As the Hughes siblings stare at the historic Tannyhill mansion, they couldn't help but reminisce on better days. Ones where two girls, born only a month apart, would happily play in their backyards in Greenville without a care in the world. Days where Rafe Cameron, the so called heartless Kook prince, watched over Sarah and Ashtyn like a hawk; doing everything in his power to ensure the two young girls were safe from harm.
Those days and people were long gone now, personalities altered by vulgar comments and poor parenting.
Ashtyn bit her lower lip, choking back tears that appeared due to her old memories of Rafe. Memories of days where the boy wasn't full of pent up anger toward his father and had so much love to give to everyone around him. He fell into this downward spiral when his mother left, feeling abandoned by the one parent who actually gave a damn.
The day that Lori Cameron left was the day everything started falling apart around the four friends. Claudia's abuse became more consistent and harder for the siblings to hide.
People talked, they knew something was up with the Hughes kids, but due to their family's money, no one had the guts to speak out. To stand up for the two children being mentally, physically, and emotionally abused by the one person who was supposed to love them the most in the world.
For Rafe, things were just as bad, if not worse. Ward took to Sarah immediately after their mother's departure, forcing Wheezie and him to figure out their own way of coping. This ultimately led the eldest Cameron to become the town terror, recruiting Lucas and a handful of other punks from their rising ninth grade class to assist on 'missions'.
Every moral bone in Lucas Hughes' body had been crushed by the impactful blows from his mother, and he decided enough was enough. If he had no choice but to endure such painful interactions for doing nothing, then he may as well give Claudia a reason to beat his ass.
Luke's eyes became cloudy as he wiped sweaty palms on his denim jeans. He and Rafe used to be best friends, inseparable from the time they started walking, but now they were strangers. If he showed his face to the eldest Cameron child, his best friend would no longer stare back at him. Rather, a drug induced haze of the person he once knew.
Whether he liked to admit it or not, Luke knew almost everything that happened on this island. The rumor mill was rather hard to avoid when everyone knew everyone, and there had been several occasions where he heard whispers about Rafe's drug abuse. People spotted the boy leaving Barry's run down trailer with bags of white powder half hanging out of his pockets, and with the guys ever growing list of uncharacteristic violent offenses, it was pretty obvious that his old friend was strutting down a dark path.
"Do you remember the first and only time mom and dad brought us here?" Ashtyn piped up, attempting to hide the heartache from her protective older brother. He couldn't save her from everything and right now, she wanted to deal with how she felt on her own.
With a nod, Luke gulped down his pride, knowing that he had to be the vulnerable one for once. "I remember everything Ash... From burning down those businesses with him in the dead of night to the four of us laying out on that dock talking about our futures together." Blinking back his own tears, Lucas wrapped a strong arm around his sister's shoulders. "We were so naive to think we'd always be friends. You and Sarah are the lucky ones."
"Lu." Ashtyn practically choked out the boy's nickname as her head tilted to the side to look at him. "He's still in there..."
With a shake of his head, Luke frowned. "The old Rafe died the day he wrapped his hand around your neck."
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An owl could be heard cooing from the trees above as four young teens sprawled out next to one another on a newly built dock. They were content, an emotion that had been absent from their lives these last couple of years, and each of them knew to enjoy it while it lasted.
It was Fourth of July weekend and the Cameron's invited the Hughes to join their socialite party, leaving their children to fend for themselves out in the backyard. From time to time, fireworks could be seen shooting up from the beach, but none of them cared enough to acknowledge the explosions.
"I still can't believe they made you move..." Ashtyn whispered as her hands reached out, grabbing both Rafe and Sarah's. "What happened to the joint graduation pictures?"
Rafe let out a grunt, squeezing the young girl's hand tightly with his own. "That dream died with my mother apparently. The whole point of this party is so my dad can show off his new girlfriend. She's from the cut, so his attraction doesn't make any sense..."
"Rafe," Sarah scolded her brother, "It's not like mom had money before she met dad. We should just be grateful that he's happy again, even if it's with this other woman." While the blondes words were harsh, the expression on her face wasn't. It was obvious she had a distaste toward the new girlfriend as well.
Luke had intertwined his own fingers with the those of Sarah's free hand, a silent reminder of his presence. "All of you are coping with her departure in different ways, you've got to remember that. Grief is different for everyone..."
