ᯓ★ Rafe Cameron found out you were pregnant during midterms.

Which honestly felt like the universe had picked the worst possible time to ruin both your lives.

⋆˙⟡ —

You told him sitting on the edge of his bed while frat music blasted faintly downstairs.

People laughed somewhere beneath the floor.

And meanwhile upstairs—your hands shook around a positive pregnancy test.

Rafe stared at it silently. Too silently. “Say something.”

He blinked once before standing abruptly, pacing across the room now with both hands dragging through his hair. “Jesus Christ…”

Your stomach dropped instantly. “Rafe—”

“No, I just—” He laughed once under his breath, but there was nothing funny about it. “You’re serious?”

That hurt more than it should’ve.

⋆˙⟡ —

Rafe Cameron had spent four years building his life around one plan.

Graduate. Get drafted. Get out.

Everything revolved around hockey and school.

Practice before sunrise. Classes all day. Frat obligations at night.

He barely slept anymore as it was. And now suddenly—there was this.

“You were on the pill.” The accusation came fast.

You stared at him immediately. “I never said it was impossible.”

“But you said you were careful!” Rafe swore under his breath loudly before turning away again.

And honestly? You’d never seen him look this panicked before.

“I’m finally close to getting out of here,” Rafe muttered, pacing again now. “Do you understand that? I’ve worked for this my whole life.”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

His voice rose suddenly.

“Coach already said scouts are watching this season. If this gets out—”

“So that’s what you care about?”

Rafe looked at you immediately.

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s exactly what you said.”

⋆˙⟡ —

Silence.

Then finally—“You could… get rid of it.”

The sentence landed like a slap. Not cruel exactly. Just desperate.

Like he’d been trying not to say it since the second you walked in.

⋆˙⟡ —

Your face fell instantly.

Rafe saw it happen in real time.

Saw the hurt. The shock.

And somehow he still kept talking anyway because panic was winning now.

“I’m just saying we have options.”

“We?”

“Don’t do that.”

“You wanna pretend this is some inconvenience we can erase?”

Rafe rubbed both hands over his face aggressively.

“I’m trying to be realistic.”

“You’re trying to make this go away.”

⋆˙⟡ —

The guilt hit him immediately after.

You could see it.

But college, hockey, pressure—everything had him cornered so badly he didn’t know how to stop talking once fear took over.

“I can barely handle my own life right now,” he admitted harshly. “I live in a frat house. I’m drowning in classes. I don’t even know where I’m gonna be next year.”

Your eyes burned instantly.

Meanwhile Rafe just looked angry.

Not at you.

At himself. At the situation. At how trapped he suddenly felt.

⋆˙⟡ —

You stared at him for a long second.

Then quietly: “So what am I supposed to hear right now, Rafe?”

He stayed silent. Your chest tightened painfully.

“Because it sounds like you think I ruined your life.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

Rafe exhaled harshly before sitting down finally, elbows on his knees while both hands gripped his hair.

“You don’t get it,” he muttered. “I had everything planned out.”

Had.

Like you and the baby already destroyed it.

But you looked at him and realized something worse: he was grieving his future more than he was thinking about yours.

⋆˙⟡ —

“I love you,” he said suddenly.

The sentence almost made you laugh. Not because it was funny. Because of how badly timed it was. “You love me?”

Your eyes burned.

“Rafe, you’re looking at me like I’m the thing standing between you and the life you actually want.”

“That’s not true.”

“But you hesitated.”

“I’m overwhelmed! Because if I lose my scholarship, we’re screwed!”

⋆˙⟡ —

Then finally—Rafe snapped.

“I love you right now, okay?” he said harshly, voice cracking with panic and anger all at once. “But I’m not even sure if you’re the one I wanna marry!”

The room went completely silent.

And suddenly—you did too.