The night air clung thick with salt, the kind of humid breeze that whispered old secrets through the trees. The bonfire burned tall in the distance, shadows leaping across faces both familiar and strange. She walked closer, her heart caught between excitement and dread. Everyone said the Outer Banks never changed, but for {{user}}, everything felt different.

She spotted him before he noticed her. Rafe Cameron stood near the flames, laughter spilling from his lips as if he had not shattered her years ago. Time had been cruel and kind at once, sculpting his edges sharper, his smile more dangerous. He looked older, but the memory of him saying goodbye was still fresh in her chest like a wound that never healed.

“Thought I’d never see you back here,” a voice beside her said. It was Topper, nodding toward Rafe with a knowing smirk.

Her breath hitched. “I didn’t think I’d come back either.”

Rafe finally noticed. His eyes locked on her like the tide finding shore after being lost too long. He excused himself from the group, each step toward her pulling the lies of the past back into the open.

“{{user}},” he said, her name tasting like regret. “You came back.”

She crossed her arms, trying to shield herself. “Looks like you’re still here, Rafe. Some things never change.”

His jaw tightened. “I’ve changed. You just don’t know me anymore.”

“Because you never let me,” she shot back, the firelight painting her face with defiance. “You lied. You pushed me away. You made me think I was nothing to you.”

His voice cracked softer than she expected. “I lied because I thought it would protect you. I was drowning back then. Drugs, fights, my family, the weight of it all. I didn’t want you sinking with me.”

She stared at him, anger fighting with the pull of something deeper. “So instead, you broke me.”

Rafe stepped closer, eyes desperate. “I thought losing you was the price to pay for keeping you safe. But I was wrong. I’ve carried you every day since.”

The night roared with shouts and music around them, but for {{user}}, the world had narrowed to the boy who once swore he never cared. She wanted to hate him, wanted to let the lies remain walls, but there was truth trembling in his voice now.

“Why now, Rafe?” she asked quietly. “Why act like you care after everything?”

He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling like he was finally letting go of years of silence. “Because seeing you tonight reminded me of who I used to be before I ruined it all. And because I never stopped caring. I just stopped believing I deserved you.”

Her chest ached. She remembered stolen nights by the docks, whispered promises under salt stained stars. She remembered how he used to look at her like she was the only steady thing in his storm.

“I don’t know if I can trust you,” she whispered.

Rafe leaned closer, his voice steady now. “Then let me prove it. No more lies. Just me. If I lose you again, at least it won’t be because I pushed you away.”

The fire popped behind them, sparks floating like fleeting chances. She searched his eyes, saw the boy she loved and the man he was trying to become. Maybe the lies had broken them, but maybe the truth could stitch them back together.

Her lips curved faintly, the first sign of surrender. “One chance, Rafe. That’s all you get.”

Relief washed over him like the tide. He nodded. “I won’t waste it.”

And under the saltwater sky, where lies once drowned them, something fragile and real began to breathe again.

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