June's breath hitched in her throat as JJ looked at her from his branch, holding a finger up to his lips and instructing her to stay quiet. She laid her head against the wood of the tree branch, closing her eyes as she got a bad feeling in her stomach. When she reopened her eyes she caught sight of who was there, a gasp falling from her lips as she saw the familiar blonde down below, a gun gripped in his hand.
Rafe Cameron stood in front of their recently put out fire, his eyes flying around the yard as he looked for the Pogues. He let out a sigh, his face contorting into one of anger as he spoke.
"Where the hell are you?" He asked no one in particular, June clapping a hand over her mouth as her breathing started to pick up. She felt the fear cloud her mind, her hand gripping the wood as she tried not to panic. "I know you're around here somewhere June."
Barry pushed out of the front door of the Chateau, glass breaking as he did so.
"Yo! Anything?"
"No. Aint shit in there bro!" Barry said, shaking his head.
"No? Nothing?" Rafe asked.
"No, nothing Rafe."
"They were obviously just here based off the smoke." Rafe yelled, Barry giving him a dry chuckle.
"Yeah yeah , great observation Boy Scout."
"They're not far, you know?" There was an urgency in Rafes tone, the sweat dropping off of his forehead as he yelled at Barry. He had to find them, he had no choice.
"Smokey the bear! Look at you!"
"They gotta be around where somewhere." Rafe said, turning around, his eyes catching onto something carved into the tree.
"P4L." Barry said, Rafe pointing the gun towards the tree, a laugh leaving his lips.
"Well shit." Rafe said, letting out another laugh as he pointed at the carving.
"So your sisters a Pogue for life, huh, Rafe? Now who would've thought?" Barry said, Rafes smile dropping. He stared at the tree, contemplating what to do before finally deciding.
"Shit!" He screamed, June jumping at the sound of his voice. Her lip started to tremble in fear as Rafe lifted the gun. He shot it, the bullet going into the wood and then Barry grabbed his arm, Rafe pulling the trigger again. The bullet whizzed past them all, hitting the wood of the branch JJ was hidden behind. June held her hand over her mouth again, trying not to cry out as she expected them to get caught almost immediately.
"Hey! Rafe chill! Chill your shit! Chill out! You're gonna get our asses busted dawg! Let's bounce! Let's bounce! Let's go!" Barry said, pushing Rafe towards the car. After a few minutes they were gone, June being the first one to drop down from the tree. She ran towards where Rafe had come from, checking to make sure their car was gone before waving for the rest of them to come down.
"Holy shit." June whispered under her breath, the girl holding a hand to her chest as she thought of what could've happened. He was after them and out to kill them, and there was no denying that.
When JJ dropped from the tree she ran over, grabbing him and checking him for any wounds. He was fine, an angry look on his face as he looked at the girl. He had heard what Rafe had said, his question as to where June was exactly. He immediately started to speak, the words slipping out of his mouth before he could even stop them.
"Your brother is crazy Sarah!" JJ said, his voice hot with anger as he looked at the Cameron girl. June walked over again, grabbing him by the arm but he shook it off, turning his attention to her almost immediately.
"And you sure know how to pick them June! First Zach the psycho and now Rafe the psycho!" JJ yelled, all of them looking at him in confusion as he said the last part. June felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach, her eyes widening as she looked at JJ.
"What are you talking about JJ?" June asked, lifting her hands up to the blonde who was clearly livid. He gave her a humorless smile, shaking his head as he ran a hand over his face.
"I know about you and Rafe. You don't even have to worry about lying about it June." JJ yelled, everyone confused as to what he was talking about and why he was yelling. This knowledge had been haunting him for days though, and he considered letting it go until he saw Rafe again, making his blood boil.
"JJ-"
"You're history of exes isn't looking too hot June!"
"Ex?" John B cut in, confusion on his face as he looked between the two. "JJ what are you talking about?"
"Oh you didn't know either? Well join the club. What about you Sarah? Did you know June and Rafe were a thing?" JJ asked. Sarah looked down, her arms crossing over her chest as she kept her mouth shut. Of course she knew.
"Whats he talking about June?" John B asked, shaking his head in confusion as he still didn't quite get what was going on. June's anger started to bubble, her new tendency to have outbursts coming through.
"Yeah what am I talking about June?" JJ asked, his eyes trying to catch hers as she bit the inside of her cheek.
"You don't know what you're talking about JJ. Don't do this. Especially not right now. I just got you back!" June's voice started to raise now, her darkest secret starting to come to light.
"Your brother told me that you and Rafe kissed. Not only that but he said that he beat Rafes ass when he found him...in your bed." JJ said, June scoffing at his words.
"Are you hearing yourself JJ? Do you know who you're talking about?!" June argued, not wanting to give in.
"Something has been nagging at me since I found out. I don't think it was just an innocent little kiss June." JJ said, bringing his hand up to his chin. "No, no I think you fucked him."
June was taken aback by his words, her heart clenching as his eyes bore into hers. There were some things that she never wanted anyone to find out, some things that were meant to stay a secret.
"Fuck this. I'm not doing this." June said, shaking her head at JJ.
"I just wanna know the truth June! Did you or did you not fuck Rafe?!" JJ yelled, not quite sure if he actually wanted to know. He felt like he already knew the truth, his mind hoping that he was wrong.
"J let up a bit. Trust me, don't do something you're gonna regret." John B tried to cut in, shaking his head at the blonde as he saw the hurt between the two.
"No no, please...I wanna know. Tell me." JJ pleaded, his lip curling up in disgust as he looked at the expression on her face. It was so obvious.
