gag me with a hot poker

two days had passed with John B recovering in the hospital, meaning the gold hunt had been put on hold for now. none of the pogues wanted to continue without him. not that we could without the map he had.

I had bounced back and forth between my place and the chateau. every now and then I'd catch my mom awake but most of the time she would be asleep on the couch. JJ and I spent a lot of time on the hms pogue, occasionally Pope would join us.

Kiara still seemed to be upset about the whole Sarah and John B ordeal.

finally, the day comes that Sarah texts me that John B is arriving at her house. I place a kiss on JJ's forehead while he sleeps before walking out the door. once I'm on my bike I start the ride to tanneyhill.

god it was a hot day today.

by the time I get to the house, I'm sweating a decent amount. I try to wipe most of it off before I walk up and knock, waiting for someone to answer. I start to smile when the door begins to open, until I see who is answering.

"Rafe." I say, taking in his messy appearance. "Hi, I didn't really expect you to be here."

his eyes turn sad when he realizes it's me. "Olyvia, hey. h-how are you?" he stammers, stepping to the side to let me in. I move past him and tuck my hair behind my ear.

"I'm okay. y'know, lots going on."

"how's your mom?"

"she's mom. I'm sure I don't have to explain."

"n-no of course not." I can tell he feels bad, so I stop talking.

the awkwardness is suffocating, until Sarah comes down the stairs and stops at the bottom. "Olyvia, I'm showing John B around the house. come on." she tells me, waving her hand.

I nod and walk her way, but turn to glance at Rafe again. he gives me a small smile and I return it. before I start up the steps I notice how his smile drops when I'm not looking anymore. Sarah leads me to one of the spare bedrooms, where John B is sitting in the bed looking like a lost puppy.

"hey, Lyv. Sarah was just going over everything with me. all the rules and whatnot."

"well for the final thing, I have to warn you. I sleepwalk." part of me wants to roll my eyes at Sarah, but it was cute. I guess. "so if I show up in your room in the middle of the night-"

"you want me to just roll with it?"

"oh gag me with a hot poker." I tease, breaking them from their moment. John B laughs while Sarah nudges me. she kisses him just to spite me. now actually gag me, someone.

"Sarah Elizabeth Cameron." Ward's deep voice floats in from the hallway, startling the three of us. he pats my back as he enters the room and looks at his daughter. "you're already broken the first rule. what is the first rule? stay out of each other's rooms."

"but Lyv is in here with us." Sarah tries for an excuse, but Ward shakes his head.

"seriously. picture that as a boundary." he explains as he gestures to the doorway. "this is like a minefield. yes sir?"

"yes, sir."

"yes, sir."

"aye aye captain." everyone glances as me with a smile on their face after I chime in.

"alright. Sarah, Olivia, can you give me and the new inmate a quick minute here?" Ward asks, and the both of us nod before stepping out. poor John B, getting the protective father talk. I shoot him finger guns at the door and cause him to laugh.

Sarah and I wander downstairs to the kitchen. she grabs an apple while I go to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. "so did you forgive Rafe?" she suddenly questions. I choke on the water slightly and look at her. "JJ told John B what he said, and of course John B said something to me. he was worried about you."

aw. John B worried about me. "well, tell Johnny boy I'm flattered with his concern but what was said at midsummers should've stayed in that room." I tell her.

"I can tell it's been eating him up with guilt. he's never been that way towards you, and it's killing him inside."

"he was never that way until I started hanging out with the pogues, Sarah. you can't tell me you're not worried he'll get mad at you too now." I reply dryly, trying to steer her away from my issue and let her focus on herself.

"if you just explain to him-"

"why do you think I can just do that? what makes you think he'll even listen to me?"

"you make him a better person, Olyvia." Sarah reaches forward and grabs my hand as she says this, making it sink in. however, I disagreed with her. he had only become worse as the days passed. "you need to forgive him."

John b walks into the kitchen, interrupting us. "hey, I should go meet the gang at the wreck, explain everything." I nod and start to walk around the counter until he holds up his hand. "I want you to stay with Sarah and bring her to the chateau when I text you."

"are you worried they'll be mad she's involved?" I ask him, glancing at my best friend.

