Even the devil needs a friend

Elle

Rafe Cameron has always been my love . Even when we were 5 years old , I knew I loved him . I got so jealous of all the girls that pretended to marry him or were with him for a day . I wanted it to be me always . But , now that it is me , I feel honoured . Rafe will never know how much he means to me and what he's done for me . It will always be Rafe Cameron. Even when we are 70 and hobbling around , it will still be him .
Rafe made me his officially last night and it feels great to know I'm his . He's mine . Me and Mine . We went to go get my boat , and pick up my people . I told them EVERYTHING. At first they weren't pleased to see Rafe in our boat but then when they got told everything they actually seem pleased he was in the boat . Even JJ , who I know has had a crush on me for a while . I decided that they were gunna come to Charleston with us , as much as it would have been nice for me and Rafe to go but we can go together anytime . Pey and Kie are excited to see Charleston. I'll admit I am too . I turn to Rafe and mouth ' I love you ' . He smiles and mouths ' I love you '. I smile then proceed to get my phone out . I look at all the messages and missed calls from my parents like ' Elle please come home we are so sorry ' ' Princess please don't be mad I did this to protect you ' . Rafe comes over and sees them . A tear falls from my eyes but I brush it off and delete them . I don't know them . I don't know these liars . Rafe looks at me and saids ' do what you think is best Elle '. Right now Rafe all I wanna do is go to Charleston and talk to him . I'll deal with those bastards when I get home. One thing I love about Rafe is that he just doesn't judge me no matter what the situation is he doesn't judge . Rafe has been through so much in his life . His mom died when he was young , doesn't really have a memory of her just what Ward tells him . Ward is a good man I know deep down but what he has done to Rafe and to John B, is disgusting and now Sarah !! He argues with Rafe all the time sometimes even hits Rafe ! Rafe always blames himself for it but I know it's not his fault . This is where I sometimes think Rafe needs a therapist. But other times , I don't think he does .  Whenever Ward used to argue with him , he would always come to me and I would comfort him . I still would . I always will . Not only his looks drew me in but his personality. His personality is amazing. He's so strong , he's so tough but yet so gentle , so kind , so loyal , funny , smart , I love it all .
It's the morning now and everyone is awake gassed because we can see Charleston. It's beautiful. ' Elle , I'm so proud of you for doing this '. JJ saids . Thankyou JJ , love you dude , I say . JJ Maybank , an amazing person . Like Rafe , he has daddy issues but MAJOR daddy issues . Luke Maybank , a disgusting bastard who doesn't give a fuck about his son . Constantly beating JJ up , leaving marks on his body , JJ will pretend like he doesn't care but then he ends up having a breakdown because of it . Me and JJ have had history. Everyone knows that . We dated when we were 15 for 6 months . I ended it with him because it just wasn't really working . I've always seen him as a brother and always will . I know JJ still loves me and will always have love for me and so will I just not the way he wants me to . Whenever JJ used to get beat up when we were little , he would come running to mine , my dad would clear him up , he would eat with us then we would look at the stars . We still do that , a lot . Luke used to come knocking round ours the next morning asking for JJ but my dad would take him fishing that's why he loves fishing . Luke would always have this jealous look in his eyes and when I got old enough I turned to Luke and said ' that could have been you taking him out at 5 in the morning every Saturday, fishing , that could have been you watching the stars with your son , but what do you do ? Get pissed , get high and then beat the shit out of him . Do you know how much talent your amazing son has ? Do you know how clever you son is ? Do you know how kind and funny JJ is ? Do you ever think about the pain you cause him ? ' . I remember the exact day I said that , it was last year . Ever since then, Luke hasn't spoken to me and I'm sure glad he hasn't . He knows he's not allowed to come round ours banging on the door for JJ because we simply won't answer. Every time my mom tried to resolve this , JJ would be too scared to let my mom do it . So as much as we tried to help , he used to say ' just by letting my stay here helps momma Mel '. My mom thinks of all of the crew like her own but especially JJ . Then you got John B , my brother from another mother , his dad went missing at sea a year ago now and his mom left when he was 3 . John B is my brother . When we were toddlers , we would always run out to the beach together and make sandangels . John is so determined and so inspiring. He's always been so creative and I always used to say to my dad I'm sure that kid has a 3rd eye for everything. He loves to adventure and to explore , like me in a way . Then you got Kie , this girl is my rock . She's so funny , so kind , so smart and beautiful. Kie has been in my life since 2nd grade . We clicked instantly over turtles . Haha , I know stupid but actually kinda cute . She is like family and always will be . Then you have Pey . My best friend since 1st grade . Always making me laugh , beautiful, full of attitude and my soulmate. Pey was my desk partner in 1st grade and we've been best friends ever since .
And Pope . I met Pope when he came round with JJ once . Pope is so intelligent and has the most amazing ideas . He's so funny and has this kindness about him that makes him even more amazing. It's weird actually because I was  a bit funny towards Pope being with JJ but now I get on so well with Pope I can't picture my life without him . Pope adores his dad so much . I love Daddy Heyward too . That's one thing I admire about Pope , he would die for his friends and family .

' Elle we are here ! ' Peyton cries . Charleston is Peyton's favourite place on earth . She loves it . Feels so connected to it . We get off the boat and find his house . It wasn't difficult to find at all . John B , Kie , Pey and Pope stay there . JJ and Rafe come with me . I was hesitant to have JJ come with at first but I'm not too bothered now . As long as Rafe is behind me I don't care . I feel safe when he's around . I stop and cuddle up to Rafe as I hear footsteps approach the front door ...