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"Sit still, J, let me finish." John B gently finishes the single long braid of blond, holding the bottom together as JJ hands him a small elastic band to tie it back with, "I am gonna miss braiding this shit for you, but you’ll look so much better with it gone, man."
"I know I will! Won’t have t’ carry around a hair tie with me everywhere— ya know, remind me why I didn’t do this sooner?" He turns his head back to stare up at his friend, snickering slightly as he seems to startle, quickly pulling back his scissors, seemingly afraid of cutting him somehow.
"Repression or something? Man I don’t know, compensation for the fact you were definitely not a chick, you’re the one who did it man, I don’t know," he laughs back and shrugs, gesturing forward with his old scissors, "look forward so I can actually cut it, dude! No more stoner surfer waves."
With an eye roll and a nod, JJ faces forward and immediately starts fidgeting, bouncing his knee on the floor and playing with his hands, "JB, dude, I am a stoner surfer," he lets out a quiet laugh as he resists the urge to sway, trying to keep at least his torso still, channeling all his energy into his feet, "ooo! Short hair means less fucking salt water in my eyes."
"Exactly dude! Now sit still."
"Fuck you, you know I can’t do that." He scoffs and holds back another laugh as he tries his best to follow the instruction.
The first cut takes a while to get all the way through, making loud, coarse snipping noises as he eventually cuts the majority of his hair off, only held together by the hair tie at the top and the elastic band at the bottom, keeping its shape even as the braid finally drops into John B’s hand. Passing it over to JJ for him to look at just how much weight he’s lifted, John B tries his best to cut it evenly, attempting to remember and copy how his dad cuts his hair when it gets too shaggy.
"This shits so cool…" he fiddles with the braid for a second before immediately being hit with a wave of emotions, forcing tears to well in his eyes and making him sniffle, "fuck, man."
"You good, J?" John B pauses for a moment, brushing away snipped hair from his friend’s back before shifting to look at him, leaning over him slightly.
"Yeah— yeah man, I’m… I’m good," he sniffles and tries to wipe his face with his tank top, his voice wavering slightly as he speaks, "I’m so good, it’s just— a lot, ya know?"
"Yeah man, I know," with a nod, he bends down slightly and hugs around his shoulders, avoiding his chest, "you wanna pause for a bit? You might look insane but if you need a break, man, we can take it."
Another quiet sniffle, JJ shakes his head and takes a deep breath, "Nah, nah I’m good, I’ll try not t’ move too much." He kicks and taps his feet, patting his thighs and playing with his cut-off braid.
"Okay man, I got you." Standing up straight again, he goes back to snipping away, trying to remember small tips and tricks he’s seen his dad do.
It takes longer than it should, especially with having to take occasional pauses whenever JJ forgets to channel his energy and starts to sway or cries harder than he means to. But eventually, with a few more choppy snips, John B finishes up and puts down his scissors, helping brush off the dusting of snippets of hair from his shoulders and back, letting JJ brush his front clean.
"All done, man." He walks around to stand in front of him, snatching up a comb, with a few missing teeth, and brushing through his hair for him, "I don’t got like— a hand mirror or whatever, so you wanna go see it in the bathroom mirror?"
"Yeah," he jumps up and wraps his arms around his friend’s neck, pulling him into a tight hug and trying his best to subtly wipe away his tears on his shirt, "thanks, man…"
"No problem, JJ… you already look more like yourself." He smiles when the hug somehow tightens more, hesitating exactly where to put his hands before returning it full force, only letting go after JJ does.
Taking a moment to just get all his energy out, jumping in place and shaking his hands, trying to take deep breaths as a grin spreads across his face, he eventually shakes away most of his jitters and gradually lessens his movements to just a gentle bounce on his heels and a small flap of his hands, he takes a deep breath and nods, his smile only growing when John B returns it, patiently waiting and watching him calm himself down and regulate himself.
"You ready, J?"
"Fuck yeah."
"C’mon. Close your eyes, I’ll lead you." With another shared nod, he watches JJ close his eyes and gently guides him towards the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that sits between his bedroom and his dad’s, making sure he doesn’t bump into anything before placing him in front of the bathroom mirror, "Ready?"
"So fuckin’ ready." He bounces on his heels before finally opening his eyes and seeing his reflection, though the image is quickly blurred with tears.
He just stands there for a while, trying to wipe his eyes clear every other second, just taking in his reflection. John B was right, he looks like himself. More himself than ever. It just looks… right. So right that he can’t manage to picture himself with the long hair he had just a couple hours ago, like this is how he was always meant to be.
"If you don’t like it, I can get dad to fix it for you—" he’s quickly cut off by another sudden hug, though this time it’s so strong it almost tips him over backwards, feeling tears soak through his shirt as he listens to the mix of laughter and sobs, returning the hug and patting his back slightly, drawing shapes to comfort him.
"You’re the fucking best!" He somehow tightens the hug further, gripping him tight until his knuckles turn pale.
"You’re the best too, J. Just wanna help you be yourself properly. We all do."
"Fuck I love you guys."
"And we love you too, JJ. Dude, you look so much fucking better with short hair." He chuckles slightly and smiles as the vice grip on him loosens slightly.
"I know, right?! I look fucking great!" He laughs as he wipes under his eyes with the back of his hand and under his nose with the fabric of his tank.
"Maybe you’ll finally get a boyfriend— or girlfriend?" He returns the laugh along to his own joke.
"Bitch I think I’d get both with this shit!" With an almost impossibly wide grin, he tussles his own hair.
"Sure, J. They just gotta learn to put up with you like I do."
"Fuck you man! The women love me for my bouncing-off-the-walls charm and the men love to hear me talk about 50 topics at once, bro, you should try it, maybe you'll finally get some." He snickers and pats John B's shoulder.
"Okay man, I'll try it sometime. C'mon, we gotta show Kie and Pope your new look." He laughs back and ruffles freshly cut blond before pushing him out of the bathroom.
"Okay okay!"