teo

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[strangeboyonearth]

"ᴛᴏ ʟɪᴠᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜᴇ ɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴅɪᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʀᴀɢᴇᴅʏ."

🅼🅰🆃🅴🅾 ✦ 19 ✦ he/him ✦ gay ✦ mxm writer ✦ end of the movie

✦📽️🎞️🎞️ stefan salvatore's | writing | reading | gaming | rudy pankow's | history is all you left me | don't let the forest in | 13 reasons why | klaus mikaelson's | the truman show | scream movies | life as we know it | sam rechner's | taylor swift | green day | three doors down | tyriq withers' | crazy ex girlfriend | once upon a time | scream: the tv series | bittersweet melacholy | last waltz with his ghost | late night regrets ✦📽️🎞️🎞️

ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ʙʟᴏɢ !! I write male character x male reader and male x male characters only

tumblr: masterlist | second blog

also: wattpad (coming soon)

requests are closed.

"ɪ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴀ ɢɪʀʟ. ᴡᴇ ᴛᴀʟᴋᴇᴅ. ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴇᴘɪᴄ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜɴ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴜᴘ."

[strangeboyonearth]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEO:D‼️🎉‼️🎉‼️🎉‼️🎉

thank you so much:D!!

[strangeboyonearth]

i turned 19 today guys !!

like this age is getting serious what the hell 😭 but here's to another year of writing fics, watching TV, surviving this world, and hoping that someday the cinematic life finally happens

also happy tyriq day!! he's such a great and fun actor, i wish him the best in all his projects

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄: 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous

“We’re here now.” I told JJ on the phone as I watched Sofia help my grandfather up the steps. It turned out that the home renovation was a good decision because Granddad started to become weaker due to his age. I can’t imagine letting my Granddad walk on the old rickety dock that our island had.

Sofia has been a godsend for us too. Rafe met her while he was volunteering in the Philippines, something his therapist recommended so he could appreciate the life he had. They fell for each other, with me having to reassure Rafe through the phone that he was doing the right thing while dating Sofia. She happily returned to the Outer Banks, and since Rafe was always at our island hanging out, she hit it off with my Granddad too.

I could only assume that Rafe’s red string ultimately led him to the other side of the ocean where Sofia was.

“Is the power on? We’re gonna take the lift.” Sofia asked just as my Granddad was about to protest. The elevator from the coast was a last-minute addition when I learned that he was getting sick. It only led up to the first floor.

“Yeah, it is. Thank you so much, Soph.” I smiled at them before returning to JJ. “So, how’s the waves in Dubai at this hour?”

“It’s nighttime here, Charlie-bear. I’m at my hotel.” JJ’s thick honey voice caused butterflies to erupt all over my nerves. Like he always does. “Can’t believe ya got an elevator in your house.”

I walked up the new steps. The old wood planks were replaced with a full oak step and a banister that led up the house. The excess of my maroon graduation gown flew behind me when the strong June winds blew. It smelled like salt and water and everything good about the upcoming summer. “We needed it. The steps would be too much for Granddad.”

“For me too.” Rafe muttered behind me. He carried all our bags, including where all my medals were. “Your boyfriend’s too smart. Who in earth graduates with fifteen medals and five certificates? And he’s not even the valedictorian?” He said louder.

JJ laughed from the other side. “Who in earth was valedictorian then?”

“Ruthie.” I said. “But I don’t care. That wasn’t the goal. I graduated and I’m happy.”

“Yeah how’d that go by the way?” JJ asked as I reached the final to our house. “Actually, save it for when I return.”

“But you’re not—” I stopped when I saw JJ in the flesh. Sitting on the egg chair hanging on the porch. He was everything and nothing from I remembered. The same blonde hair, yet it’s parted in the middle instead of his usual morning bed look. The same wide smirk but he’s grown a mustache and a slight stubble. He was heavenly and so damn hot in his plain white dress shirt and cargo shorts.

“JJ!” I jumped into his arms. I heavily missed the feeling of being lifted to the air by his arms or his dangerous gasoline scent mixed with his salty aftershave filling my senses. “I thought you weren’t back until next week?”

“And let your unofficial-fiance-official-boyfriend miss your high school graduation? Ion think so.” JJ cupped my face in his hands and smiled warmly. “Told ya I won’t miss the moments. Travelin’ and surfing around the world with your family’s money is good and all but nothing could beat being with ya’.”

I remembered the conversation like yesterday. I thought talking about the future would lead us to the fight that breaks us like what happened to JJ and Kiara. But instead, we came to an agreement. JJ went on his coastal world tour like he dreamt about while I finished high school. And once I got accepted to Harvard, JJ would return and come to Cambridge with me.

He was supposed to be back for my graduation. But Kildare High moved it one week earlier because we were expecting a storm next week.

I couldn’t stop smiling and had no plans to. “How was your world tour? I can’t believe you’re here!”

“Won’t be able to tell ya all the highlights with us just standing here, baby.” JJ grinned before looking at Rafe. “Rafe. Sup.”

“The slightly age-inappropriate boyfriend returns.” Rafe grumbled. But he fists bumped JJ anyway. That probably happened when JJ was surfing at a coastal town where Rafe was also volunteering.

“I’m eighteen!” I yelled at Rafe as he climbed up into our home that retained the Victorian style structure.

JJ’s hand went down my side before settling at the small of my back. I bought my arms around his nape, letting him crane his head down. I could finally see the specks of gold in the ocean of his eyes in person again. “So, we’re on the road to MA now, huh?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe I’m actually going to Harvard. And my dream program at that.” I spoke through my toothy grin. “And I would have you there with me. I already found an apartment for us. It’s close to the beach but not too far from campus either—”

“Slow down, boy. I can’t wait to have you alone in our own apartment, but we still got the summer ahead of us.” JJ pulled me close to his body. His muscles grew firmer from when I saw him. I didn’t know his biceps could even get bigger. “We got your graduation party, my birthday party, and a whole lot more drinkin’ in between.”

“You still have to teach me how to drive before you could actually waste away.” I laughed at JJ. His perfect smile. The way he perfectly knew me. The days when I thought I was never going to be happy seemed to be so far away now. “Then after this, it’s our college days.”

“Oh come on Charlie, let’s focus on the summer! The bonfires, the beer, and of course, you. I don’t mind goin’ back to books and papers cause it’s gonna be for our future, but ya gotta live with me in the present too. Our lives begin now.” JJ chuckled. He traced my cheekbone with one tentative finger. His gaze traced my entire face, eventually settling on my lips. JJ slightly bit his own before smiling again. “Ya ready to spend forever with me?”

I pulled JJ closer. “Always.”

We stood there under the summer sun. JJ Maybank kissed me like there was no tomorrow. I kissed him back with the intent to spend forever with him.

Acknowledgements: To everybody who read this long fanfic, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I never would've gotten far if it wasn't for your consistent interest through the chapters. I remember each of your usernames and I would be holding you guys close to my heart from now on. Thank you so much for believing that I could entertain you through my perfectly imperfect writing. Thank you so much for understanding the pieces of me that I scattered through my chapters. Thank you for allowing me to share my fears, hopes, and the most vulnerable parts of myself through my works.

I began conceptualizing and writing Never Meant for You at one of the most challenging times of my life. A time that made me question my own strengths, capabilities and mere existence. Writing about Charlie and JJ bought me a lot of comfort. It anchored me when I was drowning in self deprecation and doubt. It allowed me a safe space to talk about my own worries and pain through the deeper themes of the story. It made me rediscover my love for writing. It made me feel worthy. I am very proud of this fanfic even if I couldn't bring myself to read it for now lol. Maybe in the future.

Even if I only got about 15 notes per chapter because for one, this is one of the three multiple chapter things I wrote that I actually completed. But also because I told myself that 15 people isn't little. Whenever that discouraged me, I imagined 15 people watching me while writing and that feels a lot.

Ultimately, I realized this wasn't written for the notes. This was written for the male readers that can't find any x male reader content about the characters they fell in love. This was written for that gay kid in the future who discovers Tumblr and is looking for gay fanfics about characters they love. I was in that position once and it was hard rotating through the same five fics or none at all. It's why I began writing in the first place. I hope readers found a little piece of themselves in my works like I wished to find when I read fanfics. This was for myself, who has the same metaphorical curse as Charlie, and hopes that one day I'd also find a way to break it.

I hope to see you all in my next works! Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Love, Teo:D

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐗: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

The night JJ and I died, I remembered waking up in a room engulfed in bright heavenly illumination. When my eyes adjusted to the white, I found myself sitting inside a hospital room. JJ laid peacefully on the bed next to mine, eyes shut and his lips slightly parted. He was divine with all the lights steering away shadows from his face. I wanted to wake him up and ask him if he was alright, but I didn’t.

“Good, you’re awake.” I turned to find a tall bony woman with long raven hair falling onto her shoulders. Her eyes were a smoldering green, bright against the tulle white dress that compressed around her waist. She looked at me with particular interest, and it didn’t take a second guess to know who she is.

“You’re the bitch that cursed my entire bloodline for centuries, right?” I didn’t stop myself from saying. “The reason why we’re both dead? Why in earth are you my welcoming brigade?”

“There’s no need to be hostile, Charleston. You’re not dead. And I most certainly won’t be on the welcoming brigade when you do die.” Elizabeth walked towards me. “I’m still angry at your bloodline. What your ancestor did was unforgivable.”

