𝟎𝟓𝟔. 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

yes                ────                demi lovato

✩ 𝐣𝐣'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖩𝖮𝖧𝖭 𝖡 𝖯𝖴𝖫𝖫𝖲 𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖲𝖨𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖱 𝖮𝖭𝖳𝖮 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖫𝖨𝖥𝖤𝖡𝖮𝖠𝖳．I followed, immediately falling back to her side as John B joined her other side, hand grasping hers. He places his fingers over the pulse in her wrist, a heavy breath leaving him as he realises she's alive. She's not going to die, that much I know, and she is going to wake up.

"Hey." His other hand lifts, grasping his sister's face. "Come on, B." I can hear the emotion in his voice as he looks down at his sister, his hand squeezing hers.

My head falls, digging itself into her neck as I hold her wrist, afraid of the beat fading away with every minute she doesn't wake. What if she swallowed too much water and it's only a matter of time before it kills her? That might sound crazy, but I have no idea, alright. I'm freaking out a little over here.

Seriously, the first girl I ask to be my girlfriend, and she ends up falling overboard and knocked unconscious? This is not funny.

"Come on, B." John B taps her cheek gently, hoping to wake her but she isn't budging. She just rests on the lifeboat, body limp in our hands. I keep my head pressed into her neck, also feeling the gentle thump of her pulse there. She's okay. She will wake up.

Kiara and Sarah sit behind me, staring down at our best friend, tears in their own eyes as they fear the worst, but they don't need to. She will wake up. Pope is retaking control of the boat after John B fell to Brooke's aid, and Cleo is sitting beside him, watching us watch Brooke.

The boat begins to move, pulling us away from the ship.

I lift my head, and I peer over at John B who I find is already looking at me. He knows about me and Brooke, and after the conversation we had, he's probably furious at me for not protecting her, but believe me, I'm pissed enough for the both of us. I wish it was me lying here unconscious, but it's too late now. The damage has been done, and all I can hope for is that she opens her eyes and looks right at me.

She's still so cold in my hands, and despite being just as cold, I still keep her close in the hopes of offering some kind of warmth. "Please wake up, Sunny," I whisper, forehead resting against her head. "Please."

I'd never, ever be able to live with myself if she didn't open her eyes.

"She'll be okay," John B utters, more to himself than anybody else, but I choose to silently agree with him. "She'll be okay." He can't lose her, not when she's the only family he has left. Their dad died, he can't lose her too.

She's strong, that's what she is. She is going to be fine. I'm just going to tell myself that. She is strong── stronger than most people I know. If anybody can wake up, it's her. After all she's been through, I know she can wake up.

I look away from her, my hand still wrapped around her wrist because I need to feel that pulse for reassurance. I look to the ship as Pope guides us away, and I find the cross that we, obviously, don't have, is being lifted up and out of the water. I don't know how, and I don't know by who, but that cross is coming out of the water.

I assume Pope dumped it in the ocean when he realised we wouldn't be able to take it. If he couldn't have it, nobody could, but that's not the case anymore. It's being stolen right from the water. How is that possible? The six of us couldn't even lift that thing.

We've lost. Again.

I look back to Brooke, knowing full well that she needed this win just as much as everybody else. I mean, she was so anxious that I could barely get through to her the other night. She was clinging onto the idea that we would finally get a win, and it seemed like we would, but now we've gone and lost once again to those bastards.

I press my hand into hers, intertwining our fingers and bringing our hands up to my chest right over the pound of my heartbeat. I don't look back to watch the cross get taken away from us, I just look down at her instead, silently begging her to stare up at me.

Open your eyes, Sunshine. Open them.

"No, no, no!" I jerk my head to one side, looking to Pope as the boat comes to a slow. "No!"

"We're stalling out." Shit. If I wasn't so panicked about Brooke, I'd fucking laugh at the dilemma we're in. Of course this happens to us. We can't just catch a break, can we? I know Brooke would laugh too because if you don't laugh, you cry, and I've shed enough tears for a lifetime.

"You serious? We're sitting ducks."

"We gotta go!" The girls yell over at Pope. John B leaves his sister's side for a moment, trying to help Pope, but I can't move. I might know one or two things about boats, but I can't bring myself to leave her side in case she opens her eyes and finds nobody. I'm not leaving her alone, not when one of her biggest fears is being alone.

"I'm trying," Pope snaps, looking to each of us over his shoulder. "If everyone just tries to relax."

Hard to relax when the girl you're in... a relationship with── kind of── is unconscious.

