BREAKING | rafe cameron

THIRTEEN

"I can't believe I've been at Topper's for a month already." Rafe sighed, his hand on my thigh as he drove, "I know, it's insane." I replied, staring out the window as we just barely crossed over into figure eight territory, I didn't know where we were going, it was a surprise. "Close your eyes." He demanded, I gave him a nasty look. "You could say it nicer." I mumbled but nonetheless covered my eyes with my hands. "Sorry, I'm just excited." I could feel his hand disappear as he parked the truck, climbing out, he came around and opened my door. "M'lady." He joked, just like our first date, he grabbed my hands making sure my eyes were shut, before pulling me down and out of the truck. I landed with a stumble, "I'm scared." I told him, gripping onto his arm so I don't fall. "Don't be, you'll be excited, I hope." He laughed, leading me down a gravel pathway, the sound of it crunching beneath us sounding worse since I couldn't see it. "Open."

I looked up at the small, but nice home. I furrowed my eyebrows looking between it and Rafe, "I'm confused." I spoke as he reached into his pocket, he pulled out a set of keys dangling them from his finger. "The owner is giving me a good deal on rent if I maintain the landscaping while I live here. It's great, I'll be able to start building my business, whatcha think?" He explained, looking at me eagerly. "Oh my god, Rafe that's amazing!" I grinned, hugging him. "Do you want to see the inside?" He couldn't help but laugh as I squeezed the life out of him, I'm just so proud. "Obviously!" I said in a duh tone, he dragged me up to the door, sticking the key in and turning it, the suspense was killing me. "Oh, wow." I gasped, walking into the furnished home, "it's got two bedrooms, and two bathrooms." Rafe added from behind me. It's not fancy, per say, but it's nice, wood floors, light grey walls, it's a lot more than I'm used to that's for sure.

"It's so pretty." I turned to face him, he was watching me with a giant smile, "I'm glad you like it." He walked up to me, cupping my face in his hands. I began to panic, he started to sound like he was going to say something crazy like, "Move in with me?" He asked, I took a sharp breath in and started choking on it. His eyes went wide, he does have a tendency to rush into things, I contribute that to how he was raised, nothing ever went wrong in his world. "What?" My voice came out all high pitched and cracking, "Rafe we haven't even been together a  year!" I defended my reaction, 6 months is no where near a year. "I know, but I mean come on, you live in that run down old shack basically! You never even know if the water will work for the day!" He threw his hands up in the air in exaggeration, am I actually considering this. "It would be cheaper, for both of us, we could split everything, you'd be paying less to stay here than you are to stay where you are now." He reasoned with me, I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth, chewing on it nervously.

"I've got to think about it." I answered him truthfully, he didn't seem upset, he just nodded with a small smile, "that's better than the no I was expecting." He grabbed my hand, pulling me around to show off the rest of his-possibly our-new place. "It's really nice, babe." I smiled, laying down on the bed, "oh my god." I let out a small moan, "this bed feels amazing." Rafe jumped up on there with me, "you're right." He couldn't help but agree, he's been spending more than a few nights at my place with me, considering we couldn't be alone when we were at Toppers. I sat up, swinging my leg over Rafe's body, straddling his hips, he looked at me with a raised brow, the corner of his lip in his mouth. "I could get used to this." He mumbled gripping my thighs, "so could I." I responded, leaning down to kiss him.

***

"You're doing what?!" Kie shouted, everyone looking at me like I was crazy, John B and Sarah kind of saw it coming, they here from both sides so, Rafe definitely mentioned it to Sarah. JJ looked at me shocked, "well I know damn well he's not moving to the cut, so you're going to figure eight?" He questioned, narrowing his eyes at me. "Yes, but-" "no buts, you're turning into a kook." He cut me off, storming out of the room. Well, that hurt. "Let me." I mumbled before Kie could walk out after him, she nodded, Pope shrugged, whispering something about he saw it coming. "JJ." I spoke softly as I approached him by the hammock. "I don't want to talk to you right now." He snapped. "I know, but this doesn't change who I am, I'm always going to be a pogue, you know this." I assured him, taking a seat next to him. He didn't budge, just kept staring at anything that wasn't me, "do you really love him?" JJ asked after a brief silence. "Of course I do, I wouldn't move if I didn't." I told him, finally getting him to look at me. "I feel like you're going to forget about us, you've been my best friend for years, you're the first person that knew about my dad." His eyes turned glossy, breaking my heart. I wrapped my arms around him, "oh, JJ, I could never forget you, you're my best friend. You can come visit anytime you want, and I'll come visit all the time. I promise." I held my pinky out, just like we were little kids again. "Okay." He wrapped his pinky around mine, I hope this is the right decision.

It had been a couple of weeks since I moved in with Rafe, things were going great. We seemed to have argued less since we moved, which is nice, but I've been extremely stressed out with trying to get rid of that piece of crap shack I lived in. I tried contacting my mom for days on end, she never answered, she'd sent me to voicemail a few times, then it hit me that it's been months since I've even seen her. Part of me wondered, morbidly, if she was still alive. I got chills just at the thought. "You okay?" Rafe whispered as I laid in bed staring at the ceiling, it was late, too late for me to be up, and definitely too late for Rafe to be up, he's got his first real job tomorrow. We discussed it and he's hired JJ and John B as his help for now, eventually it will be more people but this is all he can swing for now.

"Yeah, just thinking about my mom." I responded, letting my head fall to the side to meet his eyes, "go to sleep babe." I kissed him before he rolled over, listening to my orders almost instantly. His soft snores were all I heard as continued to stare at the ceiling, a million and one thoughts going through my head.

My eyes snapped open, my phone ringing loudly on the nightstand, I groaned, it figures I started to fall asleep and then my phone went off. I sloppily reached for it, squinting at the brightness of the screen, it was a local number, I hesitated before answering it. "Hello?" I slipped out of the bed, not wanting to wake Rafe up again. "Is this Charlotte Landry?" A lady spoke, I pinched the bridge of my nose, assuming she's calling about my mom getting into trouble. "Yes it is." I answered, putting on my awake and mature voice, "My name is, Jessica. I'm calling from Outer Banks General Hospital."