LITTLE SECRET | RAFE CAMERON

79: 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴

Alice felt nothing, too consumed by a drunken haze of her emotions.

It was as if everything had gone numb. As if the body she inhabited wasn't hers.

Her very own skin, now a foreign thing. Her thoughts, even more unrecognizable.

Alone, she stumbled down the empty streets of the neighbourhood, its only light coming from the cold glow of the streetlamps around her.

There were no other lights.

No signs of life. No people. No sounds.

Only her, lost in the silence and swallowed whole by the darkness of the night.

Her steps grew heavier as she continued to walk away from...everything. Each of her breaths were haunted by a shaky sob she couldn't hold back as the tears she couldn't stop streamed down her face.

The cold night air bit at her burning skin, but it couldn't numb the pain twisting in her heart.

Rafe's face flashed in her mind. His deep eyes, once so full of warmth, now distant, like they had never belonged to her. The memory of his voice, the way it had broken, echoed in her mind, slicing deeper than any drunken blur could cover.

At some point, Alice had believed that their love was different. She had hoped it was.

But now, walking these empty streets, she slowly felt the truth sinking in.

It was over. Their love, their little secret.

But somehow she wasn't ready for it yet. She wasn't ready to be erased from his heart, to be nothing but a mere memory for him, but she knew her own stubbornness was the reason for it. 

Alice stumbled over her own feet, her knees nearly giving way beneath her. The tears fell faster now, leaving trails of salt as she wiped her face in frustration. She wasn't sure if she was crying for Rafe, or for the shattered version of herself that was left behind.

The part of her that had been so alive and now felt like it had been gutted, emptied out completely.

Rafe Cameron. She had loved him more than she ever thought she could love someone. And now she couldn't even remember how they had gotten here, how they'd ended up broken.

The pieces of their love scattered too far apart for either of them to pick up.

Alice didn't even know why she had left the party alone.

Maybe to escape the noise, the chaos that only reminded her of the mess inside her. Or maybe, deep down, she had known it was the last place she belonged.

And the fucking street seemed to stretch on forever.

She didn't know how much longer she could walk, or if it even mattered anymore. Each step felt like it was pulling her deeper into an endless void.

Her breath hitched with every sob, her throat raw, the air so cold it almost felt like it was suffocating her.

But she didn't care.

Only when another sob wracked her body, did she stop walking for a moment, clutching her arms tightly around herself as if she could hold her shattered heart together.

But it wasn't working. Nothing could hold it together anymore.

Her mind raced, jumping from one memory to the next.

She remembered the way Rafe had looked at her the first time they allowed their feelings to bloom. His eyes full of something...real. She had trusted him with all of her broken parts, all the pieces of herself she didn't know how to fix after what she went through with JJ.