Hey! I really hope you enjoy this story. I keep forgetting to put notes at the beginning of each chapter. This is a very long one. GracelesslyfallingforJJ got a little carried away.
[The Pogues]
Back at Steve's house, the Pogues were gathered around the large dining table, sharing ideas in hopes that an action plan would eventually formulate. They had spent most of the morning gathering all the food they could find in Steve's house. By the time planning began, it was late afternoon, nearly dusk. JJ who had been pretty silent all throughout the planning, suddenly spoke up. "I'll be back y'all," and he walked out the door.
"JJ, dude, where are you going?"John B yelled after him. But the door had already closed behind JJ. His question was answered a moment later, when the group saw wisps of smoke rising into the air.
"Typical JJ," Pope muttered.
Grace stared at the spot where JJ had been standing just moments before. "I'll be back", she murmured quietly. She didn't know what drew her to just walk out, but she felt a strange gravitational pull to JJ. (like the planets to the sun) (Yes!) She was a quiet, but extremely insightful girl. She could tell that something was up with JJ by the way he quietly slipped out. She knew just from having observed the devilish, energy-filled blondie that he liked to make a scene, so him slipping out quietly was an indication of something being off.
"Grace, please! Don't be like JJ!," Pope yelled after her.
"Too late!", she shouted back jokingly, walking out the door. She walked outside and found JJ, leaning against the house, exhaling puffs of smoke.
"Hey JJ," Grace smiled at him. JJ glanced at her and coughed, having suddenly inhaled too much smoke. (What does a cough sound like?!) "One- UGHUGH- sec- be- UGHUGUGH- right- with ya", he managed in between coughs.
Grace widened her eyes, not knowing how to help him. "Do-do you need some water orrrrrr-"
"Naaaaa-UGHHHUGHUGH- I'm good, thank you though", JJ gripped his chest. His sudden cough attack subsided, and he cleared his throat.
"Sorry bout that, I've got sensitive lungs." (I wonder why) ( I was tempted to have myself be all sassy and be like "so quit smoking then") He winked at her. "Sooooo… what brings you out here on this fine evening?" JJ asked, a hint of a playful tone in his voice.
"Oh! I was just… wondering if you were alright, I saw you walk out, and I- well I-" Grace stammered, JJ's dazzling blue eyes following her every move making her nervous.
"Wondered if I was alright?", he finished for her. Grace glanced up at him shyly through her bangs and nodded. His heart suddenly fluttered. Here was this new girl who barely knew him, who cared for him in some way. The feeling of a girl other than Kie genuinely caring about him without trying to just get a kiss out of him made him feel something he hadn't felt before. It was new and strange and…. he liked it. He smiled at the beautiful- he suddenly realized- girl standing before him, her face clouded with concern. And his heart began to melt.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Figured they'd be better off without me anyway," he shrugged.
"Why do you think that JJ?", she asked him softly.
"I dunno. It's always 'shut up JJ' or 'great idea, but not from you JJ' kind of thing, y'know? It's not hard to figure out that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, Grace. I dunno… sometimes I just feel like I don't bring any… value to the table. I mean, look at freaking John B. Smart, logical, always got an escape plan going. Or Pope. He's got a whole scholarship going for him. I'll probably just end up in prison anyways, it's in my blood," his eyes met hers, and she saw a lifetime of pain and hurt in those blue eyes, so often masked by his devilish smirk and usual joking manner. She was seeing a whole different side of JJ that he rarely showed to anyone else. He couldn't explain why he was sharing all this with her. He felt as if he could trust her with his deepest, darkest secrets and she wouldn't judge him. He'd never felt this way with anyone, not even with his best friends John B and Pope. Maybe it was the sticky Indiana air making Grace not think like her usual self, or the lulling of the crickets in the background that made her forget how to think straight, but she stepped towards JJ and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a warm hug. He stiffened at first, surprised at her sudden action, but he relaxed almost immediately. (Awwwwww my poor baby. JJ you deserve the world. I almost teared up) (And I'm gonna try my best to give it to him)
"Thanks", he whispered into her ear, holding her tight.
