┗━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┛

Annabelle went back home and took enough pills for her to be able to sleep through the night and until the afternoon the next day. When she woke up, Rafe still wasn't home nor had he called or texted her.

She felt truly empty, as if she was the only person left on earth.

She fumbled with her phone and made an attempt to call Kiara again even though she doubted that she would answer. She had called all three of them —JJ, Kiara, and Pope —several times over the past few days, but she had received no response.

One signal passed, then another, and another. Just as she was about to give up she heard her voice and she shot upright.

"Belle," Kiara said.

"Kiara," The girl huffed out in relief. "Oh, thank G-"

"Listen, I can't really talk right now."

"I get it." Annabelle hurried to say. "But please, where are you guys?"

There was a silence and Annabelle could hear her cover the microphone until she eventually said. "You're with Rafe."

Annabelle felt her heart twist and she wanted to huff out in frustration. Not this again. "I'm not." The girl said. "I promise, he's not here and I doubt he'll be back anytime soon."

Another silence followed. Finally, Kiara said, "Please, don't make me regret this...." The girl exhaled deeply on the other side of the phone. "We're helping John B. Come to the old garage."

•❃°•°❀°•°❃•

She passed several police cars on her bike as she raced down the roads. The cop cars felt like a blessing, an indication that John B had yet to be found. The wind tore through her hair as she pedaled harder, legs burning, breath shallow. When the garage came into view, she didn't bother braking. She leapt from the bike, tossing it aside before hurrying to the large door that stood ajar.

The summer heat pressed down on her, but she barely felt it. Sweat rolled down her back, caught in the fabric of her shirt.

Through the open door, she could perceive JJ's and Kiara's voices. For a moment, she just stood there, picking up on one of JJ's stupid jokes and Kiara's playful comment back that obviously went over JJ's head, as usual. For a heartbeat, Annabelle froze at the threshold, her chest tightening at the sound. The easy rhythm between them carried her back to another time — one where she still belonged, where JJ's jokes filled the air and Kiara's eye-rolls meant nothing more than affection.

She knocked lightly against the metal door. The laughter stopped instantly, and the silence that followed was sharp enough to slice through her chest.

The girl cleared her throat. "Hi," She said, stepping inside with caution, as if she were treading on enemy territory.

Inside, tool cabinets and hanging shovels lined one wall along with a mess of scattered appliances, instruments, and devices on the floor and covering every open surface. A boat stood proud and large in the room.

Then, there were the faces of her friends. Kiara just stared blankly at her, a hint of softness in her eyes.

Annabelle met JJ's gaze, those two eyes that once lit up and smirked before his mouth did. That light was far gone. Or, it seemed to fade the moment they locked eyes. Two seconds stretched to what felt like minutes of ear-defining silence, a kind of stillness that Annabelle felt pressing against her bones.

Her heart thudded in her ears, and when she finally tried to speak, her throat betrayed her. Every word she could think of sounded like an apology, and he looked like he was done hearing them.

The boy blinked before taking off toward her. She let herself believe that he might close the distance, that maybe he'd pull her into one of those impulsive hugs that always fixed everything. But instead, he just marched right past her, his eyes narrowed at the door behind her.

"Is he with you?" He asked, voice tight.

"Who?" Annabelle looked at him as he stuck his head outside, scoping out the area.

His head snapped back to hers. "Who do you think?" He breathed. "Rafe."

Something about the name twisted something in her stomach, like she wanted it wiped from his lips, like a curse she wanted to take back.

"No," She told him. "I told you I came alone. You have my word"

JJ stopped right in front of her, close enough for her to feel the familiar warmth of his breath, and yet she had never felt further away. "Your word means nothing to us anymore."

The sentence landed like a blow she hadn't braced for.
Annabelle's chest went tight, so tight she almost forgot how to breathe.

She opened her mouth, desperate to explain, to tell him she didn't know how she ended up here, that she missed them, missed him. But all that came out was a broken, "JJ—"

"Okay, you two, stop." Kiara's voice echoed, barely hearable over the ringing in Annabelle's ear.

JJ still stared her down, eyes that felt like claws to the girl's skin. Finally, she nodded. Not because she agreed, but because she didn't trust her voice not to break if she spoke.

But inside, her heart ached unmistakably. The ache of losing someone who was still standing right in front of her. She would have given anything to go back to a summer evening, to the sound of JJ's laugh echoing off the water, to a world that hadn't yet fallen apart.

