You pounded your fist against the glass door, ignoring how the vibrations sent ripples of pain through your hand.

"Rafe Cameron!" You called, pounding again. A small splatter of blood was left behind when you pulled your hand back. Sarah came shuffling down the stairs, her eyes half closed from sleep.

"Elm?" She asked, her voice distorted through the window pane. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's your brother?" You asked, your voice still strained.

"He's out," she said, rubbing her eyes. When she opened them again, it was like she finally saw you; the swelling eye, the broken nose, the bleeding lip, the purple necklace of bruises. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, but you stopped her before she could.

"I need to talk to your dad then." Your body shook from adrenaline and anger, hands shaking to contain it. "I have something I'm sure he'd love to know about your brother."

She moved to unlock the door, but when you glanced over, you saw Rafe's car pull into the driveway. Without a second thought, you turned away from the glass door and ran toward the car. Rafe saw you coming, a wild storm in the dead of night.

"What happened to you?" He asked, lifting his hand to touch your face as you neared. You slammed into him like a train, pressing him against the hood of his car with your arm across his throat.

"Don't fucking ask me what happened," you seethed, a tear falling from your eye and splashing against his neck. "You knew damn well what would happen."

"I didn't do anything to you." He shoved you off of him, glaring at you. You seethed, your breathing ragged as it crawled out of your throat like a beast. His face seemed to soften, his glare falling. "Did JJ do this to you?"

The scoff you gave him was bitter, laced with poison.

"Stop fucking around, Rafe. You know what you did." Your hands tensed and relaxed at your sides, every inch of your self-control going to not tearing his throat out then and there.

"I swear to you, I don't know what happened."

You searched his eyes for a lie, but he wasn't easy for you to read. You could almost see honesty in his eyes, truth. But he must be lying. There wasn't anyone else who could hate you so much.

"Then tell me," you said slowly. "Where my dad got pictures of me and....and the others."

You wiped away tears with the back of your good hand as they fell from your eyes.

"Your dad did this to you?"

"No!" You put your hands up to your face. "Yes, but that's not what I need to know! Who was taking pictures of me? Who gave them to my dad?"

Rafe let out a sigh, putting his hands up to his nose. He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly and then out again.

"I took the pictures," he said, placing his hands on his hips. He wouldn't look at you. "I've been taking them since you...since you kissed me at that party."

You weren't sure why it felt like a betrayal. Your lips quivered, nose scrunching up as water flooded your vision.

"Why?"

"Because-" He breathed in deeply so he wouldn't shout. "Because I hated you for kissing me and then walking away like it meant nothing."

"It did mean nothing."

"I hated you for that," he said, anger rising in his voice again. "I still hate you for that."

"So you took those pictures and showed them to my dad because you hate me." You wanted to scratch his eyes out, wanted to tear him limb from limb, wanted him to feel the pain you felt now. But Rafe shook his head.

"No. I never showed them to your dad."

"Then how-"

"I gave them to Topper." Your lips parted, eyebrows coming together. "Topper saw me taking pictures and when he asked for them after last night's fight, I didn't question him."

"I barely know Topper," you said, narrowing your eyes at Rafe. "Why would he want to hurt me?"

"It wasn't about you." Rafe shook his head. "He was angry at JJ, Pope. He wanted to hurt them, not you."

You let out another bitter laugh, looking at your hands as a short sob came from your mouth.

"Yeah?" You wrinkled your nose in one last attempt to keep yourself from crying. It clearly wasn't working. "I'm going to kill him."

You started forward, your warpath shaky, but set. Rafe stopped you before you made it a few steps, grabbing you by your arms.

"He didn't mean to put this on you, Elma."

"Don't call me that!"

Rafe put his hands up.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He slowly lowered his arms. "Topper didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"It doesn't matter what he meant, Rafe," you spat, feeling your chest start to tighten.

"I know."

He didn't say anything else. So, you decided that it was safe to try and storm past him again. Topper's house wasn't too far from there. You could walk there in under ten minutes. Your anger would burn just as hot after ten minutes. But Rafe grabbed you again. This time, he didn't let you go.

"Let me go!"

"No."

"Rafe, let me go!"

