"JESUS" Rafe mutters it as soon as they almost reach the hotel according to the address she got. It looks almost abandoned and well-creepy. Especially after what happened last night with the hurricane
Hope swallowing hard at the scenery in front of her, maybe she made the right decision to accept Rafe's offer to drive her here instead of going with Sarah. As much as she hates to agree with Rafe, this place looks like it got murdered all over it
Rafe drives the boat further into the shore, they kinda need to change from a car to a boat since the hotel is placed in the middle of nowhere through the marsh and it requires for them to take a boat.
"You sure you want to get in there?" Rafe suddenly asks, averting his gaze from the horrid scenery in front of him to Hope that still froze on her position
"Well, they did have my parcels" she shrugged, masking her worried with a smile and it looks strained. Rafe can see it but he refused to make any comment. He continues to drive the boat until it reaches the shore and kills the engine
Hope eyes once again scanning the building, it looks eerie and scary. She's swallowing once again, debating her decision if she really wants to get in there.
There are multiple beds displayed at the lawn and the balcony. She doesn't know what's the use behind it. Probably because of the water that getting in during the hurricane hit
She gets up from her seat and gripping on her bag strap, ready to hop out from the boat but then she stops, glancing at Rafe
"Rafe---" she calls his name, wanting to invite him to go with her because she does feel terrified but then she quickly changes her mind "never mind" she said, looking away from him
Rafe could almost read it from her, especially when she gave the look, it wasn't hard to read the girl. Plus, he kind of finds it cute that Hope wanting him to go with her and shy about it
"You want me to go with you?" Rafe asked, though he wants to tease the girl for it. But she looks terrified, it's written all over her face
Hope looks back at him and her face brightened immediately, glad that he's asking it instead of her doing it "Will you?" she asked, a jolt of excitement filling her words
"If you want to" Rafe shrugged
"Please? You kinda right, this place looks like someone could get killed here" she states and whispers it a little, like she doesn't want anyone to hear about it
Rafe smiles at the sweet behaviour from Hope "Yeah, sure. Come on" he agreed and moved away from behind the wheel, pulling out the keys and shove it into his pocket. Can't believe anyone here not stealing his boat
Both of them jump out from the boat at the same time and Rafe grimace at the dirt that sticking on his shoes. He feels disgust, he totally going to throw this pair away and get a new one. Ain't no way he's wearing something with Pogues dirty land on it
"Why do you think they discarded all the beds?" Hope asked the boy while curiously eyeing all the materials "The fuck should I know? Do I look like I'm working here?"
Hope frowns a little "Yeah, no need to be a jerk about it" she states and continues her walk. He doesn't need to be rude about it but then, it's just how Rafe talking
When they reached the front door, it got pulled open from behind before Hope can reach the handle. They stop walking and a middle aged man show up, he looks surprised at the sudden appearances from them but then a smile formed on his lips
"Hey there. Im sorry, but the hotel closed for now, we don't accept anyone because the hurricane kinda did some damage" he politely said, smiling while glancing in between them
Rafe scoffed "Yeah, surprised that this place still stood up" he murmured under his breath making Hope eyes widened at the rude comment. She notices the man's face drop a little
"I'm sorry for my friend, he's woke up on wrong side of his bed" Hope apologizes, giving Rafe a look but the boy looks unbothered
"I'm here for my packages, they got sent here because of the hurricane" Hope continues with her business
"Oh yeah, we received a couple of them yesterday morning" the man announced, the smile is back on his face " I can get it for you, what's name it under to?" he asked
"It's Hope Thornton, thank you" she gives the name and the man excused himself to get in back leaving Hope and Rafe outside. She quickly turns to face him
"What is wrong with you? You don't say something like that, Rafe. You could hurt his feelings" she scold him, nudging his side "You think I care? I just said what people been thinking" he shrugged, not guilty at all
"It won't cost you anything to be nice"
"and it won't cost me anything for not being one either" he object, and Hope swears she wants to throw him right into the water. She shook her head and looked away from him.
She heard distant voices causing her to turn her head back to the shore only to see another boat approaching it with a couple of people on it. She thought maybe they were also here to retrieve their parcel too, until she recognised each one of them
She saw JJ jumps out from the boat and tied it down, her smile brightened. Can't help to feel excited to meet him again, she's been looking forward for it since yesterday
Rafe notices the smile from her forcing him to look at where her eyes are and when he found the Pogues are there, he starts to boiling. What in the hell are they doing here
"Are you seriously smiling at the Pogues now?" Rafe questioned making Hope to look back at him "What? I'm not allowed to smile at anyone now?" she questioned him back
"Is that why you're being so defensive when I'm talking shit about them? You're a buddy now?"
