what now? | outerbanks

• twenty-five •

Rafe

    "And he thinks it was Rose?" I hear a muffled Sarah ask from the phone my girlfriend has pressed up to her ear. She looks at me, and I nod, cueing her to respond.
    "He's pretty sure, yeah. He wants to call her and figure out where she's staying, but I think you should help too. This is still your family, technically," she picks up a random pen from the counter and doodles insignificantly on scattered papers, "and I don't want you to be left out of anything."
    "Yeah, yeah. Thank you," Sarah replies. Sofia walks further from me and down a hallway, so I can't hear much else from Sarah's end, but I think I hear her say something about Wheezie.
    "We think Wheezie is probably with Rose wherever she is. If you want, you can come with us to call and look for her." I lean my head back and groan internally, dreading the future confrontation I know I'm in for.
    Sofia pauses again, letting my sister speak on the other line, but then she gasps feverishly.
    "Kelce? Are you serious?" Her eyebrows knit together and her mouth sinks into a disgusted scowl. "God, he's such a douche." Sarah says something else, and Sofia lets out a girlish giggle, her once-angry features softening into sweeter ones.
    I can't help but watch her every move, wondering what Sarah could have said to make her laugh like that and why I felt so jealous of it. Despite how abandoned and betrayed she made me feel, I miss the days when Sarah and I were simply children and siblings, and I could tease her and then cuddle on the sofa with our parents in the same hour. Where she would sneak sips out of my breakfast milk glasses and tiptoe around Wheezie's bassinet. I miss having a family.
"Yeah, mhm. We'll come pick you up from there in, like, an hour," Sofia says, a soft smile on her face as she twists a section of hair around her finger. "Sounds good, buh-bye."
    "See? Look how easy that was," she hums, walking over and sitting down next to me on the sofa. "Now, go get dressed and ready, okay? This is important, Rafe."
    "Why do you care so much about this?" I ask her, rubbing the heel of my hand into my eye to clear it.
    "All I can think about is my baby sister and how much I would do to protect her, and I feel obligated to do the same for Wheezie." She rolls over a little and wraps her arms around my neck, our faces not inches apart. "You know, one day, when we're married, she'll be my baby sister too." She kisses me and I instantly smile, thinking about what she said. I playfully throw her arms off of me and stand from the couch with a laugh.
    "Oh, don't get too ahead of yourself now," I tease, walking to our bedroom. I make it halfway there before turning around to face the girl. "You coming or not?"

•

"Do you want me to get out or-"
"No, no. I'll go get her," I tell my girlfriend, getting out of the car and leaving her alone in the passenger seat. I anxiously observe the space around me as I walk towards the house, hands shoved in my pockets. At the door, I press the cold gold ring on my knuckle to my lips, temporarily pondering whether I should knock or not. When I ultimately do, I take a deep breath and tap my foot slightly on the wooden porch, checking my watch occasionally.
"We're not interested," a girl's voice comes from behind the door before it's completely open, and once it is, I see Kie inside the house. "Oh, sorry. Wasn't expecting you." She says, pulling her lips into a tight line and looking down at her feet awkwardly.
She opens the door wider and walks a little ways away, letting me enter the house.
"Sarah!" She yells, shutting the door behind me.
"One second," I hear my sister call back through the house. It's woody and damp, and the only light is a natural one from the large windows. Kie sways into the kitchen without a word, leaving me alone in the dim entryway.
"How are you, Kie?" I ask, trying to make cordial conversation.
"I'm fine." The curly-haired girl is short and uncouth as she scoops ground coffee into a makeshift coffee filter. I laugh under my breath at her demeanor, knowing she's not as tough as she makes herself out to be. She hears me and whips her head around, steam practically blowing from her ears. "Something to say?"
I hold my hands up in defense and chuckle.
"You have no business coming around here, and you know that." Kie slams her hand onto the shiny counter in front of her. "Your little doe-eyed girlfriend could have come in, or, even better, you could've just texted."
    "So I can't be polite and wonder how you're doing? Is that not allowed?" I ask, finally leaving the entryway and confronting her in the kitchen.
    Her eyes are glistening over, and I recognize the teariness of her face from fights we've had before. The bridge of her nose wrinkles and turns red, another thing I've known to happen in her anger. As soon as she goes to shout a response, Sarah finds her way into the room, assessing the situation rapidly.
    "Absolutely not," she seethes, walking straight for me and grabbing my bicep, pulling me out of the house. She shoots Kie a reassuring glance before slamming the door and shoving me down the steps. "Let's go."
    "No need to be aggressive, princess," I say while getting in the car, earning a glare from Sofia.
    "You just couldn't help but start something, could you?" Sarah argues from the back seat, and from the rearview mirror, I see her dark brown eyes turned in anger. I wait until I hear her seatbelt click, and then, putting my other hand on Sofia's thigh, I drive out of the yard.