Good Days •Rafe Cameron•

A Thin Line Between Love & Hate

    I couldn't breathe. My body was numb and my eyes were glued to the crossbow pointed at me. I could feel my heart beating a mile a minute.
     Rafe stared at me. His eyes didn't leave mine. He completely ignored the cross sitting in the middle of the church.
    I was finally able to catch my breath. "How could you this to me?" The first thing I could think of saying.
    Renfield continued to keep the weapon pointed at me. It was like he was waiting for Rafe's signal.
    "I'm doing this for you, Phoebe." Rafe speaks. His voice is low. He wore an exhausted expression on his face. He didn't want to argue. I get that. But I knew what he was about to do. To me. To Pope.
    "If I let you take this cross, the Pogues will never forgive me." I state.
    "Why don't you go wait in the truck, Renfield." Rafe suggested. Renfield looked between Rafe and I before slowly dropping his weapon and strutting back out of the church.
      My breathing finally evened out. I still felt uneasy. But I was able to think properly again without a weapon pointing at me.
     "So that's the cross, huh?" Rafe asked. He slowly walked over to the bench I was sitting on. Once he reached me, he put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
     "Yeah." I nod. My voice was quiet. I lowered my head trying to avoid eye contact. Rafe's hand left my shoulder as he crouched down. His fingers graze the cool metal and he stared in awe at the jewels.
      "This is it, Be." He starts. I finally look at him again. A small smile appeared on his lips and his eyes were dazzling with pure hope.
     "Rafe, this is Pope." I say, trying to explain. He shakes his head. "It's a hundred something year old artifact, Phoebe." Rafe sighs. "It's doesn't matter who it belonged to. What matters now is who has it." He says in a fit of anger now.
     "God, Rafe!" I exclaim, jumping out of my seat. "You are a mother fucking Sociopath!" I shout. "Your family already has the gold. Why do you need the damn cross, too? You're greedy. And whatever the Pogues have; you want it, too!" I explain. I run my fingers through my hair.
    "Be..."Rafe trails off. He takes a step closer to me, but I back away. "Don't touch me!" I said.
     "I'm trying to be nice here, Be. But my family needs this. I need this. And those Pogues have got you brainwashed!"
     I could tell he was high. Coked out. His eyes were blood shot and his skin glazed in sweat. His body was shaking continuously.
     Rafe tapped his forehead. "Think of it like this, if you stay with me, I'll give you a cut." He says.
     "What the fuck is wrong with you!" I screamed. "I try so hard to give you the benefit of the doubt. And you keep in disappointing me. And I defend you. But right now there's a thin line between love and hate. And it looks like that line is getting thinner." I say in one breath.
He just stared at me. His feelings were hurt. I could tell. But I didn't care. I knew Rafe and Renfield were probably going to take the cross. I just needed to say it.
"If you had to choose..."I start. I feel a lump in my throat begin to form. "If you had to choose, between me or the money, would you choose me?" I breathed.
"You can't ask me that." Rafe says shaking his head. "It's not fair. And you know it." He raising his voice. He takes a few strides over to me until his tall frame hovers against mine.
"I choose both, okay." He grabs my face pulling me in closer. Our noses touch and I can feel his warm breath on my lips. "I choose both, because I want us to have a life. Away from this island. We could travel. And I would spoil you senseless." I feel his hands play with curls at the nape of my neck.
"You know that can't happen." I swallowed. "But it will. Maybe sooner than you think." He pulls me in for a kiss. A long, deep, sensual kiss.
His chapped lips molded onto mine and I felt his tongue graze my teeth as he sucked my mouth.
"Rafe." I say, pulling away. I put my hand to his chest. "You and Renfield need to leave." I demand.
"Unfortunately, we can't do that Ms. Carrera." Renfield says. He's leaning in the door to the church. Crossbow still in hand, only this time it's pointed at the ground.
"It's Carrera-Devereux." I correct the man. "Carla won't be too happy if I come back empty handed." He clicks his tongue.
"Come on, Rafe." He says. "Help me get this thing into the truck." He throws his crossbow on his back.
The warm touch of Rafe's hand leaves my neck. "I'm sorry, Phoebe." Rafe apologized. There it was again. The lump in my throat.
Rafe and Renfield picked up the cross with ease. Like they were training for this day. I couldn't say anything. I just stood there and watched.
They brought the cross to a large truck, sliding the artifact into the back and locking the door with a key Rafe pulled from his pocket.
"You're welcome to join." Rafe smiled. His white teeth were bright now that the sun had gone down and the moon was the only thing lighting up the sky.
"Why the hell would I do that?" I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. He laughed. "Just get in the truck, Be. I know you want to." His smile turned into a smirk. That's damn smirk.
I hated it because he used it on me to manipulate me. He knew I like it. And he was right. I did want to. I wanted a chance to speak with Carla Limbrey.
Still with my arms crossed, I walked around to the passengers side of the truck. Renfiled hopped into the drivers side as Rafe pulled the door open for me helping me up into the van.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had been driving for a few minutes now. Renfield whistled an old tune as his fingers tapped against the wheel. I could see Rafe watching me from the corner of my eye.
"What are you thinking?" He asked. "I don't know if I can do it." I state. He knitted his brows together. "Do what?" He asked, leaning closer to me.
"They're gonna be so mad at me." I whispered. My throat was getting tight again. And I could feel the tears burning my eyes.
I began to cry. I was letting everyone down. I was letting Pope down. For Rafe. All because I love him. And it drives me crazy.
