The White Car
Rafe Cameron x Reader
Your boyfriend doesn’t pick you up from work, and soon lives to regret it.
Trigger warning for stalking, explicit sexual harassment, implied threats of violence
Based off this request
Word count: 1.8k
Sorry this took me so long to get to. Been having a weird time in my life. Hope you enjoy this and as always my DMs are open if you need to talk. Stay safe <3
You had spotted a dented white bmw around your neighbourhood a handful of times in the last week, seeming to slowly drive past you, pop up outside of your work and even down your street at random times - with a man that you didn't recognise in the front seat. At first, you hadn't thought much of it - just a weird coincidence - but then you saw the car for a third time in one day and decided to mention something to your co worker.
"I keep on seeing this one car around with some guy I don't recognise driving it. That's weird, right?"
"It's a small town, maybe they're just new to the neighbourhood." She shrugged.
"Yeah that's what I thought, but I've seen them three times today, and I saw them twice yesterday."
At this she sounded more interested.
"Hmmm, that is a bit weird. Is Rafe picking you up later?"
"No, he's watching the game at Topper's." You sighed, suppressing a spark of annoyance.
Your coworker shrugged again, her eyes placid and bored.
"Maybe you should just approach the guy and ask what he wants. He's probably just some loser trying to get your phone number or something. You can borrow my pepper spray if you want."
You scoffed.
"Yeah maybe you're right. I doubt I'll need the spray though. Thanks anyway."
The shift was busy and you didn't have any time to discuss it after that, nor to even really think about it. By time you'd finished, the sun had set and you were in a bad mood, frustrated by the flow of difficult customers and lack of response to your texts from your boyfriend.
You were pacing home, your hood pulled up and your earphones in, and you had almost gotten to your street when you saw the white bmw again. It was actually the feeling of being watched that alerted you to turn around and notice the vehicle. It was slowly driving a few feet behind you, headlights off despite the darkening sky. There were no other cars in the road, but there were a few houses dotted about, some with their lights on.
"If anything bad happens I can just scream really loud." You reasoned to yourself, making a snap, irritated decision.
You twisted your body around, turning straight to the car and loudly asking in a blunt tone "Can I help you?" as you paced towards it.
The passenger window was down so you knew that he heard you, and his lack of response only brought out further irritation in your voice.
"Hello? I said can I help you? Are you following me or something-"
Then you saw his concentrated gaze. His lip tucked tightly under his teeth. Where his hand was and what it was doing. Himself gripped between his fingers, being jerked back and forth with a vigorous movement.
A shocked scream started to exit your throat, though it came out as more of a light squeal, the air having been shot from your lungs. For a second, you stayed stood, frozen in terror. Then your senses came back to you, your body produced a sudden spike of adrenaline, and your legs were moving as fast as they could go.
You ran the rest of the way home, not turning around until you'd opened your front door and even then only taking a quick peek. There was no one there, but you still continued to run after slamming the door shut, not stopping until you were in your bedroom. You stood panting for a moment, your body shaking as you collected your thoughts, and then your legs suddenly went like jelly and your eyes became glossed over.
Trembling, you slid down onto the floor, leaning all of your weight against your door as you fiddled for your phone in your pocket. Once you managed to get it out, you instantly called Rafe.
He picked up after five rings, the sound of loud background noise hitting you before his rushed voice did.
"What's up? I'm busy, baby."
You replied in a panicked rush, your voice racing out in between tight gasps of breath.
"Some guy- this man- he's been following me- I think- I don't know." You cried, and instantly Rafe's tone changed.
The background noise seemed to lesser and instead of sounding bored - maybe even annoyed - he started to sound stressed.
"What do you mean some guys been following you? When? Today?"
"Yeah, today, yesterday, all this week-"
"And you didn't tell me? What the fuck, Y/N." He cut you off with a loud snap before sighing, taking some breaths and then speaking in a slightly softer tone "What's happened, are you okay?"
"I- I went up to him- in his car- I thought I'd see what he wanted... and he was- he was masturbating." You choked. "I'm home alone- I'm scared."
You could hear Rafe swallow dryly through the phone, and the sound of a sharp intake of breath through his teeth. In the gap of silence, you even heard Topper questioning what Rafe was doing outside. He clearly went ignored.
"Okay baby, I'm on my way now. I'll be five minutes." Rafe mustered the least angry voice he could, not wanting to scare you any further.
