warnings/tags: arguing, fluff, partying, happy ending.
synopsis: female!reader x rafe see each other at a party a couple months after their fight that ended things.
You’re back in Kildare after a vacation in Dubai, just in time for your friend’s annual beach party. Your week long adventure you had was fun, it was nice getting away from all the drama that Outer Banks brought to the table. Plus, being single and on a trip was a superior duo, you never wanted to forget what it felt like to flirt with random men that you’ll never see again. It also felt liberating to not have Rafe running around your mind.
You’re in your bedroom getting ready for the party. Sitting at your vanity, you finish your makeup and look over at the white digital clock on your nightstand, it’s already 8:51pm. You’re aware the party started at 8pm, but no one ever shows up to parties on time.
Speaking of showing up to parties, as you finish getting ready and put on your outfit—a short slightly see through red beach dress with red bikini underneath paired with black short heels and gold jewelry—it never once occurred to you who also has the same friend, and could be there too.
You saunter downstairs to the hallway of your two-floor apartment which you share with your best friend, Sofia. “You ready?” She shouts from the kitchen. “Yeah, I’ll be waiting for you in the car,” you reply as you walk outside, and enter her merlot colored convertible.
While you wait for Sofia, you stare at the gradient sky. The sun migrating closer to the horizon amongst the clouds, creating a sunset mixed with pink and orange. The color of it reminded you of the shade folly, Rafe’s favorite color.
He got a lot of shit from his fellow frat guys for a shade of pink being his favorite color. You still can’t figure out why he hangs out with them. Who over the age of ten thinks that guys can’t like pink? Rafe was better than them, they brought out the most dense parts of him.
Still, every time one of them said something snarky about it, he explained how it was the shade of the dress you were wearing when you first met him. When you started dating, he took a picture of your dress and found the shade on a color picker website. “It just makes you glow a special way only you can,” he would always say.
You drive down the street of your friend’s beach house, there’s cars almost everywhere, even some parked on the grass. The neighbors are probably going to call the cops as soon as it hits 11pm.
After a while of searching, you park in an empty spot about eight houses away from the party. The path to the house is lined with trees that are swaying with the night time breeze.
You and Sofia both step out of the car and start walking towards the house. While you’re walking, you guys chat about a boat load of topics. But after about seven minutes it goes a little quiet. You’re about two houses away from the party at this point, you can already see the vibrant lights beaming through the windows onto the pavement, and hear the blaring music that’s vibrating the sidewalk.
“Do you think he’s going to be here?” Sofia questions you, breaking the unusual silence between you two. “Who?” You respond.
You already knew who she was talking about but a part of you was praying she was referring to the guy you flirted with a month ago. He gave you his number but you were too nervous to call him.
You’ve always been good at getting guys and talking to them. The idea of it never scared you or kept you up at night. But this time felt weird for some reason. Like you couldn’t physically bring yourself to interact with him any farther than a couple of flirty arm touches. Maybe it’s out of fear Rafe would find out somehow and ruin his life for looking at you the same way he does, or did. But, you and Rafe were over now. He couldn’t care less about who you were with.
“Y/n?” Sofia softly tapped your shoulder. You were a house away now. You didn’t even realize you zoned out. It was like someone else took control of your body to keep you walking and you only had control of your thoughts. “Yeah, sorry, what did you say?” You look up from the ground to her. Her eyes filled with concern. “Rafe,” she says carefully, trying to not alarm you. “Do you think he’s going to be here?” You take a deep breath and gaze up at the entrance of the house. A long winding cobblestone trail to the front door. “I hope not,” you mumble.
You approach the large white doors. You can feel the beat of the music drumming your heart. You push the doors open and it gets louder. You’re greeted by one of your friends who hands you and Sofia your first shots of the night. Little did you know, you would be needing more.
