𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟓

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVEfireside reconciliation

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MY HEAD LAID on Kie's lap, the both of us watching the boys set the bonfire. Her fingers tangled through my light brown waves, taking some of the hair and twisting it around my ear. The flower I wore had fallen off with the evening wind, leaving behind the usual messy sight on my head.

The feeling of dried blood on my cheek made me feel unsettled, the events of today registering in my mind as the alcohol slowly exited my system. I traced over the red imprint on my skin, trying to erase as much of it as possible.

This was the very reason why I hated being sober.

It made me realise how destructive I actually was, whilst taking all the fun away from that fact.

"Your help would be greatly appreciated." Pope tossed a log into the pre-existing pile of wood, looking up at me and Kiara.

"This is the one time the patriarchy benefits us, I'm not letting this opportunity go to waste." I laughed against the girl's thigh, curling my legs up to my chest.

"It's not hard to start a fire anyway." she added on. "Or are you boys really that doomed without us?"

The ground in front of us was engulfed in flames at the sound of her words. The fire temporarily took away from how cold I was, only for the feeling to quickly return. I stared ahead at the orange light, watching it take a hold of every log the boys had thrown on.

"So much for being doomed." John B grinned, sitting himself down opposite us.

"Well done, you lit a fire!" Kie rolled her eyes sarcastically. "We all know y'all would be dead without me."

"She has a point." I lifted my head from the girl's lap for a brief second, only for her to place it back down.

"Get a room, you two." JJ playfully covered his eyes.

"Is little J getting jealous?" my lips curled into a smile. "Sorry for stealing your girlfriend, but I think she likes me more."

"Shut up, Cami." the blonde boy raised his middle fingers at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him, not wanting to move my arms considering I was still fairly cold. The group broke out into a series of soft laughs, clearly being used to the sibling bond me and JJ had.

"Moving on," Kiara said, taking a strand of my hair and starting to braid it. "Where the hell have you been over the past few weeks. We've been worried sick."

"Speak for yourself." he added again.

"Shut up, JJ." the group groaned in unison, causing a weak smile to appear on my face.

I laid in silence for a while, taking deep breaths as I gathered the composure to retell the story of the past weeks all over again. That very moment made me realise just how much I needed my friends through everything that happened, and how I resented myself for not reaching out to them earlier.

"This shit started all back when we spent the night at Kie's. Y'know, when Mike fired me? Turns out it was because of none other than Rafe Cameron himself."

I turned to lay on my back, catching a full view of Kiara's reaction to the story. She raised her eyebrows at the sound of the boy's name before glaring at John B with the sort of look she always had when she wanted to say 'I told you so'.

"As in, Sarah's brother?" John B asked.

"Didn't know there was another Rafe Cameron on the island."

"There isn't." he replied back.

"Anyway, he stopped me when I was going home and gave me some bullshit speech about how he was gonna offer me a better job. He made me take his phone number and everything."

"That piece of Kook shit." said JJ, a slight tone of anger in his voice. "I swear to Jesus almighty I will—"

"J, let me speak?" I interrupted his Kook-loathing monologue, wanting to get the story over and done with.

"Sorry."

"Yeah, so after all that, he made me take a ride home in his car. Honestly, I was so tired of his shit that I just gave in. Like any normal person would, right?"

I used the last question as a chance to reassure myself. Reliving everything that had happened to me made me think if I really acted the right way, or if I could've done anything else to avoid everything else that followed soon after.

"Rafe's not a good person, Cami. You shouldn't just be taking rides from him like it's nothing." Kie sighed, continuing to play with my hair.

"I know, I know. I was just tired, I guess." I exhaled deeply. "Regardless, he dropped me home or whatever. Then I walked into our front room, and saw that May had started drinking again."

The group became even more quiet than they were before, knowing that any conversation that mentioned my mom was bound to be a sensitive one. I took another deep breath, preparing myself to tell the rest of the events.

"Um, she had basically passed out in the bathroom. I don't know how long for, but it was pretty bad. She was like, pale and shit. You guys don't wanna know—"

"It's okay." Kiara ran her palm along my arm, warming up the skin underneath it. "Tell us as much or as little as you want."

"So, after she was, y'know," I gestured with my hands, trying not to mention her being unconscious again, "I had to call someone, as any normal person does. I'm broke as shit so I didn't have money for an ambulance, and I don't know y'all's numbers."

"You didn't..." Pope spoke up, clearly gathering what was bound to happen next.

I closed my eyes, the stress of the day almost resurfacing just as much as it did when everything first happened. Kie's fingertips continued trailing against my upper arm, the action allowing me to relax myself that little bit more.

