i was inspired by my last fic to make a series between a fem!reader and her best friend’s hot and mysterious older brother – rafe cameron ;) so yuh i’ll be starting it soon, here’s the masterlist for when i begin <3
best friend’s brother
tension between y/n and rafe cameron has never been short, not since they were kids. angst that grew into feelings neither could ever admit to themselves makes being best friend’s with sarah cameron a liiittle harder than it used to be.
mrs. country club
after breaking down on their way to a party, sarah and y/n are left with no one but rafe to call when no one else will pick up. running errands, rafe says he can take one of them on his bike and drop them off after doing some things. sarah, being as considerate as she is, says she can walk to topper’s from there and get a ride; meaning y/n has to join rafe on some questionable errands
run em up, baby
starting to work the summer at the country club had been a good job, with good pay, and good customers considering y/n comes from a well respected family. that is, until, rafe cameron enters the building.
i need anyone, i need you
working late at the country club one night, y/n stumbles across a very drunk and out of it rafe who ends up accidentally breaking every emotional barrier possible.
the truth is ugly. i like pretty things.
after opening up to y/n about his troubles, rafe realises that they could actually have a civil relationship despite their differences. he doesn’t remember everything he spilt, but y/n sure does, and instantly builds up any wall he began to break down with her. rafe pushes y/n to remind him of whatever he told her that she seemed so freaked out about, and he’s left wondering why it would be so bad.
mind games
for the sake of his own ego, rafe’s made it his personal mission to win y/n over. constantly asking her out, pulling her aside on her shifts, flirting with her at family dinners – driving her crazy but realising his own feelings at the same time.
meet me in the hallway
one sleepover with sarah, y/n and rafe are both wide awake. she decides after tossing and turning to confront him about what he’s been doing, at the same time he gets up to admit he really does feel things for her. the two meet in the hallway.
^if you want to be added to the tag list leave a comment / send me a request !
a/n: sorry guys i kinda went MIA for a while! hoping to get back into writing and keep updating! thanks for supporting 🧡
You sat on the HMS Pogue, a smile wide across your face as the wind whipped through your hair. You glanced to JJ who was sitting beside you, his smile just as wide as yours.
He looked over, catching your eyes, “Wanna drink?” He asked, raising a brow.
“Yeah, sure,” you shrugged.
JJ nodded, reaching over you toward the cooler that you hadn’t noticed before on your left.
“Oh sorry, I can grab-” your offer was cut short and you trailed off as JJ’s other hand landed on top of your thigh as he finally managed to grab the drinks. Your stomach did a flip at his touch and you had to stop yourself from gasping out loud.
“Here,” he handed you a can and kept one for himself. Leaving his hand sitting gently on your thigh, “You alright?” He asked, looking at your flushed cheeks and parted lips with a grin- knowing exactly what he was doing.
“Y-Yeah... Yeah, I’m great,” you breathed. JJ smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but a loud splash interrupted the moment.
“JJ! Y/N! Are you guys getting in or what?” John B hollered, then jumped into the cool water to join the rest of the pogues.
You laughed softly, standing up with JJ. You pulled off your shirt, leaving you in your favorite striped bathing suit and followed JJ to the front of the boat.
You were about to jump into the water when JJ laced his fingers into yours, “Y/N,” You looked back at him, a smile still across your face.
“I just wanted to say, this has been a lot of fun- you’ve been a lot of fun,” JJ blushed slightly and looked away for a second, “Do you think you’d wanna do it again sometime?”
“JJ,” you paused, took a breath, and before you could convince yourself not to, leaned in and pressed your lips to his.
JJ hesitated for a moment, clearly surprised by your response, but he quickly regained his confidence. His hands dragging down around your waist, pulling you into his body as he deepened the kiss.
The two of you pulled away for a moment, catching your breath, “Was that a good enough answer for you Maybank?” You asked, still a little breathless from the kiss. JJ laughed softly, unable to stop his smiling as he went in for another.
You stifled a laugh as you heard the Pogues in the water hollaring at the two of you.
“Get a room!” Pope joked, earning the finger from JJ as he pulled you even closer to him.
You couldn’t help but think of Rafe as JJ kissed you.
Not because you were missing him, but because you wondered if this was what it’s supposed to feel like. This spark, the constant butterflies- was this love?
How had you been foolish enough to think that what you had with Rafe was anything close to love?
Characters: Rafe x Reader, JJ x Reader (future parts), John B, Kiara, Pope
Word Count: 950
Summary: JJ and Y/N clearly feel something for each other, though Pogues and Kooks are never supposed to be together.
A/N: I think I’m going to make this into a series, let me know if you’re interested.
^ leave a comment or send an ask if you want to be put on the tag list so you know when i post the next parts!
You sat with Rafe’s arm wrapped tightly around your shoulder as you took another sip from your red solo cup. You couldn’t help but zone out as Rafe bragged to his rich friends about the new boat his dad has just gifted him from his birthday.
Your eyes wandered among the people around the party, your eyes landing on JJ Maybank as they always did.
JJ had always caught your eye, but it was an unspoken rule that pogues and kooks didn’t like each other- let alone date. You watched as he partied alongside the tourists, no doubt flirting and hoping to get lucky for the night as he always did; wishing that one day he might approach you.
Rafe squeezed his arm a little tighter around you, trying to get your attention, “Right Y/N/N?” He said, looking for your approval of whatever he had been telling his friends about.
You snapped your attention away from JJ, missing the stare he sent across the party looking at you, “Uh,” you laughed dryly, “Yeah, of course,” you agreed, giving him a fake smile as you tried to drown him and his friends out again.
It wasn’t that you didn’t like Rafe. He could be sweet sometimes and always treated you well- and he sure as hell knew how to throw a party. But sometimes you would find yourself questioning If this was really right for you- were you meant to be a kook? Did you really want to surround yourself with fake people whose only personality trait was being rich?
You couldn’t help but envy Kiara, who had ditched the kook life to join JJ and his group of friends. But you feared becoming the new laughing stock of the kooks, you knew firsthand how cruel they could be.
-
JJ couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering across the beach, looking for you as he always did. His eyes finally found you; you were sitting next to Rafe who had his arm wrapped around you tightly like it always was.
He noticed the bored look in your eyes and the fake smile plastered across your face as you pretended to be interested in whatever Rafe was saying.
“Hello?” Kie dragged out the word, waving her hand in front of JJ’s face, “Earth to JJ,”
He shook his head, his attention snapping away from you, “Huh?”
John B patted him on the back shaking his head, “You were staring… again,” he said.
“Wh-” JJ sputtered trying to defend himself, “I was not! I was -”
Pope rolled his eyes, “Save it J, we all know you’ve got a thing for her,”
“Yeah,” Kie agreed, “For months now every party we go to you spend the whole time drooling over her. Have you even spoken to her before?”
“Pfft,” JJ scoffed, reeling back with an offended look on his face, “Of course I have. I did a job for her dad last summer,”
“Oh, so you said hello to her once,” Kie said, raising a brow, “How romantic,” she said sarcastically.
JJ rolled his eyes, “It was more than that okay,”
“Why don’t you just go talk to her?” John B suggested.
JJ looked over at Rafe and his friends around you, then back to John B, “Really? I should go over there and get my ass beat? Genius idea John B. Thanks for the advice,” He said sarcastically.
“Since when are you afraid of a fight?”
“I’m not!”
Pope, Kie, and John B, exchanged looks. “Kinda sounds like you are,” Kie said bluntly with a shrug.
JJ sighed, “Look I am going to talk to her,” he said with a wave of his hand as he looked back over toward you, “I’m just waiting till she’s not right next to her boyfriend,” she said, glaring at his three best friends.
“Well, now’s your chance, tough guy,” Kie said with a smile, clapping him on the back.
“What?” He said panic rising in his voice as he glanced over to see you standing up, “Oh God- Wait, is she coming over here?”
Pope nodded, holding back a laugh.
His eyes widened, looking back to his friends, “Guys I’m not ready,” He wiped his hand across his face, “I- I can’t right now,”
“You got this JJ,” John B said, pushing his best friend forward, nearly causing the two of you to collide.
“Oh!” You said, looking up as JJ nearly ran you over, “Hey,”
“Umm, hey,” he said nervously.
“I-” they both started their sentences at the same time.
“Oh sorry-” JJ started.
“Sorry,” you said with a small smile, “You go first,”
“Umm, alright,” he said, nervously brushing his hair back with his fingers, as he struggled to find the words. He was never this nervous around girls, but you were different. “I was just thinking… Uh, maybe we could hang out sometime?“
Your smile grew across your face as he kept talking.
“Maybe we could hang out on the beach or-”
“Hey!” Rafe yelled and you quickly spun to see him storming towards the two of you, “Y/N, is this pogue bothering you?” He didn’t even give you a chance to answer, “Look JJ, back off. My girlfriend doesn’t talk to trash,” he fumed, grabbing a hold of JJ’s collar.
“Rafe,” you said, tugging on his arm, trying to get his attention before he took it too far. You knew how over protective he could be and how his anger could take over quickly, “Rafe, he didn’t do anything okay… he was just telling me where the drinks were,” you lied.
JJ gave you an odd look as Rafe let go of his collar and shoved him back.
“Stay the hell away from my girl Maybank, or we’re gonna have a problem,” Rafe sneered, roughly grabbing your hand and dragging you off. You looked back at JJ as Rafe led you away, wishing things could be different.
Summary: Y/N and Rafe had never liked each other and Y/N is less than thrilled when Rafe gets into a fight at a party and she's the one who has to help fix him up.
a/n: enjoy this enemy to lover type beat :) it's a little spicier than i normally write, hope you all like it !
LINK TO OBX MASTERLIST
please DON’T steal my work it’s literally not cool- also i would LOVE if you left some feedback ! thank u and hope u guys enjoy :))
“Sarah!” Topper rounded the corner, a worried look on his face as he waved her over.
Sarah groaned, “Now what?” She huffed under her breath. She walked over to him and you followed close behind.
“How much do you wanna bet it’s Rafe again?” you raised your eyebrows at your best friend as the two of you shared a look.
“It’s Rafe. Some guy said something to him and a fight broke out.” Topper confirmed your suspicions as he led the two of you to the kitchen.
You scoffed slightly, of course, it was Rafe causing problems. When was he not?
Several of your friends liked Rafe and enjoyed hanging out with him- you were quite the opposite. While many thought Rafe was charming and hot, you saw him for the cocky and selfish asshole that he was. He didn’t care for you much either, always seeing you as his little sister's annoying friend.
You and Sarah pushed through the crowd that had formed in the kitchen, still following Topper. The fight had cooled down, but both boys were still reeling with anger as they tried to catch their breaths.
Rafe was leaning against the marble countertop, his lip and knuckles bloody. His hair was strewn about, much different than his usual slicked back style, and his forehead was lined with sweat. His shoulders rose up and down as he stood heaving, still trying to steady his breathing.
“All right enough!” Sarah yelled, trying to disperse the crowd and get things to settle down before anything else happened. “Everybody outside now, there’s nothing to see here!”
“Gonna make your sister bail you out of a fight, Cameron?” The boy Rafe had just been fighting taunted, “Fight me!”
Rafe’s face grew red and he stepped toward the boy. Luckily, Topper stepped in front of him first, nipping the problem in the bus before they started again. A few other guys grabbed the other kid and ushered him outside.
You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you looked around the kitchen. The bowl of punch and several other drinks had been knocked off the counter during their brawl and were now covering the tile floor, “Dammit, Rafe,”
Rafe ignored you wiping the blood on his lower lip away with his thumb. He shoved Topper aside so he could grab his beer, which conveniently hadn’t been knocked to the ground like most everything else.
“No,” Sarah shook her head and grabbed the bottle first, dumping the remainder into the sink, “No more. Just go upstairs before you ruin something else,”
“Screw you, Sarah,” he snapped back, “I don’t take orders from you-”
“Rafe, just go upstairs!” She glared at her older brother, “It’s the least you could do while I clean up this mess,”
“I don’t-”
“Y/N,” she interrupted him and looked at you for some help, “Can you please just take him upstairs and make sure he stays there?”
You hesitated, knowing that spending more time with Rafe than necessary was something you desperately wanted to avoid. But, you also knew how fed up Sarah was with him and the disaster he’d created in the kitchen. “Come on Rafe,” you finally said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him toward the stairs and up to his room.
He scoffed, pulling out of your grip and storming ahead of you up the stairs, making a point to be as loud as possible.
You gave Sarah a look, saying something along the lines of “your brother is literally the biggest asshole I have ever met." She mouthed a “thank you” before you followed him upstairs.
You finally made it to his room, he shoved open the door and stomped inside.
“Genuine question Rafe, do you enjoy making mine and Sarah’s night's hell?” You shut the door behind you as you followed him inside.
Rafe rolled his eyes, “How about you mind your business,” he spat.
“Well, it’s pretty hard to stay out of it when you ruin every party by starting a fight,” you snapped back.
“You know what?” He spun around to face you and you could practically feel the anger coming off of him, “Fuck you, Y/N. I didn’t ask you to come up here. I’m not a stupid child, you don’t have to sit up here and babysit me,”
“Well, maybe if you stopped acting like an 8-year-old, Sarah and I could actually enjoy our night instead of having to watch your every move." You glared at him, feeling your nails dig into your palms as your clenched fists tightened. “You’re a spoiled prick, and one day, all you’re friends are gonna realize that.”
“Funny, hearing that coming from you Y/N,” he said, his voice low as he took a step closer to you, “You and Sarah are so stuck up-” he abruptly stopped when he raised a finger to point at you, wincing in pain.
Your mouth had been open, ready to take another dig at him, but you hesitated when you saw the flash of pain across his face.
“ What’s wrong?” You asked impatiently.
Rafe gritted his teeth and shook his head, “Nothing, I’m fine,”
You rolled your eyes, “Obviously you aren’t, what is it?” Your voice softened slightly as you stepped toward him.
