𓇼 Chapter One

     Scarlett woke up in Rafe's bed alone again, per usual. Every night he'd say he'd be there in the morning, but he and Scarlett both knew that was a lie.

     Scarlett didn't mind though. She liked being alone in the mornings. Especially at the Cameron's. It was always quiet and no one bothered her. Unlike at her house where she's bothered by someone the whole morning.

Except today there was no peace. There was loud noises coming from generators, and apparently Scarlett got up later than usual when she saw twelve on the clock by the bedside table.

She rubbed her eyes before getting up and looking out the window, to see the Cameron's backyard looking way rougher than usual. She also saw Sarah Cameron with a net swatting at the birds.

Scarlett smiled before getting dressed, quickly brushing her hair and teeth then going outside to see what was going on out there.

She made it outside just as Ward and a worried woman were leaving to go to the front yard. Ward gave Scarlett a small wave as they walked past each other.

"What happened out here?" Scarlett asked her boyfriends two younger sister's. Wheezie, the youngest one just ignored her, but the oldest one answered.

"There was a hurricane and that was Scooter's wife. Apparently he didn't make it home last night." Sarah explained to Scarlett and she gave a slight nod.

"Do you know where Rafe is?" Scarlett asked even though she was pretty sure she knew exactly where he was. She just needed the word of confirmation. A part of her wanted to be proved wrong if she was being honest.

"Uh, I think Barry's." Sarah replied, a bit unsure of her answer but it was enough for Scarlett.

"Of course he is." Scarlett mumbled and began to walk toward her car and Sarah began swatting at the birds again even though her father told her to stop.

     Scarlett took the keys out of her flannel pocket and got in her car, making her way to Barry's before Rafe did something he would regret later.

As she pulled out of the driveway she heard a ring coming from her phone. To her shock, it was her cousin, JJ who she hadn't heard from in months. She quickly answered it since it worried her a little

"Need a weird favor. Can you distract a few cops? I think one's your dad." Someone asked as soon as she answered. She could tell it wasn't JJ from the voice.

"Who is this?" Scarlett asked, quickly double checking her phone to see if it was JJ's number, which it was. She then put her eyes back on the road after and propped her phone on her dashboard.

"Pope Heyward. JJ's friend. Are you anywhere near here." He asked and sent his location.

"Yeah, I'll be there in five." Scarlett answered and before Pope could reply she pressed the hang up button and began her side quest.

     After a few miles, she pulled into the hotel they sent her too, just barely catching up to her dad who stopped once he saw her. "Scarlett, what are you doing here? I thought you were at Rafe's?" He asked.

     "Well, I was. And then I saw you here so I decided to stop by and say hey." Scarlett answered and behind her father she saw JJ and John B walking out of the hotel and she motioned them with her eyes to walk faster.

     "Yeah, well I'm on duty right now, Scar." Her father reminded her and she gave him a small fake frown.

     "Yeah, I know, but Rafe was actually wanting to come to dinner tomorrow and I was wanting to know if it was okay with you." She told him and his face lit up while he motioned his partners to go ahead without him quickly.

Thankfully, JJ and Johm B were gone by that point. Now, Scarlett just had a lie to continue.

     "He does?" Her father smiled. He had been trying to get him to have dinner with them for months now since he got with her step mother, Aria Baldwin.

     "Yeah, we talked about it last night." Scarlett lied.

     "Well, have him over by seven tomorrow. I'll make sure to let Aria know. Love you, Scar." He said and walked away, giving Scarlett a quick tap on the shoulder as he walked off.

     "Love you too." Scarlett said before speed walking her way over to where the pogues who were clearly freaking out on their boat were.

"Hey, Scarlett." JJ spoke in a louder tone to make her presence known to everyone else over there.

"JJ, what was that all about?" Scarlett questioned with her arms wrapped around each other. JJ looked at all his friends before answering.

"It's a long story." JJ briefly said but Scarlett wasn't taking that for an answer. The look on her face showed that. "Get in the boat and we'll explain." He gave in and Scarlett got in the boat with them.

     After a few moments of silence, Scarlett cleared her throat as a sign for them to start talking.

     "We found a sanken ship and inside of it was a key to that hotel room. We all just wanted to look around and see who it belonged too." John B explained as briefly as he could.

     "And I got this." JJ chuckled while pulling a gun and a stack of cash out of his pockets, causing everyone but John B who was there in shock.

