#starkeymuse

[starkeymuse]

decode | rafe cameron | part four

summary: grace knew the outer banks were full of dangerous currents, but she never expected rafe cameron to be one of them.

warnings: i don't think there's any? probably just my own writing errors lol

✧ listen to: california by beabadoobee ✧

"good," he said, giving me a small smile. "just rest for now. i have no where to be."

i met his gaze, a quiet appreciation settling in. "i owe you one, huh?"

rafe smiled. "yeah, but i’ll collect later."

grace's pov

we fell into a rhythm of idle conversation after that, the kind that wasn’t necessarily comfortable but wasn’t strained either. he pointed out the faint outline of a fishing trawler in the distance, and i asked about his boat.

“this thing is impressive,” i said, running my hand over the sleek wooden trim. “you don’t strike me as the type to take care of something like this.”

“yeah?” he raised an eyebrow, his smirk returning. “what type do i strike you as?”

i shrugged, biting back a grin. “the type who has other people do the work for him.”

rafe chuckled softly. “fair. but I’ll have you know, i actually like working on it. keeps my head straight.”

i tilted my head, studying him. that was… unexpected. but before i could overthink it, the words were out of my mouth. “so what’s the plan for you, cameron? what’s the big dream?”

he raised his eyebrows and let out a surprised laugh, "the big dream?"

“yeah.” i gestured at the boat, the water, his whole polished-but-cracked exterior. “what do you want to do? with your life.”

for a moment, he didn’t answer, his fingers tapping absently against the wood. “i want to be like my dad,” he said finally. “build something big, you know? a legacy. real estate mogul, that kind of thing.”

i frowned slightly, not at his answer but at the way he said it, so rehearsed, like he’d been reciting it since he could talk. “a legacy,” i repeated.

“yeah.” he nodded, his expression firm. “he’s done a lot for this place. people respect him.”

something about the way he said it made me pause. his words sounded like admiration, but the edges felt sharp, like there was something unsaid. “is that really what you want?” i asked softly, meeting his gaze. “or is that what you’ve been told you want?”

his head snapped toward me, his jaw tightening. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“it’s just a question.” i shrugged, keeping my tone even. “sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference, you know? between what you really want and what someone else wants for you."

i could see the wheels turning in his head. for once, he didn’t have a quick retort, and that silence felt heavier than anything he could’ve said.

“i should go,” i said, breaking the tension. “my friends are probably freaking out. they don’t even know where i am.”

he turned back to me, his expression softer now. “grace-”

“thank you,” i said quickly before he could say anything else. “for helping me. i mean it.”

his lips curved into a faint smirk, but his eyes betrayed something warmer.

i hurried off his boat. i turned quickly, not trusting myself to glance back, afraid that if i did, i might linger longer than i should.

by the time i reached john b’s house, the sun was fully up, casting a golden light over the property. my head was still pounding slightly, a dull reminder of the night before, but i pushed it aside. i barely had time to step onto the porch before the screen door slammed open, and jj stormed out.

“holy shit, she’s alive,” jj announced dramatically, throwing his hands in the air like he’d just seen a ghost. “i was about to start carving your name into a tree, grace. thought we lost you to the sea or, like, i don't know? those guys that tried shooting us!”

before i could react, he was in front of me, gripping my arms and giving me a once-over, like he expected to find a missing limb or a gunshot wound.

“where the hell were you?” he demanded, squinting at me like a detective in an old noir movie. “are you hurt? blinking twice means you need medical assistance.”

i rolled my eyes. “jj, i'm fine.”

“fine?” his voice shot up an octave. “fine people answer their phones, grace. fine people don’t vanish without a single ‘brb, not dead.’”

“it died,” i interrupted, holding up my hands in a placating gesture.

he didn’t look convinced, and as i glanced up, i realized he wasn’t the only one. the rest of the pogues had come out onto the porch, their faces etched with varying degrees of concern. kiara looked like she was ready to launch into a lecture. pope and john b were quieter but still clearly relieved to see me in one piece. then there was sarah, standing slightly off to the side, arms crossed, her eyes scanning my face like she was trying to piece something together.

“we thought something happened to you,” kiara said, her voice softer but still laced with frustration.

