You were furious when you pulled your car into Rafe’s driveway and slammed on the brakes. You couldn’t believe that he’d put you in a position where you were forced to bend your morals and defend him, again. You angrily slam your car door shut as you stomp up the walkway to the front door. You don’t bother with knocking, you’re a woman on a mission after all, and you just shove your key in the door, slamming it behind you as you step inside. You were damn sure that he knew you’d show up tonight after what he’d did.

“Rafe Cameron! I know you’re home!” You yell, your voice echoing throughout the cavernous mansion. You hear his footsteps approaching, and then he’s in front of you. You have to remind yourself how angry you are to fight off the instinct to run into his arms and claim his mouth. He eyes you warily, and your eyes move to his bruised, reddened knuckles. He hastily shoves them into his jeans pocket, but you didn’t even need to see them to know what JJ had said was true. You were so angry, you wanted to shake him.

“I can’t believe that you trashed the chateau and attacked JJ! You swore to me that you were done with this Kook versus Pogue violence bullshit! I had to make excuses for you, again! Apologize for you, again! I know you blame them for your dad’s death, and I keep trying to understand and I just…it’s too much!”

“Then stop defending me!” He shouts back, his face twisting with anger. He clenches his jaw before looking you straight in the eye “I didn’t ask you to! “

“I can’t stop! Because I love you, Rafe!” You shout back at him. And that was the hard truth, no matter what he did you were always going to try and find a way to justify it, to defend him. Your foolish heart wouldn’t let you give up on him, wouldn’t let you villainize him. This man had gotten so deep into your veins and your very soul. No matter how much your friends hated him, no matter what JJ and the other Pogue’s said, you would still try and find some good in Rafe.

“Then stop loving me!” He throws his hands up in the air in frustration. He knew what you wanted and needed him to be, but he couldn’t seem to do it. He was always going to have this anger and hatred towards the Pogues. He was always going to search for a way to bring them down and screw them over. He was vindictive, and as much as he loved you, that love didn’t seem to be enough to conquer the hate against them.

“I can’t!” You move closer to him, but he takes a step back, maintaining the distance between the two of you, and that hurts. He’d never rejected your advances, he’d never not wanted to be as close to you as humanly possible. It had always felt like if he could, he would crawl inside your skin. But now it was like he was being the logical one, recognizing that your dynamic was toxic. Seeing that things were too complicated to work between the two of you.

“That’s the problem!” He snaps, his eyes darkening. He’d never rejected brings his hands up to press against the bridge of his noise in frustration. “We don’t work”

You look at him in shock. You knew it, but hearing it, having it out there in the open, was something entirely different. You wanted to argue, to fight, to beg and tell him things could be fixed. But you don’t. You just nod your head in resignation.

“Then we agree. It’s done” He can’t look at you when he says it’s over, if he does he knows that he’ll want to take it back. Or he’ll make more empty promises to you that he knows he doesn’t intend to keep. He stares at the ground, wishing things were different.