About an hour has passed and there’s no sign of Rafe. You choose not to question his friends if he’s planning on coming; just incase they report back to him, twist the story, and fill his head with delusions about how you want him back. You also decide to loosen up. Usually, you despise parties and complain the whole time, but Sofia came up with a good point. You’re single and at a party with surprisingly a lot of attractive guys. Maybe they’ve always been here, you were just so distracted by Rafe that you couldn’t see them.
You put away your grudge against parties and try to have fun. You talk to some guys, get numbers, and beat a couple of people in beer pong—one of your many specialities. But no matter what you did or how hard you tried to have fun, something felt wrong. It felt like you were pretending to be something your not.
You take a break from socializing and escape the huge crowd in the living room for the kitchen, a glass of water in hand. As you’re looking around at the different delicacies spread out on the counters and the island—nine pizza boxes that were almost empty, multiple kinds of chips, and soda that was spilled almost everywhere—you sit on a clean part of the counter and let your mind wander. At first it’s normal stuff, how you have to start work again, shows you need to finish. Then you start reminiscing on how parties were like when you and Rafe were together.
The blissful feeling you felt in your bones when walking inside with his hand placed firmly on your waist. Gazing up at him knowing he was yours and you were his. How he’d have you by his side while playing pool with his friends, his hand occasionally caressing your lower thigh while you were sitting on the table, like a reminder that he hasn’t forgotten about you. Him checking up on you often because he knew how much you hated parties. He would even stop his conversations, just to take you outside to get some air if he sensed that you were feeling overwhelmed.
A guy with astonishing long brown hair attacks the Lay’s bag next to you and awakens you from your daze. Why couldn’t you accept that it was over? I mean, he probably already has. He’s probably not at the party right now because he’s too busy screwing his next victim in the back of his truck. Something you guys made a tradition to do before parties.
The crowd of people dancing in the living room starts to get louder. Leaving your glass of water behind, you walk from the kitchen down the short hallway, expecting to see a drunk frat guy crowd surfing. Instead you’re met with a pair of icy blue eyes towering over everyone. Rafe.
You felt all the blood leave your body and rush to your head, your muscles tensing. Despite the people aggressively shoving you, it felt as if you and him were the only ones in the room. Everything stood still for a moment as you both scanned each other. His eyes full of an agonizing feeling that words could never explain. He studied you like it was his first time seeing clearly.
You were the first to break eye contact. You push past the crowd in the living room heading for the door that leads to the backyard and beach. You could feel his eyes following you.
You get outside and see another smaller crowd of people hanging around a fire pit, some others by a barbecue. You walk what seems like a mile to the shore, no one giving you any attention. It’s dark out, the only light is coming from the moon, and the spread out tiki torches on the beach. You kneel down in the sand trying to catch your breath, the coarse sand between your fingers grounding you.
After a minute, you get up and remove your dress. You had another red binkini under it incase you ended up swimming, which in this case you did. Your scamper into the frosty water, the coldness touches your feet first, and sends chills up your body. The sensation should feel alerting but it relaxes you instead. You slowly walk into the water, letting it reach your shoulders, then you sink a little farther, letting the water surpass reach your neck. You start to swim a bit, letting the water calm you, and get rid of any unwanted thoughts of Rafe.
Suddenly, you hear a movement in the water and turn your head to see Rafe. His linen polo shirt now on the sand next to your dress, his swim trunks still on. He sits on the sand with his feet submerged in the ocean. “Can I join you?” He asks while looking at you. “Are you serious?” You snap back at him as you swim back towards your clothes—which are inconveniently right next to him—and exit the water. “Y/n please, I really need to talk to you.” He begged as he stood up and grabbed your arm. “Right…and remind me. Why didn’t you say anything the night we fought?” He just stared at you once again. He couldn’t even get a word out with how bad he was stuttering. “Gosh, you’re a fucking joke,” you cursed at him before tugging your arm out of his grip and putting back on your dress.
