R A F E
He slipped out of his bed, got on his feet and adjusted his sweatpants, looking over at the windows, which were flooded with heavy raindrops that poured onto the roof and soaked the gutters.
It was so damn late and the sky was drenched in pitch darkness, the only thing that gave him light was the bedside lamp on his side.
Rafe found no sleep, no matter how hard he tried. He had been lying awake in his bed for hours now, drawing circles in his girlfriend's hair with his fingertips.
His sleeping girl, dressed only in his shirt and her lace underwear, lying hidden under the blanket they shared and still something made him get out of that bed.
He glanced over his shoulder at Alice, taking a moment just to look at her now that her pillow was no longer his chest.
With a sigh he walked over to her bedside and tucked her in, smiling warmly as he brushed her hair out of her face. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before silently walking over to the window sill where his pack of cigarettes was.
As soon as he opened the balcony door a cold breeze blew through his room. The patter of the rain became louder, clearer, distinctive as he leaned against the old wooden door frame.
He felt the cold of the night spread over his uncovered torso and he lit a cigarette, his body warming up and the pungent smoke stinging his lungs.
And as he watched the rain soak the entire house in a dark atmosphere, his mind began to wander.
It was the way warm sunlight danced on her soft skin - her deep eyes guided by nothing but bright sunbeams - that drove him insane. He could still feel every centimeter of her trembling body in his hands, the images from earlier in the bathroom replayed in his mind. He knew her body like he had spent hours, days, years studying it.
Every wrinkle, every tiny birthmark, every sensitive spot he had to kiss so that something as soft as her melted right into his rough hands.
And he knew he had no right to touch someone like her, to crave her like air but he did - long before she even noticed it.
Rafe always had a thing for her.
All these years he had held himself back and was afraid of the things he felt for her, but he observed her in even the busiest of rooms, listened to all these guys gushing about her every time she walked in.
Their words were like those of hungry animals.
Talking about her sweet smile, her pretty lips, her body, how her hips swayed as she walked by, her ass that they would've loved to see in front of them with her being bent over - or better yet - her fucking tits.
Words from all these guys he would have loved to kill right then and there with his own hands.
And then last year she suddenly chose JJ, one of the many who talked about her like she was nothing but a fuck doll.
And at that very moment, Rafe felt something shift within him. The feeling of boiling blood rushing through his veins, all the way up to his head, clouding his mind just because he saw that dirty Pogue kissing her pretty lips, pulling her close, touching her, holding her precious body in his hands and doing everything he craved to do all these god damn years.
And he hated her for it. He hated her, because she managed to make him feel something, leaving him alone with that feeling just because she fell for an unworthy guy like JJ.
And the only way out he saw back then was to avoid her.
A L I C E
Alice blinked awake as the sound of the upcoming storm made her feel uneasy. Her body shuddered from the cold that crossed the room, making her notice that the left side of the bed was empty.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly and propped herself up on her elbows with a groan and his broad figure caught her attention right away.
With a frown, she studied him, his posture, his back muscles showing against his skin every time he raised his arm to take a drag of his cigarette as he leant against the balcony frame.
And although the sight of him shirtless usually made her feel certain things, she had an unusual feeling inside, as if she sensed that something wasn't right.
Well, maybe the fact that he smoked in the middle of the night during such a summer storm instead of lying in bed with her gave it away too.
She crawled out of bed and pulled his shirt down a little, trying to hide her uncovered legs.
He was so inattentive that he didn't even notice her approaching him. Only when her fingertips brushed the skin of his arms did he flinch briefly, but breathed a sigh of relief when she stood in front of him.
A tired smile rose on his lips and he blew out the smoke. „did I wake you?"
She wrapped her arms around him with a sigh, resting her head against his bare chest and closing her eyes. „yeah, you shouldn't be smoking in the middle of the night" She nagged, earning a shallow chuckle from him as his free hand moved down to her lower back.
Rafe pulled her closer, shielding her from the falling rain and pulling her shirt down to keep the cold away from her skin.
But Alice still noticed his unusual silence.
„You okay?" She asked, her warm words hitting his skin. However, he remained quiet, continued smoking and simply didn't answer her. „Rafe?"
„Hmm?" He hummed hoarsely.
„I asked you something"
„I know."
She looked up at him in confusion.
His eyes stared into the distance, taking in the view his balcony offered. Even when her fingertips trailed to his abs, he didn't dare look at her.
„Hey, what's wrong?" She ran her hand up to his chest, feeling his heart pounding in her palm.
„I was just...thinking"
„About what?" She tilted her head.
„About last year." He said with smoke in his lungs, blowing it out as soon as he finished his sentence.
Giggling, she stole the cigarette from his lips, taking him by surprise. „You mean last year when you were an asshole?" She took a drag, his eyes rigidly following the movements of her lips, her eyes never leaving his, even as she let the smoke pass from between her lips.
„Hmm, I guess I was" He swallowed hard, letting her finish the rest of the cigarette without intervening, „I treated you like shit, didn't I?"
„Well, you probably had your reasons"
Sighing, he placed his hands where her neck met her shoulders. The feeling of his thumbs stroking her skin sent goose bumps down to her legs, shivering from the cold of the night. He looked at her. His hair was still a sweet mess, loose strands hung over his forehead and in the dim light of his bedside lamp he looked even more handsome than ever before.
„I'm sorry for...everything" He began with hesitation. „You've never done anything wrong. I mean we were always around each other and I guess I got so used to it that I...maybe got jealous when you started dating JJ. I just knew he would never treat you the way you should be treated"
„And you do?" She threw away the finished cigarette.
„Come on, baby, we both know he never gave you what you needed" He leaned down to her, stopping in front of her face. „But shit, I'll give you the fucking world if that's what you want" He breathed against her hot lips. „The moon, every fucking star, anything you ask me for I'll give it to you"
The heat of his lip suffocated her as she absorbed his words right off of them, their kiss hot like the burning cigarette they shared some seconds ago.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, reaching up on tiptoes as he wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her close just to kiss her even harder.
They wanted to be closer to each other than their bodies allowed them to be.
„I...liked you long before I had the guts to let you know" He groaned into her mouth, grabbed her legs and skillfully lifted her onto his hips. Her legs wrapped around him and he carried her in his hands, all the way back to the warmth of the bed while the cold rain outside continued to soak the room's windows.