“Y/N, seriously. It’s nothing, okay?” He stepped back, but you didn’t miss the way he winced when he moved his shoulder. “I swear I'll stay up here the rest of the night. Just go and enjoy your night with Sarah,” He huffed, “And my sincerest apologies for ruining the party” he added, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he gave you a tight-lipped smile.
You ignored him and didn’t say a word, reaching forward and unbuttoning his navy blue button-up, determined to see what was wrong with him.
“Y/N, quit it,” he tried to brush you away but you were relentless, “I told you I’m fine-”
“Oh my God, Rafe,” you breathed out as you pulled away the shirt to reveal a nasty gash going from the top of his shoulder to almost the middle of his chest.
“It’s not that bad,”
You ignored him and rolled your eyes, tugging at his shirt as you took it off of him. You dropped it to the floor, looking at your red hands. The shirt’s dark color had disguised the blood, blending in with the sweat that had covered the shirt as a result of his fight.
“Sit down,” you ordered, this time Rafe didn't refute you and sat down on the end of his bed.
You left for a moment, entering his connecting bathroom and rummaging through the cabinets until you found a first aid kit. You tossed the plastic container on the bed next to Rafe and took a closer look at his chest, “What the hell even cut you?” You wondered aloud.
Rafe shrugged, “When he shoved me I hit the counter pretty hard but it doesn’t even hurt- ow,” he hissed as you touched the gash while trying to get a better look at it.
“Doesn’t hurt, huh?” You repeated, raising a brow. You popped open the first aid kit and pulled out a prepackaged alcohol pad. “This is gonna sting,” you informed him as you ripped it open and went to work cleaning his wound.
Rafe took a sharp breath and tried to pull away at the burning sensation.
“Don’t be a little bitch,”
If looks could kill, you’d be dead by the way Rafe was glaring at you as you continued to work at the awkward angle. Once you were sure that it was cleaned up enough, you turned and grabbed a few bandages from the box. You held up the first bandage, eyeballing the size to make sure it would cover the gash.
“Dammit,” you muttered under your breath, getting frustrated with how difficult it was to get a good angle to put the bandage on him.
“What?” He snapped his glare still unwavering.
“It’s nothing- I just can’t get a good angle I don’t know how I’m gonna be able to wrap this up well enough,”
Rafe rolled his eyes and before you could comprehend what he was doing his left hand had grabbed your waist. He guided your hips and plopped you down so you were straddling him in his lap.
“Rafe! What are you-”
“Fixing the problem,” he replied simply, “Now you have a good angle. Bandage me up.”
You didn’t miss the smirk playing on his lips, but you swallowed the lump in your throat and went back to work. He winced as your hands smoothed out the bandage covering his chest. You grabbed some medical tape and taped the edges down so they wouldn’t peel up when he put his shirt back on or moved around.
“Okay,” you looked up at him, still sitting on his thighs as you spoke, “I think you’re all good-” That’s when you felt it. Oh my god.
Rafe’s smirk only grew when he watched you notice the hardness in his pants. He couldn’t help but relish the moment as you shifted uncomfortably under his stare, “You gonna help me with that too?” He asked with a smug grin.
This series has quickly become my favorite thing to write, so I decided to give it it's very own masterlist! Hope you all enjoy xoxo (had to throw this gif in bc it gets me EVERY. TIME.)
— anon’s request: ok so since i too am a whore for angst. how about the reader and rafe having a summer thing as a kook (maybe she goes to the pogue school but is a kook) and once she goes back to school, they drift apart and rafe gets jealous of her spending her time with the pogues. then maybe he sees her again at mid summers all dressed up and remembers he still loves her. please break my heart with this, im in need of a cry and then maybe put it back together with some fluff at the end? please
— warnings: fem!reader, brief smut (skip if uncomfortable), asshole!rafe for a good chunk of the imagine, language, angst, fluff.
— word count: 2,166
IT all started when you bumped into rafe at the country club on figure eights.
you didn’t normally hang around that area, but you were hanging out with sarah that day—which meant eventually running into her brother.
she tried to keep you away from him, just because he had no filter and didn’t think twice before voicing his opinion, but sooner or later your interaction with the boy would happen.
“oh god” sarah mumbled causing you to raise your brows, a confused frown on your face as she signaled to look behind you.
you turned around not so subtle to see rafe cameron making his way down the grassy hill, a golf club in one hand and a can of beer in the other.
“hey little sis, when were you going to introduce me to your friend here?” the boy spoke, a small grin on his face at seeing her roll her eyes.
“i wasn’t planning on it, you know—considering how you’re an ass.”
a small giggle fell from your lips as rafe turned his attention back to you, the sides of his mouth curling slightly at your reaction.
“well since she won’t introduce me, i will” he said, his figure leaning over yours which was sat on the grass.
he tossed his most likely expressive golf club to the ground to extend his hand out to you, which you hesitated to take before slowly reaching for it.
“i’m rafe cameron.”
of course you knew who he was, everyone did.
“y/n y/l/n.”
YOU thought the interaction with sarah’s older brother was in the past, not having to see him again since you weren’t planning on going back to figure eight or the club any time soon.
but when you found yourself in his bed getting the absolute daylights fucked out of you, you knew right then and there that this wasn’t a one time thing.
“fuck rafe,” you moaned loudly, your head thrown back against the pillow as your eyes fell shut from the feeling.
he slide his cock in and out of your needy hole as you whimpered from under him, his toned body pressed against yours as you jolted from each thrust.
“m’gonna cum, flood this needy little fuck hole” he spat, his hand coming down to grab your face and force you to open your eyes.
“please, rafe. please fill me up” you begged, your little moans and pleads sending the boy over the edge.
as soon as he gave you permission to cum you didn’t hold back. it felt like your entire body had shut down as your head fell to the side.
rafe sent a rough thrust into your quivering body before emptying himself inside, making sure to keep himself as close as possible in order to not let any leak out.
“fuck,” he groaned in your ear, his body pressed against your small one as your hands came up to rest in his hair, pulling on it gently as his cum filled you up.
later that night you didn’t bother sneaking back out to your place, instead rafe suggested you actually stay—running you a hot bath before ordering take out.
it surprised you really, considering how you didn’t know what you guys were.
you both agreed to only be friends with benefits when this all started, but now you didn’t know if you wanted that or not.
you wanted something more with the blue eyed boy.
“what are we?” you asked while laying in his arms, the feeling of his breath trailing down your neck giving you comfort.
“friends with benefits.”
no hesitation was found in his voice. it was quick and sudden, just like your heart breaking.
“oh.”
you didn’t talk much with rafe after that night—leaving early in the morning to avoid further interaction.
rafe didn’t suspect anything though, knowing how busy you usually get with school and home life, but after that single day turned into almost a week, he knew something wasn’t right.
usually you’d be around the house or at the country club, but it felt like you were almost avoiding him.
when school started up that’s when things really started to hit for rafe. you were not only distancing yourself from him, but now you were hanging out with the pogues.
to him you had wiggled yourself into john b’s friend group, getting closer with everyone but mostly jj, the one pogue he despised more than the others.
it was the night of midsommars and you were preparing yourself to see rafe, your nerves seeming to skyrocket every time his name was mentioned.
“ARE you feeling okay, y/n/n? you’re all jittery” kie pointed out, her eyes locking with yours through the vanity mirror as you slowly brushed through your hair.
“i’m okay, kie— really. just nervous for tonight i guess” you shrugged, your response seeming convincing enough as she nodded.
“hey slow pokes! hurry up or we’re going to be late” jj called, pounding on the door making you and kie jump.
“fucking assholes” you mumbled.
MIDSOMMARS was something you always looked forward to.
the lights, the food, the beautiful dresses and people you got to meet—which was rare considering how almost everyone there were stuck up kooks who’s only personality trait was having money.
all except rafe.
he was different towards you, a lot different it was scary.
“jj, don’t get into any more fights, k?” kie sighed, licking the pad of her thumb before dragging it across his face—getting rid of the dirt that had formed there.
he didn’t say who specifically it was with—the fight—just claiming it was with some stupid kooks who didn’t know when to stop talking.
“yeah yeah” he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair before sending you both a small smile.
he picked up his tray and spun it on his finger before sending her a wink, a blush coming to kie’s face as she quickly looked away.
“soooo, you and jj....” you said, the girl’s eyes rolling as she playfully pushed you away.
“enough about me, what about you?”
“me?” you raised an eyebrow, “what about me?”
“don’t play dumb, y/n/n. i’ve seen you come back late with hickeys.”
you grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters walking by and took a long sip from it, your eyebrows twisting together— “this is good, you should try it.”
kie was about to protest until the music started to kick up again, your favorite song playing making you gasp.
you quickly placed the glass on an empty table before taking her hands and pulling her towards the dance floor.
“let’s dance!”
unknown to you—rafe had been watching you ever since you stepped foot into the venue.
IT was almost one in the morning when everyone had left, you and kie sitting at one of the empty tables while you waited for jj to finish up.
you hadn’t had that much to drink, but you could say you were a little tipsy.
“ready to go?” jj asked while throwing his arms around you both, a sarcastic grunt dropping from your lips at the sudden weight.
“we were about to leave yo-”
“well, well, well...if it isn’t the golden trio” a familiar voice spat, your head snapping to the side as your eyes fell on the devil himself.
rafe cameron and his little minions.
“if it isn’t daddy’s money, dumb, and dumber” kie snapped back—referring to topper and kelce who were standing on either side of him.
“put your dog on a leash maybank before we do it ourselves” rafe threatened, only causing jj to break from your side and lunge at the boy.
“jj, stop” you said, grabbing his arm as kie yanked him back, “he wants a reaction.”
“i didn’t see you there, y/n. so quiet and small, hard to notice you.”
which was obviously a lie. rafe noticed you the second he walked into the stupid party.
“what do you want, rafe? getting bored at the country club?” you asked, your lips dropping into a fake pout.
“actually the country club is entertaining, unlike some needy bitches who can’t satisfy my needs.”
your face dropped as kie gasped beside you—jj completely unaware of what was going on but still pissed at the way rafe was speaking to you.
rafe’s face dropped slightly at the realization of what he just said, nothing but lies falling from his mouth as his eyes filled with guilt.
“fuck you.”
YOU didn’t remember much after that. just the events taking place of jj trying to throw another punch at the boys before getting dragged away by kie.
the poor girl was trying to control her hot headed friend while the other was on the verge of tears.
but you refused to cry.
in front of rafe or not, you would not let yourself cry over him.
all you remember is crashing at john b’s house and waking up with a massive headache.
your legs were draped over kie’s as the two of you slept on john b’s bed, the boys taking the couch in the living room.
light from the outside peeked through the curtains as your eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness.
your phone laid next to you on the comforter as your hands dragged it closer.
what you weren’t expecting was a shitload of texts from rafe.
rafe cameron: i’m really sorry
[sent 1:34am]
rafe cameron: y/n
[sent 1:34am]
rafe cameron: i didn’t mean anything i said
[sent 1:36am]
rafe cameron: i was drunk and wasn’t thinking
[sent 1:40am]
rafe cameron: please hear me out
[sent 1:41am]
rafe cameron: meet me at our place
[sent 1:49am]
rafe cameron: 7:30am
[sent 1:51am]
you groaned loudly while reading his texts, the need to throwup swirling in your stomach as you tossed your phone to the side.
you ran your hands over your face as you thought on what to do, biting your bottom lip in the process as you stared at the wall in front of you.
after what felt like an hour of pondering, you let yourself slip off the bed and grab your hoodie that was thrown on the floor.
you were going to see him.
‘WHAT if she doesn’t show’ rafe thought to himself as he sat in the sand, his eyes locked on the waves crashing in front of him.
he was stupid last night.
the boy made a stupid mistake that he regretted deeply.
he just needs to show you how sorry he is.
“rafe.”
his head snapped in the direction of your voice, your figure standing a few feet from his as he then quickly stood up.
he dusted off his pants before nervously making eye contact, his throat suddenly drying up as he attempted to swallow what felt like a rock.
“y/n, i’m s-so so sorry for what i said yesterday. i-i didn’t mean any of it-”
“so what? i’m supposed to forgive you?” you cut off, raising an eyebrow as his mouth fell slightly, “what if it happens again?”
“i-it won’t! i swear it won’t. i was just drunk and jealous and really fucking stupid” he blabbered on, his hands shaking as he tried to defend himself.
“jealous?” you asked, your eyebrows furrowing together as he nodded his head shamefully.
“of you and that stupid pogue.”
“jj?!”
he seemed to visibly retract from your words, his eyes narrowing as he bit the inside of his cheek.
“yeah, him.”
“so you acted the way you did...because of jj?” you slowly asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared at you.
“i didn’t mean it, y/n...” he frowned, his face dropping slightly as you waited for him to continue, “please give me another chance, i’ll show you how sorry i am—how much you mean to me.”
it was quiet for a good minute as your thoughts swarmed your mind for a response.
“rafe...”
“y/n, please.”
another minute went by, the only sound coming from the waves crashing along the shore.
“fine.”
IT had been five months since you forgave rafe, and things were honestly going better than you had expected.
after that morning on the beach he took you out on a proper date—ending in him walking you back to your house and even stealing a kiss.
he even stopped starting fights with jj and the other pogues, wanting you to know that he was better than that.
“WHAT do you want to watch?” rafe asked while flipping through channels, one hand holding the remote while the other rested on the small of your back.
“m’not sure, you can pick.”
he hummed in response before clicking on some random channel, not really planning on watching it anyway.
he tossed the remote to the side before looking down at you, admiring your relaxed state with your arms wrapped tightly around his torso.
“you know i love you right?” he suddenly asked, his voice low and soft as he stared at you from above.
“why so gushy, rafe?” you teased, your own head angling up to see him better.
he was so beautiful.
