This is Me Trying ⭑ Rafe Cameron

eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN
[11]
song: simmer by hayley williams

Rafe didn't plan on coming back to Tannyhill tonight. When he left for the party, he had taken it as an opportunity to pass out on someone else's couch afterwards. He didn't want to be home. He didn't want to be with Rose, or Wheezie, who were both pretending like Ward hadn't just abandoned all of them to his problems.

Wheezie was just a kid. She didn't know the extremities of what this meant for them— she was just mourning her father. But Rose, Rose was off. She was trying to manage the family accounts, the will, the falling apart business he had left her to deal with all on her own. And she wasn't telling Rafe anything, despite the fact that they both knew if anyone should be dealing with all of this, it should be Rafe, right? He was Ward's left hand man. He'd told him that.

But Cassie Maybank sat in the passenger seat in his car, now. So far gone, so still. She had curled over toward the window when he had helped her in the car, and hadn't moved since.

He didn't know what he was going to do with her. He didn't know why he felt like she was his responsibility now. She was the one that drank herself to this point, she should deal with the consequences herself. But here she was, so helpless. So desperate. Desperate enough to ask him for help.

When the car slowed and came to a stop in front of the house, Cassie blinked a few times, adjusting to her new surroundings. She looked at Rafe first, unsure of her own choices now. But with how little control she had in her own actions, she realized it was far too late to ask of anything else.

Rafe was still for a few moments, staring forward towards the garage he pulled the car in front of, his hands still on the steering wheel, and she watched him until the headlights turned off and he was snapped back into reality. It was clear that neither of them really knew what to do.

"Come on," Rafe says, after coming around to the passenger door and opening it up.

He stood by the door and watched her, then looked around the Tannyhill property impatiently as the girl struggled to move. She laughed at her delayed, sloppy movements, at the way her numb fingers couldn't quite figure out how to unbuckle her seatbelt. She thought it was funny.

But Rafe was annoyed, eventually just leaning forward and unbuckling it for her, before latching onto her arms and pulling her out of the car.

"Ow, Rafe." Cassie whined, stumbling forward at Rafe's pull, trying to keep her balance.

He let go of her, shutting the car door. She stood on the brick driveway, the few golden outdoor lights illuminating the drunk-glow of her cheeks, as she tried to brush her mop of hair out of her face.

Rafe really fought with the urge to just leave her here, get back in his car and go to Barry's. Or force her back inside to dump her at her grandma's, or anywhere else.

But he didn't want to feel responsible if something happened. No. He had too much of that feeling on his shoulders already. Didn't need to add to it.

"Can you walk?" He asked quietly, but had already found himself holding onto her arm, an instinctive move as he watched her about topple over by just standing there. "Jesus." He muttered to himself, smelling the alcohol off of her as he lead her to the back doors.