"Oh, shit, they found the truck." Kie panicked as the six drove back the way they came. After heading to the church, they found the cross gone with two people in mind of who had it.

"Just relax. Relax." John B spoke quickly back at her.

"Well, lookee here." Shoupe spoke as he walked over. Lila sighed from where she was in the front, watching as he came to the side door.

"Good evening officer." John B commented.

"Sheriff." Shoupe corrected.

"Sheriff. That's right." John B nodded.

"Lila, you look bend outta shape." Shoupe spoke as he shined his light over toward the girl in the front seat.

Lila stared over at him, "Thank you."

"I pulled the tags and I know who's truck that is." Shoupe said sternly as he looked around the van, shining his light in the back to find Kie on the floor board, "Hey! Kie, you drop your weed pen back there?"

"Found it." Kie nodded as she got up.

"Sheriff, I just wanted to say that this is all my fault." Pope spoke up, trying to take the blame, "She had nothing to do with this. I take 100% responsibility."

"Nothing to do with it?" Shoupe questioning in a tone of disbelief, "You wanna try that again? Your parents reported the truck missing four hours ago, and the keys were missing from the house. I'm taking you home."

He looked at Lila, "Both of you."

"I didn't even do anything." Lila said quickly, "Neither did Kie. Maybe her parents left the house unlocked."

"Lila, it's all right." Kie said with a sigh, opening the van.

"Cmon, now. Your moms are worried, lied to their face and said I knew where you were." Shoupe said as he nodded toward Lila, "Now, unless you want all of us in trouble, I suggested you come with."

"Yo, Lila." JJ said with the back, grabbing her attention, "You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah, I have a few words I wanna say anyways." Lila said, blowing each of them a kiss as she got out of the van, taking Kies hand as they headed toward the cop car.

"I'll call you in a bit okay?" Lila asked as Kie got out of the car, "Don't let anyone send you to boarding school."

"I won't." Kie said as she gave her a nod, "You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine." Lila nodded her head, "I can handle myself."

"I know." Kie nodded as she gave her a nod, "Love you."

"Love you too." Lila called as Kie walked up toward her house, leaving the blonde in the car with Shoupe.

"The two of you are pretty close." Shoupe commented as he backed up, driving down the road again. Lila ignored him, looking out the window, "You have a wild group of friends."

"Doesn't matter." Lila shook her head, continuing to look out the window, "I love them, and they're my family."

"I hear you." he nodded, stopping at the stop sign, "I just want you to be carful."

Lila bite the inside of her mouth, hurting slightly. She couldn't help but wonder if Logan would have liked Shoupe, if he would have enjoyed the Pogues company or if he'd have even made it another year. She wondered if things would be different if he was still here, if they'd enjoy getting to know Shoupe.

"I'm sorry you can't have kids of your own with your wife." Lila mumbled as he drove down the road, "Do you guys not want to adopt?"

"We've thought about it. But the process is difficult and takes time." Shoupe said back, taking his next turn.

"It shouldn't be." Lila shook her head, leaning back on the seat, "There is millions of kids in the foster system, it shouldn't be this difficult to be able to give them a good life."

"Well, I agree." Shoupe nodded his head, "But I get it. There's some sick people out there, I guess they just wanna make sure you're right for the job."

"Do they though? Because how is it that most of foster kids get sexually assaulted or abused in the time they spend with another family?" Lila spoke up with a shake of her head, "The system doesn't care. They just wanna make sure they get their money."

Shoupe glanced her way but kept his eyes on the road for the majority of the part, "Is that something you're interested in? Career wise? Social services?"

Lila flushed in the face in embarrassment, "No, that's not what I want."

"Well, what is it then?" he asked, seeing her change of emotions, "What? Is it embarrassing?"

"Most people think it's dumb when I tell them. I just say I don't know now." Lila said honestly as he gave her a eyebrow raise, "I wanna have a tv show, hunting ghost."

"Ghost?" Shoupe asked with wide eyes. Lila couldn't help but give a snort at his face, "Why would you want anything to do with ghost?"

Lila shrugged, the seatbelt rubbing against her neck in the slightest, "I guess it just comforts me, as wild as that sounds. If I was a ghost, i'd want someone to want to try and talk to me."

"What about the ones that don't wanna be bothered?" Shoupe asked her, turning into the Cameron's drive way.

"I'm not sure about them yet." Lila shook her head as she looked up at the house, "I try not to think ahead too much."

"Well, I wish I was more like that." he gave a nod as Lila unbuckled her seat belt, "Lila, one more thing."

"Yeah?" she asked, holding the door handle.

"I'm sorry for not reaching out to you when I heard about Logan, I know that was probably a better time, I know you could have used that support." Shoupe said as Lilas face fell slightly, "Waiting until things were somewhat normal again was wrong of me, and I shouldn't have said anything at all, I don't think."

Lila sighed, "I'm glad you told me. But some things take longer to set in then most, you know?"

