His Choice - Rafe Cameron

39. What Did He Do?

My eyes burst open, a loud gasp leaves my lips and I hastily sit up while grabbing hold of the first thing in my line of vision. 

"Bambi" JJ taps my hand twice. "Bambs" he taps it repeatedly this time and it takes me a moment to arrive into a state of full consciousness. When I realise that I was gripping JJ by the throat, I immediately let go. 

"Shit J, I'm so sorry. I panicked, I thought you were-" flashbacks fill my mind from the events that took place last night. I squeeze my eyes closed tightly and shake away those horrible memories. I can't believe he did that to me. I know he is a dangerous person but he was never dangerous towards me. I thought I was the exception, but I was wrong. This isn't a fairytale. 

"Thought I was who? Rafe? Don't offend me like that." His expression and tone then softens. His brows turn inwards as he looks down at me with empathy in his eyes. "Are you ready to talk about what happened? I didn't want to push you for answers last night because you were pretty shaken up. So I brought you back here and you fell asleep in my arms."

At this very moment, I almost tell JJ what happened. I want to tell him that Rafe almost drowned me but then another thought flickers over my mind. What good would telling the truth do? If I tell JJ that Rafe tried to kill me, he will go out looking for Rafe and I'm afraid of what JJ would do to him. Or worse, what Rafe would do to JJ. Either way, it's a lose-lose situation. The Pogues hate him enough already, I don't need to add more fuel to the fire. 

"We had a fight."

"About what?"

I then glance around the room to see that the others are nowhere in sight. 

"Where is everyone?"

"Pope, John B and Sarah went on Rafe and Ward watch. Kiarra is outside keeping lookout incase Rafe decides to show his face here. And I'm here with you."

I nod my head and shuffle away from JJ as it is quite warm in this tin shed and while I appreciate him letting me fall asleep in his arms, it is way too hot to be this close now. 

"So, about Rafe. What was your fight about?"

I let out a sigh and shake my head. "I don't want to talk about it, it's stupid and I overreacted." Your face was held millimetres above the ocean and your life flashed before your eyes, that's definitely overreacting Scarlett. 

"I know you Scarlett, you don't get frazzled by the small stuff."

I know JJ is deeply concerned because he called me by my real name. 

"I do when it's my time of the month. I have a thing for Rafe and it makes me internally cringe admitting that out loud to you even though you all know the truth. He said some things to upset me and while being on my period, I overreacted." 

JJ stares at me for a moment and I look away from his direct gaze because he will be able to see through my lies. Just when I thought he was about to say something, Kiara walks in and notices that I'm awake.

"Scarlett, hey." She walks over to me and pulls me into a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay. You had us all worried." She then looks over at JJ. "Did she tell you what happened?"

"She is right here." I mutter under my breath and walk away from the two of them. 

"What happened?" Kiara whispers to JJ and I roll my eyes because I am still literally in the room. I walk outside to get some fresh air. 

"I came inside to tell you that my Mum keeps calling me. J, if I don't get home soon then I'm going to be busted. My parent's aren't going to believe that I stayed the night at Sarah's if I'm gone for another night."

"I understand. Any word from the others?"

"Rafe and Ward are both MIA. Some of the locals believe they saw Rafe leave the hotel with his luggage so he has either changed accomodation or headed back home."

JJ mutters some profanities under his breath. "That mother fucker. He's done something to upset her and when I find out what it is, I am going to-"

"Shh JJ, don't finish that sentence. You don't even know what he did yet. In that weird, fucked up head of his, I actually believe that he does feel something for Scarlett. She will tell us when she is ready."

"She admitted to me that she has a thing for him."

"So? We all knew that already."

"That just makes me think worse case scenario Kie. Think about it. She likes him and he does something so bad that she can't get away from him sooner. She was traumatised and shaken up when I got to her. In that moment, she told me how much she hated him..."

"JJ, don't think like that." They are silent for a moment and she is probably consoling him right now and being all lovey dovey when JJ literally thinks Rafe raped me. Now I feel even more guilty for lying to him. I need to tell him the truth. 

When I walk back inside the shed, I see Kiara straddling JJ as they are in the midst of an intense makeout session. Then I back the fuck out of the shed and sit back down outside. 

*

We've arrived back at OBX just as the sun was about to rise. Almost getting thrown off the ferry in the meantime because Kiara wouldn't stop stressing about her parent's. I didn't end up telling JJ the truth. He has respected that I don't want to talk about what happened and he shut down the others immediately when they attempted to ask me. 

My phone had died yesterday so I didn't get to charge it until now. When I check my notifications, I can see missed calls from two people. Rafe and my Mum. 

I listen to the first voicemail...

"Scarlett, it's me again. Baby please come home. I miss you. We both miss you. Things will be better if you just come home. The coyotes came and got all of the chickens and hens because your father forgot to lock the gate. If you were here, this wouldn't have happened. We can all head into town and pick some new chickens together. Like we did years back with Ruth, Barb and Piper."

RIP Ruth, Barb, Piper and friends. Man, that actually hurts my heart. I loved those chickens and hens. There were generations of chickens and hens in that pen. And that drunk idiot forgot to lock the fence. Why would I want to go back there when he clearly hasn't changed? I know that she is trying to guilt me into coming back because of the animals. There's no way I'm going back. 

I then listen to the second voicemail, and third, and fourth and fifth ...

"I know I'm the last person that you want to hear from right now but I need you to know that I didn't mean to do what I did."

"I'm sorry okay. I'm sorry Scarlett. I fucked up. Can we please talk so I can ... I don't know? Try to make things right. I know I'm in for a long shot but you have to believe me when I say I would never do something like that to you. You disobeyed me and that hurt me."

"Scarlett, I know you're ignoring me. You follow me all the way to another fucking island, yet you won't even answer my calls."

"You made me angry, okay. If you didn't break my trust then I wouldn't have acted that way. I didn't push you into that water. If I wanted to then I would have. But I didn't. Just tell me where we can meet so I can talk to you."

I stop listening after that. There's a dozen more from him but I delete them all. He's doing what he does best. Gaslight. If you didn't break my trust then I wouldn't have acted that way. So it's okay to try and drown someone?

I meant it when I said that I didn't want to see him again. I may not have told JJ and the other's the truth, but that does not mean I have forgiven Rafe for what he has done. This is unforgivable.