His Choice - Rafe Cameron

23. Why are you here?

"I don't fucking care Topper. I won't ask you again. Tell me where my cousin is. Rachel told me she seen her here last night."

My body jolts upwards instantly as I sit up in a panic. I glance beside me, expecting to see Rafe but he is nowhere in sight. The blankets are covering the lower half of my body. I don't recall slipping beneath them last night which means that someone put them over me.

I get out of bed, slip my shoes on and run my fingers through my hair to tame down the wild morning locks. I haven't been in Topper's house before and I don't remember the path from last night. Eventually I find the staircase which leads me down the stairs. I follow to where the shouting is coming from and finally reach the front door.

"You need to back off and away from my premises before I call the cops."

"My cousin is here. You're out of your damn mind if you think I'm leaving without her."

Guilt and anxiety rushes through my body because of my choice to stay here last night. Do I regret it? No. Do I feel bad for not telling my cousin because he would have assumed that my father had kidnapped me? Yes. I made a stupid choice by not telling him and I am undoubtedly about to deal with the consequences.

"Back off alright. I'll get her." Topper tries to close the door, but JJ's foot stops it in place. Topper notices my presence and let's put a defeated sigh. He steps backwards away from the door and JJ steps into the house.

"Scarlett, what the hell? Do you know how worried I was? How worried we all were. We have been up since sunrise looking for you. You can imagine my concern when Rachel told me that she seen you partying with the Kooks."

"Well as you can see, I'm fine. So let's just go."

"Do not downplay this. You better start talking right now and tell me why you were here. Did anyone hurt you? I swear, if anyone fucking laid a single finger on you, I'll -"

My hands make their way into my hair and I tug on the strands closest to my scalp. An angered groan escapes my lips. "JJ, relax god damn it. I'm fine." I remove my hands from my hair. "Nobody hurt me. "I place my hand on Topper's shoulder and send him somewhat of a smile. "Thanks Top. I'll see you around."

"Thanks Top, I'll see you around." JJ mimics me in a snarky tone as we walk down the long grey driveway. "No you fucking won't. And since when were you on a nickname basis with him?"

"Stop trying to be my father JJ. I already have one and he's a fucking piece of shit, so I don't want another."

"You are one of us, Bambi. As much as you think you can trust the Kooks, you can't. They're bad news. The lot of them."

"Sarah and Kai are Kooks. Does that mean you can't trust them?"

"They're one of us now."

Kook blood still runs through their veins every single day. I'm sick of this Kook and Pogue stereotype. It's bullshit. People in this town should be defined by their personality, not their postcode. 

When I glance ahead, I see Twinkie parked on the opposite end of the street. John B is leaning against the passenger door with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks up when he hears JJ and I bickering.

John B sends me a look of disappointment. "I didn't want to believe it when I heard it. But you really did spend the night at Topper's place."

"Shut up. The both of you." I push past John B and open the sliding door. I sit in the back seat and put my seatbelt on. The two boys stare at me, not sure of what to say next. "So are we going to go home or what?"

If they think me falling asleep at Topper's house is bad, imagine their reaction if they found out that I fell asleep in Rafe's arms.

"I thought your dad had come back. You need to tell us where you're going. Even if it's Sarah or Kie. Just tell one of us please."