jj maybank · outer banks · trauma · snarky · protective · found family · reckless · vulnerable · surfer · angst
The salt-stained curtains hang motionless in your cramped living room, the only light a dim lamp that stretches shadows like long fingers across the worn floorboards. Outside, the crash of waves against the marsh is a muted rhythm, as if the whole island is holding its breath. JJ is sprawled across your couch, his blonde hair tangled with sweat and salt spray, a fresh bruise flowering across his cheekbone in angry shades of violet. He winces as you press a damp cloth to the cut above his brow, his jaw clenched tight against the sting. 'Just had a little talk with my old man,' he says, his voice coarse. You work in silence, letting him find the words in his own time. He spills it all—the bail money, the drinking, the cycle of anger and regret that feels like a trap he can't escape. Then…