𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 - jj maybank

- 𝐭𝐞𝐧

[tw: violence and abuse]

𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻, history repeated itself when Rafe Cameron turned up at the hotel three days later, all tearful and an hour into sobriety. Kaci greeted him at the door of the penthouse, arms crossed, and waited for him to explain. She was officially done with his shit. Forever.

After Pope left on Sunday, Kaci had done a lot of thinking for herself. Right now, the baby was her number one priority. The baby would now be her number one priority forever. She needed to ensure that her child would grow up in a comfortable, loving environment. She needed to ensure that her child would be safe.

Rafe Cameron wasn't safe.

He cried for about an hour, and every sentence he spoke made Kaci have to bite her tongue back more. She had to fight off and attack the urges she had to hold him in her arms and take care of him. For years, Rafe had done this. Brokedown again and again and again, but nothing ever changed. He made promise after promise, but they would always break. Rafe was in pain — a lot of pain — and it broke Kaci to see him like that, but it wasn't her she needed to think about anymore; it was the precious angel she was carrying in her womb. She didn't care about herself being hurt, but she did care about her baby being messed up in the process.

Today, Kaci wore pyjamas. Normal, ordinary, comfy pyjamas. She hadn't worn real ones in a while. A light t-shirt and little shorts — she hadn't felt so free in her life. But Rafe was so caught up in himself that he hadn't even noticed the huge bump on her belly.

"You beat the shit out of Pope Heyward," Kaci stated once he calmed down.

Rafe shrugged, sending her a look. "And?" he asked. "What's it to you? He's a fuckinʼ pouge."

Kaci laughed. Right out, laughed. There he was, spending over an hour sobbing to her, telling her how much of a good person he really was, and how she should take him back because this time it'll be different, how he'd go as far as to marry her — and not even a minute later, he started acting like this again.

"It's called decent humanity and basic respect, Rafe," Kaci told him coldly. "And it's actually a lot to me, considering that's the uncle of my child."

That definitely wasn't the way to go about it.

Rafe stepped back, away from her. She watched his eyes dart down her her stomach, she watched his eyes light up in flames. She felt her heart beat faster, she felt anxiety bubble in her blood.

His fist collided against her jaw, the rings he wore sharpening against her skin, cutting her and drawing blood instantly.

"You're a fucking slut, Kaci! What the fuck?! What the actual fuck?! You fucking —!"

He hit her again, the anger in his body being too much for him the bare, the urges in his mind making him do things that he'd soon regret.

Rafe was an angry person; Kaci knew that, his friends knew that, his family knew that. Occasionally, he got violent. Rarely, he got violent with his loved ones. But on that rare chance, it was usually his girl. Because she was usually the only one there. The only one to hold him afterwards, the only one to shout back even though she was terrified, the only one who loved him. Kaci was also the only one he felt as though understood him. She was the only one who would take him back after a meltdown. He could do anything — cheat on her, go missing on her, freak out on her — and although she was hard on him sometimes, she always took him back later. She had to take him back later, because nobody else would.

"Rafe, stop!" Kaci shouted back, pushing him away before she fell to the floor.

"Me, stop?!" he basically screamed, pointing at her furiously. "You fucking stop! Which one was it, huh?" He kicked her. "Which fuckinʼ pouge?!"

"Rafe, I'm not telling you that until you calm down," Kaci told him, hands over her stomach to protect the baby.

The next thing he punched was the wall.

Kaci rolled her eyes, standing up straight, and pointed at the door. "Get out," she told him.

Rafe turned to her and let out a scoff, tongue in the side of his cheek. "You're kicking me out?" he asked.

Kaci nodded. "Yeah, considering you just beat the shit out of me — yeah, you can get the fuck outa my room. Come back and talk to me when you wanna act like a fucking human."

The boy huffed, finally leaving and slamming the door behind him. He'd come back later — he always did — but Kaci wasn't sure if she could deal with it anymore. She was already going to be a mom, she couldn't be his mother, too. She couldn't let her real baby get hurt. She was done with this unhealthy pregnancy; she needed to start taking more care.

And that was what she was going to do. From this moment on, Kaci was going to dedicate her life to that child.

Kaci knew it was probably selfish to tell others before she told the father himself, but JJ started work in an hour — his time would be soon.

Authorʼs Note
y'all were so fucking close to jjʼs reaction. i feel like i now have a gender and name picked out, but it might change over what you're thinking. are we team boy or team girl?? we find that out pretty soon, too. also, i kind of hate myself for not adding some soft rafe/kaci scenes before their big breakup, but like, oh well, i hate him too much to do that. soooooo jaci coming very soon, how excited are you?
love, tay </3