     "What the hell?" Pope said. "Why in the hell would you take that from a crime scene?" He asked and everyone started freaking out besides Scarlett who just sat back away from them and let them handle it.

It didn't take that long for everyone to calm down. But once they were calmed down it was just awkward and quiet. Scarlett couldn't wait to get off the boat.

     After the boat went around the waters a little bit, they took Scarlett back to the hotel so she could get in her car. "Why do you guys care so much about this anyway?" She asked in pure curiosity.

     "No reason. You should probably get home though." Kiara insisted before anyone else could say anything and Scarlett just walked off. You learn not too ask too many questions to them after a while.

     Scarlett reached her car and began driving off, going as quick as the speed limit would let her go. She was already pissed at Rafe and the pogues sending her on a side quest was not helping that.

The fact that she felt she could drive to Barry's with her eyes closed because of how many times she'd been there to pick up Rafe was also pissing her off.

She hated that she always had to clean up all the messes Rafe made for himself. But, hey, that's just one of the many benefits of dating Rafe Cameron.

It was about an hour later, and Scarlett had finally reached Barry's house. Barry didn't even bother to look out the window, he knew it was Scarlett.

And Rafe knew by now that it was his cue to leave. Scarlett didn't even have to go to the door and ask for him anymore. It was like a routine now.

     "Let me drive." Rafe told her after opening her car door so she would get out and he could get in.

     "Don't crash my car, Rafe." Scarlett said to him while she got in the passenger seat. He didn't even give her time to buckle up before he drove off. She could tell he was pissed at her.

     "Don't pick me up while I'm with my friends, Scarlett. Oh, wait, you already did." Rafe scoffed.

     "Barry is not your friend, he's your dealer." Scarlett argued and Rafe let out a frustrated sigh.

     "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm sober and have been for weeks?" Rafe questioned and Scarlett gave him a sarcastic smile.

     "Are you sure, cause you got a little white under your nose." Scarlett rolled her eyes and Rafe pulled the sun visor down to look in the mirror. Just as Scarlett said, he had stuff under his nose.

     "I can explain." Rafe told her.

     "No need. I've heard your bullshit story enough to rehearse it to you if you'd like to hear it." Scarlett told him and he fixed his posture in the seat but never gave her a reply until they got to his house.

     "Scarlett, I'm sorry. It's just really hard to quit. And you should know, I've been trying really hard for you and will continue too." He apologized as they sat in his driveway.

     "It's fine." Scarlett told him and he furrowed a brow in confusion of how easy it was for her to forgive him. "Well, under one condition." She added and he sighed.

     "I should've seen that one coming." Rafe interrupted.

     "You need to have dinner with me, my dad, and my step-mom tomorrow at seven. And, if this happens again I'm seriously done, Rafe." She told him.

     "You know I don't do dinners." He complained.

     "And you know my dad's a cop that can get you and your drug dealing buddy in jail." She fake smiled.

     "You win." He gave in as he got out of the car and walked in his house before he changed his mind. But, he only stayed in there long enough for Scarlett to think he wasn't going back to Barry's.

Scarlett began her short drive home, and once she got there, she noticed the pogues on her front porch. She quickly got out of her car to see what they wanted. "Uh, hi?" She greeted when she got to them.

"Hey." John B greeted. "So, about what we told you earlier, that stays between us. Okay?"

"Okay?" She answered in confusion.

"Like you seriously can't tell anyone." Pope spoke and JJ walked up behind him.

"Not Rafe, not your dad, no one. Is that clear?" JJ added while Kiara just stood in the back. She figured the boys had this one covered. Mostly because she didn't like Scarlett that much.

"I already told you I'm not telling anyone. You have nothing to worry about." Scarlett let them know and began walking past them to her porch steps. "You guys should probably get going. My dad will be here soon."

And, with that, the pogues left with hope that Scarlett will keep her word and not tell anyone.

     As for Scarlett, she just cleaned up around the house until her father got home. He never liked coming home to a dirty house and Aria didn't do much of anything so that left it all to Scarlett.

     She didn't mind though, she liked cleaning. It helped her keep her mind off things.

     And once she was done cleaning, she knew it would be a matter of time until dinner where she'd lie to her father about her great her day was.

     After that, she'd just sleep to keep things off her mind. Which only worked sometimes since most of the time she was so caught up in her thoughts to go to sleep.

     Then once she woke up, the cycle repeats.

Author's Notes 𓇼 Well, there was chapter one! And if you thought this was a bit messy, it's only going to get worse from here! Happy reading <3