“But it was his actions. Not mine. Do I really deserve to suffer for what happened a thousand years ago just because I so happened to be born in my family? Or did you become the very monster that separated you from the love you were supposed to live for?” I looked at her straight. I never imagined I would come face to face with her, but somehow, I knew what I wanted to say exactly.

Elizabeth’s face tightened for a moment. I realized that I was basically talking to a historical figure, and she was a master at swallowing down her emotions. “That’s why when I was spectating you and your beloved, it came to me that I may have made a… mistake. And I am willing to let everything go once you hand me the artifact that started this all.”

A wave of mystification fell over me. “The necklace? I’m pretty sure that was in the car that you wrecked—” Elizabeth raised her slim finger to point behind me. On top of the bedside drawer, the sapphire necklace rested. It held the light for power and glistened in every angle for beauty. “Oh, well, it’s yours then. Pretty sure I could find something better in Tiffany’s nowadays.”

“You’re so crass with me. It’s amusing since you stutter a lot when you’re with Mr. Maybank. But I guess I don’t deserve that kind of treatment.” Elizabeth said while I handed her the necklace. She took a moment to admire it in her hands, and I realized that she was just like me. A victim of this cruel world. The only difference was she chose to be cruel as well in order to survive.

“Well then, I should honor my end of the bargain.” Elizabeth waved her hand into the air, and I swear black glitter came from her fingertips that disappeared into thin air. “I do not promise that your romance with him will endure. I can only promise the freedom that you will need to ensure such fate. Don’t tell this to anyone, but I’m secretly rooting for both of you.”

Before I could call her a plastic witch or ask what she’s talking about, the bright lights swallowed my entire being. Every sensation deprived from that room came back to me like a trainwreck: the dull ache in my bones, the crisp burns gnawing on my skin, and the swirled nature of my head. I woke up barely able to move my body, and JJ sat on the solo couch next to me. He was on the cusp of sleep when he jolted awake. “Charlie!”

The sound of his warm, husky voice brought me to tears. He basically sprinted from his chair to my side, immediately squeezing my hand with no intent to let go. “You’re back, Charlie-bear. You’re back.” JJ’s eyes were bloodshot and his usually full cheeks were sunken.

“How long was I out?” It was the first thing that came out of me while the past came back to me in slow, steady waves. The crash. My meeting with Elizabeth. My eyes immediately darted down to JJ’s hands while he answered my question. “Two weeks”.

I blinked twice to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination or from the pain medication. The red string tied to his pinky was gone. Those red ribbons that haunted me since I was a child, bringing me unimaginable pain and loss, I’m no longer responsible for seeing them. “JJ, it’s over.” I whispered.

“Huh? What’s over, Charlie?” JJ held my face gently. The blues in his eyes burnt brighter than ever.

“The curse,” I said. The tides lapped against my heart: Love, joy, gratitude. For once in my life the kind of pain that had no clear ending was gone. “I can’t see the red strings anymore. Elizabeth spoke to me in my sleep. You’re not gonna die anymore, JJ. We don’t have to fear anymore.

“Ah,” JJ’s voice came out rough at first. But when the life came back to his grin, and so did the pure energy of his words. He wrapped his arms around me tight. I didn’t care that my muscles screamed from the pressure. “Yeah baby! It’s fuckin’ over!”

JJ pulled away from me and pressed his lips onto mine. The guilt of kissing the love of my life was gone. What stood inside me while I pulled him closer to me and let him slide his tongue into my mouth was the love I had for him. The future I wanted for us to have. And the present I’m grateful for that I’m allowed to love such an incredible man without fearing the world that’s working against us.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Charlie.” JJ took deep breaths. He pressed his forehead against mine, unable to let go of my face in his rough palms. “Those two weeks you were in here was the worst two weeks of my life. I can’t fuckin’ imagine going on without ya. Your beautiful smile. Your beautiful nervousness. And those green eyes that are always watching me from afar.”

“What exactly happened to us?” JJ’s face turned sour for a second upon my query.

“Drunk truck driver.” JJ shrugged. “Not ma’ fault cause we were drivin’ below speed limit. But ion wanna talk about that now, we got court dates for that. I wanna be with you, Charlie. That’s all I want right now.”

“There’s nothing that will tear me away from you, JJ Maybank.” I ran my hand up and down JJ’s arms. “Nothing standing between us now.”

“Even if there was, I wouldn’t let something like a stupid curse tear ya away from me, Charlie. This is forever. I just know it.”

“We’re just teens.” I laughed. “We’re supposed to be stupid right now. For all we know, this is part of that.”

“Welp, stupid things lead to good outcomes.” JJ declared loudly that the entire floor probably heard him. “And you’re the greatest outcome I could ask for.”

“I love you so much, JJ Maybank.” I whispered onto his lips. “You taught me how to be brave. You taught me how to live. You taught me that I don’t have to be jealous of everyone else’s story just because mine hasn’t started yet. You made me realize that love is the most beautiful thing I could feel and I don’t have to run away from it.”

“I fuckin’ love you too, Charlie Genrette. I love you so much I wanna shout it up a rooftop and get a tattoo with your name.” JJ made me laugh, but the sincerity bled through the tears that welled up his eyes. “You stayed. You want me through my demons. You’re a lot braver than ya give yourself credit for. I would marry ya right now if I could.”

JJ’s smile widened into his usual mischief. The look he gets whenever he has a wild idea and can’t wait to see the chaos unfold in front of him. As if he was actually considering marrying me right now. “JJ! Let me graduate high school first! Or college!”

JJ pinched my cheek and squinted his eyes in endearment. “Never say never, Charlie. Remember how I told ya I just knew I was with the wrong person the night I met ya? Or that I know we’re gonna last forever?”

I nodded, fully knowing where he was going with his words. Still, I opened my heart to this love. There was no reason to close myself anymore.

“I just know that one day I’ll watch you walk down the aisle. And I don’t want to miss one moment leading up to that or after that.” JJ smiled. And I was reminded of the JJ I met at the beach the night my whole life changed. The boy I didn’t realize I was falling in love with then. The boy that could promise me a forever of sunrises and sunsets that I could never get tired of as long as I was loved by him.

“I was never not meant for you, Charlie. I was always meant to love you.”

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐗: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: Blood and injury detail

“These are the gear levels. Kinda like car modes. Obviously, P stands for parkin’.” JJ’s free hand returned to caressing my thigh after gesturing towards the center console. He only drove with one hand, every slight steer straining the muscles of his arm. “And D stands for drive. Although it could also stand for my dick if ya want to—”

“It’s 3 A.M, JJ. I’m not up for a driving lesson or giving you a roadhead.” A light chuckle escaped me. It didn’t matter that the view outside our windows was just cornfields reaching towards the unbroken night. For the past hour, I watched the wind raise JJ’s tousled hair and his futile attempts to keep them down. I followed his flexed fingers while they drew stars on my skin.

“Ya gotta learn one of these days. Imma got so damn wasted this summer. Gonna need a driver.” JJ grinned at me. His eyes narrowed slightly. “And how the hell do ya know about roadheads? Thought ya haven’t done that yet?”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t read about it. Doesn’t mean my friends don’t talk about who gives the best blowjobs in this town.” I winced at the recollection of Topper’s stories. I looked at the backseat for a moment. The necklace was safely inside the clear container that was probably used for a salad. Still not taking any chances.

“We’re gonna have to talk about it soon, Charlie.” JJ wrapped his hand around mine, the thickened skin from all the weights he carried rubbing against my softer flesh. “Not trying to force ya into it. I would understand too if ya don’t wanna do it with me. Just know ya don’t gotta be scared.”

“I know.” I took his wrist to reassure him. “I have no reason to be scared of you, JJ. You don’t make love seem so scary anymore.”

JJ turned his head to me. His gaze impaled my breath into my throat. Dark cerulean of midnight ocean depths. He looked at me as if he was making some big decision and the answer was in my own eyes. He devastated me and changed my life all at once.

“Look at us, talkin’ about the future.” The rasp in JJ’s voice emerged from his sudden verity. “I think we’re gonna get one of those happy endings you read about, Charlie.”

The smile I gave him couldn’t show just how warm he made my insides feel. “You actually look like those princes I dreamt about saving me from my curse. Blonde, broad shoulders, blue eyes, you’re a lot more muscular though.”

“Oh so you’re saying I was already your type when we met?” JJ cocked his eyebrows up. He only laughed when I slapped his bulging arm. It’s like it stung me more than it stung him.

“You’re probably everyone’s type, JJ.” I ran a slender finger up his bare arm, stopping just beneath the curve of his biceps.

JJ leaned towards me like he was telling me about a conspiracy. “Don’t tell this to anyone, but ion’ get all the bitches. I’m the hottest among ma’ friends but they’re hot too. So I got some pretty good competition. Hell, I didn’t even get ya immediately.”

It seemed like he was joking with the way he laughed. But I knew it was a piece of him he trusted me with. “You know, when I was a kid and I learned about the curse I swore off getting romantically involved with anyone. And for the most part, I convinced myself that I was thankful that nobody ever saw me that way since I don’t need to fight the curse off. But I knew deep down I was questioning why nobody ever seemed to want me. To get to know me. Take me out to prom. I wondered what my friends had that I didn’t. I wondered what everyone else had that I didn’t.”

“Probably cause you’re the only gay kid in our town.” JJ said. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you, Charlie. The world is just too blind to see how amazing ya are. You were too blind to see that your best friend wanted you. And that’s alright. What matters is we wake up from that blindness. I wasn’t blind to the kind of person I’d love when I met ya.”

