"My heart doesn't know what it wants"
--☆--☆--☆--
Rafe and Emerson walked hand in hand onto the golf course where Topper was happily waiting for the new couple. He of course knew why Rafe had gone to the Rhodes' house that morning and he knew what the outcome would be. So when he saw two of his closest friends walking hand in hand he was glad that something was able to go right.
"There they are," Topper shouted at the two kooks, "the new couple." Emerson laughed as Rafe twirled her around, showing her off.
"I have to go grab my clubs, I'll be right back," Rafe said as he let go of Emerson's hand.
"Okay," She smiled just as he walked away.
"So?" Topper asked as he walked up to the brunette. "How was it?"
"Well my parents are happy," Emerson laughed, "and so am I," she added.
"Good, I'm glad," Topper nodded as he lined himself up to hit the first ball. "Everyone's been waiting for this."
"Trust me, I know," Emerson said with a smile. "I just... I can't believe it's actually happening, you know? This moment, me and Rafe, my parents have wanted this forever and now it's actually happening. I didn't know if it would ever happen, you know since I was with..."
Topper nodded understandingly, knowing whose name she was about to say. He looked down, not really wanting to talk about it either. "You and Rafe will be great at Midsummers. Everyone will be talking about you."
"Do you ever find that weird?" Emerson asked, the question coming out before she could stop it. "The fact that everyone seems to know our business, and actually wants to hear about it."
"We're like the celebrities of OBX," Topper laughed, realizing what Emerson said was true.
"Right, celebrities," she nodded.
"Hey where'd you go last night? I just kind of assumed you'd stay over since you were pretty wasted."
Emerson stood quietly for a moment and that's when it hit her. JJ was the one who brought her home. He was the one who tucked her into bed. He was the one who held her hair back when she threw up. "I uh... I must've walked," She laughed quietly. As the realization sunk in she couldn't stop thinking about JJ.
"Oh," It was clear that Topper didn't believe her, but he didn't get a chance to question her further since Rafe arrived with two golf clubs in hand. One for him and one for Emerson. "Man that party was insane," Topper said as the three kooks began to walk through the golf course. "I mean, my first thought when we did the line was... bro do we have enough? It was crazy," He laughed.
"I know, right? That was good shit," Rafe agreed.
"I know," Topper said, clearly more excited about the whole ordeal.
"Hey, you, uh... you didn't tell Sarah, did you?" Topper asked, glancing between Rafe and Emerson.
"Are you kidding me, man? The way she runs her mouth?" Rafe said as he prepared his form to hit the golf ball. "Hell no. And she," he gestured to Emerson, "won't tell her either."
"I won't tell her," Emerson said quietly, even though she did want to tell Sarah.
"Thanks," he said coming to stand beside the girl. "I guess we can add this onto the list of things we're hiding from Sarah," He whispered, quiet enough that Rafe couldn't hear him.
"Shut up Topper," Emerson whispered in a much more stern voice.
"Why are you two whispering?" Rafe asked, with a concerted look on his face.
He absolutely hated the idea of Emerson keeping secrets from him. He hated the way Topper just looked at her. He hated being kept out of the loop. If there was something keeping Emerson away from him, Rafe wanted to know about it.
"No reason," She said with a smile before shooting a glare in Topper's direction.
"Right. Let's just play," He added just before he hit the ball in the direction of a helpless group of golfers.
"Hey, come on, now!" One of the men shouted.
"Shut up!"
"Rafe," Emerson scolded as she waved her hand apologetically towards the group of men. "I'm bored," Emerson announced.
"We just started baby," Rafe told her.
"Baby?" She questioned, with a small laugh.
Rafe looked at her with wide eyes, like he didn't realize the nickname had slipped out. "Y-Yeah," He chuckled.
"I like it," she told him, then Topper groaned from a few feet away.
"We get it," Topper announced. "You're in love. I don't need to see it," He said.
"Don't need to see what?" Rafe asked with a mischievous smirk on his face. "This?" He pulled Emerson towards him and planted a kiss on her. She accepted the kiss but didn't let it go farther since Topper groaned in annoyance again.
An idea popped into Emerson's head as she turned towards Rafe. "If we leave now we can do more than kiss," She whispered in his ear.
He smirked letting out a laugh as he looked down at her. "I can't leave yet," He told her. "Patience baby."
Emerson let out a sigh of annoyance, she should've known better than to think Rafe would give up golf that easily. "I'm going to the bathroom," She told the two boys. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
"No promises," Rafe said, quickly kissing Emerson's cheek and watching as she walked away. Emerson had only been gone for a couple seconds before something else caught the kook king's attention. "Whoa, whoa," Rafe said as something caught his eye.
"Hey, what?" Topper asked as he turned his head to see what Rafe had his eye on.