“yeah,” john b added. “one second you were at the party, the next—poof. gone.”

jj’s gaze sharpened. “wait a minute.” he took a step back, pointing at me with a squint. “did you—” he gasped dramatically. “did you go home with someone?”

i froze.

“no,” i said immediately, maybe a little too fast.

jj’s face lit up like he’d just cracked a case. “ohhh, my god. you totally did!”

“jj.”

“you disappeared all night, avoided all our calls, and now you’re being all weird about it. this has hookup written all over it.” he turned to pope, motioning wildly. “back me up, man.”

pope sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “j, not everything is a conspiracy theory.”

“tell that to her guilty face.”

“i do not have a guilty face,” i argued.

jj smirked. “you so do. it’s screaming, ‘i did something questionable, and i don’t want anyone to know about it.’”

i huffed, crossing my arms. “you’re being insane.”

“and you’re being suspicious.”

was i really that easy to read? fuck.

“jj,” Kiara cut in, exasperated. “stop being weird.”

“okay, fine,” he relented, throwing his hands up. “but if a mystery man comes knocking on the door later, i get to say ‘i told you so.’”

i exhaled, forcing myself to relax, feeling the weight of their eyes on me, but i couldn’t tell them. i couldn’t tell them about rafe. i didn’t know why i was keeping it from them, maybe because i was still trying to figure out what was happening between us. maybe because i knew they'd freak out, accuse me of being crazy, of trusting the guy who had been nothing but trouble for years. but the thing was, it wasn’t that simple. it wasn’t all bad. and i couldn’t explain it, not yet, not without confusing myself more.

it wasn’t like i was getting close to him or anything. it was just complicated. i didn’t want to admit that some part of me felt weirdly safe when i was with him, or that despite everything, i didn’t want to think badly of him anymore. i didn’t need them questioning my every move or labeling him before i could figure out what i even thought. so, for now, i kept it to myself.

instead, i gave them a tight-lipped smile. “can we focus on what actually matters? you know, our plan?” my voice sharper than i intended. but it was easier this way. easier to keep things simple. i wasn’t ready to deal with the fallout of telling them about rafe especially when i wasn’t sure what the fallout would even be.

sarah, who had been quiet this whole time, gave me one last look before shifting her focus. “yeah. we don’t have time to waste.”

jj wasn’t done, though. as we turned to head inside, he leaned in close, lowering his voice. “just tell me one thing, g. was he at least from the cut?”

i groaned. “jj, shut up.”

pope clapped a hand on jj’s shoulder, steering him away. “let’s go before you actually get punched.”

as the conversation shifted to gold logistics, i let out a slow breath, tension still clinging to my shoulders.

the hot water from the shower had soothed the headache still lingering from the night before. my mind felt clearer, but there was a tightness in my chest i couldn’t shake. was it guilt? was i self-sabotaging?

after I’d changed into fresh clothes, i found sarah downstairs, already ready to head out to tannyhill. she gave me a small, concerned smile when she saw me.

“you good?” she asked softly, her gaze flickering over me, as if making sure i wasn’t hiding some injury i'd missed like jj did earlier.

for a split second, i froze. the way she said it, the quiet concern in her voice reminded me of rafe. the way he’d looked at me when i woke up on his boat, the way he told me i’d scared him.

“yeah, just... it’s a lot, you know? everything.”

she didn’t press, just gave me a quick nod. “i get it. but we’ve got the map to focus on. let’s just get it and move on to the next thing."

i agreed with her, feeling the familiar drive to focus on something tangible. anything to distract from the confusing swirl of thoughts about rafe.

sarah and i made our way outside to her car. she pulled out onto the road, the salty breeze rushing through the open windows. for a while, neither of us spoke. it was peaceful, in a way, but i could feel sarah stealing glances at me like she had something on her mind.

sarah drummed her fingers against the steering wheel before finally speaking. “you know you can talk to me, right?”

i turned to her, caught off guard. “what?”