Instead of fighting you verbally, he fought against your arms as you pushed against him, pounding your fists against his chest in an attempt to get free. Slowly, your shouts of anger dissolved into sobs. As you weakened, Rafe slid his arms behind your back.

"Let me go," you sobbed, making weak attempts to get away from him. Rafe tucked your head under his chin, holding you even tighter. "Please, let me go."

Your tears soaked through his shirt, but he didn't pull away. You pushed at his stomach, pulled at his arms, wriggled against his grip. But he didn't let you go. Eventually, you gave up. Dropping your hands to your sides, you let the tears flow, let the sobs shake your body, let your pain be seen. He said nothing. Rafe barely moved save for his breathing.

With your head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, feeling his breathing, you started to calm. Your nerves were no longer on fire. The bloodlust had faded from your eyes. Gasping in short breaths, you breathed out to the same rhythm as Rafe. You closed your eyes as they started to dry.

It didn't matter, you told yourself. You stuffed the pain down your throat, deep into your stomach. You had to move on from it. Your dad knew about JJ and the Pogues, so what were you going to do about it? How were you going to protect Kid? Nothing else mattered.

When your mind was finally thinking clearly again, you found your strength and pulled yourself out of Rafe's grip. The way he looked at you then...

"I don't want your pity, Rafe," you grumbled, glancing to the ground.

"I didn't know about your dad."

"Yeah, that was the point."

He sighed, shoving his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

"Will you let me drive you home?"

"I don't need your help," you snapped. "I don't want it."

"What did I do to make you hate me so much?" He asked.

"You hated me first."

"I never hated you."

Your brain hurt too much already to care. Everything had already come crashing down around you once. Your hatred of Rafe had seemed like the only steady thing, but now he was making you question that. You couldn't afford to.

"Listen," you said, squeezing your eyes shut. "I don't know what you feel about me and I don't really care. But you can't convince me that you care about me when all you have ever done to me, to others, has been cruel. That's not how you show someone anything other than hate, Rafe."

He shook his head ever so slightly and looked down again.

"I took pictures of you and...." He cleared his throat as if the word he was about to say was cursed. "I took pictures of you and JJ because I wanted it to be me."

Your stomach curdled and you resisted the urge to throw up. Panic started to settle in. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have come. Your dad could be back home now and Kid wasn't safe. But maybe those thoughts were excuses. Maybe they had always been excuses to run away from a conversation you didn't want to have.

"Rafe-"

"Every time I saw his hands on you, every time I saw him kiss you, every time I saw you smile at him, I wanted to be him. Every time I thought about the time he got to spend with you behind closed doors, the places that he got to touch you that I never could-"

"Rafe, stop." You put your shaking hands in front of your eyes as if defending yourself from a physical attack. "Please, stop."

"I hurt you because I thought that you would never look at me otherwise. I would rather you glare at me, hit me, hate me than not be seen by you."

"That's fucked up, Rafe."

"I know."

"That's not right."

"I know!" He took a step closer, but you backed away so he froze where he was. "I needed you to know."

Neither of you said anything, just stared at each other, unsure of who should speak next. Your mind reeled, causing more pain than there already was. You weren't sure how he expected you to stomach this, especially right now. Pressing your palm against your eyebrow, you hoped to push away the stabbing pain.

"I...I need to go back," you said, taking another step back as you opened your eyes.

"Let me take you."

You shook your head, meeting his gaze.

"No, I'm going to walk."

"It's not safe."

"And I'm safer with you?" The look of pain on his face almost made you apologize for what you said. Almost. "I'm going."

You didn't want to turn your back on him, like that feeling when you turned your back on the ocean. It was dangerous. Even if he was calm then, you had no idea when the tide would rise and swallow you whole. Still, you did, wrapping your arms around your stomach as you walked away.

This time, he didn't try to stop you.

***

Your dad didn't even look at you as he dropped a wad of cash in front of you at the dinner table.

"I expect you to look good," he said, already walking away. "You and your brother."

You let out a quiet sigh as you swiped the money off the table and stood to get Kid out of his room. He followed you into your room where you layered foundation and concealer onto your face and neck until you could barely see the bruises anymore. The cut on your lip and cheek weren't going away any time soon, but they were less obvious than a black eye and a busted jaw and a handprint on your neck.

