Until It Doesn't Hurt | Rafe Cameron

Prologue

The first time Eleanor Westbrook met Rafe Cameron, she had no idea what would follow. She had no idea he would come close to completely ruining her life.

She had been invited to the Cameron's house by Sarah Cameron, along with the rest of the junior varsity cheer team for cheer bonding night. It wasn't very common for cheer bonding to be held at one of the incoming freshman's houses, but once some of the older girls realized who Sarah was, they insisted on having the sleepover at the Cameron's Estate. Some of the girls just wanted to spend the night in one of the wealthiest families in the Outer Banks' home, while others hoped they would run into Sarah's older brother.

Early on in the evening, Rafe waltzed into the kitchen, followed by one of his friends, and tried to jump into their conversation simply to annoy his younger sister out of spite. All the girls on the team seemed to fawn over him. Eleanor understood why, she wasn't blind to his appealing appearance. Sarah insisted that he leave, and eventually he did. But not before Eleanor caught his gaze and he tossed a small smile to her.

They spoke for the first time that night, too. Everyone had gone to sleep, spread across the giant living room, but Eleanor lay awake. She eventually found herself back in the kitchen. She sat at the island and scrolled through her phone. The faint sound of 80s rock music playing was coming from upstairs. It grew louder for a moment and was followed by the sound of a door closing. Footsteps caused the ceiling above her to creak, getting louder as they grew closer towards the staircase. Loud thumps thundered down the stairs. Eleanor's heartbeat was pounding in sync with the noise before it stopped. Only the faintest sound of someone now trying to tiptoe across the floor remained, steady in the direction of the kitchen.

Rafe's large figure appeared in the doorway, almost startling Eleanor. He stood there for a moment, having not expected to see someone in his kitchen at such a late hour in the night.

"Did the music wake you up?" He asked Eleanor. With his back turned to her, he opened a cupboard and reached up to grab a glass. His broad shoulders pulled his t-shirt close to his body, exposing his toned back to the girl.

That was the first time Eleanor had ever really looked at him. Sure she had seen him before, their parents were close friends, but she had never really noticed him before. His hair was darker than Sarah's but lighter than his youngest sister's. On his left index finger was a round gold ring that Eleanor assumed to be a family heirloom since it was the only one he wore. He was only a year above her in school-Eleanor knew that much without ever even speaking to him.

In hindsight, she should have forced herself to stay wrapped up in a blanket on the living room floor.

"No," She answered him, watching as he turned on the water faucet and filled his glass.

He didn't respond straight away. He turned so he was now facing her and leaned back against the opposite counter. Slowly, he took sips of his water, his gaze set on Eleanor. Neither of them said a word, they merely sat in the silence watching each other. It was probably for the best though, seeing how awkward it is talking to someone you barely know. Especially when that person is your friend's sibling or vice versa.

"You should go to sleep." Rafe tried to tell her after a long period of silence and staring. "It's late."

"So should you. It's late." Eleanor immediately fired back. Rafe wasn't expecting her to throw his words back at him.

Suppressing a chuckle, he slowly nodded before setting his empty glass in the sink. He slowly turned to walk away but stopped himself. Spinning on his heel, he turned back to Eleanor. "I'm Rafe." He told her as if she already didn't know. The faintest smile was spread across his lips.

Eleanor debated even responding, but even back then his smile was enough to convince her to do pretty much anything. "Eleanor." She eventually spoke, not being able to help the small polite smile on her cheeks.

He didn't say anything back, he just turned away and walked back upstairs.

She was fifteen then.

Shortly after that night, they had made plans to hang out. They specifically told everyone that it wasn't a date. Regardless of what it was or wasn't, Eleanor was looking forward to it. That entire day, she just wanted to get home so she could get ready. But everything came crashing down the second she got home.

That was the day her older sister died.

Needless to say, Eleanor and Rafe didn't hang out that day as they had planned.

The first time they hooked up, Eleanor was sixteen. It was quite a random situation, neither of them had planned on it happening. They ran into each other at some party Eleanor's friends had dragged her to. Eleanor hadn't been drinking that night because she had cheer practice early the next morning and couldn't afford to have been hungover. Rafe hadn't been drinking either but never said why not. And even if he had said, it probably would have been a lie.

Eventually, one thing led to another and they were in an empty room upstairs, both of their clothes were being ripped off and strewn about the room.

Eleanor lost her virginity to him that night.

After that night, they started to spend more time together. Their friendship slowly grew to be more than just friends, despite them denying anything and everything to those who asked.

They officially started dating when Eleanor was seventeen, shortly after her birthday to be exact. But if you were to ask one of their friends they would say they started dating a long time before that. Everyone always said that Rafe and Eleanor were together even before they officially were. It was common knowledge between everyone in their social circle that Rafe was Eleanor's and Eleanor was Rafe's.

Eleanor knew what she was getting into by being in a relationship with Rafe; his tough exterior, erratic behavior, and overall grumpiness. But she never imagined things would turn out the way they did. She knew he had a drug problem, and he knew she didn't approve. Rafe told her that he was trying to stay clean, but his actions never matched his words. He just became better at hiding it from her.

In the midst of her oblivion, Eleanor thought she was dating the man of her dreams.

But even the sweetest of dreams can turn into a nightmare in the blink of an eye.