You ran your hands over your hair, wrinkling your nose in frustration. You didn’t know why you were so nervous tonight. It wasn’t like you hadn’t gotten ready for a hundred nights like this before. It’s just another date. You’ve been repeating that all night as you got ready.

Except it wasn’t just a date. It was the first date you and Rafe were going on since you’d gotten back together. And you had an incessant need to make sure that it went perfectly. You hadn’t thought you’d ever get another chance with Rafe after your relationship had imploded so spectacularly.

Rafe didn’t give second chances as a rule. He rarely let people in and when he did he didn’t tolerate betrayal. And you’d messed up. Big time. You thought he would hold onto that anger forever, he’d always said his heart was black. Hardened, unyielding. But somehow the two of you had been drawn back into each other’s orbit, and after a lot of work on your part, you’d slowly earned his trust back.

In those dark days where you’d been without him, you’d started to feel like maybe you were only meant to be Rafe’s mistake. You’d stopped believing in love, stopped believing in anything really. Without him you hadn’t seen much of a point in anything. But he’d come back to you. He’d crawled into the darkness with you and pulled you out. Kissing your scars and making you feel like for all your brokenness you were beautiful. You were poison and he was the cure.

You turn around in the mirror, trying to decide what your outfit was missing. You’d gone for a classic little black dress. Rafe liked you in black. Your hand ran along your left wrist, playing over the fading scars there. Bracelets, you decided. He may know the scars are there but you didn’t want them to be visible if you could help it. You grab a small stack of bracelets and slide them onto your wrist with a relieved sigh.

You don’t want to mess up a single second of this night. You close your eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. The doorbell breaks through your panic and you quickly descend the stairs. You smooth down your dress and swing the door open.

Rafe stares back at you and for a second, you forget to breathe. If you did nothing else right in this life, at least you’d done this. You’d find him. This boy. Your boy.

“You look gorgeous, princess” he says, his voice low and seductive.