016
para siempre

Bianca often looked at JJ and couldn't understand how someone before her didn't see what she saw.

JJ Maybank completely turned her world around. Things that never interested her before like fishing, and surfing became fascinating because she knew they were important to him, and he was special to her. Colors were brighter and more brilliant. Laughter existed where it didn't before.

Simple things brought him to mind, like a pale blue sky, gentle wind, or even a storm cloud on the horizon. She opened her heart knowing there was a chance this would either be her greatest love or worst heartbreak.

This boy was her best friend and her world all at the same time. And sometimes, Bianca looked at him feeling glad that someone before her didn't see what she saw because if they looked deep enough to see all those things, then she would've never been able to.

She couldn't bring herself to tear her gaze away from the cerulean of his eyes as he hovered over her. Her fingers brushed against his cheekbones, tracing each sunkissed freckle and the boy found himself leaning further into the palm of her hand.

Bianca found tears breaching her eyes as they lay together in bed, hearts thrumming in sync. The tips of his blonde strands fell across her face as his taut arms framed either side of her head.

JJ's lips tilted into a frown, his eyebrows drawing together, "Why are you crying?" His thumb brushed the corner of her eyes where a single tear slipped away. The thought that he could've hurt her made his throat tighten.

"I'm-" Bianca shook her head and blinked away the moisture. "I'm crying because- I don't know- I'm just... happy," Her heart felt full. Safe. Overwhelmed.

JJ's eyes softened, and now, he looked as though he was trying not to laugh. His jaw twitched as he met her gaze, "Say it."

"Say what?" She breathed out.

"Say JJ Maybank, you are a sex god. You have achieved what no other man ever has. You—"

He was cut off when Bianca snatched the pillow from behind her head and smothered his face with it. JJ chuckled loudly, pulling it away from him and laying down next to her. He brushed a tendril of her hair behind her ear to see her more clearly as she tangled their legs beneath the sheets.

"JJ Maybank..." Bianca took his hand that caressed her cheek and placed the softest kiss against his open palm. "I love you," She whispered. "I'm never going to stop loving you, okay?"

JJ's heart flipped and spun around in circles and did little ballerina twirls. Immediately, he pulled her closer and began planting little kisses against her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and every inch of skin visible to him.

Bianca giggled, attempting to push him away by his bare chest, "JJ!" She protested half-heartedly.

JJ had never felt a love like this before; unconditional. And when he pulled away, an obstruction formed in his throat. He had a feeling he'd never be able to swallow it. Not as long as Bianca looked up at him like that, all beauty and strength and vulnerability and confusion and complications. This was his person.

JJ's eyes stung, "I mean, I'm kinda hard to replace, right?" His voice was thick with emotion but he covered it easily with a smirk. "I set an impossibly high standard- I'm kind of afraid you won't ever be able to enjoy sex again."

Despite his best efforts, Bianca noticed anyway. Instead of teasing him about it, she chose to let him have his moment, "You were alright. Passable."

"Passable?" JJ scoffed, his teasing grin never faltering. "Princess, that's not what you were saying when you were begging me to give it to you."

"I was giving you a motivational speech," Bianca shrugged nonchalantly. "So you'd perform better."

"Perform better?" JJ laughed at this, the low rumble of his chest reverberating against her hands. "Nah, that was amazing. Round two in ten minutes?"

"Hm?" Bianca hummed, still floating on a wave of euphoria.

"Again?" JJ repeated, tracing love hearts down her spine. His heart skipped another beat when their eyes met.

Bianca shivered at his gentle touch. Her words were soft when she spoke next, "Para siempre."

"What does that mean?" JJ shifted closer to her.

Bianca hesitated before the corner of her lip tilted upward, "It means that we're going to use the mirror next time," Her eyes flickered to his lips. "Me on top."

"Fuck, I'm so in love with you," JJ breathed out heavily before kissing her, a million loving thoughts condensed into a moment.

Outside, the world fell away around them. In that kiss, it didn't even exist. Because his lips erupted with poetry and filled her head with this silly little notion that one day, things might actually be okay again. In his arms, she was home.

It was only when Bianca's hands accidentally brushed the corner of his bed, did she pull away. JJ whined of course, but she ignored him, "What is this?"

JJ's gaze followed hers to the folded-up, crumpled paper wedged between his mattress and headboard, "Oh, that's nothing," He dismissed quickly, trying to pull her closer. "Here—"

But Bianca was curious now, as she lightly pushed him back by the chest, forcing him to roll on his side, "Can I see it?"

