(tw: violence.)
"Do you want me to stop, Celeste?" Rafe asks a second time, gripping me harder in anticipation of my answer.
My breath gets caught up in my throat. I don't want him to stop; I don't want him to ever stop. I want him to hold me the way he is now, and kiss me so hard that neither of us can breathe. But I can't. Too much is holding me back.
"I-" I begin, but he puts his thumb on my lips, shushing me up almost immediately. He gazes down in focus at my lips as he runs his thumb down my lower lip, pulling it down slightly.
"You don't want me to stop, do you?" He says, a smirk fighting its way onto his mouth.
I don't. Don't stop, Rafe.
"I want you to stop." I finally gasp out, pressing against his chest to distance us more.
Please, don't stop.
His face is etched with hurt, and after a while of searching my eyes for answers, he releases me and breaks eye contact with me. A deep pit seems to start forming at the bottom of my stomach. He brings the joint up to his lips again, and I wish that he would at least look at me.
But he keeps his gaze trained at the door. With a swift motion, he has picked up his suit and tie and is leaving the room without another word. My mouth opens to call him back, but words can't form from the thickness in my throat.
I stand alone in the study and bite back the tears that are forcing their way from my eyes.
Oh god. I realize with a jolt. The plan.
I leave the house in a rush and find that everyone has already left their positions and gone to the secret location. I curse under my breath, angry that I could let Rafe distract me from what's most important.
I run as fast as my feet can carry me to the Hawk's Nest, where John B should be receiving Sarah's map by now. But my heart stops as I see what has happened when I reach the destination. John B is sprawled on the ground helplessly, Sarah and the rest of the group huddled around him in worry.
I look up to the Hawk tower, where a shadow of a person stands, looking down at John B. The border of the tower has broken off, and I piece together quickly that John B has fallen down from all the way up there.
I run over to him, and gasp loudly at his unconscious state.
"What happened?" I ask to a crying Kie, who shakes her head and points up.
I squint upward at the shadowy figure, and realize in horror that it's Topper. Guilt floods every inch of my body.
If I hadn't let Topper leave, we wouldn't be in this situation right now. If I hadn't let Rafe distract me like that, I would've gotten here in time to help.
This is all my fault.
"John B, stay with me." Sarah sobs, wrapping her arms around his head and cradling him against her lap.
She cups his face, and with tears streaming down her face, presses a soft kiss to his lips. I step back in shock.
No, it can't be. Him and Sarah?
What have you gotten yourself into, John B?
˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚
"Hey, so like, do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope asks, propping his arms behind his head.
I plop my legs onto the restaurant table and look wistfully out the window onto the deck.
John B sighs and sits down next to me. "I don't know, Pope."
JJ hands a cup of beer that he stole from the kitchen to Kie, who frowns at him in disappointment. "What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?"
"Does it come with a sweater vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?" Pope adds in.
I try and fail to not snort in laughter, despite the seriousness of the situation. John B recovered just fine after the fall, and right after got adopted by Ward Cameron, Sarah's rich Kook dad.
Kie leans onto the table with her fists. "Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her."
JJ butts in, as usual. "Bro. Just own it, she got you."
"Look, if you want to hang out with her, that's fine." Kie continues. "But I'm letting you know right now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah."
"Do you see her here right now? No, alright? So let's focus on what's important." John B snaps.
Kie narrows her eyes before turning her attention to the map on the table in front of us.
"We have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." Pope says, tracing the eraser of his pencil against the yellow paper.
"Old forts?" John B suggests.
Kie looks up in realization. "Battery Jasper."
Pope's finger points at the collection of ancient forts clustered next to Parcel 9.
"If this is Parcel 9," He points at it, "Then it's northeast of here. So, we're just looking for an old stone wall."
We leave the restaurant and hop into John B's dingy mom van, making our way over to Parcel 9. But it soon dawns onto me that the direction that we're driving just so happens to be.. the Crain house.
"Not the Crain house." I groan as we reach the stone wall right outside the house, getting out of the car.
"Worst case scenario." JJ agrees, standing next to me and gazing beyond the tall overgrown bushes and into the house.
"Here, out of all places." Pope says.
˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚˚
"...Parcel 9 has been in the basement of the Crain house this whole time." JJ concludes, summarizing everything that we found.
It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about that place, the rotting smell and the stories that I've heard about the woman who lives there. It wasn't a very enjoyable place, that's for sure.
"So what, now she's in on it?" Kie relents, pacing the front porch. She motions to Sarah, who sits on the John B's couch.
"Look, all I care about is that your cut comes out of your share." JJ says, pointing at John B. He rolls his eyes in response.
"I don't remember taking a vote!" Kie yells, getting angrier by the second.
