LITTLE SECRET | RAFE CAMERON

73: 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺

I A N

Ian turned off the engine of his car.

He let out a deep sigh as he leaned back in the driver's seat and looked at the house right in front of him. It's lights breaking through the late night as the lights in his car slowly faded.

There was something about the whole property that made him feel uneasy every time, even when he was just standing in the driveway.

The energy of the house was just...unsettling.

Taking a final breath, he reached for the door handle and got out. The small pebbles of the driveway crunched under his shoes as he walked up the path to the front door. His three loud knocks on the doorframe echoed through the hallway inside until he heard the quick footsteps hurrying to the door.

The door opened with a creak. „...Ian?"

„Hey." He gave her a curt nod and put his hands in his jacket pockets. „is Rafe home?"

Sarah's eyebrows furrowed as she still held the door in her hand. She had expected anyone but him. It was quite late, past nine to be exact, and Ian's demeanor didn't exactly suggest a friendly visit.

Hesitantly, she bowed her head. „you want to see Rafe?"

„Is he here or not?"

„He is, I just don't think he's good company right now"

„I'm not here for good company." Ian said unfazed, pushing past her into the Cameron house.

„No, wait" Sarah hurriedly closed the door behind them and grabbed Ian's arm, stopping him from going up the stairs. „what is this about?"

He looked at her without saying a word. The slight concern in her eyes spoke for itself as he shook her hand off his arm. He hadn't come for her, so she was wasting his time.

„This is about Alice, right?" She took a step closer and lowered her voice. „come on Ian, Wheezie's here, and Rafe's...condition is already scary enough for her, so please—"

„I just want to talk, that's all" He cut her off.

Sarah looked at him silently for a moment, as if trying to read his eyes to see if he was telling the truth. But they both knew that he was never the type to cause unnecessary trouble, so she nodded and finally let him go up the stairs.

But behind the door to Rafe's room, there was nothing but silence. No footsteps, no movement, nothing at all.

Ian hesitated for a moment as he reached for the door handle.

He didn't know exactly what this was about, but ever since his conversation with Alice last night, his thoughts had not left him alone. He had thought about Elena, a lot actually, but he couldn't deny that his final decision to come here had to do with Alice alone.

He did it for her. And maybe a little bit for himself.

When Ian opened the door to Rafe's room, he was greeted by the cold pouring in through the open balcony door. The curtains blew gently in the wind, there were piles of dirty clothes on the floor, and the bedsheets were a mess. It was strangely quiet, but the light on the balcony made him cross the room.

Rafe was asleep on his balcony couch, the only light flickering above him. With his face buried deep in a pillow and his arm hanging off the couch, he didn't even hear Ian enter the balcony. The table in front of him was littered with empty bottles. All kinds of alcohol and two untouched lines of coke in between, which made Ian grimace.

All the alcohol had probably knocked him out before he even got to them.

„Rafe" Ian spoke louder to wake him up and rounded the armchair opposite the couch, but Rafe didn't move, his mouth open as he...slept.

Or floated on a cloud of drugs. Ian wasn't really sure.

Sighing, he reached for the only water glass on the table and poured it over Rafe, who shot up from his sleep.

With a hoarse groan, he sat up and ran his hand over his face. „what the fuck?"

„Morning, did you sleep well?" Ian cleared his throat and sat down in the armchair, spread his legs and leaned back.

Rafe blinked absently a few times, rubbing his eyes until he seemed to slowly recognize who was sitting across from him. „...Ian?"

„Ah, you still recognize me, so you haven't coked your brains out yet" Ian grinned and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his pack of cigarettes.

Relaxed, he placed one between his lips. He lit it and took a deep drag, burning through his lungs as he pushed back his dark hair and let the smoke escape into the night, before tossing the pack to Rafe.

„Help yourself" Ian spoke hoarsely as the smoke cleared from his lungs.

But Rafe put the packet down on the table. He didn't trust the whole thing. „why are you here?"

„I just wanted to stop by"

„You're a bad liar, Ian"

„And you seem to be a very good one, Rafe."

A silence fell between the two boys. Only the crackling of Ian's cigarette could be heard as he took another drag and the tobacco continued to burn. His eyes pierced through Rafe's, not giving him a moment to breathe, because he wanted him to know that he hadn't come to hang out with him.

Rafe ran his hands over his face with a sigh. „so, she told you..." 

„Oh, she did." Ian nodded and flicked the burnt ash into the ashtray on the table. „and I told her about Elena since you never had the balls to tell her"

The expression on Rafe's face fell. He clasped his hands in front of him and kneaded them, but not a word left his lips. It was as if he had never learned to speak, at least not the words of truth.

Ian leaned forward in the armchair to put down his cigarette in the ashtray. „anything you want to say?"

Rafe slid down in his seat, put his hands behind his head. „why did you tell her?"

„Because she deserves to know" He turned the ashtray on the table so that the cigarrette was in front of Rafe, who looked down at it silently as he nodded at his words. „but I'm not here to make you regret it, if that's what you think"

„You're...not?" Rafe looked up at him, hesitantly reaching for the cigarette.

„No, I'm here for Alice, Rafe" He shook his head with a sigh. „I'm not here for you or me, cause' if it were up to me—" He pointed at the two lines of coke on the table. „—you could get high to death on that shit and I wouldn't care, but she'd care."

Rafe bit his lower lip as his eyes lingered on the two lines right in front of him.

He could feel the restlessness growing inside him and he couldn't help but bite down harder until the icy taste of blood crossed his lips as he realized how his eyes watered at the mere thought of her.

He missed her like he had never missed anyone before. So damn much that it had already cost him nights and days in which he had thought of nothing but her.

But she had ignored every one of his calls, every message he had sent, but he couldn't blame her.

He never would.

„Listen Rafe" Ian got his attention back. „I can leave if you want. You can keep doing your coke, get drunk and we'll pretend I was never here, but she'd never forgive me if I didn't at least try to save you, because we both know that if you carry on like this..."

„I know." Rafe nodded in understanding without Ian having to finish his sentence.

With a brief nod, Ian opened his hands, waiting for the decision. „so, do you want my help?"