I Don't Ever Wanna Lose My Best Friend

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/53101702.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Outer Banks (TV)
Relationships: Kiara "Kie" Carrera/JJ Maybank, Kiara "Kie" Carrera & JJ Maybank
Characters: Kiara "Kie" Carrera, JJ Maybank, Rafe Cameron, Sofia (Outer Banks)
Additional Tags: Post-El Dorado 18 Month Timeskip (Outer Banks), Hurt/Comfort, Hurt
Kiara "Kie" Carrera, Motorcycle Race, based on bts of season 4
motorcycle race, Worried JJ, Protective JJ Maybank, Post-Canon
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-01-17 Words: 2,813 Chapters: 1/1
 I Don't Ever Wanna Lose My Best Friend
by comfortfics

Summary

"Her head has no open wounds and he thanks a God he’s never prayed to before. He brushes
hair out of Kiara’s face and looks at her with a teary gaze. “Kie baby? Can you open those
beautiful eyes for me?” Those eyes that can bring down armies if it came down it. He has no
doubt they could both start and end a war."

or, Kiara and Sofia race on their boyfriends motorcycles to break a tie, but Kie doesn't come
out of it the same way she went into it.

Notes

based on the behind the scenes from filming going on right now for the motorcycle race in
season 4! Just a theory on how I think the scene could go.

---

the title comes from A Match Into Water by Pierce the Veil, I highly recommend you listen to
it along with this fic!

See the end of the work for more notes

“Our girlfriends have to break the tie” Rafe sneers looking right at Kiara.

JJ subconsciously takes a step in front of her, “No fucking way.”

Rafe shrugs, “It's the rules. Always has been.”

“You can shove your rules-“ JJ starts but Kiara cuts him off. “-I’ll do it.” “The hell you will
Kiara you don’t have to prove anything I’m not letting you put yourself in danger for a stupid
bet.”

“You’re right, you aren’t letting me because you know that you don’t let me do anything. I
can do it.”

“I know you can Kie, of course you can but…” He knows arguing is useless. She does
anything she sets her mind to. Even if it scares the shit out of him.

“Are you sure?” JJ tries one more time. Kie smiles “Yeah, you know as well as I do, you
can’t kill a pogue.” He’d really rather not test that theory on her. “Besides,” Kiara looks over
to Rafe putting his helmet on Sofia and giving her what looks like a pep talk. “I really want to
wipe that smirk off his prepubescent face.” JJ breathes a small laugh. This girl.

JJ reluctantly grabs his helmet and guides it over Kiara’s head. It’s his favorite part about her
because it is what makes her her. If anything happens to that beautiful head of hers...he
pushes the thought away immediately. Nothing is gonna happen. You can’t kill a pogue.
Right?

“Alright baby you know what each throttle does and when you have to change-“ “I know
Jayj. I had a good teacher, remember?” She says through the open visor of the helmet. JJ
smiles at her, proud as hell of her as always. He for the first time really notices what she’s
wearing. Her classic crop top and short shorts. God forbid something does happen-he starts to
take off his t-shirt.
Kiara giggles, “I’m flattered J but now really isn’t the time. I have a race to win.” “Put this
on” he says seriously. “J its not like I’m wearing anything nobody’s seen before.” JJ shakes
his head, “Not its not that.” Kiara notices his glance towards her bare arms and gets the idea.
She loves his protective side…when it isn’t getting him into fights. “It's not gonna do much
but-” She grabs the shirt “-Thank you.” JJ nods nervously. “But you won’t even need it
because nothing is gonna happen.”

JJ helps Kie stretch the collar over the helmet and they laugh together until they finally pull it
down. “Probably would’ve been easier to do the first huh?” Kie jokes. “When have you
known me to go the easy route?” JJ responds.

“Okay,” JJ knows he’s doing a terrible job of hiding his nerves but he has no shame in it. He
loves this girl more than life and he’ll show it. It still baffles him that he is hers. “Okay”
Kiara nods in her helmet. JJ can’t reach her lips even with the visor open so he settles for a
kiss on her hands. “Go shred some dirt baby.”

Kiara reaches for the bandana around JJ’s neck and pulls him into her while tilting her head
to just barely touch their lips inside the helmet. She releases him and JJ’s eyes are nothing
short of hazy. “Uh-Tha-You-I…Hot.” JJ sputters out, his intrusive thoughts clearly not
stopping at any filter. Kiara lets out a breathy laugh. Seeing the effect she has on him is a turn
on for herself. She makes a mental note to maybe bring the bike helmet inside the condo once
in a while.

Rafe honks Sofia’s horn, “Let’s go!” JJ closes the visor and presses a kiss to it because he just
can’t help himself. Kiara gets settled on the bike which is positioned next to Sofia. A girl
walks in front of them holding red material which must have been the shirt she took off to
show her swimsuit.

“On your mark…” the girl starts.

Kiara looks down in front of her, re-familiarizing herself with being the driver on this thing
instead of the backpack.

“Get set…”
Kiara kicks up the kickstand and revs her engine.

