Royals - Rafe Cameron

Chapter Three - A Little Misguided

TW: Talk of abuse towards Cannon characters (JJ) and El, Rafe calls JJ a crackhead, so drug warning, author being clueless as to what car to put (because there's no way els getting on that bike)

Other than that, enjoy my bullshit!

Somehow, conversation with Rafe came easily once the pizza was there. Rafe only ordered the one large ham and pineapple. They had it on the coffee table in front of them and El would feed Pickles a piece of ham whenever the dog looked at her with those puppy dog eyes.

At first, the topics of conversation were light. About how their summer had been going and about their plans after. About how unlucky Randy was for spending his summer in boarding school. About surfing and boats and the beach.

But then Rafe looked at her. And I mean really looked at her. "How did you get that bruise?" He asked and reached towards her.

El immediately drew back and pressed herself into the couch cushions. "Uhh." She placed her slice of pizza down and returned to twisting her ring around her finger. "My dad did it. He didn't mean to, of course," she rushed before Rafe could get the wrong idea. "JJ just startled him awake and that was his natural reaction. The bruise should fade in a few days, anyway."

"Is your dad why your brother always looks so beat up?" He sounded genuinely concerned, but El knew better than to believe it.

But the way Rafe was looking at her, it put her under some kind of spell. A spell where she could only tell him the truth. "When JJ was a kid, I tried my best to protect him from our dad. I've always been like a mom to him. I cooked, I cleaned, helped him with his homework, took him to school. As soon as our dad lost his job I picked up the slack. The Millers took me on, as did Hayward and Mr Carrera. My family would be out on the streets if it weren't for them." She looked, just to check if Rafe was still listening. His eyes were intense on her, burning. "JJ eventually got bigger than me. As soon as our dad would fly into a rage I would get pushed away and JJ would take the brunt of it."

Rafe looked like he wanted to say something, but El didn't want his pity. "Now its your turn. Tell me about your family," she pushed and poked his shoulder.

"Well," he cleared his throat and placed his shoeless feet up on the table. "My dad clearly has a favourite child and its my little sister," he said.

"I know Sarah."

"He only speaks to me when he wants something, like when he wants me to get a job or something. " He scratched the back of his neck. "I think he's gonna kick me out soon if I don't get a job. But I think he just wants me to prove that I could take over the family business if I had to."

He spilled his heart to her, telling her more than he probably meant to. But El listened to his every word. She entertained him with stories of her own fucked up family and Rafe rivalled her with his own tales.

Eventually, Rafe and El fell asleep. Pickles took herself off to her dog bed and El stretched herself out across the couch, feet in Rafes lap. Not that he minded.

***

The Millers house was beautiful for many reasons. Their back and front yards stretched as far as possible, they lived in front of the water and every morning the sun hit their living room just right, turning everything into gold.

The two that were occupying the living room didn't find this golden glow so fantastic.

Rafe was the first to wake up. He groaned and covered his eyes, desperate to get back to sleep. But it was too late now. The living room was filled with Els snores and the smell of ham and cheese pizza. Not a great combination first thing in the morning.