#ywmtp?

Friday

You had thought Rafe had been joking about buying the ingredients, but one call and thirty minutes later, he showed up at your house ready to bake. He walked in already knowing where to put everything, all while watching you from a safe distance.

"I thought you weren't serious," you said as you started to measure the ingredients.

"I told you I was going to start buying you ingredients," he says, walking closer to check the recipe, to see what he could help with.

"Yeah, but this time was different." You turn to look at him, only to find him way closer than you expected him to be.

"I don't mind buying when I know I'll be asking for a few pieces to take home," he says with a small smirk. His eyes travel to your lips even if he was trying not to do that. You notice and start feeling warm inside. But before anything can happen, your mom walks in, heading to get a bottle of water from the fridge, and you step away as if you had been burned.

"What are you baking this time, honey?" she asks as she squeezes Rafe's arm as a way of saying hi to him.

"Berry cheesecake. We're having dinner at Ruthie's."

"Have fun, and bring me a piece," she smiles.

"I think with all that Rafe bought, I can make two," you smile.

"It's almost as if I did that on purpose," he smirks and leans in to kiss your cheek. You blush almost immediately. He notices the blush and feels proud of himself.

"Of course you did," you rolled your eyes, trying to relax again.

"What can I say? It's that good, plus my mom wants to try." You froze for a second. Did he talk to his mom about you?

"You can take half of the second one, and I'll keep the other half."

"Sounds like a plan," he said, grabbing a blueberry to eat.

"Stop eating stuff—I need them." You tried to swat his hand away, and he laughed.

"Princess, there's plenty."

"I don't care."

Wednesday

The morning of your birthday was always one of your favorites. Your mom always put on music to wake you up, made your favorite breakfast, or bought it for you if she wasn’t in the mood for cooking. But she had always made sure to celebrate it and make a big deal out of it, so you grew up loving your birthday. When you woke up, you already had notifications from your friends wishing you a happy birthday. You were going to answer every single one of them, but first, you needed to get ready. You put on music to start getting ready for the day, and you picked the outfit you had bought specifically for the day. While you were still getting ready, the doorbell rang, and as much as you wanted to see who or what it was, you needed to finish getting ready and clean up your room first.

After finishing up, you walked downstairs and into the dining room, a smile already on your face thanks to the scene that welcomed you. A small cake, a flower-book bouquet on the table, a few cards, and the breakfast your mom had made for you.

“Mom, this looks great, thank you!” You said as you reached for a hug.

“Happy birthday, sweetie.”

“We love you, princess,” your dad added, and you moved to hug him.

“This is great, thank you, and this bouquet! It’s literally what I have always wanted, how–” your mom interrupted before you could even finish asking the question.

“Oh, that’s not from us,” she smiled knowingly, “Rafe sent you this. Here’s the card.” Your eyes widened in surprise.

“Of course,” you said under your breath while reading the card. A genuine smile paints your face.

You hadn’t expected this from him. And maybe you should’ve, even when you two had just met, he had gifted you something, and now that you two were actually close, it should be normal. But your mind betrayed you, it made you think of how he meant all of this, was this him as a friend? Or was this just part of the fake dating to look good in front of your parents? Before you could keep thinking about it, there was a knock on your door.

“Go sit, honey, eat,” your mom said on her way to the door. You heard him before you could see him.

“Good morning, from the look on your face, I guess she didn’t see my text,” Rafe said to your mom, making you grab your phone and check. He had sent you a message about stopping by to pick you up. “Sorry for just dropping by.”

“Nonsense, you’re always welcome!” You stood up, and his face immediately brightened at seeing you. You smiled back at him and walked over. He didn’t waste a second before he enveloped you in his arms.

“Happy birthday, gorgeous,” he said next to your ear, not letting go of the hug. You closed your eyes as you unconsciously melted in his arms.

“Thank you,” you whispered, and pulled away from the hug.

“No need to thank me,” he smiled, letting you move away.

“What are you doing here?”

“Came to pick you up, no need for driving around on your birthday.”

“That’s a lovely thing,” your mom interrupted, “thank you for caring so much for her.”

“It’s very easy,” Rafe said, looking at you.

“Did you already eat?” you asked, trying to stir the conversation away from emotional topics.

“No, I had planned on inviting you because I didn’t know this feast was here,” he glanced at your mom.

“Please sit, I made more than enough.” Your mom said to him, getting him a plate and a coffee mug.

—

After breakfast, you and Rafe said your goodbyes and made it to his car. The music started playing, but you noticed it wasn’t his usual; it was yours.

“Are you stalking my Spotify, or your music taste magically matches mine now?” He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“I was trying to be nice, but since you don’t appreciate it, I guess I’ll change it,” he smirked, and you chuckled.

“Hey, it’s my birthday, be nice.”

“Oh, I am being very nice,” he glances at you, “I remember a very thoughtful gift being delivered today.” He says with a teasing tone that makes you blush slightly, because you had forgotten to thank him for that.

“Oh God… It was! Thank you, really, it was perfect, I had wanted to get all those books for a while now.” His smile softened.

“That’s great, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to ask to ruin the surprise.”

“You did great. In my experience, you’re a great gift giver.” He blushed, or at least you think you saw him blushing. Maybe you were just imagining.

“You’d have to thank my mom for that.”

“Maybe one day.”

“Since we are on the topic of gifts, do I need to bring one too on Saturday?”

“Oh no, no, this is enough. Why would you bring another one?”

“Because the rest of your family is going to be there?”

“I mean, yeah, but it’s not necessary, pretty sure my mom will tell them if she hasn’t already about today.” You paused, “Oh, also, I think I forgot to tell you, but Kelce is also coming on Saturday.” He sighed.

“Great, he will be insufferable, really sorry about telling him.”

“No, it’s fine, you were right. It’s easier if he knows, but he is being very annoying about it.”

“I know.” Both of you chuckled at the same time.

For the rest of the drive to college, you two talked about everything and nothing at all. You enjoyed his company a lot, and you hoped that even after the fake dating deal was over, you could still hang out as often as you did.

Saturday

“So he is coming today, huh?” Angie asks you over breakfast. Even if you two had been debriefing about the latest events in your lives since last night, she kept coming back to the topic of Rafe.

“Yes, he hasn’t, nor will he change his mind.”

“Just making sure I don’t miss judging his boyfriend's abilities.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Ha ha,” you said with no energy,

“What? I want to see why he is so convincing.”

“I have told you everything.”

“Yeah, but I want to see it.” You didn’t answer her anymore; you didn’t like the idea of her judging Rafe or trying to understand the situation.