“So you’re saying you already saw something in me when we first met?”

“I’m saying that I knew, Charlie. I wasn’t sure, but I—” The bright lights from JJ’s side came out of nowhere. Completely blinding my sight. A car’s horn blared so loud that it shattered my eardrums into hearing nothing but a ring and a metal roaring against metal and ringing again.

There was a momentary lapse between gravity spinning the car in the air and my brain realizing that the car was toppling and turning and this shouldn’t be happening. My body was ignited by a thousand fires that I had no control over. Searing and punching and brusing my being from every direction. It was all too much. I didn’t even realize that we finally stopped moving when we were upside down and there were glass shards in front of me and I couldn’t feel my face and blood was falling onto the car roof below me.

Nothing came into focus at first. I was in a blur of blood pounding against my ears and violence that assaulted my bones. I tried to shift my head to the side, but a blackness threatened to take over my sights. But I caught a glimpse of the hand I was holding just a few moments ago.

That’s JJ hand. JJ Maybank was driving a car that’s now upside down, and now there’s blood everywhere. JJ.

We were so close.

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

"What are we actually gonna do now that we have this?" JJ shook the necklace inside the plastic container we found along the shore. Nothing happened when John B took it from the ship or when Kelce held the silver string, but if the sapphire blue gem that sat on a diamond outlined bed actually held the curse, we weren't taking any chances.

We were sure that we got the right tether since the necklace was in pristine condition. I didn't expect it to disintegrate, but it should be at least covered by moss after hanging out with Spongebob for centuries. "That's why we're here." I told JJ as we cut through the Cameron's backyard. "I'm hoping my granddad knows."

"Wait, we're seeing your granddad?" JJ stopped behind the gate.

"Yeah, you were pretty insistent, and I know he still has his midnight tea." I looked back at JJ. "Don't tell me you're nervous, now? You were pretty eager to meet my family even back when I barely knew your name."

JJ chuckled softly. "Me? I never get nervous." He pinched my cheek before holding my hand. "You're the scaredy cat between us."

He was right. Even if they'd met before, this was the first time I was bringing JJ to him as more than someone I'm helping for a project. Before I could even gather enough courage, we emerged from the thicket, and my granddad immediately spotted us. I only saw the slightest flicker of confusion in his eyes before he cleared his throat. "Charleston, you went out again."

"Yeah, I told Rose about it—"

"And she said yes. But I still expect you to let me know. I don't want to be strict, but I need to know where you're going or who you're with." He took a long sip from his mug. It was always hard to read what he thought.

"Anyway, this is JJ Maybank. You met him before. But I want to introduce him as my boyfriend now." I said. JJ's hand tightened around mine. He kept the curse box hidden behind his back.

"Boyfriend?" Granddad sighed heavily. He clasped his hands and laid them on his lap. Even in the middle of the night, he seemed very uptight. "Charlie, you know you're not allowed to—"

"Which is why we have this." JJ laid the clear box on the table next to my grandfather's cup of tea. "I know about the curse, sir. And I love ya grandson despite the fact that a ghost is trying to crack ma head open."

Granddad squinted his eyes before picking up the box. I almost suffocated while holding my breath, waiting for my granddad to say something. It was painful watching him go through mortification, scrutiny, and annoyance. He's never been this expressive before.

"What if we got the wrong item? It looks like it could be on Amazon." JJ whispered to my ear when he returned to my side.

"Trust me, we got it right." I found his hand again. I heard JJ scoff, and I looked just in time to see him looking away and grinning like a kid given candy on Christmas.

I wasn't able to stop the smile that formed on my face from seeing him. But when I saw Granddad watching us, I immediately suppressed it. "How'd you manage to get this?" He asked.

"Wait, aren't you even gonna ask us what it is?" I asked. "Did you know about the necklace, Granddad?"

"Of course, we owned the painting that depicted the curse before the British museum captured it." Granddad looked up at me and JJ. "There was no use telling that part of the story when all of our ancestors who tried to destroy the necklace ended up on the bottom of the ocean or broken by the sharp rocks. Or both. But somehow you managed to retrieve this?"

"Ya got modern scuba equipment to thank for that, sir." JJ laughed, but I just looked at Granddad with teary eyes. It didn't feel real when the boys came back with the necklace, but now that Im seeing the hope in Granddad's gaze, it was the most real thing to exist.

"Maybe the love you found was worth breaking curses for, Charleston." He nudged the box towards us. "Although I wasn't planning on letting you go to that kind of love this young."

"You don't have to let me go, Granddad. I'm only sixteen. I still need you. I'm just going to experience new things, and I'm going to need your advice through it all." I stepped forward and touched his hand. Granddad gave me a smile that reminded me of my better childhood days. "It's finally ending. We're gonna stop seeing these red strings. We don't have to fear love anymore."

"Your parents knew you were bound to do something great someday." Granddad took my hand and gave me a look that I would never forget. He was proud of me. I was no longer a reminder of everything he lost. "I don't say it a lot, but I love you. And I couldn't ask for a better grandson."

"Love you too, Granddad." I embraced him. It took us a bit to pull apart because I didn't want to let go. I wiped my tears before speaking again. "So, we have to destroy it?"

"I don't think so." Granddad said. "That's what our ancestors think, but looking through the legend again, I think you must reunite the necklace with Edward Teach's body. That's all Elizabeth ever wanted, after all."

"But isn't he just bones by now?" JJ asked.

"He is. And nobody truly knows where his body ended up at. Perhaps what you could try is to place it where he was executed. It was the last place he was ever alive, after all."

"In Charleston?" JJ asked. "The coast over there. That's where he was beheaded, apparently. The answer was in your name all along?"

"That, or maybe because my parents actually named me after that town." I chuckled at JJ. But it was comforting knowing that my parents still left me so much despite being gone before I ever got to know them better.

"So, ya up for a late night trip, Charlie-bear?" JJ smirked. He went over to my granddad as he picked up the necklace box. "As long as it's okay with ya, sir. I promise Im a responsible driver. I ain't drunk either."

"Do you promise to stay with him through everything, Mr. Maybank?" The question caught me off guard. But JJ didn't even hesitate for one second to respond.

"I already promised him forever. And I ain't one to go back on promises." JJ said with his usual candor stripped away. Leaving me with a serious promise that I had him forever. And the smirk he glanced back at me with was the spark that was needed to light up my whole world.

"Then you could call me Wes." Granddad said as he sipped his probably cold tea now.

JJ went back to me and hugged me. I melted into his being. All the restrains that I wore to keep myself from him has finally broken free. I no longer feel like a bad person for choosing to love him. Instead, I feel free in his arms.

"I need one favor though, Wes." JJ said as we pulled apart. He said my granddad's name, like he was testing the waters with him. "I know how to drive. But I ain't got a car."

Granddad made a rare laughter before tossing us his keys. JJ caught the jingling set easily.

[strangeboyonearth]

Finally getting more of that mystery solving, clue finding and more action and adventure and also focusing on going even deeper about the curse. Finally getting to the Outer Banks of it all the danger, thrill and of course treasure hunting and hopefully some plot twists!

Absolutely !! there's still about four chapters left and there's something unexpected that will happen soon

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐀

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

"You're insane if you think you're coming with us." Pope held his palm up as JJ lowered his foot onto the motorboat. A few hours ago, we explained the curse to his friends and my friends for backup on the necklace retrival. Topper and Kelce laughed at my face, but when John B took me seriously, they did too.

So here we were. By the dock, the water totally blacked out with the occasional warp of the moonlight glistening. We had to do it at night because apparently the site was off limits. Topper had the deep diving equipment, and Pope knew all the semantics. Kelce and John B were gonna go down, but JJ wanted to as well.

"You're insane if ya think I won't come with ya'll. This is my boyfriend's curse we have to break." JJ talked back sharply, but we all knew he was just getting defensive.

Pope slammed his hand on JJ's shoulder. "JJ, you're the target of a malevolent spirit that's trying to kill you. You were almost hit by an ambulance and almost got burnt to a crisp."

"Coming out with us onto open water and going down to the wreck is basically begging for it." John B finished. "We got this. This isn't my first rodeo for a historical artifact. Been doing it with my dad a lot."

They bickered a bit more before Topper got tired and finally started the engine. JJ pushed off the boat, and the boys rode into the moonlight. I was still smiling when JJ turned to me. "What?" He asked with a smirk.

"Nothing, you're just so natural with people. You fight with your friends like there's no tomorrow. But you'd probably still die for them." I explained.

"Damn straight. They're my family, Charlie." JJ brought his arm around my shoulder and pulled me flush against his chest. He wrapped me in his windbreaker when he saw me shivering on the way here, but his pure body heat was enough. "How bout ya? When ya gonna introduce me to your friends? Granddad?"

"You already know my friends. They were your classmates. Your class was what, 200 people?" I said. "And as for my granndad, I guess I could invite you for dinner when this is all over. It won't be an issue once he learns that the curse is over."

"Fuck, Charlie." JJ muttered breathlessly. I looked up to him only to find my breath taken away by the way his gaze pierced into mine. "We're real, aren't we?"

"We are." I nodded. I've never done it before, but I felt brave enough to brush my fingertips against his lips. The salty breeze roughed them up, but I couldn't think of anything better I could hold. "We're gonna have a future. As long as time allows us, anyway."

