Hot take, & I’m sorry, but it would not make sense for the writers to make Jade and Tabitha a couple and they’re not going to do it. I realize most people are just shipping them but it seems like some folks really believe it’s going to happen
warnings: slut shaming, topper🤢, violence, fighting, blood, lil bit of tension😛
word count: 1.8k
a/n: i am so sorry for the long wait, and there will probably be another one after this knowing me but i managed to get this written and decided to give it to u guys straight away🥲for everyone waiting for welcome to hell i apologise even more i don’t know when that’ll be done but i do promise it’s not being abandoned it’s just on hiatus (one direction trauma)
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JJ had never enjoyed his job, but when he woke up two days after Midsummer’s and started to get ready he had a pep to his step. He knew for a fact you and Sarah were going to be coming in for lunch because the latter had told John B. He didn’t care much about seeing her, but you? He felt like things had shifted after the other night. He’d gotten to see what was possibly the real you. The girl that cared about her baby brother, the girl who finally admitted that she didn’t mind him.
He hadn’t even flinched when John B lectured him for an hour on stealing his van. He was too happy.
“Here they are,” JJ grinned, walking up to your table at just past one pm. He’d been here since eleven, so the last two hours had been him waiting to see Sarah’s bright locks or your intimidating stare.
“Hey, JJ,” Sarah smiled, sunglasses perched on her head with her hair in a ponytail. JJ had noticed since she’d started dating John B she seemed less bothered about what she looked like. Not in the way she’s not just as beautiful, just that she doesn’t feel the need to try so hard.
Next he turned to you. You weren’t smiling like your best friend, but your eyes were a hell of a lot softer than they’d usually be when looking at him. “Maybank.”
“How are we both?” He asked, though his eyes didn’t stray from yours. He already knew how Sarah was, considering she was all he heard about nowadays. Last night John B had updated him on what she had for dinner.
“Hungry,” you replied. You hesitated. “How are you?”
“‘My God a miracle just occurred,” JJ gasped dramatically, hand over his heart. “Did you just converse like a human being? Did your software get updated?”
Sarah giggled, you didn’t look overly amused. “Ha. Ha.”
“I’m proud, truly,” he smirked. “You want the usual? Or did the update come with a change in taste buds?”
“The usual,” you grumbled, as Sarah continued to laugh.
“Coming right up,” he nodded.
He got your drinks for you, talking a little more before he was called over by another table. He was hardly gone for ten minutes, but apparently that was all the time you needed to get yourself in trouble.
“You’re seriously going to let him talk to your sister like that?” You were standing in front of Rafe, Topper was beside him.
“Oh, shit,” JJ muttered.
“Don’t involve him in this!” Topper argued, getting in your face. JJ didn’t like that. “It’s not his fault that his sister couldn’t keep it in her pants for more than a day. We just broke up! God, Sarah, you’re such a slut!”
He didn’t get another word in. Your fist was lifted and pummeled into the side of his face. You winced, clearly having not punched anyone before. Tables around you gasped, Rafe went to take a step forward but Topper was quicker. His fist lifted and JJ saw red. He was leaping across a table within seconds, shoving Topper back just before his knuckles could make contact with your face.
“You gonna hit a fuckin’ girl?” JJ yelled, throwing his own punch. Topper tried to duck, but he missed and ended up getting his second hit within ten seconds.
“She hit me first!” Topper argued, covering his face with his hands as JJ kept hitting him over and over. He couldn’t help it, it felt like an out of body experience.
You’d nearly got hurt, and it had sent him spiralling.
“JJ!” Sarah was yelling, trying to get him to stop.
“He’s had enough!” Other people were chiming in now, he could definitely hear his boss's voice somewhere in the background.
“JJ.” He froze. Your hand was on his arm, tugging him back. “Enough, okay?”
“Okay.” He was breathless, blood pouring from his hand. He felt an ache on his nose, he hadn’t even felt Topper hit him back. He reached up and you stopped him, grabbing his hand.
“You all deserve each other,” Topper wheezed, being helped away by Rafe. JJ was honestly surprised Rafe hadn’t jumped in, maybe deep down he did care about his sister. Very deep down.
“JJ.” His boss stood there, arms crossed over his chest and disappointment written all over his face. “My office. Now.”
He got fired, because of course he did. As he walked out the building, blood still stained on his face, he felt utterly exhausted. He did the right thing, and he absolutely didn’t regret it, but that job was his lifeline. It was his only way of making money.
“Hey.” He looked up, finding you waiting for him.
“Hi,” he murmured.
“Sarah decided to walk. C’mon.” You didn’t wait for an answer, just started walking over to your infamous Range Rover. He didn’t argue, just trailed behind you like a puppy dog.
The drive was quiet, but he’d worked out quickly that you weren’t headed to the Chateau like he’d assumed. You were going to your house. Your dads car wasn’t in the driveway so he could assume he wasn’t home. You got out and opened the front door, holding it open for him before heading up the stairs just expecting him to follow.