"Do you want to do anything special for Midsummers?" you asked Kid as he sat on your bed, kicking his feet back and forth.

"I want my tie to match your dress," he said. You smiled and dabbed another layer of foundation under your eye.

"Then that's what we'll do."

You were surprised that your dad didn't come to supervise your dress shopping. He usually did, just to make sure that you wore something overly modest. But he hadn't looked at you since the day before, doing everything he could to keep you out of his line of sight.

The woman who worked at your favorite boutique was also surprised by his absence.

"He has a busy day today," you told her with a smile.

"The usual style though, yes?"

You nodded your head, pressing your fingers against the scar on the palm of your hand.

"Yes, please."

You had never been a fan of how the dresses your dad chose fit you. They were all too baggy in the places you wanted them to be tight and too tight in all the places that you wanted to be hidden. But it's what your dad wanted, so it was what you wore. You weren't willing to risk his wrath by getting something you knew he would hate.

Kid didn't like any of the options either, but the two of you had a grand time laughing about how horrible they all were. He sat in the chair outside of the dressing room in the same way your dad would have, wearing an overexaggerated version of his scowl.

"That color is revolting," he said, voice deeper to mimic your dad. "Like a burnt banana peel."

You laughed, mouth falling open as you looked down at the yellow dress.

"I didn't think it was that bad," you said as you twisted back and forth to see the bottom twirl.

"No. It looks like puke."

You shook your head, turning back toward the dressing room. There was only one dress left. It was a deep purple, almost plum. It wasn't really a summer dress, the color far too dark and the fabric too heavy. Still, it fit the cut and style that your dad would have approved of. As you pulled it on, you shifted against the itchiness, your skin crawling. But once it was actually on, it wasn't the worst dress you had ever worn, especially not at Midsummers. It didn't fit exactly right, hanging loosely by your waist but a little too tight around the chest.

You stepped out of the fitting room and Kid let out a deep sigh.

"Well," he said slowly. "I don't hate it as much as the other ones."

You nodded, turning toward the ceiling-high mirror. You tried to smooth down the wrinkles by your waist with a scowl on your face.

"It's purple," you said absent-mindedly. That meant something to you. The color purple.

"I like it." Kid pushed himself out of the chair and turned toward the woman watching silently. "I think we'll take this one."

The woman nodded slowly, tapping her chin.

"And for you?" She asked, looking at Kid. You still had yet to take your eyes off of the dress in the mirror. There was something about it, something you couldn't really place, that just seemed right. Even if it wasn't perfect, it was...nice.

"We're going to get him a suit in his size and a tie to match this dress," you said when you finally turned.

"Of course, miss. I'll just need to take some measurements."

***

Staring at yourself in the mirror, you narrowed your eyes, trying to find the flaw in your make-up. You had slapped on more foundation and concealer, doing everything you could to cover the bruises. It would never be perfect; there was no amount of make-up that could hide what had been done to you. Still, as long as no one looked too hard for too long, you would be fine.

The purple dress was heavy against your shoulders, still itching your skin. Yet you felt comfortable as long as you were looking at it. The deep purple color soothed your mind, painting over the worry and fear that was knotting in your stomach. People would see you tonight and you weren't sure if your make up could cover everything. Maybe they would see the real you for the first time.

"You ready?" Your dad asked from outside your door, tearing your gaze from the mirror.

"Yeah."

You hiked up the dress and shuffled toward the door. Opening it, you cringed for a moment, terrified of his reaction, but he had already gone, walking down the stairs. You puffed out a deep breath through your lips. Kid emerged from his room, trying to fix his tie. You laughed as he fidgeted with the material, his eyebrows pinched together.

"Let me," you said, walking closer to him. You took the tie from his hands and fixed it for him before tucking it back into his vest. "A three piece suit fits you, Kid."

"Yeah?" He asked, looking up at you with a smile. "You don't look half bad, big sister."

You rolled your eyes as he offered his arm for you to take. The prospect of where you were going was overwhelming. So many eyes would be on you, so many questions, so many people. And Rafe would be there. Oh, God, Rafe.

