'Safe with Rafe' Y/N x Rafe Cameron

Chapter XXVIII

The street lights strobe through the car windows as Rafe drives down a quiet, shifty road towards Barry's. The radio quietly plays Thom Yorkes Hearing Damage on the late night radio station that nobody ever really listens to unless you were somebodies grandma.
Your hand, still underneath Rafes as he continues to shift gears. Worry clouds your thoughts as you silently brain storm reasons as to why you shouldn't feel as comfortable as you do in this moment with Rafe. Anything. Your relationship with Sarah should be enough, with Jj, with the others. Only to come to one conclusion,
you're so selfish.

As Rafes gaze stays on the road before him, you slip your hand out from underneath his, running it through your own hair and reaching between the seat, pulling the lever to fold out the seat completely to a straight before laying down and using his fleece jacket as a blanket.
"Tired?" He asks quietly.

You wish that were that case, but the truth is, you only wanted to lay down to avoid any further intimacy with Rafe. As bad as you wanted to feel his warmth against you, to bask in his affection, to see yourself in his adoring eyes, you couldn't bare it.
It could never come to be.

"Yeah, guess you could say that." You finally reply.

As the road begins to become rockier and more rigid, you sit up in your seat, seeing nothing but trees and a small caravan amongst it all. A few fold out chairs and a table out the front, messy but sort of homely.

"Hello sleeping beauty." Rafe turns to you as you scope out the area from your window, "we're here."
"It's kind of scary out here." You say, eyes adjusting to the only ray of light being the moon and the yellowish shade of light emitting from the trailers window.
"You can stay here if you want?" Rafe offers as he pulls in, parking his truck on the gravel.

Barry hears the gravel shift under a heavy pair of tires from inside his trailer, walking out in a white singlet and a pair of denim jeans, his hair tied back tightly in a low bun.
Both you and Rafe jump out cautiously to meet with Barry at the hood of Rafes truck.

"Country club!" Barry greets with his arms to the sky, "and Mrs. Country club!"
"What's going's on Barry?" You smile as you give him a small, shy, side hug.
"Yeah, what is going on Barry?" Rafe adds impatiently.
Barry slaps a large stack of cash on the hood of Rafes truck with a sly, mischievous smile, his silver tooth glistens under the moon light.
"What's this supposed to be?" Rafe asks unimpressed.
"Your bounty." He says with a devilish chuckle.
"What do you mean?" You speak up, Both you and Rafe sharing the same confused stare with Barry.
"One of your boys came to me this morning. Offered cash in exchange I beat your ass. Something about embarrassing him at his own crib." Barry explains,
"Your name came up a few times too, princess."

Your heart drops as Barry makes direct eye contact with you at the unexpected mention of your involvement.
"What? I haven't even done anything?" You say.
"Who." Rafe demands an answer from his silver toothed friend, desperate for a name.
Barry pulls out his phone, showing you and Rafe a photo he had slickly taken as the boy in question had left this morning after their exchange. A photo of a number plate mostly but Rafes concern increased as he noticed the car. A black SUV, identical to the one that almost hit the two of you on his motorcycle.
"Kelce, I believe it was." Barry adds.

Rafes arms push him up from his hood, no longer leaning towards Barry's phone and instead turning away from the two of you as you continue to inspect the SUV.
"Fuck!!" He yells from behind you, slamming the open door of his truck.
"Rafe, that's the one from earlier, isn't it?" You ask.
"So he tried to take matters into his own hands already, huh?" Barry pipes up.
Rafe huffs as he makes his way back to your side.
"Sooo, you gonna beat the shit out of me or what?" Rafe asks fiercely.
"Relax country club. You're my best customer. We can pretend I did so I can keep the money and you get to keep your life?" Barry jokes, earning a small smile from you. Rafes features still unimpressed.

Rafes chest begins to rise and fall deeply as he steps back from the hood of his car once again. His movements clearly jittery with anxiety, unsure of what to do with his hands, he rests them on his head.
You hesitate to comfort him for a moment before finally placing your hands on his arms, pulling them down so that he would focus his attention back to you.
"We'll pretend we don't know, okay? Barry said so as well, just go along with it. We'll be okay, I promise."
Rafe sighs bitterly at your statement, focusing his gaze towards the sky again before shrugging your hands off of his body.
"I don't think you're understanding the severity of the situation, Y/N. He wants to kill me, which I can deal with honestly but he put you at risk too." He says furiously but subtly softening as he meets your eyes.

In a way, you know Rafe was right. Giving you all the more reason to distance yourself from him. For your own sake sure, but looking and witnessing the effect that your endangerment had on Rafe, himself, was worrying.
He doesn't deserve this.
This whole shit show is because of you.
Look at what you've done.

"You're right. Sorry." You finally say as Rafe stares into your eyes desperately, his hands cupped around both of your shoulders.
"No, please don't be sorry. You have no part in this, I'm sorry I lumped you in with my shit." Rafe says gently before pulling you in for an embrace,
"So, pretend it happened and that's it? Did he say anything else?" Rafe questions Barry as he presses you into his chest, rubbing circles on your back for comfort.
"That's pretty much it."
"Thank you Barry." You say, pulling away from Rafe before embracing Barry too.
"Barely did it for you, princess." He says jokingly as he waves the stack of cash in his hand, "I sort of miss seeing you on sundays though." He says playfully as he slowly unwraps his arms from your torso.
"I don't." You say jokingly with a smile.

"Hey, Y/N, can you go wait in the car please." Rafe asks softly as he pulls your hand towards him gently.
"Uh, sure."
As you make your way to the passengers seat, Barry gives you a small wave goodbye. You return the wave and shut the door swiftly, the two boys resume their conversation outside in the cold as the thick metal of the truck muffles their words, leaving you in the dark.

"Is there nothing we can do about him?" Rafe asks quietly, sure that you don't over hear.
"As in murder him?" Barry giggles.
"Well, no. Not necessarily but-"
"No, I'm not doing your dirty work for you Country club. You rich people gotta start getting your own hands dirty." Barry says as he lights a cigarette.
"Look, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to kill the guy. But I can't risk being put away...." Rafe says as he looks towards you longingly as you sit in his truck.
"Cause you're in love; is that it?" Barry chuckles again.
Rafe tilts his head, confused as to what it is exactly that he felt. But the only thing he knew is that he doesn't want to be away from you, not for a moment and certainly not behind bars for a lifetime.
"I got a lot to lose, and so do you, clearly. So nothing huge can go down, alright?" Barry says as Rafe stares at nothing in deep thought, "you hearing me country club?"
"Yeah." He says, finally averting his eyes towards Barry's.
"I'll think about a scare tactic. Only because Y/N and I go way back. Alright?" Barry says.
"Alright."