“i’m not gushy,” he rolled his eyes, “i just wanted to remind you.”
you blushed at his words before nuzzling back into the crook of his neck, your lips kissing the delicate skin making him smile.
summary: starting to work the summer at the country club had been a good job, with good pay, and good customers considering y/n comes from a well respected family. that is, until, rafe cameron enters the building
content: a lot of drunk teasing and angst, as per usual
warnings: strong language, alcohol use
Ward Cameron being such a close friend of the Y/L/N’s came in very handy when it came to favours. Usually it was the odd free day on the golf course, or lending out a boat for the night, but this time the man had managed to bag Y/N a job at the country club for the summer.
Which to anyone else, a pogue especially, would’ve been a God send. The highest paying job for teenagers in the entirety of the Outer Banks, and that’s without including all the privileges and benefits at working at the club. Yet Y/N wanted nothing to do with it.
“Y/N, for God’s sake, it’s only for the summer! It’ll keep you busy, give you something to do other than hang around with Sarah all the time.”
Y/N groaned, throwing her head back as she closed the fridge, turning to sit at the island. “Mom, you don’t understand. Everyone who goes there, everyone I’ll be serving… I’ll know them! It’ll be embarrassing.”
The girl didn’t want to tell her parents the real reason she wanted out of a summer job at the club, because they’d do nothing but call her ridiculous.
It was a relatively known fact that Rafe spends most of his time at the country club. When he wasn’t working with his dad or getting high, he’d be spending his days getting drunk and playing golf. And now, Y/N has to hand the whiskey to him.
“Just go, do your first shift and if it’s that embarrassing you can tell Ward yourself you’d rather scrounge off your parents all summer than earn your own way of partying.” Her dad stood, sharply folding his paper and slamming it on the table as his own way of saying the conversation was over – and in looking over at her mother, she was met only with a cocked brow and a slight shake of her head.
Y/N sighed one more time before finishing the juice pouch she’d retrieved, angrily throwing it in the trash before leaving for a shift she didn’t want.
She tightened her ponytail, retied her short pinny and smoothed down her polo about a million times before entering the establishment, the building already filling out with the lunch rush.
The manager was stood serving drinks when he saw Y/N, calling the girl over. She feigned a tight smile, heading towards the bar as he rounded the wood to face her.
“You must be Y/N,” he clapped his hand on her shoulder, a little harshly, pulling her behind the bar, “I’m David, your manager. Ward’s told me all about you, he’s painted you out to be a very hard worker.”
Y/N breathed out a nervous chuckle as David released his grip from her shoulder. He pulled out a call sheet and a pen, pointing to an empty time gap.
“You clock in here at the beginning of every shift and at the end of every shift, otherwise you don’t get paid. Tips are your own, so earn them,” that was when he stopped, resting his palm on the bar top, “how old are you?”
“I’m seventeen, sir,” Y/N cleared her throat, standing the straightest she potentially ever had as she nervously fumbled with her fingers. Being a kook, she’s never really had a job – other than the occasional paid errand she’s run for her parents friends. So for her first one to be at the most intimidating place to work… she was terrified.
“Seventeen…” he thought, his hand now rested over his chin as he lifted his back, standing straight in thought, “you don’t need to worry about serving drinks for now then, hm? We’ll use you in the kitchen, you can take orders and serve food, anyone asks for a soft drink you can take care of that. I’ll get Cassandra to take care of you today, show you around. Alright?”
“Yes sir.” Y/N nodded.
After half an hour, Y/N wasn’t totally hating her time. She’d been introduced to Cassie, a waitress a couple years older than her in college on the mainland; just a girl who comes back to the island during the summer to work her ass off, essentially. The two got along, and with the lunch rush not being such a rush on a Wednesday afternoon, Y/N figured it was pretty easy money.
That was, until, she had to make her first order alone.
“Shit, really?” She murmured as Cassie handed the girl her very own pen and pad.
“Yes, shit, really,” Cassie smiled in amusement, “you’ll be absolutely fine. If you panic just… God, I don’t know, scream and cry?”
Y/N pulled a face of feigned annoyance, responding sarcastically with a, “gee, thanks, great advice.” Cassie winked at her before essentially having to push her on her way, forcing Y/N into the shark’s den as she looked for waiting customers.
It wasn’t anything too petulant at first, mainly just taking water and salad orders from old people before they set out on the golf course. That was, until, she heard clicking from a table in the far back; her first terrible customer. She internally sighed, maintaining a more than fake grin as she waltzed over, pen at the ready as she expected some middle aged, self entitled men who just wanted a scotch she wouldn’t be able to serve them anyway.
“How can I help…” Y/N trailed off, her smile dropping when she saw who had clicked her over. His face covered by Topper’s back, she hadn’t noticed that it was, in fact, the one person she didn’t want to see, “you.”
Rafe cocked his head, smiling bigger than he ever had. Despite being an asshole, generally, Rafe still knew better than to click his fingers at a waitress. He’d seen Y/N, stood around the bar as she poured a Diet Coke for someone, and figured he’d have a little fun with the rest of his afternoon.
Y/N sighed, her smile falling completely from her face as she dropped her hip, letting her pad of paper hang loose in her hand.
“Oh, hey, Y/N–” Topper started, but Rafe quickly interrupted.
“Two whiskey’s, hold the ice,” he winked, resting his jaw between his index and his middle as he leaned towards Y/N in his chair.
“I can’t serve you alcohol.” Y/N deadpanned.
“Jesus, we’ve barely had two drinks–”
“No, dumbass, because I’m underage.”
He pulled his head back in offence, sucking his teeth as he dropped his arm from the rest, “ouch, whatever happened to service with a smile?” Y/N rolled her eyes, realising that Rafe was just waisting her time and potential tips by messing with her – so she started to walk away, deciding to spend the rest of her shift serving customers who may actually get her paid.
Rafe, however, didn’t miss a beat in grabbing her wrist and pulling her back. She looked up, running her tongue around her mouth as she ripped her hand from his grip before dropping her gaze back down to him.
“Rafe, man, come on. Just order something and leave her alone.” Topper tried to interject, knowing that if he didn’t at least try to defend his girlfriend’s best friend he’d get it in from Sarah that night.
“Listen, I can smell the drink on you and I can see it in your eyes. I don’t care if you’re drunk, but if you’re going to let it interfere with my work, then it becomes a problem. I’m sure David wouldn’t mind kicking out an underage drinker with a fake.” She smiled innocently, titling her head at him. Touché.
Rafe cleared his throat, sitting forward to stare her down, “how about you just go get us… two cokes, yeah?” He looked at Topper, who would’ve agreed to anything to get him to stop in that moment, “you think you can do that for us?”
“I’m sure I can handle it,” Y/N snarked, beginning to walk away before she turned back, “oh, Rafe?” He glanced up, “you mean the drink, right?”
He bit his tongue, holding back the urge to stand up and scream at her that she was supposed to forget about his little drug run the other day, but it was evident how irritated he was and that was enough for Y/N. She smirked, returning to taking orders and ensuring to leave Rafe’s till last.
When she finally served them their drinks without speaking a word, Rafe whistled, causing her to halt in her tracks.
“We want some food, don’t we, Top?”
In all honesty, Topper just wanted to leave, but he knew that arguing with Rafe never ended better than it started so he just sighed and nodded.
“What?” Y/N spat, clicking her pen into action.
“Uh… we want some, prawns?” He looked over at Topper, who just absentmindedly agreed, “and, two burgers, uh. Some of that, soup you’ve got on, oh! Can’t forget the bread.”
Y/N closed her eyes briefly, ready to snap her pen in half, “that everything, sir?”
Rafe leaned back in his chair, smirking, “think so, ma’am.” When Y/N walked away, more than fuming with rage, Topper leaned towards Rafe to interject.
“Sarah’s gonna kill you, you know that? What’s up with you, can’t you just leave the poor girl alone?”
Rafe rolled his eyes, “Jesus, I’m having a little fun, that’s all.” Topper shook his head, biting his tongue as he looked out onto the putting field to stop himself pushing it further. Rafe recognised that he was more than annoying Y/N, but he didn’t want her thinking his sudden burst of overprotection last week meant anything. He wanted to ensure she still knew he practically hated her guts, and if overcompensating meant that it got through to her, he’d be more than fine with ramping it up a little.
Y/N almost didn’t put their order through, getting incredibly close to throwing out the whole note and just… quitting, right there and then. She knew Rafe would make the job Hell, so why was it such a shocker that on her first ever shift he’d managed to make her want to cry at least six times.
“Shit, big table come in?” Cassie frowned in seeing how full Y/N’s tab was. She clicked her tongue, letting out a lowly annoyed chuckle as she clipped it to the string of orders for the chefs to prepare.
“Nope, just Rafe Cameron.”
Cassie was confused, “huh?” She checked the tab again, “well, I guess each to their own.” She shrugged, not realising the pair’s history and the fact that he doesn’t just have eyes bigger than his belly.
“He’s only doing it because he knows it’ll wind me up.” Y/N started to grab their plates and cutlery, not bothering to fancifully wrap them like she’d been shown to.
“Why?” Cassie still wasn’t following.
“Because I borrowed his stupid Nintendo, like ten years ago, and for some reason he still wants me to pay.” Y/N stormed out the kitchen to set the plates and cutlery on the counter to take out in a moment as Cassie followed her out.
“Yeah, still don’t get it dude.”
“He’s my best friend’s brother,” Y/N sighed, pushing the loose strands of her ponytail back, “it’s just… it’s complicated. Well, actually, it’s not. The Nintendo thing was true, what’s complicated is how he hasn’t stopped trying to make my life Hell ever since.”
Cassie flicked a brow, leaning her hand on her hip as she started to hum in amusement.
“What?” Y/N questioned, grabbing the plates.
“Sounds like someone has a crush.” Cassie sang.
Y/N could’ve dropped the China. “What,” she spluttered, growing instantly flustered at the accusation, “me on him? Him on me? No, no way,” she guffawed, a little too loud to be supposedly telling the truth.
“Okay, whatever you say,” Cassie held her hands up in defence, though still not convinced, “you’ve heard what they say about little boys on playgrounds, though, right?”
The girl rolled her eyes, her cheeks flushing crimson as the thought of a crush on either end flurries around her scattered mind, “that’s just a misogynistic preach told to little girls so they don’t question why men are so mean to them. He doesn’t have a crush on me.”
Y/N left to give the two of them their dining ware, indicating to Cassie the conversation was over. Cassie was far from convinced, as what Y/N didn’t see was the little glint in Rafe’s eyes as she turned her back to him, and how long that glint lasted on the girl he allegedly hated so.
content: tension, angst, a very pissed off rafe driving around a very pissed off y/n
After breaking down on their way to a party, Sarah and Y/N are left with no one but Rafe to call when no one else will pick them up. Busy running errands, Rafe says he can take one of them on his bike and drop them off after doing some… things. Sarah, being as considerate as she is, says she can walk to Topper’s from there and get a ride; meaning Y/N has to join Rafe on some questionable errands.
On one fateful Saturday night, Sarah and Y/N were on their way to a weekly kook party. Every weekend someone in the elite group was throwing some kind of session, and every weekend the girls would go. Usually, they ended up enjoying getting ready with one another than the actual party – getting slightly tispy to their perfectly calculated dressing up playlist, whilst they helped each other do their makeups and held mini fashion shows in Sarah’s room. The girls adored their ritual, even if the party tended to be a doozy.
This weekend, they were on their way to Kelce’s in Sarah’s SUV. Dolled up, screaming their favourite tunes while laughing about something cringeworthy Topper had said to Sarah the week prior.
“God, why are you dating this guy again?” Y/N said in between breaths of laughter, turning to face her best friend in the drivers seat. Sarah shook her head, still giggling.
“He’s not like that usually, I promise. I think he was trying to be romantic?”
“Well he… what’s that?” The laughter completely died down at the sound of Sarah’s car groaning, the vehicle beginning to jitter and jutter along the usually smooth roads of Figure 8, before a loud pop was heard from the back.
“Shit,” Sarah cursed, pulling over as smoke began to evaporate from the hood. Coughing and spluttering, the pair evacuated the car as soon as it was stationary, fanning the clouds away as they headed to the nose of the car to investigate.
“What the Hell?” Sarah muttered to herself, carefully lifting the hood before quickly backing away with Y/N, more smoke emitting.
“Didn’t you just have maintenance performed on this thing?” Y/N commented, covering her nose and mouth with the top of her dress as she looked at Sarah. Sarah edged forward as the smoke died down, trying to understand what had caused her beloved car to spontaneously break down.
“Fuck,” she whispered upon seeing the issue, “look!” Y/N hesitantly joined Sarah at the hood, seeing a tiny shell jammed in the engine. They both frowned, baffled as to how it could’ve even got there, but too nervous to try and remove it in case the whole thing blew.
“How…?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah sighed, “I better call my dad.”
As Sarah tried to make calls, Y/N perched on the edge of the road, her elbows resting on her knees as she held her face in her palms, zoned out as Sarah paced in front of her. Her dad was in a meeting, Rose was out with clients, Wheeze didn’t know what the Hell she was meant to do, and everyone else they knew were already at Kelce’s.
“I guess I’ll just have to call AA,” Sarah caved, sitting beside her friend before dialling the number.
“How long’s that going to take?” Y/N questioned, noting they’d already been stuck on the side of the road for fifteen minutes, still at least twenty from the party in a car. The sun had completely set, the few drinks she’d consumed wearing off. She was beginning to get cold, all she wanted to do was either go home or get to this God damn party.
Sarah shrugged, “God knows, but it’s our only option. Oh, hi there,” Sarah engrossed herself in the phone call when they picked up, trying to explain the bizarre situation as Y/N sighed, dropping her head and groaning in frustration.
Sarah was about ready to smash her phone on the ground when she returned to Y/N, informing her that AA said they couldn’t come out this late on a Saturday but would be there first thing Sunday morning.
“What do we do then?” Y/N stood, biting her nails as she rested her weight on one leg, tucking her other arm around her waist. Sarah tapped her phone against her lips as she looked around, trying to think.