JJ raised an eyebrow. "As long as time would allow us?"

"Well, I don't know what exactly will happen once we destroy the necklace. The curse won't kill you anymore, that's for sure. Maybe I'll stop seeing the red strings." I looked down on the old darkened planks we walked. "But that doesn't mean the red strings won't exist anymore. Maybe you really are bound to return to Kiara, and I'm just some sidequest for you to find your way back to her. I'll remain that guy with no red string."

"Hey, hey, Charlie. No ex-girlfriend talk." We stopped walking. JJ faced me with a beguiled smile. His hands gripped my slumped shoulders. "I already told ya. I know that we're for life."

"Why? What makes you so sure?" I asked. I didn't think the thought of JJ being with Kiara again would bring tears to my eyes.

"Because I am, and that's enough." JJ wiped the water from the edges of my eyes before they could even fall. "Because the things that used to scare me aren't so scary with ya. All this future talk? That used to piss me off. Cause I'm not someone who plans the future because I didn't think I had any future. It's the reason why Kiara and I broke up. She was pushing for me to plan with her, but ion like that."

JJ crouched down to my level. Meeting my onyx eyes with his ocean blue storms. "But you? Ya don't piss me off, Charlie. Ya showed me life could get better. You made me want a future, especially with you. And sure, maybe if the red strings will really bring me back to her, but I'm here with you right now. Doesn't that make us all the more worth it? We're defying the universe to be with each other."

My eyes went to his hand on me. His glowing crimson ribbon has always been there since the night that I met him. A constant reminder that I was never meant for him to love. But here we were, standing underneath the broken pieces of the universe, choosing to be with each other despite everything.

For once, it felt good that the universe was working against us. It was a lot better to love despite the world tearing us apart than to love because the world bought us together.

"Ya know what I think?" JJ continued. He caressed my cheek with his thickened palm. "Maybe the fact that you can't see your own destiny isn't part of the curse. Maybe it's the universe telling ya that you dont need to follow any path. You're free to choose who you want to choose. Love who you want to love."

I held JJ by his collar and pulled him to my lips. I kissed the guy who could think so beautifully and make me laugh at the same time. I opened my mouth for the boy who was wounded yet still chose to love. I wrapped my arms around the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

"I wish I met you earlier." I exhaled against JJ's lips. "Cause I never knew love could be like this until I loved you."

"Glad to be your first everything, Charlie." JJ grinned. "I plan to be your last too."

"Maybe let's not talk about our lasts when we still have a target on our back." I chuckled against his lips before JJ engulfed mine once more.

I wished time had stopped there. I could live forever in the memory of JJ's arms wrapped around me and the smile I caused pressed against my skin. I could live forever knowing that I got to feel in a night what most people spend their entire lives chasing after.

But time was also what made us so beautiful and tragic. We had so much to do in this world together. And we had to make the most out of it before the world separated us if we weren't able to fight this.

We stood still, watching the sea dance under the spotlight of the full moon. JJ's arm went over my shoulder, his palm pressed against my chest. My heart beat against his strumming fingers. He hummed steadily while he rested his chin on my head. It was the safest I've ever felt in my life.

Just a few minutes later, we got a glimpse of the motorboat. Four shadows were outlined by the steady ivory illumination.

Some part of me knew that they had succeeded. Kelce raising the necklace in his fist just made the hope in my heart finally blossom into a thousand springs.

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

“There was nothing in the History and Occult section—” I stopped talking when the only person in the computer section was a student with darkened eyelids. I left JJ here to scavenge the internet instead when he asked me if the Dewey Decimal System was a game. But it seemed like he moved on from that too.

I walked through the reference sections on the second floor before descending to the fiction and general floor. That’s where I found JJ reading to two little toddlers in the kids’ area with their own red strings flying in different directions. The glass was thick enough to contain the voices inside, but the way his hands flew and eyes grew wide with his words already told me he’s a good storyteller. Especially when one of the boys collapsed in laughter.

“Do you know him?” A librarian suddenly came up to me. “He went in there looking for children’s fantasy books, but those two kids began bugging him to read them a book about dinosaurs. I think he could do well in our weekend storytelling program.”

“I’ll let him know. I think he’ll have a lot of fun too.” I smiled at the librarian just as JJ noticed me and motioned me inside.

“Boys, this is my boyfriend whom I love very much, Charlie Genrette.” JJ announced proudly as two pairs of olive eyes watched me sit on the chair with Barney as the backrest. “Charlie, these are Stefan and Damon. They’ve been bugging me during my research.”

I took a good look at the boys in surprise. I realized they were twins, I probably didn’t notice because they had distinct styles. One of them wore a plain black tee under a thick black jacket while the other wore a plaid button up and beige shorts. I had a good guess on who was who. But I was more curious about their parents. “Those are very lovely names, Stefan and Damon. You have a lot to live up to.”

“Boyfriend? But you’re a boy,” The black-wearing twin pointed at me and JJ. “And he’s a boy.”

“Exactly. You’re allowed to love who you want to love, Damon. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” JJ said. I stifled a laugh that came from my correct guess. Or the fact that JJ probably doesn’t know what show they were named from.

“JJ told us you’re cursed.” Stefan looks at me, his soft blonde curls falling over his eyes. He made it sound like JJ’s name was spelled out as jay-jay with an emphasis on the vowel.

“That’s so cool.” Damon looked at me with wonderous eyes.

“I thought they asked you to read about dinosaurs?” I asked JJ.

JJ shook his shoulders, one arm slung across his chair that was too small for him. “Already did that. They wanted something more. So, I told them that a bad monster wants to take me because you love me.” He turned to Stefan. “Stef, tell me what you told me a while ago. About breaking the curse.”

“You can get rid of the monster.” My heart warmed up when he said mwonster instead of monster. “The Wizard Willy says that monsters need to come from a door that’s both in the monster world and here on earth.”

I turned to ask JJ how that would help us exactly, but when his knowing blue eyes met mine, it hit me. It’s possible that the only reason the curse lasted this long was because it was tethered to something in this world. “But what could that be? I don’t know any artifacts from the 1800s in this town. Not even buildings lasted that long.”

“That’s where what I found comes in,” JJ took out a printed painting from his pocket. It shows a couple on their wedding day holding each other, and in the aisle another woman stood. She clutched her chest while she glowed in purple. “That looks exactly like what happened at Bart’s wedding, right?”

I nodded and JJ continued. “Look at Elizabeth Teach. She looks like she was holding her chest. But what if she was wearing—”

“A necklace.” I completed for JJ. Suddenly, a passage from the history books on Blackbeard came into my mind. “Which I know where. It’s in the wreckage of his ship. One of the occult tales said that his treasure drowned in the Ocean near modern day Kildare County. The shipwreck that killed Elizabeth! I don’t know where exactly—”

“That’ll be easy. Pope has an uncle in the marines!” I’ve never felt so much joy in my life. JJ’s grin was brighter than ever. I wanted to kiss him, but considering there were two children in front of us, I just hugged him. “We’re gonna do this, Charlie.”

“So you’ll break the monster curse? Can I come?” Damon looked at us back and forth.

“I like adventures.” Stefan smiled at us.

“It’s a perilous adventure, boys. But when we slay the monster, we’ll make sure to let you know.” JJ reached forward to ruffle their heads.

“You’ll be like Wizard Willy!” Damon exclaimed. I ought to check out that show someday. But now all I could think about was how finally, there was a real possibility of ending my family’s curse.

“Thank you so much for watching them,” A woman came into the room. She had a bag of books slung around her shoulders. “Stefan, Damon, I have my reference books now that better be the thing I need for my unending masters’ projects. Let’s go home.”

We said goodbye to them. Their mother practically had to pry Damon away from JJ’s legs, but we all had a good laugh before they all went out.

“You’re really good with kids, JJ.” I turned to him.

“Damn, Charlie. We gonna have the kids talk now?” JJ grinned. “Cause I want four. Two boys, two girls—”

“Okay, I just told you a while ago that you’re supernaturally tied to your girlfriend. And we still have a curse to end. One thing at a time.” I reminded him.

JJ just threw his head back in laughter as he pulled me close and undid my fluffed curls.

Still, the image came to mind. A house by the beach. Four little children adopted and playing by the sand while JJ surfed in the distance. I would be coming from the kitchen to set our food down on the back porch that overlooked the glorious ocean day.

I’m so close to that life without fearing that I would lose JJ.

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐕: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐋𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

“I hate that I’m going away when you’re like this.” Rafe’s arms tightened around me. It was like he tried to memorize my entire being when he pressed his nose onto my scalp.

“Damn, we’ve been friends when we were babies with all those Mommy and Me classes but you never hugged me once.” Topper laughed with fake bitterness. He, Kelce, and the Camerons, all surrounded us while Ward loaded the last of their luggage.

We never had big goodbyes like this. But for once, we didn’t know when Rafe was coming back. It was only a few days ago when Ward told us he was going with Rafe to a new form of recuperation where instead of sending him to a facility, they’d have in-house professionals in some quiet suburban town.

“It’s okay, I have Topper and Kelce with me. I’ll get better.” I assured him before we pulled apart. Rafe stared down at me with a sadness still fresh in his eyes. But hidden in his blues was a glimmer of hope. “You only have to worry about yourself. And when it gets too much, remember that you could talk to me anytime.”

“Us too, Rafe. We’re your friends too, in case you forgot.” Kelce followed with a chuckle, but I knew they were both being sincere.

