BABYDOLL // JJ Outer Banks

nine

the crew sat in silence as pope drove. jj was cross-legged on the floor of the bus, hannah's head in his lap as he gently combed his fingers through her hair. none of them acknowledged what had just went down in fear of a fight breaking out.

when they arrived at his house, jj didn't hesitate to pick up hannah in his arms, careful to avoid hurting her, and left the bus in silence. he knew her house was the last place she would want to be right now, especially in her state, so he made the decision to bring her to his.

jj went to the back of the house where his window was located and peaked in. once he was sure that his father wasn't there, jj silently slid his window open before hoisting himself and hannah inside. jj set hannah down on his bed as he went to go get medical supplies from the bathroom.

just as jj returned and was shutting his door, he was startled by hannah's voice behind him. "jay?"

jj spun around the face the brunette who was rubbing her eyes and trying to sit up. "here, babydoll, let me help," jj whispered softly, helping her into a sitting position. "i'm just gonna clean you up, okay?"

hannah gave him a sleepy smile and nodded as the boy began dabbing rubbing alcohol onto her open wounds. when he finally got to the cut on her lip hannah winced at the contact, but remained silent as jj continued to disinfect the injury.

jj chuckled to himself when he caught a glimpse of the tattoo of his name on her inner lip. "remember when you got that?"

hannah nodded, a small smile making its way onto her face. "i'd just turned fourteen," she started, "and you were trying to take my mind off everything since it was my first birthday without my brother." he nodded, remembering how broken she had looked in the months following her brother's disappearance. "so we kept daring each other to do the most stupid things until one of us gave up," she giggled. "and john b told us we were idiots and chickened out at the first dare we gave him."

"-ask big john if a 2 inch penis is 'small,'" jj finished, laughing. "and you had just dared me to kiss john b-"

"with tongue," hannah pointed out. "i still can't believe you actually did it." jj playfully rolled his eyes and gently shoved her shoulder. "so you dared me to get your name tatted on my inner lip," hannah said, pulling down her bottom lip to reveal 'JJ' scrawled into the pink tissue.

"and then you got me out the next round by daring me to tell topper that kooks are superior to pogues."

"i knew that you'd never do it. you're too loyal to us." hannah said, ruffling his hair.

"yeah, yeah," jj grumbled, pushing her hand away. jj continued to tend to hannah's injuries, occasionally exchanging a few words, as hannah watched him work. she felt her eyes tracking his facial expression as he worked, the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. suddenly, she was hyper-aware of how close they were, his face mere inches aware from her own as he pressed a cold compress to the bruise forming on her cheekbone.

"hey, jay," hannah whispered as jj finished and began putting away his supplies.

"yeah, babydoll?"

"thank you, for everything."

jj looked at the brunette. her right cheekbone had the outline of a bruise forming against her tan, freckled skin from topper's punch and her bottom lip was split. her hair was in messy waves from the scuffle in the ocean water and she was wearing one of his shirts— and he thinks to himself that he must've done something amazing in his past life to be given someone like her. she knew him better than anyone and her words proved that. she knew that he'd been beating himself up for pulling out the gun, and his friends hadn't exactly been trying to reassure him either, but she knew. hannah knew that jj would never voluntarily harm another person, unless he was forced to. jj's unwavering loyalty for those he cared about was insurmountable, and hannah knew that when he pulled that gun on topper, he only did so because he wanted to protect her. he just wanted to do the right thing. she understood him, and he understood her.

jj let a tear escape the corner of his eye as he threw his arms around the girl and cried. "i just wanted him to stop," he sobbed, "i didn't want to actually hurt anybody. i-"

hannah shushed him, rubbing his back as she comforted him. the two fell asleep like that— wrapped in each others embrace with tear stains on their face.

...

jj woke up to a knocking at the door. his natural instinct to grab it before his father did kicked it, but quickly calmed down when he noticed the man wasn't home. opening the door, jj was met with the cold expression of sheriff peterkin. "uh, hey?" the boy said, scratching his head in confusion.

"hello, jj," the woman replied, stepping inside. "so, i'm coming from john b's because i heard a few things that worried me about last night."

"hm?" jj feigned indifference, "and what's that?"

peterkin gave him a 'really?' look, before continuing. "i heard that there were a few fights on the beach last night-" jj opened his mouth to deny it, but peterkin cut him off. "don't bother, i already know about it and who was involved. i'm here because i heard their was a gun mentioned in the reports."

"a gun?" jj asked, pretending to be confused. "seriously?"

"jay?" hannah walked in, rubbing her droopy eyelids before noticing that sheriff peterkin was in the room. "oh, hey?"

peterkin looked at the bruised girl, "well, i guess this saves me another drive," she muttered. "the two of you are going to get into some serious trouble one day, and i'm not gonna be around to save your asses."

"i have no clue what you're talking about," hannah lied. jj pointed to her in agreement.

"listen," peterkin stated, "i'm gonna tell y'all the same thing i told john b. you're skimming just above the surface." peterkin gestured with her hands. "now down here? is me getting your fathers involved." hannah froze, prompting jj to thread his fingers through her own and give them a small, comforting squeeze. "now up here?" peterkin raised her hand, "is you and your little friends doing whatever you want. choose wisely." and with that, peterkin walked out the door and drove away.