“Y/n, I didn’t say anything because I had a lot on my mind and I needed to know if you actually wanted us together. I really needed you to love me.” He uttered, his voice shaky like he could disintegrate at any moment. “What kind of fucking excuse is that? I said I didn’t want to break up, you were the one basically insisting on it.” As you yelled at him, all he could do was stare back with a heartbroken expression. That made you even more pissed, it’s like the only thing he knows how to do. You felt the rage burning your skin, your eyes started to narrow to hide the tears trying to escape. “How about when I asked if you wanted to break up, huh? You went so fucking silent my ears started to ring!” You just kept on going, you’d finally let it out. All that hurt that’d been brewing inside of you from that night, that you were unaware of, finally found its way out of your system.
You move to pull down your dress down and he shifts closer to you. “Y/n please,” he pleaded, sounding so worn out like he’d been the one who’s been in hell these past few months. “I-I love you, I really do,” you could hear his voice hitch, he sounded contrite, and you really did want to believe him. But you couldn’t fall for his lies anymore. “If you do then why did you let me leave so quick,” you cried. You couldn’t hide it now and Rafe could see it. The tears falling down your face staining your cheeks. You could barely see him through all the pain he inflicted. Your chin trembled as you looked away from him towards the sky to try to prevent more tears from falling.
What made you look back was him holding something in his hand that he pulled out of his pocket, his eyes fixated on you the whole time. Everything was still blurry, your head was pounding, and your eyes felt like they could fall out. But it was hard to miss the little flicker of light that came from his hands. You quickly wiped your eyes and looked down at him, your eyebrows furrowed together like someone might pull them apart. It doesn’t make sense. He was holding a fucking ring. He just had that sitting in his pocket?
You gasped. “What the fuck Rafe? You’re not fucking real.” It was flawless, not too big, but not too small that no one would notice it. It was a gold princess cut ring, you always talked about liking them to your friends but never mentioned it to Rafe. You reached out for the ring and for the first time in months your hands touched his. The connection instantly sparking back to life through your veins. That magic effect he had on you rushing back.
Not being able to do anything else, you stare at the ring in disbelief. “I picked this up a month after you moved in. I was always looking for the right time. I never expected us to break up before I got the chance.” He lets you take it from his hands and you’re quick to examine it. “Y/n, I didn’t let you leave me, I just couldn’t. I tried to see you again. I mean, the only reason I came here was incase you showed up. I had to make things right with you. I knew I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try,” he confesses. You start crying again, this time you’re not sure why. All you know is that you can let yourself love him again. You fall into his broad chest and his arms wrap around you. He lets himself sink into you, his head resting in your hair.
As you’re crying against him you utter out, “You could’ve just told me.” You hear him sniffle before he responds, “You’re right, I should’ve.” He rubs your hair with his head, wanting to be closer to you. “I was just distraught in the moment. You know? And I know that’s not an excuse but, proposing to you and the risk of losing you were the only things on my mind. I just needed to know you loved me so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself.” You felt him breathe against your head. “You also always wanted your marriage proposal to be a surprise,” his voice starts to break a bit, “and I really wanted to give that to you.”
He was right. You always said you didn’t want your proposal to be a cliche, like on New Years Eve in New York City when the ball drops. You wanted it to be during a moment that was significant to you and your partner, where it would be unexpected. A moment you both could look back on when you’re old and still living in the first house you bought together. You had brought it up once to him when you assumed he wasn’t listening, but he really was. “I kept it on me all the time waiting for the opportunity. Even after we broke up I held onto it. Just so I could find you somewhere and give it to you. No matter what you thought about it. I just wanted to know you’ve seen it, and then you could do as you pleased with it.” He whispered.
The moment was perfect. From it being on the beach at night, to it being completely out of the blue. The dim lights that lined the beach working with the moonlight to give it a dreamy rom-com feeling.
But something in your stomach felt off, a question that you couldn’t ignore kept on appearing in your mind. You hated to ruin the moment but you had to ask. “Rafe?” “Yeah?” His voice sounded more like a soft rumble as he replied.