“Don’t you dare fight again. Especially over my sister’s stupidity.” Rafe pointed at me and Topper as Sarah said “Hey!”. Just a few minutes ago, Topper and I apologized to each other. He just needed time to cool off, but he revealed that he and Sarah broke up. He hasn’t forgiven her yet, but he told me I got a free pass because I was just caught in between.

After Rafe said goodbye to the rest of his family, we all waved him and Mr. Cameron off into the road. It was fitting that they drove off into the afternoon sun. I had a good feeling that this would do Rafe some good. He probably did too by the way he smiled at me before he disappeared.

“Missed you, boy. Kelce is too boring to hang out with. Let’s go play pool while we drink in Rafe’s honor.” Topper bumped me on the shoulder.

“I’ll have to ask my granddad and Rose—” I stopped when I caught JJ at my peripheral. He stood across the street with a boyish grin, looking unsure if he should approach me or not. It’s been a week since he walked away from me, and it felt like a part of me came back to life. “I’ll meet you guys at your house.”

Topper and Kelce followed my gaze before making their own disgusted faces. “We’re losing too many kooks to pogues.” Kelce shook his head. “Mhm, I should totally set you up with my cousin in New York since you’re into blondies anyway.” Topper laughed.

“Go!” I shooed them away. Topper and Kelce just laughed at my direction, continuing their conspiring all the way to their Jeep.

“Charlie-boy,” JJ called as he crossed the street. “We ain’t over yet, ya know. Ya shouldn’t go on blind dates. That’s still called cheating.” His cocky tone has returned.

“Well you walked away from me after I told you I loved you.” I smiled despite the bitter memory. JJ’s signature smirked returned to his face, and my stomach toppled over itself again. As if he wasn’t the reason I had to cry myself to sleep last week. “I wasn’t sure what to think.”

JJ cleared his throat before speaking. His voice was stripped off his usual lack of reserve, replaced by a quiet sincerity that ignited fires in my heart. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I was an ass. I’m just not used to people like you loving someone like me.” He dropped his head. “I didn’t know what to do.”

“That’s okay,” I breathed. “I wasn’t sure what to do with you most of the time too. I’ve never fallen in love before. I never thought I’d be like this. I thought it’d be easy to stop loving someone in order to save them. Turns out, it’ll be the hardest thing I have to do.”

“Do you still love me?” JJ lifted my face with a finger. Something I always loved that he did.

“Even if I shouldn’t.” I whispered.

I caught a glint of JJ’s smirk before he pressed his lips onto mine. I didn’t waste any time bringing my hand to his name to press him further. He caught my legs in his arms when I stumbled from my tip-toeing. He tasted exactly like I remembered and missed. He was summer love rolled into one person, everything good about cotton candy on the boardwalk, and everything dangerous about high tides and gasoline.

“I love you too, Charlie.” JJ pressed his forehead onto mine, smiling against my mouth. “And I’m not letting any curse tear us from each other. Even if I don’t really believe it.”

I started to protest when JJ silenced me with another kiss. “All curses are meant to be broken, Charlie. You’ll stop seeing those red strings someday. You’ll be able to love me and I’ll get to live in it. I’ll help you do whatever you need to do.”

“Well that’s the thing, JJ. I don’t know what to do. My ancestors tried to break it before and they couldn’t do anything.” I told him.

“We got the internet, ya know. All the information we need at the palm of our hand.” JJ said. “We’ll find a way.”

I wanted to tell him what my granddad always told me: There was nothing I could do. But there was so much hope that glittered in JJ’s face. It was hard to let him down. And it seemed like he was up for the adventure too. “Sure, although there isn’t much on it in the web. We should start at the library where we donated our family archives.”

“Lead the way, Charlie-cookie.” JJ pecked my lips again before letting me down on the ground.

I held his hand and basked in the warmth of being with JJ again. I didn’t have a lot of hope before, but now that he was here some part of me believed that we would be able to end this curse. JJ’s smile was so contagious I found myself smiling whenever he looked at me too.

“By the wayy,” JJ drawled. “I got a red string?”

“Yup. It’s why I kept pushing you away before.” I said.

“Who is it tied to?”

I pondered telling him the truth or making something up before I finally decided I shouldn’t lie to him anymore. “Your ex, Kiara Carerra.”

JJ pursed his lips strange curiosity rather than amusement. “Huh, that can’t be right. Never felt for her what I felt for ya. And we were together for what, two years?”

An unusual thought came to me. The red strings led someone to forever, but it never truly said anything about how they’d feel about that person. The story has been passed down through many generations that great love and soulmate and forever companion has been used interchangeably despite being completely different things.

But now that I think about it, what do the red strings actually mean?

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐕: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐈 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

We were halfway across the parking lot when I got tired of the silence. JJ walked close beside me, but he was never this quiet. "Do you have something in your mind?" I asked with slight caution.

"Hm?" JJ tilted his head up towards the nightsky. "Nothing. Just thinking about stuff."

I stopped in the middle of all the dead cars. JJ stood in front of me, the mellow streetlamps turning his hair gold. "You know, since we're boyfriends now, you have to be honest to me about how you feel." I said through the awe of his stature. I've never seen anyone be partly taken by the shadows and still look so handsome.

JJ considered me for the longest five seconds of my life before exhaling heavily. "I just thought ya know pretty much everything about my life, Charlie." His eyes drifted far away from me. "But I don't know much about ya."

I laughed softly. "Well, what do you want to know?"

JJ's gaze returned to me. The same tragedies from the first time I saw him swam around his eyes. "For starters, what were you doing here today? I know it was an emergency or somethin' about Rafe, but it would be nice to know why you would suddenly run from our date."

I opened my mouth before I could even form my answer. All I knew was I had to be careful. "It's not my story to tell, JJ."

"It never is." JJ stepped towards me, and for the first time, I took a step away from him. "But why do I feel that it could be? That you're just keeping me at arms length. Like you're so damn afraid to let me in."

He took my hands in his, and the world narrowed down to us in that moment. If it wasn't for his red string constantly reminding me that he may not be mine tomorrow, then we would've been perfect together. "Don't ya trust me?" JJ's eyes melted into mine.

"W—where is this coming from?" The question escaped me in a tremble.

"I dunno." The fire in JJ's voice settled, yet he still held onto me for dear life. "It's just that I stood there, and I thought I wouldn't be able to bring ya to that kind of hospital when you get sick. I won't be able to give ya the life you grew up with. I stood there thinking maybe I was never meant for you."

JJ's realization was a hundred knives shoved down my throat. And yet that pain was the truth. The red ribbon tied to the hands that always brought me comfort confirmed it for me.

"This is the part where ya tell me, 'No JJ, you're gonna marry into my family anyway so what's mine is yours.'" JJ chuckled softly after making an impression of my soft, squeaky voice.

I wanted to look into his eyes and tell him exactly that. But when I looked back into his almost accidents— the ambulance, the explosion— I don't think I could live in a world where he isn't here. It didn't matter if he was with me, knowing he was alive and living the life he always wanted was all that mattered.

"There's a reason I couldn't tell you everything, JJ." I pryed my hands away from him. I looked down to the ground because I couldn't bear being the reason for his sorrow too. "I was right to help you and stay with you, but I should've walked away after. I shouldn't have let it come to this point."

"What can't you say, Charlie!?" JJ's thunderous voice striked my beating heart. "If you think there's anything, I mean anything that would make me walk away, there isn't. You just have to stop pushing me away."

I shook my head and crouched down the curb. I hated that JJ's warmth immediately came to life in front of me. I could hear his heavy breaths matching my own rhythm. "I will believe you, no matter what." He continued with a lower voice.

JJ held my shoulders, and I felt kingdoms collapse inside my own head. Logic and sense lost the battle against my heart. And when I opened my mouth, my heart ripped from my chest and coated my words in my blood.

"I never told you about the night my parents died. Rafe had a sleepover at his mansion, and I came down with a fever. His parents couldn't exactly leave a house full of children, so mine had to come pick me up." The night flashed in my mind as the story finally laid out in the road for JJ to read. "A storm came out of nowhere that night. And while the power went out in that house, my parents crashed when my mom lost control. And since then, I've always blamed myself. I always blamed Elizabeth Teach because where did that fucking storm come from!? Why did they have to come for me!?"

I looked up to find JJ crossed between disbelief and confusion. "The family curse is real. The story you wrote about is real. Being here with me will kill you, JJ."

The wait was more brutal than seeing all sorts of reactions flash across his face. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to get angry. He got that look where he wanted to kiss me before scowling again. Finally, with his eyes flickering towards the trees behind me, JJ spoke. "Ya know, if you really don't want to talk to me, you could've just told me. If you really didn't want me and I stopped being your charity case, you could've told me."

"Do you think I'm making this up!?" The gasps I made softened JJ's pissed look. Tears blurred my vision, and I had no intention of taking them back like I usually did. "Don't you think it kills me every time I push you away? God, I've always wanted to tell you the truth so you'd understand why I kept swimming for the surface whenever I drowned in you. For once, I wanted to be selfish and fall in love with the greatest, most charming boy I've ever met in my life and not think about the fact that kissing him will kill him. Pushing you away hurts. Wanting you hurts. Loving you hurts."

