Sarah and you had pretty much grown up glued at the hip, mostly because your parents were inseparable and dragged you everywhere together. Which meant you grew up with Rafe too. He was always around, stomping through hallways. For most of your life he barely looked at you, and when he did he had that “why are you talking” face. You still liked him anyway. Things started shifting lately though. He buzzed his hair, calmed down a little, and suddenly he wasn’t ignoring every word out of your mouth. You hated how much that affected you.

It’d started snowing hard outside. “bet you can’t hit me,” so obviously you pegged him in the shoulder with a snowball, and it turned a snow fight in the Cameron yard. He kept trying to act all serious, but he was definitely holding back a smile. You were freezing though, and after your fingers felt like they were gonna fall off, you both sprinted back toward the house, laughing like idiots the whole way.

The Cameron house was dark when you stepped in, quiet in that weird way huge houses get when no one’s home.

You kicked your shoes off and headed straight for the living room where the fireplace was dying out but still warm. Rafe crouched down to poke at it, and you wrapped a blanket around your shoulders before sitting on the rug. The cold started fading from your skin, but your heart going faster like it always did when you were alone with him.

He dropped down beside you, close enough that his shoulder brushed yours, like it was an accident but it was definitely not. He glanced over at you for a second, then again, then didn’t look away this time.

One second you were warming up, the next you could feel every breath he took. His eyes dropped to your mouth for a split second before flicking back up like he hoped you didn’t notice.

You tried to play it cool, even though your whole body felt wired. “Why are you staring at me like that?” you asked, trying to sound normal.

He shrugged a little. “Dunno,” he said under his breath, voice low and warm from the fire. “Just— you look different.”

You rolled your eyes, mostly to stop yourself from smiling. “Different how?”

He cracked a tiny smile, barely there. “Like…”

His knee brushed yours, he couldn’t stop leaning closer without even realizing it.