my favourite kook || rafe cameron

chapter 18: apologies and acceptance

A short period of time later, I hear the sound of a vehicle hitting the rocks on my driveway. Not just any vehicle.

The Twinkie.

The boys all come inside as I wipe the kitchen counter.

"Hey Cass!" Pope exclaims as he jogs towards me in the kitchen.

I smile and greet him.

We all sit on the couch in our tv room browsing through shows to watch on Netflix.

A thought entered me head.

JJ still doesn't know about what Kiara said to Rafe that day at the Country Club.

I text Kiara as she sits two seats away from me on the couch, keeping a straight face so that the Pogues don't catch on.

The text reads:

"You need to tell JJ. You told me you would. It's only fair Kie."

She looks up at me and nods.

As the time passes, we all smoke weed while watching various shows on Netflix. (All of our attention spans are very low, so we kept switching shows).

A little while later, Kie asks JJ to talk. None of us are really paying too much attention. They quietly leave the room and walk towards the kitchen.

"Guys let's play a game!" I suggest, in a high-pitched tone.

"Yes." JB responds sternly, breaking into laughter 2 seconds later.

I look at him and Pope and start to uncontrollably laugh.

"Okay, okay. Would you rather-"

"I wanna go first actually." JB cuts me off.

"Would you rather help one of your best friends after he got punched, or would you rather leave with the person that punched him."

I'm silenced.

I giggle a little to get rid of the awkwardness.

Oh. He's serious.

Pope clears his throat.

"Okay, well uhm. Let's just-"

"No, no. I think wanna hear her answer. Which one would you rather do? Oh, I guess you've already done one of those, so-"

"John B-" I'm at a loss of words.

This definitely changed the mood.

"Listen, I didn't mean for it to come out that harsh Cass. But JJ is my best friend and I haven't seen you give him the apology he deserves yet."

I sit there for a few seconds, still trying to gather my thoughts.

"I- I know." I whisper, feeling embarrassed.

Pope gets up and declares that he's gonna go get some water.

"I'll bring you guys some too."

I smile and nod.

John B still staring at me with a very serious face.

"When were you planning on talking to him, huh? Seriously Cassandra. It's like- ever since you've reconnected with Rafe you've just been gone. M.I.A. Disconnected from us. You know JJ wouldn't have said this to you himself. So I have to do it."

I swallow hard before my next words

"I know, okay? I'm sorry for what I did to him, I am. It's my fault that this whole thing was caused. (Was it?) I was gonna talk to him I swear. I just-"

"You what, Cass? Been too busy with R-"

I cut him off, tired of him talking about Rafe like this. Like he's some kind of monster. Someone who I shouldn't be around.

I lean in closer.

"You aren't one to be talking about being with a Cameron, are you?" I deadpan.

He looks at me, shaking his head as if he's disappointed.

"You know it's not the same thing." He gestures as he gets louder.

I shrug and smile.

"Listen. I'm gonna talk to JJ okay? Are you like- mad at me?"

He swallows and his lips part.

"No. But I'm upset, about what you did to JJ. What you did to us."

I nod, not knowing what else to say.

Thankfully the rest of the gang comes back and takes their seats, nothing else but silence in the room.

I see JJ looking up at me, with a gloomy look on his face. He turns away as soon as my eyes reach his.

Pope passes us some waters.

Gradually we all start talking, and walking around the house cleaning up.

I pull JJ to the side to talk to him.

He scratches the back of his neck as he licks his lips with a scar on his lips, most likely from his dad. Shit.

"JJ, your-" I point at the bruise.

"I know. Okay? I know. Not anything that hasn't happened before. So what's up?"

My face saddens. Goosebumps all over my body. To think that anyone could ever treat their own son the way JJ's dad does. It breaks my heart.

"I wanted to apologize. I'm really sorry for leaving at Midsummers with Rafe. I just- I've been talking to him again and I had some things to deal with. He's really sorry I promise. I'm even more sorry for not being there for you. It's my fault this whole situation happened."

I breathe out, my eyes are red. I feel myself wanting to tear up.

"It wasn't your fault C. It was messed up that you left. But I know you and Rafe are cool again. It's fine. We're fine." He sounds hesitant.

"Uhm. Did-"

"She talked to me, yeah. I know what she said to Rafe last summer and I know why Rafe did it. I'm all caught up."

Wait. Did Kie not tell him she likes him?

I smile and nod in response.

"Did she tell you why she did it?"

He looks down at his feet, with his hands in his pocket.

"Yeah. Yeah. I just don't know what to make of it right now." He plays with his ear, licking his lips.

"That's okay." I respond.

I give him a hug to reassure him — and myself, that we're okay. I've missed him.

He walks away and I see Pope coming towards me.

We greet each other and just start laughing. It was late, everyone was tired. It felt good to let out a laugh.

"Did everything go okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, we're all chill now."

My best friend.

I give him a hug.

-

By the end of the night, we were all getting along. It felt normal again. Tomorrow we'll all get up and start getting the party ready.

I'm ready.

I think.

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a/n:

this was bad.

but i needed to make a chapter to resolve all this stuff. and also to BOND with our favs. we're moving on. MORE RAFE NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE.

OH AND THE PARTY IS GONNA START NEXT CHAPTER. theres always drama at parties.

and more tea 😉😉😏😏😏