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You were bored.

You were utterly, painfully bored. Rafe had been gone for less than forty-eight hours on a business trip to look at some new development properties, and the house felt too big and too quiet without him.

And after hours of stewing in your own boredom, you'd shamefully resorted to blowing up his phone.

You i miss you rafeeee look at the tiktoks i sent you what are you doing rn helloooooo respond to me or i'm deleting your save file on gta

A few minutes later, your phone finally buzzed on the desk. You swiped it open eagerly, only to deflate at his dry responses.

Rafe In a meeting Can’t talk right now Stop texting.

A prickle of irritation flared in your chest. You knew he was working, but a little bit of effort wouldn't kill him. Your fingers flew across the keyboard, attitude bleeding into your words.

You whatever forget it

And not even thirty seconds passed before your phone screen lit up entirely, vibrating against your palm.

You pressed answer, sliding the phone to your ear with a stubborn huff.

"What's your problem?" Rafe’s voice came through the line, low. You could hear the muffled echo of chatter in the background—he had clearly stepped out just to make this call.

"I don't have a problem," you lied, leaning back in your gaming chair and spinning a slow circle.

"Clearly, you do," Rafe countered, stern but laced with an undercurrent of fond exasperation. "Because you're blowing up my phone like a kid while I'm trying to close a deal. The quicker I do that, the quicker I can come back home to you. You do know that, right?" He reprimands softly. "Talk to me." He asks, concerned. "What is it?"

"I'm bored, Rafe," you complained, trailing a finger over the edge of your desk. "I'm not trying to annoy you but," You sighed, throwing your head back. "What do you want from me?"

"You're bored?" Rafe let out a dry, disbelieving laugh, a sound that was too attractive for how annoyed he was supposed to be. "There is no way in the world that you're bored right now."

"What's that 'posed to mean?"

"It means, considering of all the shit I buy you," he said down the line, his tone turning into an authoritative lecture, like he was checking items off a list just to prove a point. "There shouldn't be a single second of the day where you're bored in that house. I bought you the Switch you wanted, twice actually after you told me you wanted a different color," He starts, amused. "I just bought you a new laptop after you killed the first one with mods 'n shit. And what about the iPad? Even that damn PC I literally just ordered and set up for you, so you could play Sims without it lagging."

You bit your lip, listening to him rattle off.

"And don't forget," Rafe continued, a faint smirk evident in his voice now, "I just dropped a shit ton of money buying you a fuckin' mountain of new games last week, because you did this the last time I had to go away for work." He chuckles lowly into the phone. "What d'you want next? A puppy?" He muses.

You softened a little, the attitude draining out of you at the reminder of how indulgent he was with your hobbies. He loved making sure you had the best version of whatever made you happy.

"I mean... I appreciate it," you murmured, your voice dropping to a softer, more honest tone. "Obviously. But I miss you."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Rafe was a sucker for you, and hearing you admit you just wanted him was enough to undo his frustration.

"Yeah?" Rafe asked, his voice a gentle rumble. "You miss me?"

"Yeah, I miss you..." You whisper, pouting slightly.

"Alright," he murmured softly. "Then why don't you go play that game you just made me buy you?"

You blinked, momentarily distracted. "Which one?"

"The one on your Switch. Tomodachi somethin', with the Wii people," he said, a faint chuckle escaping him. "Go take care of our little Miis or whatever you call 'em."

"I just got done playing that," you admitted, a small smile breaking onto your face. "Me and you just had a beach date."

"We did, huh? Did mii-me treat you well?" Rafe asked. Before you could answer, he moved along to the next solution. "Alright, well... did you ever finish building our house on Sims?"

"Not completely..."

"Then how 'bout you finish that? It was comin' along nice," He praises. "How many kids we got now?" he questioned, recalling the random details you had rambled to him about weeks ago. "Did you ever end up giving us that dog like you wanted?"

"No, not yet," you mumbled, warmth creeping up your neck.

"Then there's somethin' for you to do." Rafe instructed, tone sliding back into that smooth, authoritative register. It was gentle, but left no room for argument. "Go build the house, get the dog, fill it up with whatever you want. And once you're done with all of that, and I'm out of this boring ass meeting..." He paused, his voice dropping into a low whisper that sent a shiver down your spine. "...I'll FaceTime you and make it worth your while. Alright?"

"...Okay."

"Good girl," Rafe murmured, satisfied. You could hear the rustle of his suit jacket as he checked his watch. "I gotta get back in there before they think I dipped." He sighs. "Go play your games. And I made you a new spotify playlist to listen to while I'm gone," He throws in as if he just remembered. "I love you."

"I love you, too," you whispered.

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but then i was like no he can'tttt because she's coming back so i went for the narrative of him being too emotional to even really remember that they're not stuck in the villa against their will and they can leave. rima even says it in her confessional when she's like once rafe's head is clear, he's probably gonna be leaving the villa right behind her.