Kook King

Bleeding Love

My front porch light is dim but it's on, attracting several moths and covered in dirty cobwebs. I trek across my front lawn as the grass tickles the sides of my feet. It's late. My parents are definitely fast asleep in bed by now. They probably assumed I stayed at Ava's or Deirdre's. Little do they know, I haven't spoken to my best friends since they found out about me and Rafe. I'm not sure which one of us is supposed to reach out first.

Truthfully, I haven't thought about it. I'm exhausted. Rafe just dropped me off after spending an entire day with him while he worked on the Druthers-- his dad's boat. It wasn't totally easy. Rafe got frustrated when things weren't working. He knows Ward will expect him to do the job perfectly, and if it isn't, it will give Ward another reason to beat up on Rafe. It meant an entire day out on the water in the sun. Of course, by sunset, when Ward did come around, he'd had a long day of work and was clearly not in a patient mood. I stayed inside the cockpit, hidden, and watched while Ward shouted at Rafe through clenched teeth. It was the first time I saw him actually hit Rafe. I think I may have gasped, nearly tripping over something on the floor. I wanted to burst out of my hidden space and wrap my arms around Rafe, but I knew I couldn't so I stayed there until Ward left. I'm not sure he even knew I was there. Ward never gets angry at Rafe in front of me. Instead, he puts on a nice persona; the perfect father, the hardworking business man, the loving husband. The only time he's kind to Rafe is when he wants something from him, and Rafe, desperate for Ward's approval, doesn't realize he's being manipulated.

After Ward left, Rafe stopped working on the Druthers for a while, and I didn't blame him. I sat there with my arms around him, comforting him, until he pulled out his small bag of coke. He snorted the first line then set one up for me. I wasn't going to at first, but the image of Ward's hand coming at Rafe's face kept replaying in my mind. It hurts me to see Rafe in any kind of pain so that's why I got high. Then we laid out on the boat for the rest of the afternoon, not caring about anything.

Now, I drag my tired self into my house but leave the lights off. I'm exhausted, but I don't really feel like going to bed yet. So, I stand in the kitchen and scroll through my phone.

Just then, there's a soft knock on my front door. It's nearly one in the morning. Who the hell could be at my front door at this time? Unless it's Rafe coming back to me.

But it's JJ. "Oh. Hey. What are you doing here?" I ask him.

"Sorry." JJ smirks and follows me into the kitchen. "I called you, but you didn't answer."

I run a hand through my messy hair. The wind on the water blew it around, and the ends got all tangled. "Oh, sorry. I was busy." I dig into my shorts pocket and grab my phone. Sure enough, I not only have a missed call notification from JJ, but I have a few texts from my parents and my boss. Fuck.

JJ runs his finger along the corner of the counter. "Where've you been?"

I shrug. "Around."

He's quiet for a long time while I turn away from him and grab a drink from the fridge. As I take a sip, JJ says, "You've been pretty busy a lot lately."

"Yeah, and I'm about to be a lot more busy with work and school in a month from now."

"Have you talked to Ava or Deirdre?" he asks.

I look at him. I know JJ didn't just show up to casually ask me all of these questions. What is he getting at? "No," I say, flatly. "Not recently."

JJ moves around the table to get closer to me. "So who has heard from you lately?"

A knot of annoyance twists inside of me. "No one, JJ."

"Really?" He stares at me coldly, sternly. I've never seen that look on JJ's face. He's always bubbly and cheerful, always ready to have a good time. "So you haven't been hanging out with Rafe Cameron?"