𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗬 [jj maybank]

chapter 18

half of a whole
🎶 two ghosts - harry styles

A crash of a wave early in the morning. A bell on a door. The soft feeling of morning breeze blowing through hair. The brush of finger tips. An empty bed. A full head.

Recently, little details have been much bigger to Aubrie.

Her life had been significantly downsized, but her problems were much bigger.

Her new home sat on the edge of the water on the cut. She spent her days chatting with Liv and occasionally talking with JJ, checking in on each other. Grief is a funny thing. It never really happens the way you think it will. Aubrie knew that John B and JJ weren't biologically brothers, but as far as anyone was concerned, they were brothers nonetheless.

Aubrie and JJ both lost pieces of themselves.

Aubrie had always lived a very lavish life. So it was an entirely new world living on the cut with the Blues.

Most of her meals had been caught by Travis that same day. To repay them for their kindness, Aubrie spent a lot of time helping out at the small surf shop Travis owned.

However, Aubrie had spent this particular night at John B's house with JJ in an attempt to feel close to her sister again.

It was a unusually chilly morning for the summer months, and Aubrie found herself awake at an unusual hour.

JJ spent most of their time there sad, thinking about JB and Sarah. Aubrie couldn't sleep, and wandered out onto the dock to watch the sunrise over the water. The constant rising and setting of the sun was the only remnant she had of who she was before. She refused to go back to the family that let her sister die just to save their own asses, the family that ruined the legacy she left behind in the world. They let the world believe she died a naive death, following a killer to a deep sea grave.

Aubrie knew the truth. Her sister was strong willed, confident, kind, and would never do the things the newspapers accused her of.

She didn't have Sarah anymore, she was lost.

The sun had barely risen; Aubrie had thrown on one of Sarah's old sweaters to go out and sit on the dock.

She lost track of time, and the soft pink glow had turned to a gold haze as a body appeared beside her. The boy snaked his arm around her waist, settling his head on her shoulder. "Morning." He said quietly, his voice still raspy.

She smiled softly at his words. "Morning, J." He absentmindedly twisted the ring on his finger as he watched the still water beneath him. "Another sleepless night?" She asked.

"Like always." He answered could darkness apparent under his eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" JJ nodded in reply. "Do you ever look at the sunrise, and hope John B and Sarah are on the other side looking back at you?"