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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘅𝘁𝘆 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀

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The plan was simple: Cassie and Rafe would pretend to argue only for Rafe to smash the vase in the room and make it seem like he hurt Cassie Someone would have to come in and check on them and when they did, they would ambush them and get the hell out of there.

They stood by the bathroom door before Rafe counted down to one, signaling for her to start yelling. "Just get away from me!" Cassie acted out as angry as possible, but she didn't really need to fake it all that much. Rafe was easy to get mad at.

"I'm tired of this shit, okay?! I'm gonna kill you, Cassie!" Rafe shouted before he grabbed the vase that was in the room and smashed it.

Cassie yelped, "Help!" before she rushed over to the bathtub and laid in it just like they planned.

"Hey, hey, stick your foot out," Rafe whispered and she gave him a nasty look. "Just do it, it'll look like you're dead."

"Fine," she huffed before she leaned back, sticking her foot out of the tub that wore her sneaker which had been stained for over a month now. She watched as Rafe hid behind the bathroom door, waiting for one of the guards to come and check on them.

It had been silent for a moment before Fenton called out, "Hey, you two? What'd you do?" They heard the sound of the door unlocking and gave each other a glance, preparing to jump him.

The floor started creaking near the bathroom and Cassie tensed up, trying not to move her foot. "What be this?" Fenton spoke to himself before Rafe shoved the bathroom door on him, knocking the gun out of his hand.

Rafe got out from behind the door and punched Fenton as Cassie got out of the bathtub, looking to see Rafe punch him again and send him to the ground. She watched as Rafe grabbed a lamp that was on the bedside table and smashed it over his back, making Fenton groan.

Cassie quickly bent down and grabbed the gun that Fenton had dropped, rushing out from the bathroom and pointing at his head. "Just stay down, stay down, okay?" Rafe whispered through clenched teeth, placing his knee into his back so Fenton couldn't get up.

"Don't move!" Cassie warned, keeping the gun aimed at him. Her hand shook just a smidge. The only time she had held a gun was when she was about to take it out at the OBX Summer Series and use it against Rafe himself. But now she was holding one, pointing it right at someone's head, the kill shot.

Was Rafe right by saying that they were more alike than she thought?

No. No, she was letting his words get to her head. She wasn't a killer, she was doing this for her safety. That was it.

"Huge mistake. You'll regret this," Fenton warned as he tried to squirmed underneath Rafe's knee.

"Hey, gimme the phone," Rafe said as took Fenton's phone from his pocket.

Cassie walked over to the drapes hanging from the bed and took them down. "Here, tie him up," she instructed the Cameron boy.

Rafe grabbed the drapes from her, tying Fenton up as he groaned. "Don't move." Cassie breathed out as she watched Rafe tie Fenton up harshly, her grip on the gun tightening. "Don't make a sound...all right?" Rafe advised threateningly before he got up. He then looked at Cassie. "Good?"

"Yeah. Let's go," she replied before the two of them walked out of the room. Rafe locked the door with the key he took from Fenton's pocket so he wouldn't be able to escape.

Rafe panted, "This way. Come on."

Cassie followed him down the steps as quick and quiet as possible before she got an idea. "Okay. Hey, Rafe. Hey. Hey, Rafe. Rafe, Rafe, Rafe, Rafe," she tried getting his attention.

"What?" Rafe whispered, turning to look at the Blake girl and noticing how close they had been.

"Let me see the phone," Cassie said.

Rafe glanced down at her lips due to their proximity before he asked, "Why?"

Cassie ignored his wandering eyes, hesitantly holding out the gun since she knew he would only give her the phone if he had the gun. She knew he wouldn't shoot her though. He couldn't even stab her, he had to throw her against a wall instead. "Just give it to me."

"Okay. Give me the gun." They switched items and Rafe put the gun in his back pocket as Cassie looked down at the phone. "You ready?" He said and she looked up, nodding. Rafe slowly opened the door, seeing a guard right outside the front door. "Shit." He peered around the door he opened, trying to find another way out. "Okay, this way, this way, this way."

Rafe rushed out to the right, but Cassie made her way to the left. She noticed how Singh kept staring at that painting before when he was speaking to her and Rafe, so maybe it was important.

She found the camera app on the phone and snapped a photo just as Rafe urged, "Come on." Cassie made sure the photo got every inch of the painting, ignoring Rafe. "Cassie? What are you doing? Let's go! Come on!" He whisper-shouted.

"Hold on!" She replied, going to send the photo to Kiara's email address. Cassie had no idea where her phone was and for all she knew, her mom was searching every inch of it. So she couldn't risk sending it to herself, so she opted to send it to her best friend instead so she could find it whenever they got home.