"I don't think he's a member," Rafe wondered aloud.
"It's fine, just- just let him go," Topper said, trying to take Rafe's attention away from the pogue. "All right, let's, uh... let's go find Emerson. Come on."
"They put a gun to your head, bro," Rafe reminded him.
"That's fine. It's fine. Let's go," Topper said, sounding more worried than he was a moment ago. Rafe shook his head then began walking towards Pope. "Hey, Rafe. Rafe! Let's get your ball, man." Topper called after him.
"Hey, what's up man." Rafe said, approaching Pope. "Hey, how much for one of those beers?" Rafe placed his golf club in front of Pope, stopping him in his tracks.
"They're not for sale." Pope said calmly. He tried to walk past Rafe but he pushed back making it so Pope couldn't move.
"Oh, wait, wait. You can just give us one, then, right?" Rafe asked, feigning politeness.
"Or you can order one, like everybody else," Pope told him, not wanting to mess around with the kooks any longer.
"Listen. Wait, wait. You're not listening to me. Um... you've got so many, bro, and we've got nothing." Rafe said, shrugging his shoulders lightly.
"Nothin'" Topper added.
"They're not even mine. They're already paid for" Pope said standing up a little bit straighter
"Already paid for?" Rafe put his golf club into the bag that was in Pope's hand. "What the hell? You probably stole 'em, right?" He pulled his club down breaking the bag, allowing all of its contents to fall to the floor.
"What the hell!" Pope yelled. "You owe me for that!"
"Oh!" Rafe yelled before knocking the other bag out of Pope's hand. "Dude, I don't owe you shit, Pogue."
"Buy your own shit!" Pope yelled, pushing Rafe away from him.
"Hey, come on, man. We just want one of these beers! Just give us one of these-" Topper said, trying to move to grab a beer.
"You guys are freaking crazy!" Pope shouted as he tried desperately to hold onto the case full of beers.
"Just give us a beer, man!" Topper shouted. The kook managed to grab onto the case but in doing so he shoved Pope onto the ground. "Shit! Shit, my bad man." Topper laughed as he stepped away from Pope who was groaning in pain on the floor.
Pope stood up and tried to swing at Topper, he was not prepared to let the kooks take yet another victory away from the pogue. But just as he went in for the punch Rafe stepped forward and swung his gold club right into Pope's stomach. Pope held his stomach in pain and before he could try to stand back up Rafe swung the club again, this time hitting Pope's back.
"Hey! Rafe, Rafe. Come on man" Topper said as he attempted to get Rafe away from Pope.
"Stay down, bitch!" Rafe shouted.
"Hey, let's go!" Topper shouted. "Let's go, man!"
"What, man?" Rafe asked, annoyed by Topper trying to help a pogue.
"Knock it off, man," Topper said, his voice shaking slightly. "Let's just go."
Rafe shook his head and lifted the golf club up over Pope. He let out a loud yell and brought the club down, slamming into the ground beside Pope.
"Seriously. Rafe!"
Rafe just laughed when he saw the fear in Topper's eyes then bent over Pope who was still laying on the ground in pain. He hit the side of Pope's face, trying to get his attention. "We don't want you over here. Got that? Stay off figure eight, pogue" he spat before standing up and walking away taking the beer with him. "See ya! Top, let's go! Topper stood still for a moment, looking at the pain Rafe caused. "Hey, let's go!"
"Shit," Topper whispered as he bent down picking up his golf club.
"Hey, you want a beer?" Rafe asked, laughing as he continued to walk away from the hurt pogue. Once they got closer to the office building they found Emerson walking back out towards them. Her face twisted in confusion when she saw the case of beers under Rafe's arm.
"Where'd you get these?" She asked once she reached them.
Topper nervously looked at Rafe who just smiled as he opened the can and handed it to Emerson. "I got them for you," Rafe told her.
Emerson glanced over at Topper who now had a forced smile on his face as he took one of the beers for himself. The brunette had no reason to think the two boys had hurt someone to get the beer, so she took one with a smile on her face.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
After the boys spent another hour golfing they all decided to call it a day and go home. Emerson decided to go with Rafe so she could find her best friend and find out where she disappeared to at the party.
Emerson knocked on Sarah's door, seconds later the door opened revealing a nervous looking Sarah. Without saying another word Emerson stepped forward, embracing her best friend in a hug that she desperately needed.
"What happened?" Emerson asked softly.
"I said yes to Topper," Sarah told her and Emerson instantly knew what she meant, "but in the end I couldn't go through with it."
"He got mad at you, didn't he?"
"It was awful," Sarah said as the two of them walked into Sarah's room, closing the door behind them. The two of them sat down on the bed just as Sarah continued to talk. "He had been so sweet all day and I really thought that it was the right thing to do."