Shoupe gave her a nod with a faint smile, "You aren't a murderer, kid, and you can't feel guilty for making it out when he didn't."

Lila blinked, her heart sunk as a sad smile formed on her face, "Thanks, Shoupe, i'm glad you said that to me."

He gave her a final nod as Lila crawled out of the car, shutting the door with a awkward wave. Shoupe flashed his lights as he backed up out of the drive way, turning and heading down the road. Lila turned back to the Cameron house, exhaling. She didn't see her moms car, indicating they'd been out. Rafes Range Rover and the large moving van he was driving earlier was still here, parking in the driveway. Lila pulled the purple hawaiian button up off, holding it in her hands as the green of the top returned.

As she headed up the stairs, her eyes set on the purple lila flowers. They were dead, the lack of water killing them. Lila stared at them a moment before opening the patio door, walking inside and throwing her Hawaiian shirt across the couch. Her gaze went up the stairs, looking for any sight of anyone. Lila shook her head as she felt the anger build up in her stomach, walking up the staircase and down the hallway.

She went to Rafes room at the end, looking inside. She stared at his back, the Northface jacket around his shoulders as he paced with his phone in his hands. When he turned, he gave a slightly frightened look, "Jesus christ, don't sneak up on me like that."

Lila leaned on the door way, staring at him. Rafe gave her a odd look as the silence rung slightly. He took a second to realize this might have been the first time he hadn't seen her without any form of purple on, "What are you doing, Rafe?"

Her voice was calm, frightening in the slightest. She didn't move, only her eyelids blinked every now and then but not nearly as often as they usually did.

"Nothing." he said back, feeling intimidated under her distinct gaze, "Nothing, why would you even ask me that?"

"So you're locking me in rooms and stealing from my friends for nothing?" she asked, leaning off the door and taking a step forward. When she did so, the blonde locks fell off her shoulder and her arms crossed, "That's a odd hobby to have."

Rafe cracked a grin as he nodded, "That cross is mine now."

"It belongs to Pope, and his family." she corrected him, her tone was still so calm and clean, "Like the woman you dug up and left laying there."

Rafe rolled his eyes suddenly at her, "Can we not do this right now? You stress me out."

"No, we are doing this right now." she said back, her tone dropped a moment to a bit more of a angry hint, "I'm tired of you making the rules and walking all over me. We don't get to argue just whenever you're in the mood."

"Look, i'm sorry for locking you in here. Renfield said he knew you and I didn't want to jeopardize any of this." Rafe explained, running a hand down his face, "Do you understand? I was protecting you."

"Protecting me from calling you out on the fact that you're stealing from Pope and his family? It belongs to him, not you, not me, not Limbrey, no one else." Lila said back, her eyes twitched slightly, "I'm done with this."

"Done with what? Huh? You gonna choose your friends over me now?" he asked her, tossing his phone onto his bed to put his full attention onto her.

"I can't keep choosing you side and defending you." Lila stated, keeping her guard up even though she wanted to drop it, "I came here for the summer. I got involved with you, I knew you weren't all that bad deep down. You're a drug addict, and I wanted to help you. I talked to my mom-"

"You talked to your mom about me being on drugs?" he asked her in disbelief.

"She was an addict, Rafe. She told me to make it known I was here for you but to give you space. So that's what I did, and it backfired, and that's on me." Lila nodded her head as she stared at him, "I should have helped you with your addiction more and took better advice and I'm sorry I didn't. But I have defended you too long. You have hurt every single one of my friends multiple times, physically and mentally, and I can not just stand back and do nothing about it anymore."

Rafe stared at her with a frown of his eyebrows. Never had Lila spoken down to him like this, only once in the hospital after Barry hurt her and she took her anger out of Rafe, but other then that, she never blamed him for things, she blamed herself. Rafe knew it, the sudden change took him by surprise, "They got in the way. All of it. They are always in the way."

"And I put it all aside because I still saw something in you that no one else did. I saw a good side and I hoped that me being around would help you be that version of yourself." Lila nodded, taking a step closer to him, "I love you, Rafe, and I always will, but I genuinely can not do this anymore."

"What is that suppose to mean?" he asked her, feeling so much smaller under her gaze.

"It means that I feel so sad all the time, and guilty for your mistakes. I don't wanna feel that way anymore, and maybe that makes me a selfish person, but I have to put myself above you from now on." Lila explained, her eyes watered but she tried to hold the stare she had on him, the hold her eyes kept, "I have came back to you after you hurt me, hurt my friends, lied to me, manipulated me, guilt tripped me, sided with your drug dealer after he nearly killed me, stole my pills, blamed me, killed people, and now stole from someone who has been there for me, through all of this, even when he shouldn't be."

Rafe turned in a circle slightly as he shook his head, "So it's my fault? All of it?"

"No, it isn't. It isn't your fault that you are addicted, that isn't anything easy to get away from." Lila shook her head a she focused his gaze back on her, "And it isn't your fault that you haven't gotten the help you need, and I feel for you so much on that one and I will always be here if you decided that you want to take my advice on going to the treatment centers. That being said, I can't keep hurting myself and everyone I love to pull you out of the deep end every time."