If that was ever happening.

"Cassie, come on!" Rafe said again and Cassie rushed over, walking through the door he was waiting for her at. They found another door that led to outside and they quietly made their way over to a green fence.

Cassie brought her hands up, pushing herself up on her tippy toes to try to see her the fence. "Can you see?" Rafe asked her.

She watched as the truck filled with hay in the back started moving and her eyes widened. "I got an idea. Come on, come on!" She told him before she started running, Rafe immediately running behind her. "Come on!"

She pushed through a different gate and onto the grass, seeing the truck driving away on the road. "Come on, come on!" Rafe said, knowing what she was thinking as soon as soon as he saw the truck.

"They're slowing down! Come on, come on!" Cassie yelled before they reached an opening in the shrubbery, making their way through it. "Let's go!"

Cassie jumped onto the back of the truck with Rafe right behind her and her eyes widened once she saw a man that had been sitting in the back.

"No, no, no," the man repeated once he noticed them and started to stand up. Before Cassie knew it, Rafe went over to him and slammed him into the metal part of the truck, punching him across the face two times.

Cassie watched with wide eyes, but didn't try to stop him. How else would they be able to get out of there?

The tussled a bit before they fell onto the hay below them. The man tried getting back up but Rafe kicked him in the face, making him groan. Rafe proceeded to get up and grab the man, forcing him up with bim.

"No! Please, don't!" The man fought, but it was no use. Rafe threw him out of the truck, making him crash on the ground below them. Cassie gasped before she looked up at Rafe with wide eyes, seeing the way he had been panting and looking around erratically.

Although she wasn't exactly opposed to Rafe fighting the man, he always tended to go overboard and Cassie wasn't sure what he would do next.

Back with the Pogues, they were able to make their way into some sort of town with stables. Cleo led the way as they ran, trying to find a place to hide. She made it to one stable, but turned around once she heard John B shout, "Go, go, go, go, go!"

"Bloody rasshole!" She commented once she saw them running past her. "Hey, boy, come!"

"That way, that way!" JJ realized before they all spun around, going over to Cleo.

Cleo sighed, "Shit." She kept on running with the others joining behind her.

"She know where she's going?" John B asked JJ as they ran next to each other.

"No clue," the blonde answered.

They finally reached a stable that had hay bales and supplies they could hide behind, taking a rest. They panted quietly as John B looked through the gaps in the fence. "They comin'?" Cleo inquired.

"I don't see anything," John B shook his head, turning back to look at them.

"So what's the plan now? What's our plan B?" JJ instantly questioned and Sarah held her hands out, not knowing. "We just kicked the hornet's nest. We gotta think of something quick," he spoke rapidly, pacing back and forth.

"JJ, calm down," Pope tried to tell him.

"Calm down, Pope?" JJ repeated before he stopped in front of the Heyward boy. "We do something to their guys, they're gonna do something to Cass."

"That was your idea!" Sarah pointed out.

JJ turned to her, his eyes wide in frustration. "Yeah, I know that was my idea, okay?"

"Shhh!" Cleo and Kiara shushed him.

"My bad! That one's on me!" He continued quieter before he turned away, muttering, "Why did we leave that island?"

The island was paradise for him. He had his best friends and he had his girl. What more could he ask for? He had a feeling Cassie didn't like it as much as he did, but he knew she was definitely wishing to be back on that island with him because now, his best friends had been running from psycho maniacs and she was kidnapped by said psycho maniacs.

How the fuck was he supposed to calm down after that?

He had to think of what to do to save her. He would do anything, even offering to take her place. Wait, that's not actually a bad idea.

"Ooh, ooh, wait, wait, wait. I got something. What if I offer myself up as a hostage?" JJ came up with, holding his wrists out. "No, hear me out, hear me out, hear me out. What if I got inside the walls—"

"No—"

"—did like, you know, the Trojan horse type thing?"

"How about no?"

"That's how wars are won!" JJ argued.

"No, that's now how a Trojan horse even works!" Pope exclaimed.

"Okay, fine. What do you got? This is usually where you got the moves, bro, all right?" JJ said to him, snapping his fingers. "Remember Spock? We could really use him right now."

"Just let me think in peace, okay?" Pope told him and JJ held his hands up, backing away.

Sarah noticed the way John B had kept looking outside, ignoring JJ's rambling. "Hey. What happened back at the hotel? I thought you got nabbed."

"I heard something."

"What?"

"That," John B answered ominously before he turned toward his girlfriend. "Like that. You hear that, right? The church bells?"

"Bells?" Sarah blinked.

