Rafe Cameron Blurbs

51

"hello?" you heard his groggy voice on the other end of your phone and realized you had probably woken him up due to that timezone difference and bothered him which was the last of your intentions. maybe this was a bad idea.

"i'm sorry," you muttered before going to end the call.

"wait! who is this? your voice sounds familiar," rafe spoke and you decided to keep talking to him.

"it's y/n, from middle school. you remember me?" you inquired, preparing to fake that you wouldn't be hurt if he said no.

"yeah, y/n y/l/n. how could i forget?" he chuckled. "we were best friends. how've you been?"

"i'm good. the west coast isn't nearly as fun as the east and the atlantic ocean is far more beautiful than the pacific. but i moved out of my parent's house and was going through some old stuff and found some pictures of us. you've been on my mind ever since and i wanted to see what you were up to, but if you were sleeping, i can call you another time or-"

"no, y/n. this is fine, perfect even. it's nice to hear from you," he breathed out, a smile on his face upon hearing your voice. "i haven't been doing much honestly. just trying to make my dad happy, but you remember how hard that can be."

you and rafe became friends at the beginning of middle school when a teacher placed you two next to each other. one presentation you had to do together grew into a great friendship. you both opened up about random things to one another and felt safe in each other's presence. he told you how he felt like he was in last place in his father's eyes. ward had always been all about sarah and wheezie was a little kid who needed most of his attention. rafe never felt enough unless he was with you. over the three years of middle school and your friendship, you'd been there for every up and also every down.

in seventh grade, ward tried to include rafe in more business things and he fully expected rafe to disregard anything else in his life that got in the way of work. so if rafe had a school assignment or had plans with you that hindered him from doing the tasks assigned to him by his father right that second, ward got angry and told him that he'd end up a pogue if he didn't put the work in. rafe was still a kid. he was thirteen. he was going through a lot and he wanted to succeed for his father. when sarah did good in school, she got attention and recognition, so why did rafe get blasted about becoming a pogue when he tried to focus on school instead of a business that he wasn't really going to get into for a few more years? he wanted to have fun and hang out with you. however, his dad's approval started to mean something more to him and you encouraged him to please his father if it made him happy so he did. he only regretted putting his father's wishes first when you told him of your family's plans to move the summer after your eighth-grade year. he tried to spend more time with you, but as his father noticed rafe pulling away, he practically tripled his son's workload. on your last full day in the obx, rafe spent the whole day with you, completely ditching ward and any work, and he didn't dare tell you how hard his father was on him because of it afterward.

slowly, you guys fell out of touch after you moved, only really speaking to wish each other a happy birthday or something like that. that even stopped when you got a new phone with a new number because you weren't entirely sure you knew his number as well as you thought until you put the digits in and tried just now.

"how are things with him?" you warily inquired and rafe let out a sigh on the other end.

"he varies from day to day, but i'm learning that he's always going to see me as a disappointment. i can only live my life by what makes me happy, you know?"

"rafe, you are not a disappointment. you have never disappointed me. i hope you know how proud of you i am and i hope you're happier today because i love you, rafe, and i hope that you're okay."