Right Now | Rafe Cameron

*24: sun and saltwater.

TWENTY FOUR

sun and saltwater.

Billie had almost drifted into sleep when she heard the quiet drumming on the door. At first she thought she'd imagined it, that it was some sort of upbeat of a dream. But when she heard it again, she got up to check. When she looked through the peephole a familiar sticky warmth spread in her gut. She swallowed and unlocked the door. Without a word she crawled back into bed. She heard the door shut and the lock twist before silent footsteps approached the bed. The covers lifted slightly and Rafe's warm body slid into bed behind her.

"Hi," Billie whispered sleepily after she'd turned around to face him. He was lying on his back and Billie crept up to lie on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Hi," he replied quietly.

"We're going home tomorrow." Billie sighed with the realisation.

"Nervous?" Rafe asked.

"A little, you?"

"Always," he said solemnly. "That's why I couldn't sleep." Billie nestled closer to him. They were silent for a while. Billie closed her eyes. But then Rafe spoke again.

"I don't like that you disappeared." The words that had been unspoken all day that day, all day the day before.

"Sorry," she whispered. She didn't say the words: I thought waking up next to you again would make it too real. But it was real and she couldn't deny it any longer. She would have to deal with whatever was happening between them. They fell asleep without saying anything else.

***

Morning brightness woke Billie up. She wrestled her way out from Rafe's firm embrace and found her phone. 08.54. Her alarm was set for 9. That's when they had to get up and start driving. She was under strict instructions to be at John B and Sarah's house by five. She would have seven long hours plus traffic jams to make up scenarios in her head of everything that could go wrong. She also suspected that there were more people involved in this evening's dinner than just her brother, herself, and Sarah. The thought made her shake a little in nervousness. She breathed in. She had seven plus hours before then. Anything could happen. With any luck they'd just crash and, oh no, so sorry - go back to New York. Billie recognised the pull in her gut as fight or flight.

It would be bad enough to see her friends after this long. But she also had to figure out a way to ignore Rafe. She suspected it would be impossible. Although she doubted that Sarah would be so naive that she'd force the Pogues and Rafe to be in the same room.

"Come back to bed," Rafe grunted in a raspy voice. He covered his face with his forearm, shielding his eyes from the morning light that shone in through the window.  Billie rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as she yawned and picked up her towel from a chair. Then she walked over and sat back down on the bed. In a smooth gesture, Rafe pulled her under the covers and encased her in his warm arms. "Hmm, much better."

"It's almost nine," Billie reminded him and he grunted in response.

"Do we have to? I mean, we could just go back to New York. Say that we're sick," he pleaded. Billie chuckled lightly.

"Yeah because that's not suspicious at all," she turned around to face him with a smile.

"No one would know," Rafe looked into her eyes convincingly, returning her smile.

"Your sister would know. And she would come to New York and drag us to the Banks herself," Billie said and Rafe groaned.

"I know." Billie tried to sit up but he pulled her back down.

"Let me go. I'm gonna have a shower," Billie laughed.

"You don't need a shower, you smell hot," he said, closing his eyes. Billie smiled in surprise at his softness. He brushed his hand softly over her nipples and kissed the corner of her mouth.

"Hmm, I should always wake you up early. Morning Rafey's so much nicer than grumpy, sarcastic normal everyday Rafe," she teased.

"Go shower," Rafe said and let her go.

"Aaand he's back," Billie jumped out of bed and headed for the shower.

***

The drive was long but bearable. They took turns driving. Billie never drove anymore, there was no need in New York, no space. But now that she was here, on endless roads along the coast, Billie realised she'd missed it - the freedom. Despite Rafe's backseat driving. He thought she braked too hard and drove too fast. She reminded him she'd seen him drive on hard drugs. He just muttered "did I ever crash?" She didn't feel the need to tell him about the time she'd totalled Kiara's dad's car. It didn't matter.

They played the number plate game and I spy. And then Rafe suggested they play the quiet game, which, Billie wasn't sure is even a thing and surely just a way to shut her up in her boredom. She lost the quiet game, anyway. They played the theme song game but Rafe got too angry when Billie couldn't remember the Seinfeld theme but she had memorised the entire intro to The Prince of Bell Air.

"I'd like to take a minute just sit right there I'll tell you how I became the Prince of a town called Bel Air," Billie hummed while looking out the window, drumming with her fingers on her thighs.

"Billie, I swear, I will drive this car off the road and into the sea," Rafe growled, twisting his hands around the wheel. Billie rolled her eyes.

"Such a drama queen, jeez louise," she muttered, meaning for him to hear.

"You're lucky your my sister's best friend," he said simply and continued to stare at the road ahead. "Fucking move," he yelled at a car, swinging his hand in the air. Another thing about Rafe - massive road rager. Sur-fucking-prise.

Then, in the middle of an argument, the Outer Banks sign appeared before them. They both immediately fell silent as they passed it.

"See, we didn't catch on fire," Rafe joked.

"Not yet," Billie muttered as they drove past the familiar sights of their childhoods. Nothing had changed. It was like the moment they entered the town, the past near-decade had never happened. Of course, this wasn't the first time Rafe was back. But for Billie... She lost her footing for a second, and as they passed the crowds that cued outside the Wreck, her eyes flickered to the Kook king next to her, driving the car. She almost expected the world to implode.

Suddenly, Billie ducked down with a sharp inhale.

"What are you doing?" Rafe chuckled, head turning from the road to Billie, and then back to the road.

"I thought I saw..." she started but sat back up again when she realised they'd passed the crowds.

"They were just Tourons," Rafe said. He seemed to think for a second. "Maybe you're right though. I'll drop you off a couple of blocks from Sarah's. You can say you got a cab."

"From Charleston?" Billie scoffed. Who in their right mind would do that?

"Or you can say it was me who drove you here and then your big bro would probably kill me at sight, or try to."

"Shut up," she said and bit the inside of her cheek in thought. "I can just say I rented a car and left it at the dealership in town. Then I walked." She nodded. That's what she'd say.

"Alright, whatever."

A couple of minutes later, Rafe had stopped by the curb two blocks from her brother's house. They quickly said goodbye and Billie opened the door. She felt the familiar humid air brush against her face as she took a deep breath. Sun and saltwater. Home.

A/N
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