John B looked back outside. "My dad used to use them to call me home."

"Okay, who cares about that right now when we should be trying to figure out ways on how to bust Cassie out?" JJ cut in.

John B sucked in a breath, slowly turning around. "You know, JJ, you're really pissing me off right now," he began.

"Oh, I'm pissing you off? How am I pissing you off?" JJ replied, stepping toward the Routledge boy.

"Because you keep coming up with these crazy ideas that don't have a chance of working and you're stressing everybody out!" John B raised his voice just a bit and JJ pursed his lips, shaking his head. "And you still won't admit it."

JJ narrowed his eyes. "Admit what?"

"You're gonna make me say it for you?"

"Say what for him?" Kiara quickly asked.

JJ swallowed thickly, realizing what John B was going to accuse him of: liking Cassie.

He really wished he could tell them all that was the reason he wanted to her back so bad because maybe that would push them to get up off their asses, but he didn't want to betray Cassie's trust. He couldn't do that to her, especially not when she was locked up.

JJ laughed it off, putting his acting skills to the test. "He's gonna say that I like Cassie," he began and Kiara blinked at him. "I don't like Cassie, John B, okay? She's just a Pogue and we don't leave Pogues behind, all right? We were on that island for over a month so sue me for warming up to her, but I sure as hell don't like her. I'd be doing this if it were any one of you."

Kiara felt relief flow through her at his words, but didn't let it show on her face.

"He's right, John B," Pope piped up and John B gave him an incredulous look. "He would do it for any one of us. I mean, he got sent to jail for me that one time."

"See, exactly! Pope gets it!" JJ exclaimed, gesturing to the Heyward boy.

"And he did try to break you out of jail that almost ended up in him and Cassie getting arrested," Kiara pointed out.

JJ gestured to Kiara before locking his eyes on John B. "And besides, I owe her."

"You owe her?" John B questioned.

"She saved my life back at the Coastal Venture. Now I need to save her's. That's just how it works," JJ told him.

John B stared at him for a few seconds before he let out a defeated groan, knowing he wouldn't be able to argue with that. "Fine. Whatever. Can you just calm down then? If we take a break, we can think of something that way."

JJ poked his tongue into the side of his cheek, "Fine. I'll calm down."

John B turned away so he could continue to look outside. Sarah looked at them all and said, "Sorry, guys. It's just his delusions." John B glowered at her and she held up her hands.

"The concocting strikes again," Pope deadpanned and John B's glare turned to him.

"Yeah," JJ forced a laugh, "He's concocting, all right."

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Cassie and Rafe hid underneath the green sheet on the truck once they noticed the truck coming up to some guards again. They had been too close together to the point where Cassie could practically feel Rafe's breathing on her face, but she tried to ignore it.

They felt the truck stop and Cassie's stomach dropped, praying that the guards wouldn't see them underneath the sheet. Once the truck started moving away, she released a breath of relief as Rafe started to smile at her.

They got out from underneath sheet once the truck had been moving for a few minutes "I told you we just had to work together," Rafe said to her as they leaned their backs against the part of the truck. Cassie didn't answer as he looked out the truck, panting. "All right, listen, I'm headed out to my boat, okay? I can give you a ride out, drop you wherever, somewhere safe. One thing though."

Rafe kept his eyes on her as she looked up at the sky, trying to calm her heavy breathing. "Look at me," he said and she slowly looked over at him, her brows pinched together. "I know your friends are on the island and my sister." She nodded. "I'm not helping them. All right? I can't trust them, okay? I'll give you a ride out, not them. Okay?"

Cassie's stomach twisted. She couldn't just leave her friends, but she had to get out of here somehow and Rafe was the only way. She would have to figure out what to do once they reached the boat. "I just want to get off the island," Cassie told him.

He looked at her, his lips twitching up to a smile for a second. "That's smart," he complimented. "You know, I never thought you'd be a Pogue, Cassie."

"What did you think I'd be?" Cassie inquired, not sure what twisted version Rafe had of her in his demented mind.

"I mean, I always liked you, Cassie," he began.

She furrowed her brows a bit. "If you always liked me, then why did you only show interest in me at the start of the summer when I always...flirted with you?"

It was true. She did flirt him for almost whole year to try to get back at Sarah and it was only until the start of the summer where he showed interest.

Rafe started to chuckle. "So that was you flirting with me?" He tilted his head and she nodded slowly. "To be honest, I always just viewed you as my little sister's friend who was off-limits. But then you stopped coming around the house and I guessed something happened between you two. And then when I saw you that one time at the store, you looked so...good," he admitted. She hummed, not knowing what to say to that. "But if you were flirting with me before I even flirted with you, why would you...reject me after we...?"