Lilas shoulders dropped as she broke their eye contact, the guilt already taking over her but she kept her ground stood.

"A lot of things scare me, Lila." Rafe said as she looked up at him again, "But you wanna know what i'm most scared of?"

"What?" she asked, genuinely having no clue what had been at the top of Rafes list.

"You." he said back, taking her by surprise as Lilas fact fell, "You scare me more then anything else."

Her heart was in her stomach as she gave a minor shake of her head, "Why do I scare you?"

"Because I kept waiting for you to do this, and you never did." Rafe said back, standing completely still as he stared at her intensely, "Now that you have, it scares me."

Lila broke their eye contact again, her voice dropped low, "What do you want from me, Rafe? I want to be there for you and help you but it's hurting everything I love in the process."

"I want you to be on my side." he blinked, "I want you to pick me over them."

Lila stared at him, "I can't do that unless things change, that's what I'm trying to say to you."

Rafe looked away from her. Lila exhaled, the amount of weight dropped off her shoulders. She dug into her pockets, three hospital templets in her hands as she laid them on the desk nearest her, "I'm sorry, Rafe, I really am. And I still have faith in you, and I know you know what the right thing to do is."

As Lila turned on her heels, Rafe looked up before suddenly speaking, "Bring me."

She turned, "What?"

Rafe grabbed the top templet. His eyes watered as he stared over at her, "Bring me."

Lilas heart sunk again as she turned to him, looking at the tamplets in his hands, "You want to go?"

"Right now." he nodded at her, "You'll bring me?"

"I'll bring you." she nodded, "Um, we just need to get-"

"I wanna go now." he stopped her, "Is that okay?"

Lila nodded, the last thing she wanted was to say no and that they needed to wait and have his mind change, "Yes, yes, of course, we can go now."

Rafe followed after her, walking down the stairs. They didn't say anything until they were in the front yard.

"What happens there?" he asked her, grabbing the keys, "At the hospital?"

"Nothing bad." Lila reassured him, "I did a lot of research on this one. They'll understand you and help you in a way that other people can't"

Rafe nodded, opening the door for her. Lila glanced his way, "I can drive if you want me to."

"I know you don't like to drive." he shook his head at her, "There's a GPS. You'll type it in?"

Lila nodded as he shut the door, the darkness of the car waiting until she got in, the lights coming on. Lila typed the address into the GPS after the car started up, waiting until the little voice came through to lean back. Her eyes moved over toward Rafe as he bucket his seat belt, "Hey, Rafe?"

He turned when her hand placed upon his shoulder, meeting her eye. Lila gave a small smile, "I'm proud of you for doing this, I really am."

He gave her a small smile, grabbing hold of her hand as she bucket up. The GPS stated to turn right. Rafe followed, driving into the darkness with his headlights on. He looked over at her, the way she sat, the way she breathed, the way she looked out the window, the way her smiled, "What was wrong with you on the road?"

Lila gave a minor look of confusion before she remembered, "We crashed the truck and it reminded me of the car accident, with Logan."

"And JJ was helping you." Rafe nodded. Lila looked over at him, his eyes focused on the road, "Do you go to him when I'd hurt your feelings? Do stuff you didn't like?"

Lila gave a minor look his way, "I don't know what you mean."

"JJ isn't that good of a person, Lila." she spoke, looking over at her with a minor squint to his eyes and a head nod, "He takes after his dad."

Lila was tempted to not say anything but simple did not, "JJ is a good person, Rafe. Him and his dad are two different people."

"And John B isn't any better now, is he? Running off, taking my sister with him, brainwashing her and you." Rafe spoke. Lila suddenly felt uneasy, glancing at the car door and finding it locked, "Pope and Kiara aren't any better, they just get in the way and cause problems. Stressing me out."

"Turn right at the next sign." the GPS spoke up as Rafe came to a stop, Lila waited.

The car turned left.

"Rafe." the blonde spoke up, she didn't look at him, "Where are we going?"

"I'm gonna protect you from them, Lila." he shook his head, a grin across his face.

Lilas heart raced as she looked his way, "I wanna go back."

"No, no, no. Lila, look, look, this is gonna be good." Rafe explained as he grabbed her hand, tightening around her palm.

"Rafe, please, just bring me back." she begged him, the feeling of fear running through her veins suddenly as she gave him a pleading look, "Please."

"I know you're mad right now. But you'll see it, okay? You're gonna realize how bad that life style is." Rafe explained as he let her hand go, driving with two hands, "You and Sarah both.

•

kylie speaks

doesn't sit right
with me that i only
get to write for lila
for one more episode.

y'all there is a tik tok
and it mention a chapter
and a lot of people were
talking so highly about it
in the comments and it made
me so happy, like i feel so warm.
i put the link on my message
board, whoever made it, if you
are reading this, your tiktok
made me so happy.

thank y'all for 300k🥰