"If I say no, will you let it go?" JJ arched an eyebrow but she shook her head. "Yeah, thought so..." He trailed off with a huff. "Fine."

Bianca gave him a peck on the cheek before settling on her front, propping herself up on her elbows. JJ hovered above her, his broad shoulders practically engulfing her from behind. Carefully, the girl pulled out the wrinkled paper and unfolded it, as though it would disintegrate in her hands if she were too rough.

Almost immediately, a small photograph and a crinkled hundred-dollar bill slipped onto the sheets below. Bianca placed the paper down for a moment to pick up the picture and melted at the tufts of blonde hair falling over two-year-old JJ's forehead. His stark blue eyes were widened and his lips parted, coated in drool.

"Aw, baby J," She cooed, lifting the picture beside JJ's face. "You were so cute."

"Were?" JJ scoffed, snatching it from her hands. "I still am, Princess. Nothing's changed."

"Well... you have teeth now," Bianca laughed lightly. "I've never seen any photos from when you were little."

"Probably because I got none," JJ shrugged, staring at the picture. "This is the last one left. Pulled it out of the trash. My dad got rid of the rest after, you know... My mom. I'm pretty sure she took this, actually."

Bianca's heart sunk at his words, unsure what to make of them. She didn't have time to dwell on it though because before she could say a word, JJ was putting the image down and moving onto the piece of paper.

"And this..." He revealed a drawing of a map with two little stick figures in backward caps on a boat. "Well, you can kind of tell what this is."

Bianca's eyes trailed over the dotted line and the large X at the corner of the page which led to what she assumed was a poorly drawn version of Mexico with 'YUCATÁN' printed in big, bold letters. She covered her lips with her hand to stifle the smile on her face.

"This was supposed to get you to Yucatán?" She hummed, her eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Well, it's- uh, it's a work in progress," JJ scoffed, rearing his head back as if not appreciating her mocking tone. "You know, we haven't straightened out all the kinks and bumps yet. Me and John B made it in third grade."

"It's very detailed," Bianca teased before pointing to the stick figures. "Is this supposed to be you guys?"

"Mhm," JJ chuckled. He used to look at this map every night before he went to bed, like a faraway dream he could escape to when things got too rough at home. Only, he completely forgot it even existed. JJ hadn't looked at this map since... Well, since he met Bianca, "Can't forget the- the uh-"

"The hats," Bianca filled in for him, noticing his thoughts were elsewhere. She picked up the hundred dollar bill next, "And this? Emergency cash?"

JJ's cheeks flushed a rosy hue, "Uh, yeah- something like that," He rubbed the back of his neck nervously but Bianca thought nothing of it.

"You thought this would get you all the way to Yucatán?" She joked. "You know they use pesos there, right?"

"That..." JJ trailed off, his adam's apple bobbing. "I wasn't planning on using that."

"Why not?" Bianca frowned, slowly lowering the note. Come to think of it, there were so many instances JJ could've used this money, especially considering he was out of a job. But he never did, "What's so special about this?" It must've been important if he kept it with the only baby photo he had of himself.

"If I tell you..." JJ began, squeezing his eyes shut. "You have to promise me you won't laugh."

Bianca's eyebrows drew together, even more confused than before, "I won't. I promise."

"This..." JJ took the cash from her fingers. "This is the hundred dollar bill that... you gave me... after I stole the keycard to your dad's office," He cringed, prepared for her to burst into a fit of giggles.

Instead, she merely stared at him, "JJ..."

"I know, I know!" JJ groaned and rolled onto his back. He threw his arm over his face in exasperation, "It's super lame and cheesy and-"

"You didn't use it?" Bianca cut him off by pulling his hand down, hovering over him.

Her eyes glossed over and JJ noticed. He gave her a heart-wrenching smile, "Never could bring myself to do it. I think some stupid part of me knew then that... you know... it was you."

Bianca kissed him and then kissed him again. She kissed him so ardently, so demandingly, she forgot to breathe. Every time she thought he couldn't get any more adorable, he proved her wrong. JJ could try and put on the facade of being a super tough, macho man but Bianca knew better. He was the cutest, little golden-retriever boyfriend that ever did exist.

