LITTLE SECRET | RAFE CAMERON

63: 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

Alice ran her hands over the silky fabric of her dress to smooth it out as it clung to her body.

It hugged her breasts and brought them out subtly with the deep V-neckline, while the fabric tightened around her waist before falling down loosely from her hips.

She was almost ready.

She had put on her blue dress, the matching heels were on her feet and she had put on the jewelry she had chosen for the night. Her lashes were mascaraed and curled over the eye-catching eyeshadow with the slight glitter accents that brought out her eyes. She had outlined her lips with a softly colored lip liner and then finished them off with lipstick.

All that was missing was her hair and her special someone, who already was on his way to pick her up and accompany her to the event she had been looking forward to for several weeks.

Island Summernight. The last big summer party.

The sudden three knocks on her door announced her mom, who peeked into her room. „ready yet, sweetie?"

„No, I still have to do my hair" Alice sighed, her gaze on her hair, which hung boringly over her shoulders and took all the shine out of her outfit.

But she had no idea what to do with it.

Laurel closed the door of her room behind her as she entered, before walking over to Alice and standing behind her, silently running her hands through her hair as she thought.

She leaned her head on her shoulder and looked in the mirror with her. „want me to help you?"

Nodding, Alice let her mother lead her to her dressing table, where she sat down and took out her hairbrush and hair ties.

„God, you're growing so fast..." Laurel said softly as she carefully brushed her hair. „it's the first time for you and Rafe to go to something like this together"

„I know." Alice said, looking down at her hands in her lap. She played with the fabric of her dress, twisting it between her fingers to distract herself.

„What's wrong, aren't you excited?"

„Yes, I am, it's just..." She hesitated, because instead of looking forward to a night with her boyfriend and friends, something completely different was on her mind. „...Sarah and I always used to go together, feels strange not to"

Laurel hummed in understanding as she pulled half of Alice's hair up into a neat bun. „will she be there too?"

She only shrugged her shoulders. She knew nothing about Sarah, at least not any more. Where she was, who she was with, how she was doing or whether she had given her a single thought in the last few weeks.

The fact that Alice missed her despite everything was probably...not inexplicable.

„I think you two should talk it out. I mean, as kids, you, Rafe and Sarah did everything together, don't let a little love ruin that" Laurel said, brushing the rest of Alice's hair neatly forward over her shoulders.

„She won't talk to me, not if she sees me there with Rafe"

„She sees Rafe every day at home and I can't imagine her not talking to him"

„They're siblings, mom"

„And you two have known each other your whole lives, there's not much difference" Laurel said with conviction and finally put the hairbrush down. „try it, find a way to talk to her and just...see what happens"

As Alice nodded in agreement to her mother's words, even though it was very unlikely that she would actually do it, the sound of the doorbell ringing downstairs echoed up to her room.

Rafe had arrived.

And much as she knew that she had to go to Summernights without Sarah for the first time, she also knew that she was going with Rafe for the very first time.

That meant something too. 

„You look beautiful, he'll love it" Laurel stroked her back reassuringly, helped her to get up from the chair and straightened her dress.

„You think?"

Laughing slightly, her mother nodded and went to the door, but stopped in the doorway before leaving. „come downstairs and see for yourself"

When her mother was out of her room, Alice took a moment to look in the mirror. She looked good, pretty...at least she hoped so, as she sprayed some perfume on her neck and picked up her bag.

The click of her heels on the stairs brought an instant silence to the entrance hallway, which had previously been filled with voices.

Halfway down, she could already feel the piercing eyes taking her in. Her hand ran over the wood of the railing, holding onto it as she looked up and met Rafe's gaze, feeling as if the heels beneath her feet would break at any moment.

He looked...incredible.

Wearing a dark blue suit - the same shade as her dress - he stood in her hallway with his hands in his pockets. The white button shirt he was wearing underneath was only buttoned up to the last two buttons, showing a little of his skin and tucked loosely into his pants. His hair, which had grown quite a bit in length by now, was neatly parted in the middle and styled with a little gel.

And as Rafe stood there, dressed as he was, he looked at Alice with a look as if he had no intention of ever looking at anything else in his life but her.

When she reached the last flight of stairs, he held out his hand to help her safely to the ground.

„Hi" She grinned sweetly at him and straightened the fabric of his suit jacket a little.

„Hi" He replied softly, took her hand from his jacket and planted a small kiss on its back.

„Don't they look adorable?" Laurel's voice broke out and she clapped her hands over her mouth in joy.

Alice shook her head and giggled, a slight blush on her cheeks. „okay, I think we better get going"

„No, no, no, wait" Her mom rushed into the living room and came back just as quickly with their Polaroid camera. „at least let me take a picture, you two are growing up too fast for me"

When Alice tried to protest, Rafe slid his arm around her back, put his hand on her hip and gently pulled her closer to his side before whispering. „let her do it, something for us to keep as a memory"

His hand on her hip felt so...polite. So different from the way he normally touched her.

Rolling her eyes, Alice smiled a little and turned to him, placing her hand on his chest as they looked over at Laurel together, who took the picture.

„Okay, now go on kids, go and have fun" Laurel shook the Polaroid in her hand, waving them out of her house with her free hand. „but not too much fun" She called after them as the two of them walked down the driveway to Rafe's car.

When they heard the front door close behind them, Alice didn't even get a second before Rafe's hands were already playing around her hips and pulling her closer.

Giggling, she held on to his suit jacket, looking at him for a brief moment before he pressed a firm kiss to her lips, leaving her lipstick on him.

„You look beautiful, baby" He murmured against her lips before kissing her again, just a little.

When they separated, she smiled and brushed the lipstick off his lips with her thumb. „and you had to wait until we were outside for this?"

With a smile, his hands traveled up to her back as he tilted his head to the side. „I don't do kissing in front of parents, makes my charm fade"

„You are an idiot, Rafe" She giggled.

„So are you for going out with me" He said and opened the passenger door of his car for her. „get in now"