”Please leave a message for…”

Rafe cursed as he was met with the sound of your voicemail again. He didn’t like this. You hadn’t answered his texts all day, you didn’t go into work, you weren’t at your house, and you weren’t even at your dads house. He knew because he checked every place.

He hated it. Worry gnawed at him from the inside out. You never went radio silent. Hell, usually you were the one blowing up his phone, not the other way around.

“{{user}}, c’mon, it’s me.. again. Where the hell are you? Please, call me back.” He spoke into the phone as he walked around the dock, looking for you before heading back to his car to try a new spot.

It was already golden hour, just an hour before sunset. He hadn’t spoke to you in nearly sixteen hours. He never figured he’d care this much, but he did. It was killing him inside not even knowing if you were okay. He didn’t think anything of it until he reached hour seven, and then he started worrying. No good morning text, random meme, or even a dramatic rant about your latest pet peeve.

He texted your number again as he walked, his lips pursed together as he tracked the familiar wood of the dock beneath his designer red bottom sneakers. He couldn’t even track you because your Life360 was turned off, which freaked him out even more. He barely used the app, but he did occasionally check in to make sure you weren’t at any unmarked houses, not that you’d ever do that.

His steps continued through your grass after getting off of the dock before reaching the pavement of your empty driveway. Well, it wasn’t empty currently, his car was sitting on the white concrete currently, but it was empty of your familiar car.

It was equally as frustrating as it was worrying. He was frustrated that you never gave him an explanation, but he was also frustrated for being so worried about you. You were a grown woman. You didn’t need your boyfriend’s constant protection. He just preferred having you in his eyesight at most times of the day... for protection.