"You told me you would believe me, JJ." I stood up, the ground not changing much. I still looked up at JJ like he was a god just out of reach. He looked me with the same casual wonder he always had, behind a sheen of his own tears. "This is my story. No matter how ridiculous it is. My parents died because they loved me. Curse or not, loving me would be fatal. Now you know why I have to—"

"You love me." JJ finally spoke with his roughed voice. I didn't quite understand at first, but I realized that this was the first time I told him I loved him. I couldn't read his reaction, but his gaze electrified me anyhow.

"Yeah, JJ. I love you." I whispered, like it was something I still tried to deny despite realizing the day I needed to get him away from his world. Through all the things I told him, that's what resonated with him.

The silence burned my ears more than the sirens that came and went through the emergency dock of the hospital. I tried looking for anything in JJ's face, but all there was to keep me company was his hanging mouth and avoidant eyes. He finally took a deep breath and tucked his hands inside his pockets. "I— I have to go, Charlie. I'll talk to you again, kay?"

JJ didn't wait for me to respond. He walked away from me. The sight of his back disappearing and reappering under the streetlamps forever ingrained into my memory. He never stuttered, but he did when I told him I loved him. I thought we were under the same moon, but it turned out we were in different galaxies.

It turned out it wasn't the curse that was going to tear us apart. I was capable of that on my own. No muderous Elizabeth Teach needed.

I should've been grateful he'll live on. I was.

But I was still crushed under the ruins of the walls built to protect me. He was right. We were never meant for each other.

Author: WOW this took a while to write because I needed to get one of the most important chapters in this fic right, I hope I was able to do that

There's only about 8 chapters left so please let me know what you guys thought:D it always means a lot to me to see your guys' thoughts are !!

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐁𝐘𝐄

જ⁀➴ Rafe Cameron x Male OC (Charlie Genrette) for this chapter

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: Discussions on self-harm and attempted suicide

The first time this happened was two weeks after Mrs. Cameron's funeral. Rafe was twelve, and I was ten. We were two years apart, and yet there were multitudes between how we experienced death. At least I had the rain to blame when my parents passed. Rafe had nothing.

I still remember what my granddad told me before I visited Rafe. He said Rafe may not talk, but I should still speak to him. That his arms will be wrapped in bloody bandages, but I shouldn't point that out.

He said that Rafe was sick with something that wasn't easily cured by medicine. And sitting with him and letting him know that he wasn't alone would help him in a way.

I kept that in mind as I walked into his fifteenth hospital room.

Rafe was completely pale despite being swallowed by the feiry dusk filtering through the window. He wore an oxygen mask around his nose and mouth, his eyes all droopy and bloodshot. The loose hospital gown made his body disappear.

"Rafe," I whispered. "I'm here."

He kept watching the sunset as I sat on the stool by his bed. The monitors attatched to him beeped in a steady rhythm. I took a deep breath before speaking, failing to hide the tremble in my voice. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said what I told you—"

"Not everything is about you, Charlie." Rafe turned sharply. His voice was cracked and jagged from the smoke that went into his lungs. "You're not the only reason."

"But I am a reason. I pushed you to the edge." I looked away, attempting to restrain the tears that threatened to fall. God, I should stop making this about me. "I was never one of your reasons, Rafe. I was one of the people you could rely on. You should've come and talked to me."

"I saw the way you looked at me after I kissed you, Charlie." Rafe mumbled through his tired words. "You never wanted to see me again. You were so fucking distraught. I shouldn't have ever made you feel like that—"

"And I told you it was okay. It's okay to shock or freak me out. I'm sorry if I looked at you and you felt otherwise, but you're allowed to destroy me, Rafe." I stood and made sure that Rafe was looking at me. "But please, don't ever leave me. We're best friends, Rafe. There's nothing I couldn't forgive when it comes to you. But how could I tell you that it's okay when you keep choosing to end it before I could get to you?"

Rafe pulled his mask off. The glacier blue of his eyes penetrated through the sheen of tears over my eyes. "I don't want to end it, Charlie. I just want the pain to stop."

My heart shattered into a million sharp pieces. It was easy to forget who Rafe was with his harsh words and bruised fists and drug habits. Underneath, he was just a boy who knew nothing but pain. And it wasn't easy coming out of something you were born in.

"It will someday, Rafe. Because if there's anybody in this world who deserves happiness, it's you." I perched on his bed, wiping away my tears. "You just have to give yourself the chance to be happy."

"What? You don't think I tried?" Rafe's voice shook. He looked away and wiped his own tears with the back of his hand. "Why do you think I finally went after you, Charlie?"

"I don't think that's what you really want, Rafe. And it's definitely not what you need." I wanted to reach for his wrist like I usually do, but remembered that there must've been a reason why he thought we could be more than friends. So I held him by the shoulder. "You can't rely on other people for own happiness. It must come from you. Or else it wouldn't be real."

"You're too good at this." Rafe grumbled. "You're too good at making me feel better."

"That's my job." I laughed softly.

"Why are you friends with me, Charlie?" Rafe met my look. There was a slight luster that returned in his eyes. "We don't have a lot in common. You're too good and I'm a fuck up."

I didn't have to give it a thought. "We're more similar than you think, Rafe. We're both fuck ups in our own ways. More like fucked over by the world." He snickered at my words, and although it faded quickly, it was a start. "You don't get to choose your home, I think. It chooses you. And it's a lot more special that way."

"I'm gonna get better." Rafe said, more to himself. "Dad's probably gonna send me away again. I'll just use my time there better instead of trying to fuck the nurses."

I sighed, knowing he'll be gone for two months again. It mostly works around the first few months he's back, but whenever it gets hard again, Rafe takes it tenfold. It's a good place and all, but it didn't do its intended long-term effect.

"This is not your fault, Charlie." Rafe muttered as he reached for my hair. I didn't pull away when he tucked my overgrown brown hair behind my ear.

"This isn't your fault either, Rafe." I said.

We spoke some more about a car he decided he was going to buy before the nurse came in and told me that visiting hours were over. I told him goodbye even if I didn't want to. It didn't matter that he didn’t talk about what actually happened in the garage where he was found. He was here and he was already trying to heal.

I stepped out the door, and Mr. Cameron pushed off the wall. He looked distraught in his tight pink dress shirt. He probably ran here from his office. "Is he okay?"

I nodded, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for being here, Charlie. He'll get better. You have nothing to worry about, I promise."

Before opening my mouth, I carefully chose my words. "Can I be honest with you, Mr. Cameron?"

Ward's eyes lit up with wary curiosity. "Of course, Charlie."

"I really don't mean to overstep, but I don't think sending Rafe away is the... way to deal with this. I'm sure the facility is good and all, but his problems aren't there." I swallowed hard when I saw anger and uncertainty flash in his eyes. "I'm not saying your past actions weren't effective. We were all doing what's best for him. But I think you should ask him to tell you what he really needs. And you should listen, instead of standing here out in the hallway, thinking of where he'll go before even knowing what he has to say."

I was fully prepared for Ward to tell me to get out from his view, but instead, he sighed deeply and rubbed his gray stubble. "Um, thank you, Charlie. I'll think about it." He looked at me. "You know him better than I do."

I nodded before telling him goodbye as well. I headed down the lobby, where I asked JJ to pick me up because Uber was impossible after sunset.

Sifting through the white coat doctors and patients, I found JJ looking up at the modern chandelier hanging from the second floor. He was like an angel from the walls of Versailles. Bathed in white in his casual hoodie and boardshorts.

But when he looked at me, the sadness in his eyes had returned.

Somehow, I knew that the next events would lead me to lose him tonight.

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

“Next time I see him, I’m gonna smash his head through his windshield.” JJ gritted his teeth with more force than necessary. One text about being bored at the hotel led us to the coastal boardwalk. He half chuckled when two kids ran past him while blowing bubbles, and I couldn’t think of anything more heartwarming.

“Rafe said he was sorry. He just has trouble regulating his emotions sometimes, you know.” I pulled my boater hat tighter around my head. It was one of those sunny days that made my flyer miles to the northern hemisphere sexier. “We should probably try to get through one date without punching someone or being threatened.”

“Right, first time we did this my father was a dick.” JJ brought his muscular arm around my neck and pulled me against his body. He rubbed his knuckles into my head, making me yelp. “Second time, your friends were dicks. What can I say? Ya make me crazy.”

“JJ! We’re in public!” I hissed, trying not to focus on the swell of his biceps right under my nose.

“So what? Everyone should know ya mine.” JJ nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. “Don’t want more of your friends kissing you while I’m watching NASCAR just six floors above.”

“Hey, I pushed him away.” I sighed. I saw a carnival food booth next to a book stand. “Should we go eat? I’m hungry.”

“Absolutely.” JJ led the way, pulling me by the wrist. He occasionally turned around with his signature grin, sending the butterflies in my stomach haywire. “Three hotdogs, sir.” He said to the attendant. “And a side of Nachos, please.”

“There’s only two of us, JJ.” I said, already reaching for my pocket.

“Told ya I’m gonna make sure your tummy eats well.” JJ rubbed my stomach like I was pregnant. “Plus, I could totally finish two hotdogs on my own.”

I chuckled before handing JJ the cash. “I’m gonna check out the book stand.”

“Actually, Imma go with ya. I wanna know what has my boyfriend so nerdy.” JJ and I walked towards the small table underneath an umbrella. It was just a few spines raised to face us. The owner told us not to be shy and just take a look.

“Know ya love romance books,” JJ picked up a novel with a crushed lavender lilies against white birch. “I’ve been seein’ this around school too.”

