Golden Hearts | Rafe Cameron

51

July 26

A new day and I've really been in a panic all night. What if I get pregnant now? It just can't happen. My parents will kill me. Especially my dad, he'll never let me near a guy again. But I know it's too early to do any pregnancy test now, and I have to wait at least three weeks until I really find out.

I sit on the bed in the room that Rafe and I share, stressed. I've barely slept at all, and I don't know what to do. Rafe isn't in the room anymore, and I think he left before I woke up.

The door opens, and I look up. It's Sarah coming into the room. I wipe away the tears I didn't know I had and smile when she sits on the bed and puts her hand on my shoulder.

"How are you?" Sarah asks.

"I don't know," I say.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" she asks.

I shrug. "I don't think you'll understand."

"Of course I will," Sarah says.

"Rafe and I had unprotected sex yesterday, and what if I'm pregnant now?" I say.

"Oh Addie," Sarah says, giving me a hug before she puts both her hands on my cheeks and looks me straight in the eyes. "You're not pregnant."

"How can you know that?" I ask.

"Don't worry. I've had unprotected sex several times and never got pregnant. It's not often you get pregnant on the first try just like that, but we should still test you as soon as you're due for your period," Sarah says.

I nod.

"Don't dwell on it though," Sarah says.

"I'll try at least," I say.

"It's good you're handling this. We'll get through it together," Sarah says before she gets up to reach out her hand to me, which I take, and we walk out of the room together and onto the balcony where the others are sitting and talking around the table.

Rafe smiles at me when I sit down next to him, and he puts his hand on my knee and squeezes.

"It'll work out," he whispers, making me smile to let him know it's okay. I think

"So we're going home tomorrow," Kelce says. "How should we spend our last day on vacation?"

"How about just chilling? I feel pretty tired," Nathan says.

"No, that's boring," Topper says. "What do you think, Rafe?"

"Doesn't matter to me," Rafe says.

"I think if Rafe gets to choose, it'll be to have sex with Adeline all day," Kelce says, making me roll my eyes at him.

It ends with us spending the day in town. We all walk around together along the luxurious streets that are so fancy that even us Kooks think it's more than what we have in OBX. I wonder if this is where my dad has his business trip, or if it's somewhere in maybe Europe.

Sarah and I have already bought matching summer dresses. Exactly the same just because we thought it was a fun thing to do. It's something all best friends should do. Buy matching outfits and walk around like you're twins. My mom and Sarah's mom used to do that when we were little.

Sarah's mom, Bailey and my mom were best friends. They had known each other their whole lives, and no one else was as close as they were. It was even known that the two were best friends. Everyone knew about their friendship. The day Sarah's mom got pregnant with Sarah, I remember my mom telling me it was the day she screamed with joy. That their dream would come true. That both of them would get a daughter who could then become best friends.

They tried before to have two daughters at the same time, of the same age anyway, but it accidentally turned out to be a boy, which was Rafe. My mom and Sarah's mom did so much for us when we were little, and I miss that time so much, and you could really see the friendship between the two amazing women.

But then came the day no one had expected to come. We were 11 years old, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. My mom was screaming loudly from the kitchen, which made me rush down. I've never seen my mom so devastated before. She was lying completely destroyed on the floor with my grandma trying to calm her down. She screamed and cried so much, and I had no idea.

Nathan came and took me away from there. We went and bought ice cream, and that's when he told me that Sarah's mom had suddenly fallen ill and needed to go to the hospital but unfortunately didn't make it. Since that day, I've never seen my mom as herself again. She's never been completely happy ever since.

Then Rose came into our lives. We were 15 years old, and my mom quickly became good friends with Rose even though she hated that there was someone else there instead of her best friend whom she loved so much. But it almost feels like Rose still reminds my mom of her best friend anyway.

It's probably one of the worst memories I have, and I hate to think back on it. It just hurts.

Rafe intertwines our fingers, which brings me out of my thoughts and makes me realize that I'm actually on vacation with my amazing friends on a wonderful July day like this. I shouldn't dwell on the horrible times even though it's a tough time now with my dad.

"Are you okay?" Rafe asks.

"Yeah," I say and smile at him.

We continue walking for a bit, but I find it hard to focus. What if the same thing happens to me and Sarah? We've talked so much about how we'd love to have daughters at the same time, the same age, so that they could become best friends like us and our moms were, but it would also mean it could be a son. But maybe they could also become best friends? Rafe and I have become pretty good friends after all. I really wish Rafe's mom could see us right now. I just know she would have been so proud and happy for Rafe.

Sometimes I wonder if Ward will ever be himself again. Ever since his wife passed away, he's been acting differently and been more aggressive towards Rafe. I don't know why that is, maybe he's having a hard time letting go of what happened. But it's just so awful. I really wonder how life would have been if she were still here. Because I think my mom would have been so much happier then, and also Rafe if he had the chance to have a really good parent again.