Homecoming: Hide

Trigger Warning: Rape, scary stalker behavior, emotional/distressed scenes.

This chapter is hard to read. 

"There she is!" JJ calls out when we pull up to the dock at the chateau.

"Welcome home." John B states, his eyes flicking over to me, I force a smile while helping JJ stand up. 

"You know, I gotta be honest. Not exactly looking forward to a check-in at home. My parents probably already arranged my funeral." Kie jokes, "They've already been talking about sending me away to a wilderness camp or something." 

Pope ties us to the dock, "I predict unpleasantries at the Heyward household after I left the truck in Charleston."

"No one knows we're here, right? And you two aren't gonna get into any more trouble for showing up 12 hours later." JJ points between Kie and Pope while we all trail up to the house, "Am I right, or am I right?"

"You're not wrong." Pope wearily agrees.

"So that means we have 12 hours to do whatever we want. Huh? A little Pogue fellowship." JJ is giddy with excitement while he looks around at us, "How does that sound?"

"Let shit hit the fan tomorrow." John B hollers with a big smile.

"Yeah!"

"The cops could be looking for us. It could be really stupid." Sarah tries to be the voice of reason, "Someone could figure out Willow is back, the three of us need to stay dead for a while." 

JJ stops a few feet from the porch and grins at her, "Barbie, you've heard of my philosophy, right?"

Her shoulders slump, probably realizing no one seems to be as worried as us, "No."

"Stupid things have good outcomes all the time." He exclaims, "Who's with me? Let's get some beer!"

"Jay, this could end badly if we don't lay low, let someone else go get beer." I quietly tell him, "Maybe we should rest tonight." 

He caresses my face, "It'll be fine, don't worry so much, it isn't good for the baby."

I frown, "I'm worried because it's a bad idea and I just want us to relax tonight." 

"Willow, nothing is going to happen, let JJ have some fun," Kie puts her hands on her hips, "We haven't seen y'all in months, lighten up and let us celebrate. It's not like its a big party, it's just us."

I feel embarrassed now while she stares at me with an annoyed expression, it feels like she isn't excited I'm home. Did they enjoy not having me around? Maybe I should tell them the voice in my head warned me, which means something definitely could happen. 

"Yeah but--"

She sighs loudly, "You can go lay down if you want, you don't have to participate, but don't drag JJ down with you."

"Um," I frown when I notice everyone, minus Sarah, is waiting for me to complain again, "okay, I guess I'll just hang out for a bit before going to bed." 

"Come on, JJ," Kie grabs his hand, "we can go get the beer, I have some cash." 

JJ smiles at her, "Kook money for the win."

Kie laughs and pulls him with her, "Shut up, lets go before Willow puts you in time out."

I wait for JJ to defend me, but he doesn't. Instead he laughs and follows her down to the HMS pogue. Something nudges my arm, so I turn my head to see Sarah's confused expression, "What was that all about?"

"I don't know," I lean into her when she wraps her arm around me, "but I didn't like how it made me feel." 

I watch from the porch while they leave to go get beer, both of them seem happy about whatever they're talking about. I guess laying low is the last thing on his mind now, as soon as someone spots him in public the island will know we're alive. 

Jail cell here I come. 

"What's wrong?" John B taps my forehead.

"JJ shouldn't have went with Kie." I mutter, turning away so I can sit down now that my back and feet ache. 

He sits down across from me and furrows his brows, "Why not?"

"People will see he's alive," I quietly explain, while wrapping my arms around my baby bump, "he promised to protect me, yet he's basically telling everyone I'm back."

"You're stressing over nothing, Will. JJ is stealthy, he won't let people see him." He takes a swig from his beer, "I am glad y'all are finally back. I've missed you."

"I missed you." I force a smile, letting go of the topic since he brushed off my concerns like he always does, noticing Pope's conflicted expression when he looks over at me holding back tears, he probably has the same worries I do. 

Sarah drops down in John Bs lap and kisses him, "I missed you."