You stopped in the middle of the stairs, a sudden tightening in your chest making it nearly impossible to breathe.

"El?" Kid asked, trying to hold you up as your legs started to shake.

Your father's hand was around your throat again, squeezing the breath out of your lungs. You could see him across the room, so why could you feel him choking you again? You were suffocating and you had no idea why. A pit carved deep into your stomach, forcing bile to rise. You were dying, you were sure of it. You were going to die.

Kid tried to keep you stable as your legs started to wobble.

There were none of the familiar signs that you were going to start crying until large tears were dropping from your eyelashes. You stumbled down a step, catching yourself on the railing.

You could see them all staring at you, see their pointing fingers, their wide eyes. You could hear them whispering back and forth to each other. They were whispering about you, talking about you, laughing at you.

You weren't as good at hiding things as you thought. There was no way you would be able to convince the entire island that the ghosts of bruises on your body were from anything other than your father. And if Rafe ever wanted to get revenge for what happened the night before, all he had to do was tell one person what you told him about your dad. It would all be over. The cops would get involved. You and Kid would be taken away, separated, forever. You would both end up in the foster system, go to different families, if any families even wanted you. There was no way you could protect Kid from any of that. You weren't strong enough, you weren't smart enough, you weren't good enough. You just weren't enough to keep him safe.

The thought made a shuddering sob come from your mouth, the only breathing you could manage.

"C'mon, El," you heard Kid whisper in your ear, but it sounded like he was a million miles away. "You can do this. Stand up, I'm right here."

You looked over at him, tears shaking from your eyes as you moved, and you realized that Kid wasn't a million miles away. He was right there, holding your arm, a hand on your cheek.

"Take a deep breath," he said. "Like this."

He showed you how and you tried, but you couldn't. Panic settled into you as you tried to gasp for air.

"El! It's okay. Squeeze my hand," Kid told you. "Just squeeze. Just keep squeezing."

You did as he told you to, squeezing once and then again. You squeezed his hand like it was your own heartbeat, pumping your blood through your veins. Letting your eyes flutter shut, you focused on Kid, on his hand in yours, on the pulsing of your blood. With your eyes closed, you could hear Kid's deep, steady breaths and you tried to mimic them. Deep in through your nose, long out through your mouth. Squeeze his hand.

When you opened your eyes, the whispering people were gone. The invisible hand around your neck had faded, your breathing returning to normal. Feeling returned to your legs and you found the strength to push yourself upright.

"Are you okay?" Kid whispered as you tried to take a shaking step down the stairs. You nodded your head, jaw tight. "You're pale, El."

"I'm okay, Kid, really." He clearly didn't believe you. You didn't believe you.

"Good. Let's get this party over with then."

***

Getting away from your dad was your first order of business. Finding either Kie or Sarah was your second. But it was Pope you saw first. Letting go of Kid's arm, you walked over to where Pope and his dad were setting up the food station.

"Hi," you said with a smile. Pope turned around to face you, a grin spreading across his face. But then his smile fell and he looked behind you. "Don't worry about my dad, Pope. He knows."

Pope looked at you, his eyes wide. You watched his gaze drop down to your busted lip and your cheeks started to burn.

"Did he-"

"Doesn't matter." You looked back up at him with a new smile. "How are-"

"Elm!"

You turned around to find Sarah standing on the steps of the house wearing a beautiful white dress that fit her perfectly. You were almost jealous as you glanced down at the one you wore, but the color once again sent a wave of calm over you.

"Pope, get back to work," Mr. Heyward called. Pope cringed and glanced at you.

"It's alright. I'll talk to you later?" You asked. He nodded his head. "Hi, Mr. Heyward."

The older man grumbled at you before returning to work. You raised your eyebrows at Pope and he simply shrugged.

"I'll explain later."

You turned toward the stairs, eyeing the crowd for Rafe. The last thing you wanted tonight was a scene and you weren't sure that Rafe wouldn't cause one. But it seemed like Sarah was alone.

"You look amazing," you said with a smile as you walked up to her.

"You, too," she said, greeting you with a tight hug. You laughed and rolled your eyes.

"I look like a walking carpet."