"Anytime", she whispered back.
"GRACE! JJ! GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE!", Pope yelled excitedly, his voice so loud it could be heard from outside the house. JJ chuckled softly.
"Leave it up to Pope to interrupt our moment."
He hadn't let go of Grace yet. Her hug was filling the void of 8 years of feeling lonely and unloved, and he wasn't ready to let go yet. (Me: *sobs*) (May or may not have cried, laughed, and squealed like an idiot while writing this part…) Grace understood, and she willingly let herself be hugged by JJ for longer than she had planned on. She didn't mind it, if she was being honest with herself. He had such an enticing scent: the smell of the fresh, salty sea, with a hint of Downey's Limited Edition: Lavender detergent.
"You smell like lavender," Grace whispered.
"Yeah. Steve's parents pick out really good laundry detergent", he whispered back jokingly. Both had forgotten Pope's command for them to get their butts in the house. For the time being, it was just the two of them in Steve's backyard. They began to sway back and forth, still locked in their warm embrace.
"Are-are we dancing?"Grace whispered.
"If you say we are."
"Then we're dancing."
"Good, cause I love dancing."
"What exactly are we dancing to JJ?"
"To the sound of nature", he whispered. "Shhhhh, just listen."
Grace strained her ears to hear what JJ was hearing, as they kept swaying back and forth. After some time, she began to hear it. The chirping of the crickets, melting in with the sound of the gurgling river, mixed in with the delicate sounds of the wind chimes on Steve's porch, all making one beautiful melody.
"I hear it!", she told him excitedly.
"I knew you would eventually", he whispered into her ear happily. He suddenly moved his hand down, taking her hand in his. They swayed to the rhythm of nature, neither wanting to end this moment.
"You're a good dancer y'know," JJ whispered happily.
"You're not too bad yourself Maybank". Suddenly, the back door slammed open.
"I gave y'all one order, seriously guys it's not that hard-", Pope cut off, noticing JJ and Grace silently swaying together. JJ and Grace quickly loosened their hold on each other, and stood awkwardly facing Pope.
"Uhhhhh, do you two need a moment alone, cause I-I can leave, like right now", Pope glanced from JJ to Grace.
"Nah man, we're good. We were just heading inside anyways," JJ told Pope confidently. Truth was, he wasn't planning to head inside anytime soon, but he didn't tell Grace that. He didn't need to. She knew that, just as much as she knew she wasn't planning to head inside anytime soon either. They exchanged a knowing glance and a smile, the smile of two people in on an inside joke, knowing something that nobody else could possibly know. Pope headed inside, JJ on his heels, and Grace followed slowly behind. She felt as if the dynamic between her and JJ had just shifted into something entirely new. She knew she would always remember swaying to the rhythms of nature in Steve's backyard with JJ Maybank. And that scent of his. She couldn't stop thinking about it. She quickly caught herself and took a deep breath. She had to focus on helping the Pogues come up with an action plan, not daydreaming about the blonde boy who may have just stolen her heart, whether she realized it or not. (I catch feelings so quick loll)
"Ok ok, so here's what we discovered," Pope said excitedly, leading the two to the dining table, where newspapers and a map was laid out. The map had a bunch of red circles drawn around various locations in Hawkins.
"See this?", Pope slowly made an invisible line with his finger, connecting the red circles together.
"Dude what the fu-" JJ was cut off.
"Language!", a booming voice broke through the tense air.
Hopper emerged into the living room, followed by Joyce, Max, Lucas, El, Mike, and Will.
"Ah, back so soon pops?"JJ smirked. Grace stifled a laugh.
"God, I hate teenagers." Hopper muttered quietly underneath his breath.
"Everybody just shut up for one second! Ok, look, we may have just discovered the thing that can change everything! Can I please have your attention for just a few moments?" Pope begged the group. When everybody nodded their heads in agreement, Pope began excitedly explaining their great discovery, everybody shuffling around trying to find a place to sit while he did that. Coincidentally, JJ and Grace ended up sitting next to each other on the couch.