"What are you talking about? It just a smile, Rafe. Why are you so bother with it? I can smile to anyone I want"
"Not to them, okay? You don't give them anything nice because they don't deserve it" Rafe keep pushing, making Hope feels a little strangled by standing next to him
"Why are you really care? Like I said, it's just a smile. It's not a big de---"
"Hey, what did I say about stay away from those dirty Pogues?" Rafe cuts her off, grabbing on her arm forcing her to look at him. Hope almost let out a yelp, her eyes widened
Hope tries to twist her arm away from his grip but Rafe keeps it the hold there "You heard me or not, Mia? They're not a good people, don't go any near them" he continues, ignores the attempt from her to set herself free from him
"Rafe, calm down"
"I said, do you hear me?" he continues, repeating himself. His eyes piercing into hers trying to make her understand, Hope gulped at the tone used by him
"Okay, I heard you" Hope states, trying not to freak out. Rafe glares at her, almost like he doesn't believe it "Now, let me go, please? You're hurting me" she pleads
Rafe's eyes start to soft and slowly get to worry. He let go of the grip "I'm sorry, did it really hurt?" he asked, in way softer tone. He's turn 180 from his previous demeanour, like a flip of switch. Hope almost baffled at how easy he did it
Rafe caress the previous spot on her arm that he just gripped, the pleads from Hope making him feels bad for hurting her. He doesn't want to do that, he just wants Hope to stay away from the Pogues
But before she can reply to him, the door gets pulled open, and the previous man shows up with two parcels on his hand. She looks away from Rafe and he drops his hand from her
"Miss Hope Thornton, I got it right?" he reads the name to make sure and she nods "That's right" she confirmed it and he hands them
"Thank you very much, sir. Here, take this" Hope hands couple of notes for him "No, no" The man shook his head, holding up his hands to refuse the money. Rafe rolls his eyes, he totally would make a comment about it but he doesn't want Hope to lecture anything more at him
"Take it, sir. I would be so offend if you decline it" Hope said, shoving the money to him. The man looks hesitates, he's glancing between her and her hands before he's sighing. Taking it from her
She smiles, glad that he accepts it
"Thank you, miss. I pray nothing but success for you" He said and it warming her heart. See, why can't Rafe see that being nice won't cost him anything and it would make someone happy for it?
"I'll see you later, sir" Hope said, giving the man one last look before she walks away, dragging Rafe along with her. She hears a groan coming from him but she ignored it
Her eyes found the Pogues again, they still talking about something that she's unclear about. She has the urges to go and talk to them, she already knows JJ and Pope, it won't make it awkward
She also knows Kiara, he was Sarah's best friend before something happened and they're no longer talk. Hope didn't know the whole story and Sarah refused to tell her. Must be something personal, she's not gonna meddle about it
Though she never really personally knows John B, she knows him worked with Ward at the boats. She often saw him around but never really has the urge to greet him
But with Rafe here, she doesn't think he would let it happen. She knows he's going to tell Topper about it and her brother would take back the deal
And after what he did earlier, Hope trying not to be on his bad side again. She can't really read the boy, he can be unpredictable
"Oh shit, is that Rafe Cameron?" Pope's eyes widened, looking at the building where he can see the oldest Cameron with a girl next to him before he realizes it's Hope "and Hope Thornton" he continued
The four of them now avert their eyes back to the Kooks that walking side by side now. JJ eyeing them, more to like the redhead. He knows she's always with someone except for yesterday, but he never saw her alone with Rafe. That made him wonder if they're together
Considering their siblings date each other
"Don't stare, we look creepy" Kie states, already looks away from them but the boys still did
"What the hell are they doing here?" Pope questioned again
"You want me to go there ask them?" John B sarcastically ask, glancing at Pope
"Ain't no way Rafe wants to be anywhere here, especially not this place. He would die than actually did it" Kie adds up, knowing the Kook prince since she's also living at the figure eight
JJ still watching them without makes any comments, still busy to stare at Hope that looks annoyed and done with Rafe. They look like arguing about something. They can't be together, right? He doesn't even know why that information bothering him
Hope looks away from Rafe to them, their eyes automatically met and he caught the smile from Hope. She send a little wave, forcing a same smile makes through him. He nods at her, acknowledging her gesture
"Did she just---waving at you?" Kie asks, she's scrunching up her face "Since when you're friend with her?" she curiously asked
It's a good thing that they parked the boat on the other side from them, because they know that Rafe would start any provocations toward them and JJ would totally did something stupid that got them into a trouble
Because Rafe would easily walk away from it, though he's the one who starts the shit.
JJ delayed to answer the question until Rafe and Hope out from their sight, disappeared in between the trees. That's when he looks back at his friends
"I'm pretty sure she's just being nice" JJ shrugged, looking unbothered but their friends not believes him
"So she's happened to be nice at you? You never talk to her" Pope pointed out
"We talked yesterday, when your dad forced me to help carried her things" JJ reminds him
"And that's enough to made her being nice?" John B questioned, he never really knows Hope and he has no judgement for her since she never did anything to him or them
"She's always nice" JJ shrugged again "I kinda agreed with JJ. She's nice, we also talked yesterday at the shop and she's so genuine and kind" Pope said, supporting JJ by his experience
"She's a Kook and friend with Sarah. Nothing about her is nice" Kie protested, using the rivalry between her and Sarah to justify it "Plus, she's with Rafe. No one nice would go any near that dude, he's a problem" Kie continues
"Okay, can we just stop here?" John B chiming in when thing starts to get out of control "We've got better thing to do, right?" he hold up a key and jiggle it a little, reminding them why they're here from the first place
"Fine. Let's do this" JJ said, patting John B's shoulder and back to their business. But his mind still wandered about the redhead, and she's been there since yesterday