𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕕-𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕕 (JJ)

❷❻

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked and I nodded again, not wanting to falter. "Me? Pssh, I'm great. Can't wait to get on the water," I said, smiling widely as I left the house so he couldn't ask me any more questions.

I walked directly to the van and got in, planning to borrow it for my little trip. I thought about where he might be and realized that Sarah had told me he was kicked out of the house recently. I drove around Figure 8 for a bit, realizing this whole thing might've been hopeless.

I would never be able to find him, there was no chance I could just coincidentally...

Oh, was the Wheezie?

Wheezie Cameron came walking out of some Kook house to my left, and I slowed down as she made her way onto the road with a tan backpack on. She walked away pretty fast, luckily not seeing me as I parked nearby, and I figured there was only one person who could be there.

I walked around the deck with only my hunch guiding me, and when I arrived at the back porch, I saw who I had hoped to see, weirdly enough. I never thought I would want to find Rafe Cameron, but the world was full of surprises.

He stood up quickly, not sure what to do with himself. He looked worse for wear, and by that, I meant he looked awful. "Jesus, what's wrong with you?" I asked a little more bluntly than I wanted to.

He shrugged, awkwardly standing there while I debated on what to say first. "I'm not here to get angry. I'm not over it, but i'm past it," I said and he seemed relieved.

"I wanted to say I was sorry, there was just never a good time," He admitted.

"I don't care, I-"

"No, I just want to say one thing," He said. I nodded, letting him speak before I asked him to help me with my thing.

"I wanted to say sorry. I was... just, such a douche to you. I would say I never wanted that to happen but I was drunk, I probably did want it. I can't say you're not beautiful, that would be a lie, but that's no excuse for me to be an asshole and not listen to you when you rejected me. I'm really fucking sorry, honestly, and this whole summer has been kind of a blur to me," He said.

"You look terrible, Rafe," I said as he scratched the back of his neck after his big apology. I felt bad saying nothing about it, but I didn't know if I was ready to forgive him yet.

"I've been in some deep shit lately," He said shakily, and I looked at the glass table next to us. It had white powder scattered across it and I put two and two together at that point.

"Is it bad?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I don't know what to do anymore," He said, his voice cracking, and I found myself surprisingly feeling bad for him.

"Rafe, I don't know if I can say you're forgiven for what you did, but I can say I appreciate the apology. It takes a lot for you to say that to me, and I'm glad you did. You don't know what I've been through, and what you did to me was traumatizing. I hope you get that," I said, and he nodded.

"I get it. I'm sorry. I wouldn't want anyone doing that to my sisters, and it's no different when it's any other girl," He said.

I smiled to myself at his words. He wasn't redeemed, but it was progress in this obviously fucked up guy.

"I need your help," I said simply, not sure how to segue back to my point. When he nodded to let me know I could continue, I started off.