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A dazed smile was evident on Rafe’s lips as he watched you sleeping peacefully in his arms, his mind reminiscing the day you first met.
He had stormed out of Tannyhill after yet another argument with his father, roaming around with nowhere particularly in his mind. He could’ve gone to Topper’s but he wasn’t in the mood to put up with his complaints, so instead, he walked aimlessly, failing to notice you walking ahead of him with heavy boxes in your hand, causing you two to bump into each other, the boxes falling on the ground in process.
“Shit, sorry,” He cursed, as he steadied you from stumbling. “didn’t see you there.”
“It’s alright,” You brushed your top and bent down to pick your belongings and saw as he bent too, helping you with it.
“Haven’t seen you here before.” He said after you two stood up, him holding one of your boxes as you held another.
“Yeah, my family just moved here.” You smiled at him, “I’m (y/n),”
“Rafe,” He reciprocated the smile. “Would you like some help?”
“Yes!” You instantly jumped at the offer, thankful for any help you could get after an exhausting morning. “Thank you.” You sighed and showed him the way into your house.
Rafe was extremely warm to you and had offered to give you a tour of the island. At first you were a little reluctant since you had just met him but as you two talked for a long time that day, you accepted his offer, deciding you’d meet him later that week.
And that’s the story of how Rafe met you, the rest being history.
Not registering his actions completely, his fingers started tracing your skin; starting at the side of your waist, then trailing down your thigh . He stifled a chuckle as he saw you slowly open your eyes with a confused look on your face.
“Hi, baby,” He whispered in your ear, making you shiver slightly at his deep voice. You could never get tired of it.
“Hey,” You responded and turned on your back, slowly rubbing your eyes then squinting at the bright sunlight coming from the window. “What time is it?”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s Sunday, which means, I get to have you all by myself.” His hand on your waist quickly turned into a tight hold as he pulled you toward him, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck.
“What do you wanna do today?” You moved closer to him, if there was any space between you left at all, it was now closed.
“Stay in bed. Here, with you. All day.”
“Don’t be such a slouch,”
“I’m not. I just wanna show my girlfriend that I love her.” His head poked up a little as he looked at you with a suggestive smirk.
“Brush your teeth first,”
“So you’re saying that I can show you how much I love you?” His face held a smug look with his one eyebrow raised as his hand that was on your waist trailed down to your rest dangerously low on your thigh.
“Rafe.” You gave him a pointed look even though all you wanted to do was stay in bed with him all day.
“Alright, alright,” he groaned and fell back on his pillow with a light thud.
“Do you wanna go out?”
“No, let’s stay here.”
“But why? The weather looks so nice today!” You tried to convince him.
“I know someone that looks even nicer.”
“Do you ever stop?” You playfully rolled your eyes but couldn’t help the smile as your cheeks lightly heated up.
“Not with you, no.”
Rafe mostly wanted to stay in when it was with you. He didn’t particularly have a good reputation, always being known for getting into fights. The incompetent son, the black sheep were a few of the titles he was often addressed with. He was known for a lot of things and none of them were positively mentioned.
That was, until, you came along.
For the first time, Rafe actually wanted to be known for good. When he met you the day you moved to outer banks, he felt that this might be the chance. You didn’t know him, or anyone else, maybe he had the opportunity of actually acting like himself with someone without thinking of ruining his bad boy reputation.
There were multiple times when Rafe wanted to change himself but the repeated scenario of people giving him strange looks went over his head, eventually making him continue being his problematic self.
When you entered the scene, it was like a breath of fresh air for him. He could finally be the person he wanted to be.
There were occasions when his confidence hit low and his insecurities took the best of him; ‘She’s going to see you for who you truly are.’ ‘She’ll end up leaving you, Rafe.’ Voices that always echoed through his head. But most times, you were there to comfort him, tell him otherwise, show him how you truly cared for him.
As Rafe was deep in his thoughts, you watched him. You knew exactly what he was thinking, you could read him like the back of your hand. Your hand slowly inched towards his face and gently rested on his cheek.
“Hey,” You whispered, getting his attention, “you okay?”
He seemed to have woken from the daze, his attention was fully on you as his brain registered your words. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” A sad smile made its way to your face, your heart broke to see him like this, so afraid and unsure of himself.
“Rafe,” You pulled his head closer. “whatever you’re thinking, it’s not true.” You tried to convince him but the uncertainty still showed in his eyes.
“You keep telling me that but I’m afraid that one day-“ He averted his eyes to the ceiling, “one day you’re gonna realise that I’m not who you thought I was. That-that I’m undeserving of you. I’m afraid that one day you’ll hate me, just like everybody else does.” He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, “No one has ever loved me like this, okay? Not like you have. And it’s good, so good that I’m afraid one day I’m just gonna wake up and this will all just be a beautiful dream-“ Before he could go on, you decided to stop him.
“Hey, hey, Rafe,” You gently pat his cheek, “calm down, baby, calm down.” You waited as his breathing slowed to normal, he shut his eyes tightly before turning over and looking at you. “I know it feels scary but listen to me, I love you, alright? More than anything in the entire fucking world. Nothing can ever make me feel otherwise. And when I say nothing, I mean it. You’re the most important person to me, Rafe. This is real. Real as it can ever be. My love for you is real. You’re all that I could ever ask for. You’re enough for me. I love you, okay? Never forget that.” By the time you stopped talking, tears glistened in his eyes and he tried to hold them back.
Rafe could merely nod before sinking into your embrace. He lay his head on your chest as your hands tightly secure around him. You whispered ‘I love you’s’ in his ear, you wouldn’t stop, not until he could see it. And when he did, he replied with a few simple words that meant a great deal to both of you.
“I love you, too.”