"Finally," Kiara huffed out and JJ turned away from Annabelle. "Okay, you're not here for us and we're not here for you. But we're all here for John B. Alright? So let's not kill each other and keep it a little civil."

Annabelle stood rigid in her spot, her hands trembling at her sides. "Is it true?"

She knew she was stupid for asking, but she needed to know.

Her two friends looked at her again. "Is what true?" Kiara asked.

Annabelle swallowed hard, preparing for impact. "With John B. And Peterkin.."

JJ's loud huff echoed in the garage, while Kiara just stared blankly at her.

"Are you kidding-"

"I just have to ask. I don't believe it either but everyone is out looking for him and...."

"And by everyone you mean Rafe?" JJ's voice rose, raw with disbelief. "Yeah, trust us, we've seen him running around like a maniac, practically leading Shoupe's group around. I mean...." The boy ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "How can you still be with him after everything he's done.."

"Why do you think I'm here?!" Annabelle snapped back. "If I were so bad, then I would be with him right now, wouldn't I?"

The pair stared at each other for a moment, eyes filled with words left unsaid, curses that had yet to be shouted, and moments from the past.

"No, Annabelle," Kiara spoke up. "It's not true what they are saying about John B. But do you really wanna know who did it?" She hesitated, meeting Annabelle's eyes. "It was Rafe."

Annabelle watched the name fall from her lips but for some reason, she refused to let herself hear it. For several seconds, she simply stared at Kiara, expecting her to laugh and tell her it was a joke. But her expression didn't change.

"We watched it happen." Kiara's voice sounded distant. 

And with the blink of an eye, everything turned sharp and real - a reality she didn't want to believe. A reality where the world had tilted.

"Wha-" She huffed out, the sound half a sob, half a laugh. "No, he wouldn't." But even as she said it, her body knew. The truth had already sunk in, twisting like glass, clawing at her very organs.

She pressed a shaky hand over her mouth, her eyes falling to the ground as her mind fractured into images. That night. Rafe's hands were trembling, stained with blood, his eyes red as they avoided her gaze and the panic that so clearly had brewed inside him. Fragments of evidence rearranged themselves in her head, creating a horrible truth.

Annabelle suddenly couldn't breathe. A prickling sensation crawled up her spine as she tried to make sense of everything. Her mind tried to grasp onto something true and real but everything felt like a lie.

Kiara took a hesitant step forward. "Anna-?"

The girl shook her head, her glassy eyes living off the floor to her best friend. "No...."

Annabelle barely heard the crunch of tires on gravel over the ringing in her ear. JJ, however, quickly turned around, mumbling something about 'good timing, Pope'.

Then everything happened so fast.

A familiar voice sliced through the storm in Annabelle's head. Her head snapped up, meeting Rafe's gaze just as his eyes found her figure and the girl watched as his entire posture shifted. The arrogance faded into confusion and something that looked like fear.

"Annabelle?" He breathed.

The girl stared back at him, her pulse hammering so violently it made her hands tremble. She didn't say anything, her throat was too tight to breathe, let alone speak.

Barry's whistle broke the moment. "Well, ain't this somethin'," he drawled from behind her, his tone mocking and dangerous. She couldn't see him but she could imagine the grin on his lips.

Rafe took two steps closer, making Annabelle take three unsteady ones away. "Don't." The word sliced through the air, trembling but sharp enough to stop him mid-step. "Don't..."

The look in his eyes softened, pleading. "Bells, baby.. what's going on?"

Annabelle's lips parted but every word and sentence tangled in her chest like barbed wire. When Rafe stepped closer again, she flinched back. But he didn't give up. He took another step but JJ quickly appeared between them.

"She told you to back off,"

Rafe straightened and glared at JJ. "You think you can talk for her?"

"When you've made her this way- yeah, I'll talk for her," JJ growled.

The words had barely left his mouth before Rafe's fist connected with his jaw. The sound was sickening and sharp. JJ's head whipped to the side upon the impact but then he retaliated, landing a blow that sent Rafe stumbling.

In the corner of her eye, Annabelle watched Barry pull something out from under his shirt. In two quick strides, he stood with the black item pressed to the back of JJ's head. Annabelle's heart lurched when she saw the black metal glint in his hand. A gun.

