Chapter Text
It’s five months after they’ve returned from El Dorado when JJ pries open his sleepy eyes. Things are just starting to fall into place. The excavations have started, and everyone was throwing themselves back into school to make up for lost time and hopefully graduate. Pope was gunning the hardest of course, they’d rescinded their rule that all AP and Honors classes were booked full when he got famous and made room for him. JJ was going the slowest- he barely kept up with work at a normal pace, so he knew he wouldn’t be able to make up months of work for all eight or so subjects on the side while he dealt with everything else. He was just taking a couple and planned on summer school. If that didn’t work, he was going to study for his GED instead. It was tedious and he wasn’t sure it was all that necessary, seeing as he’d never see a college campus or probably any job that required a higher education, but it was a plan. It made Kie happy, seeing him make plans and work at them.
It’s raining in that lazy way outside, damp and constant but soft enough to be soothing, unlike booming summer thunderstorms. Judging by the shade of deep blue tinging the sky, it’s probably in the neighborhood of 6am.
His eyes adjust as they look around the room of this apartment he now shares with John B. It ain’t nice, but it ain’t awful. It’s just a rental while the money starts to come in from the excavation and John B rebuilds the Chateau. It’s certainly better than the shack, which crossed from foreclosed into condemned last month and was due to be flattened any day. He’s got few belongings, but they’re starting to add up, little by little. A nice new board in the corner. A couple posters of beaches he’d like to see on the walls. A shadowbox with the friendship bracelets Kiara made them all in seventh grade. Most of his money went to paying for Barracuda Mike’s patience, so he was working again despite the notoriety just to make rent.
The weight pressed against his chest shifted, causing him to shift his focus to the most important staple of this room: the object of his affections. He pressed a kiss to her head.
“Morning, Kie Kie.”
She smiled sleepily in response and rubbed her eyes. “Jayj…what time is it?”
“Dunno. My phone’s over there.” He pointed to the dresser across the room, where it was intentionally placed because it was the only way to actually get him out of bed when the alarm went off. She rolled over to the bedside table where her own phone was charging and checked it, sighing.
“Almost 6:30. I’d better get going before my parents wake up.”
JJ groaned. “We’re eighteen now. Can’t you just stay over yet? I mean, fuck, you could move in. John B wouldn’t mind. I already have to deal with him and Sarah going at it all the time.”
A small smile pulled across Kiara’s face that told JJ he’d let on too much. He couldn’t think straight this early in the morning.
“I mean…uh…”
“You want me to move in?”
His cheeks flushed as he moved to shuffle his hair nervously and avoided her eyes.
“I just mean you could, like. If you wanted to. No more clandestine shit. We could all just chill whenever. You know.”
Her grin brightened and JJ felt his chest tighten. Embarrassed though he was, he could never regret it when he made her smile like that.
“Just wait til graduation. I’m trying to rebuild some trust with my parents so they know I’m not a flight risk. After everything that’s happened, they just want to know I have my life together and I have options.”
“And that you’re spending time away from me.”
Her smile wavered as she took his hand and kissed it. “They’re coming around, JJ. Now that the truth is coming out, they’re changing. To be fair, it does all sound insane.”
JJ nodded wordlessly and shoved off the covers.
“Could you help me find my bra?” Kie asked, eyes shifting around the room. He chuckled.
“Sure. I do believe you chucked it somewhere over- ah, there it is.” He plucked the lacy bit of lingerie from the floor where it had been abandoned in the heat of last night’s passions and tossed it to her. She flashed him with a sultry grin as she slipped it on. “Get dressed. I’ll grab you some coffee.”
She beamed, her skin glowing like embers in the orange sunrise light that was just starting to stream through the windows. “Love you, baby.” He couldn’t help but smile back, sweet boyish dimples carving divots in his cheeks that made Kiara want to kiss him silly.
“Love you too,” he called back, pecking her on the mouth.
She pulled on her clothes from the night previous and met him in the kitchen.
“Here ya go, Darlin’,” JJ whispered, wrapping one arm around her waist. She took the coffee tumbler in one hand and batted her eyelashes.
“My skirt’s not zipped, could you help me out?” He shook his head with a mischievous grin as she turned around.
“Ooh, nice panties Kie,” they both startled apart as they turned to see Sarah Cameron padding into the kitchen wearing one of John B’s oversized t-shirts. “Where’d you get it?”
“Ahem. Sarah. Good morning,” Kiara replied, her cheeks pink. Sarah moved to pass her on the way to fridge, deftly zipping the skirt as she went. After a beat of silence she rubbed her eyes and turned back to look at them.
“Oh, sorry, were you guys having a moment?” A sneaky smile played on her mouth. “Didn’t get enough of those last night?”
“Alright, that’s my cue,” Kiara said with a laugh. JJ nodded.
“Thank you, Sarah.”
“Jayj, can I talk to you real quick before I go?”
“Sure,” JJ said, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy. They stepped towards the front door and lowered their voices. “Am I gonna see you back here tonight?”
“About that…listen, JJ, my parents have been asking about you.”
JJ’s face fell, that feeling of sweeping doom crashing over him as he cast his eyes on the floor.
“That mean you need to take a step back?” He asked softly.
“No!” she reached out and cupped his cheek, a genuine smile on her face. “No, Jayj, it’s not that at all. Actually, we’ve been talking about you, and you and me, a lot lately. My dad wants to talk to you.”
The doom was not assuaged by this addition. JJ felt the knot in his chest grow. He knew what Mike thought of him.
“Kie, I told you I can’t do that again. It’ll just make things worse.”
She ran her fingers through his hair traitorously, in that way she knew always took the fight out of him. “He’s not going to attack you, I promise.”
“Can’t we just agree to keep things separate? We don’t like each other, but we both like you. Agree to disagree?”
“No,” Kiara said soundly. “I love you both, and for you both to be in my life that means sometimes you’re going to have to be in the same room, alright? So we’ve got to get past this. And that starts with dinner at my place tonight, okay?”
“Your folks want to give me free food?” He joked, hoping to break some of the tension. She smiled and rolled her eyes, letting it pass.
“It’s really more of a couple thing, but yeah. I told my dad he’s not allowed to start anything or we’re leaving right then and there. No fighting, just done. And taking a Tupperware with the leftovers.” JJ smiled.
“Well, I guess if there’s leftovers it could be worth it…”
“Does that mean you’ll come?”
He took a deep breath. “Okay.”
She hugged him tightly, allowing him to wrap his arms around her and bury his face in her shoulder, taking in the scent of vanilla and coconut she always wore. She smelled like a tropical beach, like the places that calmed him. Her soft skin felt like Kiara, the only person who calmed him. It would be alright, he supposed.
“It’s just dinner, okay? No heavy conversations, just hang out and try to be civil for once to see if we can manage it. We’ll be alright.” She kissed him goodbye.
“See you at school.”
“See you there,” he replied, watching her walk out the front door.