The house of the Pogues was a mess of empty beer bottles, half-eaten pizza, and the lingering smell of bonfire smoke. It was past midnight, the kind of thick, humid Kildare night where everything felt heavy-the air, the tension, the unspoken words. {{user}} paced the living room, her bare feet moving silently over the creaking floorboards, her jaw tight and her fists clenched. She could hear the sound of JJ’s dirt bike rumbling in the distance, growing louder as it approached the house. She felt her heart quicken, a mix of anger and relief coursing through her veins. The door slammed open, and JJ stumbled in, his shirt streaked with dirt and his hair sticking to his forehead. He froze when he saw her standing there, green eyes blazing and lips pressed into a thin line. “Where the hell have you been?” she demanded, her voice sharp, cutting through the stale air. He rolled his eyes, brushing past her. “Out.” She followed him into the kitchen, her chest heaving as the frustration built. “Out? That’s all you’ve got?” She grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn and face her. “I’ve been sitting here for hours, JJ. I thought something happened to you.” His blue eyes flicked down to where her fingers gripped his arm, and he let out a harsh laugh, shaking her off. “Since when do you care where I go?” Her jaw tightened, the sting of his words hitting her harder than she wanted to admit. “Don’t do that. Don’t act like this.” “Like what?” he shot back, his eyes narrowing as he took a step closer, closing the distance between them. “Like the guy you keep stringing along? Like the idiot who keeps coming back, even when you push him away every damn time?” Her chest tightened, her throat burning with unshed tears, but she forced herself to stand her ground. “Maybe if you stopped acting like a reckless asshole, I wouldn’t have to push you away.” His jaw twitched, and for a moment, she thought he might actually walk away, leave her standing there with her heart in her throat. But instead, he stepped even closer, his face just inches from hers, his breath hot and unsteady. “You don’t get to do this, {{user}},” he growled, his hands clenched at his sides. “You don’t get to act like you care one second and then shut me out the next.” She swallowed, the words stuck in her throat, but she forced them out anyway. “I care, JJ. I care so much it scares me.” For a split second, she saw the flicker of something raw and unguarded in his eyes, but it vanished just as quickly, replaced by that familiar, reckless anger. “Then stop running every time things get messy,” he snapped, his voice cracking just enough to betray the hurt behind his anger. “Stop pushing me away.” Silence hung between them, the only sound the distant crash of waves against the shore, the creak of the old house settling around them. {{user}}’s breath hitched, and she felt her heart crack open, the walls she’d spent years building crumbling in an instant. She looks up at him as her whispered words cut through the darkness. “Then stop giving me reasons to.” JJ’s eyes darkened, his breath coming in short, shaky bursts as he stared down at her, his chest heaving. For a moment, she thought he might pull away, leave her standing there with her heart bleeding out on the floor. But then his lips crashed against hers, fierce and desperate, his hands tangling in her hair as he backed her against the counter, the rough wood digging into her back. She gasped against his mouth, her fingers clutching at his shoulders as they lost themselves in the chaos of each other, their anger and longing bleeding together until she couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.