"You feel that?!" Barry barked, making the blonde boy freeze instantly. Barry smiled at his reaction as he slowly lifted his hands in the air. "Yeah, you know what that is."

Annabelle didn't dare to breathe as she watched the scene play out in front of her, afraid that a sound would trigger Barry to fire his gun. Barry was unpredictable and most likely high which made the situation even more deadly.

"See, don't think I forgot about me and you on the side of the road." Barry roared. "I'm here because I want my mother-fucking-money!"

Barry used his free hand to punch JJ in the stomach before shoving him down to the ground with the gun still pointed at him. "That's what I'm here for, golden boy!" The man shouted, grabbing JJ by his hair and ramming his head against the floor.

"JJ!" Annabelle shouted and rushed toward him when suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her and lifted her off the ground. Rafe put her down a few feet away, placing himself between Annabelle and the fight.

"Bells, don't get involved." He panted. His cheek was flushed red where JJ had struck him.

Annabelle forced his hands off her, as if they were still marked with the crime he had committed. "Get off me!"

Rafe's face twisted almost like her pushing him away physically made him ache. Somewhere behind them, Kiara attempted to break up the fight only to end up being shoved off by Barry. Rafe glanced back, then to Annabelle again, his eyes filled with panic. "Annabelle, it's not you guys we want. Just tell me where John B is and we'll walk out of here!"

Her hands curled into fists. Without noticing it, she had begun crying again. "I don't fucking know!" She shouted, pounding her fists against his chest.

Rafe barely moved, just stared. "Bells, what's going-"

"I know what you did." The girl panted out, her fists slowing down. "You murdered Peterkin!"

The entire room seemed to freeze. Kiara, who had been fumbling around for a weapon, stopped. Barry paused mid-kick to JJ's stomach and dragged a hand through his hair. And JJ still lay bloody on the floor.

But the look in Rafe's eyes was the thing that made it feel like time had stopped. For the first time, he looked unrecognizable. It wasn't those two sweet eyes. But it wasn't hurt, anger, or panic either. He looked almost numb.

For several beats, he stared blankly at her. And then Annabelle watched the moment the fury cast a darkness over his eyes.

"You don't know what you're fucking talking about." He muttered. "It's these Pouges.... It's what they're fucking telling you..they... Fuck, get out, Annabelle!"

He took a step closer, his expression unraveling. The girl moved away, stepping into a table that rattled when her back met it. And suddenly she felt trapped.

"You shouldn't be here." Rafe panted, frantic. "Get out, Bells. I don't want you fucking involved in this! Get out!"

She stared at him through blurry eyes as she shook her head. "No,"

Rafe winced as he reached for an item tucked into his waistband, as if it hurt to pull out the gun resting in there. His entire arm trembled as he pointed the weapon at Annabelle, aimed just above her chest.

Annabelle's breaths hitched. "Rafe," her voice shook. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not gonna.... I'm not gonna hurt you." Tears glistened in his eyes. "But if you stay here, Barry might hurt you. I'm protecting you."

Annabelle shook her head, disbelief burning through the tears. "This is protecting me?" She stared with wide eyes at the gun, as if she would be able to dodge an attack from it.

Rafe let out a strained breath before glancing back at the sound of Kiara's body hitting the ground with a thud after being shoved by Barry again. "Fuck," Rafe huffed and looked back at the girl before him. "I don't know what else to do. You need to leave. Now."

He took a step closer, desperation bleeding into every movement. His gaze drifted between the weapon in his hands and Annabelle, almost as if trying to register what he was doing. Annabelle gripped onto the table behind her, her knuckles whitening and nails digging into the wood.

Everything blurred into motion. One moment, Rafe was standing there with the gun trembling in his hands and the next, a sharp clang split the air. The crowbar connected with the back of Rafe's legs, and he collapsed to the ground with a sharp grunt of pain.

"Get off her!" Pope shouted and Annabelle watched his face, the pure hatred in his eyes, unlike anything she had ever seen in the boy.

He swung again, the crowbar slicing through the air and slamming into Rafe's shoulder. The boy huffed out in agony but quickly staggered to his feet, his face contorted with both pain and disbelief. When Pope raised the weapon once more, Rafe ducked low, sending a fist straight into Pope's cheek.