“Ooh!” Sarah suddenly yelped, making Y/N jump, “why didn’t I think, I can call Rafe. I know he’s at home tonight.”
Y/N groaned, spinning and collapsing back on the pavement. Sarah rolled her eyes as she scrolled through her phone to find her brother’s contact, “I know it would like, kill you, to be in a confined space with him for more than ten seconds but it’s either him or a long walk,” she squinted, earning a very moody middle finger from Y/N in return.
“What do you want?”
“Hi to you too,” Sarah chirped sarcastically when Rafe picked up, “can you lift Y/N and I? My car broke down and you’re our only option.”
Rafe sighed through the line, “I’m busy.”
“Rafe, please, I know you’re at home–”
“I was, and now I’m busy.”
“You’d be driving us twenty minutes down the road, look I’ll literally pay you if you want or, oh!” That was when Sarah suddenly remembered something incredible she could use to blackmail her brother into driving them to a shitty party, “I won’t tell dad about the drugs I saw in your room.”
Rafe wanted to punch a wall. Well, Sarah, more specifically, or maybe himself for being so dumb as to leave drugs out for anyone to see – but he knew that if his dad even thought he was using he’d be cut off and kicked out, for sure. So he bit the bullet, slightly caving.
“Fine, but I need to make stops before I take you to whichever stupid party you’re going to. And I’m on my bike, so I can only take one of you.”
Sarah chewed on her lips, looking over at Y/N who had her head rested on her arms glancing the other way. “Where are we right now, Y/N?” Y/N suddenly snapped up, looking around and trying to think.
“Uh… Sandpark Avenue, I think…?”
“Oh, we’re like a ten minute walk from Topper’s. Look, Rafe’s on his bike so I can walk to Top’s, he can give me a ride and you can go with Rafe, okay?”
The two protested at the same time, Y/N now standing as Sarah actually had to remove the phone from her ear, wincing.
“Okay! Okay! Shut up, please! It’ll be a two minute ride on his bike, you don’t have to talk.”
“Will Topper even be in?”
“I’m going to call, but if he’s not his brother can take me.”
“Why can’t I just come with you?”
“Because…” Sarah paused, mentally preparing herself for the scolding she’d get on either end, “it’s time you two work out whatever petty thing you’ve got going on. It’s exhausting! I’m tired of it, so you’re going with him–” Y/N opened her mouth to argue, but Sarah quickly cut her off, “end of. Rafe?”
He sighed, “fine, I’ll be there in five.”
Sarah grinned, satisfied with her persuasive skills before shoving her phone back into her bag. “I better set off. Topper’s usually late to the party anyway. See you there?” Y/N sucked her teeth, giving her best friend the finger as she started to walk away, “love you too.” The blonde smiled before disappearing into the darkness.
Alone and waiting, Y/N wanted nothing more than to just… God, she felt like throwing up. She didn’t trust Rafe any more than she could throw him, and she was absolutely certain these errands he was supposedly running at eleven pm on a Saturday couldn’t have been anything other than drugs. She didn’t want any part of it, let alone being on the back of a bike with him, but just as she collected herself to start walking to the party – the humming rev of his motorbike entered her line of hearing.
Y/N closed her eyes, folding her arms. “Are you getting on or not?” Rafe lifted the helmet from his head, extending it to Y/N who didn’t seem to budge. He rolled his eyes, relaxing his arms, “look, Sarah would kill me if I left you. Get the fuck on.”
Spitefully, Y/N ripped the helmet from him, clambering on and buckling the hat up as he kicked the bike into action, revving a couple times. Y/N returned her arms to her chest, looking anywhere but his back as she seethed with rage – mainly directed towards Sarah for putting her in this position.
“You might want to hold on to something,” Rafe commented, slightly turning his head to the side. Y/N just turned her head further, refusing to acknowledge him. The boy shook his head, muttering a, “suit yourself,” before jetting off. Instantly a surprised yelp escaped Y/N’s lips, her arms instinctively going to grab the first thing she could which, incidentally, happened to be Rafe’s waist. He smirked to himself, speeding up in feeing her grip around him tighten, shouts of slowing down becoming a blur in the mix of sounds his engine made.
He ignored her protests, not slowing down till he neared his destination. The side of her face was laid firmly on his back, her eyes squeezed as tightly shut as her arms were around him, holding onto him for dear life as she feared for her own more than a few times on the journey.
After pulling up to Barry’s, his hair was well and truly messed, and Y/N was about ready to have a heart attack. She loosened her grip, allowing him to climb off the bike as she caught her breath, not quite noticing where they were.
He began to silently walk towards Barry’s, but when Y/N saw what was around her, she shouted for him to wait. With legs like jelly and veins pumped to the brim with adrenaline, Y/N removed the helmet and ran after him.
“What are you doing?” He span, suddenly stopping her in her tracks as she almost ran straight into his chest.
“If you think I’m staying in crackhead city in the middle of the night alone you’ve got another thing coming,” she scoffed. He pushed his tongue around his mouth, looking around before turning to face her again, understanding that it wouldn’t exactly be safe for her to stay out there alone. Even Rafe knew that.
“Fine, but you don’t speak a word of any of this to anyone, ever, okay? Not even Sarah, especially not Sarah.”
“Relax, she already saw your bong.” Y/N waved her arm in the air, starting to set off again before Rafe grabbed her wrist, pulling her back with ease.
“She hasn’t seen this, alright? So keep your God damn mouth shut.” Y/N frowned, ripping her wrist from his grip.
“Okay.” She spat, not liking how scary Rafe seemed in that moment. He ran his hands nervously through his hair before turning, the girl trailing behind him as they entered Barry’s.
Others were there as music bumped in the background, and Y/N watched in awe at people she’d recognised and some she hadn’t, doing all kinds of shit she never thought would exist anywhere but in Breaking Bad. She watched Rafe as he didn’t bat an eyelid, as he even nodded a hi to a few people doing bumps of coke in corners. She was shocked, to say the least.
“Country club!” A thick Southern accent emitted from the room the two entered, instantly catching Y/N’s wandering attention as she saw a long haired man crouched over a table, splitting lines of coke for him and the woman sat beside him. That’s when he noticed her, stood slightly behind Rafe as he stopped in the middle of the room. He cocked his head, sitting back in his chair as the woman started to snort the nose candy, “woo-hoo-hoo, and Mrs Country Club!Damn, Rafe, punching a lil’, ain’t ya’?”
Y/N scoffed, Rafe rolled his eyes.
“Chill, man, she’s just my sister’s dumb friend I had to pick up. You got my shit?” Barry’s eyes lingered a little longer on Y/N, watching as she shyly backed further and further behind Rafe before he stood.
“Yeah, yeah I gotcho’ shit. You got mine?”
Rafe rummaged in his back pocket, pulling out a wad of cash which he slid onto the table. Barry nodded, turning to grab whatever Rafe’s shit was. The woman noticed Y/N’s nervousness, too, and offered out a rolled up doller bill.
“Want a line?”
“No,” Rafe interrupted before Y/N could answer for herself, “no, she doesn’t.” Barry chucked a small bag of white powder at Rafe, the boy swiftly catching it before stuffing it in his pocket.
“Come on, Mrs Country Club, you don’t wanna bump? First one on me.” Barry winked, collapsing back onto the arm chair.
“Hey, I said no, man. Come on,” Rafe took Y/N’s arm, pulling her out the room and out of Barry’s before she could be offered anything else. She tugged, but he pulled harder, not letting go till they arrived at his bike.
“I know it’s a hard concept to understand, Rafe, but I can walk.” Y/N deadpanned, grabbing his helmet to slip back over her head.
“You never should’ve come in.” He half muttered to himself, climbing onto the bike and quickly starting the engine. Y/N was slightly offended as she took her previous position behind him, this time choosing to snake her arms around his waist before she could almost fly off.
“Do you seriously think I would’ve said yes to cocaine? How stupid do you think I am.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust, it’s them. They’re not good people, alright?”
Y/N laughed, “you sure don’t seem to mind.”
Rafe ignored her snarky comment, kicking the bike into action and speeding as far from Barry’s as he could. The ride wasn’t as terrifying this time, Rafe driving a little slower and a little safer till he pulled up at Kelce’s. The party didn’t show any signs of slowing down, a kook party for once actually looked inviting.
Y/N stood in front of him, returning his helmet.
“Thanks for the ride, try not to get too coked out.” She couldn’t be too nice, choosing to throw in a snide remark before beginning to walk into the party.
“I’m sorry you had to see all that!” Rafe shouted after her, making her stop. “I shouldn’t have taken you, I, uh… I’m sorry.”
“Relax,” Y/N rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to tell Sarah, you can stop grovelling.” She pivoted back to the house, this time Rafe deciding not to stop her. He looked down at his helmet, still feeling guilty for putting Y/N in that situation, before shaking anything he felt off – slipping the helmet on and returning to his original, interrupted plans to get high out of his mind.
content: angst, tension, lots of flashbacks. also just general info, this is more of an intro to the series than actual content if u get me? so i apologise for that in advance
Tension between Y/N and Rafe Cameron has never been short, not since they were kids. Annoyance that grew into feelings neither could ever admit to themselves makes being best friend’s with the kook princess herself a liiittle harder than it used to be.
Things have always been… complicated between Rafe and Y/N. Ever since they were kids, the two never got along. Being a part of the elite gang of kooks on Figure 8, it was natural for Y/N’s family to always have a close relationship with the Cameron’s. Family dinners, joint golfing days, lunches at the country club. The two families are tight, and Rafe wants less than a part in it.
Y/N and Sarah are best friends, almost like sisters. They do everything together, making her practically unavoidable for Rafe. That fact wouldn’t have been such a problem if she wasn’t so… so… relentless. The girl’s more petulant than his thirteen year old sister, because she too can’t stand the guy.
It all started ten years ago. Barely old enough to have a feud worth anything, the two managed to start a lifelong struggle over a game.
“We already did that,” Y/N pouted as her and Sarah laid in the kook princess’ room, laid on their backs on the carpet as they racked their brains for something to do on a Sunday afternoon. Their families were downstairs talking business, and they weren’t allowed far from the house without an adult close by. They were irrevocably bored, until an idea sprung into little Y/N’s mind.
“Ooh, we could play a game!” Y/N jumped up, her ponytail bouncing with her as she rushed over to Sarah’s door. Sarah groaned, rolling onto her stomach as she looked up at her best friend.
“I don’t wanna play a stupid board game, they’re boring.”
“Noo,” Y/N dragged out, reaching for the handle, “a proper game. Come on.” Sarah frowned, not knowing what she meant but intrigued by whatever she was planning. Rafe was cooped in his room, as he usually was, the sound of video games and frustrated grunts emitting from the four walls.
Y/N had never been scared of the boy, despite his consistent need to try to intimate everyone. So she opened his door without thinking, despite Sarah’s hushed warnings of how he’d be mad if she went in. Too engrossed in his game to notice, nine year old Rafe didn’t see the girls enter.
Y/N turned to Sarah, covering a snigger from escaping her lips with her palm as Sarah tried to silently coerce her out. Y/N crept up behind Rafe, aiming to steal his Nintendo for the two of them to play on. She was so close, when Rafe died in his game and suddenly came back to reality. He caught her red handed as she grabbed the console, Sarah already aborting as Rafe stood. Even then, he towered over her, the seven year old feeling instantly afraid by the older boy. She straightened up, the Nintendo still in her hand as he shouted, “hey!”
That night, the girls ran out of his room and away from his shouts and fights, ignoring the banging on Ward’s office door as they locked themselves in, giggling and hiding out under his desk while Rafe vowed he’d always hate her for it.
Of course, a little dramatic to hold a grudge, but over the years their little feud had only developed.
“Rafe, you asshole, give me my drink back!” “When you stop being a bitch you can get it back.”
“Y/N, can you move your shitty car out of the way, I can’t get out!” “Move it yourself, dickhead!”
“Rafe I was actually getting somewhere with him. Why’d you have to scare every guy I ever like off? You want me alone and miserable forever?” “I wouldn’t mind it.”
“Jesus, Sarah, you don’t know how to pick better friends, huh?” “Fuck you.” “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
It was known by anyone who stood in the same space with them for more than thirty seconds that they didn’t exactly get on like a house on fire – and it was the bain of Sarah’s life. But the two were too set in their ways to change – or to even begin to admit that maybe, just maybe, there were some underlying feelings to it all.
um so yeah i told yall this was more of an intro than a proper lil chapter if that’s what u call it. also, in terms of a taglist, some people reblogged and liked but didn’t clarify so if i tagged u and u don’t want tagging in the future just let me know, it’s no problem :)
Synopsis: Imagine you’re Toppers sister who is having a secret relationship with JJ, but dating Rafe Cameron. Midsummer is when things take a turn!
Warnings: Swearing, slight abuse, hitting, name calling. Fluff!!
Request: Requested by @rochyu thanks for the great idea!
“JJ, I gotta go,” you giggle as he presses kisses down your neck. He hums against your skin and you close your eyes loving the feeling of his lips on you. “JJ,” you say more in a sigh.
“C’mon (Y/N) just a little longer,” he tells you pulling you closer to him by your hips.
“I told Sarah I would get ready with her,” you mumble as he kisses your lips again.
“So... you have hours,” he shrugs moving his hands up your shirt.
“An hour, not hours,” you laugh. “Plus... I’ll see you there tonight,” you add.
“You’re still gonna ditch after an hour?” He asks and you nod. “Really?”
“Yes, I promise,” you kiss his lips lightly about to pull away but he keeps you close and you laugh. “JJ!” You push him back.
“I can’t get enough of you baby,” he says and that makes you smile.
“I know, I know,” you blush. “But I’ll see you later, and we can be inseparable by then,” you tell him.
Tonight was the night you planned to break up with Rafe. He wasn’t for you, you were only dating him because both your guys’ parents want it. But you loved JJ, and you wanted to get away from coke head Rafe.
