Only because you asked // Rafe Cameron

Chapter Seven - Not the closure she wanted, but it was something

He gestured for her to follow him into the living room, which she did.

"So, what do you want," he asked, sitting down on the sofa comfortably, which she also did.

"Why are you so mean," she innocently asked, in a child-like manner. No response. She tried again "I said..."

"Because it gets you what you want."

Silence.

"But, everyone's going to be forever stuck on the idea that you're a hate-filled brute instead of seeing the real you."

He tilted his head in interest. "And what exactly is the real me?" he asked, a sense of genuine curiosity in his tone.

"The person that helped his sister upstairs," she stated.

He scoffed. "Why are you so surprised that I helped my drunk sister gather herself?"

"Because you're mean!"

"But is that not just human decency?" he asked, and with every sentence they exchanged, their faces inched closer together.

"It is, but not a lot of people think you have that either."

The brief silence allowed them both to back away from each other subtly and return to their original places.

"Maybe it's not necessary for people to see that side of me," he reasoned. "What need is there?"

Lana blinked, accidentally admiring his features before snapping out of it out of realisation of absurdity and answered his question.

"It's comforting to know that there's a side of you that isn't a complete narcissist," she blurted out, wishing she hadn't had said that.

He ever so slightly leaned his face more towards her, perhaps to try and intimidate her a little; it worked.

"So now, I'm a narcissist?" he questioned with his tone suspiciously calm, cocking his eyebrow up. She gulped, a bit louder than she had hoped to. "Relax, I'm only playing," he assured her, finding amusement out of her panic and earning a smile from her.

She realised that most of her recent encounters with Rafe, mainly from that same day had been a series of silences yet not once had it had been awkward or uncomfortable. That was another thing she wondered. Why was it so easy for them to stay comfortable even though it shouldn't have been?

"Do you hate me?" she asked.

The silence was louder now more then ever and she wasn't sure wether it was because the answer was yes or perhaps another reason she wasn't so sure was true anyways.

As the seconds passed by, the silence grew louder and louder. A look of discomfort became clear on his face, making it visible that he didn't particularly want to answer this question. Another thing that surprised Lana was the fact that this was the first time he avoided eye contact.

"Why are you asking me that?" His voice was like glass, so fragile and intricate.

"We used to get along until last year when you suddenly changed," she began, longing to rejoin eye contact with him again. "You started to bully me," she searched for his eyes but they avoided hers at all cost. "You would call me these horrible names, and forced me to listen to you whilst you listed reasons as to why I will always be pathetic." She felt a spike of pain in her chest as she stated all these things out loud, realising how much they messed her up. "You once told me I'm the reason my parents are unhappy."

At that moment, he finally connected her eyes with hers again. It was as if he longed to get the words out but just couldn't. Nonetheless, she examined his expression to conclude that he was sorry and she waited for him to say something.

"I'm tired," he said, almost whispering; his voice still so frail and airy. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He quickly got up and hurried out of the room, walking to the stairs to return to his room. Lana waited for a minute or so before returning back to Sarah's.

His reaction replayed itself on a loop in her head. She was fascinated now more than ever. Clearly there was a lot to him that nobody knew about, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

She had never seen him like that before.

No one had.

She found herself wishing for his gaze to return, she was able to find some comfort in his sapphire eyes and now she missed it which she wasn't so sure she liked.

The next morning, she luckily wasn't in any sort of pain. She had expected to be hit with a malicious hangover however to her luck, she was spared. Sarah on the other hand did not get so lucky.

"Oh my god," she groaned in pain. "Is this was death feels like?"

"Here, drink some water," she said, handing her the water she had brought up from the previous night which in actuality was only a couple of hours ago.

"What time is it?" she asked, getting up to drink the water which she first winced at but then enjoyed the smoothness of it against her sore throat.

"6AM."

Sarah almost choked on her water. "6AM? What the hell are we doing awake then?"

"I have to get home before my parents realise I didn't come home last night, they'd be somewhat fine with it because I was just next door but I'm just trying to save myself a lecture."

"Alright, I'll see you then," she said, placing the glass of water back down on her beside table. "My dad's taking everyone to the mountains tonight, he'll probably ask your Dad to come along so chances are I'll see you tonight."

"Jesus Christ Sarah," she began, cunningly smiling. "If I was right I'd say you're obsessed with me."

She sarcastically let her jaw drop, throwing her hands in the air as an act of surrender. "You got me."

The two girls bid farewell and let each other be, Lana had attempted to walk down the stairs as quietly as she could but that was pointless seeing as Ward Cameron was already awake, walking out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee; the second one most likely for Rose.

"Good Morning," he cheerfully greeted. Lana had always wondered what it would be like to have a father like Ward - and she loved her father with her entire heart but, she couldn't help but wonder.

"Morning!" she exclaimed, wanting to skip past the small talk so she could quickly go home without being caught and wash the night before off of her.

"What a night you two must've had," he said, chuckling. This was his way of saying that they had woken him up last night, which released a wave of embarrassment in Lana. "I won't keep you, I'm sure you'd rather be back home by now but help yourself to some coffee if you wish so."

"Thank you so much, and I'm so sorry for crashing another night, it was late and I wasn't sure where my key was..."

"Dearest Alannah, I said it before and I'll say it again. You're family, my home is your home," he exasperated, making it clear that he didn't want to hear any more apologies from her. She smiled at him, and continued to walk down the stairs before he started to speak again. "Oh and, I'm going to ask your father to come with me to the mountains tonight. I hope to see you there," and with that, he disappeared into the living room.

Lana mentally sighed at the fact that this would mean that she had to yet again inquire herself a social life when really, her hopeful plan for the night was to binge watch numerous Marvel movies. She knew better to expect that her father would make her go out of good curtesy.

She would wish nothing more than to be permanently glued to her bed for the rest of her life.