𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢. fiducia

She hadn't had a conversation with Rafe since the night of the kegger, almost two months earlier. So much had changed since then. Sometimes, more than she chose to admit, Red wondered what it would be like if she didn't go surfing the night of Agatha. She never would have met JJ or any of the pogues, and she wouldn't even be involved.

Red took a long shower, just enough to wash herself and her hair off and a few extra moments to relax for a short minute or so. Then, she clothed herself in the silk and opened the white door leading to the bedroom.

Rafe turned his head towards her for a moment but soon turned back towards the window where he stood glaring at the patio below. Red set down her old clothes and hesitantly walked over to his side.

"What are you thinking?" Red cleared her throat, looking down at the boring and empty patio. Rafe didn't respond but instead kept his eyes fixated below. "Rafe."

Rafe finally turned his head towards her, "Why are you talking to me? You made it pretty clear to Carlos that we weren't friends."

"Well of course not," Red replied, crossing her arms. "But as much as I hate to admit it, we have to have each other's back, especially now. We only have a day."

Red had a plan. One she hoped would work. She needed to get Rafe to trust her again because once she did, then she might be able to trust him. She needed to get close to him. She needed to make sure that he wasn't holding the grudge Red had hesitantly decided to let go of. He had nothing to be mad about, she did. But Red needed to make him trust her, or getting out of there would be near impossible.

Red took a breath, preparing her ultimatum. "Look, I know that we're definitely not friends. And I know that you probably hate being here just as much as I do. But I need to trust you, and you need to trust me."

"And how exactly am I going to do that? You pogues tried to take everything from me. You tried to put me in jail." Rafe spat, clearly off to a rough start with the whole grudge thing.

"And you shot the sheriff and blamed it on John B." Red fired back. "Now, we're even. "Rafe, I need you to be reasonable here. This is serious."

Rafe exhaled deeply, sitting down on the edge of the bed and laying his head in his hands. "Ok, ok. Fine."

"Ok." Red shrugged, looking around the room once more before taking a seat next to Rafe on the bed. "So... where's the cross?"

"I don't know, where's the diary."

"I told you I don't have it."

"Right."

"Rafe, I told you, the first thing you have to do is trust me," Red spoke, already losing her patience with the boy. "Here... we can... play a game or something."

"A game?" Rafe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It was the only way Red knew how to get closer to someone. She liked to play a game of questions with new people so she could get a better understanding of them. You start off with simple questions and gradually break the ice and get into deeper questions. All she needed was for him to get comfortable with talking to her.

"Yeah... like icebreakers," Red replied. Rafe rolled his eyes non-subtly, but Red returned the gesture and went along anyway. "I'll start." She thought for a moment. She needed a generic icebreaker question besides 'What's your favorite color' because that was just stupid. "What's been happening... y'know, with you. In the OBX."