𝐧𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞- 𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

20.

I woke up, reaching over for my phone. It was 9:30am. Rafe was beside me still asleep with his arm loosely hanging around my waist. Soft snores escaped his lips, heavy breaths following after them. He was a light sleeper, because the moment his phone dinged, he stirred awake.

He smiled lazily down at me, recalling last nights events. Hating to admit it to his face, I kept it in my head, admiring his cute morning face. His hair dangled in his face and his eyes were still adjusting to the brightness of the sun peeking through the window.

"Good morning." He yawned, his raspy morning voice sending me shivers.

"Good morning." I stretched.

He pulled away from me, my body going cold again. He picked up his phone, a frown etched onto his face as he read what was on screen.

"What?" I hummed.

"The cops are at my house." Rafe read. "My dad texted me."

I sat up, reaching over to be nosy again, reading the text to myself. "How did they figure it out?"

"They got the gun." Rafe said, another text message coming through. "The Pogues fucking got it."

"It was on the desk." I remembered. That was how our whole argument started.

"It was the wrong one." Rafe rubbed his eyes, standing up.

"Wrong one? How many guns do you fucking have?" I asked.

Rafe was suddenly pacing the room, his hand behind his head. He sat back down, deciding what he was going to do. "I have to go take care of something."

"Rafe, your dad told you to stay where you are now. He doesn't know where you are, and neither do the cops." I pointed out. "There's no reason to go to him."

"I have to do something." He repeated. "Just stay here, okay?"

I hated the way he was talking to me like a baby, but in order for this to work, we had to listen to each other and trust the process. So I nodded without arguing.

He stood up, grabbing a shirt from his bag. He pulled it over his head, taking his phone from the table. "I'll be back. Apply more ointment to your bruises."

He leaned in, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I was shocked, but didn't get the chance to comment on it before he shut the door behind him.

I waited for hours. I scrolled through my phone, got breakfast, watched relentless episodes of Impractical Jokers. It was a nice laugh, I suppose. I waited for a text from Rafe, almost scared he left me for good. I took a shower and got lunch at 12:30pm. It was so slow.

Eventually the door opened again, Rafe storming into the room quickly with a backpack clinging to his back. He shut the door, dropping onto the bed in front of where I sat. He took something out of his pocket, sprawling it against the bed covers. He was moving frantically, high off his ass.

"I got money." He looked up in front of me. There had to be hundreds if not thousands there.

"Where the fuck did you get this?" I gasped. "Where did you go? You're fucking high."

"It doesn't matter. I can get us out of here." He breathed, out of breath.

"What's on your face." I gently place my hands on his chin, turning his face gently. I covered my mouth, a large bruise sitting on the side of his jaw. "Rafe... what did you do?"

I could only imagine where he went and who he ran into. He went to Barry's for help, Ward found him, beat the shit out of him, then continued to lie and promise to get him out of this.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not leaving you, come on." Rafe gathered the money.

"Where are we going?"

"We'll go to Wilmington tonight." He held up the stack of money. "We'll take a boat. We have to stay hidden, too. We have to go to my dads old office where there's a car. From there, we'll drive to Raleigh. Then we'll go to McClintock Aviation. My dad will charter us a plane somewhere safe. He agreed, okay? He's not going to make you turn yourself in. Right now, they're too wrapped up in this case. Trevor's case is going unsolved. They can't find evidence."

He told me he'd be back, and here he is, back from where I assumed was Barry's place. Except he's high from drugs and his mind was going rapid.

"Rafe." I said, gaping down at the money Ward gave him. "I can't. I can't leave my parents."

Rafe sweared, pacing again. His eyes were wild from the drugs, practically rolling into the back of his head. In any second I thought he was going to pass out on the floor.

"What did you do?" I whispered.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, sniffling. "I thought I was going to get better. I tried."

"Okay. Rafe, it's okay." I stood in front of him, placing my hands on either side of his face. "You're doing good. You'll prove to me and yourself that you're doing better."

He dropped his face, shaking his head. "Please, Atallia." He pleaded. "Barry's out front waiting."

"I can't leave."

I couldn't be by my parents right now or any of my friends, but I wasn't about to leave the state or country and never be seen a again. I had a life ahead of me, and although I ruined that the moment I killed Trevor, I wasn't going to leave everything behind.

"I'm going to get caught." He worried.

I couldn't stop him from leaving. I could tell him to go right now and leave OBX for good. To leave and never come back so he wouldn't get arrested. That way, if I get caught, then he'd be out of it. He could make a life elsewhere. If I go with him, we could live the life together. But two murderers spending a lifetime together was unrealistic.

"I'm not leaving without you. I'm not." He dropped his face into the crook of my neck, tears dripping onto my skin.

I hugged him tightly, unsure of what to say. He was there to comfort me when I needed it, but I can't comfort him when he needs it.

"Go. Okay? Get out of OBX, and once this is all figured out then we'll meet up." I suggested.

Who knew when this will all be figured out. Murder on top of murder, it was all piling up. He needed to leave, though. Leave this town, leave his abusive father, fly to a far off place and make a new life. It wasn't his fault he murdered Peterkin. He did it for his father. He thought he was doing something good. In his eyes, it was almost like self defense.

"We can't stay in a hotel forever." Rafe motioned around him, lifting his head again. His eyes were puffy and his face was red.

There was pounding at the door and screaming on the other side. "Open up!"

The two of us froze, coming to our senses. Rafe shoved me towards the window, ordering for me to climb onto the small roof below. I shook my head, daring to open the door for the cops on the other side.

I opened the blinds, spotting all the cop cars in the parking lot. Barry was sitting in the middle of it all, his arms crossed over his chest. That fucker!

The door bursted opened, guns waving in the air. I screamed in surprise, the door banging against the wall. I held my arms up, Rafe doing the same. I wasn't sure where Rafe put the gun, but right now, I prayed he left it elsewhere.

"Get down on your knees!"

Rafe looked back at me, shaking his head. Shoupe placed the handcuffs around Rafe's wrists, forcing him to his feet. All I could do was watch.