“Fine,” he groans pulling you into a hug and it warms you. “I’ll come along and rescue you later Kay?” He chuckles.
“Please do,” you nod.
Kie would be there tonight, so you were lucky enough to have her other than all the uptight bitches there. Besides Sarah... she was cool.
“Okay, bye. Love you,” you grin.
“Love you,” he replies with a smile. You turn to leave and you felt JJ plant a smack on your ass and you turn swatting him away and he just smirks.
“Bye!” You says again jogging over to your car.
You get to the Cameron’s place with your dress and you noticed your brother Toppers car here, unfortunately he was good friends with Rafe and Sarah is his ex. You get out of your car and grab your dress that was covered in a bag and you head into the house.
“Sarah?” You call when you walk in. Instead of Sarah Rafe shows up around the corner.
“(Y/N), what’re you doing here?” He asks with a grin walking over to you. His slicked back hair and polo, aka his regular attire didn’t faze you. Although when you saw JJ in his cargo-shorts and muscle tee... it automatically made you wet.
“I’m getting ready with Sarah, remember,” you point to the dress and he leans in placing a kiss on your lips, his breath tasting minty. So different from JJ’s beer and mint mix.
“Right,” he nods. “Did you smoke weed?” He steps back giving you a confused look.
“What?” You ask. “No,” you shake your head. A bit of panic creeps in, it was probably because of JJ.
“Hmm,” he shrugs. “What’re you wearing tonight? Something nice for me?” He smirks and it kind of made you sick.
“Just a dress,” you say. You were trying to distance yourself from him, so it would be easy for you to end it. He gives you a look.
“Can I see it?” He asks reaching out.
“No, you’ll see it tonight,” you remark.
“Special occasion?” He asks smirking again and you hold the eye roll back.
“Rafe, c’mon dude,” Topper walks in and sees you. “Oh hey (Y/N),” he says. “Getting ready with Sarah?”
“Yeah,” you nod. “Is she upstairs?” I ask my boyfriend and brother.
“Yeah, in her room,” Rafe nods.
“Okay, see you guys later,” you put on a small fake grin.
“See you tonight baby,” Rafe leans in kissing you again, but you cut it short and pretty much run upstairs.
“Sarah!” You call heading down the hall and to her room. You walk in and she was singing to music while doing her makeup. She sees you through her vanity mirror and grins.
“There you are! I was waiting,” she says and waves you in. You put your dress on the bed. “Where were you?”
“Just caught up,” you shrug and she nods.
“I still haven’t seen your dress!! I’m excited to see it,” she grins at me through the mirror and you nod.
........
“Good?” You ask Sarah while you look at yourself through the full body mirror. You were wearing a long silk and lace type of dress. It was cream coloured and pretty nice.
“So pretty!” She nods. “It fits your figure so good!” She tells you.
“Cool,” you nod. You kept your hair down and wavy, with some light makeup. All you could think about is if JJ would think you look good. Although he tells you everyday all day, even at your worst. “You look really pretty too,” You tell her with a grin.
“Thanks,” she smiles. “I think we should get going now. We’ve spent enough time on this,” she laughs linking your arm with hers and you follow her.
Everything was in full swing when you two arrived. People everywhere, the old debutants laughing in a nicely manner. Since hanging out with JJ and the pouges, it made you less of a kook and realize how stupid the kook life is besides the whole being rich. The way they lived was so orderly and as a pouge, you do whatever you want.
You notice Kiara by her parents, her hair up and she was wearing a purple silk dress.
“I’m gonna say hi to Kie,” you tell Sarah and she nods. You walk over to her. “Hey, Kie!” You says and she turns and smiles.
“(Y/N)!” She says. “Hey, what’s up!?”
“Your dress is nice,” you tell her and she shrugs.
“Didn’t really wanna wear it,” she mutters and you nod. “You look good though!” She adds.
“Thanks,” you say looking around, there was a slight knot of nervousness in your stomach. You play with your clammy fingers and sigh. “Kie,” you look at her licking your lips, she just nods. “I gotta tell you something.”
“What’s up?” She asks.
“I...” you lean in closer to whisper so no one hears. “I kind of want to break up with Rafe tonight,” you tell her and you notice her eyes widen.
“Really?” She asks in a whisper back and you nod. “For JJ?” She questions and you nod again. “Well...” she drifts off. “If you think it’s a good idea (Y/N) then why not,” she nods.
“I’m a little nervous,” you admit. “What do I say?” You ask. “Do I tell him about JJ, do I just break up with him?”
“That’s up to you man,” she shrugs. “But good for you! You’re way better than that asshole,” she adds and you nod nervously. “But when?”
“I don’t know,” you sigh. “Sometime soon, I know that JJ said he’s gonna come by... well to see us,” you say and she nods.
“Yeah, he told us all to ditch,” she nods. “Does pope know?” She laughs as Pope works with his dad.
“I don’t know,” You laugh.
“Hey babe,” you hear Rafe’s voice and you turn to see him towering over you, dressed in his suit, with his hair again slicked back. “You look so hot tonight,” he tells you and the word hot makes you cringe. He couldn’t have called you beautiful or pretty at the least?
“Um... thanks,” you mumble and he grabs your hand pulling you close to him and leaning down to meet your lips. But instead you turn so he kisses your cheek. He pulls back confused.
“What was that?” He asks sounding annoyed of you.
“Nothing,” you shrug. “We’re at a party, we don’t need to put on a show,” you remark and he rolls his eyes.
“Since when have you cared?” He asks.
“Since now I guess,” you reply and he scoffs.
“I’m trying to be a nice boyfriend (Y/N), you don’t need to be such a bitch,” he moves his hand away from your arm.
“Classic,” Kiara rolls her eyes. “What a great boyfriend you are calling her a bitch.”
“Oh fuck off Kiara,” he says.
“Rafe!” You glare at him and he rolls his eyes again. Let me guess, he’s frustrated cause he hasn’t done a pound of blow yet?
“Screw this,” he sighs turning around and walking off. Typical.
“Pig,” Kie scoffs and you laugh. “I wish we could go back in time and you would never get with him.”
“If it were my way, I would’ve never,” you sigh.
“Hey guys,” Pope smiles a she puts a tray of food into the table in front of you guys.
“Hey!” You both reply to him with a smile. “You know about John B and JJ’s plan right?” Kie asks him.
“Yeah, they want us to ditch,” he nods. “I’m down... I think,” he looks back to his dad.
“Yeah, we are too,” Kiara nods. “And (Y/N)’s breaking up with Rafe,” she whispers to him and Popes eyes widen.
“Really?” He asks and you nod. “Finally,” he lets out a small laugh.
“Right!” Kie grins. “She’s growing up,” she pulls you into a hug and you laugh.
“Shut up,” you mumble but smile. The pouges were your friends, your true friends. These people here on figure 8 did not matter.
.........
You were leaning against the building and watching as everyone dances or talks to friends. You were just anticipating for when JJ and John b will be here to save you guys. You figured they’d just text you guys and you’d slip out somehow. You pat around for your phone and realize you left it inside. You head inside and start walking down the narrow hall, but then you get pulled into a dark closet and yelp.
“Who the fuck!?” You almost yell but you feel a hand clap over your mouth.
“Shh, it’s just me (Y/N),” you heard JJ’s voice and you slightly see the light from outside hitting his face.
“JJ,” you say pulling his hand away.
“Yeah,” he chuckles. “Hey,” he says.
“What are you doing here?” You ask.
“Well, I told you I’d rescue you didn’t I?” He replies. “That’s what I’m doing!”
You smile in the darkness. But dammit! You still needed to end things with Rafe, he’s just been absent the whole night somewhere, only god knows.
“I thought you’d just show up with the van, not come into the party,” you say in a low voice.
“Nah, I needed to see how pretty my girl is as soon as possible,” he tells you and you felt your cheeks flush at the compliment. Rafe could never compare. You lean in capturing his lips with yours and he grins kissing you back. He smelt of weed, tasted like the familiar beer and mint. You loved it. He wraps his arms around you, while you run your fingers through his hair tugging and he groans against your lips. You had an urgency to rip all his clothes off, but you couldn’t, not here and not now.
“I love you,” you tell him pulling back only a millimeter.
“I love you too,” he smiles brushing his lips past yours. “Can we get outta here now?” He asks.
“No, I need to do something quickly,” you tell him. “Okay?”
“What?” He asks.
“Just, stay here for a couple of minutes,” you say. You were hoping breaking up with Rafe would be fast and easy. You doubt he actually cared about you, but still everything was difficult with Rafe.
“Okay,” he nods and you peck his lips one more time and leave the closet. You walk out into the bright hall and look to the side and start walking. But then you catch Rafe laughing with Kelce walking down the hall. Perfect. He notices you.
“(Y/N),” he says saying your name with a smile like he wasn’t a douche just an hour ago.
“Hey,” you say.
“Where have you been all night baby?” He asks and you pretty much roll your eyes at the nickname. It only sounded nice coming from JJ.
“Rafe, can we talk?” You ask in a serious tone.
“About?” He questions.
“Something, and Alone,” you look at Kelce.
“I got the hint,” Kelce says and walks off, Rafe watches Kelce leave and then he turns to you.
“What?” He asks in a weird tone like he was annoyed of you. But you haven’t even done anything.
You take in a deep breath, preparing yourself for what’s about to happen. The only think you worried about was him getting all mad and not letting you leave the party as soon as possible.
“Well...” you start.
“Sorry about earlier,” he mutters interrupting you. “If that’s what this is about.”
“No,” you shake your head and he sighs leaning back against the hallway wall. “I was saying...” you start again. “I... I want to break up,” you tell him hesitantly. For a minute he just stares at you like he didn’t hear what you just said, until it hits and he squints his eyes at you.
“Wait... what!?” He asks like this was unbelievable.
“I want to break up,” you tell him again and he lets out a laugh, but a sarcastic angry laugh.
“No,” he says shaking his head.
“Rafe,” you give him a look. “I don’t want to be with you anymore. Our relationship isn’t even good,” you remark. “What’s the point? You’d have more fun with someone else.”
“This is not supposed to happen like this (Y/N)!” He tells you. “You breaking up with me!? No way,” he shakes his head.
“What!?” You ask.
“Why?” He asks. “Not like you’re gonna get anyone better than me,” he scoffs. “Like c’mon, no guy is gonna handle your shit (Y/N) no guy,” he adds and that just makes you angry.
“Oh really?” You scoff. “Cause another guy has,” you say and at that his eyes widen.
“What!?” He pretty much yells.
“What?” You shrug back.
“Who!? What the fuck!?” He exclaims. “You’ve been cheating on me!?” He spits out. “You fucking slut!”
“And you wonder why?” You shake your head. “You’re a coke head piece of trash Rafe,” you tell him and he steps closer now angry.
“Excuse me,” he says getting close to you.
“You heard me, you’re gross. I don’t need you, and I found someone better than you,” you tell him in a calm tone and that just got him more angry.
“Fuck you!!” He yells raising his hand and smacking you. Your head turns and your cheek stings from the smack. He just smacked you, Rafe, your now ex boyfriend just smacked you. You grab your cheek holding back the tears because he didn’t deserve to see you cry.
“You’re disgusting,” you spit, he opens his mouth to talk but gets cut off.
“What the fuck!?” You heard the loud growl of JJ and you both turn, he was watching you with your hand on your cheek and Rafe with the anger boiling inside him. “Did you just fucking smack her!?” He asks in a dangerous tone and Rafe laughs.
“It’s him isn’t it?” He looks back at you. “A dirty pouge,” he nods. “What else can I expect from a dirty little whore like you,” he scoffs and then JJ, charges into him knocking him to the floor. Your eyes widen as JJ starts throwing punches immediately.
“Touch her again!” JJ yells punching Rafe again. “And I’ll fucking KILL YOU!” He yells, Rafe manages to get in a punch knocking JJ over.
“Stop it!” You yell and some people step into the hall to see what’s happening with wide eyes. JJ lunches him again and you see blood coming out of Rafes mouth. “JJ!” You yell.
“You dirty motherfucker!” JJ yells at Rafe.
“Fuck you,” Rafe spits out.
A security guard runs in pulling JJ off of Rafe and JJ tries to fight them off.
“JJ!” You say stepping closer but the security guards pull him back. He had a bruise already forming on his jaw and some blood by his eyebrow.
“Stop it, he’s my guest,” you say.
“Your guest just assaulted Rafe Cameron,” the security guard tells you and you roll your eyes.
“He fucking smacked her!” JJ exclaims angry again. Topper and Sarah run in and Sarah’s eyes widen at the sight of her brother all bloodied up on the floor. Topper goes to Rafes side.
“What the fuck?” Topper looks at you confused. You just decide to grab JJ’s hand and pull him away from the guard and run. You pull him through the crowd in the back.
“Kie!” You both yell when you see her and she turns. “Let’s go!” She looks around both her parents looking at her shaking their heads. “Come on!” You wave quickly and you notice your mom start to walk over, speed walk over. You hold JJ’s hand tighter and run. “Pope!” You also call and he looks confused.
“Hell no,” Mr. Heyward gives him a disapproving look. Pope strips from his apron and runs just as Kie catches up.
We all start running, you let JJ lead the way to the van.
“Is John b there?” You ask breathlessly as you approach the van.
“Yeah, he said he’d be the getaway driver,” he nods and we all pile in. John B turns.
“Took long enough?” He mumbles and notices all the distressed faces and JJ’s bruised face. “What happened!?” He asks. JJ ignores him and steps over to you.
“Are you okay,” he pushes my face to turn and looks at your cheek.
“What happened?” They all ask.
“Rafe fucking hit (Y/N),” JJ says and you feel your cheeks flush out of embarrassment.
“What!?” They all ask. “Are you okay!?”
“I’m fine,” you shrug.
“Don’t be some nonchalant about this (Y/N),” JJ shakes his head. “He’s a fucking prick.”
“Well, I’m not with him anymore so it doesn’t matter,” you say with another shrug.