"I did, unfortunately." I laughed, trying to take the pressure away from the situation. "No, it wasn't unfortunate. It was fucking stupid. I stupidly called Rafe 'cause I had no one else."

The 5 of us sat in utter silence, no one really knowing how to react to my outburst. I swallowed hard, trying to suppress any drastic emotions I was bound to feel in the next few moments.

"He took me— us to the hospital. Long story short, May drank herself dead and now she needs a liver transplant. Which, God knows how I'm gonna get the fucking dough for."

"Holy shit." John B said under his breath, his reaction speaking for the rest of the group. "How much is it?"

"400k." I stated blankly.

JJ whistled in shock at the sum of money, the rest of us remaining quiet. I felt myself getting colder and colder by the minute, the fire proving to only be useful as a source of light.

"You've got goosebumps." Kie noticed, rubbing my arm once again to create more friction.

"I brought a blanket." the blonde boy reached into his backpack, pulling out the large tartan fabric.

"You brought a blanket to Midsummers?" Pope questioned.

Kiara reached her arm out to him, not wanting me to move from her lap. Although my legs were starting to grow numb from my lack of movement, I certainly valued the comfort she brought me over the physical counterpart.

"Nope, it's my turn." JJ objected.

"She's cold, you asshole."

"I know." he smiled at me. "It's my turn with Cami."

"I'm not a toy." I flipped him off again, only for Kie to pin my hand back down.

"I prefer the term 'teddy bear'." he corrected. "C'mon, we can share. It'll be warmer with both of us."

I linked my eyes with Kiara's, waiting for a look of confirmation. She moved her focus between me and JJ, eventually nodding back at me. I placed a delicate kiss on her forehead before sitting beside the boy.

He wrapped the blanket around both of us, resting his head on my shoulder. Ignoring how much he smelt of weed, I placed my cheek on top of his hair as his arms wrapped around my hips. The material combined with his body heat warmed me up immediately, allowing me to return to speaking about what had happened to me.

"Yeah, since I kinda didn't have a job, I had to take the one from Rafe. He also offered for me to stay in their guest room whilst I worked, so I wouldn't have to pay bills back at home." I continued the story, sugar-coating over most parts.

"What even was the job? Did he hire you as a prostitute or some shit?" JJ spoke up from my shoulder.

"God, J, no. I'm working on the Druthers."

"So you steal my best friend and my job? Classic Cami." John B joked, shooting a sarcastic glare in my direction.

"Didn't you steal from Ward?" I mentioned the reason he got fired, seeing his expression die down quickly. "That's what I thought."

"So, basically, the reason you've been gone for ages was 'cause you're living at Tannyhill." Kie stared into the bonfire, the golden light making me admire how stunning she looked in her Midsummers outfit.

"Yup." I nodded, making a pop sound at the end of the word.

"What about that Kook who said you were his date?"

I chuckled to myself once she mentioned Noah, thinking I had avoided thinking about him for the rest of the night. I moved my face so that more of it rested against JJ, wanting to savour as much happiness as I had with my friends ahead of my return to the Cameron residence.

"He's Noah Cameron, their cousin." I almost gagged at his name. "I think he's just using me as a ploy to get back at Rafe, and I kinda don't care at this point."

"And the blood?" Pope pointed to his cheek, referencing the red print on mine.

"I beat someone up."

"No context?" Kie shook her head out of surprise.

"Oh, some bitch was just talking 'bout May. No biggie." I shrugged, hiding the severity of mine and Amelia's fight.

JJ raised his hand from under the blanket, bringing it up in order for us to do our signature handshake. His head stayed in place under mine, causing me to feel progressively more tired.

"You two will get us killed one day, I'm calling it." John B smiled at us.

"One's in jail and the other's beating people up like it's 'no biggie'" Pope nodded to himself. "We're definitely dead."

"J's been in jail?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I sank Topper's boat." I could feel his cheeks curve into a grin.

"No, he didn't." Pope corrected. "I did, and this idiot took the blame."

"You sank a boat?" I stared at the boy in awe, knowing he wasn't ever one to truly rebel so much.

"Yeah."

"You sank a boat." I repeated.

"Forget the part where JJ went to jail?" he emphasised, trying to move the subject away from himself.

"Look at you boys." I used my hand to ruffle JJ's hair. "Go big or go home."

I closed my eyes once returning my head to be on top of the boy's, letting myself drift off into a short nap. The warmth and peace I felt in the group's company let me finally take a breathing moment for myself, feeling the most relaxed I had since I moved into Tannyhill.

Even if I glossed over most of mine and Rafe's interactions when talking about what happened, I had at least confided in my friends and wouldn't have to lie too much around them.

I had my secrets and they presumably had theirs, and I guess I was content with that fact.

Plus, a little secrecy never hurt anyone.