People could say what they want, but Luke knew what he was talking about. The large patch of bruises lining his orbital socket said more than any words ever could. If anyone here knew the stages of grief and how people deal with them, it's him, because he's been through countless cycles of it.
"I just don't understand why she would leave me here with him!" The brunette boy raised his voice, startling his three friends when he abruptly sat up, releasing Ashtyn's hand to cover his tan face. "Dad hates me! He thinks I'm a nuisance."
Before Luke and Sarah had the opportunity to yell at the distressed boy, Ashtyn wrapped a hand around his elbow, pulling him to his feet to put some distance between them and their siblings. The two of them always meant well, but more times than not their words made everything worse.
With a quick glance over her shoulder, the younger girl stopped and placed her hands on Rafe's shoulders. "Don't get yourself so worked up. It's not worth it."
"I can't help it Ash-"
"Yes you can." Her words weren't harsh like Luke and Sarah's, rather encouraging. "You and Luke fucked up back in Greenville, but here's your chance Rafe. You can make a new life for yourself, a better one with good people and a happier ending."
With his head still tilted down, it was hard for Ashtyn to get a read on his emotions. Out of everyone there, she always had the closest relationship with him, so it was up to her to get this through his thick skull. "I don't deserve a happy ending Ashtyn. I'm fucked up."
"You're not fucked up Rafe." Her hand softly nudged his chin up so their similar colored eyes could lock for the first time that evening. "Stop letting your dad nail that bullshit into your head. You are just like your mom: strong, smart, and dedicated to those around you. He hates that, don't let Ward take that away from you."
Both teens stared at one another in silence for a moment longer before Rafe jumped the gun, connecting their lips for the second time ever. Ashtyn stood stiff for a moment, hands flying up to his chest in an attempt to push the older man away, but as his hand caressed her cheek she couldn't stop her body from giving in. He needed the affection, and she was willing to give him anything if it brought a smile back to his face.
As Rafe slowly pulled back, Ashtyn let out a shaky breath. Part of her wished she could stay in that serene moment forever. She may not see Rafe as more than a brother, but he was her first kiss and now here they were again.
His thumb gently stroked the girl's cheek as she rested the full weight of her head against his palm. "You're too good to me Ashtyn Elizabeth. You've always been too good."
Her eyes slid open to find that familiar boyish grin on his face, one that she'd never see in person again, only in pictures. The boy in front of her still held some of his innocence, but that would soon be taken away as his relationship with his father worsened in the coming years.
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Ashtyn's unclipped nails created crescent shaped indentations on her palm every time her hand clenched into a fist. She never would forgive Ward for taking every good part of Rafe away, and while the man always had her brothers back, she knew it was because he wished his own son would be more like Lucas. That's why the duo stopped being friends.
Luke's dark eyes glanced down to look at his sister, frowning at the creases on her forehead. This home, while it may house a few good memories from that Fourth of July weekend, was host to countless heartaches and secrets. If the walls of the Tannyhill mansion could talk, it wouldn't even know where to begin...
He leaned over, pressing a light kiss to the top of his sisters head before turning his full attention back to the white house in front of them. While Ashtyn had her own memories of this house, Luke's differed from those of the younger girl.
When he first arrived on the island, rather than make a b-line for John B's house like he originally planned, Luke retreated to Figure Eight. His hope was to reconnect with Rafe, attempt to rebuild their lost friendship from the ground up, but the person he found was unrecognizable.
The small guy he used to protect from their middle school football team had filled out, grew to be over six feet tall, and wore a wicked smirk on his face. It hurt Lucas to see the guy in so much pain, but sometimes your inner demons win. The only one who could fight them off was the person themselves, not everyone around them.
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A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky as Lucas Hughes made his way across town. His body ached more than usual that night, and every so often his right eye twitched from the inflammation.
From the day his mother's abuse began, the dark haired male swore to never tell another soul, ashamed of what others would think about him. However, tonight felt different.
For the first time in a year, Luke's aura was rather positive. His thoughts didn't resemble that of the stormy sky above, and that made the boy realize that he was strong enough to get through this bump in the road.