I didn't care if I was making Renfield uncomfortable. I just needed to let it all out. Everything. My cry because sobs. I tried to wipe my tears but I couldn't control myself.
I began to hiccup. "Phoebe..." Rafe puts a hand on my cheek. I pull away. "Stop!" I snap, looking away.
"I'm just confused. And we need to talk." I said, using my sleeves to wipe my tears.
"Talk about what?" Rafe asked, annoyed. "We need to just talk about it again." I explained. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I felt overstimulated.
I could feel my hair touching my skin. My clothes rubbing against me. It was beginning to feel like a little too much.
"Talk about what!" Rafe, yelled. "Why are you yelling at me? I cried. "I'm not yelling at you!" He answered quickly. "You're yelling at me." I stated. "Phoebe, I'm not fucking yelling at you!" He shouts.
"Yes, you are!" I shout. I was yelling now. "God." Rafe scoffs.
"Do you have to act like this now?" He runs his fingers through his hair before gesturing to Renfiled, who still seemed to be uncomfortable listening to us argue. "You don't understand how hard this is for me." I state.
"Oh, my God." Rafe leans his head back, rolling his eyes. "Okay, whatever! I'm sorry!" He yells over me.
"No, you're not sorry! I know you're not. These are my friends. They're everything to me." I say. "I get it's your friends, jeez." He says, his legs begins to shake.
"No you don't get it. You have no friends. Barry is a pedophilic drug dealer who ratted you out the first chance he got. And Topper punked your ass the other night!" I yell.
Rafe was officially pissed. I knew it was harsh. But I wanted to hurt his feelings. "You're no better, Phoebe. You're ungrateful. You run around the cut like you're some kind of Pogue. News flash, Be! You're a Kook! You have a new model Jeep. You live in a gated community and you have a therapist!" He listed out.
I continued to cry. Ignoring him, I look out the window staring at the passing oak trees. My sobs were loud.
"Stop crying!" Rafe demanded. "Fuck you!" I snapped. Whipping my head back to face him. "You don't tell me to stop crying! This is my life and you have no idea what it's like! Like really, Rafe? What is wrong with you!" I shouted, getting in his face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Rafe got in my face, too. He was breathing heaving. He clenched and unclenched his fist like he was trying to stop himself from hitting me.
"Stupid..." He trails off, pulling away and looking at the road. "Stupid what?" I pried. "STUPID SPOILED, BITCH!"
REFIELD, STOP THE TRUCK AND LET ME THE FUCK OUT!" I screamed. I was livid. I couldn't be here right now.
But as I turned my head to look out the window my heart sank. Mike's truck was completely totaled. "Let me out! GOD DAMN IT, LET ME THE FUCK OUT!" I panicked. The truck began to slow down but I was already out my seat jumping out the truck.
"Oh, my God." I whispered covering my mouth with my hands. I began to shake.
That's when I saw the door open. The Pogues piled out the truck one by one.
     "What happened!" I cried. I ran to Kiara, immediately pulling her in for a hug. "Phoebe..." She says, pulling away from the hug to look at me. "Phoebe, you're supposed to be at the church." Pope says. He's breathing heavy. "I-." I stop myself as I watch Rafe hop out the truck.
    The Pogues whip their heads around. "Yo, what the fuck are you doing here?" JJ shouts. Rafe ignores him as he stomps over to me. Kiara is quick to step in front of me.
    But that didn't stop Rafe. He grabs Kiara's arm pulling her away from me, before pushing her towards the ground.
    "Hey!" Sarah and John B shout, rushing over to Kie to help her up.
    Rafe takes my arm in his hand. His grip was tight. "Get back in the truck, Phoebe." Rafe fumed, pulling towards the truck.
    "No!" I struggled. "Let her go!" Kiara screams. She pushes herself off the ground. "I'm sorry, Pope." I sobbed. "I couldn't stop them."
    Pope's eyes widen as he realizes what I mean. "No." He says, shaking his head in disbelief. "Let her go, Rafe." Pope quickly struts over to Rafe. It happened face. Rafe reached into the back of his jeans with his free hand and pulled out a gun. He lifts the weapon to Pope's face.
    Everyone went silent. The only sound was the humming from the truck.
    "It's over, all right. I have the cross. And Phoebe's coming with me." He demands. Sarah began to cry as she buried her face in her hands. Kiara takes Pope's hand; slowly pulling him away from Rafe. JJ and John B give Rafe the most distraught look.
     "I'm sorry." I mouthed. Before Rafe pushes me in the truck. Renfield quickly steps on the gas, leaving the Pogues in the dust.
      "You're a terrible person." I said. I continued to cry. I felt useless and lost. How could I let this happen.
     "You should drink this." Rafe spoke. He nudged me on the shoulder, pulling my attention from the window.
    He's holding a plastic water bottle. "Why?" I questioned. "Because you're dehydrated, baby." He whispered. "Look, I'm sorry. I promise once we get a chance; we'll talk." He explains.
     It didn't really matter to me. Talking didn't solve anything when it came to Rafe Cameron. He was all about action.
    But he was right, though. I was dehydrated from the crying and the shouting. And my day was long before our screaming match.
    I take the bottle from Rafe, unscrewing the cap before I drink the water. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until the cold liquid hit my tongue.
     Rafe and Renfield watched me drink the water. The bottle was empty within seconds and I instantly felt tired. Extremely tired. Unsettlingly and alarmingly tired.
    "I'm sorry, Phoebe." I heard before falling into a deep sleep.