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I let out a sigh as I pull into my driveway, feeling relief wash over me that I'm home. I grab my bag from the passenger seat before hopping out of the car.
Within seconds my sense of relief is replaced with a feeling of dread when I see jjs bike parked up outside, completely forgetting he'd be working around the house today.
"Fuck" I curse under my breath before heading into the lions den.
I grip the handle of my bag nervously as I enter through the front door, Rafes words from last night burn through my body like venom.
I keep repeating the words over and over in my head "If I see him talking to you again, I won't hesitate to kill him".
I'm pulled from these thoughts momentarily when I see jj out in the backyard, mowing the lawn.
In normal circumstances I would probably tease him for this, or even ask if he needed some help, but that doesn't seem so appropriate right now.
I notice he's wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses over his face. While normally I wouldn't have a second thought about this, I just know deep down he's only wearing them to hide his bruised face.
The bruised face caused by my boyfriend.
I feel the same guilty feeling run through me, eating me alive, my stomach turning nauseatingly just at the reminder of everything.
I swallow down hard, trying to ignore what feels to be a lump growing in my throat as I hesitantly walk towards the patio doors that leads outside into my backyard.
When I open the door, his head snaps up to look at me, his eyes widening in surprise. He quickly switches off the lawnmower and continues looking at me.
"Hey" I mutter nervously, fiddling around with a ring on my finger awkwardly.
"Hi" he replies as he walks over to me, running his hand through his blonde hair.
"I'm so sorry about last night, I didn't know rafe was going to-" I begin, but jj stops me.
"You don't have to apologise Annie, if anything I should be the one saying sorry" he interjects, a small smile of reassurance on his face.
I shake my head in protest, "no, it was my fault, if I had just stayed in and-" I stammer out nervously, he stops me by putting his hand on my shoulder.
"Stop it, it wasn't your fault" he says softly, making the intense regret I feel fade away moderately.
"anyways...I should really be thanking you" he adds with a much lighter tone, making me furrow my brows in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" I ask him, making him grin. "I finally got to punch that asshole, you don't know how good that felt" he exclaims playfully.
I let out a small sigh and chuckle, rolling my eyes at him. "You're an idiot" I laugh softly, making him grin wider.
I reach my hand out, pulling the sunglasses on his face down, examining the mess rafe left.
He's got a dark purple bruise around his eye, making me wince just at the sight.
"Jesus jj, your eye" I say, holding his sunglasses in my hand.
He just shrugs, still with that goofy grin on his lips, "kinda had that one coming" he says, playfulness lacing his words.
"Yeah, you did... I thought he was gonna kill you" I say, my tone a lot more serious than his.
He just laughs and takes the sunglasses from my hand and places them back on his face.
"Don't think he's got it in him princess" he replies, making my blood run cold at jjs complete obliviousness to what rafe is capable of.
I force a small laugh and nod along, trying to push rafes words out of my head as best as I can.
I let jj get back to his work and I walk up to my bedroom, finally having time for myself in what felt like a lifetime.
The only downside of this is now I'm left alone with my own thoughts, the same ones eating me up inside.
I slump down onto my bed then switch my tv on, purposely turning the volume up loud enough that maybe it could drown out the feelings I'm having.
But to no avail, this doesn't work, and I'm trapped in my own head, replaying the events of the last 24 hours over and over again.
__________________
The afternoon progresses on painfully slow, which is probably my fault for laying in bed feeling sorry for myself for hours.
I roll over in my bed restlessly, groaning at the stabbing hunger pains shooting through my stomach, my body urging me to eat something.
I eventually declare defeat to my body and get out of bed, slugging myself down the stairs to the kitchen. I see no sign of jj around so I just assume he's went back home or to the chateau.
I'm greeted by my dad who's sitting at the counter, typing away on his laptop. "Hey sweetheart" he mumbles, his eyes not shifting from the screen.
"Hey" I reply, walking over to the fridge, pulling out some things to make a sandwich.
"How was last night? Did you have fun?" He asks me casually, my body immediately tensing up just at the mention of it, my hand gripping the refrigerator door anxiously.
"Uh yeah.. it was good" I say, keeping my voice as nonchalant as I can, remaining focus on picking food out of the fridge.
"I suppose you'll be glad that you're seeing rafe two days in a row" he mumbles, his attention on whatever he's doing on his laptop a lot more than this conversation.
"What?" I ask him, turning around to look at him, almost dropping the jar of pickles from my hand in surprise.
"We're meeting the Cameron's at the country club later this evening. I thought Rafe or Sarah would've told you" he replies, making me frown.
This is what I get for going MIA on my phone all day.
"Dad I'm really not feeling up to it, i-" I sputter out an excuse before he cuts me off.
He lets out an exasperated sigh and looks up at me, interrupting my pleads, "Annie I don't have time for your whining, just be ready for 6pm, okay?" He argues in an authoritative voice.
I groan like a child being told it's their bedtime and walk over to the counter to continue making my sandwich.
"No point in acting like a child, you're going" he adds curtly, making me purse my lips from talking back to him.
"Mhm" i hum flippantly in agreement, taking my food through to the living room.
"I expect you to be down stairs and ready to leave by six young lady" he shouts through to me, making me roll my eyes and grumble under my breath.
