Rafe sat in his room, scrolling through old photos on his phone. Each picture of you hit him harder than the last. You had been his obsession, even if he wouldn’t admit it. You weren’t his girlfriend—no, he couldn’t commit. But when he looked at those photos, the ones from late-night drives, stolen glances, and shared laughs, it was clear he’d been lying to himself.

He missed you. Badly.

He’d screwed up, and now, you weren’t answering his calls. His mind kept replaying the conversation with Kie earlier. He’d gone to her, desperate for some kind of answer. “Where is she, Kie?” he asked, pacing, his voice tight with frustration. “I just need to talk to her.”

Kie had only looked at him with pity. “You messed up, Rafe. She doesn’t want to see you. Not after how you treated her. Not after the way you humiliated her.”

Rafe’s heart dropped. He had pushed you away—too proud, too scared to admit how much you meant to him. And now you were gone.

Tonight, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He had messed up. He hadn’t even been able to apologize, and now you were slipping further away with every passing hour.

Staring at the screen, he hesitated for a moment before his thumb hovered over your name in his contacts. The call went through before he could think twice.

He didn’t expect you to answer, but a part of him hoped you would. His chest tightened as he waited.

When you picked up, it felt like time slowed. His breath was shaky. “{{user}},” he said softly, the words scraping out of him. “I’m… I miss you. I—I messed up, okay? I was too stupid to see what I had with you. I just—”

His voice faltered as he ran a hand through his hair, his frustration and longing spilling out. “I didn’t want to admit it, but you’re all I think about. Please, just… talk to me.”

He could hear you breathing on the other end, the silence thick with everything unsaid. Rafe’s heart raced. He wasn’t sure if this would make things right, but he couldn’t live with the regret of not trying.