"Ok so these Demodog attacks have been going on for a while. But it wasn't until recently that a whole flood of them began invading Hawkins. Where are they coming from? That, we don't know yet. Here's what we do know. Steve's parents are like, total hoarders and we discovered a whole pile of newspapers in the closet, newspapers from a few months ago when the attacks first began." Pope turned around and grabbed a couple of the newspapers, reading off of the front covers.
"Jane Little, 17, killed on Grant Street", Pope grabbed the map and drew a large black circle (over the red one, just to make it clearer to see) around Grant Street. He began to read off a long list of recent victims, circling the street on which they were attacked until the circles formed the letter V. Pope kept running through names of victims, strangers who had met a horrible ending, and who were now key elements in the study of the Demodogs. The group were on the edge of their seats, barely daring to breathe, realizing that this was something big. When Pope had finally finished reading and circling, he held the map up.
"Guys…. look". Gasps and whispers spread amongst the group. The red circles altogether spelled out the word VENOM.
"Holy shit," John B said breathlessly. The group all nodded their agreement, John B summing up how they were all feeling. Pope sank down in the nearest chair, overcome with excitement. "This- this has gotta be a clue. It isn't a coincidence how it spells out this specific word. There's something bigger going on here… something more sinister." Mike, who had silently been contemplating this new information, suddenly shot up from his seat.
"Guys! This just proves my theory!" The Pogues and Grace stared blankly at Mike, having no idea what he was talking about. Mike proceeded to repeat the finding of the (unfortunate) body of the boy Hopper's group had come across, making sure to include his theory of the Demodogs having venom in their tiny teeth.
"Mike, dude. That's brilliant", Pope said in admiration. Joyce sighed, trying to make sense of everything.
"So… what you're saying is that these Demodogs have venom in their teeth which is how they're killing people?" Mike nodded. "And what about the map? Why-why does it spell out venom?" her voice weary and confused.
"That we don't know yet ma'am," (or does Mrs. Byers sound better?)(These are southern gentlemen. They say ma'am left and right)(ma'am it is!) Pope told her. "But we're gonna do everything to figure this out."
"Soooooo… what exactly is our next step?" Lucas spoke up.
"I think we all need to get some rest, and we'll wait for the other two groups to get back... eat something… Joyce, can you get some sandwiches going?" Hopper turned to the woman, who he didn't notice looked very drained.
Grace picked up on it and piped up, "I can help sir. She needs some rest," she smiled. Joyce, relieved, looked at the girl and mouthed a 'thank you'. JJ, who had been gazing at her, remembering their little moment, spoke up. "I'll help Grace, it won't be easy making all those sandwiches for you hungry goons." Sarah giggled.
"As if you won't eat half of them yourself JJ," John B scoffed, standing up, "Sarah, did I tell you about that time he managed to eat all my Twinkies, a fatass sandwich, and a whole party-size bag of Doritos, all within a half hour, and not even 5 minutes later he was complaining about how hungry he was?" Sarah burst out laughing, as she and John B headed upstairs to get some rest.
JJ yelled after his best friend, "It's a gift JB, I don't expect you to understand!"
The tension in the air had been released, as laughter was heard around the room. Everybody except Grace and JJ headed upstairs to clean up or rest before dinner. Grace headed to the kitchen, and started rummaging around, grabbing bread, turkey, cheese, mayo, mustard, and anything else that fit in with sandwiches. JJ began assembling everything together, Grace soon joining him.
"Oh yeah! Pickles! I just remembered, I forgot to pull them out of the fridge. You'd think I wouldn't forget something so essential as pickles," Grace said, gently poking fun at herself. She walked over to the fridge, JJ's blue eyes following her every move. "Hey, eyes on the sandwiches Maybank", she teased. She couldn't figure out why he had been acting so weird abound her since their little moment. She noticed that where before JJ's blue eyes had looked at her mischievously, they now looked at her in a sort of admiring way. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Right-uh-ma'am", he nodded at her and resumed assembling the turkey and bread.
Grace glanced over at JJ while he was busy making a sandwich, and felt her cheeks growing warm. "Hey JJ?", she asked him shyly.
