mean!soft!rafe when he gets mad at reader(can be maybank reader!) for "acting like a slut infront of my friends" and leaves the room for a while, and when she walks in his office and shyly apologizes he pulls her into his arms and becomes all soft and showers her with kisses and brushes her hair and shes crying because she doesnt want him to leave her n she thinks shes a failure
the room was silent except for the heavy breathing of rafe, who sat tense beside you with a beer in his hand.
you thought you hated how it felt before, filled with jeering young men, cigarette smoke, and the clatter of remote controls slammed so hard they should have broken, but this was worse.
you bit your lip and stared at the ground, waiting for what you felt would come, but it didn’t.
the silence lingered like smoke from a bullet until you finally tapped his shoulder. his head snapped toward you, eyes blazing and jaw tight. when he barked “what?” you froze, and at the sight of your deer-in-headlights expression, he rolled his eyes, stood, and tossed his bag into your lap, “i deal with your bullshit!”
when you stammered “what?” he stepped in front of you, grabbed your camisole between his fingers, and spat that he “couldn’t take it,” accusing you of “showing off for the assholes around you.” though you tried to explain, he cut you off, storming upstairs with the tantrum of a child.
normally it would have made you laugh, but this time it only drew tears, so you retreated as you always did, climbing to the bedroom, turning on the fan and lamp before drifting to sleep. later you woke queasy, your eyes swollen, and felt an urge to walk to his office, where the shredder hummed. when you peeked inside, his face was no longer angry but tired, and his arms instinctively opened for you.
you fell into them and muttered “m’sorry,” but he scoffs, “i’m the one at fault, a real dick.” you chuckled, resting against his chest while his fingers traced your spine, and when he whispered “i love you,” you answered with soft kisses along his jaw.