"You're the hottest carpet I know." Sarah bit her bottom lip, taking your hand in hers. "Let's dance, yeah?"

You let her pull you to the dance floor, laughing as she swiped two glasses of wine off of a server's tray. She knew you wouldn't dance without alcohol in your system, at least, you didn't use to. Part of you wondered if she was going to ask you what you were doing at her house at 11 o'clock at night the night before, but she never did. Instead, you took turns drinking the wine behind each other's backs so your respective parents wouldn't see. You caught Kie's gaze and she almost smiled when you waved, but then she saw who you were dancing with and hurried away quickly.

The familiar numbness of the alcohol in your bloodstream flowed through you, loosening your limbs. The music wasn't anything like what they played at the keggers, but it got you moving all the same. Eyes closed, you let Sarah and the music guide your movements, not thinking to stop until you felt a tap on your shoulder.

You spun around quickly, fear shooting through you. It could be either your dad or Rafe and you didn't want to deal with either of them.

It wasn't. A wide grin broke across your face when you realized who it was.

"JJ!"

"Hey."

You were tempted to throw your arms around his neck and pull him in close. What did it matter? Your dad already knew, what more could he do to you?

But then you looked closer and saw the cut on his lip, the bruise on his cheek. They almost matched yours.

"What happened to you?" you asked him.

"I was about to ask you the same question." He lifted his hand and brushed his thumb against your cheek. You glanced over at Sarah and saw her mouth drop open partially. You looked away from her with a roll of your eyes.

"Your dad?" You asked. JJ's gaze shifted down to his feet. "What happened?"

"I got arrested."

"What?"

"I took the fall for Pope sinking Topper's boat and now I've got 25k restitution." You weren't sure what to say. All you could manage to do was sputter out a few beginnings of different sentences. "What about you? Why'd your dad go ape shit?"

You tried to recompose yourself, scratching the back of your neck.

"He found out I've been sneaking around," you said, not really wanting to mention that it wasn't just the sneaking part that got you in so much trouble.

"How?"

"Someone has been taking pictures."

JJ looked around, as if he was going to see a photographer standing out in the open.

"Who-"

"Can we do this later?" You asked, pleading. "I can't get in any more trouble right now."

JJ looked back at you and nodded his head. He was going to say something else, but then he looked down at your dress and another smile spread across his face.

"What?" You asked, laughing.

"Your dress."

"It's ugly as hell, isn't it?"

"No, it's...." He shook his head, lifting his head to meet your eyes again. "It's purple."

That was why you felt so comfortable wearing a dress that was too small and too big at the same time, a dress that was itchy and heavy and hot. You felt comfortable in it because it was purple and purple was JJ's favorite color. It reminded you of him, even if it wasn't a conscious memory.

You grinned up at him.

"Ahem," Sarah coughed from beside you. "So, were you ever going to tell me about this?"

There was almost a hurt sound in her voice. When she spoke, JJ turned to her with wide eyes, as if suddenly remembering something. He pulled something out of his vest pocket and started to move around awkwardly. Almost like he was trying to dance.

"I've got a note," he said to Sarah, holding the paper out to her. "It's from, uh, Vlad."

You scowled, looking over at Sarah. She seemed to sort of understand.

"From...from Vlad?"

JJ continued to dance, stepping back and forth to the beat. You shifted awkwardly in an attempt to follow him.

"Yeah. Vlad."

"Who's Vlad?" You asked, but your inquiry fell on deaf ears. There was definitely something fishy going on.

"Okay," Sarah said, a ghost of a smile on her lips. You narrowed your eyes even further.

"Read the note," JJ told her as he started to walk away. He sent a wink your way and when you glanced behind him, your heart plummeted. You took a step back as Rafe and Kelce approached JJ. Your heart started to pound at the sight of them. You had never been afraid of Rafe before, so why were you so terrified now?

The fear dissipated when Rafe put his hands on JJ's shoulders.

"Don't touch him," you said. Kelce stepped between you and JJ before you could get any closer. "Out of my way, Kelce."

"Not likely, sweetheart."

You moved to shove him back, but then you caught your dad's eye a few paces behind Kelce, staring you down. Lips twitching, you looked back at Kelce and let your hands fall to your sides.