"JJ let up-"
"No! June did you fuck Rafe Cameron or not?!" The girl finally had enough, the words flying out of her mouth before she could even stop them.
"What do you want me to say?! Yeah I did! I dated him for three months and fucked him. Repeatedly. Now what?! You happy?" She said, her hand flying up to her mouth as JJ stopped, his body coming to a halt where it stood. He looked for words in his vocabulary that could hurt her as much as he was hurting right now, but no matter what he couldn't find anything that would damage her as badly as he was right now.
"I knew it. God I'm so stupid. I should've seen it!"
"Fuck you JJ. It's none of your business what happened between me and Rafe if I don't want to tell you." They had never argued like this, they had never argued period. If you put two ticking time bombs into the same room, you get twice the explosion.
"We're gonna...go over here." Sarah said, grabbing John B by the arm and pulling him away quickly.
"Fine fuck you too." June called after them, her heart beating rapidly as she felt a weight lift off her chest. She had told the truth, now she had to see if she could handle the damage.
"It was two years ago JJ! Two years. Why are you so angry?" June cried, shaking her head as she looked at him.
"You lied to me! You did. You know what you told me. You lied."
"What are you more angry about huh? Me lying about being virgin or just the fact that it was Rafe?" June spit out, gritting her teeth as she said Rafes name.
"You know if it was anyone else, anybody else...I wouldn't care." JJ said, his voice lowering in defeat as he looked at her. He had feared that it wasn't true, that she wasn't connected to Rafe in that way, but now that he looked back at it all it seemed to make sense.
"I don't have to apologize for something that happened 2 years ago. I'm sorry for lying, but Rafes not a good guy, that's why I never said anything. To anyone." June said, closing her eyes as she started to actually explain.
"Okay." JJ said, his lip trembling as he looked at June, wanting to know only one more thing. "Just one more thing."
"Anything. Anything JJ. I'm sorry. I don't want to fight." June said, closing the space between them and grabbing his face. He melted into her hands, feeling relief as he was finally home but he just had to know. He had to ask.
"Did you love him?" JJ asked, his eyes finally meeting hers. The look behind her eyes told him everything he wanted to know, her lips parting as she fell speechless.
June had loved Rafe. She had fell for him hard, the boy falling harder during their summer romance. She recalled their trips to the beach, their late night endeavors, and the fact that Rafe could actually be sweet and kind. She did love him.
"I knew it." JJ said, pulling his face from her grip.
"No JJ. It was two years ago, I was 15. He was my first boyfriend. You gotta understand-"
"You still have feelings for him don't you? That's why everything he does and did effects you so much. That's why you're always so angry and afraid of him. Because you still have feelings for him?" JJ connected the dots, his eyebrows furrowing as she didn't answer him. June's mouth dropped open again the girl unable to come to a conclusion because she didn't know. Her silence answered the question for him, his eyes narrowing as he took another step back from her.
"You do! What's that 4 guys now? Me, Zach, this mystery Tyler guy that John B told me about, and now Rafe? Who's next huh? John B? Pope?" June's lips tightened into a thin line as she realized she couldn't argue with him. He was right. "He's a murderer! Are you insane?! He's the reason we're in all this! God this is pathetic." His words stung, June feeling them seep into her soul, tears coming to her eyes as John B and Sarah started to hear them arguing again.
"All you kooks are the same! Too stuck up each other's asses to realize that you're doing something wrong! As long as he's rich and has money you don't care what he did! Huh!" JJ shouted, June still unable to defend herself. JJ felt the betrayal in his chest as John B went over, knowing this was about to go downhill for the two.
"I'm not a kook anymore." She whimpered out, not feeling confident. He let out a humorless laugh, his eyes filled with hurt and betrayal as he glared at her.
"You will never be a Pogue June. You'll always be a greedy, lying kook." His words hurt more than her gunshot wound, more than her drowning and more than her falling off of a roof. It was the deepest pain she had ever felt. She cursed herself for letting him get to her, the only person that truly mattered in her life anymore. The words hurt, but the words coming from JJs mouth, of all people...unbearable. How had this all escalated so quickly? John Bs eyes widened as he saw the words cut into June's skin, her expression changing immediately.
The tear slipped from her eye, JJ immediately regretting everything as he saw the look on her face. No matter how angry he was, he was wrong for treating her like this. He stepped forwards, reaching out to grab her arm as his eyes widened.
"June I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." He said, grabbing her arm. She ripped her arm from his grip, her lip trembling as she looked at him with more hurt than she thought she could ever possibly feel.
"Yes you did." She said, turning on her heel and sprinting away. JJ went to chase after her, John B pushing him back and shaking his head.
"Not cool JJ. I told you to stop." John B said, holding his friend in place before sucking in a breath. "Let me talk to her. I'll try and make things better." John B let go of JJ, disappearing into the darkness after June. The blonde was left to himself, the boy pulling his hat from his head and looking down at it. He thought of all the thing she had said, closing his eyes as he realized how stupid he was. She was with him. She chose him. He was the one that had just pushed her away. He had had an outburst, for no kindness of reason. He was letting everything good slip through his fingers once again.
"Dammit! Why can't I ever just keep my mouth shut?!" He yelled throwing his hat on the ground and closing his eyes. He had done something so ridiculously stupid, putting a wedge between the two of them. He felt the tears gather in his own eyes as he realized he overreacted, realizing how much his words truly hurt June. He couldn't believe himself for what he had done, how he had hurt her so soon after getting her back. How he had let anger get the best of him. He hated himself for how he had hurt her, hated himself for making her feel so small.