Country Club Living - Rafe Cameron

Chapter Fifteen - Blood In The Water

The air was thick with tension, the two boys stood staring at one another, neither taking a moment to glance over to the anxious girl in the hallway. Rafe was trying to keep his cool, pretending that nothing had ever happened between him and Ivy. Trevor however was not buying the act and dropped his navy duffel bag onto the wooden floor below and lunged at the oblivious boy in front of him. Before anyone could do anything he threw a punch, landing the blow on Rafe's cheek causing him to stagger back. The hit was hard and Rafe could feel the blood pooling in his mouth, he wiped the crimson liquid from his lip and stood up straighter, ready to throw one back when another landed itself on the same spot. Rafe was sure he heard a crack but grit his teeth to mask the groan leaving his lips. Luckily Leo and Philip had managed to pull Trevor off before more damage was inflicted, Rafe's vision was filled with dots and he placed a hand to his cheek, already feeling the swelling. Behind the commotion, Ivy stood watching on in horror. Alexis ran forward from her place in the kitchen and stood in front of the Cameron boy, her motherly instincts kicking in to protect him. She dragged him into the kitchen and let her husband take care of Trevor.

"Nice meeting you" Rafe mumbled through bloody teeth as he walked by

"Ivy come help" Alexis huffed

Ivy shakily nodded and followed her mother giving her ex-boyfriend one last look as his face dropped watching her leave with the other boy. In the kitchen she stood awkwardly, unable to look at the bloodied up boy sitting at the breakfast bar while her mother placed some ice cubes in a dish towel and wrapped it up. Alexis handed the boy the ice and turned her attention to her daughter.

"Get him a glass of water and I'll go and say goodbye to the Van Der Lins" she sighed leaving the two teens in the room

"Mans got a good right hook" Rafe groaned placing the ice on his cheek

"Are you... Are you okay?" Ivy asked grabbing a glass from the cabinet

"I just got nearly knocked out by your super-soldier boyfriend. Yeah I'm doing great" Rafe scoffed

"Ex-boyfriend" Ivy whispered

"He didn't take it well then? Jeez if I knew a kiss would've landed me with a swollen cheek I should've taken it further, make it worthwhile you know?" Rafe ribbed

Ivy placed the glass down harshly on the countertop, some of it spilling over slightly "Are you freaking kidding me. You just got sucker-punched, I've lost my boyfriend and you're making jokes about wanting to sleep with me?"

Rafe shrugged, taking a sip of the water. Ivy noticed a small string of red enter the clear liquid as he placed the glass back down. As she was about to say something her mother walked back in.

"Ivy. A word" she ordered before walking out of the kitchen into the dining room "So. You break up with your boyfriend suddenly and now the boy that you supposedly hate so much is in our entryway doing an audition for the next Rocky movie. Mind telling me what that's about? Is something happening between you and Rafe?"

She stood in front of her mother, her nails digging into the palm of her hand "No, mom. Gross. Trevor hates Rafe because of all the stuff I've told him. This has nothing to do with the breakup" she lied

Alexis squinted her eyes at her daughter and nodded unconvincingly, taking herself back to the kitchen to check on Rafe. A bruise was forming on his cheekbone and it was starting to sting now. He thanked Alexis and left the home with the now melting ice and towel in hand after double-checking that the Van Der Lins had left.

Producing her phone from her pocket Ivy text Sarah to ask if she wanted to go out, she needed out of the house and away from what had just happened. Sarah responded promptly saying she was just about to head out with the pogues and that Ivy was welcome to join. Shoving on a pair of sneakers she exited her house and walked across the road to where the orange van she has come to know as the twinkie was parked.

"Ivy league" JJ nodded as she entered the van

"Jackass" she nodded back causing Kie to smirk

"How're things?" Pope asked turning his head from the front of the van

"Pretty good, I just saw Rafe get right hooked by my ex-boyfriend so pretty fun morning" she replied

"That is a fun morning" John B smirked

Sarah whipped her head around to look at Ivy "What happened?"

"Trevor has a bit of a temper so when Rafe came to drop my mom's shoes by he kind of snapped"

"But why?"

"Why does it matter, he deserves it. Also, why did Rafe have your moms shoes? Oh my god is Rafe banging your mom!" JJ gawped

"Ew no, she was having drinks with Ward and Rose last night and left them"

"So. Can I bang your mom?" JJ asked

The whole van burst into fits of laughter and Ivy launched an empty CD case at the blonde boy across from her.

Later that night the group were sitting outside the chateau listening to music and passing a joint. Ivy had taken a few draws and was starting to feel herself getting lightheaded and giggly. She was not a stranger to drugs, back home she and her friends had often tried harder drugs like coke and molly at parties but despite this, she couldn't handle her weed, ending up giddy and laughing a lot more than the rest of the pogues who were more used to it.

"It's cute how frazzled you get after a few tokes" Kie laughed exhaling some smoke

"Can't handle it with the big boys" John B laughed; his arm wrapped around Sarah as she snuggled into him, a hazy look on her face

JJ held the joint between his teeth as he leaned down and turned up the music, moving his shoulders and dancing around the lit-up area, motioning for the rest of his friends to dance with him. Pope and Kie got up next with Pope twirling her around under his arm. John B and Sarah stayed where they were, moving their arms in an attempt to dance. JJ held out his hands to Ivy which she declined at first.

"Come on princess, if you're gonna smoke all my weed you at least owe me a dance" he laughed

Ivy reluctantly took JJs hands and the two joined the other two bodies dancing in the cooling summer air. Despite his lack of decorum with most things JJ was a very good dancer, he twirled Ivy around and swayed with her while the music played. When the song finished Ivy looked into JJs eyes, noting how close they were and burst out laughing, causing him and everyone else to start howling with laughter. When everyone had calmed down Pope threw over two cans of beer to the two teens and they all opened up their cans, cheersing into the night air. Ivy truly enjoyed spending time with the Pogues, it made her forget about all her past boring summers in Kildare and more importantly. Forget about Rafe.