You finally pushed out the question. “Who was the girl you were talking to at Topper’s party a few months ago?” “What girl?” He responded. You looked up at him with the worst death glare you’ve ever given. “The girl with the flimsy tank top, if you can even call it that.” He chuckled like you said something funny. “That was the jeweler I found to help with the ring. I knew what to get, I just wanted to make sure it looked good. I didn’t know she was going to be there so I just said hi.” You huffed. “Then why were your little friends saying you guys would be perfect together, and tried to set you two up?” You questioned. He let his soft lips touch your forehead and rested his chin there. “Two different people, love.”
You were so confused. Who else was trying to get with him that you should’ve been worried about. “Naomi, the jeweler is not to be confused with Mia…or Claire—I don’t really her name,” He rolls his eyes and take a deep breath. You’re still laying on him so you rise and fall with his chest. “The girl that keeps on texting me because Kelce and Topper told her I wanted her. I blocked her the first time she texted but she’s everywhere.”
You know Kelce and Topper don’t like the fact that you and Rafe were are actually in love, and not just in it for the sex. But how could they go that low to keep you guys apart? The sadness part of it all is that it worked; you got so in your head about the girl you let it ruin your relationship. “Why would they do that anyways? They know you’re—were dating me.” He pauses for a moment. The kind of silence that told you he was processing you did, talking about your relationship like it was something that’s gone forever. “Because they miss the cheating dick I was before I started dating you, as simple as that.” You could tell from his voice he was hurt by it. It’s the truth. No matter how sweet this conversation had come to be, you aren’t together anymore. Like you, he hasn’t accepted it being over, and that gave you a sense of hope.
Out of nowhere, he picks you up. You instantly clutch the ring which you were still holding. He carries you into the water until it’s at about his knees, then he drops you slowly. “Let me see the ring.” He demands. You open your hand for him, “please don’t drop it.” He looks down at you with a smile and that look. The look he gave you when he was helping you move in, after the first time he said I love you, and after each time you got back together. The look that reminds you how in love he is. It ensures you that he’s not faking it. I mean, the way his eyes gaze at you, it’s not something you can fake.
He takes the ring from you gently, granting you your wish of him not dropping it. He stoops down in the water but you can tell he on one knee. You instantly light up. You start laughing because if you don’t you’ll start crying again. You look down at him and he has this silly grin on his face, you can’t help but replicate the same smile. He holds the ring in his left hand and takes your hand with his right.
“Y/n, since the day I saw you at the country club wearing the dress I knew you would be a hard picture to get out of my head. But since the day you forgave me for almost the last time, and moved in with me, even after all those mistakes I made. I came to the conclusion that I never wanted to get rid of you. You’ve made me not only happier than any of those useless hookups did, but you also made me a better man. I can’t celebrate any of my accomplishments without thinking of how you changed me. I wouldn’t the person I am without you. And without you I wouldn’t even want to be alive.” His eyes got even softer and welled up with tears. You couldn’t believe this was happening, especially in one night. “So, y/f/n, will you marry me?”
You stared at him for a moment. You really did love him. You know what people would say. You guys were broken up for months now you’re engaged? But you know what you felt for him, the emptiness you had earlier disappeared once you hugged him. He was the part of you that you’ve been missing. His arms that’ve have hurt people before, somehow brought you so much comfort. A lot of people may think he’s cold-hearted but you know he’s not. He’s not that tough if you can really get to him, and you finally have.
“Yes, I’ll marry you!” You reply with a laugh. He takes your left hand and places the ring on your finger. He’s made a bunch of your dreams come true, but this is the one that matters the most. This is where you begin a new life together. He picks you up and spins you around. Your body sprinkling the water everywhere. His hands reach under your thighs and he lifts you up. You lean in closer to his face, your noses brushing for a split second. His hand goes up to your neck to pull you closer. Your lips meet and you kiss him. This is what you’ve been needing all along. Everything wrong that’s happened in the time you and Rafe spent apart disappeared as soon as you felt his lips.
In that moment you realized, it really has always been you. And from now on, it always will be you.
a/n: heyy, thanks for reading! the drew fic will be coming sometime this week!
reblogs and likes are appreciated! please do not copy or repost my work