“Read that and the second book. I really liked it.” I was about to reach for a title I didn’t have yet when a deafening explosion caused JJ to topple over me. My vision blurred in smoky gray and all I could think about was his weight above me. I didn’t even realize that something exploded before the ringing in my head stopped.

JJ immediately held my face. His face was filled with worry, searching for anything wrong. “Are you okay? Talk to me, Charlie.”

I nodded quickly. “I’m okay.” I scanned him as well. There was no bleed. His tank top was unscathed, and all there was in his face were the wounds that slowly healed. “I’m okay, JJ.” I said again. What the hell happened?

JJ and I stood up. Thankfully, nobody around us seemed to be harmed. Black smoke was coming from the booth that was supposed to be cooking our hot dogs. The place where JJ was supposed to be standing a while ago.

A grunt distracted me, and I found the book stand owner palming the planked flooring. I immediately helped him up while JJ went to the stand and called through the smoke. “Hey! Ya’ll alright in there?”

“We’re good! We got away from the fire quickly! Good thing there ain’t anyone standing at the customer’s booth.” I heard the attendant say while I picked up the books from the ground. I tried to convince myself that my thought train was wrong, but it was picking up evidence in full steam. JJ was supposed to be burnt if he didn’t come with me to look over novels.

JJ was almost hit by an ambulance the day after we kissed.

The curse is here. And it’s getting more violent.

“Looks like we gotta look for another place, Charlie bear.” JJ chuckled, emerging from the thinning smoke. He helped me arrange the rest of the books. I should stay away from him. Walk away because Elizabeth Teach is not yet done screwing my bloodline over. If I don’t stop this then I’ll be the reason that JJ’s dead.

“Hey,” JJ held my hand. “Ya good? You look pale. Should we get a cab to the hospital?”

“No,” I yanked my hand away from his. It felt like severing a connection that gave me life. “JJ, I think we should—”

My phone rang out the opening to AC/DC’s Back in Black. “Hold on,” I said to JJ. He had his eyebrow raised patiently.

I picked up the phone. It was Sarah. “Hello, Sarah?”

“Charlie? Hey. Do you think you could come to the hospital?” Sarah spoke with an all too familiar tremble.

“Hospital? Why?” I asked. My heart rattled in my throat. “Is it my granddad?”

I didn’t dread her next words any less. “No, your granndad’s fine at home. It’s Rafe. Again.”

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓: Slight Rafe x Charlie, Unsolicited Kissing

“This is your weekly budget. I don’t know how you spend money, so I just based it off my own weekly budget. Adjusted for hotel prices.” I handed JJ the stuffed envelope fresh from the lobby’s ATM. Getting JJ to agree that the first step was getting out of his house was the hardest part. The actual first step was a breeze.

JJ opened the envelope, already sprawled across the double bed. He didn’t even need a second to adjust to the carpeted floors or the 32-inch plasma TV against the wall. “Your weekly budget is my allowance for two years? I could buy a brand-new motorcycle with this.” His tone was full of offense, yet he just gave me a mocking look.

“I— I didn’t mean anything by that.” I dropped my head down, clutching the soft cotton beddings. I only sat at the edge of the bed because I didn’t want JJ to think that I meant something else by getting him a hotel room. “It wasn’t meant—”

“Christ, don’t sweat it boy.” With one swift tug, JJ pressed me against his warm chest again. My legs were awkwardly swung across the duffel bag JJ packed in haste. He didn’t have many clothes. “You’re too nervous for someone I already kissed three times.”

My heart skittered in my chest. Three kisses that haunted me at night, lingering my mind like a bad idea. I held his hand, following his red string that flowed out into the window covered by blackout curtains. Kiara would be so lucky to be loved by someone like JJ.

And I was the one standing in the way.

“I’ll pay you back someday. Although I’m pretty sure ya won’t even notice the money gone if you’re willing to give this to me for a week.” JJ massaged my hair before planting kisses into my scalp. I was often conscious about my curls being unraveled, but with JJ, I knew it was no use.

“No, that’s not your focus. Your focus is getting a job and finding somewhere you could settle. Although you shouldn’t rush because you have a month here.” I pushed myself up to face JJ. He didn’t even flinch when I pressed my palms against his stomach muscles. Was he that strong, or was I that lightweight? “Although you have to tell me if nobody is really willing to hire you. As your boyfriend—"

JJ’s face instantly lit up with the widest grin he ever showed me, his white teeth bared. I burnt up, covering my mouth and mentally beating myself up because I couldn’t fathom where that came from. “Friend! I meant friend!” I clarified.

“Too late, boyfriend.” JJ pulled my chin and took my lips in his. It wasn’t his usual intensity I tasted, it was relief— one that made me feel that he’s no longer carrying his sadness alone. “Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.” He continued to tease through our kiss. “Charleston Genrette is my lil’ boyfriend.”

“JJ, I have to go. Rafe’s picking me up at the convenience store down the street.” I smiled when he finally pulled away.

JJ rolled his eyes, settling his hands on my hips. “Really gotta teach ya how to drive someday. Hate thinking about you in a car with some other guy.”

I just laughed at JJ before telling him goodbye. I rode the empty elevator down the lobby, every side giving me a glimpse of my reflection. I was surprised to see myself grinning and blushing not because I was flustered, but because I was happy. It’s an addictive feeling. No wonder people go crazy without happiness.

I thought it was a good idea to have Rafe pick me up at 7-Eleven just a few blocks away from this Four Seasons-esque beach side place. I didn’t have to answer any questions about what I’m doing at a hotel.

But when the elevator doors opened, there he was sitting in the lobby. Before I could even close the doors again, Rafe already saw me and stood up. “Get out of there.” He growled, his gaze darkened.

I took a tentative step out of the elevator, but Rafe made the whole decision for me by pulling me out completely. His grip was steel tight around my wrist. Bone crushing against bone. “Rafe! It hurts!”

Rafe’s face softened for a moment. He must’ve seen how scared I just gotten. I never got scared of Rafe until now. I’ve seen him fight with Ward, scream at teachers, but this new kind of quiet anger he cornered me against the pillar was something new. “What are you doing here?” I held my wrist, soothing against the points that throbbed.

“I should be asking you that, Charlie. What room is he in? How the fuck can he afford this?” Rafe stepped closer, caging me in his full presence. He reeked of whiskey and smoke, and I craned my head up to see that his pupils were fully blown. “You’re sixteen, Charlie. He has no business taking you to hotels like this—”

“It’s not what you think!” I stomped slightly on the white tiles. “JJ isn’t like that. We’re friends. He needed a place to stay because things at home got really bad and this is the only course of action that he felt comfortable with.”

“I don’t care.” Rafe shook his head. Sharp strands of his marsh brown hair fell over his eyes. “He’s using you to get stuff. Can’t you see that he took you to the most expensive hotel in OBX? Next thing he’s gonna ask from you is a car. Hell, pay for his drugs too.”

“Why do you always assume the worst of him?” I narrowed my eyes at Rafe. I carefully watched his next actions: The way his jaw tightened, his heavy breaths, his jiggling knee. “You’re high and drunk. We shouldn’t have this conversation right—”

I only realized that Rafe was kissing me after the shock had left my system. He brought his hands to my back and pressed his rough lips onto mine, completely engulfing me in his presence. I tried not to pay attention to the alcohol that stained my mouth. I tried to push him away by pounding on his chest. “Rafe—”

Rafe stumbled backwards. I brought my fingertips to my lips that pounded against the impact. “Charlie, I’m so sorry.” He reached a shaking hand, and I immediately shifted away from him. “Fuck. I screwed up. I’m so sorry.”

“No, no. It’s okay, Rafe.” I shook my head. “But don’t touch me first. Please.”

The silence grew between us. I couldn’t bear to look at him. He just stood there with his hands tucked into his shorts, the crowds going on with their lives around us. There was a difference between knowing how Rafe felt about me and knowing that he did something about it. I dealt with the first knowledge with avoidance. I don’t know if I could do the same with this.

“You have to understand why I did that, Charlie.” Rafe finally spoke again. His voice hoarse from regret. “You’re slipping away from me, and I had to make sure that you still end up as mine. You’re supposed to be mine, Charlie. JJ’s just some kind of distraction. You said it yourself; he’s meant to be with another person. So, you’re mine.”

“Rafe,” I took a sharp breath. What I was about to say hurt me almost as much as Rafe was hurting right now. “I just don’t see you that way. You know that I love you, but only as a friend.”

Rafe groaned like the pain of my words was physical. I took his hand, trying to get him to calm down. Going on was gonna make it worse now, but not telling the truth would make it worse in the future. “You should take more pride in that. Because boyfriends or husbands could come and go. But it takes a lot more to destroy a friendship.”

“Why not me?” Rafe refused to look at me. His words were filled with so much bitterness. “I’m richer. Taller. Fuck it, I’m hotter. I could give you everything you want in life, Charlie. I could be nicer if you ask me to be. Why not me?”

I took a second to think about what I should tell Rafe, but nothing except what JJ said to me surfaced. “I don’t know, Rafe. It’s just that way. You know when you know. And sadly, I didn’t feel that with you.” My hands barely held his larger face. “But don’t get me wrong. You are an awesome, handsome, captivating and smart man. And whoever is attached to that string of yours will be one of the luckiest people. It would be more unfair to you if we’re together because I could never want you the way you want me.”

I gave him a soft smile. I wish I could tell him how I realized that I loved JJ when I realized that I could’ve lost him before I even met him. That it was the most amazing, liberating feeling and that someday he’d feel it too. But I kept quiet. I just watched Rafe work through the storms in his eyes.

