𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑|𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

Jeremiah hated parties. He hated socializing with others and he especially hated drunk idiots that reminded him all too well of his father whenever he drowned too many cheap beers he stole from the local convenience stores. The kegger he had chosen to attend was in full swing, the scenery giving Jeremiah rather vivid flashbacks him of when him and Rafe had met for the first time. They were both teenagers with too much hatred in their hearts, for both themselves and the world. Jeremiah clenched his jaw at the memory, walking over towards John B to grab himself a drink

Sixteen year old Jeremiah pushed past the drunken teenagers at the local party he had decided to attend, his jaw clenching in indescribable rage. Saying that he had a horrible day would be the understatement of the century. First, he had totally bombed his history test, earning himself a scolding from his principal who had threatened to hold him back for the year, despite Jeremiah never failing a single class in his high school years. Then, there was his father, his drunken father who had gotten a phone call from school about Jeremiah's grades. The Maybank boy knew the principal held some weird grudge against him, which was the reason why she decided to call home in the first place over some stupid test that really didn't affect his grades whatsoever. Luke was angry, and when he was angry people were bound to get hurt. Jeremiah walked out of his house with aching ribs and a nasty black eye to go along with it. So yeah, his day sucked, and this party he decided to attend wasn't making it any better.

"Watching where you're fucking going, Pouge," A boy spat, Jeremiah wincing once he had bumped shoulders with him. The Maybank boy immediately recognized the voice as Rafe Cameron's, AKA the king of figure eight. Everyone on the cut hated him, Jeremiah included. He was rude, arrogant, and pretty much a giant asshole. Yet it seemed as if anyone who breathed near Rafe wanted to sleep with him, which Jeremiah couldn't bring himself to understand. What was it about him that had people so captivated? It was a question that kept him up at night, as insane as that sounded. "Oh, look who it is. Jeremiah Maybank, everybody! Yeesh, that's a pretty nasty black eye you got there."

"Fuck off," Jeremiah spat, shoving past Rafe to grab himself another drink. Out of the insecurity he felt he pulled on his sunglasses, even though it was pitch black outside. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to see the damage that was inflicted upon him by his father, especially given his reputation.

"Oh, someone's got a slight temper," Rafe taunted, grabbing onto Jeremiah's waist to pull him closer. Jeremiah gritted his teeth, attempting to pull away from Rafe which only caused for the grip on his waist to tighten even more. "Kinda reminds me of your dad, you know."

"I suggest you fucking let go of me before I'm not the only one with a black eye tonight."

"Oh, someone's a little bit feisty," Rafe grinned, playfully shoving Jeremiah's shoulder back and directly hitting one of the boys wounds. The Maybank flinched back at the sudden contact, quickly glancing away in order to portray the fact he wasn't at all phased by the action that had just occurred, despite the pain that swarmed in his shoulder and torso. Unfortunately Rafe had noticed this, the smug smile dropping from his face in a matter of seconds and instead morphing into one of rare concern. Because Rafe Cameron wasn't ever concerned about anybody, especially some dirty pouge who had bruises all over his face.

Jeremiah stared at Rafe for a moment longer before breaking eye contact, not wanting to be seen as weak just as everyone else in his godawful town perceived him to be. A worthless Maybank man with no sort of future ahead of him expect for drugs and violence. Rafe parted his lips to speak, wanting to turn Jeremiah around and ask him a million questions. Where did the bruises come from? Why were you so scared of everybody? Why were you so.....handsome? Nothing but air escaped, his body slowly feeling dejected as Jeremiah pushed through the numerous teenagers in order to get away from him.