Until It Doesn't Hurt | Rafe Cameron

06

The following morning, when Eleanor woke up, Rafe was gone. Only a small piece of paper remained on the spot where he had slept, cradled in her arms. She picked up the paper and read it: Working out with the boys. She rolled her eyes.

An hour later she was heading back to Topper's house to crash their little workout sesh. She wore a long sleeve workout top to cover the bruise on her arm and she was going to have to take it easy not to disturb the angry muscles.

"Morning, boys!" she cheerily called to them as she entered Topper's garage slash home gym. Kielce and Topper both groan at her presence.

"Why are you here?" Kelce asked, rolling his eyes.

"To work out," she naively answered, smirking to herself. "Don't look so annoyed Kelce, I know how you like to stare at my ass. I'm just giving you the opportunity to."

Rafe set down the dumbbell he was using and walked over to Eleanor. He pressed a kiss to her lips, "Good morning, baby."

The guys fell back into their conversation while they continued to work out. Eleanor listened to Topper tweak about his boat being sunk while doing some squats.

"Well, we know who did it, right?" Rafe asked.

Kelce answered, "It was that little geek Pope."

"Pope, yeah," Topper echoed, "Hey, uh, Rafe if you wouldn't have jumped him on the golf course, I'd still have a boat, right?"

Eleanor dropped the weight she was using, "You what!"

"Sorry if I, uh... had your back after some Pogue put a--put a gun to your head," Rafe countered. "Listen, I am not the enemy here," Rafe told them, "I didn't sink the boat. Pope did. And you need to force him to take some personal responsibility."

Eleanor stood in shock watching Rafe justify jumping someone to Topper. She wouldn't let this stand. Not a chance.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Rafe asked.

"Nothing, right?" Eleanor interjected, "You already did something, Rafe. You jumped him!"

"His buddy had a gun at a party you were at!" Rafe argued, "I wasn't going to just let that go. Not for your sake or for Topper's. For crying out loud, El, JJ held a gun to Topper's head!"

"Then maybe you should retaliate against JJ, not Pope," Eleanor sarcastically suggests. "You don't get it, do you, Rafe? All this is going to do is keep going in circles. They do something to you, and you do something to them. It's not going to end well. There is no winner!"

"We'll see about that," Rafe scoffs.

***

Once Eleanor's anger wore off, she convinced Rafe, who then convinced Topper and Kelce, to go to the OBX Summer Series at the park. Rafe whined about it, saying it was girlish, but when Eleanor promised to steal some of her father's beer, it suddenly seemed appealing.

The group set up their lawn chairs towards the back of the grass, far enough out of the way that they wouldn't be spotted with their stolen refreshments.

Eleanor went up to the concession stand to get popcorn for the group with Rafe trailing behind her. Kiara was ahead of them in line and immediately she knew Rafe was going to interject.

"Hi, Kiara," Eleanor greeted. Kiara turned and gave her a soft smile, one that immediately faded at the sight of Rafe towering behind Eleanor.

"Hey, Kie. What's up?" he began. "How're you?"

"I'm fine," she bitterly answered.

"Good, good. Um..." Eleanor knew the next words to come out of Rafe's mouth were going to have something to do with earlier. "Tell your boy that we know what he did."

Kiara rolled her eyes, "Sorry, what boy are you talking about?"

"Uh, he'll know."

A look of disgust crossed Kiara's face at Rafe's antics. She turned to Eleanor before walking away and spoke, "Why are you with him?"

"I-" Eleanor stammered, a bit shocked at Kiara's bluntness. But it was too late, Kiara was already waking away.

"Bye," Rafe called out to her.

"Douche," she remarked.

Eleanor scoffed, turning to her boyfriend, "Did you have to do that?"

"C'mon," Rafe dismisses, stepping up to the counter and ordering the popcorn for their group.

***

Eleanor was bored out of her mind, as was the rest of the group. The movie they were showing was some sort of murder mystery that was from the 50s. She would never admit to her boredom, not after practically dragging Rafe here. She was just going to sit there and eat her overpriced popcorn.

Rafe, Kelce, and Topper all stood at once.

"Where are you guys going?" She asked in a whisper.

"Bathroom," Rafe replied as he and the guys walked towards the screen.

"But the bathroom's behind us..." Eleanor said, but they were too far away to hear.

They were, without a doubt in her mind, up to something. It probably had something to do with the Pogues, whom they'd been eyeing up all night. She knew he wouldn't let it go, she had been stupid for even considering that Rafe would leave Pope and the Pogues alone.

Eleanor continued to pick at her popcorn, waiting for Rafe's return. She turned her attention back to the screen, watching the black and white film and listening to the narration. All of a sudden, the bottom of the screen erupted into a line of flames.

The crowd began to scream and panic, quickly gathering their things and scurrying away. The flames left off a great deal of heat, Eleanor could feel it from her spot near the back of the part. The screen burned fast, quickly disappearing into ash.

She could still hear the film's audio as she packed up her and Rafe's chairs and made her way back to her car.

"Fuck," she said, realizing that Rafe had the keys and he was still nowhere to be seen. She tried opening the doors to the white SUV, but they were all locked. She was stuck waiting until Rafe reappeared.

Eleanor didn't have to wait very long before he came sauntering into the community parking lot. Although it was dark out, she could see the splits on his knuckles. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been fighting, yet again.

"What the fuck happened?" she asked. Rafe didn't answer her, instead, he unlocked the car and put the lawn chairs in the back, refusing to say a word. "Rafe! What did you do?"

"Drop it, El," he commanded, opening her door for her.

"Fine," she says, "but just so you know, I'm mad at you."

"Oh, are you?" he questions, "What for?"

"Fighting...again."

"Those Pogues are out of control, alright. I was just doing what's necessary to keep you safe."

Eleanor scoffed, "Keep me safe? They've not done anything to me. You're just mad because Topper's mad. You really need to make some friends that aren't sixteen years old."

"Okay, smart-ass. Let's go home."