This is Me Trying ⭑ Rafe Cameron

twenty four

a/n
so turns out i posted this chapter yesterday and left it up for over 24 hours without realizing that it was the wrong draft and was missing like a pretty large chunk of plot towards the end omfg so i'm republishing it completely.

if u read this chapter already, skip to the end to see what you missed and i'm sorry if last chapter made absolutely no sense ahahaha when i'm telling you like SO MUCH dialogue was cut out ??? lmao

if u haven't read this chapter already, enjoy

- jane

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
[24]
song: kidnapping an heiress by black box recorder

Though the sun had set, and both Cassie and Rafe were exhausted, neither of them slept.

Their time was running out, each chime of the grandfather clock every hour serving as a reminder.

Cassie took the bed, while Rafe lay uncomfortably close on the ground, his suit jacket acting as the only separation between him and the hardwood floor. She would've insisted he just slept up on the bed with her, if not for how much satisfaction she got in seeing him in pain.

She'd probably be better suited for the floor. She'd grown accustomed to uncomfortable nights asleep on the island, another one on a hard floor wouldn't have been too bad. But despite how soft the bed was, and how heavy her eyelids felt, her body wouldn't let her rest.

And she couldn't tell what was causing her stirs. Whether it was the fact that she'd witness a man shot in the head not four hours ago. Or if it were the threats against her family. Or the idea of a looming death she couldn't prevent. Or that Rafe was in this room with her right now.

It was everything.

Every feeling she thought she'd be free of when she saw Jimmy Portis' plane turn around in the sky to rescue them. She thought she'd be home by now. In her own bed. In her own clothes.

Not here. With Rafe.

She kept her head propped up against the pillow, watching the guard's shoes from behind the door. He stood against it on the other side, his shadow moving every once in a while as he shifted his weight to the other foot.

Light from the hall seeped into the room under the door, perfectly illuminating Rafe's silhouette as he lay on his back. His eyes were closed, though she wasn't convinced he was asleep.

He'd been pacing the room for half an hour before this. When he finally gave up and went to the floor, she listened to him stir and huff, trying to find comfortable position, bunching up his suit jacket to use as a pillow.

Cassie could've given him one of the many pillows she slept against, or one of the blankets. But he didn't ask. And Cassie was surely not gonna go out of her way for the sake of thoughtfulness.

She watched him, how still he was, how so seemingly unbothered he looked. She remembered the curves of his face so well, even if she'd only felt them a few times. She could still feel how strong he was when he held her, how small he made her feel.

But not in a bad way. In a way that she liked. She liked feeling like he was big enough to protect her if needed. She liked feeling like she was being taken care of.