teach me

part eight- shitty parents

the morning after the kegger was slow. avery wasn't allowed to leave john b or jjs sight when they got back, resulting in her sleeping between them on the pull out. sarah claimed the other side of john b, and kie went to john b's room while pope went to the avery's room.

when she woke up, the boys were less on edge, but there was still a tension in the air. avery got up from her spot on the pull out and found kie in john b's room. "they're so annoying" she huffed, laying down on the other side of kie. sarah soon joined them, finding a seat on the floor.

"they're just worried about you" sarah tried to reason "it was a little dramatic tho" kie agreed with avery. "i swear they lose their shit over the littlest stuff- i mean one time i went on a date with some guy over spring break, and when he came to pick me up jj had a gun. jonny literally grilled the poor guy into giving him all the details for the night and he was shaking the whole date." avery explained. "i remember that" kie laughed causing the other two girls to join in.

"i'm never gonna have a real boyfriend" she laughed "compared to what? a fake boyfriend" kie laughed. avery continued to laugh awkwardly. in a way jj was kind of her fake boyfriend. they did most of the things boyfriend and girlfriends do, they just weren't public about any of it. after last night avery didn't think she would want to go public with anyone ever again.

"do you smell that?" sarah asked, pulling avery from her thoughts "something's burning" kie spoke, jumping up from the bed. the three girls rushed into the kitchen to find jj throwing water on a black piece of toast that was previously engulfed in flames. "dude how do you burn toast" pope asked, pushing his friends face. this lead to a wrestling match between the three guys in the house and another burnt piece of toast they forgot about. "they're impossible" sarah laughed.
———

several hours later jj received a phone call from his father. "i'm at john b's relax" he spoke, walking out the back door. "no i was literally
just-" he was cut off "dad i, that's what i'm trying to tell you, no, no god shut up and just fucking listen!" jj yelled "whatever i'll be there in 20" he finally sighed.

jj announced that his lovely father wanted him back home for a couple hours and that he would probably be back sometime tomorrow. he hopped on his bike and rode to his house.

"dad?" jj called into his echoed house. "out back" he heard a voice call. jj walked through the living room and onto the back porch where he saw his father "fixing" one of his projects "come here and help me with this" he told him. he sat next to luke and attempted to fix whatever was broken. he spent maybe 10 minutes on it before luke came back outside and threw an empty beer can at his son.

"what the fuck" jj questioned. "don't play dumb, you know what that was for" luke scoffed "enlighten me" jj rolled his eyes "talking to me the way you did on your way home" he corrected. jj mumbled something under his breath, earning a slap in the face from luke. the slap caught him off guard and made his hand slip with the screwdriver, bending one of the pieces in half and breaking it.

"now look what you fucking did you son of a bitch" luke growled at his son "how ya gonna fix that huh?" he egged on. "i'm not, i'm done with your shitty project go fix it yourself" jj rebutted. without a second thought, luke grabbed jjs hand and held it down across one of the hot tools he was using, leaving a nasty burn up the palm of jjs hand and his forearm.

jj tried to get his dad to stop, but luke held him there for close to 20 seconds. when he finally did let up, jj shoved his father so hard he fell back down on the couch outside. "piece of shit" luke breathed as his beer spilled from the impact.

he immediately got up and grabbed his sons hair and shoved him against the side of the house, knocking his head into the door. his other hand had dropped his beer and used it to smack the side of jjs head, clapping his ears.

jj moved his arms to protect himself, which made luke choke his own son out, and bring his other fist to punch the poor kids face and body. jj pleaded with his father to let him go, even throwing some punches around here and there, but nothing prepared him for when he saw his father take off his belt.

luke snapped the leather twice before swinging it down on jjs back and across his face. he littered his sons body with line shaped bruises and bloodied lips and eyebrows.

when his beating was done, jj locked himself in his room and blasted his music through his speakers, drowning out any sound coming from his father for the next several hours. jj was on rage mode, punching holes in his walls, bleeding all over his sheets, etc.

"god i fucking hate you" jj spat, throwing a dart at the word dad on his wall. he decided to look at himself in the mirror for the first time since coming home, and he was disappointed with what he found. his lip was split and bleeding on the left side. it was swollen and bruised along the bottom and the top as well. his left eyebrow needed stitching and was accompanied by a massive bump on his forehead. he had a ring of finger prints around his neck, and a massive burn along his hand and forearm. he had belt shaped bruises across his back and a circular one on the bottom right of his stomach. his ears were still red and hot while his head was still pounding from being pulled so aggressively.

he wanted to punch something again, but instead he opted for storming out of his room and biking to the chateau.

he stepped into his second home to find john b and avery sitting on the couch together eating pizza and watching cars the movie. "jesus jay" john b spoke, getting up from his spot and walking over to his friend. avery had already gotten the first aide kit by the time jj laid down on the couch.

big john had taught both of his kids how to give stitches, but avery found herself giving them out the most while john b needed to get them.

jj laid with his head on avery's lap and a fist clutching the couch cushion next to him. he would never admit that it hurt more to get stitches. john b handed him a beer and he immediately brought it to his lips, hissing as avery placed her final stitch on his eyebrow.

no one said anything about what happened. no one asked how he got so beat up- they already knew the answer. if jj wanted to talk about it he would. or he would still be fuming and right now he was neither. he was just silent.

jj leaned over to avery and whispered in her ear "is it ok if we just practice cuddling tonight" he chuckled softly, earning a smile from avery. she nodded and adjusted herself so that he could lay on her comfortably while she played with his hair softly. john b didn't say anything about it. he knew that sometimes all his friend needed was to be comforted, and he's aware that him and his sister have different ways of doing so. he's aware that avery is more sweet and gentle while he has a soft side too, it's different and he knows it.

the amount of times he's caught jj and avery cuddling because of a storm, or getting beat up, or any other emotional reason was enough to make him comfortable with it. besides, he's been known to need a good old fashion hug from his sister every now and then. maybe it was their mommy issues that found it so comforting, but the kids also had obvious daddy issues too. maybe it's just something about needing physical touch. whatever it is, they all benefit from being able to depend on each other like that, and john b wasn't going to make it weird between his sister and jj if he didn't have to.