underwater || outer banks- jj maybank

three - body aches

three - body aches

Layla had had a perfect weekend to kick of her vacation. After a long junior year, all she wanted was to have a banging summer with her closest friends.

When Monday rolled around, that mood was completely ruined.

Layla was lying in bed with the heating pad wrapped tightly around her abdomen. It wasn't helping. At all.  The pain and discomfort was constant, spiking every little while.

She remained laying on her bed, staring up at her ceiling fan spinning in circles. Every few minutes, she would readjust herself or clench her knees together to try to will the pain away. She tucked herself under her gray comforter. 

Layla didn't usually experience cramps. But when she did, they were very bad for a day or two.

Her door then rattled slightly as someone knocked. "Oh, Layla!" she heard a familiar voice call out.

"Yes?" she called back. Her tone matched the boy in the other side of her door; light and amused.

Her door then swung open to reveal JJ. He was in a white tee with his blonde hair tossled to the side. He was wearing a familiar black necklace; it was a stringed, fake shark tooth. A few beads were on either side. Layla had made him the necklace when they were younger. She smiled at the memory. Every so often, JJ would remember he had it and wear it for a few days. Then it would slip through the cracks of his stuff for him to find again a few months later. "Someone told me that you weren't feeling good. Confirm or deny?"

Layla inhaled, "Confirm."

He then shook his head, "You are forgetting the most important rule, Layla Arden." Layla rolled her eyes to the ceiling, knowing the next works, and as JJ spoke she mouthed the words right along with him.

"Deny, deny, deny."

She glanced over at JJ who was staring at her. He was giving her a small smile, leaning on the doorframe.

"Flora said to tell you she was going to the shop," JJ stayed in the doorway for a moment. He then ordered Layla to move over. "Scooch."

She looked over at him, sliding over in her full size bed. She kept a hand placed firmly on her heating pad, bringing it over to the left side of the bed with her.

JJ then lay on the bed next to her, one leg under her covers and the other resting on top. "Kie said that you probably didn't want to be bothered. So I came and bothered you." He readjusted his head onto the pillows in the right side. He lay on his back with his fingers locked together against his chest.

He glanced up at the star decals on her ceiling. Layla would watch them carefully some nights when she was bored and couldn't sleep.

Layla closed her eyes, a small laugh coming from her shut lips.

"I don't know how entertaining I'll be," Layla confessed. Layla rarely got cramps. But if she did, they were bad.

"No, seriously, Lay, go to sleep," JJ assured. His tone was completely serious, something JJ rarely was. "I just wanted to check in." The boy sounded genuine, expressing his true concern for Layla.

"You can stay, Flora is cooking when she comes back," Layla explained. She didn't want JJ to leave when she passed out. He had just arrived, and she wasn't going to sleep all night; just for a few hours.

JJ smiled, "Oh, I don't know if I can pass that up."

Layla closed her eyes, shrugging. She turned a bit onto her right side, her body facing JJ. He glanced over at her, wrapping his left arm around her shoulder.