Finally, JJ pulled away, his lips swollen and red when he spoke again, "Wait but, there was this one time I almost bought a puppy from like, an old dude off the street-"

Bianca narrowed her eyes before scoffing, "You know what? I can't even fault you for that, I would've caved too."

"We should get a dog," JJ hummed before bringing his lips back to hers.

"I don't know," Bianca pulled away breathlessly. "I think I'm more of a cat person."

JJ gasped dramatically, feigning hurt, "You did not just say that."

"What?" Bianca rolled her eyes, already knowing where this was going.

"No girlfriend of mine will be a cat person!" He protested.

"JJ," Bianca groaned, sitting back on the bed. She grabbed his shirt from the edge of the bed and threw it on, "You're so annoying."

"No, seriously," JJ continued gravely, pushing himself up and tugging on his boxer shorts. "This is like, a deal breaker."

"Okay," Bianca made her way to the bathroom while her boyfriend followed after. "Break up with me then."

"Bianca!" JJ huffed out a breath as he pushed open the bathroom door for her. "Cats are evil. They claw your eyes out in your sleep and- and after you die, they literally eat your dead body."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, JJ."

The couple headed inside together, cleaning each other up and bickering like they weren't professing their love mere moments ago. It was always like this, it seemed, constant arguments over stupid little things and then making up with sweet kisses and forever promises.

Bianca was in the midst of cutting JJ's hair with a pair of old-rusty scissors she found in the bathroom drawer. As much as she loved the slight mullet her boyfriend had grown out, she knew it was annoying him, especially in the heat.

By then, the sun had disappeared below the horizon and the lights were switched on around the house. They savored their lasting moments of normalcy before everything was bound to crash and burn.

"So, does your mum know Spanish too?" JJ asked thoughtfully, watching as she snipped the ends of his hair through the mirror.

"A little," Bianca's tongue poked out between her lips in concentration. "But I think she kind of lost a lot of it since my dad didn't know and she never ended up teaching me either. She only ever spoke with my grandparents but then she eloped and- you know the rest of the story."

"Well, I'm happy for you. And that your grandma wants to teach you," JJ nodded. "I happen to know a little bit of Spanish myself."

"Oh, do you now?" Bianca laughed lightly.

"Yeah," JJ's grin widened, pleased with himself. "Puta madre."

"Of course," Bianca rolled her eyes but couldn't stifle her own smile. "Why did I expect anything else?"

Their mindless chatter was abruptly interrupted by loud banging on the bathroom door, followed by familiar voices, "JJ, are you in there!?"

The sudden shock caused Bianca's hand to slip, taking a sizeable chunk out of the blond boy's hair. Her eyes widened, holding the strands in one hand and the metal scissors in the other, "Oh, shit."

"JJ! If you're taking a shit in there hurry up!" Kiara's warning rang from the other side. "This is life or death!"

But JJ was more preoccupied with the look on Bianca's face, "What?" His lips parted. "What's wrong?!"

"Nothing," Bianca shook her head, dropping the hair on the ground below to sweep up later. "Nothing's wrong. Let me get the door."

She swallowed nervously, opening the frame to reveal an impatient Kiara and Sarah, tapping her foot against the floorboards. Before the girls could barge in, they took in the scene, eyeing Bianca who hid the scissors behind her back, and JJ who was trying to see the back of his head in the mirror.

"What?" JJ asked the girls, his face pale. "Is it bad...?" None of them answered. "Guys!?"

"No, of course not," Bianca assured, stifling a wince. "You look great!"

"Amazing," Sarah nodded quickly. A little too quick, causing Bianca to elbow her, "No, seriously."

"Looks good at new," Kiara laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, thank god," JJ scoffed, his shoulders sagging. "For a second there, I thought you really messed up my hair, B..." He turned his back to face the mirror again, revealing the uneven cut near the bottom of his neck.

The three girls winced.

Bianca turned to them, "How'd you guys even get in here?"

"The window was open," Sarah explained with a shrug. She adjusted her pink crop top, a tell-tale sign she'd been to Tannyhill, "And your car was outside. We went to yours first but Reggie told us you went to see JJ."

"And nobody was at the Chateau," Kiara continued. "So, we figured you guys would be here."

"John B wasn't at the Chât?" JJ tuned into the conversation, despite being shirtless.

"Nope," Kiara pulled out a single piece of paper and handed it to Bianca. "Took the Twinkie with his dad, left a note and everything. They're off to God knows where."