“Why did he hit you?” Pope asks. “You could sue him you know.”
“That’s not really on my mind right now Pope,” you laugh and JJ rolls his eyes. “He was mad because I broke up with him and called him trash,” you admit.
“So he hit you!?” Kie asks in disbelief. “I would’ve been there if I knew you were breaking up with him then.”
“Its Fine really,” you say.
“No it’s not,” JJ rubs your cheek with his thumb softly. “Does it hurt!?” He asks concerned.
“No,” you lie. It did hurt, Rafe was 6’2, you were like half of him... barely. His hands were big, but it’s okay. It’ll get better.
“You’re lying,” JJ gives you a dry look.
“I’m not,” you lie again biting your lip and he rolls his eyes.
“Just stop (Y/N),” he tells me. “You need to ice it.”
“I will later,” you say and he just looks at you silently for a minute.
“I’m sorry,” he says in a whisper.
“Why?” You whisper back.
“You broke up with him because of me,” he mumbles.
“JJ, shut up,” you shake your head. “I broke up with him because I hate him, and I have you,” you tell him. “What would he do if it were later huh?”
“I’m still sorry,” he sighs.
“Don’t be,” you shake your head and lean in kissing him. He relaxes into the kiss, and you barley felt anymore pain while you kissed JJ. He always fixed everything. He was the best boyfriend ever.
“Okay, you guys gonna bone right in front of us... or!?” Kiara asks. “Happy moment, now... time for weed.”
“That does sound like a good idea,” JJ grins and you laugh.
“Yeah,” you nod.
These people were your real family!
Bonus part:
(16+) nothing too bad!
You giggle as JJ pushes you down on the bed getting on top and you pull him down by hooping your fingers into his shark tooth necklace. He kisses your lips, and you let out a small moan as he presses himself close to you. You flip him so you get on top of his lap straddling him.
You lean down kissing his neck and you hear him suck in a sharp breath. You suck and cause some hickeys on his skin. He reaches up to the end of your now bunched up dress and pulls at it. You pull back and let him take it off throwing it somewhere in the room. He stares at your bare chest and smirks.
“You’re so beautiful,” he tells you reaching up with cup one of your breast. You let out a small whimper, grinding your hips against his, and you could feel him grow in his shorts. He sighs rubbing his finger over your hardened nipple and you sigh. You reach for the hem of his shirt and he lets you take it off of him and you keep rocking your hips and he slightly groans.
“I want you to ride me baby,” you tells you pulling you down so he can kiss you and you moan into his mouth.
“Good, cause I want to ride you,” you tell him and that just makes him harder. “I love you JJ.”
“I love you (Y/N),” he replies. “And I’m sorry for tonight, you deserve the world,” he tells you running his hands along the side of your body and you smile.
“You are my world JJ,” you lean down and kiss him roughly.
******************
A/N Just did a little bonus part for the dirty ones haha! Hope you all enjoyed this one. Thanks again to @rochyu for the request!
Pairings: JJ Maybank x Good girl!reader, Rafe Cameron x Good girl!reader.
Warnings: Toxic relationship, manipulation. I think that’s it.
A/N:
1.8 k words
Requests: Open. Masterlist
Summary: After JJ explained what was going on in the video of him shooting a gun, you two were on good terms once again. You went back with him to the Chateau, hanging out with the pogues. Sarah made you realize that Rafe had been manipulating you for years.
this is now part 1 of a series, check out the rest here: new light series masterlist
summary: you’re home from college in the OBX, and so is your eighth grade crush, rafe cameron.
pairing: rafe x kook reader
warnings: drinking, swearing
a/n: i think we ALL have that one high school crush that we would, to this day, drop anything and risk it all for. not canon rafe. title/lyrics/concept kinda based off of new light by john mayer. already have ideas for a part 2 so let me know
my writing
but if you give me just one night, you're gonna see me in a new light
rafecameron replied to your story: Are you in town rn too?
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you first saw the Instagram notification. You couldn’t remember the last time you spoke to Rafe Cameron, or even saw him for that matter. Both you and Rafe had moved away to different colleges after high school ended, and even in high school you were never close. You didn't find yourself back in the Outer Banks often these days, but when you did, you'd see Rafe around sometimes. The two of you would usually exchange quick ‘hello’s in passing at parties, occasionally talking about college or internships on boat days.
Back in high school, you were closer to his friend Kelce if anything. Rafe was always causing trouble with the pogues, acting like he owned the entire island. Which, he kind of did.
You even had a fleeting crush on him back in eighth grade. That was before you all grew up and Rafe really became Rafe. You were still attracted to him, but his bad boy persona had effectively put you off any serious pursuit. You were just friends from that point on, which is why seeing his name on your phone had surprised you as you were sat scrolling Tik Tok in your childhood bedroom.
Rafe was tall, broad, cuter than anything, but just a bit outside your comfort zone when it came to romantic interests. And if he wasn't messing with those same two pogues (what were their names, JJ and John B?) Rafe was always dating someone, talking to someone, or actively hooking up with multiple someones. You played your cards close to your chest when it came to boys.
You sigh, re-reading his message over and over; just a simple six word reply to the picture you had posted of the sunset from your parents' backyard. Location tagged, so there was no denying. You tell yourself to just get over it and type out an earnest reply, just to see what he wants.
y/n: i am! you as well?
rafecameron: Yeah, Sarah's graduating this week
That's right, your little brother and his little sister, Sarah, were in the same grade at school.
y/n: nice, that's why i'm here too
y/n: my little brother’s graduating
rafecameron: I guess I'll see you there
rafecameron: Unless you'd be down to get a drink or something this week
Your first instinct is to roll your eyes. You type out a rejection immediately, but something strange happens, when you falter momentarily.
Of course you were curious. Why was Rafe Cameron asking you on a date? Was he at all?
He is pretty much the only friend you knew was home this week, all of your mutual friends were still away in their college towns. Would it be that bad if you just saw him for one drink? It'd beat just hanging out with your family all week. You ponder it for a second or two before shaking your head in finality.
What were you even thinking?
y/n: i think i'll just see you at the academy on Friday, Rafe
You start to wonder if that was a bit too harsh, but his quick reply puts you at ease.
rafecameron: Had to try. See you then 😊
—
Over the next couple of days you spent at home, you found yourself thinking about Rafe more and more. More than you had since high school, maybe more than you had ever.
"Had to try" was burned into your eyeballs at this point, based on how long you had stared at the message, trying to find a deeper meaning. Coming back to it sometimes, when you thought about it again.
Everything had reminded you of him now. Running into Ward while you were with your dad on the golf course, you found yourself way more disappointed then you should have been when you noticed Rafe wasn't with him. Your younger brother needed a ride to Sarah's graduation party, and you blushed when you noticed Rafe's truck in the driveway of their house. You swore you even passed by the Druthers out on the water one day.
You're embarrassed to admit that you had spent that entire night Rafe messaged you scrolling through his Instagram. There were some pictures you remembered seeing when he first posted them; cheesy ones with his frat brothers on a golf course, even a few with his baby sister. Those were your favorites.
No girls though, you can't help but notice.
You had scrolled all the way back in his feed to the high school days, sifting through douchey boat pictures with Topper and Kelce, only to find yourself in one picture.
Way back when, Kelce had asked you to senior prom, and you went in a big group with all of your friends.
But imagine your surprise when you and Kelce had showed up at Tanneyhill to take pictures, only to find that yours and Rafe's outfits had ended up matching better than either of yours did with your dates’. Rafe pointed it out to you first ("nice taste, Y/l/n"), and all of your friends teased you mercilessly.
His step-mother Rose had insisted the two of you got a picture together. You vividly remember being shocked that that was the picture he chose to post later that night—all of your friends, including Kelce, messaging you screenshots, teasing you even more.
Rafe had just texted you the rest of the pictures Rose took and left it at that. Then came graduation, and college, and here you are, being hit up like some old fling that you never actually were.
The two of you looked so young to you now, but you could admit it was still a great picture. Rafe had sensed you felt weird about the picture, and whispered some joke about Rose in your ear that made you break out into laughter and hit him on the chest.
He had caught you against him, hand on the small of your back and a wide smile on his lips as he looked down at you. Rose had snapped the picture at just the right moment.
Looking at it gave you butterflies now, and you started to wonder if you were too eager to reject him.
You tried to push him out of your mind while you ran errands for your family today, getting ready for all of the graduation festivities to come that weekend.
High school graduation wasn't monumental for families that lived in Figure 8, but any excuse to throw a party.
You had just pulled up to the health food store, cold brew in hand, when someone called out your name in front of the store.
And then a tall boy in a white t-shirt and a baseball cap was waving and walking towards you. Long legs strode toward you, tan skin and cologne invading your senses.
Rafe Cameron stopped just in front of you, and this close to him, you start to notice the details: his hint of stubble, the unruly hair flipping up a bit at the ends from under his cap. College had clearly been treating him well.
“What’s up?” he asks, a hand reaching up to scratch the top of his other arm a bit awkwardly, gaze never leaving yours.
“Not a lot.” You turn to pull a cart out of the stack, setting your coffee inside and leaning against it. “Just doing some errands for my mom.”
"Nice," he says immediately, nodding. The silence stretches to the point where it gets a bit awkward.
"Um, what about you?" you ask.
"Yeah, same—well, for Rose, but," he says, awkwardly holding up the bag of groceries he has, still nodding his head. "You know."
You nod at that, not really knowing what to say next. Although you weren’t sure it was the right decision anymore, especially standing here in front of him today, you’d really hoped he’d let you walk away with out bringing the DMs up.
"Yeah. Well, good to see you." You move to start pushing your cart inside the store, but Rafe grabs the side of it, halting your movements easily. You pretend not to notice the way his muscles move under the sleeves of his shirt. Had he always been that built? Fuck.
"Wait."
You stop pushing the cart, leaning against it in a way you hope comes off as leisurely.
"I just wanted to apologize if I overstepped the other night," he says sheepishly. "I don’t know if you have a boyfriend or whatever at school, but..."
He trails off, shrugging, trying and failing to suppress a curious and expectant look.
"I don't."
You say it immediately, because it's the truth. Why didn't you just pretend you did, though? It'd be easier to reject Rafe with a viable excuse, like a boyfriend back at college.
Maybe you didn't want one.
"Sorry... I just. You know," you finish awkwardly.
Rafe nods in understanding, and then he laughs a little.
"I know," he says, swinging his bag of groceries around. Again, you try not to notice. "I forgot that none of the guys in the Outer Banks were ever good enough for Y/n Y/l/n."
Your mouth drops open a little bit, your entire body flushing with heat.
"What? Don't play dumb," Rafe chides at your shocked expression. "You can't act like it isn't true."
"It's not! Sorry I don't just come home to hook up with my high school friends," you say firmly, rolling your eyes and beginning to push the cart past him.
"Who said anything about hooking up? I asked you for one drink," he reminds you. He still hasn't taken his hand off your cart. You scoff.
"Now who's playing dumb?" you grumble, crossing your arms over your chest.
A nanny wrangling 3 blonde triplets walks by the two of you. You begin to consider just getting another cart.
"You seriously thought I was just sliding into your DMs to fuck you?" Rafe said, voice dropping to just above a whisper. He says it quietly, but it snaps you back to reality. His demeanor has shifted, from friendly and playful to serious. And if you look too closely, maybe even a little bit of hurt. "I'm not the seventeen year old prick I was when we left here."
"Why else would you invite me out?"
"I don't know," Rafe said. "To talk to you, catch up for one night.”
“You expect me to believe you just wanted to catch up with me? ‘Talk?’” you ask, using your fingers as sarcastic quotation marks.
“Is it that hard to believe I just wanted to see you?” he presses.
"What—where is this even coming from?" you question.
Rafe is looking back at you with a completely blank stare. But you watch as recognition slowly takes over his features.
"Oh, you’re serious?" he asks.
"I..." You trail off lamely, because you have no idea what to say anymore. Rafe scoffs again, picking his hand up off of your cart to ball it into a fist, then bringing it back down to tap on the cart. Fidgeting.
"Y/n, I had the biggest crush on you," he confesses. "For like, all of high school."
That's the point at which the air leaves your lungs, your mouth falling open again.
Rafe has a blush dusting the tops of his cheeks now, but he still grins at the expression on your face.
"I thought I was obvious," he claims, shaking his head. "You really didn't know?"
"No, Rafe, I—wow," you stutter. "Me?"
"Yeah, you."
"But you were with—”
His laugh cuts you off, and you can tell he's a bit embarrassed. That hadn't been your intention at all, but you feel bad anyways.
"Well, not anymore. So," he shrugs.
You just nod, looking down to where you'd chipped off part of your fresh manicure during your conversation. Your mom was probably going to kill you.
"Rafe, I really didn't know," you say quietly.
"Now you do," he says simply. He takes his hand off of your cart then, making to move past you and finally leave. "I'll see you on Friday."
You don't watch him as he retreats, still staring down at your nails.
Shutting your eyes, you throw your head back and sigh in resignation. You weren't letting him walk away.
"Rafe, wait!" You turn around towards the parking lot, seeing that he hadn't gotten too far. He turns around just as he's about to approach his truck, the same gray one he's had since high school. "Just one night?"
His smirk is immediate, and it almost makes you regret your choice.
"I'll text you," he says, unlocking the door to his truck. "Same number?"
—
You met Rafe at some swanky, new rooftop bar near Figure 8 that had opened since you left the Outer Banks. It intimated you, but at least it wasn't a dive bar on the Cut. You knew he had frequented those back in high school.
He's standing tall at the bar when you come in, looking cleaned up nice. He still had his jeans cuffed and some god-awful boat shoes on, because some things never change.
And he’s wearing his trademark wayfarers, one high school tradition you're glad he'd never ditched because it definitely still worked for him. You can almost picture the look in his eyes behind those polarized lenses as he scans the bar.
