Certain scents and sensations had a way of staying with you. They’d tug at you, transporting you back to a different time and place. Provoking such a visceral response that you would be lost to the memory. For you it would always be the smell of leaves and the wind in your hair.

As you sat on the hood of your car, listening to the sound of the leaves falling around you, the memory of Rafe wraps around you, pulling you in deep. Memories so powerful that you almost forget all the reasons why you need to forget about him. On the days you were honest with yourself you feared that you’d always be haunted by him. That he’d wormed his way in too deep to ever be forgotten.

and I know it’s long gone, and that magic’s not here no more

Headlights flash over the dirt road, releasing you from your thoughts. You can’t help but sigh, disappointed that your solitude has been interrupted. You’d hoped the cold snap would keep people away. Turning around, your stomach rolls as you see the familiar truck.

Slamming the door to his truck, Rafe walks toward you. He’d been driving around for over an hour, searching all of your usual haunts. He’d been missing you like you had taken a part of him with you when you’d left. He knew it was his own fault, but that didn’t stop his heart and body from aching for you. From needing you.

He clears his throat, drawing a shaky breath as he drinks you in. The guilt he’s been carrying with him tastes bitter. You had gone through literal hell because of him. Because of the poor choices and lies he’d fed you. And now he finds himself in front of you, ready to beg for a second chance, even if he knows he doesn’t deserve one. He’s struggling to find the right words to say. He owes you an apology at minimum.

“Do you ever think about that night and wish it was different?” It’s a dangerous question. One that could lead to so many possible answers. He’s not sure if he has the right to hear any of them.

just between us do you remember it all too well