"So what changed your mind?"
"He told me that he loved me. And I, I don't know, I just panicked."
"Well, do you love him?" Emerson asked, even though part of her already knew the answer. She knew Sarah like she knew the back of her hand, so there were often times she knew things before Sarah could even realize them.
Sarah let out a quiet sigh then shook her head, "no. I don't know," She let out another sigh before shaking her head and turning towards her best friend. "Let's talk about something else," she requested.
"Um..." Emerson paused trying to think of something, "I'm going to Midsummers with Rafe."
"You are?"
"Yeah..."
"So are you guys like officially dating now?" Sarah asked.
"All he did was ask me to Midsummers, he didn't ask me to be his girlfriend. But you know how these things work."
"I know I'm going to regret asking this but did you guys... like do anything?"
Emerson didn't answer right away as she quickly glanced around the room giving Sarah the answer she was looking for. "It almost happened yesterday," Emerson said, not wanting to keep anything from her best friend. "Are you weirded out? You're weirded out. It's weird, right?"
"I mean it'll take some getting used to," Sarah told her, "but if you're happy I am too." Emerson glanced down, giving Sarah a reason to be confused. "Emerson?"
The Rhodes girl let out a sigh as she turned to face Sarah. "I don't know if I'm happy," She said slowly, not knowing if she wanted to admit this outloud. "My parents, Rafe's happy, but-"
"Your heart isn't in it?" Sarah asked, finishing her best friend's sentence.
Emerson shook her head, "I don't know what my heart wants," "Now there's the thing with JJ..."
"Wait a minute? JJ, the pogue?" Sarah asked and Emerson nodded. "What the hell happened with JJ?"
"Oh, I've got a lot to catch you up on," Emerson sighed.
"I'm ready."
Emerson let out a quiet laugh then began telling Sarah everything that happened between her and JJ. Despite her embarrassment she started with their hook up the summer before, immediately causing Sarah to go on a rant about how she was shocked Emerson didn't tell her the day after it happened.
"You didn't tell me?!"
"I was embarrassed," Emerson told her. "It was just a kiss, it didn't mean anything."
"It did mean something, Em. If it didn't then you wouldn't be so freaked out."
Once Sarah finally calmed down she allowed Emerson to continue, she told her the truth about their argument after the kegger, what happened outside Heywards, and how JJ drove her home after Topper's party.
"That's uh..." Sarah paused, still trying to digest all the information, "I still can't believe you didn't tell me."
"Sarah!" Emerson groaned, wanting her friend's input about what to do.
"Okay, okay. Well, do you like him?"
"No," She answered quickly but when she saw the look on Sarah's face she let out a quiet sigh. "Maybe? I don't know?"
Emerson's answer concerned Sarah. She had expected her best friend to give her a definite no, she wasn't expecting Emerson Rhodes, kook princess, to wonder if she was falling for a pogue. Sarah had never seen Emerson question herself like this before and Sarah knew that Emerson did like JJ Maybank, no matter how much she'd attempt to deny it.
"Well do you like Rafe?"
"I love him."
"Are you in love with him?" Sarah corrected her.
"I... want to be," Emerson answered and Sarah couldn't help but gag at her answer. "That's not helping."
"I know. I know," Sarah groaned. "Do you still want to be with Rafe, even after the JJ thing?" Sarah asked. "Like actually want to be with him? And don't say yes if you're just saying it because your parents would want you to."
"I think so," Emerson answered. "I mean, yes. I want to be with him, I think I'm just... figuring things out."
Sarah let out a sigh, trying to figure out what to do. She never thought she'd be in this situation, this was a mystery for both of them. They've always done what they were told, they never let their feelings get in the way of their parent's dreams. But more and more their feelings have decided to make an annoying appearance in their lives.
"Are you still going to Midsummers with him?"
"Yes of course," Emerson answered without giving it a second thought. "This thing with JJ is probably just because he helped me last night. What I'm... feeling probably is just temporary."
"Em-"
"These feelings won't last," Emerson stated, like she was forcing herself to believe them. "They won't. Me and Rafe, that's... that's forever. And that's what matters. The thing with JJ will be forgotten in a day... hopefully."
A soft knock on the door caught the attention of both girls and they turned right as the door opened, letting Rafe into the room.
"Hey," Emerson smiled, trying to keep that internal panic out of her head.
"Hey," Rafe walked beside her, noticing that something was different. He glanced over at Sarh but she didn't give him any information to go off of. Rafe put his arm around Emerson, in an attempt to comfort her. "You okay?"
She turned her head, looking up at him. He was Rafe, her Rafe. The boy who protected her from her first bully, and tried to make her laugh when she was sad. A smile formed on her face as she nodded her head. "Of course. Everything's perfect."
(edited 2/25/2023)