"Come on," I whisper in Brooke's ear, keeping our hands pressed to my chest right over my heartbeat. "Come on, Sunny, wake up. The boat's not starting, can you believe that shit?" If I talk to her normally, perhaps she'll just snap out of it, and join the land of living again.

I stare at her, her eyes still shut. I want her eyes to find mine again because, without a doubt, our eyes find each other── in the darkness of her bedroom, in the light on the dock outside the Chateau, in that stupid metal container when I asked her to be mine, so our eyes will meet the moment her eyes open. They have to.

Our story, as lovesick as it sounds, is not over.

We're only on, like, chapter fifty-six, okay. There's still a long way to go until the very end, that I can promise.

We've got to have our date── the one I promised. I'm unsure if she heard, but I will be taking her on a date, and I'm going to make it as fancy as I possibly can, with or without money. Sure, I'd like to give her the fanciest, most expensive date possible for fun, but with another loss on our belt, I'm unsure if I can really give her that, but I'll try make our first date worth all the money in the world because that's what she deserves.

We've got to have arguments like regular couples have, and because she's usually, if not always, right, she'd win the damn argument, and I'd just let her because she's pretty and way smarter than me.

We've got to wake up next to each other after spending the night together. Obviously, spending the night together doesn't need to sound sexual, but I'm absolutely down for that stuff if she is. I still think about the freaking night on the dock, and part of me hopes she still does too.

We've got to hold hands in public, kiss in every alley and corner we can find, and flaunt our relationship because I can promise you one thing... If she says the word I need to hear, I will be telling not just our friends── who already know── but the entire world. Okay, the entire world might be extreme, but I'll at least be telling every person I see back home.

"I need you to answer me, Brooke." I speak softly and only to her, not really caring if anybody overhears as I have nothing to hide, not anymore. However, everybody around us is too preoccupied with trying to get the shitty lifeboat to start back up, so nobody hears me speaking to her.

If I speak to her, I hope she'll wake back up due to the sound of my voice.

"The boat won't start," I breathe out, feeling a little frustrated because Brooke isn't waking up and the damn boat won't start.

"He's pointing it at us." I peer over my shoulder, confused by what Pope means, but then my eyes squint and land on a figure── a figure I've grown to hate over the years. Rafe Cameron stands as the cross continues to be lifted, and I see that he's pointing a gun right at us, ready to shoot.

Go a-fucking-head, asshole.

He hurt Brooke, grabbed her wrists and left bruises because he was mad. I hate him, and I suddenly wish I had a gun because I'd shoot him.

"Hurry!"

"We gotta go!"

"I'm trying, okay?"

I pull Brooke closer, shielding her just in case Rafe decides to shoot as I will not let her get hurt again. Her head drops, falling to rest on my chest. "Rafe's pointing a gun at us but it's fine. I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?"

The boat starts back up again, and I internally cheer, still clinging onto Brooke who won't wake the fuck up. "We gotta get moving," John B says, slapping a hand on Pope's shoulder, urging him to drag us forward. "Come on."

He then falls back down to Brooke's side, reaching for her other hand, fingers pressing into the pulse point of her wrist. He doesn't take her away from me, instead watching as I hold onto her tightly. I can't let her go, especially not when Rafe is aiming a gun in our direction.

I won't let her go. I can't.

"Wake up. Please," I beg, resting my chin upon her head. "Please wake up."

"Come on, B." John B squeezes at her hand.

John B shakes her gently, tears glistening his eyes as he fears the worst. His sister never waking up. His sister dying── losing her at sea like their father who, yes, was murdered, but he was killed at sea by Ward. John B couldn't lose her, and I couldn't let Brooke leave her brother.

His hand lifts, pressing against the side of her neck. Her pulse is still beating, indicating that she will wake up. She has to wake up. She has way too much to live for.

He shakes her again, fingers tapping against her cheek. I continue to squeeze her hand, also trying to shake her awake. "Come on, Brooke."

"Wake up, B!" John B looks to Kiara and Sarah who continue to look down at Brooke, just as worried. Pope keeps peering over his shoulder, checking on her while he and Cleo continue to steer the boat away from the ship. "Wake up, Brooke. Come on!"

"Wake up," I whisper. "Please wake up."

With a final shake and plead from John B, and another squeeze of her hand, Brooke's body jerks forward, water spitting from her mouth as she coughs. I exhale a relieved breath, watching as she falls away from me, spluttering out water. She hits her hand against her chest, trying to get all the water out of her.

