him & i ↠ rafe cameron

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dinner was filled with laughter and full mouths of pasta. Julia ordered the Carbonara and Rafe got the shirmp scampi. The waiter kept filling her glass full of her favorite wine. The two were just celebrating themselves, how far they have come. Especially, Rafe. How he had fallen from grace but crawled up out of the darkness to reach for a small flame of redemption; Julia was proud of him, waving the flame of pride for him, always for him... She was also proud of herself for choosing a path for herself that she knew would be rewarding and also rewarding when her mother would be able to share it with her. Each glass of wine poured, Julia chugged it down. The more glasses, the more hazy everything became around her. The dimly lit and vibrant restaurant swirled slowly around her, eventually the once full restaurant was empty, just them remaining. They polished off two bottles and a half before leaving the restaurant for good and heading to the popular Chapel Hill club called, DayBreak. Julia almost stumbled getting into the car, tripping over her own feet. She held onto Rafe's arm like a fresh baby dee. Rafe helped her into the car, carefully and buckled her in.

"You alright, wino?" He teased.

Julia nodded her head and lazily fluffed her hand in the air to wave him off. "I'm great!" She drawled out with a cheeky smile. "Lets dance, baby!" Shooting her arms up in the air with a "Woo!"

Rafe rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling at her. "Are we a woo girl now?" He questioned, a brow raised. Julia leaned into his face, with a serious look on her own before whispering.

"Woo."

Rafe snuck a kiss on her lips before gently pushing her back into the car and shutting the door to get into the drivers side. He had a half empty water bottle in the cup-holder and he opened it, passing it to Julia. "Drink." He ordered her. "We can't have a baby deer on the dance floor," Rafe teased her again, Julia looking over to him and pouting her lips out but reluctantly taking a few sips of the water. The ride wasn't too long, as Chapel Hill was fairly small compared to the island they came from.  Eventually, Rafe's SUV came to a stop and they parked close to the back door of DayBreak. The building was all white, and Julia had remembered coming here once or twice with her friends back home in Cape Fear. The building in the front had long tall white coliseum pillars with the club name in front, the words almost fading away like day was breaking on it. She had chugged the rest of the water and the woozy and hazy feel she felt over her eyed was fading. Rafe beside her was shuffling in his console for something before shoving something in his shirt pocket and his jean pockets. He then came over to her side and opened it for her, as well as holding her waist and picking her up to place her gently on the ground. Their hands automatically found eachother while he led them to the back door where Rafe's fist made two harsh bangs on the door. A bouncer dressed in all black came peeking out, he looked at Rafe, then at her, before opening the door for them. It was almost quiet outside except for the passing by cars but as soon as the door fully opened the house music enveloped them and began to shake their bodies. It was slightly foggy inside, the club had an ethereal look to it. Had vines all over the ceiling with flashing foggy lights. Twinkling lights littered the dance floor under the tiles. The DJ booth looked like it was stuck inside the hollow of a tree. The bar top looked like moving, running stream water the way it was lit and how the light played with the colors making it look like it was flowing. Julia gazed all over, it was really cool. The blonde gazed towards her man who led her through various crowds of people towards the blue stream bar. Once getting to the bar, Rafe lifted Julia's hips into a bar seat that was a little too high for her to reach, he leaned beside her, elbows on the illuminated bar top.

Rafe ordered two drinks. A whiskey sour and a mai-tai for her. When the bartender passed over the drinks, Rafe started a running tab for them both. He used the pen the bartender gave him to sign his name to the copious amounts of alcohol they would be no doubt drinking tonight. Julia leaned in to sip her drink and fool around with the tiny fan in it. Rafe swapped the pen between his fingers. His steel eyes settled on her, Julia flashed a smile at him. Rafe continued to look at her before giving a croocked grin her way and he jutted his chin out to her and slid the pen from his fingers towards her.