"I was wondering if you could give me a mai tai, my friend," Rafe said to JJ. You tried to side step Kelce, but he wouldn't let you get past.

"Pogue, how about you make that two?" Kelce asked, not tearing his gaze away from you.

"I'm on the clock right now," JJ said and sent a glance back your way. You didn't shift your eyes away from Kelce's. You had stared your fear down plenty of times and you never blinked first.

"You guys look good," you said, trying to turn their attention away from JJ. You finally took your eyes off of Kelce to stare down Rafe. Even the look in his eyes sent shivers down your spine. "Especially you, Rafe."

You watched his jaw clench and eyes narrow.

"I've got a few orders ahead of you guys," JJ said, noting the strange look on Rafe's face. JJ raised an eyebrow at you but you just shrugged. "So why don't you guys go ahead and wait by the bar?"

In all of your life, you never would have expected to hear JJ Maybank trying to avoid a fight. Clearly, there was something very important going on that he needed to get to. And it most likely had to do with the gold. The thought sent a chill up your spine. The search wasn't over. There was still hope.

JJ pushed past Rafe, who followed him.

"Stay out of this," Kelce said to you.

"Like hell," you spat.

"Rafe won't let us touch you," Kelce said, leaning closer to you. You didn't back down. "But once that order is off, it's your ass that's gonna get beat, not your boyfriend's."

You curled your hands into fists. If it weren't for your dad glaring daggers into your skull, you would have hit him.

So, Rafe told the rest of his friends. Or Topper did. But it didn't really matter. There was no doubt that everyone would know by the morning. You weren't going to let them hold it over your head. Kelce finally turned away from you and followed after JJ and Rafe. If either of them thought that you were going to stay out of it, they were dead wrong.

You stayed where you were for a few moments, watching Rafe call over a few of his other friends. It wasn't until then that you realized that Sarah had slipped away. You were standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, the only one not moving to the beat.

Taking a step forward, you were stopped by your father reaching out to grab your arm. You hadn't even seen him move closer until he was already holding onto you.

"Don't," he said, voice low and warning. You snatched your arm away from his grip.

"They're going to hurt him," you told him, pulling up your dress.

"That doesn't involve you."

"Everything that involves him involves me."

Realization slowly passed through your dad's eyes.

"The boy in the pictures," he breathed. You sniffed, looking down at your feet. He scoffed, giving you a look of disgust. "Do whatever you want."

Your dad stormed off, pushing past a few of the dancers. You huffed before taking off in the direction you last saw Rafe and JJ. It wasn't hard to find them. All you had to do was follow the path of carnage, which led you straight to the men's bathroom. You didn't hesitate to walk inside.

When you did, Kelce had JJ by the neck, a familiar scene. Rafe, who stood in front of him, stopped when you walked in. After a moment of shock, he smiled.

"Looks like we've got the set," he said, opening his arms as if greeting you warmly. JJ struggled to turn and see who was standing there. "Welcome to the show."

"Let him go," you ground out through your teeth.

"Just get out of here, Ellie," JJ said, pulling against Kelce's arm.

"Aww, he's got a nickname for you and everything," Rafe said with a fake pout. "You must really be in love."

You weren't going to ask him twice. You started forward, willing to test what Kelce said earlier. Had Rafe really put out a no kill order on you, or was Kelce blowing smoke? Walking right up to Kelce, no one stepped forward to try and stop you, except Rafe. He grabbed hold of your arms and pushed you up against the wall.

JJ struggled even harder against Kelce's arms, his feet sliding out from under him at his attempts.

"Soak it up, Rafe," you seethed, his face only inches from yours. "This is the closest you're ever gonna get."

You hadn't thought you said it very loudly, but JJ froze for a moment, something shifting in his eyes.

The door burst open and one of the security guards walked in. Rafe dropped you instantly, Kelce letting go of JJ's neck.

"Is there a problem?" The security guard asked.

"No, officer," JJ said, running a hand through his hair. "Actually, yes. No, there is an issue. We got a criminal trespass in progress here."

