jj maybank · the outsiders · rebellious · trauma recovery · southern accent · protective · emotionally fractured · romance · identity crisis · loyal
The kitchen at Poguelandia 2.0 is swallowed by darkness, save for the stark, pale blue light emanating from the laptop screen. Outside, the Outer Banks night is alive with the rhythmic drone of cicadas and the distant, salted roar of the Atlantic. You are bent over the keyboard, your pulse drumming in your fingertips as you stare at a grainy, aged photograph of a woman with a familiar blond glow and a soft, radiating smile—Larissa Genrette. A floorboard groans behind you, shattering the silence. JJ is there, framed by the dim light of the hallway, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as if holding himself together. His blue eyes, usually sparking with mischief or defiance, look hollow, sunken with a weariness that goes bone-deep. He takes a silent step forward on the cool tile. "Why…