𝑨𝑫𝑹𝑰𝑭𝑻, jj maybank

SEVENTEEN - goonies

SEVENTEEN —— goonies

Silence filled Bee's house. The darkness stretched across the floor and spilled into every room through the doorframes, the only light provided by the moon and a candle, wax slowly dripping and pooling in its metal tray. Bee sat alone in her bedroom, the haze of candlelight quivering against her walls. In her living room, JJ lay on the old couch, the pale moon providing barely enough light for him to see his hand in front of his face. Neither of them could fall asleep.

Bee stared at the photos pinned to her wall, all of them taken with a disposable camera the previous summer, back when there was no gold and there was no danger. Kiara had only been their friend for a few months at that point, but they'd already grown unbelievably close.

Bee's eyes lingered on a photo of herself and JJ, taken by Kiara as they worked on the van's engine together. She thought about him laying in her living room and wondered if he was awake. Wondered if he was as worried about John B as she was.

Without making a conscious decision to do so, Bee stood up off her bed and grabbed the candle holder before opening her bedroom door. It creaked on its hinges and she paused, listening for the sound of her mother stirring in bed and hoping she hadn't waken her up. When the silence continued, Bee let out a sigh of relief and kept walking towards the living room, the floorboards protesting under her feet and the candle's flame trembling dangerously in and out of consciousness.

"JJ?" Bee whispered, poking her head into the living room. "Are you awake?"

The candlelight barely reached his face, but she saw him nod. "Yeah, why?"

"Can you sleep?"

His shook his head.

"I'm worried about John B."

JJ hesitated, then whispered, "Me too."

"Do you wanna come to my room?" Bee offered, hoping he'd say yes. "We don't have to whisper in there."

"Yeah," JJ said. "Sure."

Bee nodded and moved out of the room, JJ following her as they walked back to her bedroom. She set the candle on her desk and sat on her bed, exhausted but not feeling tired. JJ padded into the room, softly closing the door behind him and cringing when it groaned.

"Jeez, Bee, you should really oil the hinges," he said, walking over to her dresser, intrigued by the knick-knacks littering its surface.

Bee watched him as he ran his hand over a jewelry box, pushed a tiny toy car back and forth, tried on a few of the rings laying in a teacup saucer she stole from her mother's china cabinet. She smiled to herself and leaned against the wall, letting him explore the little things decorating her room. Since John B's house was the preferred hangout spot, it wasn't often the Pogues found themselves at the Flynn's house, and it was even rarer for Bee to let them roam free in her bedroom, which was personalized with pictures, fairy lights, and tiny treasures she'd collected over the years.

"I like this," JJ said, lifting up a figurine of a surfing cat.

Bee's dimple flashed for a second in the candlelight. "My dad gave it to me it for my birthday one year."

A few minutes passed and JJ stepped over to the cluster of photos on Bee's wall. The images were barely visible in the poor lighting, but he still looked over them, smiling at the glimpses of memories captured with the click and flash of a disposable camera. After looking over all the pictures, JJ made his way over to Bee's bed and sat beside her, leaning his head against the wall.