Your aunt was the first to show up; she was helping your mom finish setting up a snack table. You and Angie had been talking for a while, and she was updating you on her boyfriend, who was no longer her boyfriend but still acted like he was, and basically, they were not together, but they still were. It was so confusing that you asked only how she felt about him and what she wanted for herself and him in the future.

While you and Angie talked, your cousins walked in and met with your other family members who were already there. Behind them, Rafe walked in holding flowers. You smiled and rolled your eyes playfully. You had been clear about not having to bring anything, but he had clearly ignored your request. He walked over to where you were standing.

“Hey, you”

“Hi,” you both reached for the other at the same time to hug, but your movements misaligned, and you ended up with your faces inches apart. The blush was immediate. You moved back, he shook his head, and smiled sheepishly. Angie’s eyes darted between the two of you, a sly smirk forming on her lips.

“Well, you know Angie,” you pointed at your friend as if nothing had happened. As if Rafe hadn’t been a breath away from your lips.

“Nice to see you,” he said, giving her a polite smile.

“Nice to see you too,” she said, trying to hold back a laugh.

“I’m gonna go say hi to your parents,” he said as he placed his hand on your waist to move past you. You watched him go, your gaze staying on him for longer than you had planned. He looked like he belonged there, and it was messing with your head. You were getting used to him, too used, and you knew you shouldn’t.

“I get it,” Angie said, making you turn back to her.

“Get what?”

“The reason why they are convinced he is your boyfriend.” She nudged her head as to where Rafe was with your mom.

“He just got here.”

“And I already saw enough,”

“Right…” you said, not understanding what she thought she saw if nothing had really happened. Rafe made it back to you; he pulled you closer, and you wrapped an arm around his torso. It was easy to fall into the fake dating routine when you were at your house. You did feel a bit observed since Angie was there, but you tried your best to ignore it.

A few minutes later, two of your family members and Kelce made it, and with that, all your guests were there. Kelce gave the two of you a look when he saw you sitting next to each other on the couch, looking like a very real couple. For the rest of the afternoon, Angie and Kelce kept sharing looks. The way the two of you acted was too natural, too convincing for it to be just pretend. These thoughts were solidified in Angie’s mind when it was time for the cake.

Rafe helped your mom bring the cake over from the kitchen to the table. He stayed beside you while everyone sang Happy Birthday and helped to take pictures with your family. As the last photo had been taken, your mom spoke up.

“Kelce, come here, now you take the photos so Rafe can also have one.” Kelce wasn’t going to protest against your mom. He knew better, so he grabbed the phone and started snapping pictures. You were a bit stiff; too many eyes were looking at the two of you.

“Relax,” he said next to your ear, making you shiver while Kelce kept taking pictures. He was having the time of his life seeing how Rafe was acting around you.

“Now kiss!” one of your cousins teased. You tried your best to ignore it, but it wasn’t working as the rest of your family joined.

“Come on, just one kiss!” they all said. You turned to Rafe, as if to silently ask for his permission, and he smiled at you. You leaned in first, and he met you halfway. It was soft and innocent, but it made you aware that there were things that you couldn’t ignore anymore.

—

You spent the rest of the celebration ignoring how the kiss had made you feel. You busied yourself talking with your family, or in this moment, going to the kitchen to grab more drinks. Rafe tried his best not to follow you, but failed miserably.

“Anything I can help with?” He leaned over the counter.

“Just taking this to my mom,” You passed him the soda.

“Okay,” he nodded, and before he could set foot out of the kitchen, your mom walked in.

“There’s no ice.” She said, taking the bottle from Rafe. “Could you–”

“I can go,” you interrupted her. You needed a break from everything, and this was the perfect excuse.

“I can go, no need for you to leave your party.” You knew that Rafe meant well by offering to be the one to go get the ice, but you weren’t going to give in so easily.

“Then we go together, come on.” You said already making your way to the front door. He gave a smile to your mom, who only chuckled under her breath.

“Why are we rushing?” he said, getting to his car and opening the door for you.

“I just needed a break from all the noise,” and you, you wanted to add, but now in his car without everyone else around you, you weren’t so sure anymore.

“Low social battery?”

“Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I like being around them, I just needed a break to recharge.”

“Good thing we got out of the house then.”

“Yeah,” you said, looking out the window.

He drove to the nearest convenience store, but when you got there, it was closed, so you had to go to the grocery store, which was a bit farther from your house. When you made it to the store, he opened the door for you, and once inside, you walked around taking your time in each aisle, even if you didn’t need anything from there. Thankfully, it ended up being a good idea because your mom asked you to buy more snacks and coffee. All because she didn’t want to share her special blend with everyone at the house. As you made it to the coffee aisle, you saw someone walking past you and Rafe, and stopping a few feet away.

You glanced at the person, not expecting to know them, but to your surprise, it was Jordan. He was staring back at you already. It made you uncomfortable, even more when he smiled at you, and when you saw him taking a step forward, your brain went into fight or flight. You turned immediately back to Rafe.

“Kiss me.” Your voice came out with urgency.

“What?” He stared at you as if he had heard you wrong. There was no way you had just asked him to kiss you.

“Kiss me, now.”

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“Kiss me, now.” You demanded in a whisper. Rafe was dumbfounded, but he didn’t waste a second to cup your face. He caught a glimpse of Jordan when he did so, which fueled him even more. He was not only going to kiss you, but that asshole was going to be there for it, and he was going to make it worth it.

The kiss wasn’t soft or cute like it had been back at your house. It was a real kiss, the type of kiss that makes you dizzy and steals the breath from your lungs. He knew what he was doing, and you leaned into it. It felt good. Too good. Your lips parted, and your arms wrapped over his shoulders. He took the invitation of your parted lips and slipped his tongue in, deepening the kiss even more. His hands tightened on your waist at the same time.

You should stop this. The grocery store was no place to be kissing like this. So slowly, even if you truly didn’t want to, you pull away. You break the connection slowly. Rafe follows your lips for a second, and he stops himself when he sees what he is doing. You don’t want to look at him, but you have to. Your faces are still very close. You see how his gaze is locked on your lips; maybe they are red or swollen. You can see his lips are more pink; not sure if it’s from your lipstick or just the kiss. You want to reach out, but everything feels too intimate, so you don’t move.

“Okay…” you finally said in a whisper. He doesn’t answer, and it makes you anxious. “Rafe…?” his name sounded so soft coming from you after all this.

”Hm?” he only hums, like his brain can’t produce any full words.

“I-I think we should…” He takes a deep breath and nods as he steps away from you.

”Pay, yeah,” he nods as he makes his way to the cashier. You followed behind; the last thing on both your minds was Jordan, who had seen everything but left without you noticing.

