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When Rafe opened the door several moments later, he stared at me in stunned silence. My hand still lightly trembling, I held up the pool noodle.

“I got it,” I croaked.

“Got what?” he asked in alarm. “Why are you covered in paint?”

“The paintnuts.” I shuddered. “So many paintnuts.”

Rafe looked utterly confused. He reached for me but hesitated, trying to find a clean spot on me to grab so he could tug me into the house, because I was too exhausted to move. Eventually he settled on my wrist, eyeing the pool noodle oddly as he stepped back and gently pulled me inside.

I stumbled, and he made a sound of alarm and hurriedly wrapped his arm around my back to support me. Once more, I held up the pool noodle and breathed, “I got it.”

“Uh…” Rafe slowly took it from me, trying to keep his voice gentle as he asked, “What is it, Dan?”

“Your apology.” I smiled, somewhat deliriously. “From Frank and Beans.”

“What?” His brow creased. “You saw Frank and Beans?” Then his eyes tracked down my frame and hardened. “And I’m guessing they did this?”

“At least I still have my pants,” I said solemnly. Rafe stared at me in silence for a moment, then slowly looked down at the pool noodle.

“Why did they give me a pool noodle as an apology?” he asked, still sounding perplexed.

“No, the apology is on the pool noodle.” I reached over and turned it. “There, see? In lipstick. They wrote you an apology in lipstick on a pool noodle.”

He peered at it. “Um… right. That… makes sense. Okay.”

“What did they put?” I asked tiredly. “I didn’t get a chance to read it.”

“Um, it’s… a little smudged.” Wincing, Rafe looked up at me apologetically. “I can’t really, uh, read it.”

I stared back at him, devastation making my shoulders sag. Eventually I nodded, and I could feel my chin wobbling as my vision abruptly grew blurry. “Oh. Well. Th-that’s okay.”

“Shit. Dan.” He hurriedly propped the noodle up against the door and wrapped his arms around my neck. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry. I… uh, I could read some of it. I’m pretty sure I saw, um, the word ‘butt’ in there…”

“Doesn’t matter.” I sniffled, burying my face in his neck. He cupped the back of my head, stroking my hair soothingly. “Sorry I’m getting paint on you,” I mumbled.

“I don’t care,” he said instantly, sounding a little hoarse. “Don’t be upset.”

“I’m fine,” I croaked, wrapping my arms around him tighter. “It’s just… been a long night.”

Rafe pulled back and cupped my face as he looked up at me, a hint of fear in his eyes. “What did they do to you, Dan?”

My eyes drifted away to stare into the middle distance. “Lots.”

“Where did you see them?” he asked hesitantly.

“At their house. We went to their house.”

“We?”

“Me and Vince.” I shivered. “They lassoed Vince. And took his pants.”

Rafe was staring at me, looking completely unsure how to respond to that. After a while, he slowly said, “Right. Okay. Uh… let’s get you in the shower, huh?”

“There was a sand pit,” I told him vacantly as he led me up the stairs. “And motel art. So much motel art.”

“Uh-huh,” he said patiently, taking me into the bathroom and turning on the shower.

“Vince has a bruised testicle.”