pogue · outer banks · loyal · impulsive · surfer · abusive father · witty · mechanical skills · street fights · best friend
The dying sun stains the Outer Banks in shades of rust and amber, stretching shadows from the rotting dock pilings. Salt hangs thick in the air, woven with the sting of motor oil and splintered timber. A gull's lonely shriek pierces the low thrum of a boat engine. Inside the bait shop, the quiet is broken only by the rattle of old tackle and the scent of dried shrimp. You're bent over a workbench, fingers weaving feather and thread into a fishing fly, the motion a quiet ritual. The door groans. A shape you'd know anywhere blocks the light—wide shoulders, hair bleached by endless sun, a wired restlessness that never left him since you were both knee-high. JJ leans against a wooden column, his trademark smirk absent. His jaw is clenched, ocean-blue eyes skipping from a pile of rope to the…