He hadn’t imagined his first time being in your bedroom would be under circumstances like these, but he couldn’t complain. He looked around shamelessly, taking in everything. It was clean, but there was enough clutter around for it to look lived in. Pictures of you and Sarah around your vanity, there was one that Kiara was in but he held his tongue on commenting. He recognised your mom in a few of them, he’d seen her around town when he was a kid. He briefly remembered her once helping him up after he fell off his bike.
“In here.” Of course you had your own bathroom. It was bigger than his bedroom. “Up.” You nodded to the counter as you opened a cabinet and got out a medical kit.
“What do you have that for?” He asked curiously, doing as told and jumping onto the counter.
“My brothers just started skateboarding,” you explained. “He’s not very good.”
He laughed, looking down at his lap. “How’s his ankle?”
“Better,” you murmured, opening up the kit and retrieving some alcohol wipes. You stood in front of him, close enough that his hands brushed against your hips before he quickly pulled them away. “Look up.”
“How’s it lookin’?” He sighed as you started to wipe away the blood.
“Bruised, not broken,” you stated. “That was a stupid thing to do.”
“He was going to hit you,” he argued.
“And I would’ve taken it. You lost your job,” you retaliated. “I don’t need protection, JJ. I appreciate it, and I’m sure the punch would’ve hurt like a bitch, but I didn’t need you to jump in.”
“I’m not gonna apologise for it,” he said softly.
“I’m not asking you to.”
Once you’d cleaned his face as best as you could, the two of you sat downstairs in the living room and he held an ice pack to his nose. “So, Topper found out about John B and Sarah then?”
“They did show up to Midsummer’s together, wasn’t exactly a well kept secret,” you replied.
“That’s true,” JJ shrugged. “He’s an asshole.”
“That we can agree on,” you nodded with a small smirk. “You should talk to your boss. Grovel. Maybe he’ll give you your job back.”
“I’m not one to beg,” JJ sighed, head lolling back against the couch. “I’ll find another job. I’m sure Heyward will let me do some odd jobs in the meantime.”
Your eyes didn’t leave him, head tilted. He looked up again, the two of you stared at each other for a moment too long to be an accident. “Thank you.”
“Now you’re thanking me? Thought you were disappointed?” He smirked.
You rolled your eyes. “I’m not your mother. You saved me from a bitch slap, I don’t suit a black eye.”
“Have you had one?” JJ asked.
“Once. I fell down the stairs drunk at one of Ward Cameron’s birthday parties and smashed my face on the floor,” you admitted. He couldn’t help but laugh at the image. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Sarah did too. After screaming because she thought I was dead.”
“You and Sarah are close, huh?” Maybe he was asking too many questions, but he figured you owed him some answers after he’d got fired for you.
“No, I hate her,” you replied sarcastically.
He laughed again, looking down. “How long have the two of you been friends?”
“Since we were babies. Our dads are friends,” you explained. “Unlucky for her. She didn’t get to choose whether or not to be friends with the island's bitch.”
“Don’t call yourself that.” If this was two weeks ago he’d be agreeing; he’d be the one saying it. But hearing those words come from your mouth didn’t make him feel good, it made him feel a little nauseous.
You smirked slightly at him. “Going soft on me Maybank?”
“Never,” he joked, winking at you. “How’s your hand feeling?”
“It’s fine, but I didn’t expect that to hurt so bad. Why do you guys enjoy punching people so much?” You asked, looking down at your knuckles. He could see they were slightly bruised; he’d offer to ice them but he’s pretty sure you can take care of yourself just fine.
JJ chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t think the punching is the fun part. The winning is.”
“You’re ridiculous. Come on, better get you home,” you said, standing up from the couch.
“Kicking me out?” He teased, standing up too.
“I gotta pick my brother up from his friend's house soon. If he sees you here again he might get the wrong idea,” you explained, grabbing your car keys from where you’d thrown them on the coffee table.
“Maybe he wouldn’t have the wrong idea.” You didn’t respond, just looked at him thoughtfully before walking out the room; expecting him to follow.
You started the drive back to the Chateau, the radio playing quietly in the background. “I… I could talk to your boss, if you want. Explain what happened, that you were just helping me out and it was my fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” JJ responded. “It was Topper’s. And, honestly, I think it was about time I looked for a new job. I’ve worked there for years and it has never become more enjoyable.” That wasn’t strictly true, even this morning he’d been pretty excited. But that was to see you, and he wasn’t going to admit that yet.
“Why don’t you work with cars? You clearly know a lot about them,” you suggested.
“Maybe,” he murmured, smiling softly to himself.
The two of you chatted absentmindedly for the rest of the drive, he even caught you smiling at one point, he was feeling on top of the world. Until you pulled up to the Chateau. A cop car was parked up outside, Shoupe was stood beside it talking to John B who looked close to punching him square in the face.
“Well, shit.”
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