He chuckles, "I missed you more." 

~~~~~

"What's the deal with this Limbrey chick?" I ask Pope, moving my feet in the water while I sit on the side of the hot tub, JJ tries to pull me into his side for the tenth time but I brush him off again, "You think she knew my dad?""I don't know." Pope says in a serious tone, "But I do think that she has the information that could exonerate you.""That'd be ideal." I chew on my lip out of nervousness.

My thoughts run a mile a minute, mostly regarding the fact that I don't want to sit in prison for life."Not to throw a monkey wrench in the entire thing, but she did just try to kidnap you." JJ reminds Pope of his horrible experience in Charleston, while resting his hand on my thigh, "How many times do I have to say this?"

John B sighs, "Here we go.""Why are we staying here? Why don't we go south? We can go to Yucatán. Coast of Broken Dreams, baby! Willow and I already want to go there, might as well go while we're still laying low."

I feel on edge when I think about what happened before JJ left for beer and how he definitely didn't seem to care about laying low then, it seems a little late now. 

"No, no, dude! She's not running anymore." John B argues, "Look, OBX is her home. And besides, if we stay, I can get a shot at Ward."

"Hi." Sarah greets us when she walks up in my bikini she just changed into, Kie right behind her in one of her own bikinis, "What are y'all talking about?"

"Uh.. fishing." John B lies. 

"Dropping lures." 

Sarah eyes the boys, "Um okay." She climbs in and leans into John B and sips on her beer. 

"How was it staying there so long?" Kie climbs in and sits between Pope and JJ, "Was it fun?" 

JJ happily sighs, "I didn't want to leave."

"We went to the weekend beach parties, and we went to this garden place, it was super cool." Sarah tells everyone in an excited voice, "We also travelled to this pink beach, I wanted to bring some of the sand home, but JJ," She sends him a pointed look, "Sat on the water bottle and made it bust open and spill all over the bus we were on." 

He laughs with everyone else, "I didn't mean to. Willow tripped, I wasn't going to let my pregnant girlfriend get hurt so I broke her fall." 

"We swam with pigs on JJs birthday." I speak up, "It was... an interesting experience."

Sarah giggles, "You were terrified."

"Yeah because that one pig wouldn't leave me alone dude, it followed me everywhere." I explain myself, "I thought it was going to bite me or drown me." 

"That was the sweetest one," JJ smiles, "it liked you, baby, it wanted you to pet it behind the ears again."

"Well I didn't like it." I mutter, "Y'all just laughed the whole time, while home dude was chasing me in the water."

JJ and Sarah both laugh again.

"I was left to fend for myself." 

"I would have stopped it if it was being mean, Princess, don't get cranky." He kisses my cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too." I don't meet his eye, turning to tune into everyone else's conversation while he watches me with a weird expression. 

We spent the next few hours telling them about the rest of our adventures in the Bahamas, while everyone get's intoxicated, except me. I mostly stayed quiet, my mind still stuck on all the bad things that could happen now that I'm back. 

I'm sure Rafe is here, so I have to worry about him being a stalker, and once the police catch wind that I'm here they will start looking for me. And here I am, sitting in my yard, the first place they will look. 

"Princess," JJ squeezes my leg, "you good?"

"Yeah," I don't look at him, "I'm fine." 

"I can tell when you're lying." He gently grasps my chin and turns my face to look him in the eyes, "You've been quiet, what's up?"

"Why aren't you more worried about me now that we're back?" I ask, causing the conversations to stop around us.

He pinches his eyebrows together, "What makes you think I'm not worried about you?"

"You went to the store earlier knowing people will find out we're alive and back," I angrily exclaim, "You were so adamant back in Nassau that we have to lay low until my names cleared, yet the first thing you do when we get home is parade yourself around town, your sole focus on getting beer so you can party."

"I just missed being here, Willow. I missed my friends and thought celebrating was a good idea. I was careful when we went to the store."

"We didn't exactly hide you, JJ." Kie blows out the smoke from her blunt, "You talked to Guffy and told him you've been travelling with your girl, which everyone knows you were with Willow before y'all died in the storm."

"This is why I told you I didn't want you to go," I lower my voice, "I know its annoying to have a girlfriend who cares but staying home so we can lay low isn't me putting you in time out, as Kie put it, it's just me being scared that I'll get the death penalty if the cops catch up to me." 

JJ tries to pull me into his side but I brush him off and scoot away, "Princess, I do care, I didn't think you were putting me in time out, I just wanted to go with Kie, it gave us time to catch up on life."