"maybe. you're the only other person close to her besides me, I'm going to just need your help." he kisses Sarah's head, before giving me a smile and walking out the door.

not too long after he leaves, I get a text from JJ asking me where I'm at. I type back a quick response and hope he understands. I want to be there with them right now, looking at the map and figuring it out. while Sarah goes to take a shower I go back to the kitchen for a snack.

out the window, I see Rafe working on his motorcycle. something inside me tugs at my heart so I decide to go talk to him. as I'm walking up to him, I hear sniffling. before I can turn around to walk away, Rafe is turning towards me while wiping his nose. "are you fucking kidding me?"

"shit, Olyvia." he mutters, quickly brushing off the seat of his motorcycle. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen that."

"you're damn right I shouldn't have seen that!" I yell as I step closer to him. my hands land on his chest, shoving hi, a little. "you're doing coke right outside your house? seriously?

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

"you gonna give me a bump, big boy?" someone hollers from the driveway. the both of us turn to see Barry, Rafe's dealer. my blood turns to ice as he looks over at me, and a crooked smile comes across his face. "man, check out this place, though, huh?"

"hey, Barry. Barry, be quiet." Rafe sputters out, panic lacing his voice. he goes to take a step in front of me to block me from Barry.

"this place is fancy! it's a nice place to live. and a nice piece of ass, if I might add." Barry grins at me, making my skin crawl. Rafe reaches a hand for me behind his back, and I don't hesitate to take it.

"I don't have your money."

fucking hell, what have you done Rafe?

my ears start ringing as I focus on Rafe's face while he tries to make another deal with Barry. something about more coke and this weekend come out of his mouth, but it's obvious Barry isn't having it. they continue arguing, until Barry raises a fist and Rafe pushes me back.

in the mere seconds that Barry grabs Rafe, he has him by the motorcycle and before I can even think to step in, Barry puts his arm on the hot metal. I can hear the sizzling from my spot. "stop, you're hurting him!" I exclaim, stepping forwards and shoving Barry's shoulder.

Rafe falls to the ground, moaning in pain. I go to kneel next to him but just as I do so, Barry grabs my arm and pulls me closer to him. "how's that feel big boy?" he shouts at Rafe, squeezing my arm tight as I try to pull out of his grip.

just as I'm thinking I can get free he throws me to the ground next to Rafe. the ground and my face meet, and I wince as the pain hits me.

"consider this shit your down payment." Barry tells Rafe as he grabs the helmet and climbs onto the motorcycle. "you got three days. otherwise, your girlfriend's gonna pay for your mistakes."

once Barry speeds off, I crawl over to Rafe and take his arm. he's still groaning with the pain. the large burn on his wrist makes me sick to my stomach, but I try not to gag. "hey, it'll be okay," I try to soothe him as his head falls back to the ground. "I'm gonna take you upstairs and bandage this up. do you want to go to the hospital?"

"n-no, no hospital."

I nod before taking his hand in mine and saying, "I can't carry you up the stairs, you have to get up." he slowly manages to stand, but I still wrap an arm around his waist to help him.

it was a struggle to make it up to his room, but we did it. I lead him to lay on his bed before I go in search of a first aid kit. luckily, he still has a ton of stuff tucked away from high school sports. I take what I need before going back to sit next to him on the bed and grabbing his arm gently.

"you don't have to do this. I screwed up, you have nothing to do with it." he tells me, wincing when I start to treat his burn.

"it's fine."

"Olyvia-"

"Rafe, I said it's fine." I snap slightly, and before I know it he hisses as my grip inadvertently tightens on his wrist. "sorry."

his other hands reaches for one of mine, stopping me from bandaging. "Lyvia, it's not fine. I am so... I am so fucking sorry." when he starts to choke a little, I glance at him and find his eyes watering. I wasn't sure if it was from the pain or if it was really tears. "I really screwed up, and here you are helping me."

I can't stop myself from brushing a strand of his hair back, and he tenses when I do so. "you need to fix this Rafe, or you could lose more than just me." I want the words to hit home so he understands. it isn't about me at all, this is more than us.

we don't talk about midsummers, and we don't talk about Barry. I finish wrapping him up in silence before I stand from the bed. one last time, he grabs my hand and stops me. "please forgive me." he begs.

truth is, I already had.

"of course." is all I say.

————

AN; hi everyone! I wanted to add onto this with a note. it's my senior year of college, and the struggle is real. the rest of the store may come in shorter chapters! I was thinking I will either post fewer chapters but make them longer, or post more chapters but have them be shorter (they'd probably be posted more often too!) let me know what you think the comments!