When He Leaves - R. Cameron

1 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒

𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡
𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒

spring of '19

Aurora could not remember how she got to a Kook party, or how she managed to get so drunk. There was an empty red solo cup in her hand, and she was balancing herself up against a wall. Who's house was she even at? She could remember what happened before this, too clearly— her dad holding her against the wall, screaming at her.

All because all the beer in the fridge that was supposedly there was gone, two months ago when he disappeared. She felt sick from the memory playing on repeat— spit on her face, the smell of alcohol on his breath, and his fingernails digging into her shoulders. Her eyes snapped shut when she felt the nauseating rush in her stomach.

Everything was too loud, too crowded. She could feel the deafening music thrumming in her pulsing ears. She dropped her cup and walked forward on unsteady feet, immediately catching herself on the wall again. She felt so ridiculous. She had never drank before until today. "Watch out!" A body was coming towards her when she looked up.

She yelped when hands slammed against the top of her head to keep from crushing her. Gone was her overthinking, now she was looking up at Rafe Cameron. She knew who he was, he was senior while she was a junior. And she knew his sister by association.

He was breathing heavily over her, and she tried to swallow down the nausea. His eyes were flicking between her own, and over the droplet of sweat rolling down her temple. "Sorry." He murmured and tilted his head to the side. "You don't look so hot."

She could not help but frown. But what did she expect from him? Instead of saying anything, she looked down to focus on her unmoving feet. Everything that was moving made it worse. "Rafe! Come on!" Someone hollered from across the room, but he still did not move.  The body heat he was letting off was making her sweat, and she yearned for him to just leave.

"Hey." Rafe said and leaned down to be eye level with her. He lightly grabbed her chin and tilted her head up to make eye contact with him.  "Do you feel like you're going to throw up? Did someone put something in your drink?" When he asked the last question, he glanced behind him with a tight jaw.

"I just feel sick." She forced out. His hands dropped from above her and he nodded. "Let me go get you some water. Don't move." He went down a hallway, and she wanted to roll her eyes. She would have moved a long time ago if she could.

Her eyes were back on her feet now, her dark hair making a curtain around her face. It was blocking out the light, and she really wished there were no lights at all. She had heard about hangovers— were they worse than this? "Here." She jumped at Rafe's voice, looking up far too quickly. He was holding a bottle of water out toward her and had already twisted the lid off so she could take a drink.

Aurora eyed it for a moment and grabbed it, taking a sip. She went to hand it back but he shook his head. "I don't want to throw up." She muttered and blinked slowly.

"You're going to anyways. This is just to get you sober." He nodded his head at the water and motioned down the hall. "There's a bathroom down that way. We should probably get you there before you do."

She frowned at him again, and one side of lips twitched. That was the closest to a smile she had ever seen on him. Unless he was with Kelce or Topper. "I don't need your help. I promise." She finally said while he stared at her, some of his dirty blonde strands hanging over his forehead and eyes.

Rafe reached up with his free hand and slicked it back at the same moment. "I think you do, actually." He leaned forward and placed a hand beside her head, thrumming his fingers against it. "You can't even stand without this wall."