The ride back to your house is quiet. You are not sure what to say after all that; he paid for everything before you could even protest about it or pay for it yourself.

—

“There you are!” Your mom’s voice resonates in the living room the second you two walk in together. You give her a small smile, trying to act as normal as you could. You were still in a post-kiss daze. Rafe was no better either, but he was used to compartmentalizing when needed.

“I think I want another piece of cake.” You say, moving to the kitchen to keep yourself busy. For once, Rafe didn’t follow. He went to sit next to Kelce, who gave him a questioning look. Then Angie followed you into the kitchen.

“What happened?” She could easily tell something happened.

“Uh…” you stuttered. “I saw Jordan and then rafeandikissed” you said that as quickly as possible.

“What? Wait, what?!” She widened her eyes and grabbed you by your shoulders.

“You heard me.”

“Did I though? What do you mean you saw Jordan, and what do you mean kiss? Like a peck? Like at the store? Wait, why?” She was bombarding you with questions, and you didn’t blame her. You understood where she was coming from because you had already asked yourself a lot more.

“Well, he was there, and last time Jordan contacted me he thought Rafe and I were together, and I never denied it, so… I told Rafe to kiss me,” you explained as you cut yourself another piece of cake.

“Are you insane?”

“I might be.” You might as well be, because you were still not sure how you just let your thought process land on asking Rafe to kiss you.

“This is getting a bit out of…” You don’t let her finish.

“The plan is good. We’re fine. This was just a slip-up, a bump on the road if you will.” She sighed, shaking her head.

“If you say so.”

Tuesday

Halloween

“No way!” The call had ended the second you saw Rafe. Anakin. He was Anakin, and the costume was so detailed and looked so perfectly made that you were half jealous, half impressed.

“What?” he said, smirking. He knew why you were shocked and how coincidental it was that now you two were matching.

“The costume is insane; how long ago did you plan this?” He could’ve answered truthfully, saying a week, but he wasn’t going to put himself on the spot like that.

“You know, just a few weeks”

“A few weeks? This is so…” You trailed off, looking all over the costume. “And we are matching!” you said with a smile, a smile that could turn Rafe into a mush

“Yeah, I guess we are. How cool, huh?”

“I told you last week I wanted to match and you didn’t even tell me about this!”

“Well, you didn’t tell me you were dressing up as Padme,” he said, lifting an eyebrow.

“Oh right, well now we need to take some pictures for sure.”

“Sarah has a camera; let’s go find her.” He motioned for you to come inside the house, trailing behind you. The party was full, a lot of people with the same costumes as every year, others that you couldn’t even decipher, and some others that made you think how you didn’t think of it first. You walked between the people, Rafe saying hi to a lot of them in the process. Meanwhile, you were looking at the details of the house. It looked big enough for at least four or five people to live in; you were guessing it was all guys by the lack of actual home decor that was not sports- or videogame-themed.

“Whose house is this?”

“Some of the guys from the team live here, so they decided to host the party. Or more like we made them. Two of them want Topper and JJ’s jersey number, and they kinda have to win that, so Topper made them host, and JJ made them wear a matching costume with him.” Rafe chuckled. “Why?”

“Just wondering, it’s very… manly”

“You hate it,” he smirked at you.

“I didn’t say that!”

“You are judging real hard right now”

“Just a tiny bit.” You chuckled as you finally made it out to the backyard, where Sarah was setting up a beer pong game with JJ.

After a few rounds of beer pong, in which you lost twice against JJ and a sophomore you didn’t know, it was time to take pictures. Sarah was more than ready with her camera; she was telling everyone how to pose, where to pose, and then she transferred those quickly to her phone so you could all post them as soon as you wanted. She was very efficient; you weren’t sure if it was the excitement of Halloween or the amount of energy drinks mixed with alcohol she had taken, but she was on a roll.

Thankfully, nature, aka the bathroom, was calling your name. This meant a few minutes in peace; you loved Sarah, but she was getting really bossy and loud. You made it inside the house and asked around so someone could point you to the bathroom. After your two minutes of peace, you walked out just to find Rafe reclining on the opposite wall.

“Oh, you’re here. What a coincidence,” He said with a small smirk.

“Second one tonight, actually.” You pointed at him.

“Right, the first one was this.” He pointed at his costume, and you nodded with a smile. “Tired already?”

“Your teammates are very loud drunks,” you chuckled

“Topper and one of the guys are giving them water; it’s all taken care of.” He paused and walked closer to you to then whisper. “Wanna go snoop around the house?”

“We can?” you smirked.

“Well, I’m kinda their captain, so they can’t say no to me,” he shrugged.

“Oh, they can’t?” you said teasingly, moving even a bit closer to him.

“No, it’s kinda like an unspoken rule to always say yes to me.” He teased back, his face leaning in closer to yours. You noticed but didn’t do anything to stop him.

“Is that so? Does that only apply to them?” Rafe noticed that for the first time in all the time he had known you, you were flirting back, and he wasn’t about to let this go to waste.

“Do you want it to apply to you too?” He slowly lifted a hand and placed it on the nape of your neck. You almost shivered at the sudden touch.

“Saying yes to you all the time seems a little bit risky”

“Mh, how so?” He glanced at your lips and then back at your eyes.

“For starters, your ego would get too big. A girl saying yes to you all the time? You’d be insufferable,” you said as you unconsciously leaned in a bit more. He noticed it and let it happen. He had been dying to kiss you again, just like in the supermarket. He just chuckled under his breath.

“But you’d like it, don’t you?”

“In what world would I like that?” you almost laughed.

“In this one, where you are smiling at me like that.” He knew he was pushing his luck, but still he moved his hand up to cup your face and touched the corner of your mouth with his thumb. Your heart skipped a beat when he did so.

In that moment, it fully sank in how close you two actually were. You stared at his face, then, for a second, your eyes moved to his lips, and all the memories of The Kiss came flooding back into your mind. The way he held you, how you didn’t want it to end, and now how much you wanted for that to happen again. He noticed how your eyes went to his lips, and he took it as a silent invitation to lean in a bit more.

“Yo! Rafe, there you are… Oh…” Kelce’s voice broke through, and the two of you almost jumped to opposite sides of the hallway. Rafe cleared his throat.

“Man, hey, what-what do you need?” he fake-coughed.

“We need help moving some of the tables inside; it’s getting too cold.”

“Yeah, okay.” He gave you a last look before going back to the party. Kelce lingered, lifting an eyebrow at you.

“Uh uh, no. Don’t give me that look.” You said as you walked past him.

—

After the party had moved inside, everyone was more cramped, but it still went on. By 11 PM, it started raining, which was weird since it rarely rained in October, but there was always the occasional storm, and with the weather you never really knew. It was enough for you to want to go home. Now you just had to go look for Rafe. You found him talking with Topper in the kitchen.

