𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖 - 𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕟 - 𝕠𝕔- 𝕛𝕛 𝕞𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕜

s i x

"Hold still." I say as I put a cotton pad soaked in rubbing alcohol on the cut that Rafe made on JJ's forehead.

"Ow. Ow! OW LILY STOP!" He shoos my hand away.

"JJ!" I scold.

"Sorry." He says and I roll my eyes and continue placing the cotton pad on his head. I had JJ sitting in the passenger seat of the truck while I was outside. I finished cleaning up the cut when I looked at him. His eyes stared into mine. I can't believe I stayed with him instead of leaving with Rafe. I was kind of acting on impulse. I felt bad about leaving John b at the beach, and I regret it since that day. I wasn't gonna do the same thing to JJ. God, Rafe was gonna be so mad when I got home.

"Thank you." He says to me. I smile.

"Of course."

"No, like seriously. Thank you for staying. It was probably stupid of you because Rafe's already pissed." He laughs.

"Rafe can't be mad. It's his fault." I look down and fidget with the bracelet that Rafe got me for my 17th birthday.

"I would do it differently." I hear JJ say.

"What?" I reply looking back up at him.

"If you were mine." I sigh.

"JJ, I-"

"No!" He cuts me off. "I'm sick and tired of sitting back and watching you take shit from this guy. You aren't you anymore. I would never put you in the position that he put you in today. I would treat you better. You would be able to have fun, and I think you know that." I look at him. There's frustration in his eyes. He just doesn't understand. I sigh.

"He's not to you what he is to me. I know that's hard to hear, but it's true." I say.

"Bullshit, Lily. I saw him. He had no problem putting his hands on you to get you out of his way." JJ's tone becomes angrier.

"Jesus, JJ. What are you implying?" I throw my hands up.

"I think you know what i'm implying."

"He's not abusive!"

"The guys fuckin crazy, Lily!" I put my hands over my face. It hurt that this is what JJ thought of Rafe. This isn't Rafe at all. He wouldn't hurt me.

"He's not crazy. He's got problems, yeah, but he's not crazy. He's a neat freak, an over protective person, he does stupid little things like throwing the cards on the ground when he loses uno, and he likes to play jokes on his sister when he's bored, but he's not crazy." I say. JJ looks at me like he doesn't know who I am. He says nothing to me. "Get in the truck." I say to him and he turns around in his seat and shuts the door.

I grab the first aid kit and bring it to the other side of the truck to put it away. I know Rafe, and I know that he's gonna think there's something going on between JJ and I. There isn't. I don't see JJ like that even if he sees me like that. I put the rubbing alcohol back in the kit and shove it under the backseat. There's a silence between JJ and I as I sit in the drivers seat. I put the key in the ignition and start driving.

I can see him staring at me out of the corner of my eye, and he breaks the silence. "He really has you under, huh?"

"JJ please don't do this we just got over our shit."

"I just don't ge-" He starts.

"No! Not another word about Rafe! That's our business, not yours." JJ quiets down and the rest of the car ride is silent. We pull up to the chateau and I put the truck in park. He looks at me again and I look back.

"Please don't go." He pleads which surprises me.

"What?"

"Don't go to him. You're better off here with us." I sigh. I can't stay and frankly, I don't want to.

"You know I can't, JJ." He nods his head and climbs out of the truck. He peeks his head in the door one last time.

"I'm gonna get you out of there one day. When you realize you need me to." I give him a half smile.

"Bye, JJ." He shuts the door and walks into the house. I drove home with the music playing at low volume on the way there. I cried for most of the drive. I wasn't sure how Rafe was going to react when I got there.

- the cameron residence -

I quietly unlocked the door and went in the house. Everyone was already asleep. I walked up the stairs and opened Rafe's door. He was lying in the bed on his side.

"Are you awake?" I ask.

"Can't sleep." He replies but still stays in his position. I shut the door behind me.

"What are you doing, Rafe?" He looks at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Beating up pouges? What has gotten into you?"

"They sank Topper's boat!" He raises his voice.

"Yeah, because you jumped one of them on the golf course!" I whisper yell to remind him that everyone else is asleep.

"They put a gun to Topper's head!"

"Not Pope!" I sighed and sat down on the bed. He sat up. We were face to face. I look at him and I can tell that he had been crying. I put my hand on his face.

"I'm so sorry, Lily. I didn't know it would hurt you this much. I didn't realize how cold and distant i've been. I just...I love you more than anything in this world." My eyes turn up to that. "I should never have let my emotions come over me like that. You mean more to me than any of this stupid shit. If you wanna...I- I- I don't know. Sleep in Sarah's room tonight or something, that's fine. Okay? I understand. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want. I just hate to see you this way especially knowing that i'm the cause. You know that if it came down to it I would protect you with my life. I could never forgive myself for the way I acted and the position I put you in today." I felt tears forming in my eyes and noticed that Rafe started to cry too. "I can't lose you, Lily. You're my everything." I say nothing and pull him into a hug. I can feel his tears on my shirt and I squeeze him tighter. I've never seen Rafe like this. It's gotta be bigger than just beating up some pouges, right? Rafe means more than anything to me too. As much as it may hurt, I love him. I release from the hug and lay down on my side. I feel Rafe wrap his arms around my waist and he kisses my neck. I just lay there not knowing what to say. On one hand I should think of the pouges, but on the other hand, Rafe seems genuinely upset about something.

"I love you Rafe" I say still laying on my side. "But this needs to stop, okay? You can't keep getting into fights with people I care about." He sighs.

"You-you care about him?" He lifts his head a bit.

"Not specifically JJ. I meant in a broad sense. These are people I grew up with, Rafe. You have to understand that." I turn and look at him.

"You stayed." He says feeling betrayed.

"I still came home." He gives me a half smile and lays back down tightening his wrap around my body.

"Wait, Rafe?"

"What?" He asks in a sleepy tone.

"Did you get your suit tailored?" I quickly remembered that midsummers was tomorrow and I hadn't even thought of it. I bought my dress weeks prior, but I usually had to stay on top of Rafe with this stuff.

"Yeah. It's in the closet. Can you please just go to sleep." He groans and I start to drift off in his arms.

A/N

-okayyy so yes this chapter was short but I wanted to fit midsummers into its own chapter
-you got to see a small glimpse of how jj and lily's relationship will change
-go follow the tiktok! @petermaximoffsgfwp