After a moment, Rafe finally looked at me. There was pure sadness in them, and the guilt of being the cause made me sick to my stomach. “I love you too, Charlie. I fucking loved you first. That day you told me about the curse was the day I fell in love with you. You were the only honest person in my life.” He held me by my nape. “Thank you for that half decent kiss. I’ll think about it until I fucking die.”

I tried calling out to Rafe. But he didn’t turn. I stopped chasing him when he got to his SUV and screeched out of the parking lot. In times like these, he would tell me he needed me to keep him from reaching his breaking point.

Now that I was the reason he was on the edge, what should I do?

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: Injury and Abuse detail, Domestic Violence

The glass crunched under my shoes as I slowly walked through the front door. It was like a tornado devastated this house. Newspapers and books left face open across the floor. Amber shards broke the afternoon sunlight, glistening amidst broken pieces of furniture. The old couch had a massive slash through it, sending fluff through the darkness.

I found JJ slumped against the kitchen island. Blood dried below his nose. Patches of purple and black bloomed across his bare torso. His lips and cheeks had numerous cuts, yet he still downed a beer bottle as he eyed me with contempt I deserved. He was a soldier that barely survived war on a battlefield that never should’ve been.

“The hell are ya doin’ here?” JJ grumbled. The smooth velvet in his voice was gone. All that was left was a bitter nectar that I could taste through the metal of guilt in my throat. “I told you to never come back. I was gonna come to you when I was… better.”

I clutched the handle of the first aid kid I bought, thinking about how I should approach him. Yet fire ignited in his ocean irises before I could do that. “GET OUT OF HERE CHARLIE!” JJ pointed out the door; his voice cracked from sheer exhaustion.

“NO!” I shouted back. Both JJ and I seemed to be surprised that I could raise my voice like that. He dropped his hand and looked away from me.

I knelt beside him, reaching for the sterile wipes first. “We should go to the hospital later. Get a doctor’s evaluation about your injuries. I’ll help you get a lawyer—”

“The hell am I going to a hospital!” JJ roared, flinching away from me before I even wiped the blood off his face. “I’m not sending Dad to prison. I’m fine.”

I’ve thought about it. I was certain at least someone would’ve offered to report Luke for him before. “Okay, that’s your choice.” I pressed the cloth under his nose. JJ hissed and clutched my wrist, making me wince slightly too. “We’re going to focus on what we’re doing next.”

“You’re not doing anything, Charlie.” JJ groaned. “This was just a one-time thing, ya know. Dad’s an idiot. Just caught em off guard when he found me in bed with ya. Should’ve came out to him first, eh?” He laughed softly.

“When was the first time he hit you, JJ?” I asked.

JJ’s expression dropped into the same darkness he greeted me with before trying to smile again. “Ya know what, Imma let that slide because you’re so cute—”

“When was the first time he hit you, JJ?” I asked again.

“Fuck you, Charlie.” JJ spat out.

I shook my head, throwing the bloody wipes away. I took out the alcohol and poured it all over a cotton ball. I needed to get him to admit that this was happening before he could even agree to walk away. “This might hurt; you could hold me again. I’m here. Just don’t crush my bones.”

JJ’s stomach rose and dropped as he took a deep breath. He clutched my tiny wrist while I sanitized all his open wounds, wiping away all the evidence of bloodshed until all that’s left to treat were the cracks. “I was three,” He began. “It was a week after my mom abandoned us. He couldn’t get a babysitter, so he left me to fend on my own. I had my trucks and blocks to keep me company, but I was so fucking hungry because last thing I ate was breakfast. So, when he finally walked through the door I clung to his legs and—”

His voice broke, and I felt a part of me die inside too. “All I wanted was food. He made me beg. He treated me like I was a greedy thief when all I wanted was to eat.”

It took all my strength to stop trembling and hold back my tears. This shouldn’t be about me. This was about him. So, I focused on the medicine and his words. Not on how I felt.

“Everybody said they’d call the cops.” JJ eased the tension in his body, practically falling limp against old wooden surface of the island. “Nobody ever did.”

“I know,” I whispered softly. I pressed the band aids against his skin gently. “Nothing could change the years you suffered in his hands. But I could help you walk away, JJ. I could help you leave.”

“How?” JJ finally turned to me, his eyes hidden behind layers of tears. “I don’t have any fucking money, Charlie. People here won’t even hire me because I beat the shit out of one ass customer when I was 15. I’m no good for a degree. This house and Dad are all I have. It’s not always this bad.”

“But it never has to be bad.” I held his larger jawline in my palms. I finally understood the sadness in his gaze that I couldn’t seem to place. No wonder I felt like I was drowning in the ocean of his eyes when that ocean was created by years of hidden tears. “If money’s the issue, I could help you with that. I just want to get you out of here.”

JJ grunted, rubbing his thumbs against my pulse point. “It’s not your responsibility to save me—"

“But I could. This is me trying to do one good thing after the million wrongs done to you, JJ.” I looked into his eyes with a newfound understanding. Somehow, it felt easier to breathe around him now that the truth was laid between us. I wiped away the streaks of tears from his cheeks.

JJ stared down at me. I couldn’t read what he was thinking. I was almost ready for him to push me away, but instead he grabbed my jaw and kissed me. The usual hunger and intensity were absent, replaced by a gentle embrace around my mouth. He didn’t probe with his tongue; he just pressed and remained there. As if he was checking if what was happening was real.

“What do you need me to do?” JJ asked while he breathed heavily against my lips.

[strangeboyonearth]

𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘙 𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘠𝘖𝘜

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐈𝐗: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐃

જ⁀➴ JJ Maybank x Male OC (Charlie Genrette)

જ⁀➴ masterlist ➴ previous ➴ next

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: Luke Maybank, Domestic Violence, Homophobia.

The sound of wood splintering into two broke my sleep.

JJ was no longer wrapped around me. I shifted to my side, gazing through bleary eyes and a thunderous headache, and found him blocking the doorway. His back muscles rippled under the glowing sunlight. He was nothing less than angelic and I haven’t even seen his morning face yet.

“Looks like your toy’s awake.” My blood froze through my own confusion. He was blocking Luke from entering.

“Leave him out of this, dad.” JJ gritted through the edges of his morning voice. I hoped Luke didn’t hear the slight tremble in his voice. “You have a problem with me, not Charlie.”

“I have a problem with anyone thinking it’s okay to do what you just did under the roof I’m paying for!” Luke roared. I clutched the sheets, unsure if I should come to JJ’s defense like the last time or stay here. I shifted to my side and found Luke holding two pieces of broken wood, each sharp enough to pierce through skin many times over. Yet none as sharp as the glare he gave me through the crack that JJ didn’t fully cover.

As if a boy’s greatest sin is to fall in love with another man.

I shrank back to the headboard, holding JJ’s blanket like it could shield me from the monster just outside the door. JJ turned his head to me, never fully facing me but enough to let the sunlight highlight his face. “It’s okay, Charlie.” He spoke with slight laughter that I wasn’t sure how he could manage. “Just crawl out the window and walk away. I’ll be fine.”

“No—"

“Get out!” JJ yelled with a particular hollowness. He never yelled at me before. “Get out of here and never look back. No matter what you hear don’t you dare come back here.”

“You’re such a disappointment, JJ. Wasn’t it enough that you’re a screw up? You had to be a boy fucker too?”

Some part of me wanted to stay and take whatever blow Luke was going to deliver. But my trembling, shaking, useless body won and lifted the window. I landed on the unkept flower bed, the dried leaves marking the times JJ snuck out of the same space.

I followed what JJ told me. I kept on walking the uneven gravel pathway with my bare feet. I never looked back.

Not when I heard glass break.

Not when I heard a body slam against a wall.

Not when I heard the boy I loved groan from the unimaginable pain from the man who was supposed to love him.

I fell to the ground. Small stone digging into the flesh of my legs. Yet I couldn’t care less about it when the world kept spinning around. Never-ending tears fell from my eyes. My shaking hands kept reaching out to wipe them away but more kept on falling. I couldn’t breathe. My stomach was killing me, clawing at all my senses. I lurched to the ground and opened my mouth when my throat was constricted, but nothing came out.

This was nothing compared to what JJ is going through inside.

Was this the curse? Was fate, Elizabeth Teach, or the fucking grim reaper trying to kill JJ through his father? That’s a low blow from the universe. A damn low blow.

But I looked back to his house. The unkept white paneling. The overgrown grass. The chaos inside. This wasn’t something that’s happening because I loved JJ. This was something that’s been happening before I ever came into his life. This happened because the world is fucked-up way before that. A world that gave children to people that didn’t deserve to be parents. Luke wasn’t a father; he was many things, but not that.

I wondered how many times JJ had to curl up against his bed the same way I did. How many times pure terror seized his body. How many times did he have to fight back only to be doubled down again. How many times did he wish someone would save him but nothing and nobody ever came.

I wanted to go there. Grab a knife from the kitchen and put an end to it all.

And yet the world held me here. Bound me to the ground because I wasn’t strong enough to end this. The same way the whole of Outer Banks knew about what happened in this house and never did anything that lasted to get JJ out of here.

This wasn’t JJ’s fault. It never was. No matter what he did that started all this, it will never be his fault.

This was Luke’s fault.

This was the town’s fault.

Even without the curse, this was still my fault.