𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 - 𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗

5

Another busy day at work flys by, not much happening until Rafe Cameron shows up, his slicked back hair messy and floppy and his polo shirt unbuttoned. He sits down at the bar with topper and orders two beers, theyve clearly just been golfing.
"Hey rie, can we get uhh two Coronas please." He says smiling at me, whilst Topper looks at him quizzicaly. I hear them talking as i walk away.
"Yo bro, you totally have a thing for her."
"Nah ."
"Doesnt look like it." Topper shakes his head, as i walk back towards them, two beers in hand.
"There you go," i say to them i place their drinks down, leaning on the bar as its quiet at the end of the day and im pretty tired.
"Rie, are you coming to the kegger  tonight?" Rafe asks me, clearly wanting me to go.
"Umm no, no one told me, i can try to see if i can make it tho," I say wondering if mum can take Mabel.
"Well, id really like it if you came, you can just hang out with me and Top."
"Course you can," Topper says smiling at me.
" yeah! could you text me the details later and ill try to stop by."

The car outside honks once which is my cue to leave. Mabel has gone to stay with my mum for tonight and tomorrow whilst dads out of town so i can have the day off. Rafe agreed to pick me up tonight, saying that he wasnt going to drink tonight anyway so he can give me a lift back. I run lightly up to the car and clip myself un quickly as he turns his music down, smiling at me.
"You look lovely princess," he says turning back towards the steering wheel and starting the car. Im wearing a low waisted white flowy skirt and a backless navy top. He calls me the nickname he called me when we were kids, and i always wanted to play prince and princess, but it stuck throughout our childhood, though this time round it felt different.
"Why thank you, you dont look too bad yourself," I say to him as the AC cools me down.
"I think the pogues are gonna be at the keg tonight, but i know youre not talking to them so you can hang out with me and my friends instead?"
"yeah, thanks," i look over at him, "i mean, i dont hate any of them, except JJ, but hes a different species of person," We both chuckle.
"It was disgusting what he did to you and Mabel,"
"mmyeah it was, but i think were better off without him" I say softly.

As soon as Rafes car pulls up i spot the twinkie, immediately regretting even coming here. Rafe grabs my hand lightly, comforting me after seeing the twinkie "Youll be fine princess, i promise". Topper runs over to us, dapping up Rafe and then sees me, "Hello there fair maiden," he says, bowing at me, clearly having had drunk enough already.
"Hello there noble steed," i play along with his little game as he links arms with me and we walk along the sand. Topper leans on me heavily, using me to prop him up as we walk along. Ive known Topper, Rafe and Kelcey since i was a todler, though they were always older than me we really clicked and spent our whole childhoods together, but because i was younger i guess we just grew apart in high school, but i still saw them all the time and would like to think i was still friends with them.

Rafe walks behind us as we wonder side by side, arms still linked, talking about the pranks we used to pull in school as kids. He says theyve missed me so much, Ive missed them too. We finnaly arrive at the little group of kooks after far too long and i make topper sit down in a camp chair my arm still hurting from him leaning on it full force. I say hi to everyone and then start up a conversation with a girl called Daisy who i was close friends with in high school. We talk about everything and really have a good time chatting. The sun sets soon after and i go off to find rafe, when Daisy has to help someone. I look around a bit, finding Topper but not Rafe.
"Heymn rie-rie wussup broouoo," Topper slurs his words as he stumbles about, new drink in hand.
"Hey top!" i say, letting him wrap his arm on my shoulders and lean on me because it looks like hes about to fall, "im just going to take that from you," i say whilst carefully grabbing his drink. I lead him to Kelcey and tell him to wait there so me and rafe can take him home, seeing that hes had enough to drink. I walk over to a bonfire, now spotting Rafe and i go join him.
"We need to save Top from getting so drunk he falls into a coma," i say to him, sitting down near him.
"We'll take him home in a minute," he says still looking at the fire. We sit in silence for a couple minutes, The warmth of the fire envelopes us and hum of teens on the beach are distant.
"Do you remember when you used to help me build a bug house every day in kindergarten?" I ask him as memories of us building a little bug shelter floods back to me. He looks at me and smiles, his beautiful eyes glistening.
"We would work on it every single day, remember" He says.
"It was so shit, like actually terrible im pretty sure we made it from a couple twigs and leaves, but i loved it." We chuckle because its true, it was shit.
"I didnt want to stop hanging out either you when we reached high school," He says softly.
"Why did you?" i ask back, looking in his eyes for some type of answer. He chuckles lightly, blushing a bit, clearly not wanting to say the answer.
"Honestly....." he laughs lightly again, "I really liked you, and when you started hanging out with JJ, i was angry so i turned into a right asshole."
"oh," i smile, not quite sure what to say.

The car ride home was just like we were children again. Topper, Kelcey and Daisy cramed themselves in the back of Rafes car, whilst me and him sat upfront. Music blared from the speakers as we shouted over it, almost pissing ourselves laughing at Top, who was lying over Kelcey, trting to shove his head out of the window like a dog, gasping for air. Rafe drives fast but safe, clearly he's had a bit much to drink too, and Daisy yells at me as we have a loud conversation over the music. Topper and kelcey get dropped off first, heading back to toppers house and Daisy leaves shortly after. Rafe drives me all the way back even though i insist that im fine walking back from halfway so he can get home. We have a long conversation about everything as we drive slowly past beaches and shacks. Hes amazing to talk to, everything just flows with him, i feel like a child again. He pulls up to my apartment slowly, our chatter filling the air. He looks around whilst i gather my things. "ummm, isnt that the pogues van?" He looks at me suprised.