Dark Clouds || Rafe Cameron || OBX

Thirty one

Valerie ran down a road full of people. Tourist shops filled the roads. Her head snapped to every direction, trying to spot Rafe. She had no clue if he even was anywhere around here, all she knew was that she had to hope he was. She walked up to one of the tourists that was shopping for jewellery and clothes. The lady had a red skirt on with flower patterns all over it. Her hair was blond and a cute fringe covered her forehead.

"Hey! Sorry, have you seen this guy. Tall, dark blonde, blue eyes, possibly wearing a gold ring." Valerie looked over at the woman.

"Uh, yeah- I think he just went away with my husband. I don't know why, if you find them please tell him to come back, this place kinda creeps me out with all the guards." She chuckled.

"I totally understand. Thank you!" Valerie smiled, just as she was about to walk away, a voice erupted from behind her. This wasn't Rafe. The voice had a specific accent. It was Singh's men.

"Hey! You!" The man called out, causing Valerie's head to snap.

"Shit!" She cursed out before beginning to make a run for it, she took out the gun from her waistband and held it closely to her. She could hear the men running after her. Luckily, when she turned around she realised the lady from earlier had 'accidentally' bumped into the guards, causing them to loose sight of Valerie.

Just as she turned around and took a turn, she bumped into a large figure. Her breath hitched and she immediately pointed the gun towards the figure, hoping it wasn't a guard. The persons hat that had shaded her from the sun made it clearer to see who it was. A soft sob escaped her mouth once she realised who it was.

"Rafe?"

Rafe's eyes grew wide as he looked down at the red-head. "Valerie?" His words cut through the air, her name slipped off his tongue as if he was born to say it. He didn't waste a second to embrace her into a tight hug, missing the feeling of her arms around his neck. "Val." He breathed into her hair. "I'm so glad you're safe."
She felt him smile against her shoulder, causing her to crack a smile herself as tears poured out from her eyes.

As much as she wished she could stay and hug him forever, they had no time. "We need to hide, right now." She said hurriedly.

Rafe pulled out of the hug and looked at her with a confused expression, he decided to ignore it and nodded before pulling her into the alley he had walked out of.

Both of them placed their backs against the wall, waiting for the guards to walk past them. Seconds later, multiple guards ran passed them, all of them yelling out to each other certain that Valerie had ran off that way.

"C'mon, there's a ferry about to leave." He looked back at her and then took notice of the gun she had in her hands. "Why do you have a gun?"

"They were after me. It's not safe for us to be here." Valerie shook her head. She still couldn't believe that she had found him. "Rafe, I can't believe you're here." Tears poured down Valerie's cheeks as she looked into his ocean eyes, the eyes she missed so much.

Rafe gently brushed the tears away and held her head with both his hands. "Well, I'm here. Okay? And in never leaving your side again. We can talk on the ferry, but now we need to go."

Valerie nodded quickly and gave the gun to Rafe. He placed it in his waistband and took her hand. Both of them left the alley and moved towards the dock that led to a large boat. They walked into a crowd that was making their way down the dock.

Her eyes scanned the passengers, looking for the Captain or someone from the crew. She spotted a man wearing a white shirt that was tucked into a pair of black pants.

"Rafe, they're checking ID." Valerie whispered to him. He looked at the captain that was on the dock, greeting all the passengers. "Pretend you're on the phone with someone, and just walk past him, I'll get his attention, okay?"

Valerie nodded and began to walk away from Rafe. She turned her head slightly to the ground and put her hand up to her ear, saying some words under her nose and pretending to talk over the phone. She walked passed the captain, luckily in time when Rafe had taken his attention.

She waited on the boat for him and within a few seconds he had finally joined her. Both of them walked around the boat, looking for somewhere quiet enough for them to sit down and talk. Once they found a spot, they sat down on a bench and waited for the ferry to take off.

Valerie looked over at Rafe, realising he no longer had a hat on. "Your hair." She laughed while her hand reached up to touch his head.

"Yeah, I did a few changes." Rafe cracked a smile before pulling her closer and wrapping his arm around her. He made sure she would be comfortable with him before speaking up. "I missed you. I thought you were dead, Val. After you jumped off of the boat- I was a mess." His eyes burned into hers as he talked. "I stayed sober, I promised you I would."

Valerie softly smiled. "I'm proud of you, Rafe. I'm sorry for leaving you, in that moment I just- I felt like I didn't have a choice."

"I understand." He spoke gently while tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "We're safe now, we'll go back to my house, get what we need, and we'll go back to the OBX. Okay?"

She nodded while her smile grew. "I missed you so much." Valerie placed her hand on his jaw and leaned over to kiss his cheek. She glanced back into his blue eyes. God, she missed them."Rafe, I'm sorry for leaving you, I wish I could have stayed. Trust me, I really wanted to. The thought of us finally getting away from all of that and living together in peace made my heart grow. I didn't want anything more than that."

"I know, Val. I forgive you, I was never angry with you, I knew you did what you thought was right, and also someone had to look after Sarah, right?" His smile caused Valerie to squirm at this point. She missed him so much it was honestly hard to believe at this point.

"I still love you, Rafe. I never stopped." She said with glossy eyes. She watched as his smile faded away making her heart race faster. She had no clue what he was thinking about. Was he over her? Did he find someone else?

"Can I ask you something?" His words caused Valerie to escape from her thoughts, her attention going back to the blonde-boy. She nodded her head slightly, unsure of what he was going to say.

"I've, waited long enough to ask you this. I did what you told me to do, and now's the time I finally ask you this. I need to know, Val." He stopped, making the tension rise. "May I be your boyfriend?" A smirk grew on his face while he watched as Valerie's facial expression changed.

"God! You idiot! You made me so nervous." Valerie laughed, she was finally happy. She had dreamed of this moment and manifested it since the day they washed up in the beach. Rafe laughed, hugging the girl even tighter. Once they calmed down, her eyes found his again. "Yes, Rafe. I'd love for you to be my boyfriend." Her smile once again found her face. "We sound so childish." She began to laugh again.

"As long as it's with you." He smiled. Rafe's eyes traveled down to her lips and then back to her eyes. He took a hold of her chin before both of their lips came crashing against each other.

Valerie felt her heard pounding and grow warm. The thought of going back to the OBX with Rafe and everything finally going the way she planned settled in her head.

She was done with the adventure. She just wanted peace and to live happily with Rafe. Both of them pulled slightly apart for air, smiles growing on their faces.

"I love you too, Val."

~~

Short chapter but just wanted to fill it in!

What do you guys think of Rafe and Valery finally reuniting??