“GO!” The red shirt flies down and the girls are off.

The sounds of cheering behind her quickly drowns out as they’re already 100 ft away from
the starting line. Her and Sofia are neck and neck. Hell no am I letting this country club
princess beat me. Kiara switches gears and pulls ahead by a couple feet.

The first turn comes up. Kiara swings her hips to achieve an adequate drift and not slow
herself down. The air leaves her lungs as the same time it does JJ, both in relief. She chances
a look behind her seeing Sofia a good ten feet back.

“Don’t look back Kie.” JJ mutters to himself.

Don’t look back Kie. Kiara can practically hear JJ’s voice in her head and smirks knowing she
probably just made him shit his pants a little bit.

“Winning is not worth getting hurt over” JJ says just above a whisper.

Kie takes the second and third curve with ease again, still having a substantial lead on Sofia
she’s guessing. She isn’t gonna chance another glance back, not when she’s so close.

The last turn comes up and Kie uses her same method, perhaps getting a little too
overconfident because her back tire drifts too far and she almost loses her balance.

Fuck. Kiara and JJ think at the same time. That was too close. Her mess-up allowed Sofia to
catch up a little but she’s still behind. She composes herself and is now a straight shot from
the finish line.
She’s in the home stretch. JJ puts his hands on his head in relief. Holy fuck. Kiara starts to
grin under her helmet. She’s 50 feet from the finish line. 40, 30, 20, 10. She crosses.

JJ throws his arms up and screams for his girl with so much pride bursting out of his chest it's
almost tangible.

Sofia is just a tire’s length behind her and swerves in frustration. Her front tire hits Kie’s back
tire and completely throws off her momentum. Kiara hasn’t had a chance to slow down after
her victory yet so she is still going close to 100mph when the impact is made.

“NO” JJ bellows and is already sprinting toward her before her body even hits the ground.
She is thrown from the bike and the scream she lets out will play in every one of JJ’s
nightmares. She hits the dirt ground hard and rolls and rolls and rolls.

Unfortunately the bike does the same and the breaking metal isn’t enough to stop its
momentum so it eventually rolls on top of Kie.

As the dust settles around the collision JJ is still pushing himself past his limits to make it to
her as soon as he can, kicking up a storm of his own dirt in his path. Kiara’s unmoving legs
are poking out beneath the bike. JJ already has tears brimming his eyes.

As JJ makes it to the mess he skids to his knees not caring about the feeling of breaking skin
beneath him. He lifts the bike up and off of Kiara’s body. “Kie!” He moves towards her head
to gently take off the helmet in hopes that he doesn’t screw up her neck more than it already
might be. His hands shake in the air not only from fear but in an indecisiveness of what to do,
where to touch, how to help. “Oh god Kie, Kiara!” It comes out more like a sob than
anything, as he settles his hands to cup her face.

There’s blood everywhere. The fucking t-shirt did nothing. It’s ripped to shreds. He should
have never let this happen . God he needs to control himself if he has any chance of helping
his love. He begins to take stock of her injuries. There are scrapes just about everywhere,
most seem superficial, but what worries him most is what might be broken underneath the
skin.
The biggest source of blood seems to be coming from a gash on her thigh that is from the
broken bike landing on her. He knows there are countless bruises yet to surface and he gets
nauseous just thinking about it. He takes the bandana off his neck and ties it around the
wound on her thigh. He gets a flash of the happy moment surrounding this piece of cloth just
minutes before. God how did this go so wrong.

Her head has no open wounds and he thanks a God he’s never prayed to before. He brushes
hair out of Kiara’s face and looks at her with a teary gaze. “Kie baby? Can you open those
beautiful eyes for me?” Those eyes that could bring down armies if it came down it. He has
no doubt they could both start and end a war. “Kiara please!” He begs. He presses a gentle
kiss to her forehead. Fuck I didn’t even check if she’s breathing or if her heart-

Kiara lets out a breath through her nose, a sound so quiet he isn’t sure he would have heard or
noticed it if he wasn’t looking at her face like his life depended on it. Because it did. “Kie?”
Her eyes begin to crinkle in an attempt to open but it takes a few tries. “There ya go princess,
you’re okay. You’re okay.” Tears spill over and land on Kiara’s face. He’s quick to wipe them
away.

There they are . Her hazel eyes finally open. “J?” She sounds confused and the smile she
gives him when her eyes focus on his face, he’s sure heals some old scar in his heart. But
then in the next second the moment is over, a million emotions cross over her eyes.
Confusion, fear, hurt . “J?” She sounds terrified now. “You’re okay, you took a little fall but
you are okay Kiara. You. Are.”

She tries to sit up and a fucking whimper escapes her lips. Fuck. JJ doesn’t know what to do
with the emotions he’s feeling right now. “Stay down for a second for me okay? Can you do
that for me baby?” She nods and he unbends a leg from underneath him and stretches it out
so her head can lay on his thigh. He sees a tear begin to build in the corner of her eye and he
subtly wipes it away. “Hey hey you’re okay just breathe.” He takes a deep breath and Kiara
follows along. “Good job my brave girl.” He brushes a stray curl away from her forehead.