“i mean… if you ever need to,” she clarified, keeping her eyes on the road. “i know we don’t know each other that well yet, but i’m not gonna judge you.”

i studied her for a moment, but before i could say anything, she exhaled sharply, like she’d been holding something in. “look, i know kiara doesn’t totally trust me again. and maybe you don’t either. maybe you think i’m just using john b, or that i’m gonna wake up one day and change my mind about all of this and about him.”

i blinked at her, surprised by the sudden rush of words. she said it so fast, her voice was so shaky, and it almost sounded like she was out of breath.

before she could keep going, i shook my head. “sarah, i know.”

sarah glanced at me, brows drawn together.

“i trust you,” i said simply. “you don’t have to defend yourself to me.”

sarah let out a breath like she hadn’t expected that answer. then, slowly, a small, grateful smile crept onto her face.

“okay,” she said softly.

as sarah pulled her car into the driveway of tannyhill, i felt my stomach twist, not with nerves but with something close to it. the place was massive but not in the new money, gaudy way a lot of the kook's houses were. tannyhill had history.

its white facade pristine despite its obvious age. tall columns stretched up toward the second-floor balcony, holding up the wraparound porch that looked like something straight out of an old southern estate brochure.

black shutters contrasted against the white paint, and the massive double doors at the entrance only added to its imposing presence. it was almost like it was designed to make people feel small.

and it did.

it was unsettling. not just because of its size or grandeur, but because of what it represented. tannyhill wasn’t just some picturesque plantation-style home; it was a place that had once belonged to denmark tanny, a freedman who built his legacy from the ground up, only for it to end up in the hands of some random rich white man generations later.

that fact alone made my stomach turn. the erasure of that history, the quiet rewriting of it, made me angry in a way i couldn’t quite put into words. like it was just another reminder of how easily power and wealth could rewrite the past to suit itself.

the grand entryway opened up into a massive foyer, with a staircase curling toward the second floor, its dark wooden banister gleaming under the soft glow of an elaborate chandelier. the furniture was pristine, the paintings perfectly placed, and even the antique rug beneath my feet looked like it had never seen a single misstep.

sarah shut the door behind us and turned to me. “okay, we need to start looking. i have no idea when my dad is coming back, so we have to be fast.”

i nodded, scanning the massive house around us. “where do we even start?”

“the office,” she said immediately, then hesitated. “well, actually, i don’t know. it could be in there, or in his room, or shit, maybe even the study?”

“great,” i muttered, running a hand through my hair.

sarah huffed, already moving. “just start looking. i’ll check my dad’s room. you take the office.”

when i reached the office, i pushed the door open carefully, half-expecting some kind of security system to go off. but nothing happened. the room was dark, only faint light streaming in through the tall windows, casting long shadows over the heavy wooden desk that dominated the space. the bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling, filled with old, expensive-looking books, their spines lined up in perfect rows. a globe sat in the corner, next to a decanter of dark liquor, and the entire place smelled faintly of leather and aged paper.

i walked over to one of the massive wooden drawers that sat beneath the desk, the polished surface gleaming in the low light. the drawer wasn’t locked. surprisingly. but it felt like something that should’ve been. it creaked as i pulled it open, revealing a collection of large, rolled-up tubes, each one secured with a worn leather strap. they looked important, old, and delicate.

i pulled out one of the tubes, the worn leather straps making a soft sound as i unfastened them. inside, a large, carefully folded map unfurled itself. the first thing i noticed was the elegant script across the top: “tannyhill plantation – original survey & boundaries – denmark tanny estate.”

the map was meticulously detailed, property boundaries clearly marked, and parcels divided into sections with numbers assigned. each field, building, and natural feature had been laid out.

“well, this is unexpected,”

i turned sharply to find rafe standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. his expression was somewhere between amused and confused. i felt my heartbeat kick up a notch.

"rafe," i said, my voice as flat as i could make it. "what are you doing here?"

he arched a brow. "pretty sure i live here. what’s your excuse?"

"i’m here with sarah," i said quickly, trying to sound casual, even though it felt like i was offering up some lame excuse. "we’re looking for something."

rafe took a step closer, his eyes narrowing in on me. "i didn’t even know you two were close like that." his tone was curious.

i shrugged, trying to play it off. "yeah, well, we are," i said, offering a half-smile. "but we’ve got stuff to figure out." my eyes flicked to the map in front of me, then back to him.

rafe didn’t answer right away, just studying me, trying to read between the lines. before he could respond, i heard sarah’s voice from behind rafe.