“Hey,” he said immediately when he saw you. “Wanna go?” It’s like he was reading your mind; you nodded. “See ya’” he told Topper and left the red solo cup on the counter.

“You weren’t drinking, right?”

“Nah, I had a beer at like 8 but didn’t drink more. I knew I had to be sober, plus we have practice tomorrow and can't have a hangover.”

“Right,” you smiled. “Let me go say bye to the girls,” he nodded.

“I’ll go warm the car up.”

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Monday

Rafe made it back to his house around 8:30 p.m. To his luck, his little sister was already asleep, so she wasn’t going to ask a thousand questions about where he had been and why he hadn’t been there for dinner. He said hi to his parents before going to his room, not noticing the look they had shared.

Right when he thought he could finally rest, his mom walked into his room.

“Your sister kept asking if you were at the ‘pretty girl’s house,’ and you know what? I was also wondering the same thing.” He sighed. Of course, it would be his mom who would be asking the questions this time.

“You know I was there,” he said, not even trying to cover it up.

“You spend a lot of time with her now.”

“She is my friend.”

“Of course, she is. I was that friend once to your dad, you know?”

“Mom…” he gave her a tense look, and she lifted her arms in defeat.

”I’m just saying.”

“Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, honey.”

Wednesday

“Good morning sunshine,” he said with a smirk.

“I’m not a morning person.”

“No shit,” he chuckled. “There’s your coffee.”

“Thanks,” you said as you took a sip, and it was an instant change. “This is so good, where is this from?”

“A new coffee shop near my house.”

“This is the best coffee ever.”

“Look at you being all happy,” he smirked, feeling a sense of pride from making you feel better with something as simple as getting you a coffee.

“Coffee does that to a girl,” you smiled before taking another sip, and he slightly tightened his grip on the wheel, trying to hold back how much he wanted to grab your hand or just run his fingers through your hair. God, he needed to get a hold of himself.

Today - Thursday

Rafe was screwed, totally and completely screwed. Kelce had been right; he liked you way more than he did before. He knew why that was; the fake dating was getting into his head. He had to remind himself it was just pretending, a favor to you. A favor that he enjoyed too much. He found himself waiting for the next time he had to go to your house, praying that your parents were around so he had an excuse to be a true boyfriend. He liked touching you, kissing you… God, what he would give to actually kiss you. He would…

“Do you have a blue pen?” Your question had pulled him out of his thoughts.

“I… yeah, here,” he said, reaching for his bag and pulling it out.

“Thanks,” you smiled and got back to writing something in your notebook. He was going to need to ask you for your notes later because he had no idea what Professor Turner was explaining. She was a good professor, but today his focus was on you. Your car breaking down had been a turning point for him. The fact that you had texted him, even knowing you could’ve texted Pope, Ruthie, or even taken an Uber, but you chose against it. It was something, right? Maybe it wasn’t, but he felt like it was.

For the rest of the class, he tried paying attention, but watching you take notes felt more entertaining somehow. You would comment on things to him, or he would show you something he found on social media. He had been so engrossed in you that he hadn’t noticed Kelce looking at the two of you. Kelce knew something was up; you two were extremely comfortable with each other. He was going to wait for the right moment to talk to either of you about it.

At the very end of the class, Professor Turner assigned a new group project that had to be done by next week. He did pay attention this time and typed in his notes app the important information about the project so he could see it later.

“I was thinking we could get together at my house today,” he said as you were putting your stuff back into your bag.

“Fine by me,” Kelce agreed.

“I can’t…” You smiled at them apologetically, and he looked confused. You were always the first to say yes, and he had thought this was going be the perfect excuse to bring you to his house so Emily would finally stop asking him when he was going to bring you around.

“Why?”

“I need to go shopping for stuff for my birthday.” Right, your birthday. That meant he also had to go shopping for your birthday.

“Can’t you do it over the weekend?” Kelce asked you.

“No, I have to deep clean around my house. Also, I want to get ahead with next week’s work because Angie is coming and staying at my house from Tuesday to Sunday, and my birthday is on Wednesday, and I have that thing with you guys that day. And the other days Angie planned stuff… Plus, midterms are soon, and I–” Rafe interrupted so you could catch your breath.

“You are busy, we get it,” he said gently

“Yeah…” You smiled and exhaled. “You guys get together and let me know what to do. I have to go. Bye!” You waved at them and left.

“Don’t be disappointed, you can show her off later.” Kelce teased, and he rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, will you?” Kelce chuckled as they walked out of the class.

“Wanna go have lunch with Top?”

“Sure, why not?”

—

The three of them had ended up having lunch at Rafe’s house and played a video game for a while until Topper had to leave around 4 PM. Kelce helped him pick up the trash, and they took out all that they needed to start working on the project.

“Did you write down what Turner said? Because I thought she would have posted it by now, but I guess she forgot.” Kelce looked up from his laptop screen.

“Yeah, I have it on my phone.” He unlocked and opened his notes app. Before he could start reading, a little voice called him.

“Rafey!” Emily’s voice broke through. “Come here, pleeeease!” He sighed.

“I’ll be right back, just look at the Stats projects,” he said, giving his phone to Kelce and walking away to see what Emily needed. Kelce grabbed the phone. He was about to open the note Rafe had told him, but something else caught his attention. Your name, on a note.

Rafe came back into the room, and Kelce wasted no time in addressing what he had just read.

“What is this about?”

“What is what about?” Rafe asked, confused, as Kelce turned around the phone showing him the note. He felt the blood drain from his face and took his phone away from Kelce.

“Stop going through my stuff.”

“Is that one of the reasons why the two of you have been acting so…”

“We haven’t been acting like anything,” Rafe said, a bit too defensively.

“Stop with the lies. I see how close you’ve gotten, and don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re getting along, but what the hell is that? Is it a joke? A project I don’t know about?”

“I can’t tell you,”

“So it is something,” Rafe sighed, “Just tell me.”

“No, if I do, she’ll kill me.” Kelce shrugged, clearly not caring about that. “Kelce, I can’t tell you, it is not my thing to share, and I won’t betray her trust like that.”

“But it involves you, so it is also your thing.” Kelce was relentless, and Rafe was getting annoyed.

“No, no, no, you’re not going get me over a loophole. Get mad at me, I don’t care, but I’m not telling you something that’s not mine to share. She will never speak to me again if I do.”

“And poor you can’t stand that,” he teased, and Rafe glared at him. “Look, I read that, and I’m not stupid, I just want to know why the hell you two are doing that?”

“You are going to cost me a friendship.”

