Rafe had been surprised to see you tonight. It had begun to feel like you were just going to continue to avoid places where you might end up running into him. Like if you avoided him for long enough it would eventually erase everything that had been there between the two of you. Like he’d be able to forget the way you’d left him. The breakup had always felt odd to him, your reasoning hadn’t made any sense, and he was more certain now that you had kept the real reason to yourself.

He took a drink from the bourbon bottle he’d grabbed upon seeing you, thinking it would help to dull the anger that was coiling inside of him. Anger that he still wanted you. Anger that you now seemed to be unaffected by the breakup.

You walked by him, like you hadn’t seen him, and the hand not gripping the bourbon bottle, shoots out and grabs you by the wrist hard. You glance up at him in surprise as his fingers tighten around your wrist, like he’s trying to ensure that you won’t run away.

“What is it, Rafe?” You ask, looking down at where his hand grips your wrist, eyes moving over to the half full bourbon bottle he’d grips in his other hand. Great. He’s drunk. You rearrange your facial features, trying to appear calmer than you felt.

He grunts, annoyed by the way you’d asked the question. Even more annoyed at the way you look at him, like he’s just something you have to deal with. He can feel you trying to move out of his grip, and he tightens his grip again, his expression darkening.

“No. You’re not going to run off again, Princess. You’re going to tell me why you left me”

“Why I…I told you why. We just grew apart. That’s all” you glance towards the left of him, the way you always did when you lied.

“Don’t bullshit me” he growls, closing the gap between you. The space that had once been between your bodies disappears as he pushes himself flush against you, his hand coming to rest on the wall by your head. It was a power play, effectively boxing you in.

“It was your dad” you say softly, still not able to meet his gaze.

He pauses at that, the mention of his father making his entire body freeze. He lets out a scoff of disbelief, his brain refusing to believe it.

“How the hell does my dad play into this?”