She tensed up, sucking in a breath. She couldn't tell him the reason, which was that she never even liked him in the first place and she only slept with him to get back at Sarah. It would probably cause him to go ballistic, and she really didn't need that now when he was helping her escape this island.

She had to put her acting skills to the test. Again.

"You want me to be honest?" She replied and Rafe nodded. "I was just...scared. That was the second time I ever did that with a guy and I wasn't sure how to react. So...I bolted." Rafe hummed. "But then you called me a slut and strangled me so I didn't really want anything to do with you after that."

Rafe ran his tongue along his top teeth. "I told you I was sorry for that, Cassie. And I am. I'm sorry," he apologized again and she nodded slowly. "But you have to admit, we do make a good team."

She forced a smile. "Yeah. Yeah, I can admit that."

Oh, vomit.

Rafe half-smiled. "See? I'm not so bad," he shook his head before he reached over and took Cassie's hand, making her tense a little. "Maybe we can...maybe we can start over wherever we end up."

Cassie blinked, but she didn't pull her hand away for fear of what he would do. "Start over?"

"Just me and you. You don't gotta worry about your friends. I can show you I'm trying to get better," he clarified, rubbing his thumb along her hand she wished she could pull away. Although she wasn't into this at all, she almost felt like she was betraying JJ in a way.

"Would you like that?" He asked after a second.

No.

"Yes." Rafe raised his brows at her answer since he honestly hadn't expected her to say that. "I'd like to see that."

Rafe started to laugh in disbelief, thankfully taking his hand away from her's. "I knew it. I knew you were different from the other Pogues. I mean, you were always half-Kook anyway."

Cassie forced a chuckle before she looked away from him, praying he couldn't see the discomfort after she basically just agreed to seeing him once they had found somewhere to lay low. Now she really needed to figure out a way to get back to her friends.

Once the truck pulled to a stop at a town, Cassie and Rafe hopped out before it could start moving again. "Come on, my boat's down here," Rafe said to her, leading her to where the large boat was docked at. "Make sure your shoes are off."

Cassie stayed on the dock as she watched Rafe, who began to untie the boat from the dock. "Okay, listen, we should have enough juice to get us to Saint Lucia, no problem," he told her before he noticed she wasn't on the boat yet. "Hey, get in the boat." Cassie didn't listen as she stood on the dock, not sure if what he was saying before was also a manipulation tactic to lure her on this boat and do something bad. "Cassie!"

"I can trust you...right?" Cassie questioned.

He looked up, sighing. "Yes, Cassie, you can trust me. Didn't I just say I can show I'm getting better?" Rafe pointed out and she pursed her lips. "Was that whole thing back there just to make me bring you on this boat?"

"No, no, it's just...It's still early, you know," she shrugged, hoping he bought it.

Rafe sighed again. "You really wanna be back there with Singh right now, or do you wanna be somewhere safe?" He said and she swallowed thickly. "So can you please help me with the bowline?"

"Okay, yeah," she nodded, taking her sneakers off and getting on the boat.

"Thank you."

She made her way over to the bowline, looking over at Rafe from over her shoulder. Now that he had questioned her acting before, she wasn't sure if he would start to pull anything now. She had to think fast.

She bent down toward the bowline before she thought of an idea. "Hey, uh, I-I can't get it!" She called out.

"What?" Rafe said.

"I need some help!"

Rafe came over to her and she got up from her crouch. "Move," he said as he walked past her, stepping his leg over the railing to reach the bowline. As soon as he untied the rope, Cassie went over and shoved him overboard.

Now that was payback.

He fell in the water with a splash and Cassie sprinted to the wheel. "Cassie! Hey!" Rafe screamed once his head poked out of the water. Cassie ignored him as she started the engine. "Cass, Cass, where you going?!"

"First of all, don't call me that! And second of all, I've gotta help my friends!" Cassie yelled at him as she started to steer the boat away so Rafe wouldn't be able to swim back to it.

"You don't know what you're doing! Hey! Shit! I'll find you! I'll find you, Cassie! I'll find you! Cassie, you're gonna regret this, shit! Cassandra! You're done!"

As Cassie drove the boat away, she pulled out her phone to text Portis's number since she knew the Pogues had his phone before. She found a place on Google Maps where she would be able to dock the boat before she sent the message.

Meet @ pin 6:15 P4L

Now she just had to get there.

authors note!
the pogues r so oblivious istg like
even in the show when jj was freaking
out about kiara they didn't even question
if it had to do more than just being bffs
like dumbiesss anyway cassie and jj reunion
next chapter!!!!