You scowled, glancing at him. He met your eyes and gave the barest of shrugs. He was trying to get himself out of this situation in the best way he could. A smile started to spread across your lips. Nothing like a good police escort to get one safely out of a party.

"Beep!" JJ said, twirling his finger in the air. "Call it in, right? Blatant disrespect for private property."

He looked over at Rafe, who was backed into a metaphorical corner. Scratching the back of his ear, Rafe nodded his head.

"Yeah."

"I'm in violation of all kids, sir." JJ turned to look back at the security guard. You covered your smile with a hand. JJ turned to fix Kelce's bowtie, which had gone askew. "But these young gentlemen...."

"Don't touch my shit." Kelce shoved JJ's hands away from him and you had to resist lunging forward.

"...these young gentlemen caught me, sir, and they're about to take me away. And that's what you should do, escort me out of here."

You could tell that the security guard didn't really believe him, but he stepped toward JJ anyway. You tried to press yourself against the wall, to turn invisible. There would be a hundred more questions about why there was a girl in the guy's locker room.

As the guard started to pull JJ toward the bathroom door, he turned back to antagonize the boys as much as he could.

"Fix that tie, son," he said, pointing at Kelce, who glowered. "You Powderpuff girls have fun, now."

"Safe travels back to the cut!" Rafe called. "It's always nice seeing you again!"

The bathroom door shut, the security guard and JJ disappearing behind it. Now you wanted to disappear more than ever. No one moved, no one breathed. Someone was going to take the first step and it would throw everything into motion. There was no way you were going to make it to the door in this dress before they caught you. Still, it was better than getting trapped against the wall.

Lifting your dress, you made for the door as fast as your heeled feet would take you, but Rafe caught you before you made it a few steps. You growled as he whirled you around.

"Your boyfriend left you in a bit of a pickle here, Ellie," Rafe sneered.

"Fuck you."

"Oh, now you want to?"

You tried to pull away from him, but his grip was iron. You eventually stopped trying.

"You know what, for two seconds I almost thought you were decent." You glared at him. "But turns out you're just like every other drug-addicted, neglected rich boy. You're pathetic, Rafe."

You weren't sure if it was the hurt or the surprise at your candor that made him let you go, but as soon as his grip had loosened, you were making for the door once again.

JJ was in the middle of making a scene when you ran back outside.

"El, what's happening?" Kid ran up to you, putting his arms around your waist. You dropped your hand against his back, turning behind you to see Rafe and Kelce lead their posse out of the men's room.

"You can't boot him!" Kie yelled, standing on the porch in her beautiful lavender dress. "I invited him here. I'm a member of this club."

Kie's parents desperately tried to get her to quiet down, but she wasn't going to anytime soon. JJ shoved the security guard away from him before offering a fake apology. You felt Kid squeeze you tighter.

"Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Kie," JJ said, pointing at her. "You too, Pope."

JJ then turned to you and Kid, finger still pointing. It was a non-verbal offer. You could stay here and not anger your dad any further or damn the consequences and run off with the boy who owned so much of your heart.

"Go," Kid said. When you looked down at him, he was grinning at JJ. "You want to go, so go."

"But-"

"I'll be fine," Kid said, turning to meet your eyes. He slid out of your grip, stepping away. Your heart pounded at the thrill of it all. You looked back as both Pope's parents and Kie's tried desperately to keep their children from running off. John B was standing there beside JJ too. There they all were, your friends. "Go, El!"

You didn't need to be told again. You almost tripped down the stairs running after them. JJ clapped his hands and pointed finger guns at Kid.

"I owe you one, little man," he said, sending a wink his way. Kid just grinned and put his two thumbs in the air.

Kie's parents still yelled after her as the two of you ran alongside each other. You hadn't seen her smile so big in a while. Just before you stepped onto the grass, you turned around.

"Hey dad!" You called, cupping your hands around your mouth. You were dead already, why not drive the knife in a little farther. When you finally saw him, staring at you with eyes ablaze with fire, you waved and then stuck up both of your middle fingers. The glass in his hand shattered.

You heard your friends howling and laughing behind you, so you turned and ran after them. JJ was still there, grinning, while the others raced for the shore. He took your hand in his and the two of you took off running.

And you suddenly felt so...alive.