wear his own, admiring how she looked so very perfect in the moonlight. Her put his arm around her shoulder, not even acting like he had just woken up out of his sleep. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and she closed her eyes, trying to decide if she should tell him. But then it dawned on her that she wanted that selfish celebration, she wanted attention and this reminded her for a moment that she was still very much a teenager. She let out a huff and then looked straight ahead, her face deadpanned as she spoke.
"It's my birthday." JJ paused completely, the boy having never considered this island as a place where time actually continued on. He shook the shock of not knowing off and then let out a gasp, the boy squeezing her closer to him.
"Happy birthday! I didn't know."
"I didn't expect you to. We never talked about it." She said with a smile on her lips, knowing that she intentionally never told him. 6 months ago JJ Maybank was never even a thought, now she lived for him, breathed for him, loved him. She thought it was funny that he definitely wouldn't have been invited to her birthday party. She lifted her hand from her side, her fingers going to his chin. Her thumb pressed against his lips and she just took a second to look him over.
Her eyebrows twitched together slightly with a fondness as she looked over him, enamored by the deep look behind his eyes. She ran her thumb over his lips and then dropped her hand, making sure to drag her eyes across her favorite features of his face before sighing and turning back towards the ocean. JJ stayed gazing at her, thinking about how badly it would hurt if she ever broke his heart. How he could never imagine himself breaking up with her, so if it ever happened it would have to be her, because he knew he was too soft and weak to do something like that. He imagined how insane he would go if he lost her, and then her voice cut off these awful thoughts that plagued him.
"You know what I want for my birthday?" She said aloud, the wind blowing her hair from her face as she looked out at the water. JJ hummed for her to continue, his head dropping on her shoulder as he tried to think of something potentially clever to say. But she sucked in the courage to speak her deepest desires, and JJ was fully unprepared for the words that camp out of her mouth. "I wanna go home."
The words come out of her mouth as a broken whisper and JJ lifted his head from her shoulder, his eyes tracing over the side of her face. He ran over the words in his head a few times but still couldn't find the capacity to relate to what she had said. He did not want to go home. This island was his perfect scenario, a place where he was needed, a place where he was useful, a place where he was free and there were no police trying to hunt him down, no dad to fail him and nobody's parents telling him he was a fuck up and that he would never amount to anything. For the first time since they had been on the island their synchronicity let up and he felt the pressure of feeling utterly alone. Just for a second.
"I get it baby." He whispered and she nodded, shaking away all her sadness and concluding it with a huff of air. She then smiled, looking over at JJ as if she hadn't admitted a devastating truth.
"So what are you getting me for my birthday?" She said, JJs eyebrows raising at the insinuation. He lit up with a smirk, his head turning left and right as if to check is anyone was around. He then pushed his face into her neck, pressing sloppy wet kisses there that made the girl giggle and push him back. He laughed comically, the girl pushing his hands down from where he was trying to grab at her. The smile on her face erased his doubts and he let out a breath of laughter, winking at the girl.
"Well what more do you need? We're staying at a five star hotel with an ocean view, all our friends are here and there are no adults to tell us we can't have a little fun." JJ was pushing her down as he said it, June blushing as he leaned over her. He had one hand on either side of her, the boy hovering above her with his hair falling in his eyes. She let out a relieved sigh as they shared this moment and then she turned onto her side, the boy rolling his eyes as she did so.
"It's the middle of the night." Her voice was full of torturous teasing and JJ groaned, laying down beside her and pulling her body against his. "Why are you even up?"
She had a smile on her face as she pushed closer to him, his arms wrapped around her stomach as he hug spooned. Her eyes were glued to a formation of rocks near by and her smile slowly dropped, the girl unable to let herself be fully content with being here on this island. JJ pushed a kiss into her hair, her stomach dropping as she felt it.
"Don't worry baby...I'll get you something nice."
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2 chapters till I start writing from the show. So if you haven't seen it yet then don't read beyond this point for risk of spoilers!!!
