If opposites really did attract, it seemed that Skye Arturo and Rafe Cameron were quite a pair; this was the second time within a week she had run into him.
It nearly made sense; he was the kind of person Amber Byrne would associate with, and deep down, she was still partially the same girl she had been nearly two months ago.
Instead of spotting him on the pier with JJ serving as a layer of protection, he had come in and been seated in her section. The boy was dining alone. Skye didn't realize who it was until she walked to the side of the booth to ask about a drink order.
His head pulled up, a small smirk on his face as he kept his arms folded on the table. He dawned a gray polo shirt with white stripes. He appeared as if he should be at a country club instead of seated at this seafood restaurant right before their one o'clock lunch rush.
"Hey." He smiled up at her, as she glanced down at him. Her stomach sunk at the sight of the boy; it couldn't be a coincidence. Not only had she run into him at the pier, but now he showed up to her place of work. Her stomach sank and bile nearly rose. "I was, uh, a bit disappointed when you didn't show up to my party." He then noticed how the coloring had sort of disappeared from her face. When the girl barely reacted, he rose to his feet out of pure concern. "Are you okay?"
Skye appeared off-balanced for a moment, Rafe reaching out and grabbing her wrist to support her. At the sensation, she pulled herself from his grip roughly. "Don't touch me." Her tone was loud and sharp, drawing the attention of other patrons in the restaurant.
His voice was low, his eyebrows pulling together in both confusion and frustration that she was causing a scene. "What the hell, Skye?"
Tears were brimming at her eyes. The resemblance was uncanny; she saw Blake Daniels within this boy. "I said, don't fucking touch me." The tears spilled onto her cheeks.
Rafe bit the corner of bottom lip, his attention being drawn from Skye a few inches below to Kiara who emerged from the kitchen and was heading over. She watched from a few feet behind.
Rafe lifted his hands up, glancing down at Skye who avoided his gaze. One hand was pulled across her body, hugging her shoulder. The other was hanging down by her hip, the hand in a fist of sorts.
He scoffed lightly at the ridiculousness of her behavior, shaking his head and heading towards the exit. Skye took a deep breath, electing to go to the kitchen for a few moments to gather her thoughts. Kiara joined her, the pair standing across from each other just inside the hallway. Kiara led her towards the office, shutting the door behind them.
"Sit," Kiara offered, Skye setting body into the plush leather chair behind the desk. She brought her hands up to her cheeks to wipe the tears that were spilling over.
All she could think about was Blake.
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Kiara had sent Skye home due to the exchange and how shaken she seemed to be by it. The last few days had been rough for the girl, and it seemed to be one thing after the next.
"Do you think he's stalking me?" was all Skye said to JJ from the passenger's seat of the Volkswagon. Her words were quiet, the girl scrunched as much into the seat as possible, as if it would help her disappear and forget what the day had carried.
"What?" JJ replied, the words taking a second to process. "Do you think he's stalking you?"
Skye swallowed. "I don't know if I'm overreacting." Skye had a similar experience with her previous boyfriend. He was very toxic and abusive, and when she had finally managed to break it off, he stalked her relentlessly. Her father was severely disappointed that Skye had broken it off in the first place, therefore the stalking didn't faze him; the ends justified the means, right?
Besides, Blake Daniels was filthy rich, similar to Amber Byrne. Even if she did want to pursue some sort of legal action or consequence, he would have the resources to make it go away. Furthermore, she lacked a support system that would help her to press charges or file a restraining order.
She wasn't sure if her past made Rafe's actions feel and seem much worse than they actually were.
"I think this is the happiest I've ever been, JJ," Skye confessed, glancing over at him as he kept one had on the steering wheel and the other on the door by the edge of the window, "But I'm just scared."
"What are you scared of, Blue?" he questioned, glancing over at her and then back at the road. His question was curious.
She swallowed, failing to answer for a moment. "I'm scared of home." It felt as though she was confessing a large secret, despite even JJ being able to conclude this likely response.
"But that's the thing, Skye." JJ's words were even, his tone holding an undetectable emotion. "This isn't Poughkeepsie. This isn't where you grew up. There's nothing you need to be scared of here."
"I'm scared everything is going to catch up to me." Little did JJ know, the girl wasn't scared of whether it was going to catch up to her or not. She was scared of when it was going to catch up to her. She knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when.
JJ inhaled, less sure of how to try to debunk her fear. "What if everything about who you used to be died with your old life? What if there's nothing to catch up with you because it's all done with?"
"What if it didn't, JJ?" she questioned in reply, slight fear present in her voice. "My family is looking for me. My ex is looking for me. I don't know what I'm going to do when they find me." That was a lie; she knew exactly what she was going to do. Skye made a promise to herself.
She would die before she went back.
"Blue, they aren't going to find you."
Her words were now broken, the tears continuing to pour from her face in the passenger's seat. "They will, JJ!" She took a quick, shaky breath. "They will. They have money and resources like you couldn't imagine. I'm surprised they haven't already."
"I made you a promise, Skye," JJ explained, his words calm despite her obvious upheaval. JJ was always able to stay calm in the face of her stress, and it was shocking.
She knew his promise meant nothing to her father, or to Blake. "I know, JJ, but you don't know these people-"
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he reassured. She nearly believed him. "You're my friend now, Blue. And I always look out for my friends."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
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