Clutching his sprained wrist to his chest, Luke followed the fenced-in yard to Rafe's bedroom window at the back of the pitch black home. His desk light was still on, signalling to the young Hughes boy that his friend was in fact awake and more than likely playing video games at this late hour.
Trying not to startle the guy, Luke tapped his knuckles lightly against the glass three times before clutching his body in anticipation. The cold rain had drenched his clothes and long hair by now. Raindrops sliding down the skin of his bare back making him shiver. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that he wouldn't get sick from this, but anything was better than another altercation with Claudia.
"Luke?" Rafe's confused voice rang through the air, pulling the curly haired male out of his dark thoughts. When he made eye contact with his best friend, he couldn't help but frown at the sight of his thin torso. There had been an occasion or two where Luke watched him reject meals, stating that he 'wasn't hungry', but the sound of his gurgling stomach would always prove his claim to be false.
The Cameron boy has always been self conscious of his body, knowing good and well that he didn't look like the rest of the guys in their grade. Rafe was scrawny, and with his shirt off you could see almost every bone in his body. Luke had always questioned if it was because he had a high metabolism or because he was starving himself to please his father.
"H-hey..." Luke stuttered, shaking slightly from his soaked clothing.
With wide eyes, Rafe rushes back into his dimly lit room in search of a spare towel, motioning for Luke to climb through the window in order to dry off and get warm. "Dude, what are you doing here?"
"I-" He shamefully looked down at his ruined white vans, "Rafe, you see..."
The lack of light made it hard for Rafe to catch sight of the slow forming bruises, but he could clearly see the way his friends' eye was swollen shut. "What the fuck happened to your eye bro?"
"It's nothing." Luke reached up to cover his eye, but Rafe grabbed his wrist before the swollen area could be hidden away. "I'm fine, don't worry about it. I fell off my skateboard-"
"Bullshit." Rafe spat back, silencing the taller boy as he got a closer look at his face. "Who hit you Lucas. You've been showing up to school for months with bruises all over your body. What the fuck is going on?"
All the color drained from Luke's face as he stared into Rafe's stormy blue eyes. He was angry, more than angry actually. He was pissed. "Rafe, I'm scared."
"We can take care of this together Luke." Rafe whispered, releasing the boys' wrist and letting his arms rest at his sides.
Lucas felt weird having such an intimate conversation with another guy and not his sister or Sarah. Usually, this was a girl thing. Guys weren't supposed to have such strong feelings toward their friends, but he and Rafe had never been 'normal', so why try to be now? "My mom hits me."
Silence fell over the boys as the words sink into Rafe's already cluttered mind. He was doing everything he could to comprehend Luke's words and find the right response, but with all of his personal problems circulating through, it was hard.
Rafe knew one thing though, actions spoke louder than words, which was why he closed the gap between them and hugged Luke. At first, there was an awkward tension between the two males, not knowing if this was proper behavior for two guys, but eventually Luke caved. A few stray tears rolled down his cheek as he tucked his face into Rafes shoulder, allowing all the pent up emotions to finally escape. "I'm here man, let it out."
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That was the version of Rafe that Luke kept tucked away in the back of his mind because this new one was a far cry from the sweet boy he knew in Greenville. Every now and then he wondered how different life would be had Lori Cameron not disappeared that night, but there was no changing the past.
"Hey!" Sarah's voice sliced through the tense air, the sweet sound bringing a smile to Luke's face. "Are you two coming, or are you waiting for my house to turn another shade of white?"
Ashtyn shook her thoughts away, breathing out a sigh of relief when she found John B's smiling face staring back at her. She and Rafe may have been voted 'most likely to get married' by their families when they were kids, but she loved this curly haired fool in front of her. Nothing was ever going to change that. "I'm thinking a dove white rather than this antique color."
"Shut up," Sarah snickered, "Let's get this disaster over with."
John scoffed, "See, that negative talk is exactly why this won't work. You don't believe."
"No." Ashtyn rolled her eyes at the older man, knowing good and well that Kie was going to flip shit when the three of them stroll up with Sarah in tow. "This plan won't work because we're all on Kiara Carrera's shit list."
"Well," John paused, "It's time to get off that list because we've got gold to dig up."
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Alright guys!
Here's some insight to Ashtyn and Luke's past with Rafe! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
EDITED 7/28/21 ✅