JJ peered over his girlfriend's shoulder, "Weird," He muttered. "Didn't even say when he'd be back."

"Or where he was going," Sarah sighed in frustration.

"Yeah, of course," JJ ran a hand through his hair. "Just when we need him."

Bianca handed her boyfriend the note dismissively, "So, what happened? Why did you guys come all the way down here?"

"So," Sarah began again, wringing her hands together. "I went back to grab clothes and a phone and you're not going to believe this..." She trailed off, eyes landing on Bianca. "Rafe is back."

Bianca's heart sank, "What?" She whispered. If Rafe was back on the island, it meant her secret wasn't as safe as she once thought. He could easily tell the Pogues, tell her family what she did. The idea sent a chill up her spine.

JJ's hand tightened over the bathroom sink, knuckles turning white, "Spectacular."

"Yeah," Sarah nodded, pursing her lips. "I saw him at the house. I don't think he saw me, but I think the cross is coming back to Wilmington. Tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow?" JJ's head snapped towards her.

"Yeah."

"He's probably trying to sell it," Bianca's eyebrows drew together.

"Wait. Hold on, though," JJ piped up. "We know where the cross is gonna be. That means it's still on the field," He began rambling. "Okay, alright, so we can come in and swoop, alright? We- we're still in this, B. We gotta get everybody together, and then we're gonna come up with a plan. Get our assess to Wilmington as fast as we can-"

"JJ, wait before we formulate some crazy, quarter-baked plan," Bianca interrupted. "Does Pope know?"

"No, I was gonna tell him at the Chateau but..." Sarah explained. But none of them were there.

"I hit up Pope and Cleo at his house," Kiara explained. "He can't. He's on lockdown. That's why I think we meet up tomorrow morning at the Chateau, and figure out how we're gonna jack this cross."

"Okay, yeah," Bianca let out a breath. "Hopefully John B would've washed up by then."

"So..." Sarah hummed. "What now?" It felt strange, having spent every waking moment of the past month with the Pogues only to be separated now.

"Um, dinner at mine?" Bianca offered to the others.

"Yes, please," Sarah smiled, she missed Reginald's cooking.

"I gotta go but thanks," Kiara shook her head. "My parents are gonna kill me if I don't show up tonight. They're expecting me back."

"Okay, I'll just grab my keys and meet you at the car?" Bianca offered. "Kie, I'll drive you home," Their houses were all a short drive away from each other anyway, considering they all lived in Figure Eight, save for Sarah who was currently homeless.

"Cool, thanks. We'll wait for you outside," The curly-haired girl waved them off. "Later Jayj."

"See you tomorrow, JJ," Sarah saluted before the two girls turned on their heels to leave.

Bianca and JJ headed back to the boy's bedroom to collect her belongings. She sat down on the bed, her shoes beside her feet, and began putting her earrings back in. JJ crouched down on his haunches in front of her and wordlessly put her shoes on.

"You're coming for dinner, right?" Bianca frowned, glancing down at him. "At mine?"

"Nah," JJ began tying her shoelaces without looking at her. "You should go spend some time with your family."

"Are you sure?" Bianca pursed her lips. If anything, she was trying to avoid her family. They would want to hear about what happened, something she wasn't prepared to tell them yet.

"Yeah. Besides," His eyes flickered up to hers with a teasing smile. "I've got some delicious leftovers courtesy of Abuelita in my fridge."

JJ rose to his feet and Bianca watched as he leaned forward, placing both taut arms on the bed on either side of her, caging her into him. Her breath hitched and her heart fluttered at his mere proximity. She wondered if it would ever stop doing that, or whether she was going to have permanent palpitations for the rest of her life.

"You guys go," JJ's nose brushed hers, pressing their foreheads together. "But one day I am going to meet your family, I promise. And I'll charm the pants off your mom with my exquisite table manners and swan napkins," He brought their lips together one final time before helping her to her feet. "But that day is not today."

That might've been the hottest thing JJ ever said to her.

Bianca took his hand as he led her back toward the open window, "Looking forward to it," She mused before slipping out the exit with one final kiss. "Learn your silverware, JJ!"

He saluted her, "Training my pinky to stay up as we speak!"

author's note. hi girlies what did u think of this chapter ? also unpopular opinion, and ik u guys are going to hate me for this but i actually like jayj. i've liked it since kie called him that in the end of season 2 lol, love you guys <3