Amnesiac

CHAPTER 4

Rafe loved kissing you.

You didn't think it was possible to love anything as much as Rafe loved to kiss you. Once you had crossed that line and loosened the boundary some, he was like a man starved. He liked to kiss you when you first woke up, waving off all concerns of morning breath as his lips chased yours. He made a habit of tasting your lips as soon as you both settled into his truck, like some ritual he had to partake in before he got on the road. Even during the most random of moments like during dinner, he'd lean over while Ward was mid conversation and would quickly touch his lips to yours.

It disgusted Sarah beyond belief.

"It just takes some getting used to," she had mumbled one day.

You had caught her alone on the back deck, alternating between reading and texting John B. It bothered you that while you two were evidently close before, it didn't exactly hold up after your accident. You suspected that it had something to do with Rafe, and you weren't entirely wrong.

"It makes me happy to see that Rafe is treating you well. I mean it," she'd honestly said. "...but who he is with you isn't who he is with everyone else."

She didn't say it, but you could read between the lines. You picked up on what she was thinking about specifically.

"Like JJ...?"

She sighed, looking away.

"Do you still think Rafe said something or did something to provoke him?"

You still found that so hard to believe. You couldn't imagine Rafe doing anything like that no matter how hard you tried. Sure, his anger and cruel words that day had shocked you, revealing a side to him that you didn't know existed, but to be fair, he had been wearing the evidence of an assault at the time. To you, his anger was more than justified.

"It's clear that Rafe would prefer to keep you in the dark about a lot of things," she exhaled. "...and honestly? I guess I can't blame him."

She looked up at you then.

"There's just so much shitty stuff that you've been given the opportunity to just forget, and I'd probably want to keep things as nice for you as long as I could too. I mean, it's not like I'm giving you a play by play of everyone's fuck ups either."

She shrugged.

"Rafe seems to really like you, and as much as I can't stand him, I don't think it'd be fair of me to write a list of every bad thing he's done when he's actually doing right by you."

If you didn't know any better, she actually looked annoyed with herself as she said this.

"But with that being said, Rafe and JJ have a messy history that goes beyond your accident. Hell, it goes beyond when you and JJ started to become friends. Although that definitely made things worse."

She mumbled that last part to herself, and with Rafe inside, you took this opportunity to sit down.

You knew what Kelce said about JJ, and while what happened to Rafe pretty much confirmed it for you, you wanted to hear from Sarah too. You wanted to know why you were ever friends with someone who was so obviously bad news. You wanted to know why she and the rest of her friends continued to do the same.

"Kelce said that JJ is...violent, troubled."

Sarah scoffed at that, slamming her book shut as she shook her head.

"If you're going to know anything about this island, know that there's a certain side of the island that thinks they're so much better than others and is happy to look down on anyone who doesn't come from where they come from."