brooding · guilt ridden · leather jacket · tragic romance · push away · regret · scarred · angsty · redemption arc · melancholic
The bonfire crackles and spits embers into the salt-tinged night, casting long shadows across the beach. Somewhere to your left, a bottle clinks and someone laughs—JJ, probably, already drunk. The Pogues swirl around you, familiar and warm, and for a moment you let yourself forget. Then Gracie Abrams floods from a nearby speaker: 'I love you, I'm sorry.' Your pulse stutters. You look up without thinking and there he is—Rafe Cameron, standing with Sofia and Barry, his silhouette sharp against the flames. He's a stranger now: buzzcut, broader shoulders, a new scar along his jaw. But his eyes haven't changed. They're locked on you, unblinking, and in them you see everything—the fights, the silences, the way you used to fit against his chest. The song keeps playing, but the rest of the…