"Yeah?", he said looking up at her, his blue eyes gazing into hers, which made her all the more nervous.
"I-ok well I- gosh how do I say this…. I really enjoyed… swaying to the sounds of nature with you and I was wondering if maybe you'd like to do it again sometime?" she finished off hesitantly. JJ's face immediately broke into a grin.
"Yeah, I-I'd love that Grace", he said, smiling warmly at her. He was trying to fight it, but gosh it was hard to resist falling for this girl. (So true…. total joke btw loll) He had only known her for 2 days, and already he felt a special connection with her. They resumed their sandwich-making, the sound of the evening crickets floating through from the kitchen window. JJ walked over to the kitchen sink to wash his hands, while Grace finished the last of the sandwiches. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands on her waist. She whirled around, only to come face to face with JJ.
"JJ wha-", but he cut her off by making a shushing motion, taking her by the hand and leading her to the middle of the kitchen. His soft blue eyes glinted with excitement.
"You said you wanted to dance with me again, if I heard correctly," he grinned.
"Well… yeah, but JJ, the sandwich- '' He gently pulled her in and took her hand.
"May I have this dance?" he smirked.
Grace didn't know what to make of this boy. One moment he was sobbing into her shoulder, the next he was flirting like mad with her. But was she beginning to fall for him? Maybe. Maybe just a little. He laid his head gently on her shoulder, and she did the same, both once more, locked in a warm embrace. Ok, so maybe a lot. She was falling, and hard. They began to sway back and forth, the sound of crickets and the soft gurgling of the river becoming their music. JJ was never one to show his feelings this easily, but he felt… safe around her. After facing abuse from his father from the sweet, innocent age of 7, JJ had never truly felt loved or cared for, except by the Pogues. But this was different. He felt a strong desire in him to keep her close to him, to protect her. That's how JJ got with the people he felt close to. He'd do anything in his power to protect them. Swaying together, locked in their warm embrace, JJ could feel her heart beating against his chest, and it soothed him. He really was starting to care for this girl. But he wasn't ready to share this with JB or Pope, he wanted to keep this between just the two of them for the time being. He liked how it felt special, a secret only him and Grace knew. And he wasn't ready to change that anytime soon. JJ pulled back slightly to look at her, his eyes combing over each feature of her face. She was too stunned and nervous to look him directly in the eyes. She suddenly felt him gently tilt her head up. She caught her breath, and JJ gazed into her eyes. He leaned closer.
"You have mayo on your nose", he whispered, his face inches away from hers. (such a flirt, very smooth JJ loll)
"I-I do?"Grace whispered in embarrassment.
"Yeah," he whispered back, grinning. He leaned in closer, their foreheads now touching. (Forehead touching is a weakness of mine, I love it so much) Grace suddenly started bursting into little nervous giggles. JJ thought it was adorable.
"What?" he asked her with a serious face, staring her in the eyes for a few seconds before giving a small smile.
"Nothing, except I'm starting to learn that you have this glint in your eyes when you're up to something, and I just saw that look in your eyes a couple seconds ago," she said nose to nose with him. "So… spill it J. What are you up to this time?"
"I dunno…. I'm just in the mood for some mayo," smirking, and he proceeded to gently lick it off her nose. (not me dying of laughter over here) Grace's eyes grew comically wide.
"JJ!" she squealed. (I LEGIT JUST SCREAMED! THAT IS SOOOOOOOO CUTE! GIRL WE ARE KEEPING THIS IN) (OHMYGOSH IF YOU COULD SEE THE GRIN ON MY FACE RIGHT NOW, I'M SMILING SO HARD! I AGREEEEE!)
