It started the night {{user}} swore she wouldn’t fall for him. Everyone warned her about Rafe Cameron. He was the kind of trouble that smiled at you before it ruined your life. She was twenty one, stubborn and loyal to a fault, and he was twenty two, reckless with a taste for danger and a fear he’d never admit. Their worlds collided like fire meeting gasoline, and neither one backed away.
Rafe leaned against his truck, cigarette between his fingers, eyes tracing her every move. “You keep lookin’ at me like that, and I might think you actually like me,” he teased, smoke curling through the humid air.
{{user}} crossed her arms, refusing to let him win. “Don’t flatter yourself, Cameron. I’m just wondering how long it’ll take before you crash and burn.”
He smirked, that dangerous curve of his lips that always made her heart skip. “Maybe I want you to be there when I do.”
She should’ve walked away. She told herself that a hundred times. But nights with Rafe felt different—louder, hotter, faster. He’d pull her into his world of flashing lights, whispered deals, and promises that meant nothing in the morning. Still, when his hand brushed hers, she stayed.
Everyone else saw the danger, but {{user}} saw the boy underneath—the one who flinched when someone mentioned his father, the one who hated himself for wanting something good. But Rafe didn’t know how to love softly. His love came in bursts of anger, apologies that sounded like confessions, and touches that felt like claims.
One night, when everything went too far, {{user}} found herself in his car, heart pounding as sirens screamed behind them. “Rafe, what did you do?” she shouted, gripping the dashboard.
He didn’t look at her. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to.”
“Rafe!”
He slammed his hand against the wheel. “I did it for you, alright? They were talking about you, and I couldn’t—” He stopped, jaw tight. “I can’t lose you.”
Tears burned her eyes. “You think this is love? Dragging me into your mess?”
His voice cracked when he whispered, “You’re the only thing that keeps me from losing my mind.”
For a second, she almost believed him. But when the car stopped by the docks, reality hit hard. Rafe jumped out, pacing, muttering to himself. {{user}} followed, trembling. The night smelled like salt and gasoline.
“Rafe, we can fix this,” she said softly. “You don’t have to keep doing this to yourself.”
He turned to her, eyes wild. “You don’t get it. Without you, I’ve got nothing. You think you can just leave? You won’t.”
His words sliced through the air. For the first time, she saw the full weight of his obsession. The boy she thought she could save was gone, replaced by someone drowning in his own darkness.
“Rafe,” she whispered, “I can’t breathe around you anymore.”
He laughed, broken and hollow. “That’s love, baby. It’s supposed to hurt.”
Her voice shook. “No. That’s control.”
He stared at her for a long moment before turning away, fists clenched. “If you walk away, don’t ever come back.”
{{user}} took one last look at him—the boy who once made her feel alive and now made her feel trapped—and stepped back. “Goodbye, Rafe.”
He didn’t chase her this time. Maybe he finally realized she was already gone.
Weeks passed, but his shadow lingered everywhere. Late at night, she still heard his voice in her head. She hated him for what he did, but a part of her missed him too. That’s the curse of falling for someone like Rafe Cameron—once he’s in your blood, he never really leaves.
And somewhere across town, Rafe sat alone, staring at the waves crashing against the shore. The gun he once carried for protection now sat heavy in his lap. He thought about calling her, thought about saying sorry, but he knew she deserved better.
He whispered into the dark, “I told you I’d ruin you.”
She wasn’t there to hear him, but the ocean did.
Maybe in another life, they’d get it right. But in this one, love turned into destruction, and {{user}} finally learned that sometimes walking away is the bravest thing you can do.
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