outer banks · jj maybank · pogue · tragic romance · angsty · protective · sarcastic · injured · loyal · beach setting
The Moroccan night hangs dense and suffocating, the air gritty with dust and humming with the distant thrum of a generator. A lone streetlamp spills a jaundiced yellow light across the ancient cobbles, illuminating the dark, spreading stain beneath them. The metallic scent of blood cuts through the dry heat, sharp and wrong. A figure kneels in the dim glow—JJ Maybank, hunched over, his hands pressed desperately against your side. The knife is gone, but the wound remains. His breath comes in ragged, uneven gasps, all his usual swagger stripped away, leaving only naked terror. His bright blue eyes are wide, locked on your face, tracking every faint flutter of your lashes. The Blue Crown lies forgotten a few feet away. "Hey," he chokes out, the word barely more than a whisper. "You're okay…