"rafe, i didn’t know you’d be here," she said, sounding a little surprised.

"you want to tell me what's going on? why is she breaking into dad's office?" he asked, his eyes glanced at sarah then landed back on me.

i snapped my head up, suddenly defensive. "i’m not breaking in," i shot back.

"right. you just happened to wander into the one room in my house where my dad keeps everything locked up."

before i could get a word in, sarah cut in sharply, clearly irritated. “she doesn’t have to explain anything to you.”

rafe studied me for a moment, as if weighing his next words carefully. then, with a slight smirk, he spoke up again, his voice laced with that same teasing edge.

"feeling better?” rafe’s voice cut through the silence.

i froze, caught off guard by the question. his eyes flicked up and down, studying my reaction with an almost amused look.

“i’m fine,” i said quickly, trying to mask the sudden tension in my chest. “why?”

“i didn’t think you’d be up and about so soon after last night,” rafe said.

my heart skipped a beat. “excuse me?”

rafe shrugged, an easy smirk playing on his lips. “i mean, i don’t remember offering you a room, but-”

a wave of heat flooded my face, and i tried to keep my expression neutral. why is he doing this? i thought, my mind scrambling for something to say.

sarah’s head snapped between us, eyes wide. “what’s he talking about?

“it’s not like that,” i said, my voice a little defensive.

“oh, you didn’t tell them?” he mused, tilting his head. “interesting.”

i shot him a glare, already knowing where this was going.

sarah’s frown deepened. “tell me what?”

i exhaled sharply. “i passed out on the beach at the party, alright? rafe just helped me out.”

sarah’s face immediately shifted from suspicion to concern. “wait, you passed out?” her voice was sharp, turning to face me fully. “grace, are you okay? what happened?”

“i’m fine,” i said, waving her off, even as i could feel rafe’s eyes still on me, like he was enjoying watching me squirm. “it was just the heat, or maybe my head from earlier, whatever. it’s not a big deal.”

“not a big deal?” sarah repeated, crossing her arms like she wasn’t buying it.

“see, that’s what i said,” rafe interjected.

"rafe, shut the fuck up" i groaned.

sarah let out a dramatic sigh and rubbed her temples. “okay, both of you, shut the fuck up.” she turned to me. “grace, let’s just go before this gets any more- i don't know, fucking weird?”

for once, i agreed. but as we headed for the front door, the sound of another door clicking shut echoed through the house.

sarah stiffened beside me. in one smooth motion, she reached to her bedroom door, quickly opening it and tossing the rolled-up map inside.

a man stepped inside, setting his keys on the table like he’d done it a thousand times.

ward cameron.

sarah’s whole demeanor shifted the second she saw him. her face lit up just slightly.

“hey, dad,” she said, making her way down the staircase.

“hey, sweetheart,” ward greeted her, pressing a brief hand to her shoulder as he looked between the two of us. “didn’t expect to come home to company.” his voice was light, casual.

ward’s attention turned to me then, his expression unreadable until something flickered in his eyes. recognition.

“grace, right?” he said, tilting his head. “i knew your mother, you look so much like her.”

his voice was smooth and perfectly polite. but something about the way he said it, the way his gaze lingered just a second too long, sent a shiver down my spine.

i straightened up, clearing my throat. “yeah. nice to meet you.”

sarah nudged my arm lightly. “actually, we were just about to head out,” she said casually.

ward nodded slowly like he was letting us off the hook. “alright, then. don’t get into too much trouble.”

his was teasing, but something in it made me want to get out of that house as fast as possible.

now we just had to go back to john b’s and explain why we showed up empty-handed. that was going to be fun.

png credit: @suskindkore

hi, im back! i had writer's block for a bit but i'm excited to get back to writing this story :)

i hope everyone is doing okay. 2025 has not had a great start at all.

and for my football people... GO BIRDSSSS 🦅

thank you for reading <3

[starkeymuse]

masterlist

obx

rafe cameron

decode:

part one

part two

part three

part four

[starkeymuse]

oh my god.