Right Now | Rafe Cameron

31: see you around.

THIRTY ONE

see you around.

"Keep in touch," Sarah said as they hugged.

"Yes mom," Billie whispered and Sarah rolled her eyes. "We'll be back for the wedding."

They had set a date two months from now. Everyone wondered why they were rushing but Sarah just argued that her and John B getting married, properly this time, was way over-due.

Sarah turned to her big brother and gave him a worried look.

"I'll take care of her, don't worry," he said. Billie gave him a surprised and sceptical look. Oh, will you now?

"It's not her I'm worried about, Rafey," Sarah said. Billie smiled at the nickname. It was a rare insight in what their childhoods had been before everyone started turning on each other. "Did you put in an offer on that house?"

"It'll be fine, Sare," Rafe said curtly and opened the car door. Sarah's mouth was a straight line. Whatever he tried to convince her of and being nice about, she was not sure he had it all under control.

Finally, they got onto the road off the island.

"I can't believe this weekend," Billie sighed after a while of silence. She checked her messages again.

JJ

I'm so sorry. Please can we talk?
J? I'll try to explain.
I'm going today - come say goodbye?

No answer to anything for days, even since the night of the party. Billie sighed and put her phone in the bag by her feet. Rafe glanced at her, not sure if he should say something.

"What?" she snorted.

"You okay?" Rafe tried carefully.

"No, my best friend won't talk to me," she looked at the window sourly, seeing Outer Banks fade away behind them.

"Maybe you just have to give him time," Rafe suggested and cleared his throat. Giving advice about JJ of all people wasn't his strong suit. He glanced unsurely to his side to see Billie's reaction.

"Time doesn't matter. He's as upset as he would've been if I'd told him seven years ago that I slept with you."

"Don't do that," Rafe furrowed his brows. "We're not sleeping together, that's not just what this is."

"Please enlighten me Rafe," Billie countered and turned her torso towards the driver's seat. She knew she shouldn't do this, pick a fight with him. It wasn't his fault she'd fucked things up with JJ - betrayed him.

"I'm an open book," Rafe gestured to himself. Billie rolled her eyes and turned back to look to the window with a sigh.

"No you're not, you're like a book that's had its pages glued together and then was put into a block of cement and buried under five thousand pounds of radioactive waste."

"You're being stupid," Rafe said.

"Yeah, preaching to the choir," Billie muttered. Rafe scoffed and looked at her. He bit his lip in a dissatisfied matter, then indicated and pulled over by the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Billie sighed, unimpressed by his dramatic turn.

"I want to talk about this," Rafe said simply and turned to her. She looked at him defiantly and gestured his hand for him to go first. Rafe hummed disapprovingly, sharpening his jaw. "Why are you so difficult?"