"You should have defended me then, you shouldn't have laughed, which made it seem like you were making fun of me too." Stupid tears spring from my eyes, "Why couldn't you catch up on life with her while being here? You didn't have to run off to be alone to do that." 

Kie frowns, "I wasn't making fun of you and he's allowed to be alone with me, Willow, you don't get to dictate his life."

"It was a rude comment to make, Kie." Pope interjects, "You basically talked down on her for worrying and you made it seem like she controls JJ." 

"I mean she was controlling him," She raises her voice, "he should be able to hang out with us, he doesn't need to go sit in the room with her just because that's what she wants."

"I'm going to bed." I go to leave but JJ pulls me between his legs, "JJ, let me go."

"No, baby, I'm sorry, I wasn't making fun of you. And I don't think you control me. I wasn't trying to run off to be alone with her either." He wraps his arms around my legs and looks up at me, "I only talked to Guffy and the lady behind the counter, that's it, then we came straight home."

"What about people passing by that saw you?"

He shakes his head, "No one saw me, Willow, it's fine."

"If something bad happens, it'll be your fault. All for some stupid fucking beer, I could lose my daughter if I get locked up, JJ, do you understand that? I could lose everything because of your stupid choice to show face around town after I asked you not to, but you just had to listen to Kie over me." I shove his arms off of me and awkwardly climb out of the hot tub, ignoring his attempts to apologize again, "Sleep on the couch tonight, I want to be alone." 

I'm too tired right now, I want to sleep in my own bed and not worry about how my time is limited. Soon I'll be sleeping in a six by six concrete cell with a thin shitty mattress and no contact to the outside world, unless they visit, but honestly I probably won't want to see JJ if its his fault I get arrested.

I know he will move on if I'm put away for life, he'll get our daughter and raise her with some other girl he falls for. No wonder he doesn't care that much, it's not his life on the line, he doesn't lose much if I get put away. His life will carry on regardless of what happens to me. 

Right when I start to doze off, I hear a loud thud in the living room, taking note of the fact that it's around midnight now and it sounds like everyone left or went to bed. I creep through the dark house, stopping dead in my tracks when I come face to face with Rafe. 

"Run."

My eyes go wide when I see the gun in his hand.

"Don't make a sound or I'll use the gun just like I did on your dirty pogue baby daddy." Rafe chuckles, "He's the reason I knew you were back, I saw him buying beer with Kiara." I stay glued to my spot when he tucks one of my curls behind my ear, "You're gorgeous, Brookie."

"Run, Willow."

"Please don't hurt me." I whimper, "I'm.. I'm scared." 

"I won't, baby, I'll be gentle." He pushes me into my room, locking the door behind him, "Not a sound, Brookie, I mean it. You don't want to be the reason your baby ends up dead." 

"Why won't you listen to me?"

I stifle my cry while he lays me back on my bed and strips my clothes off of me. This isn't fair, I don't want this. I'm terrified and I don't understand why JJ isn't busting in here to protect me, did they leave to go party somewhere else? I guess I annoyed everyone enough that they felt the need to be away from me, leaving me to be alone and defenseless. 

Rafe does what he wants to me, ignoring my quiet pleas to stop. Once he finishes he dresses me, and kisses my lips, "You'll be mine, Brookie, I'll be sure of it." 

Then he disappears out of my room.

I lock the door behind him and watch out my window, still wondering why no one came in to protect me from him.

After I crack open my window I spot movement in the tree, is that where everyone went? The fucking tree? They let Rafe come in here knowing I was in bed, they didn't care what would happen to me. Whatever. I mean I understand JJ probably has PTSD and doesn't want to get shot again, but my brother could have came in to protect me, someone could have tried to stop Rafe. 

"Aye, yo, only Brookie was inside, we had a little fun since she's been gone for so long." 

"Are y'all still dating?"

"Yeah." Rafe lies to Barry, "I checked every room for the pogues though, I didn't see them." He spins around, his eyes darting around the yard like a crazy person, "Did you find anyone out here? I want to kill that dirty pogue, since the first time didn't fucking work."

Barry grabs his shoulders, "Bro, you need to chill, alright?"

"I am chill, I am." Rafe nods his head unconvincingly, "Look," He points to the firepit, "They were obviously just here based off the smoke."

"Yeah, yeah," Barry raises his voice, "great observation, Boy scout."

"They're not far, you know?"

Barry raises his arms up from his sides, "Smokey the bear! Look at you, bro!"

"They have to be around here somewhere."

My heart rate picks up when Rafe turns towards the tree my friends are in. 