But I have to admit, her anger is for good reason. John B can't just pop Sarah into our lives as if she isn't the Kook princess and expect us to trust her. It's unfair for all of us, especially Kie.
"This is our thing." Kie adds on, "A Pogue thing."
I nod in support.
"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." Pope comments.
"Thank you!" Kie says.
"When are you not?" John B snaps back at him.
"You know, we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her here." I say, waving my hand lazily at Sarah who death glares me.
I smirk slightly at her anger.
"Stop talking about me as if I'm not here!" She relents.
"Then leave." Kie mocks, sneering at her.
Kie bites her lip and I see her eye twitch slightly in pure annoyance. I can tell she's just fed up. And the guys taking this as a joke is not helping.
"It's Kie or Sarah." I say finally.
"I'm not doing this." John B exclaims. "I can't!"
"You are gonna decide." Kie says. "And soon. Because my patience is running out." She stands up in a huff and leaves.
Pope and JJ click their tongues, putting away the money they had pulled out to bet on who was going to win.
"I'm leaving." Sarah says, standing up and leaving as well.
I watch her leave and sigh loudly. "That was spectacular, John B. Really loved the way that ended."
I toss him the keys and he catches it with one hand.
"See ya." I say, making my way out of John B's house and to the post office.
My head spins as I walk along the cold, night lit boardwalk of the beach, partly shocked from everything that happened last night. I feel so guilty that I wasn't there to stop Topper from hurting John B.
It isn't safe for you to be talking to Rafe like this. I condescend myself. I've already caused so much harm; I can't risk hurting the people I love most just for a silly relationship, especially one with a Kook.
I'm not going to talk to him again, I decide with a heavy heart.
Nobody can get hurt because of me, not anymore. Besides, it for the best on all accounts. No one will know about what happened. Based off of how the gang reacted to John B's relations to Sarah, there would be no mercy if they knew about what happened with Rafe, who is their literal worst enemy.
"Umph!" A loud grunt erupts from my right, and I immediately duck down behind to bushes to peek through and see what's happening.
My eyes widen as I catch glimpse of Barry getting flattened to the ground by Ward Cameron, who has fury burning in his eyes. I hunker down lower, scared of what he might do to me if he were to see me.
I lose the ability to breathe as I see Rafe standing behind him, a look of pure horror written all across his face.
He definitely didn't see that coming either.
Ward turns around and almost seems surprised to see Rafe.
"I told you to stay in the goddamn car," He murmurs in a way that sends cold chills down my spine.
Barry groans on the grass behind him, struggling to get up from having the wind knocked out of him.
Ward must have found out about the cocaine. I realize.
Rafe's eyes that were once filled with fear are now up to the brim with worry and desperation as he realizes what he's done.
"I- I'll pay you back." He says, shuffling around nervously.
The crickets chirp in the cold night as Ward stops is footsteps, back turned to Rafe. "No, Rafe. You won't." He says this almost in a humorous tone, laughing at his own words as if they're funny.
I can just tell that Rafe is hurt by the way his lips twitch. I consider leaving for a moment, but no matter how much my mind wills it, my body won't budge.
"And you know why you won't?" Ward goes on, stepping scarily closer to Rafe as he speaks. "Because you're a liar. And a thief."
At that, Rafe's eyes fill up with tears and his eyes roam the sky, trying to dry them up as they come. I know, I've felt this feeling one too many times.
"..and you can't be trusted."
My heart hurts for Rafe, as I've been in this situation many times with my own father. His drunken state left his words sloppy, harmful, and in some cases, brutally honest.
Against my better wishes, all I want to do is hold him in my arms right now and tell him that it's alright.
"Don't come home, son." Ward finishes, taking one last sorrowful look at Rafe before turning and leaving, not throwing a single glance back at his son.
Rafe calls after him, but he's already in his car and long gone. I see him unravel, tears slipping uncontrollably from his eyes and staining his blue shirt. He picks up a chair next to the bonfire and throws it against a tree, a strangled cry escaping his lips.
His cups his hands over his face and leans against the tree, using it for balance as his whole body trembles.
A moment later, he whispers something just quiet, and just loud enough so that I can barely hear it from where I stand.
My name.
A/N: OKAY YALLLL that's another chapter done! I want to thank you for all the support that you've been giving; it's really giving me motivation to continue writing for you. :)))))
Anywaysss I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it kind of ended sad but NOT TO WORRY we have good stuff coming up! (Didn't mean to leave you hanging on that cliffhanger either, whoops.)
And if you guys are looking for smutty scenes, there are many COMING RIGHT UP in the next couple chapters as I am going to collaborate with a super-smut-writer to make it as 18+ as we can. SO GET EXCITED AND ENJOY THE BOOK!
<3