John B squeezes his sister's shoulder, laughing softly because she's awake. "Cough it up. That's it. Cough it up, B." He places a hand on her back, rubbing hard circles.

Her body falls back against the side of the lifeboat after she's coughed up the water, and her head falls back to where I like it── my chest.

"There ya go," Pope chuckles, just as relieved as the rest of us. "Hey. Hi, Brooke. Thought we lost you for a minute."

"Welcome to the land of living."

She looks at each of our friends before her eyes lift, finding mine in the chaos because, like I've said before, her eyes, regardless of the situation, find mine. Brown meets my blue, and I feel my heart swell as I look down at her, beyond grateful that she is awake and alive.

A smile breaks out across my face. "Hi." Something of a smile brightens her beautiful face. "Hi, Sunny." Her hand then lifts, grasping my wrist. She inhales, swallowing sharply as she forces herself to sit up slightly. Her hold on me tightens, and I can't help but be a little confused as to why she's holding onto me. "You okay?"

John B looks equally as concerned. "B?"

She doesn't turn to her brother, she just continues to look up at me with those soft eyes. Her fingers remain wrapped around my wrist, holding me like I'm some kind of lifeline.

She then speaks, and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed her voice.

"Yes."

My head rears back, heart beating fast as I look down at her with surprised eyes. "What?"

"B, are you okay?" John B asks, not knowing what the hell is going on, but I think I know exactly what's going on.

She ignores her brother, and her smile widens. "Yes."

A laugh pours out of me, and I snatch her hand back. "Yes?" I bring her hand up, pressing my mouth to her knuckles. "Yes?" She nods frantically, laughing with me.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Yes," she repeats, her body sliding up to meet mine. She said the word── the word I was so desperate to hear. I've never loved hearing such a simple word in all my life.

One word, three little letters.

If she says it, she's mine. If she says it, I'm hers.

Her hand lays upon my shoulder, and she says it a final time. "Yes, JJ."

I slide my hand under her jaw, drop my head and cover her mouth with mine right there in front of everybody. I hear the gasps behind me, but I don't care. I had to kiss her.

Our first kiss as partners── as one.

I feel her smile against my mouth, and I smile right back against hers. My hand slides around to the back of her neck, holding her close to me even when her mouth leaves mine. Our foreheads touch, our breathing deepens, and we break out into a freeing, gentle laughter.

Tears glisten her eyes as her hand lifts, resting on my cheek. "Hi," she breathes out.

My lips catch onto hers for a brief moment. "Hi, Sunshine."

A throat clears next to us, and we both look towards John B who, yes, already knows, but Brooke doesn't know that he knows as I haven't brought it up.

She smiles awkwardly. "Hi," she utters. "How you doing, bro?"

He raises a brow, eyes flicking from me to Brooke. "Always looking for attention, aren't you?"

"You know it," she chuckles, hand dragging down my arm. "I-I, uh, have something to tell you, by the way."

He hums, crossing his arms. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah," she exhales, sounding a little too guilty right now. "I'll tell you later."

Tell him later like I didn't just kiss her in front of everybody and confirm our relationship, okay.

John B huffs out a laugh. "Okay, B."

"What happened?" Brooke asks, looking towards me as I was the only one with her when it happened.

"Machete," I answer, squeezing the back of her neck gently as she lays her head on my chest, sliding her hand into mine.

"Whoa. Machete?" She grins, using her other hand to touch the wound on her head.

I rest my chin on her head. "Blunt end, baby."

"Still..." She scoffs, eyes rolling.

I press my lips against her head, hand squeezing hers gently. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"You owe me a date, pretty boy," she whispers.

My mouth gapes. "You heard me?"

"Damn right I did," she answers, looking up at me with a sweet smile. "I want caviar, champagne, and one of those desserts that explode when you pour chocolate on it."

She heard me. She was awake.

"I'll give you whatever you want," I say, and I really, really mean that.

"Whatever I want, huh?"

"Oh, yeah." I speak softly so nobody else overhears, but John B continues to glare at me. "Anything you want... girlfriend."

I catch the red creeping up her neck as she buries her head in my chest. "I like that," she whispers, lifting her gaze back to me. "I like that a lot, boyfriend."

My wish came true── I got the girl.

──────────────────────────

❀ soph speaks

his wish came true if you remember the wish he made to himself . . .

our girl woke up (obviously)

it was fun to write jj's pov bcos i just liked showing his feelings for brooke and how they are absolutely not one sided

one more chapter of act two until the third!!

thankyou for reading :)