"What? What'd I do?" he asked her innocently, his blue eyes ablaze with that sweet mischievous look of his. And they both burst out laughing and giggling, both in their own little world. Both had forgotten that they were supposed to be calling everyone down for dinner. They forgot they were in the middle of an apocalyptic nightmare. They forgot they were basically strangers who had met only a day before. They didn't need to say it, because both of them knew it. They felt so…. right together. If JJ had done this to any of his previous 'hookups', they would have rolled their prissy little eyes and would have just begged JJ for another kiss. Grace was different in this way. He could laugh and joke with her over anything and everything, he could confess his deepest darkest secrets to her, and she would just sit and listen to him. Even to sit in silence with her would have been enough for him, because it was her presence that calmed him and made him feel as if everything would be alright. After a few moments, they both tried to keep a straight face, but failed. They were still locked in their embrace, trying to muffle the sounds of their laughs and giggles so as not to disturb those sleeping upstairs, but it just made them laugh more. After a few more moments, both managed to maintain straight faces, and JJ suddenly grinned as he gently spun around with her.
"Oh, have we transitioned to slow dancing now?" Grace asked, giggling.
"Yes ma'am," he said, winking. He suddenly dipped her, catching her by surprise. She squealed.
"Hi," JJ grinned down at her only inches away, blue eyes sparkling.
"Hi," Grace whispered back, suddenly breathless.
Suddenly, they heard a comical shriek from upstairs, and feet pounding down the stairs. "YOU ASSHOLES!" Lucas yelled from the living room, Mike, Max, and Will's laughter following behind the sound of his voice.
JJ sighed, "Another moment ruined."
Grace looked up at him and smiled shyly, "Hopefully it's not the last".
JJ chuckled softly and gently let go of his hold on her. He winked at her one more time before walking out of the kitchen.
"DINNERTIME YOU PUNKS!"JJ called.
Lucas came flying into the dining area, being pursued by Mike, Max and Will, each holding a part of a gigantic rubber spider they had found thrown aside in Steve's closet, Lucas shrieking all the while. Eleven was upstairs, getting some sleep.
"Ohoho, big brave Lucas," Mike teased. "Scared of a…. rubber spider?!", and he tossed it at Lucas's face. JJ came behind Mike and Will, steering them to the dining table.
"Alright, sit." he commanded, pointing to the chairs.
"Yes Dad." Will said jokingly. Mike suddenly looked up at JJ and gave him a sly smile.
"Get much sandwich making done?"
JJ scoffed. "Yeah dude. Obviously, cause you're about to stuff your face with a platter of turkey sandwiches".
"Really?" Mike asked, daring to continue. "Because uhhhh the giggles coming from the kitchen say differently." (Mike dude, you're really pushing the envelope here)
"Just eat your food man", JJ said, annoyed. Lucas, Will, Max, and Mike all waggled their eyebrows at each other from across the table, grinning all the while, but they dropped the subject. The signs were beginning to show. JJ knew that, and he realized if he wanted to keep his little moments with Grace a secret, they would have to be more sneaky, especially since they were in a house surrounded by teenagers and adults, who were no fools when it came to picking up on signs of romance. (Well except for Hopper and Joyce. Blind as bats to their feelings those two) The rest of the group eventually filtered downstairs, grabbing sandwiches from the platter in the middle of the dining table and they began to seat themselves around the table. It was tight, but they somehow managed to fit everybody at the table, with the help of some plastic chairs discovered by El.
Hopper grunted as he squirmed around in his chair, trying to find a comfortable sitting position. The group all tried to stifle their laughs, but they failed dismally. Pope erupted into laughter, and it spread around the table until eventually nothing but laughter was heard around the table. Joyce wiped tears from her eyes, the weariness and years of worry and pain disappearing from her face for a moment. Nobody knew why Hopper moving in his chair was so funny, but they all desperately needed a good laugh, and that just set them all over the edge. For just a moment, it felt like life was perfect. They were a happy family, gathered around a platter of turkey sandwiches, the soft light highlighting every inch of happiness on their faces. They all relaxed for the first time in months, enjoying each other's company. The group hungrily devoured the sandwiches, so hungry that they forgot to thank the chefs, but seeing JJ and John B devour six of the sandwiches she had made was all the confirmation Grace needed to know she had done a good job. The group began quietly chatting amongst themselves, the Demodogs or the fact that they were possibly the only survivors in an apocalyptic nightmare being erased from their minds for the time being. But like all good things, it came to an end.
Desperate pounding on the door interrupted the peaceful dinner, and everyone's heads snapped towards the front door.