'Safe with Rafe' Y/N x Rafe Cameron

Chapter LXXIII

You take a seat next to Pope and prop your legs on the back of John B's seat as he drives.
"So, Sarah, when did you wanna do that thing anyways?" You ask as Kie and Pope were busy passing a blunt amongst themselves.
"Thing?" Pope asks through coughs after an inexperienced puff and before Kie takes the blunt from his hands, saving him the hassle of getting himself involved in stuff he normally didn't.
"Yeah, what thing?" Kie asks.
John B throws his head back against the head rest in dismay while Sarah does the same, sighing in annoyance as if it was a secret not yet known by the others.
"John B and I were thinking of taking us all on a group date kind of thing..." Sarah says, defeated.
"Oh? Then what's the issue? Sounds fun." Kie says.
"...with Jj and Rafe..."
Pope joins Sarah and John B by throwing his head back against his seat, groaning at the chaotic idea.
"That's a hell fire waiting to happen." Kie adds.
"That's why there'll be booze." John B says as he turns his head back around to the three of you with a wink and a smile.
Kie only shakes her head in disagreement, stumbling over her words as she tries to make sense of the idea and what exactly the plan was supposed to be.
"Sooo- like- why? What? I'm confused. How is this a good idea?"
"Look," John B starts as he taps his hands against the steering wheel, "Sarah and I kinda agreed that it wasn't fair on Y/N what happened between her, Jj and Rafe. Jj is making it out like she has to choose between the two of them and it's just... it just doesn't have to be that way, you know?"
Kie turns to Pope as they both sit in silence after John B's statement, sharing a look of weariness.
"You don't agree?..." Sarah asks lowly towards them with furrowed eyebrows.
Kie sighs, "I guess so."
"Great!"
"I'm sorry guys." You mumble into your lap.
"Don't be." Pope says as he looks down at you beside him before throwing his arm around your shoulders, bringing you in for a friendly hug. You look up at him to return his glance with apologetic eyes that made him smile sadly.
"Jj's just a little lost right now. He'll heal with time." He adds, his fathers wiseness shines through him so prominently and it makes you feel more than assured, as if he was a candle lighting the way. It was a Heyward trait that you were thankful to have by your side and especially during moments like this one.

The click of the vans hand brake being pulled up and locking into place brings you back to earth as he parks the twinkie on the curb just outside a burger parlour which sparked confusion in your eyes that John B surely took notice of.
"You haven't eaten, have you?" He asks towards you as he turns in his seat.
"No but I'm not really hungry."
"Y/N, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don't be a goof." John B says in return.
"Yay, burgers for breakfast..." Kie says sarcastically,"nothing like fat and grease to start off the day."
"Refreshing." Sarah adds.
"Well I, for one, love burgers for breakfast." Pope says with a cheeky smile, earning himself a laugh from John B and yourself but an unsatisfactory glance from Kie.
"Brighten up, would you? I'll let you have my pickles." John B teases as he gets out of the van, the three of you doing the same.

The boys stand in line and wait patiently to be served while you and the girls sit at a table, reserving a cushioned booth by the window which is, by far, the best seat you can get at a parlour like this one in comparison to the cold, hard tables and stiff chairs that surround the middle area.
"They better get my order right, they never give me ketchup." Kie says as she watches the boys place their order up front.
"They have little sachets in baskets over there, it's not hard to just grab one or two." Sarah says in a mocking tone.
"Not hard to just follow the recipe either, Sarah."
"She's got a point," you add, "like who eats a burger without ketchup?"
"Answer is nobody." Kie says as she gestures a hand towards Sarah as if to prove her point.
The three of you laugh at the silly excuse of a discussion until you throw your head back as you usually would in a fit of laughter but this time,
it stopped it entirely.

Your hair flicks up from out of your face and further more clearing your sight, your eyes almost instantaneously land on a familiar somebody with a bandaged nose and smaller, seperate bandages across a set of stitches on the left side of his cheek bone. The combination of bandages and an intensely bruised eye made it near impossible to recognise him but you did.

"Shit." You whisper with panic as your elbows swiftly position themselves on the table space in front of you as your forearms shield your face the best they can. Kie and Sarah glance at each other, thrown off by your sudden desire to hide yourself.
"Y/N? Is everything okay?" Sarah asks, saying your name much louder than you would've hoped.
"Shhh!" You hush at her desperately.
Kie who was seated just beside you, looks up and over the booth chair that Sarah was seated on.
Her eyes search the group of customers that stand paralleled from the table as they wait for their order until one person in particular just so happened to stand out like a sore thumb.
"Holy shit?!" Kie whispers in shock as she stares wide eyed at him, "is that Kelce?!"
"What the hell do you think?!"
"Wha-?! What the hell do I think? What the hell do you think? Care to explain what the fuck exactly happened to him?!" Kie says with a dropped jaw, increasingly becoming more and more frantic to know.

Kies tone was getting louder by every second you left her uninformed of last night, but she couldn't be blamed and you knew that. You go missing with a boy for a day and you come back the same day his arch nemesis is seen bandaged and bruised. Badly, at that.

Without Rafe by your side for once to keep you safe, you actually felt vulnerable. You didn't used to feel this way, in fact, you were quite brave but being with Rafe let you know that you didn't always have to be brave; to be constantly on your guard, he was always there to do it for you and right now in this moment, it became crystal clear to you just how much you cherished him for that.

You peak through the gap between your fingers to see Kelce walking in your direction. As he neared closer, you were almost certain you were going to go unseen but to your disadvantage, he took notice of the faces around you. Both Kie and Sarah stared up towards him as he passed by to whom he stared back at before averting his gaze further down to the girl trembling in her own arms; you.
He didn't mutter a word.
He didn't stop to stare.
He didn't even flinch.

He exited the parlour with his groupies, new ones you hadn't seen before.