LITTLE SECRET | RAFE CAMERON

78: 𝘈𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴

A/N: This is by far the hardest chapter I had to write. I'm sorry. Broke my own heart here. But at least it's a long one.

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In a room neither of them had ever stepped foot in before, in a house that wasn't theirs, they sat on the wooden floor, which was the contrary cold to the warmth of the moment they clung to.

Alone but somehow together.

Outside, the muffled noise of the party tried desperately to seep through the walls, but inside - in their own fragile silence - it didn't matter.

It didn't matter where they were, or what they were missing, because at that exact moment, Alice couldn't bear to think about the reality they were living in.

All she did was close her eyes, focusing only on the feeling of Rafe's hand in her lap, the quiet rhythm of her fingers tracing circles over his skin.

Each soft stroke felt like a silent confession, something she knew she shouldn't be doing.

Every touch followed by the voice in her head, reminding her of things she wanted to forget.

And yet, after the storm that had torn through her chest just moments before, there was only one thing she knew for sure...she wanted to be with no one else but him.

Because, as they both knew all too well, it was the familiar things - the things that felt like home - that brought the deepest kind of peace.

Rafe didn't speak, didn't move.

He kept his arms wrapped around her, afraid to say anything that might unravel the space between them. His gaze stayed on the delicate movements of her fingertips, the circles she drew on his hand.

One small touch after another, a gesture that was both healing and destroying him at once.

„Rafe..." Alice's whisper was the first thing to cut through the silence.

The very sound of her voice shattered the quiet in his chest, Rafe winced. „don't, Alice."

„You don't even know what I want to say" She murmured, her voice thick with exhaustion...or intoxication.

„I can sense it" Rafe whispered into her hair. „and honestly, I don't wanna hear it."

A heavy sigh escaped her chest, her throat tightening with a feeling she couldn't put into words.

Slowly, she lowered her head to his chest, letting the weight of her emotions fall into the space between them. Her eyes fluttered shut, warm tears threatening to spill over her waterline, as she sought refuge in the only place she knew was safe enough to keep her thoughts quiet.

His arms.

Alice could hear the faint thrum of music seeping through the walls, but it was distant, muffled, like an echo from a world she no longer wanted to be part of. Her fingers still traced those never ending circles on his hand as if her body had learned to seek comfort in it. But she couldn't bring herself to look up at him, feeling the weight of his gaze, the way he was watching her with an intensity that both soothed and terrified her.

With every breath, with every beat of his heart, she could feel everything unsaid between them.

„You don't have to say anything" She whispered finally. „I just..." She trailed off, unsure of what to say or what she was allowed to say.

His silence pressed against her like a weight she couldn't escape, and she almost preferred it to the words that he maybe held back in his heart. Because if he dared to speak what was on his mind, if he said what they both knew was hidden somewhere, the thread that tied them together might snap.