“A friendship?” Kelce says in disbelief. “Kissing her, touching her, having to plan a ‘break up’ is not a friendship, Rafe.” He shook his head. “When did this start?” Rafe gave up.

“In September.”

“September?!” Kelce’s eyes widened. “You’ve been playing pretend for a month?!”

“Jesus…” Rafe mumbled, running a hand over his face. “Yeah…”

“This is messy.”

“You are making it messy!” Rafe said, exasperated.

“Me?! How the hell–” Kelce took a deep breath. “You are pretending to be her boyfriend, and I’m the messy one? You’ve been in love with her since the second you laid your eyes on her, and that was a lifetime ago!”

“Why do you care? It affects no one.”

“Rafe, it does, you can’t control feelings… I’m just concerned. I don’t even know why she had to resort to this…”

“Don’t talk to her about this yet,” Rafe said sternly.

“Why?”

“Let me tell her that you know, and then you can go ask her a million questions about why all this is happening.” He wasn't letting Kelce have a say; he needed to be the one to tell you about this. “I’ll text her later, she’s out with Sarah, and we should start focusing on the project.” Kelce nodded, not wanting to fight him on this.

As soon as he parked his car in front of your house, his mind went blank. He had an idea of what he wanted to say, or he used to have one. To say he was feeling nervous was putting it lightly; he was anxious. He knocked on the door and took a deep breath; thankfully, it was your mom who opened.

“Oh, hi! She didn’t tell me you were coming today.”

“She doesn’t know,” he chuckled nervously.

“A surprise visit, how sweet.” Your mom smiled at him as she let him in. “Well, you are always welcome here. She is in her room.”

“Thanks,” your mom nodded and went back to the living room as he made his way upstairs to your room.

You were in your room working on some assignments, blasting music from your speaker or your laptop; he wasn’t sure, nor was it important. He walked in right as you were turning your chair around.

“You know I just mi–AH! Rafe!” You put a hand over your chest, feeling your heart hammering beneath it.

“You were singing.”

“No, I wasn’t,” you answered too quickly and cleared your throat. “Why are you here? How did you know I was back home?”

“Your location.”

“Right, you have that… I should really stop sharing it with you.”

“Sure, do whatever you want.” You stared at him.

“Why are you here?”

“I had to talk to you.”

“You could’ve texted.”

“I did, but this is urgent.”

“Why?” You turned around to pause the music so you could give him your full attention.

“Because you’re gonna hate me after this, probably kill me if you are really angry.” He joked, but you knew he wasn’t kidding. Maybe about the killing part, yes, but the rest? He did something if he thought you were going to get mad at him.

“And why would I do that?”

“Kelce found out.” You felt your stomach drop, and everything felt cold.

“What…What do you mean he found out? Did you tell him?” Your eyes were wide, and you were fidgeting with your rings. The anxiety radiating from you was strong, and he felt so guilty.

“No, not directly.”

“W-what do you mean? Rafe, I asked you one thing!” You groaned and started pacing in front of your desk.

“Hey, hey, hey.” He walked over to you and reached to grab you by the shoulders to steady you. You took a deep breath before looking at him. “I know, I know… and I am so sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t explain anything. I need to know how he found out.”

“He saw the note on my phone.” He let go of you.

“The note on your phone?! Are you kidding me?” You sighed angrily. “This has to be a joke… how did he find the note? Why didn’t you hide it?” He closed his eyes for a second. Of course, that would’ve been the obvious route, but it had never even crossed his mind until now.

“I didn’t even think of that!” he said honestly. “It wasn’t intentional, Y/N!”

“It doesn’t matter, he knows… and I didn’t want him or anyone else to know about it. If I had wanted that, I would’ve told him, like I told Angie, but I–” That caught his attention and interrupted you before you could continue.

“Whoa, what? Angie?”

“My friend Angie,” he huffed.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You were able to talk about this with someone, but I wasn’t? And not only that, but you didn’t tell me someone else knew.”

“I…” You could feel yourself vibrating from everything; you were angry, annoyed, anxious, and you didn’t know which emotion you should start dealing with. “She doesn’t go to our college and doesn’t even live nearby, so it doesn’t matter!”

“But it does! You can get angry all you want, but if someone already knew, who cares if someone else knows? It’s not like Kelce is a stranger. And it’s not fair that you chose that I just had to be quiet and suck it up when you had someone besides me to talk about it!”

“It’s not– I– that’s–” you stuttered, already feeling close to crying from the stress. He exhaled; all the fight in him went away the second he noticed your eyes getting watery.

“Look… Kelce knows now, and we can’t do anything about it. I am sorry he saw the note, but he is our friend, and I know he won’t say anything. He wouldn’t do that to you,” you sighed.

“I’m still not happy about it.”

“I didn’t expect you to be.”

“I wanted…” You cleared your throat. “I wanted to keep our closest friends away from it… because I feel a little embarrassed about it.” Oh.

“Hey…” he pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear. “I get it, okay? And I’m sorry about it, but I think it’s a good thing.”

“How?”

“Well, hypothetically, if he came over and your parents started talking about me as your boyfriend, he would be able to go along with it.”

“Okay…” you sighed again. “Did you tell him… everything?”

“No, I told him it wasn’t my thing to share. I just told him we have been doing this since last month, but that’s it. He will ask you about it, that’s why I needed to come and talk to you first.” You nodded, much more relaxed now.

“What if I don’t believe you?” He smiled; you were teasing him, and that made him relax. It meant you weren’t angry at him.

“Then don’t, but I did my part here.”

“Okay, but seriously, who doesn’t lock and hide a note like that?”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?” He lifted a brow, smirking.

“It kinda is…” You smiled at him playfully, and he chuckled.

“Fine, blame it on me. Now…”

“God, what now?”

“Can I have your notes from today’s stats class?”

“Sure,” you passed him your notebook. “You’re leaving?”

“Do you want me to? I wasn’t sure how you’d react, so…”

“So you have things to do.”

“Some assignments, yes.”

“Right… well, if you can get me my notebook back by tomorrow, I would appreciate it. I need it for the project.”

“I can take pictures right now, so it’s easier.” Before you could answer, he took pictures of your notes and left it back on your desk. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” you smiled at him.

“Okay, before I go, do you need a ride tomorrow morning?” You nodded

“That would be nice, I don’t get my car back until Saturday.”

“Yeah, no worries.” He started walking toward your door, and you followed behind. When you reached the living room, your mom turned her head.

“Leaving already? I thought you were staying for dinner.”

“Oh no, I can’t today, I have a lot of assignments to do.”

“Next time, do them here and stay. Even overnight if you need.” You widened your eyes at your mom; meanwhile, he only chuckled.