The phone made a clicking sound to indicate the call was over, and although you were beyond relived that Rafe would be coming, you couldn't feel safe until he was there. Your body felt as if it were glued to the floor, terrified that if you moved in any way it would alert someone - or something - to your presence. You knew that realistically if the man wanted to break down your door, your body weight against the wood would do nothing to stop him, yet you still convinced yourself that it was the right place to stay - just until Rafe was with you.
You were still struggling to catch your breath, even as your boyfriend finally arrived; announcing his presence loudly before running up the stairs towards your room.
"It's me, baby. Are you here?" He called again as he came down the corridor, his footsteps vibrating through to the floorboards you were sat on.
Releasing a deep breath of relief, you scrambled up from the floor and opened your door just as Rafe's hand touched the handle, throwing your arms around his waist and burying your face into his chest. He was quick to wrap his arms around you, holding you tightly against him as he caught his breath; some of the panic that he was feeling subsiding.
You both said nothing for a moment, your bodies soothingly intertwined, lightly shaking and recovering from fear. Small sniffles were escaping from your nostrils. Rafe swallowed and spoke first.
"You're not hurt, are you?"
You’d never heard him sound so worried.
You shook your head no, eyes still pressed to his chest.
"He didn't touch you at all?"
You shook your head no again.
"Okay, good." He murmured, kissing the top of your head before sighing through his nose.
"Why didn't you say anything if you thought some guy following you?... And why would you go up to him, Y/N?"
Frustration was slowly seeping back through now that he knew you were safe, like a drip of coffee spilled onto a thick paper towel. How could you have been so stupid?
"I don't know... I didn't think much of it." You sniffled.
"You clearly didn't think at all. He could've done anything to you and I wouldn't have even known where to start looking... Normal people don't follow women around in cars jacking off! He could be a serial killer!"
You finally lifted your wet face from his chest, looking up at him with eyes like desperate, glistening golf balls, and blinked away a thick layer of tears that had built up in your closed eyes before speaking in a weak, croaking voice.
"I- I'm sorry, Rafe. You're right. I'm stupid."
Looking at your shameful expression and trembling lip, another sigh came from Rafe's lungs, this time falling from his lips, much heavier than the last. His voice went quiet again.
"No- you don't need to be sorry. I- I'm sorry, that was rude of me. You're not stupid... I just don't know what I would do if something happened to you." He put an arm back around you, his hand resting on the small of your back to gently guide you into your bedroom, subconsciously unable to linger on the admittance of what he'd just said.
"Did you see the number plate, do you remember it?" He continued, suddenly sounding rushed, as if the memory could disappear from your mind at any second.
You followed his lead without any resistance, taking your usual spot on the bed and then shaking your head no.
Rafe was still stood up, his arms crossed as if he was physically holding the rage inside his chest from bursting out. He had to hold it in. It wasn't at you. You didn't deserve it.
"Okay well can you tell me what the car looked like? What the man driving it looked like?" He stifled a grimace, but was unable to hide the fire in his eyes.
"F-For the police... you'll call them, yeah?" You spoke quietly in between sniffles, an uncertain inflection in your tone, a soft red glow to your nose and cheeks.
Rafe swallowed and nodded.
"Yeah... Yeah, sure."
He didn't want to look at you as he lied, so he came down from his intimidating stance over the bed and sat beside you. You leaned into his side and he wrapped his arm around you, staring with concentrated avoidance into the bedding.
"It was some old, white bmw with a dented door... And the guy, he was- I don't know- I think he had brown hair, a blue jacket- I- I didn't see." Your speech had descended into a collection of panicked breaths again, and so Rafe quickly took a mental note of all that you had said before pulling you in for a tight hug, his hand rubbing soothing circles into your back.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're safe. I'm here. We can get all cosy, I'll order a takeout and you can pick what we watch." He cooed softly, then added slightly quieter "I'll um- speak to the cops tomorrow... They'll catch him."
"Thank you, baby." You whispered, the same naivety that had lead you up to the car giving you no reason not to believe Rafe.
An hour later and you were entirely relaxed; slowly falling into the depths of sleep with your head resting on Rafe’s chest. He was careful not to move too much as he picked up his phone, sending a text to the boys group-chat with the description of the car and man that you’d given, along with a short messaging summarising what had happened. They would know what to do with that.
It pained him to not be physically delivering the hand of justice to the perverted stalker, but it would’ve pained him more to leave you. And so, when you finally started to lightly snore, Rafe did nothing to slip out from beneath you, watching the natural relaxation of your features with silent awe.
He would definitely be picking you up from work from now on.