Fueled by anger, Pope barely seemed to react to the punch. He swiftly slipped past Rafe's next swing and countered with one of his own. Before Rafe could recover from the impact, Pope grabbed hold of his shirt and hammered his fist against his nose and cheek. The force of each punch was like thunder, quick and merciless which made Rafe stumble back until he crashed into the table where Annabelle stood frozen in horror.

The world moved in fragments around her. The shouts, the blows, the scraping of shoes against the floor, but she couldn't move. Her body refused to listen. She watched with wide eyes as Pope repeatedly hit Rafe with his fist and for a split second, her gaze caught Rafe's and his eyes looked pleading but not begging for mercy. No, he was begging her to get out.

Then Pope's hand darted toward the table, grabbing a coil of rope. Before Annabelle could even register what he was doing, he looped it around Rafe's throat and pulled tight, cutting off Rafe's airways.

Annabelle was snapped out of her paralysis. "Pope! Stop!" She cried out, her eyes trained on Rafe's face, watching as it slowly turned crimson, veins straining under his skin. He clawed desperately at the rope but the punches seemed to have weakened him, leaving him to make hopeless attempts to get out of Pope's grip.

"Pope, stop! Stop!" Annabelle shouted. Pope's knuckles were white around the rope, his jaw set, his breath ragged. He wasn't hearing her. He wasn't hearing anyone. Kiara came up behind the boy, slapping his shoulder and arms, hoping to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.

Just as Rafe's eyes were about to roll back, Pope released him, letting his body crumble to the ground. In an instant, Annabelle was kneeling beside him. Rafe gasped for air, the sound shallow, and red welts had already bloomed around his throat.

"Rafe," The girl sobbed, gently wrapping her hand around his. Blood was running down from his nose and mouth as a result of Pope's fists. Annabelle had never seen him so vulnerable and for some reason, it shattered something in her. She hunched over him and let out a sob as her thumb caressed his hand, easing him back into regular breathing.

"It's okay," She pushed the hair out of his face and gently wiped away some of the blood with her thumb.

"We gotta go," Kiara urged and hurried to the car. JJ pulled Pope with him, who was hyperventilating as he stared at what he had just done.

"Anna!" Kiara called out.

Annabelle just kept staring down at Rafe, her world narrowing to the rise and fall of his chest. She then leaned forward, pressing a shaking kiss to his forehead. Her lips lingered there for a moment, memorizing the warmth of his skin. "I have... I gotta..." She cried.

"Bells-" He rasped out weakly.

Tears slipped down her cheeks and she shook her head. "I have to go."

Rafe tried to move but collapsed back down with a wince.

"Don't follow us. Don't come near us." She whimpered. And for a fleeting second, she remembered every version of him she'd ever loved, the boy who made her laugh when she didn't want to, the one who looked at her like she was something good, even when she wasn't. But that boy was gone now, buried somewhere beneath the bruises, the lies, the violence. "Goodbye, Rafe."

Those words just slipped out, not meant to be said out loud but when they did, something shifted. It was neither relief nor anger. It was grief. The quiet kind that doesn't take the shape of tears, but of exhaustion. The kind that settles in your bones when you finally understand that the moment is final.

She didn't fully know why she said goodbye. Maybe because there was nothing else left to say. Maybe because some part of her already knew that this moment was the end of a chapter she'd been stuck in for far too long. A chapter built on chaos and adrenaline, on the illusion of being needed, of being chosen, even when it hurt.

When she stood, her legs felt unsteady, her heart raw. The weight of what they'd been and what they could never be again, clung to her like smoke. For a moment, it felt like she was picking up the pieces of her heart that she repeatedly had let Rafe shatter.

It didn't feel good. It didn't feel like healing. It didn't feel empowering. But it felt real.

She walked off without looking back only listening to his ragged breathing and the broken whisper of her name slipping from his lips and let it echo in her chest like a wound that would never fully close.

Before reaching the car, she stepped on something which made her pause. Under her boot was Rafe's gun. Slowly, she leaned down and picked it up, weighing it in her hand before slipping it into her waistband and covering it with her shirt.

"Annabelle, come on!" Kiara shouted from within the car and the girl hurried to her, jumping inside the vehicle.

𝟑𝟒𝟑𝟑 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
┗━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┛

𝐀/𝐍
it's been a minute pls tell me that there's still someone reading this!🙏🏼

this chapter was very intense