The next morning, Slater arrived to work in an awful mood. Her mind was racing with thoughts of the day before, and what she said to JJ. Pope had texted her with good news — all JJ needed to do was pay the Thorntons back for the boat damage, and he was a free man. However, the Thornton boat was an extremely expensive boat, and none of the pogues were exactly rolling in dough.

Slater's mind was focused on ideas for how they could pay off JJ's restitution, and that took away from her customer service tremendously. She dropped a pitcher of ice water in someone's lap, wrote down the wrong order for a customer, and accidentally let out a curse word in front of a table with toddlers.

She was only halfway into her shift before Mr. Carerra pulled her aside.

"Are you doing okay, Slater? We've had three complaints about you already today, and I've never had a complaint about you the whole time you've worked here," he said.

Slater's face turned red and she averted her gaze from her boss. "I'm so sorry, Mr. C. I just ... I had a fight with my parents, is all," she lied.

Mr. Carerra looked at her sympathetically. "It's alright, I know you'll do better. Take a breather if you need a couple minutes, just please don't take it out on the customers," he said with a laugh.

She nodded. "Thank you."

She headed back out to the restaurant, serving tables and taking orders without much more than a fake smile and a half-assed "How are you today?"

She wished Kiara would have been in, but she was off. It would have made the time pass a lot faster. Slater hadn't heard from any of the pogues since the day before, though flashes of her phone call with Pope kept passing through her mind. 

After what felt like forever, her shift was over, and she headed back to the Subaru as she checked her phone. There was no update from the other pogues on JJ, and part of her wondered if they were coming up with a plan without her.

She drove home in silence, happy to find the house empty as she arrived home. Maeve wasn't even home, having spent the day with her friends at the beach.

Slater entered her room, immediately throwing her things on the floor before going to find some clean clothes. She was about to change out of her work clothes when a voice sounded, scaring her half to death.

"Slater."

She stopped unbuttoning her work shirt and turned around, seeing that JJ was sitting on her floor, under the window.

"Jesus Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack," she said, placing a hand over her racing heart.

"Sorry," he said, smirking slightly. She noticed that his lip was swollen, there was a cut on his eyebrow, and a deep bruise surrounding his left eye.

"Oh my god, J, what happened?" she said, kneeling down to look at him. "Wait, you're out of jail. How are you out of jail?"

"My pops paid my restitution," he said, then gestured to his face. "This was punishment for that."

"Jesus," she said, tenderly touching the bruise on his face. "Do you want some ice?"

He shook his head. "No. I just wanted to talk to you, after yesterday," he said, frowning. "I knew you couldn't be there when they arrested me. You would have gotten in so much trouble. So ... I said the one thing I knew would get you to leave." 

Slater looked away, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I didn't mean what I said," she said, frowning. "You're not your father. You'll never be your father."

JJ shrugged. "I mean, we were all thinking it. Hell, even I was. You were raised by a cop, Slater. No matter what you tell yourself, part of you will always think that I'm trash, just like my old man. Everyone thinks that."

"That's bullshit, and you know it," Slater said.

"Come on, Slater! I get high or drunk all the time, I've committed my fair share of petty crimes. Part of you, as a cop's daughter, you have to think that I'm trash," he said.

Slater's eyebrows furrowed together. "Don't say that, JJ. You don't know anything about me."

"You helped us out when it was convenient for you. You had your fun, with us pogues and our little treasure hunt. Lived life on the wild side for a bit," he said.

Slater scoffed. "That couldn't be farther from the truth, JJ. You guys are my friends, every one of you," she said. "For the first time in my life, I have friends."

"Kiara is your friend. Pope, maybe. John B, you tolerate at the least. Me? You despise me, Slater. Admit it," JJ said. It seemed like he was trying to convince himself of that more than her.

"Why are you pushing me away like this?" Slater asked, her face falling. Was that really what JJ thought? That she hated him? "I thought we were friends."

She thought back to the time it was just the two of them surfing, because everyone else dipped on their plans. The time she let him crash in her room when his dad was being an intolerable drunk. The time when he snuck her out of her house. The time that brought the movie night to her because she was grounded.

"I don't despise you, JJ," she said quietly, the anger in her voice replaced with hurt. "I mean it when I say that y'all are my friends. All of you. Even you. Especially you." Her eyes lifted to meet JJ's, and she reached a hand towards him, gently settling it on his arm. "Is that really what you think of me?"

JJ's face fell and he looked away. The anger disappeared from his face. "No, Slater, I ..." His words fumbled, and he ran a hand through his blond hair. His eyes flicked back to Slater, and she could have sworn she saw him break into a million pieces. "Fuck, that's not what I think at all," he said, taking a step towards her.

His lips brushed Slater's, and his hand settled above her left hip as he pulled her closer. Their lips moved in sync, like something that was made to be. Slater liked the way she felt in JJ's arms, the way his lips felt on hers. She liked the way he smelled, like the sea breeze and a hint of aftershave. She liked the way he made her feel: secure and strong and happy.

JJ Maybank made her feel happy?

JJ Maybank made her feel happy.

He pulled away, leaving her breathless. She looked up into JJ's blue eyes, which were already focused on her. A smile filled his face, causing one to form on her face, too.

"I thought you hated me," she murmured, wrapping her arms around JJ's torso.

"I could never hate you," JJ replied, resting his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry, Slater. I think I just ... when I get close to people, I push them away. I'm worried they're going to see what I see in myself."

"JJ, you're so much more than what you see in yourself. Everyone sees it. Everyone but you," she said, reaching for his hand.

JJ nodded and looked away before abruptly changing the subject. "So, uhh, are you still under house arrest?"

Slater frowned, noticing his abrupt change of subject. "Yeah, for the foreseeable future."

He nodded. "Strange question," he said, smirking at her. "Does Kiara know about this?" he said, gesturing between the two of them.

"Seeing as this just happened, probably not," she laughed. "We can keep it quiet, if you'd like."

"We kind of have this rule," he explained.

She smirked. "What kind of rule?"

"No pogue-on-pogue macking."

Slater looked at him, a grin on her face. "Since when am I a pogue?"

"Since now?" JJ shrugged before laughing. "Since always."

She laughed and leaned back, resting her head against his shoulder. "We can keep this secret," she said. "I don't think I could endure Kie's relentless teasing."

"Me either," he chuckled.

Slater looked at him, a smile on her face. "You really feel that way about me?" she asked.

He laughed. "Do I need to make it any more obvious, Cambry?" he asked before pressing another kiss to her lips and pulling her towards him.

She settled onto his lap, pressing another kiss to his lips after he pulled away. "I guess not, but I do like these hints that you're leaving." She pulled away, looking into his blue eyes. "I did think you hated me, though," she said in a soft voice. "Since when have you ... you know ..." she blushed and shrugged her shoulders. "Felt this way about me."

"That night on the side of the road," he said, flushing. "You showed me just how much you cared. I was the worst, and you found room in your heart to help me, lowlife me." His eyes flicked up to hers, a smirk on his face. "The tattoo, also. The tattoo was great."

She playfully slapped him on the shoulder and stood up, offering him a hand. "You're never seeing that again," she teased, pulling him to his feet.

"Dammit," he muttered, chuckling as he stood.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

aww, finally! i am so in love w/ jj & slater :)

thanks for reading!

xx,

madi