LITTLE SECRET | RAFE CAMERON

65: 𝘜𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦

Rafe and Alice were no longer what they had been at the very beginning.

Of course she knew that it was totally normal to fight sometimes, not that she enjoyed it, but it was simply part of being a couple. Above all, they were still young and naive and the love they felt was still so new, but...

It felt different lately. He felt different.

Alice shut the door of Rafe's car behind her when they finally arrived at the Island Club. „where are the others?"

„Still on their way" He answered, leaning against the front of his car with his arms crossed over his chest.

She nodded silently before her gaze fell to the ground, across which she kicked the smaller pebbles with her heels just to avoid having to look at him.

But the silence didn't last long, because he cleared his throat. „listen, I really didn't mean to—„

„Rafe, I don't have the energy to talk about this right now" She interrupted him when just the beginning of his words made her face crumple in unease. „if you wanna tell me what you're hiding, I'll listen, but if you keep making up dumb excuses, keep them to yourself."

Shaking his head, he placed his hands on the hood of the car behind him. „what, you're not gonna listen to me all night now?"

„Are you seriously arguing again in the middle of a parking lot?"

„I'm not arguing, I'm just trying to fucking understand"

„Understand what, Rafe?" She narrowed her eyes as her voice grew louder.

Stressed, he rubbed his temple as the words hung on his lips before pointing an accusing finger at her. „you said I was making it hard for you to trust me"

„Because you do!"

„Then why are you with me?" Rafe raised his voice at her, just as he had a few minutes ago in the car.

„Because I fucking love you, you idiot" She shouted back, but quietened down when she clearly felt a knot tightening in her throat. „and so far you haven't said it back once"

Alice loved him, she really did.

She had found him without even looking for him and loved him without even trying, but...the first time she had admitted it to him, she had simply ignored the fact that he hadn't said it back.

The second time she had said it, she had noticed how he had tried to rephrase it. He didn't let the word love slip from his lips. Not even the first letter.

And the third time...the third time, she could no longer prevent it from actually hurting her.

There was nothing in the world that hurt her as deeply as unrequited love. Because unspoken love which never reached her ears had always been the one which caused the most pain in her heart.

And even after she told him, she didn't hear those three little words from him that she desperately wanted him to say.

She didn't know where she had found the courage to finally bring it up, but when she heard her brother's car pulling up into the Island Club parking lot and the others finally arriving, her courage faded as quickly as she had found it.

Only in Rafe's mind did her previous words leave whispers of her hurting.

„Yo, the Kook couple everybody" Kelce joked and raised his hands as he reached them first, but when they met him with nothing but silence, his joy faded. „...are we interrupting something?"

Alice barely managed to look at the others - Jada, Sofia and Ian - who hesitantly joined them. Especially not at her brother, after she had tried long enough to paint him the best picture of Rafe.

Because it had been the only right version of him in her mind.

With her eyes locked on Rafe's, she slowly began to shake her head. „no, we're done talking anyway"

„Alice..." He began and even though she almost believed that she recognized a glimpse of guilt in the deep pool of his eyes, it wasn't enough that time.

No doubt, she had already forgiven those eyes more times than she should have.

„Can we please just go inside and get this over with" She sighed heavily, looking at Jada and Sofia.

R A F E

Rafe watched blankly as Alice disappeared behind the doors of the Island Club with Jada and Sofia, leaving him at his car with Kelce and Ian.

And he had failed. Again.

There were things in his world that Rafe had made peace with. The damaged bond with his father. The hatred of his first sister. The hole his mom's death had dug in his soul after she had been the last one he had never disappointed.

And he had sworn to himself that he would treat Alice differently.

He wanted to protect her from the things that made him a bad person, but it slowly became harder than he had thought.

Kelce cleared his throat when the girls were out of their sight, turning to look at Rafe. „...so what happened?"

„Nothing" He replied curtly and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets.

„Nothing?"

Slowly, Rafe shifted his gaze to Ian, who took the last drag of his cigarette before dropping the red-hot stub to the ground and stubbing it out with his foot. The almost threat-like tone pinched him in the wrong place, especially as he had no intention of arguing with another Blakely family member.

„You wanna say something?" Rafe tilted his head as he met Ian's gaze.

„You know what, now that you asked" Ian couldn't suppress the dismissive chuckle as he took a daring step closer to Rafe. „I may not understand my sister when it comes to why she's with you, but I understand her well enough to know that this-" He made a quick gesture to the door through which Alice had just disappeared. „—wasn't nothing, Rafe."

„And what are you gonna do now, play protective big brother?"

„Yeah, because unlike you, I'm good to my sister"

Rafe narrowed his eyes and pulled his hands out of his jacket pockets, taking a step closer to Ian, making the small gap between them gradually dangerous. „you should shut the fuck up"

„Or what?" Ian challenged.

„Wow, wow, wow, hey" Kelce stretched an arm between the two of them and pushed himself in between, making Rafe take a step back. „cut the bullshit, guys. Three girls just walked in there and are waiting for all three of us, we really shouldn't waste time fighting out here"

He was damn sure that Alice wasn't waiting for him. But it probably wouldn't have made the situation any better if he would have beaten up her brother on top of everything else.

Even if he would have loved to.

But what was even more important was the fact that Rafe, without even knowing it, had given another guy the opportunity to entangle his girlfriend in a conversation while he was not at her side.