If You Promise to Behave (Rafe/Open)

[Samantha Montgomery]

Sam hadn't seen Rafe in a while. True to his word he had given her space and she appreciated it. She honestly didn't know what to think. She was going soft that was for certain. Her mother would have had Rafe tied up in all kinds of knots by now, which brought up another concern for Samantha: Did her mother have any part in Rafe's obsession?

If she had, if it were some type of love spell, then Rafe wasn't to blame at all. That thought made her sick, it was disturbing to think of the torture that Rafe was going through and somewhere deep inside of herself Sam pitied him.

Still she didn't spend much time on these thoughts, it was time for lunch and dutifully under the watchful eye of her over protective brother she was eating an apple and picking at the items of food on her plate. There was an empty seat next to her...

[Rafe Colby]

He really was on his best behavior. Oh, it wasn't easy... in fact, the strain of not seeing her, not following her, not knowing what she was doing every second, had him as strung-out as a junkie going through withdrawal. His eyes seemed to seek her out, even when he knew she wasn't there. Even at meals, he'd forced himself to sit far away from her, usually hiding with a bunch of younger students, whose innocent chatter masked his twitching and shaking.

Today, however, he was a bit late to lunch. Most of the tables were filled already. His eyes located Sam, drinking her in like a man dying of thirst. There was an empty seat next to her, but he didn't dare take it. But the only other seat he could see was still alarmingly close to her. But since he didn't trust himself to sit next to her, he made a beeline to the other seat instead.

[Samantha Montgomery]

She paused waiting to see exactly what he did, when he headed for the other seat she raised her arm up, "Rafe..." she called out quietly not sure if he'd hear her over the din in the crowd, "There's a seat here." She offered with her breath held.

"I'm almost finished." she hastily added on letting him know that it would be brief but that they could still sit together.

[Rafe Colby]

Of course he heard her. It was like his ears were magically programmed to pick her voice out of a crowd. It often distracted him, and sometimes he had no idea what else was going on around him, because he was too busy listening to her voice. It was like music to his ears.

When she called to him, he froze, hardly daring to believe that he was hearing what he thought he heard. He turned towards her and saw her raising her arm up. He felt a shiver pass through him, and he nodded slowly. Oh, Merlin, please don't let me be dreaming, he thought to himself. He nodded carefully, covertly digging the fingernails of one hand into the palm of his hand, just to make sure he felt pain and that he wasn't asleep. When he didn't, he moved over toward her and sat down.

"Thanks," he said, glancing at her almost shyly. It was like looking directly at the sun. "Where are your protectors today?"

[Samantha Montgomery]

She laughed a little, "I gave them the day off. You can't imagine how exhausting it must be following me around." thank goodness she didn't give much thought to that last statement she shot his way, she really knew very little about Rafe's obsession or how complete it was.

"How's your day going so far? Are you enjoying Camp?"

[Rafe Colby]

Sometime after Rafe's obsession with Sam had begun, he had lost his sense of humor. So the fact that he almost laughed at her comment was a bit surprising. Yes, he knew all too well just how exhausting it was to follow her around all day. For months he hadn't really done anything else. She had no idea that he'd figured out ways to spy on her even when she was in her dormitory at school. She also had no idea how his attempts to behave over the last few days had strained him. He only got through his nights by consuming copious quantities of alcohol. But he'd done it, and this was his reward. He was sitting with her at lunch, and she was not treating him like he had a bad case of spattergroit.

"Er... it's OK, I guess. I'm really not one for arts and crafts, but I kind of liked the nature walk."

[Samantha Montgomery]

She smiled even wider at him. This almost felt normal but it was also eerie, sitting there talking to Rafe as if they were friends, and she hadn't seen this side of him in a long time, the side that wasn't obsessive or stalking her.

"I find myself a little bit at odds, not quite sure what to do or what the point of camp is." in her life there hadn't been much time for fun that wasn't part of some grander scheme of manipulation by her mother.

[Rafe Colby]

This time he did laugh, and he was amazed to realize that he still remembered how. He'd actually been considered something of a jokester once--charming and funny and... well, normal. The dark side had always been there, too, but he'd been able to control it then. Like he was now... only then it hadn't been such an effort.

"Yeah, me neither," he admitted. Actually, the sole purpose of his attending camp was to be near Sam. The rest of it was all just a distraction, and not a very good one at that. "I guess it's better than being home... although, maybe not for you."

[Samantha Montgomery]

"If I was still with mother then just about anywhere else is preferable, but no at home with Papa and my brother...it's actually somewhat nice, although Caleb's always here anyway." she didn't realize how easily she was opening back up to him, or how unguarded she was being, perhaps that was the influence of the absence from her mother's precence, perhaps it was because she had so many protectors, in either case she felt...at ease.

[Rafe Colby]

Rafe almost wanted to pinch himself that this conversation was actually taking place. That he was sitting next to Sam and she wasn't freaking out and telling him to get lost. This was really all he ever wanted... to be close to her. Yes, sometimes, in the height of his madness, he had frightening thoughts about wanting to possess her, to lock her away and keep her all to himself. Once or twice, the thought had even crossed his mind that if he couldn't have her, he'd rather kill her--or himself--just to put an end to the agony. Luckily, those thoughts had never progressed any further.

"Your mother..." he began. Marrion was a hazy figure in his memory. He'd met her a few times and had done his best to charm the woman. But she was ridiculously intimidating, and had no idea if he'd made a good impression on her.

"She seemed like she'd be difficult to please. I'm glad that things are better with your father."

[Samantha Montgomery]

She nodded and gave him a half smile. No she wouldn't, couldn't, forget the things he had done to her, but at the same time she couldn't forget the things she had done to him. It took everything inside her to not feel guilty over Rafe and others who had fallen prey to her mother's eye. She reminded herself that she was only the tool used to manipulate them but at the end of the day Rafe's madness was her own fault. Maybe she could bring him back to normalcy, looking at him now it didn't seem so impossible.

"Things are different certainly, what about you Rafe? Why did you move here?" she asked politely. It was a simple enough question however immediately after it was said she inwardly checked herself, she was the reason he moved here, and again it was all her fault.