Royals - Rafe Cameron

Chapter Thirteen - Group Dynamic

It was strange having Rafe in their group dynamic. He didn't quite fit in with the others, stayed behind El the entire time. All Rafe had felt since he arrived with this group was JJ glaring holes in the back of his head every time El held onto him or he wrapped his arms around her.

He wasn't happy about it, but he wasn't protesting.

"Now we don't have to comb through all of the Boneyard," Said Pope, taking the piece of the map from Rafe's hand. (His head had fallen onto El's shoulder and she was combing her fingers through his already messy hair.) "We've got an exact location to work with."

"Too bad the Boneyard to right next to the Chateau," El sighed, briefly closing her eyes.

The others all groaned. "So, what do we do? Do we just wait here for someone to come and kill us?" JJ called, kicking away a piece of rubble.

"He has a point," Said Kie. "We can't wait here forever. We have to actually do something."

"What, like give up?" El instantly shot back.

Several people jumped to their feet and swarmed El and Rafe. Protectively he wrapped an arm around her. "El, what the fuck?!" Kie called, stepping over to her. "What's your problem, what did I ever do to you?"

"Oh, shut it, Kiara. You've never liked me and you've never tried to hide it so save your breath."

The tension between Kie and El had been brewing for a long time. None of the Pogues were surprised by it; it had always been small but had been building up over a number of years.

The others said nothing as the girls glared at each other. "Babycakes," Rafe whispered, kissing her cheek. "Something the matter?" He had yet to see El lash out at someone, breakdown and cry with sadness and joy, sure, but never lash out. This was why she was the baddest bitch in the Outer Banks.

"Come on," she mumbled and pulled him up by his hand.

Rafe followed her like a puppy. "Sweetness, what's going on?" He asked, following her through the trees. "Has something happened between you and Kie before?"

She stopped, arms crossed over her chest. "I just, I don't know! Kie has never really liked me. Sure we were civil and we were playing the part of friends really well but then I started hanging around you and she dropped the act!" El huffed, wrapping her arms around Rafes neck. "I think, at one point she had a thing for JJ and this is where it all came from. He was a scrawny little prick back then, not the muscled asshole we have today. I was so protective over him, turned away every girl that showed up at our door. Especially the Kook girls."

"And now look at you. You've got the king of the kooks wrapped around your little finger."

El rolled her eyes. "It's ironic, isn't it? By the societal rules of the Outer fucking Banks we should hate each other and we've gone and done a modern day Romeo and Juliet."

His eyes suddenly went wide. Rafe grabbed Els shoulders and kissed her. "Sorry!" He said almost bashfully. "I just, I have an idea."

***

John B hated it. He hated Rafes stupid plan more an anything. It was insane, but it might just work.

Topper, Kelce and Rafe were sat outside of the Chateau, a fire going, drinking and laughing. The Pogues were hiding in bushes, watching it all unfold. Topper and Kelce called other Kooks down and it became a party. It was mad, watching the Chateau coming a spot for Kooks.

The Kook girls were flirting with Rafe. Els fists were clenched as she watched them, but she couldn't do anything but sit back, observe and trust him. She'd be the last person to admit it, but trust didn't come easy with Rafe. He was a Cameron, a Kook, an ex drug addict and a rich little prick all in one. And not necessarily in that order.

Much to Els relief, Rafe ignored them or discouraged their advances. "I have a girlfriend who I love very much!" He shouted over the music. Els cheeks heated up and she had to look away for a moment as he pressed his cup to hers and walked back to his friends. This boy, he really was something else.

But his plan worked. The black cars parked around The Chateau soon cleared out and the Pogues saw their opportunity to move in. They still snuck around, crept in through the back to avoid the Kooks, but they were finally in the Chateau and that was all that mattered.

"I don't think we should sleep here tonight," El confessed. "I mean, what if those guys come back? They'd find us all here - it would be easy to kill us."

"What if they all came back to our place?" JJ instantly turned towards his sister, raised his eyebrows and said, "we have that old trailer in the front yard. Throw a load of blankets in there and it should be find. Plus, we're close to the Boneyard."

El looked towards her boyfriend, or what she could see of him still having a good time outside. She couldn't imagine Rafe in her house, speaking to her dad about his intentions, future careers and other things. She looked at the beer in his hands and prayed to whoever was above that he'd not had too much to drink.

"Alright. We've got some tools we could use to dig as well. A couple of shovels, things like that," she answered, looking at each of the Pogues in turn. "Are you guys okay with this?"

"What about Rafe?"

El spared her boyfriend another glance. He was in longer  dancing with his friends and was instead walking towards the Chateau, grin on his face, eyes half lidded. "Babycakes!" He half shouted, throwing the door open. So he hadn't been throwing the beers over his shoulder like El hoped. "I want wanna ever go to another party unless you're there to tell me you love me and keep all the girls away. Did you know I had a girlfriend?"

She couldn't help but laugh at him as she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Yeah, Rafe. I know."

His eyes instantly went wide. "You can't kiss me like that! What about my girlfriend?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind, big guy," she whispered, patting his toned stomach. "Do you wanna have a sleepover at your girlfriends house? She told me she really wants you there."

Rafe nodded like a child as El worked on moving him out of the Chateau. They left Kelce and Topper to pick up any rubbish. "Do you know my girlfriend?" Rafe Asked El, completely using her to hold up his body. "She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen. I hope she wants to marry me because I wanna do that too."

"She does, Rafe. She told me she wants to marry you. Not right now because of how young you both are, but one day she wants to become Mrs Cameron."

Rafe smiled and pushed his hands through his hair. "I love her loads," he confessed like she was a stranger.

"She loves you loads too."

Hey guys! Thank you for making it his far in the story. The end is very close, I can feel it just out of reach. In the mean time, please enjoy more OBX content up on my Wattpad - Chasing Storms - JJ Maybank