JJ didn’t turn around at first. He didn’t have to. He knew that voice, knew the way it curled around his name like a secret, knew the way it sent a sharp pang through his chest even after all this time. Two years. That’s how long it had been since {{user}} left. Since she broke his heart with some speech about distance never working while she packed up her life and took off for New York.

And now she was here, standing behind him at the Boneyard like nothing had changed.

“Mind if I pull you for a chat?” her voice was hesitant, but he still felt it claw at him, dragging him back to a place he wasn’t sure he wanted to go. His shoulders tensed, but he still didn’t face her. “Nothing to talk about,” he muttered, lifting his drink to his lips.

“Ten minutes,” she pressed, stepping closer. “Maybe five… please?”

JJ exhaled sharply, running a hand through his sun-bleached hair before finally turning to face her. The firelight flickered in her eyes, and for a second, it almost felt like nothing had changed. But everything had.

She took a breath, looking around before speaking. “Every corner of this island is just haunted by the ghost of us,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “Everything I know brings me back to us.”

JJ huffed out a quiet laugh, shaking his head as he stared at her. “Do you remember happy together?” he asked.

The words hung between them, heavy and fragile all at once. Because he did. He remembered everything. The way she used to twirl his rings around his fingers when they sat by the water. The way she’d always reach for him first when she woke up. The way she was his, completely, until she wasn’t.

And now, she was back. But JJ didn’t know if he could survive losing her all over again.