summer of love • rafe cameron 2

thirteen

later that evening, rafe mowed my grandparent's yard while my grandma and i bake a cake together. my dad and grandpa were sat on the couch, playing wii sports, which my grandfather had always been obsessed with. it was almost ten p.m. now though. my grandparents were asleep in their bedroom and my dad was crashed out on the basement couch. i had tried to sleep, but couldn't, so i was sat in the kitchen, with all the lights off and some soft music playing through my grandma's alexa. i had a photo album in front of me on the counter, examining the picture in the moonlight. there were so many from when i was younger, all happy pictures with my mom and dad in them.

i had some with my cousins and other family, but mostly my parents and my dad's parents. my mom's parents live in washington state and never left, plus add in the fact that my mom hated them, we never saw them. i ran my fingers over one of my mom and i. i was young, no older than four or five. she was holding me tight, smiling wide as i laughed, holding my hand out to the camera. i smiled at it, seeing my mom's big smile. she used to be so happy, so in love with her little family, or at least that's what i always thought when i was young. i grew up though, and i realized how much she truly hated it all. my dad was her project, to work on and fix. i was a fresh slate, a way to build her perfect minion. i always wondered what would've happened if they had a boy instead of me. would they have fell apart sooner or would they have just kept trying until they got a girl.

"hey," someone said which made me jump and looked over, seeing rafe at the bottom of the steps, moving over. "what are you doing down here?"

"sorry, i couldn't sleep and my grandma had all these under the tv." i explained as he stood next to me, looking down.

"baby pictures," he smiled and looked into my eyes.

"yeah," i smiled. "lots of them."

he looked down, seeing my fingers resting on the picture of my mom and i. he reached over, pulling my hand off so he could get a better look.

"she looked happy." he told me.

"it was all a facade." i shrugged. "she was never happy."

"i'm sure that's not true."

"i hope not." i sighed.

"what are you listening to?" he asked, walking over to the alexa, pressing the volume up button a couple times. i shrugged as the song switched to All Too Well by Taylor Swift. he paused, looking over to me.

"are you okay?" i asked.

he nodded, "yeah, gracelynn, she loved taylor swift."

"she's got taste." i smiled.

he walked over, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the stool.

"what are you doing?" i asked as he pulled me over in front of the backdoor, letting the moonlight hit us.

"i want to dance." he said.

"dance?" i smiled.

"dance," he nodded and spun me as i laughed softly. he pulled me into his chest as i wrapped my arms around his neck. he placed his arm my waist, looking down at me.

"are you okay?" i asked softly.

"yeah, i'm great." he said. "why?"

"just want to make sure." i said. "you're quiet."

"i was asleep, i got up to pee and noticed you were gone."

"you can go back to bed." i told him. "i'm just not tired."

"then i'm not tired either." he shrugged and spun me again as i laughed. he pulled me back into him and placed his hand on my cheek, kissing me as i sunk against his body. we pulled away just slightly as i looked at him.