'Safe with Rafe' Y/N x Rafe Cameron

Chapter XXXII

"Y/N dear!" You hear your mother call from across the yard. You look up to see her standing in the front door way, waving her arms up in the air to get your attention, "if you're going out can you please get some helium tanks for tomorrow! Your father forgot to pick some up last night!"
"Yes ma!"
"Thank you!" Your mother says before closing the door again.
"Where the hell do you get a helium tank?" You ask Rafe with a confused expression on your face, earning a laugh from him.
"Probably some party shop, right? Who knows," he chuckles, "but I'm in no rush to find out. Gives us an adventure."
You smile up at him as you tug at his shirt, gesturing for him to get going at last.
"Where'd you park anyways? I didn't even hear you get here." You ask.
"I saw you sitting on the grass in your own little world so I parked just on the curb, thought I'd see how close I could get before you even noticed. Didn't I tell you you that you gotta be more aware of your surroundings?" He pokes fun at your cluelessness.
"God, Rafe," you laugh, "it's my property."
"Still." He shrugs.

Rafe pulls his steering wheel to the left as he turns into a square lot of stores, his muscles become increasingly more visible under his skin as his arms heave the heft of the truck.
"This place has party equipment, they're bound to have helium tanks." He says, knocking you out of your dream like state.
"Oh, uh, possibly." You respond as you unbuckle your seat belt and he does the same on cue.
Rafe places a hand on your back as you approach the shops doors, gathering the attention of a girl inside.

"Rafe?" An unfamiliar females voice is heard.
Both you and Rafe whip your head towards the girl as she stands over the register. Average looking, medium dark hair and wearing a shop keepers uniform paired with a skimpy pair of fish nets.
"Oh..." Rafe says. He pauses as he waits for a name to come to mind.
"Heather." She finishes, "from the boneyard party....2 years ago?"

Rafe wasn't one to have flings with girls, especially not so average ones. He only had one specific type and strictly only one girl on his mind, he figured that out just recently. Shortly after meeting you.
Heather was definitely not in his sights, not even a little bit. She went unnoticed a lot of the time, like a side character. She only believes she had a fling with Rafe after she mistaken him helping her off of the ground during a drunken fit for a flirty gesture.

"Ohhhh, Heather! Yeah, I remember you." He lies.
The girl smiles at him intensely as she twirls a strand of her hair between her fingers, earning a huff of disgust from you.
"Ugh." You turn to walk down an aisle in search of a helium tank.
"Who's she?" The girl asks as she returns your look of disgust.
"Y/N," He whispers as he turns his gaze over his shoulder and directly to you shopping innocently in a quiet isle. He smiles softly as he notices your little quirks that he hadn't noticed before. How you tend to touch everything in sight, even if you weren't interested in buying them. How you tap on the glass trinkets and how your hair falls against your shoulders when you look up at the highest shelf.

Heather only stares at you and back to Rafe as she aggressively chews on her gum, open mouthed like some sort of horse.
"What is she? Like some lackey of yours?"
Rafe swiftly raises his eyebrows at her, unimpressed at her attitude, "you got helium tanks here or what?"
"Our shipment was delayed because of the storm." She replies.
"Shit. Alright. Y/N lets go!" He calls out to you through the maze of aisles, sure to waste no time getting out of there.
"See you at midsum-" she begins before being carelessly cut off by the door closing.

You look back to her through the glass screen as Rafe gently pulls you by your hand to his truck in a rush.
"Heather, huh?" You ask unimpressed at the false belief that Rafe was one to run a muck with random girls.
"It's not like that. She's some crazy, desperate girl that latches onto any piece of meat she can get."
"Piece of meat?" You repeat, even more unimpressed than before.
"No- Y/N, she had one too many drinks at a bone yard party once and embarrassed herself. I only pulled her off the floor." He desperately explains in the drivers seat of his truck, "plus," he continues as he starts the engine, "she's not my type."
"Mhm. Chews like a cow, fishnets at work, what's not to like?" You say sarcastically and Rafe puffs a laugh as you throw your head back in laughter too.
"Damn, not even a little jealous?" He smiles at you.

You turn your head towards him as your smile slowly fades, you sit in surprise at his string of words.

"So, that was your plan? You took me here in hopes that I'd get jealous? Is that it?" You ask passively as you glare at him in disbelief.
"Y/N, of course not. I didn't know she worked here. Usually it's her dad running the shop and-" he begins.
"And what exactly would I get jealous of?"

Rafe tilts his head as he pauses to look out the windshield, staring at nothing and unsure of what he had hoped that you would say. Maybe he had selfishly hoped that you would show a little bit of jealousy during heathers exchange or maybe that you would show slightly more interest in his history with her. Something, anything.
Desperate to know if he had a chance, if you liked him enough to care.

"Forget I said anything." He says lowly.