“I’ll pick you up at 8:30, okay? And before you complain, I’ll bring you coffee again.”

“Good, you know my ways.” You smiled and hugged him; he froze for a second before reciprocating. Usually, he was the one starting the physical contact.

“See you tomorrow then.” He kissed your forehead twice, and you blushed instantly.

“Bye.”

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“One more time…” you talk to yourself. You quit the program and open it one more time to see if it will work now. It doesn’t. You know you should’ve done this days ago, but in your defense, you thought it was going to take you less time. 

“Come on!” you groan and throw your head back. You grab your phone to check the time: 2:15 AM. Hopefully, someone was going to be awake, that someone being Kelce. Who else were you supposed to text?

A yawn escapes your mouth as you turn off your computer. You feel the sleep creeping in already, you had felt it hours ago. You grab your phone to put the sleeping playlist you had carefully curated all those months ago and get into your bed to finally sleep.  

Rafe was also tired but he had to make a note or he would forget to tell Kelce about it. Thankfully he didn’t have early morning practice or class until noon so he could sleep in.

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Sophomore year - Spring Break 2023

“Look, it’s not packed, I told you,” you said to Kelce.  

“Yeah, whatever,” he rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to come to the beach, but you and Angie did, and he was tagging along because it was his only day with nothing planned.  

“You know you are crashing, right?” you teased him.  

“Excuse me for wanting to spend time with my best friend.” Kelce rolled his eyes again as you laid out something for the three of you to sit on.  

“I am spending time with my best friend,” you said with a little smirk, referring to Angie and not him.  

“Just say you hate me,” he said, putting a hand over his chest and pretending to be hurt. Meanwhile, Angie was just chuckling and setting down some of the items she had brought for the picnic at the beach.  

After the three of you were settled, you took some pictures as you always did and started talking. The conversation began with Angie telling you about Ethan and what had happened with him in more detail, and that he had tried to explain why he did what he did, but only made things worse. Kelce gave his opinions when asked; he knew better than to interrupt the two of you during your catch-up session. The conversation shifted to Kelce and Nikki, the girl he was seeing. She was nice, and you didn’t have much to tell him about her, just that sometimes she was a bit too jealous, but he knew that and liked it.

After eating and having a lighthearted chat, Kelce decided to probe a bit about the Jordan and Rafe topic. He wasn’t asking to get something out of it, but after the party and the date a month ago, he had been wanting to ask some things, though he had held back, not wanting to piss you off. You had reacted a bit badly to his lack of enthusiasm when you told him about the date, so he had refrained from asking why you had suddenly decided to give all your energy and attention to Jordan when you had been feeling unsure about him.  

“So, how are things with Jordan? Any plans for this week?”  

“No, we have been talking here and there. He wants to go out again, but our schedules keep clashing.”  

“It’s spring break; shouldn’t he be free?” Kelce tried to sound supportive, but he didn’t like Jordan; there was something that didn’t sit right with him. The only person he had admitted this to was Rafe because he knew he also didn’t like him, though Rafe’s reasons were completely different. Kelce just didn’t like the guy, while Rafe didn’t like Jordan because you liked Jordan. Jealousy.  

“He has plans with his family,” you said, taking a sip of your Coke. 

“Okay, yeah, I get it…” he paused. “But besides that, everything is good, right?”  

“Yes, after the date, he has been even sweeter, mentioning things I told him, and he always brings up the date. I’m taking it as a good sign.” You said, and Angie nodded as if to reassure you.  

“No regrets on going on the date then?” Kelce stated rather than questioned.  

“No regrets at all,” you said with a smile. “Why? You thought I was regretting it?”  

“No, no, just making sure you feel okay with him.”  

“I do, thanks for asking.”  

“So Rafe?” he said, not knowing how else to bring it up. You knitted your eyebrows.  

“Rafe? What about Rafe?”  

“You don’t like him anymore?”  

“What?” You asked, even more confused; he had caught you off guard. You hadn’t told him you had a crush on him. Angie had been the only one who knew about what you called a silly crush.  

“Or did I get it wrong?” Kelce asked, trying to read your reaction. You sighed, giving up.  

“No… I did have a little crush on him for a while, but it’s over now.” He smirked at your answer.  

“When?”  

“When what?”  

“When did you get over him? Was it before or after you saw him kissing Sofia?” He was testing you, and you hated it.  

“Who is Sofia?” Angie asked, a bit confused.  

“High school friend of Kelce,” you explained to her. “And that kiss is not relevant.” It was; you knew it had been relevant. It had been the whole reason you decided to move on.  

“If you say so.”  

“Kelce, I don’t like him anymore, okay?”  

“Thought it was a silly crush,” Angie added, grinning.  

“Angie!” you huffed and rolled your eyes.

—

This time, the family spring break trip had also been a family reunion; older cousins and other relatives had tagged along. There were more kids around this time, and Emily was over the moon to have cousins her age and even nieces and nephews who were her age or close to it to play with. Rafe mingled and talked to everyone, but at the end of the day, he always returned to what he felt comfortable with: Sarah. They were that pair of cousins who did almost everything together since childhood, and people mistook them for siblings. His mom and Sarah’s mom had been best friends since college, and by luck or destiny, they had married brothers, which led them to share a last name. Later on, it resulted in Sarah having her aunt’s name as her middle name.

So, as with any other dinner, Sarah and Rafe were sitting next to each other, ready to comment on whatever would happen during the meal or had happened earlier. 

“Who do you think will end up drinking more tonight?” Sarah asked. 

“Grandpa, maybe; it’s always him. Watch him make toasts for nothing to excuse his drinking,” Rafe said, chuckling under his breath. 

“I think it's gonna be Liliana. She officially stopped breastfeeding, and she said she wasn't looking after the baby today.” She chuckled, and Rafe rolled his eyes. 

“I know; she almost threw Theo at me today.” 

The dinner went on normally, just as they had expected. At one point, it was just the grown-ups at the table, but they were not interested in that talk, and Sarah had wanted to ask Rafe something for a while but hadn’t had the chance to do so. 

“So… how are you feeling now about the Y/N situation?” she asked, a bit scared of how he was going to react. 

“What situation?” 

“Your feelings for her.” 

“I’m okay; she’s with Jordan, so I don’t care anymore.” He said it was nothing, but Sarah knew better. This time, she didn’t want to push him to say more, or he would shut her off entirely, and that was not her intention. 

“So that’s it?” she asked, a bit concerned. Rafe sighed.

“Yeah, that’s it…” 

“Want to talk about it?” 