Barry looks at the heart memorial that I've been avoiding looking at since I don't feel like crying, "P4L." He scoffs while Rafe laughs and points his gun at it., "Your sisters a pogue for life, huh, Rafe? Now who would've thought? But I thought Willow's baby might be yours, why'd they put Baby Maybank?"

"She insists its his baby and lies to her friends about us hooking up while they were still together." Rafe stares at the heart, his body tense while he grips his gun, "SHIT! THAT DIRTY FUCKING POGUE."

"Alright chill." Barry exclaims, fear in his eyes now. Rafe clicks the safety off his gun and starts to wildly shoot the tree, I cover my mouth to quiet my sobs while watching Barry try to stop him, all the while the bullets whiz past my loved ones, "Chill! Bro, chill out!" Barry finally gets him to stop shooting and grasps his shoulders, "You're gonna get our asses busted, dawg. Let's bounce."

I slide down my wall and bury my head between my knees. I feel sick and angry. 

 A few minutes go by, the silence in the house only makes me feel more on edge, my body flinches when someone tries to open my door, I fearfully look over when the knocking starts, hoping it's not Rafe again.

He actually raped me, my friends hid in the tree while he did what he wanted to me. They probably listened to the whole thing and didn't even care to stop him. Rafe said he wouldn't hurt me, but he did because I didn't want him to touch me, but he did anyways. This happened because of JJ, he just had to party, he didn't even give two shits about me when he took off with Kiara. This shouldn't have fucking happened, but no one listens to me. 

God, I need to wash him off of me. I need to feel clean again.

I scramble to my feet and grab fresh clothes from my dresser, as soon as I rip the door open JJ cups my face, "Did he hurt you?"

"Get off of me," I cry while shoving him away, "just.. just stop. I need to shower."

His eyes go wide while his face drops, "Why, Princess? Why-why do you need to shower?"

"Why do you think I would need to shower, JJ?" I angrily ask, "They saw you at the store, then I was left alone when he came inside, take a guess on what happened to me. Didn't you hear him tell Barry he had a little fun with me?" 

I push him out of my way and brush past my brother and Sarah while they stare at me with shocked expressions, heading straight for the bathroom at the end of the hallway. My hands shake while I run the hottest water I can tolerate and scrub Rafe's touch from my skin, sobs escape my mouth, ricocheting off the tile walls around me. I never should have came home. JJ shouldn't have gone to the store. I wish I was still in the Bahamas where I was safe. 

I hate it here now, I can't handle this. 

Arms wrap around me, startling me causing me to scream in fear, "It's me, Princess." JJ holds his hands up, relaxing when I slump into him, "I'm sorry, Willow. I should have protected, but we only had a couple seconds to hide and Barry was on the porch with a gun when Rafe went inside." 

I sob into his chest, letting the water run over our bodies, "This is your fault."

"I'm sorry." He whispers while his body shakes, "I know it is, I know."

"No one protected me." 

"I'm sorry." His arms tighten around me, "I wanted to, I did--"

"No you didn't." I cling to him as my legs give out, "I'm not okay." 

He clutches me to him and kisses my head over and over again, "I know, baby. But I'm here, you're safe now." 

"You're a little late, because," I gasp as I try to breathe, "he.. he raped me, Jay." 

JJ cries into my shoulder when my words hit him, "This is all my fault, I'm so fucking sorry I didn't protect you."

I sob as JJ washes me again. And again. And again. My devestated voice begging him to help me wash Rafe's touch off of my body but nothing seems to help. I still feel like he's on me. 

"How about we go lay down, Princess?" JJ asks in a hoarse voice from crying for so long. 

"Okay." I weakly dry myself and let him put one of his shirts on me and my underwear. 

He wraps me in his arms and ushers me to our room, muttering a goodnight to John B and Sarah when we pass them in the hallway, hiding my face after seeing their tears. 

This hurt too much. 

I was thankful that Sarah changed my sheets for me, I don't think I could have laid down on the bed if she hadn't of done that. It's already bad enough that Rafe took away the feeling of safety in my own house, in my own room, but at least my beds clean now. 

My body cuddles into JJs arms while I cry again, the memories of Rafe pining me to this same bed ripping my mind apart. 

"I love you." He kisses my head, "I didn't protect you when I told you I would, but I won't let that happen again, Willow. I let you down and I hate myself for that." 

I sniffle and kiss his chest. 

What did I do to deserve this?

"Nothing, Willow. The world can be an evil place, I want to protect you from that."

Aren't you evil?

"No, though some people think I am."

And you want me to trust you?

"Yes."

I don't know how to trust anymore. I feel lost and broken.

"I'm sorry, Willow, I tried to protect you but you didn't listen."

I was scared to run, he had his gun.

"You didn't do anything wrong, this isn't your fault."

I know. 

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