Infatuation ~ Rafe Cameron

sixteen

Ward glared at him and tossed the money on the ground, sending it in various directions.

"Oh!" Barry chuckled, "Why'd you do that, huh? Cause if that's my money right there, then, wanna put it in my hand?"

"That's not gonna happen. I paid it, you pick it up."

"Alright." Barry chuckled, "Shit, man, that boy is 19 years old and you and his little girlfriend still taking care of him like he's some little bitch ass baby, hm? That's a damn shame, but I'll take your money." Barry bent down and began to collect it, "Ain't the first time that-"

And Ward kicked him in the ribs. Hard. Kicking him over. Over and over again. And Barry groaned in pain. Payback for burning Rafe. And to take out his anger on something, hell, someone.

Ward turned around to see Rafe standing further back, a terrified look on his face. He was afraid of his dad, he didn't want to admit it, but he was.

"I told you to stay in the goddamn car." Ward walked towards Rafe, "Get your bike."

"I'll pay you back."

Ward stopped walking, "No, Rafe. You won't." Ward continued as the two turned to face each other, "You know why you won't?"

Ward stepped towards him, making Rafe back up in fear, "Because you're a liar. And you're a thief. And you cannot be trusted. And I can't have you in my house son. Don't come home."

Rafe struggled to hold tears back. It hurt him to see and truly understand how much of a disappointment he was to his dad.

"Where do you want me to go?" Rafe asked as Ward walked away, "Dad? Dad?"

Iris.

He would go to Iris' house.

He grabbed his bike and was on his way.

Now, after Iris had spent the day at the Chateau, she and the boys had formed a plan to make Kiara and Sarah reconcile. They tried to force her to partake in it as well, but the main focus was to get Sarah and Kiara to make up, not Iris and Kiara.

"It's funny how when Kiara isn't around, you guys actually like me." Iris said as she rolled up the maps.

"You know that's not true, Campbell."

"We just don't like your boyfriend." Pope chimed in as JJ glanced up at the mention of the word.

"Without Rafe, you're a good person."

"Oh and with Rafe, I'm not?"

"Well, the cocaine thing, that's a bit irresponsible of Rafe to let you-" JJ muttered as she cut him off.

"We're not talking about the drug thing right now." Iris snapped, "Also, not everything is Rafe's fault."

JJ immediately noticed the change in her demeanour and decided not to push it further. She looked hurt that he brought it up and he wondered, could she have a drug problem that wasn't Rafe's fault?

John B cleared his throat, "Okay, um, alright, so meet here at sunset?"

Pope, JJ and Iris nodded. Iris walked out of the Chateau and headed towards her car as the blonde haired Pogue followed.

"Hey, Iris?"

Iris turned around as JJ continued to walk towards her, "Yeah?"

"Look, I'm sorry about my comment back there, uh, it seemed to-"

"It's fine, JJ, really." Iris said, turning around once again and continued to walk to her car.

"Do you, uh, do you have a drug problem, Iris?"

And she stopped dead in her tracks. And her heart pounded.

"Why does it matter, JJ?"

"Because of my comment and the way I've seen you use drugs-"

Iris whipped her head around to him, "You've seen me use drugs once, JJ! And now you think you know me and know if I have a drug problem or not?"

"Once, Iris?" JJ scoffed, "I've seen you at every party over the last few months and all you were doing was literally line after line."

"How did you see me? I always did it in private-"

"Yeah with the door half open or you'd think you were hidden in the corner-oh-and don't get me started on you forgetting to wipe it off of your nose!"

"Oh.."

"My dad is a drug addict, who goes to Barry for drugs, just like you. You wanna know how I know that? Because he tells me every single time that he sees you there, buying drugs or using drugs. You can't hang around people like that, Iris. You can't end up like him." JJ said, not realizing his hands were on either side of her arms.

Iris totally drifted over him saying that she can't end up like his dad. It had a deeper meaning than she knew.

"Your dad?" She paused, "He goes to Barry?"

"Yeah. Luke."

"Right, Luke." Iris nodded as she put the pieces together.

People saw her at Barry's. Word gets around fast in the Outer Banks, she doubted her parents or the Camerons knew, because they would've said something, but what if they knew? She didn't want them to know. They couldn't.

"He didn't, tell anyone else, did he? That he saw me?"

"God, I don't know Iris, but he would always tell me."

"Why? He knows that we weren't exactly friends."

JJ chewed the inside of his cheek and looked down at her with a sigh, "Remember when Pope told you I had a crush on you? Well, once upon a time, I told my dad and now anytime he sees you anywhere, he makes a point of telling me."

Iris chuckled slightly, "I see."

"I'm serious about what I said before. You can't end up like him. You've got so much potential, Iris, don't waste it." JJ said with a smile.

"I won't."

"You promise?" JJ smirked.

"Oh, so we're making promises now?"

"Indeed, we are." JJ stuck out his pinkie finger and she intertwined it with his.

"I promise."

As their blue eyes connected, JJ's eyes glanced down at her lips then back to her eyes. And he wanted to kiss her in that moment. But he couldn't. He couldn't.

He cared about her more than she ever knew. All because his dad filled him in on her life over the last few months. He felt that he knew her, and he did, better than Rafe did at this point, but he couldn't disclose it to her. Not yet.

~