You wait for him to see you, standing there in a lilac slip dress with the pair of platform sandals you brought home to wear to your brother’s graduation. You didn’t want to seem like you were trying too hard for a drink with an old friend, but you couldn't help yourself wanting to look good for him. For Rafe Cameron.
He clocks you then, beaming and beckoning you over with a wave of his hand.
“You look beautiful." Rafe watches you approach, pulling you in for a hug when you’re within arms reach. “What do you think of this place?”
“Yeah, it’s nice,” you compliment, making a show of looking around again. “It’s gorgeous up here.”
Rafe is back to leaning up against the bar, watching as the bartender brings back your drinks—he had already ordered.
“What have you been up to at home?” You move in a slight daze as Rafe opens a tab on his black card, hands you a drink and places a hand on the small of your back to guide you somewhere less crowded.
You can’t suppress a blush when you noticed that your holding your go-to drink. How had he remembered?
You have to remind yourself to stutter out a reply.
“It’s been good,” you say, nodding again. “My parents are like, freaking out that their baby is graduating high school. Dylan doesn’t seem all that concerned. But you know how it is—always good to be home.”
Rafe’s smile gets a bit tighter at that, but he covers it up well as he pulls a chair out for you.
“What about you?”
“It’s...” he starts. His sunglasses are off now, and you have the strangest urge to reach over and smooth the line in between his eyebrows for him. You don’t, though. “I’m happy for Sarah, and I’m glad she wanted me here.”
You can tell it's still a sensitive subject, his family. Throwing him a bone, you set your drink down and change the subject.
"It's weird being back here like this, isn't it? Adults, legally drinking in public."
He huffs a laugh at that. "How would you know, Y/l/n? You were such a goodie two shoes back then."
—
Over the next few drinks (you’re on number three, which is two more than you’d promised him), it’s like you’re getting to know Rafe all over again. He’s different, yet still the same as you remember in so many ways. In the good ways.
He tells you about his life at school, his relationship with his dad, and everything in between.
But the distance from the Outer Banks had clearly done him good. He seemed more mature than you remember, more laid back but still confident. It was like this part of him that had always been there, that you had only valued now that you were seeing him in a new light.
Constantly flickering in your mind throughout the entire night is a movie highlight reel of all the moments Rafe had shown you he was worth the time of day. Eighth grade, when he dissected the frog all by himself and let you copy his lab report because you couldn’t even bare to look at it. Or Midsummers sophomore year of high school, when a waiter spilled a drink down the back of your dress and Rafe had wrapped his suit jacket around your shoulders without a second thought, driving you home after even though his license was so new he wasn't supposed to have anyone else in the car with him.
When you were both about to move to college, and Rafe threw one last get together for all of your friends that August, he’d hugged you so tight when you showed up with your girl friends, looking shocked you decided to come. Or the first time you saw him since moving away, when Kelce had thrown a Thanksgiving Eve rager. You almost hadn’t recognized Rafe in the smoke filled house, but he had moved to you eagerly like he’d been waiting for you all night.
And now you realize, he probably had.
You couldn’t look back on any one of those memories, and not have it immediately tinted by a new pair of a rose colored glasses.
He's asking about your major, your plans for the future. He even remembered Dylan's going to school for volleyball. This version of Rafe wasn't concerned with messing with pogues and pissing off his dad for attention like he had been years ago.
He's just concerned with you.
The sun had long set, string lights and the moon now the only thing illuminating both of your faces. There’s a lapse in the conversation, and you swirl your spritzer with the cocktail straw.
“Alright, I have to ask,” you say finally.
“Oh boy,” Rafe answers, his head resting in one of his hands.
“Were you serious? When you said that back at the store...” you trail off. Saying it out loud, you feel a bit silly.
“Said what?”
“That you had a crush on me back in high school,” you answer.
“Of course.”
As the bar got more crowded and the volume had increased, Rafe had pulled your chair closer to him under the pretense of being able to hear you better. It really hadn’t gotten that loud, but you weren’t going to object when he placed a strong hand under the bottom of your chair and gently yanked you closer to him. Your knees bumped constantly and his arm was hovering on the back of your chair.
But up close like this, you could see the earnestness in his eyes more clearly. And you could tell he was being truthful.
Rafe was always there, right in front of you, waiting for whenever you’d want him one day.
“I believe you,” you rush to say, placing a hand on his arm. “I guess I just thought you never really noticed me.”
“How could I not?”
Your cheeks are absolutely burning now.
“Then how come you never made a move?” you blurt.
“You didn’t seem interested in having anything to do with me,” he laughs. “Like, at all.”
You feel a bit bad when he puts it that way, even if it was true. You never thought he noticed.
“I was really shy back then,” you defend weakly. He’s looking at you fondly, like he appreciates your attempts, but can still see right through them.
“And I was an asshole,” he counters. He places a rough hand on your knee cap then. “It’s okay, Y/n/n.”
“You were intimidating,” you claim, but he just looks at you in indignation. You squawk, still thrown off by him calling you by your old nickname. “You were!”
“I was a kid.”
“Yeah, so was I,” you state incredulously. “Rafe, you ran this place. You had everything that you could have wanted.”
“Not everything," he says.
Your heartbeat picks up at his words, your eyes focusing intently on his own. He’s not unaffected by his own confession, opting to look out at the night sky rather than face you.
"I liked you too, you know," you confess. "In middle school."
He turns to face you again, eyes wider than they had been before.
"No fucking way."
"Way, Cameron," you smile. "Do you remember the frog?"
"Of course I remember the frog," he says hastily. "I-I can't believe you remember the frog."
"So I guess we were both clueless, then," you say.
"No," Rafe shuts you down, jokingly. "It's definitely not the same. You gave up on me, I was invested in the long game."
“Then what changed?” you ask, finally placing a hand over his. “Why now?”
He’s scanning your face now, looking for any signs of hesitance before sliding a warm hand to rest on the back of your neck. He strokes his thumb leisurely over your nape.
“It was kind of a shot in the dark. The timing felt right,” he says simply. “Couldn’t wait any longer, just never knowing.”
"I'm glad you did." You can feel your heartbeat in your ears now, almost missing his next comment.
“I’m gonna kiss you now, Y/l/n,” Rafe whispers, moving to lean in halfway. Everything is up to you now.
You nod eagerly, leaning in to meet him in the middle.
Kissing Rafe Cameron is different than how you had pictured it would be back in middle school. At 12, you couldn't anticipate that kissing the boy would immediately overwhelm all of your senses, taking you completely by surprise as it did. The years of history, the weight of his confessions this week, the fact that you were just having such a good time tonight—it all washed over you in waves. Waves of Rafe and his touch, his kisses, the way he’s holding you so carefully, like he’s afraid the moment will shatter with one wrong move.
Your head is positively swimming by the time Rafe pulls back from you, his hand on your knee coming up to your face, brushing his thumb along your bottom lip.
Your eyes open, re-focusing on his face at this distance. His skin is flushed pink, from the kiss, from the drinks, from the North Carolina humidity you thought you'd never miss a day in your life. But now, seeing its impact on the boy in front of you makes you more than thankful it exists.
"See, I knew sliding into your DMs would work."
You wipe the stupid smirk off of his face with one more kiss.
"Be honest, how did you know my drink?" you inquire.
Rafe flushes crimson, kissing you again, downing the remainder of his drink and offers a hand to you, standing up to take you home.
"I texted Kelce half an hour before you showed up."
this is now part 1 of a series, check out the rest here: new light series masterlist
summary: you’re home from college in the OBX, and so is your eighth grade crush, rafe cameron.
pairing: rafe x kook reader
warnings: drinking, swearing
a/n: i think we ALL have that one high school crush that we would, to this day, drop anything and risk it all for. not canon rafe. title/lyrics/concept kinda based off of new light by john mayer. already have ideas for a part 2 so let me know
my writing
but if you give me just one night, you're gonna see me in a new light
rafecameron replied to your story: Are you in town rn too?
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion when you first saw the Instagram notification. You couldn’t remember the last time you spoke to Rafe Cameron, or even saw him for that matter. Both you and Rafe had moved away to different colleges after high school ended, and even in high school you were never close. You didn't find yourself back in the Outer Banks often these days, but when you did, you'd see Rafe around sometimes. The two of you would usually exchange quick ‘hello’s in passing at parties, occasionally talking about college or internships on boat days.
Back in high school, you were closer to his friend Kelce if anything. Rafe was always causing trouble with the pogues, acting like he owned the entire island. Which, he kind of did.
You even had a fleeting crush on him back in eighth grade. That was before you all grew up and Rafe really became Rafe. You were still attracted to him, but his bad boy persona had effectively put you off any serious pursuit. You were just friends from that point on, which is why seeing his name on your phone had surprised you as you were sat scrolling Tik Tok in your childhood bedroom.
Rafe was tall, broad, cuter than anything, but just a bit outside your comfort zone when it came to romantic interests. And if he wasn't messing with those same two pogues (what were their names, JJ and John B?) Rafe was always dating someone, talking to someone, or actively hooking up with multiple someones. You played your cards close to your chest when it came to boys.
You sigh, re-reading his message over and over; just a simple six word reply to the picture you had posted of the sunset from your parents' backyard. Location tagged, so there was no denying. You tell yourself to just get over it and type out an earnest reply, just to see what he wants.
y/n: i am! you as well?
rafecameron: Yeah, Sarah's graduating this week
That's right, your little brother and his little sister, Sarah, were in the same grade at school.
y/n: nice, that's why i'm here too
y/n: my little brother’s graduating
rafecameron: I guess I'll see you there
rafecameron: Unless you'd be down to get a drink or something this week
Your first instinct is to roll your eyes. You type out a rejection immediately, but something strange happens, when you falter momentarily.
Of course you were curious. Why was Rafe Cameron asking you on a date? Was he at all?
He is pretty much the only friend you knew was home this week, all of your mutual friends were still away in their college towns. Would it be that bad if you just saw him for one drink? It'd beat just hanging out with your family all week. You ponder it for a second or two before shaking your head in finality.
What were you even thinking?
y/n: i think i'll just see you at the academy on Friday, Rafe
You start to wonder if that was a bit too harsh, but his quick reply puts you at ease.
rafecameron: Had to try. See you then 😊
—
Over the next couple of days you spent at home, you found yourself thinking about Rafe more and more. More than you had since high school, maybe more than you had ever.
"Had to try" was burned into your eyeballs at this point, based on how long you had stared at the message, trying to find a deeper meaning. Coming back to it sometimes, when you thought about it again.
Everything had reminded you of him now. Running into Ward while you were with your dad on the golf course, you found yourself way more disappointed then you should have been when you noticed Rafe wasn't with him. Your younger brother needed a ride to Sarah's graduation party, and you blushed when you noticed Rafe's truck in the driveway of their house. You swore you even passed by the Druthers out on the water one day.
You're embarrassed to admit that you had spent that entire night Rafe messaged you scrolling through his Instagram. There were some pictures you remembered seeing when he first posted them; cheesy ones with his frat brothers on a golf course, even a few with his baby sister. Those were your favorites.
No girls though, you can't help but notice.
You had scrolled all the way back in his feed to the high school days, sifting through douchey boat pictures with Topper and Kelce, only to find yourself in one picture.
Way back when, Kelce had asked you to senior prom, and you went in a big group with all of your friends.
But imagine your surprise when you and Kelce had showed up at Tanneyhill to take pictures, only to find that yours and Rafe's outfits had ended up matching better than either of yours did with your dates’. Rafe pointed it out to you first ("nice taste, Y/l/n"), and all of your friends teased you mercilessly.
His step-mother Rose had insisted the two of you got a picture together. You vividly remember being shocked that that was the picture he chose to post later that night—all of your friends, including Kelce, messaging you screenshots, teasing you even more.
Rafe had just texted you the rest of the pictures Rose took and left it at that. Then came graduation, and college, and here you are, being hit up like some old fling that you never actually were.
The two of you looked so young to you now, but you could admit it was still a great picture. Rafe had sensed you felt weird about the picture, and whispered some joke about Rose in your ear that made you break out into laughter and hit him on the chest.
He had caught you against him, hand on the small of your back and a wide smile on his lips as he looked down at you. Rose had snapped the picture at just the right moment.
Looking at it gave you butterflies now, and you started to wonder if you were too eager to reject him.
You tried to push him out of your mind while you ran errands for your family today, getting ready for all of the graduation festivities to come that weekend.
High school graduation wasn't monumental for families that lived in Figure 8, but any excuse to throw a party.
You had just pulled up to the health food store, cold brew in hand, when someone called out your name in front of the store.
And then a tall boy in a white t-shirt and a baseball cap was waving and walking towards you. Long legs strode toward you, tan skin and cologne invading your senses.
Rafe Cameron stopped just in front of you, and this close to him, you start to notice the details: his hint of stubble, the unruly hair flipping up a bit at the ends from under his cap. College had clearly been treating him well.
“What’s up?” he asks, a hand reaching up to scratch the top of his other arm a bit awkwardly, gaze never leaving yours.
“Not a lot.” You turn to pull a cart out of the stack, setting your coffee inside and leaning against it. “Just doing some errands for my mom.”
"Nice," he says immediately, nodding. The silence stretches to the point where it gets a bit awkward.
"Um, what about you?" you ask.
"Yeah, same—well, for Rose, but," he says, awkwardly holding up the bag of groceries he has, still nodding his head. "You know."
You nod at that, not really knowing what to say next. Although you weren’t sure it was the right decision anymore, especially standing here in front of him today, you’d really hoped he’d let you walk away with out bringing the DMs up.
"Yeah. Well, good to see you." You move to start pushing your cart inside the store, but Rafe grabs the side of it, halting your movements easily. You pretend not to notice the way his muscles move under the sleeves of his shirt. Had he always been that built? Fuck.
"Wait."
You stop pushing the cart, leaning against it in a way you hope comes off as leisurely.
"I just wanted to apologize if I overstepped the other night," he says sheepishly. "I don’t know if you have a boyfriend or whatever at school, but..."
