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tw: HEAVY SEXUAL CONTENT, violence, DARK themes
That was the thing about being so mistreated by everyone in your life. Cruelty was normal. And if someone stopped being cruel, you might accidentally mistake them for being nice.
Rafe stopped being cruel, so Jaime mistook that for him becoming a better person.
It was five days after her surprise car ride home that Country Club finally made his way back to the trailer.
Jaime was in the outfit Barry was insisting on, the tank top and shorts. It was revealing, and she felt practically naked sometimes, but it honestly kept her cooler during the Outer Banks summer. She spotted Rafe coming, saw his truck through the window of her bedroom. She'd just finished off an older gentleman. As soon as he left, she grabbed the necklace Rafe had given her and put it on.
She'd hidden it from Barry, not having taken it out of her closet since the day she got it, knowing he'd take it if he saw it. But she put it on now, hiding it beneath the low cut top the best she could.
Without surprise, she heard a knock a few moments later. Barry entered.
"Yo, Country Club's here," Barry mumbled cautiously. "He wants to head back. That alright?."
Jaime leaned against the dresser. Slowly, she nodded. "...Okay."
"I'll sit on the couch right outside the door," he told her. "In case ya need me."
When Rafe entered, she noticed this time he didn't try to lock the door behind him.
"Hey," he breathed. He hadn't used today. At least, not yet. She could tell by his innocently sober eyes.
She didn't know how to start, still feeling an anxious prickle at them being alone together. Especially considering what happened last time in this room. So she just asked, "Do you...want my top off?"
"No," he said quickly. "I mean, I wasn't-" He sat on the bed. "Can you come over?"
She glanced at the door, double checking it wasn't locked. She slowly walked and sat beside him on the bed. He started fumbling with his belt, then stopped, like he wasn't even sure what he wanted to do. "I, uh, I wanted to say sorry again. For last time." He pulled something out of the large pocket of his khaki shorts. "I, uh...here." It was scrunched up, wrapped with a rubber band to make it smaller.
She glanced down, the light blue color catching her eye. He handed it over and she unfolded it, snapping the rubber band to fully spread it out.
A shirt.
A work shirt.
The kind she needed replaced.
"My dad has a lot of those, the same color as yours, out in his own shop," Rafe told her. "Same type I think."
