Rafe needed to feel loved.
All of his life, he tried to fight for his father's love and always ended up on the losing side. His father would always put Sarah above him and there was nothing he could do that would change that.
Being deprived of love for such a long time made falling in love with you feel so foreign and strange, but it ultimately saved his life.
Since the moment he had laid his eyes on you, he knew he was done for.
When you agreed to be his girlfriend, he swore he could feel his lungs receiving a new lease on life.
The love you provided him with was nothing he had ever felt before. He had never before felt so cared for, so safe and loved with someone before. He didn't know who he had to thank for sending such an angel his way, but he would do it for the rest of his life.
Loving Rafe was the best decision you had ever made. Teaching him how to love and showing him what being loved felt like has been your biggest accomplishment to date. Seeing the broken boy who had spent years and years fighting for someone to love him, to make him feel seen, suddenly loving with all he had in him brought you happiness like never before.
After every bad argument with his father, he would come to you. After every single bad day, after anything, his first and only stop would be you.
You reveled in the fact that you were the only person he trusted enough to go to in time of need. The only person he would even think about going to, no matter the problem.
It most commonly happened when he would get into yet another fight with Ward, it had become something of a custom in the last couple of months.
Tonight was no different.
You had been doing some homework, wanting to get it out of the way so you could enjoy some free days in the upcoming period when you heard a loud knock downstairs.
"Y/N? Rafe's here" you heard your father call from downstairs, which had you worriedly climbing down the stairs.
It wasn't uncommon for Rafe to always be at your house, but he usually always told you he would be coming over. It was never like this.
You thanked your father who just smiled at you and retreated back to the living room, leaving you in the entrance hall with your boyfriend.
"Baby? Why didn't you tell me you were coming over?" you asked once you stopped in front of him, wrapping your arms around his tall and muscular body.
"I wasn't planning on coming here tonight, but I just had to see you" his words were muffled by his face pressed in your neck, and by the way his muscles were tense and rigid under your touch, you knew what had happened.
Ward, once again.
"Let's go upstairs and we can talk about it, okay?" your voice was soft, making Rafe's insides turn to mush.
He nodded as he pulled away from the embrace, taking your hand instead and letting you pull him upstairs to your bedroom.
He knew he wasn't being fair to you, coming to you for comfort every single time his dad would lash out at him. He knew he needed to man up and get a grip, but how could he when you provided so much warmth and safety and love to his soul?
How could he not need you when you were his breath of fresh air? The only thing he needed to survive and keep going? No, it was impossible.
When you had finally reached your room, you closed the door behind you and sat with Rafe on your bed, laying down and cuddling him to your chest.
You slowly started running your hands through his hair, scratching at his scalp and twirling some of the longer strands of his dirty blonde hair around your fingers.
Rafe hummed slowly and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of being in your arms after having had such a long and awful day.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" you whispered, not wanting to disturb the peaceful atmosphere that had settled in the room.
Rafe didn't answer straight away, which you figured was a sign that he didn't want to discuss what had happened with his father, but he soon started talking in a tired, worn out voice.
"He thinks I'm turning soft because of you. Not taking care of business the way I usually did before we got together, shit like that. He doesn't see how good you're for me and how much better I'm doing since we've been dating, how calmer I am and the fact that I'm clean. It's a change he doesn't seem to think of as productive so he automatically hates it. Told me to either break up with you or pack my things and get out of the house" he explained, your heart breaking slowly with each word that came out of his mouth.
You knew from the very beginning that Ward thought you were a 'bad influence' over Rafe just because he started getting his life together after you became a couple. He stopped drinking, he's been clean for 2 years, his violent outbursts were almost non-existent and he was seriously preparing to take over the company from your father. Your father had decided that his retirement age was coming up and talked to Rafe about him taking over the company, which meant even more distancing from Ward.
Unfortunately for Ward, that also meant that he could no longer count on Rafe to do illegal things for him, 'take care' of the opposition or scare people shitless, Rafe refused to be involved with that.
Hence, this.
"Oh, baby. I am so sorry" you squeezed him tighter, planting kisses on the top of his head.
He shrugged, only squeezing you tighter and burying his head deeper into the place between your neck and your shoulder.
"I'm gonna need to find a place to stay, was thinking about going to see some places these days before I go and pick up my things" he explained further, making you confused.
Did he really think he would be staying anywhere else other than your house?
"Don't be ridiculous, love. You're gonna stay here with me. We have plenty of rooms where you can keep your things and plenty of space. My parents adore you, they love having you around and they hate your father. Imagine all the time we're going to be able to spend together from now on" you finished on an excited note, making Rafe chuckle.
He loved your ability to turn every single bad thing into a positive one, shine light in the darkest of places.
"I don't want to feel like a burden, especially not to your parents" he commented, even though he wanted nothing more than to stay there with you and your family.
"Don't be silly, you and I both know just how much my parents love you. They're going to enjoy having you around all the time, especially my dad"
Rafe and your dad had a very special relationship. Ever since you started dating, your dad had been the father Ward never was to Rafe. He took him under his wing, showed him the ropes and prepared him for when he would hold the ropes. They would take your family's boat and go fishing for a day or two to bond, they would prepare BBQs together, hang out, watch football games. They sometimes spent more time together than either of them did with you.
Your mother had the same adoration for Rafe as your father. From the moment she had realized how serious your relationship was, she did everything in hew power to show him how much she appreciated him for taking care of you, for being by your side and loving you as much as he did. She too was the mother Rafe had once lost and she provided him with the motherly love and touch he desperately needed.
He was part of your family, whether he knew it or not.
"I can't thank you enough, baby. I love you and your parents so fucking much" he raised his head and took your face in his hand, bending your face just enough to pull you into a deep kiss, pouring every single emotion he felt towards you into the kiss.
You kissed him back just as passionately, determined to never allow Rafe to feel like this anymore.
You would make sure he knew how important and loved he was even if it was the last thing you would do.
After all, you were his safe haven.