He trails off, shrugging, trying and failing to suppress a curious and expectant look.
"I don't."
You say it immediately, because it's the truth. Why didn't you just pretend you did, though? It'd be easier to reject Rafe with a viable excuse, like a boyfriend back at college.
Maybe you didn't want one.
"Sorry... I just. You know," you finish awkwardly.
Rafe nods in understanding, and then he laughs a little.
"I know," he says, swinging his bag of groceries around. Again, you try not to notice. "I forgot that none of the guys in the Outer Banks were ever good enough for Y/n Y/l/n."
Your mouth drops open a little bit, your entire body flushing with heat.
"What? Don't play dumb," Rafe chides at your shocked expression. "You can't act like it isn't true."
"It's not! Sorry I don't just come home to hook up with my high school friends," you say firmly, rolling your eyes and beginning to push the cart past him.
"Who said anything about hooking up? I asked you for one drink," he reminds you. He still hasn't taken his hand off your cart. You scoff.
"Now who's playing dumb?" you grumble, crossing your arms over your chest.
A nanny wrangling 3 blonde triplets walks by the two of you. You begin to consider just getting another cart.
"You seriously thought I was just sliding into your DMs to fuck you?" Rafe said, voice dropping to just above a whisper. He says it quietly, but it snaps you back to reality. His demeanor has shifted, from friendly and playful to serious. And if you look too closely, maybe even a little bit of hurt. "I'm not the seventeen year old prick I was when we left here."
"Why else would you invite me out?"
"I don't know," Rafe said. "To talk to you, catch up for one night.”
“You expect me to believe you just wanted to catch up with me? ‘Talk?’” you ask, using your fingers as sarcastic quotation marks.
“Is it that hard to believe I just wanted to see you?” he presses.
"What—where is this even coming from?" you question.
Rafe is looking back at you with a completely blank stare. But you watch as recognition slowly takes over his features.
"Oh, you’re serious?" he asks.
"I..." You trail off lamely, because you have no idea what to say anymore. Rafe scoffs again, picking his hand up off of your cart to ball it into a fist, then bringing it back down to tap on the cart. Fidgeting.
"Y/n, I had the biggest crush on you," he confesses. "For like, all of high school."
That's the point at which the air leaves your lungs, your mouth falling open again.
Rafe has a blush dusting the tops of his cheeks now, but he still grins at the expression on your face.
"I thought I was obvious," he claims, shaking his head. "You really didn't know?"
"No, Rafe, I—wow," you stutter. "Me?"
"Yeah, you."
"But you were with—”
His laugh cuts you off, and you can tell he's a bit embarrassed. That hadn't been your intention at all, but you feel bad anyways.
"Well, not anymore. So," he shrugs.
You just nod, looking down to where you'd chipped off part of your fresh manicure during your conversation. Your mom was probably going to kill you.
"Rafe, I really didn't know," you say quietly.
"Now you do," he says simply. He takes his hand off of your cart then, making to move past you and finally leave. "I'll see you on Friday."
You don't watch him as he retreats, still staring down at your nails.
Shutting your eyes, you throw your head back and sigh in resignation. You weren't letting him walk away.
"Rafe, wait!" You turn around towards the parking lot, seeing that he hadn't gotten too far. He turns around just as he's about to approach his truck, the same gray one he's had since high school. "Just one night?"
His smirk is immediate, and it almost makes you regret your choice.
"I'll text you," he says, unlocking the door to his truck. "Same number?"
—
You met Rafe at some swanky, new rooftop bar near Figure 8 that had opened since you left the Outer Banks. It intimated you, but at least it wasn't a dive bar on the Cut. You knew he had frequented those back in high school.
He's standing tall at the bar when you come in, looking cleaned up nice. He still had his jeans cuffed and some god-awful boat shoes on, because some things never change.
And he’s wearing his trademark wayfarers, one high school tradition you're glad he'd never ditched because it definitely still worked for him. You can almost picture the look in his eyes behind those polarized lenses as he scans the bar.
You wait for him to see you, standing there in a lilac slip dress with the pair of platform sandals you brought home to wear to your brother’s graduation. You didn’t want to seem like you were trying too hard for a drink with an old friend, but you couldn't help yourself wanting to look good for him. For Rafe Cameron.
He clocks you then, beaming and beckoning you over with a wave of his hand.
“You look beautiful." Rafe watches you approach, pulling you in for a hug when you’re within arms reach. “What do you think of this place?”
“Yeah, it’s nice,” you compliment, making a show of looking around again. “It’s gorgeous up here.”
Rafe is back to leaning up against the bar, watching as the bartender brings back your drinks—he had already ordered.
“What have you been up to at home?” You move in a slight daze as Rafe opens a tab on his black card, hands you a drink and places a hand on the small of your back to guide you somewhere less crowded.
You can’t suppress a blush when you noticed that your holding your go-to drink. How had he remembered?
You have to remind yourself to stutter out a reply.
“It’s been good,” you say, nodding again. “My parents are like, freaking out that their baby is graduating high school. Dylan doesn’t seem all that concerned. But you know how it is—always good to be home.”
Rafe’s smile gets a bit tighter at that, but he covers it up well as he pulls a chair out for you.
“What about you?”
“It’s...” he starts. His sunglasses are off now, and you have the strangest urge to reach over and smooth the line in between his eyebrows for him. You don’t, though. “I’m happy for Sarah, and I’m glad she wanted me here.”
You can tell it's still a sensitive subject, his family. Throwing him a bone, you set your drink down and change the subject.
"It's weird being back here like this, isn't it? Adults, legally drinking in public."
He huffs a laugh at that. "How would you know, Y/l/n? You were such a goodie two shoes back then."
—
Over the next few drinks (you’re on number three, which is two more than you’d promised him), it’s like you’re getting to know Rafe all over again. He’s different, yet still the same as you remember in so many ways. In the good ways.
He tells you about his life at school, his relationship with his dad, and everything in between.
But the distance from the Outer Banks had clearly done him good. He seemed more mature than you remember, more laid back but still confident. It was like this part of him that had always been there, that you had only valued now that you were seeing him in a new light.
Constantly flickering in your mind throughout the entire night is a movie highlight reel of all the moments Rafe had shown you he was worth the time of day. Eighth grade, when he dissected the frog all by himself and let you copy his lab report because you couldn’t even bare to look at it. Or Midsummers sophomore year of high school, when a waiter spilled a drink down the back of your dress and Rafe had wrapped his suit jacket around your shoulders without a second thought, driving you home after even though his license was so new he wasn't supposed to have anyone else in the car with him.
When you were both about to move to college, and Rafe threw one last get together for all of your friends that August, he’d hugged you so tight when you showed up with your girl friends, looking shocked you decided to come. Or the first time you saw him since moving away, when Kelce had thrown a Thanksgiving Eve rager. You almost hadn’t recognized Rafe in the smoke filled house, but he had moved to you eagerly like he’d been waiting for you all night.
And now you realize, he probably had.
You couldn’t look back on any one of those memories, and not have it immediately tinted by a new pair of a rose colored glasses.
He's asking about your major, your plans for the future. He even remembered Dylan's going to school for volleyball. This version of Rafe wasn't concerned with messing with pogues and pissing off his dad for attention like he had been years ago.
He's just concerned with you.
The sun had long set, string lights and the moon now the only thing illuminating both of your faces. There’s a lapse in the conversation, and you swirl your spritzer with the cocktail straw.
“Alright, I have to ask,” you say finally.
“Oh boy,” Rafe answers, his head resting in one of his hands.
“Were you serious? When you said that back at the store...” you trail off. Saying it out loud, you feel a bit silly.
“Said what?”
“That you had a crush on me back in high school,” you answer.
“Of course.”
As the bar got more crowded and the volume had increased, Rafe had pulled your chair closer to him under the pretense of being able to hear you better. It really hadn’t gotten that loud, but you weren’t going to object when he placed a strong hand under the bottom of your chair and gently yanked you closer to him. Your knees bumped constantly and his arm was hovering on the back of your chair.
But up close like this, you could see the earnestness in his eyes more clearly. And you could tell he was being truthful.
Rafe was always there, right in front of you, waiting for whenever you’d want him one day.
“I believe you,” you rush to say, placing a hand on his arm. “I guess I just thought you never really noticed me.”
“How could I not?”
Your cheeks are absolutely burning now.
“Then how come you never made a move?” you blurt.
“You didn’t seem interested in having anything to do with me,” he laughs. “Like, at all.”
You feel a bit bad when he puts it that way, even if it was true. You never thought he noticed.
“I was really shy back then,” you defend weakly. He’s looking at you fondly, like he appreciates your attempts, but can still see right through them.
“And I was an asshole,” he counters. He places a rough hand on your knee cap then. “It’s okay, Y/n/n.”
“You were intimidating,” you claim, but he just looks at you in indignation. You squawk, still thrown off by him calling you by your old nickname. “You were!”
“I was a kid.”
“Yeah, so was I,” you state incredulously. “Rafe, you ran this place. You had everything that you could have wanted.”
“Not everything," he says.
Your heartbeat picks up at his words, your eyes focusing intently on his own. He’s not unaffected by his own confession, opting to look out at the night sky rather than face you.
"I liked you too, you know," you confess. "In middle school."
He turns to face you again, eyes wider than they had been before.
"No fucking way."
"Way, Cameron," you smile. "Do you remember the frog?"
"Of course I remember the frog," he says hastily. "I-I can't believe you remember the frog."
"So I guess we were both clueless, then," you say.
"No," Rafe shuts you down, jokingly. "It's definitely not the same. You gave up on me, I was invested in the long game."
“Then what changed?” you ask, finally placing a hand over his. “Why now?”
He’s scanning your face now, looking for any signs of hesitance before sliding a warm hand to rest on the back of your neck. He strokes his thumb leisurely over your nape.
“It was kind of a shot in the dark. The timing felt right,” he says simply. “Couldn’t wait any longer, just never knowing.”
"I'm glad you did." You can feel your heartbeat in your ears now, almost missing his next comment.
“I’m gonna kiss you now, Y/l/n,” Rafe whispers, moving to lean in halfway. Everything is up to you now.
You nod eagerly, leaning in to meet him in the middle.
Kissing Rafe Cameron is different than how you had pictured it would be back in middle school. At 12, you couldn't anticipate that kissing the boy would immediately overwhelm all of your senses, taking you completely by surprise as it did. The years of history, the weight of his confessions this week, the fact that you were just having such a good time tonight—it all washed over you in waves. Waves of Rafe and his touch, his kisses, the way he’s holding you so carefully, like he’s afraid the moment will shatter with one wrong move.
Your head is positively swimming by the time Rafe pulls back from you, his hand on your knee coming up to your face, brushing his thumb along your bottom lip.
Your eyes open, re-focusing on his face at this distance. His skin is flushed pink, from the kiss, from the drinks, from the North Carolina humidity you thought you'd never miss a day in your life. But now, seeing its impact on the boy in front of you makes you more than thankful it exists.
"See, I knew sliding into your DMs would work."
You wipe the stupid smirk off of his face with one more kiss.
"Be honest, how did you know my drink?" you inquire.
Rafe flushes crimson, kissing you again, downing the remainder of his drink and offers a hand to you, standing up to take you home.
"I texted Kelce half an hour before you showed up."
welcome to the series masterlist for my (ongoing) rafe cameron x reader series new light!
summary: you come home from college to spend your last summer before senior year in your hometown of the outer banks. an old friend hits you up wanting something more, and you begin to see what’s really been there all along.
warnings: drinking (+ underage), drugs (weed), swearing, mentions of sex/suggestive content (minors dni!). more detailed warnings on every part.
new light
part 2: take two
part 3: break through
part 4: underneath the moonlight
part 5: real thing
part 6: far from here
part 7: take a ride
part 8: walk away
part 9: think twice
part 10: look at you
part 11: just one night
blurbs: afterglow, soft spot, sleepyhead, heat above, the wonder of you
headcanons tag
message me to be added to the taglist for this series
*the character of rafe cameron in this series does not reflect every aspect of the canon character or any of his more condemnable actions in the show outer banks. this is fanfiction!
request: “Don’t act as if we’re friends. I know how much you want to slit my throat.” + “You know it’s not like that.” with Rafe please? 🤍
pairing: rafe cameron x pogue reader
warnings: swearing, drinking, mentions of throat slitting
a/n: i’ve been dying to write a bev cart reader x rafe fic. i just love the idea so much, and i’m glad i could fit it into this! i’ve never written a pogue x kook fic so this was super fun. thanks for the request @taylathornton, i hope you like it 🖤 y'all can send more!
my writing
The golf course at the Outer Banks Island Club had finally re-opened after Hurricane Agatha, and you were absolutely drowning in customers. It seemed like you were stopping your cart every five seconds to sell drinks to another group of golfers. The tips were huge though, so you didn’t mind dealing with all of the demands.
Especially when it means you get to see your favorite club member.
Rafe is standing with his two friends when you approach the hole they’re at, looking full-kook as always in his polo shirt and undoubtedly expensive white gloves. You take a second to admire him when you stop your cart before waving them down.
“Hey guys! Drinks?”
Topper and Kelce immediately drop their conversation to approach you, but your eyebrow furrows when Rafe hangs back. He’s turned away from you now, working on lining up his shot and surveying the rest of the course.
“Wanna do a shot with us, Y/n?”
Kelce’s quip brings your attention back to the task at hand, and you try to put on your best employee smile for them. “You know I can’t on the job, Kelce.”
You attempt to laugh and joke with them, but not flirt for an extra tip like you normally would—not when Rafe was still ignoring you. Not that you’d ever flirt with Topper and Kelce in his presence anyways, not for a long time now.
When you started this job months ago, you’d never expected to find yourself looking forward to serving snobby kooks in garish plaid pants that probably cost more than your entire paycheck. You were in it for the tips and the tips only, until one day when you happened upon Rafe Cameron golfing with his father, Ward.
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