“No, she’s just a friend, I guess. I don’t know; we never got to talk or hang out one-on-one, so I guess she’s just part of the friend group but not my friend.” Sarah noticed the resignation in his voice, and it made her feel bad. She knew Jordan a bit, and she didn’t feel like he was a bad guy. Of course, between Jordan and Rafe, she would choose Rafe for you, but you were happy with Jordan. 

“I’m sorry…” 

“Look, she’s with him, and I just don’t care anymore. It’s her life; she can do whatever she wants, and that’s it.”

Coming out of the anesthesia was hell. You didn’t remember anything you had done. You thought you had just passed out, but according to the nurses, you talked a lot. You even fought with one of them. You apologized, and she said she was used to it; she knew patients didn’t mean it. 

As your mom had gone out of your room to check on you and see if the insurance was covering this, a nurse helped you shower and get ready to go home. Even though you knew it didn’t matter how you looked, you styled your hair and did your makeup because you wanted to look presentable. 

“Is your boyfriend waiting for you at home?” the nurse asked in a gentle tone, just trying to make conversation. 

“Oh no, no, I don’t have a boyfriend,” you chuckled softly. 

“Oh, I’m sorry for asking. I just assumed from the way you were talking about this guy when you were coming out of the anesthesia.” 

“Oh, did I say his name?” you asked, curious about what you had said. 

“No, honey, I’m sorry, but you were saying how nice and thoughtful he was at your birthday. I don’t interrupt when patients are like that; I just let them talk,” she said gently, and you felt your heart skip a beat. Rafe. 

“Probably just one of my friends,” you lied. You didn’t have to lie to the nurse who didn’t know about your life, but you did. 

“Well then, you have amazing friends,” she said.

—

When you got back home, you stayed in the living room, not wanting to walk up the stairs. Jordan had called you, asking if he could drop by to see how you were doing, and you had agreed. When he arrived, you two talked, and he met your mom briefly. You were listening to music and just hanging out when the doorbell rang.

“Don’t even try to stand up,” he said in a warning but caring tone. He wanted to go answer the door, but your mom went first. You heard a soft, “Thanks,” before she closed the door.

“What was it?” you asked loud enough for your mom to hear.

“Sarah sent you a get-well-soon basket.” She placed the basket next to you so you could see what was inside. 

“This is too cute; I need to text her.” Jordan smiled at your reaction to the gift from Sarah. “Oh, look at the card! It has a band-aid,” you chuckled softly as you looked at the front of the card. It was a band-aid with googly eyes, stick hands, and legs, and it read, “Get well soon.”

After texting Sarah, you grabbed the card and checked what she had told you. It was signed just as she said it would be: Sarah and Rafe. You felt something tug at your heart as you read the handwritten note, but you had to ignore it.  

“Jordan, can you change the song, please?” He nodded and went to grab your phone to change the song.  

“Of course.” He didn’t mean to see the texts waiting there for you to read, but he did. Rafe Cameron. He knew Rafe as one of Topper's friends. You had mentioned him a couple of times when you two had started talking, but it never made him worry.  

Jordan didn’t think of himself as a jealous guy, but when he read what Rafe had bought you, it made him want to hit the guy. Why was he buying you things? Wasn’t this supposed to be just from Sarah?  

“Can I see the card?” he asked. You nodded and passed it to him. When he opened it, he suppressed a huff. He had seen your reaction to the card, and now that he knew Rafe was in it, something just didn’t sit right with him. He was sure his eye was going to start twitching if he didn’t calm down.  

Jordan tried to ignore the feeling for the rest of the time he was there. He canceled a plan he had just made to stay there in a way to compensate for not buying you anything like Sarah and Rafe had done. He didn’t tell you how he felt; you needed to focus on your recovery, and he had to focus on not feeling jealous of Rafe.

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2 months ago

“Thank you,” you said as you and Angie walked back to the lake house.

“For what? You know you are an honorary Griffin.” 

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean I will stop thanking you or your family for always being so nice.” 

“Well, you are very welcome and I’m glad this helped to get your mind off things.” 

“You always know huh?” 

“What can I say?” she chuckled as you two walked inside “Let’s go get changed and then we can prepare some snacks for the bonfire”

Monday

After your last class, you went to grab some snacks and head to the library. On your way there, you crossed paths with Kie and Cleo. 

“Got any plans right now?” Cleo asked you.

“Not really, I was going to the library to finish some assignments.” 

“Pope just called us, and we’re meeting up with them at Sarah’s apartment since it’s the closest one.” 

“We were about to text you to see if you could come.” 

“I would love to; let me go for my car then. Do you guys need a ride?” You asked since you knew they usually carpooled with JJ or Pope to come to college.

“Yes, please,” they both said at the same time. 

You three made it to Sarah’s apartment. You had enough time to work on some of your assignments and just hang out with them before you had to go back to your house to have dinner with your parents. Eventually, you said your goodbyes to everyone.

“Let me walk you out,” Sarah said with a smile, “Glad you could come; next week let’s get together, just the girls.” You nodded. 

“Sounds like a plan, let’s talk in the group chat to decide what day and what to do.” 

“For sure, drive safe!”

–

With that, you made your way to your car and drove back home. You arrived at your house, announced you were home once you were inside, and then went straight to your room to change clothes. Once you had changed, you grabbed your phone and headed to the dining room.

You always talked with your parents while you all ate. Tonight was no exception. It started as a normal "How was your day?" but quickly turned into your mom’s new favorite topic: your love life, or lack thereof. You knew she meant well, but it had been getting on your nerves, and today it had pushed you to your limit.

This time, it wasn’t just your mother tormenting you with questions and comments; your dad had also chimed in with his opinion about your love life. So, you interrupted your mom before she could add something else to the discussion.

"I’m already seeing someone; I have been for the past two months I just didn’t want to tell you guys in case it didn’t work out," you lied, thinking that would end their intense questioning.

"Oh, that’s great, honey! What’s his name?" your mom asked, her face beaming with a smile. She couldn’t have been any happier if she tried, but she had put you on the spot. Correction: you had put yourself on the spot.

Your brain froze; panic was setting in, and your phone didn’t stop vibrating. You grabbed it to see who was texting you so urgently, and before you could process what you were about to do, his name slipped out of your mouth. It was more like a question, but it was done. You said his name, and now you couldn’t take it back.

"We would love to meet him, honey. Invite him over on Friday for dinner with us." You tried to come up with an excuse, but it was all in vain.

"We want to meet the guy. If it’s been over two months, it’s serious," your dad said, leaving you with no choice but to accept.

"Yeah… I will talk to him then," you sounded convincing, even though you were still panicking on the inside.