“I’m sorry to make you focus on it but can you tell me what hurts?” Kiara takes a minute to
recognize what her body is feeling. “Kind of…everywhere.” The answer ends with her voice
breaking, like the realization terrified her. “Okay okay that’s okay.” JJ tries his fucking
hardest to be calm because showing his own nerves will only make it worse for her. “Can you
tell me what hurts the most?” Kiara’s face screws in slight concentration.
“My-my leg…” JJ nods along, already knowing the answer to that one. He’s just scared of
what answers are gonna come next, the injuries he can’t see. “…my head hurts a little…”
Fuck, okay but that’s to be expected he can handle a concussion, hopefully that all that is,
“and my stomach…God JJ my stomach hurts a lot.” She reaches for his hand and he hastily
holds it firmly hoping to pour some comfort through the touch. “Alright I’m going to, as
gently as possible, touch your stomach so you can tell me what part hurts the worst.” She
nervously nods.

JJ takes his free hand and lays his fingers near her lower stomach and presses down as lightly
as he can because he’s scared as shit to hurt her more. He silently looks at her in question and
she shakes her head no. He moves higher and she shakes again. When he moves up near her
ribs his hand starts to shake. He hopes she didn’t break any ribs. He knows first hand how
much those hurt and he honestly wouldn’t wish it on anyone, even less the love of his life. He
presses down on the right side of her ribs first and she waits a second before shaking her
head. He lets out a small breath of relief but it is short lived when he moves to the left side of
her ribs.

She screams in pain and JJ takes his hand away as if it was on fire. Tears escape Kiara’s now
closed eyes. “That’s it! It’s there!” She practically sobs and JJ is right there with her. He
wishes like anything he could be in her place, that he could take her pain for himself. Seeing
her in pain is one thing but being able to remember the exact feeling of what kind of pain
she’s in now is…haunting. “Oh my God JJ I-I-” He knows she’s trying to put her pain into
words but she can’t. He gracefully interrupts so she doesn’t have to try. “It’ll stop soon, it’ll
stop.” He tries to encourage but he knows ‘soon’ is an exaggeration.

He thinks of what he needs to do next. He wishes so badly he could just take her back to the
condo but the threat of the broken ribs and that headache, he isn’t taking any chances. She
needs a hospital. But of course they took the bike to the race. Even if he would dare to put her
back on it or if she had the strength to hold herself on, it's broken to pieces.

As if he reads his mind Rafe speaks up for the first time since the race ended. “We can take
Sofia’s car,” he offers. JJ scoffs “Like hell am I letting you drive her after your girlfriend
almost killed her!” What started as a passive aggressive statement ended in a shout. “Then
you take it” Rafe tosses the keys on the dirt beside JJ’s leg without a second thought. “Just…
just get her help.” JJ doesn’t even have an ounce of brain space to spare to fathom why Rafe
is worried about her.

He pockets the keys and gently lifts Kiara’s head up while he gets to his knees. “Alright it
may hurt a little bit but I’m gonna pick you up.” He reluctantly lets go of her hand so he can
cradle his arms under her knees and shoulders. Even though he’s applying as little pressure as
possible, Kiara couldn’t hold in the small cry when JJ stands up. “I know baby I know. I’m
sorry.”

Kiara lays her head on JJ’s shoulder as he walks to the car and JJ’s grateful Kiara can’t see
his face when a tear slips from his eyes. He manages to open the passenger door with Kiara
in his arms and gently sets her down.

He buckles her in, trying not to pull too much on her ribs. “J?” She says his name like she’s
unsure, and for the first time he hates the way she says his name. “Yeah baby.” He lays his
hand on her uninjured thigh and tries to instill the confidence that he’s never not seen in her.
“I’m sorry about your bike.”

JJ laughs but then quickly reins it in because he sees she’s serious. He can’t believe the
thought even crossed her mind let alone left her lips. He holds her face to tear her eyes away
from the fidgeting hands in her lap. When she looks at him, he takes a moment before he
speaks to make sure he says what he is gonna say with the same sincerity he’s only ever used
once in his life; when he told her he loved her for the first time in cabin 6.

“Kiara.” She looks at him with nervous eyes. “There are not enough bikes in the world that
would ever equate to the value you hold to me. Forget bikes, there isn’t enough fucking
money that does your worth any justice. And that’s coming from a Maybank.” He feels a
small weight lift from his chest when she smiles with a small laugh that follows.

“I’m just glad you’re okay. I hate like hell that you’re hurt and that you’re in pain because of
something as trivial as Rafe fucking Cameron’s ego but I am so glad you’ll be alright.” When
she doesn’t say anything he needs to confirm, “Okay?” She nods but he looks at her
expectantly because a nod isn’t enough. He needs to know she understands. She rolls her eyes
and says “Okay.” Satisfied he presses a quick kiss to her lips, closes the door, and rounds the
front of the car.
End Notes

might continue this one!

----

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