RIPTIDE | Rafe Cameron

35. 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣

A whole day has passed since Ward's boat exploded with him on it. I've not seen Sarah since then, she was so emotionally broken that I had to be the one to comfort Wheezie. Shoupe told Rose and Wheezie that Ward had died, sparing them both the details.

John B, Kiara and Pope headed back to the chateau as the police asked them to leave the premises so they could preserve evidence. But JJ insisted that he would wait for me. I was with Sarah and Wheezie for an hour, and by the time I left the house JJ was sitting on the wall, waiting for me.

I was so grateful to see him there, to have someone to lean on after comforting Sarah. We were going to head back to the chateau, but I told him that my parents would be worrying about me. I also didn't want to give Maggie any ammunition to fuel her wanting to tell our parents about my problems with cocaine.

JJ walked me home, which I greatly appreciated. When we got home, we told my parents what had happened, and they were distraught, even though they had only met Ward a few times. They told me that they'd heard the news about Rafe, and that they would support me through everything. But they also implied that they were disappointed in me for standing beside Rafe for so long, and that my taste in men could be improved.

I couldn't listen to their digs for that long, so after we ate dinner, which JJ was invited to stay for, I excused myself and headed upstairs to bed. I just needed to be by myself, to comprehend what had happened.

The itch for drugs surfaced, but I didn't give in to temptation. There are too many people who need me to be strong, and I can't be strong if I'm numbed by cocaine. I need to be stable for Sarah, and I need to be strong for Rafe, because despite what he put me through, I know how much he worships his father, and how this will break him.

I wonder if the police would have told Rafe about his father, and I wonder how he would've taken the news. Part of me would have liked to be there with him when they gave him the news, because I still care about him.

My parents and Maggie left for the surf shop early this morning. They left a note in the kitchen which I found after I woke up this morning. I slept in until about 11AM, and after getting showered, dressed, and eating breakfast, I wound up back in my bedroom, escaping my reality by reading another one of my dystopian fiction novels.

I would go to the chateau, but I'm not quite ready to talk about the Camerons or Ward specifically. I know they all think he deserved it, and I do think that too, but that doesn't mean I want to talk about it. I also feel bad for Sarah, maybe I should check on her at some point today, she probably needs a distraction from her grief.

I'm startled as my bedroom door opens slowly, I drop my book as my heart begins to race, until it steadies when I see Rafe standing in my bedroom. He must know what happened, he looks broken, not just because of his stay in a jail cell, but emotionally broken.

"My Dad's dead." He mutters, closing the door as I sit up straight on the bed, "And it's my fault."

"Rafe, how did you get into the house?" I ask him.

"You left the back door unlocked," He sighs, "And I needed to see you."

"They let you go?" I whisper as he approaches me.

"Yeah," He nods, gazing out of my bedroom window, "Dad confessed to everything, Gavin, John B's Dad and Peterkin on video, and now he's dead, because of me."

"Rafe, your Dad's death is not your fault," I attempt to comfort him, standing up beside him, selfishly letting my knuckles brush his.

"How did it happen?" He asks me, "The police didn't tell me, Sarah won't talk to me, Rose and Wheezie can't even look at me."