After dinner was over, you went to your room and decided to ignore what had just happened and finally answer the barrage of texts and finish the statistics presentation you had for the next day. You would deal with the situation after the presentation—first a good grade, then finding a boyfriend for Friday night.

Tuesday

Presentation first, then panic—that was your mantra for the day. When you decided on one thing, you did it, so you had avoided thinking about your little big problem throughout the whole morning and class. 

The presentation was a success, just as planned. Seeing Rafe had made you feel a bit guilty; you had dragged him into your problem, albeit he didn’t know yet, and you weren’t actually sure if he would ever find out. You could always find a random guy and make him pretend to be Rafe, but you knew that never in a million years would you approach a stranger and ask him to be your fake boyfriend for a night.

Today

After your much-needed talk with Angie yesterday, you decided you were going to ask Rafe. You had been repeating to yourself all day that the worst thing that could happen was him saying no. The problem was that you were extremely anxious about even asking the question.

You knew where he was because Wednesdays were typically his "I can’t get together today" day since he had practice around noon and physical training around 5. One thing you could admit about Rafe was that he was dedicated and disciplined with classes and basketball. So, in a positive light, if he were to say yes, you knew he would make it right.

When you finally reached the basketball court, you saw him in the distance dribbling a ball and making a shot. Three-pointer! That was the only thing you knew about basketball. As you got closer and entered his field of vision, he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. It was unusual for you to show up while he was in practice. He let his coach know he was going to take five, and the coach nodded back.

He left the ball on the side of the court, grabbed his water bottle to take a sip, and right before standing in front of you, he lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat off his face.

“Y/N, what brings you here?” 

“What? I can’t just come and walk around?” 

“Right, because you like basketball that much to come see us practice,” he smirked.

“It could be a new hobby, you know.” 

“Right, right, because you love to learn new things.” His eyes never left your face. “So what brings you here, princess? Wanted to see me?” he teased, and you shook your head, a slight blush creeping in. You were starting to feel anxious again.

“Yes, but not in the way you think, so wipe that smirk off your face,” you composed yourself, sounding as sure of yourself as you could. 

“Okay, then tell me how I can help you,” he said, still smiling.

“I have a favor to ask… it’s a bit unusual and big, but I really need help…” His face turned serious; he could notice how anxious you were. Your cheeks were starting to flush, and you were playing with your fingers.

“Yeah, tell me.” 

“Okay, so…”

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Friday

Saturday

“Now that we both have our coffees, let’s talk,” Rafe said as both of you sat down.

“Okay…”

“Look, just before we start, I’m sorry if I overstepped. I didn’t mean to mess up your plan.”

“It’s okay, Rafe. I understand why you did it. You thought it through more than I did; it’s all good, I promise. But we do need to talk about what happens with this.”

“Are you asking me what we should do?”

“Yes, because the situation right now is weird. I always tell my parents everything, like not in a strange way or—” he cuts you off.

“You have a good relationship with them; I saw that.” You smiled softly.

“Yeah, I do. So, me not telling them that I was dating someone is already a big deal. If, let’s say, next week I tell them we’re not together anymore, it’s going to be weird.”

“Yeah, so how long do you want this to go on for?”

“You really don’t mind doing this for longer than two nights?”

“I told you yesterday it’s okay; it’s not the usual favor, but it’s fine.” Your mind took you back to what Angie had said to you, but you quickly brushed it off. He is just doing this because he likes to help, and he is your friend, you told yourself.

“I just have to be sure.”

“By all means, so how long? Two months?”

“Two months?” you asked, a bit shocked. “I was thinking one…”

“Most couples break up after the three-month mark, not exactly at the three-month mark.”

“You seem to know a lot about this.”

“I’m just saying, if you say you want to make things believable, then let’s ‘break up’ right before Thanksgiving.”

“My birthday is next month.”

“So?”

“Usually, I invite my family and some friends over, and now I would have to invite you. We can’t do this in front of our friends; we need some ground rules.”

“Fine by me.” Rafe took his phone out and opened the notes app to annotate. “One, no one—and I mean NO ONE—has to know besides us.”  

“Copy that.”  

“Two, we pretend only in my house, and when my parents are there, of course.”  

“Yeah, okay. So pretending means what? Because I didn’t do much yesterday.”  

“Like, physical touch is okay when we are with my parents—like holding hands and hugging, I guess.”  

“And kisses?” he smirked teasingly.  

“On the cheek.”  

“Forehead?”  

“Yeah, that too.”  

“Lips?”  he wiggled his eyebrows

“Jesus, Rafe.”  

“It’s a genuine question, Y/N.” You knew he wasn’t really asking; he was just doing it to mess with you.  

“Pecks only, nothing more.”  

“Copy that, ma'am.” He did a little salute while smirking. “Pet names? I already called you princess yesterday. Is that okay, or should I stop?”  

“If you need to use them, then fine; but still the same, only around my parents.”  

“Well, that’s gonna be hard.”  

“That’s not really my problem,” you said, taking a sip of your coffee, and he chuckled.  

“Okay, so we are set… we continue this and break up before Thanksgiving.”  

“Sounds good… oh wait, under no circumstances are you staying over at my house.”  

“Why is this important?” he asked, confused.  

“The last guy I dated stayed over a couple of times because it was too late or something with the weather.” He nodded while you talked.  

“Okay then, no staying over.” He typed on his phone. “Now we are set.”  

“Thank you, Rafe…”  

“You're welcome.”  

After that talk, you two kept the conversation going. It was like the dinner the day before had been a good icebreaker and opened the door to getting to know Rafe and becoming friends. A couple of hours went by, and then you said your goodbyes and went to your respective cars.

Today

Even after your talk with Rafe, you were still anxious about the whole situation. But today was different; it was more of a chill setting—game night, snacks, and living room-only vibes. For most of the afternoon, it was just like that.

Establishing ground rules had improved your dynamic; he knew what he could and couldn’t do, and you knew what to expect, so your anxiety was more under control this time around. He grabbed your hand or played with your hair. It was a good afternoon that extended a bit longer, so of course, when you thought everything was done for the day, it wasn’t.

Your dad seemed to be your biggest enemy this weekend. Since he had told Rafe to stay and watch the basketball game that night, and of course, Rafe said yes. Now you were sitting on the couch with Rafe and your dad, watching a game while you scrolled through your phone, not caring about whatever was happening in front of you. From time to time, Rafe grabbed your thigh in stress, and even though you knew you had given him permission to do things like that, you still felt a bit weirded out by it all.

To take your mind off the whole situation currently unfolding, you decided to give Angie an update on what had happened and what was going to happen. It was also a good idea to keep yourself busy before you went to help your mom with dinner, which Rafe had offered to help with because he wanted to know what made your mom’s food so great.

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