Your shoes kept getting stuck to the bar floor as you made your way through the crowd searching for Rafe. It had been a good night out, but now you’d reached the part of the night where the crowded bar felt too much. You just wanted to find your man and get out of there, to head home to where it would just be the two of you.

You were usually the girl who shut the bars down, staying on the dance floor until after the lights were switched back on. But now that you had Rafe, it was all different. Your former party girl self would probably cringe at how down bad you were for him. But you’d found the person you felt comfortable being alone with.

You felt like he saw a part of you that others didn’t. Maybe because you did the same for him. The two of you were both broken in different ways, but together you made each other whole. It was a fact that outsiders looking in at your relationship, didn’t quite get.

“Have you seen Rafe?” You ask Sarah when your eyes finally land on a familiar face.

“I think I saw him head out onto the patio” she replies, quickly asking if you’re leaving and pouting at the answer. You promise to meet her for breakfast tomorrow and then with a smile you push through the bar doors onto the patio.

Your eyes adjust to the darkness, and you quickly glance around the small crowd outside, eyes landing on Rafe in conversation with Ruthie and Topper.

“She’s just a lot. Why are you closing yourself off so quickly when you barely know her?” You can make out Topper’s voice clearly, and you pause mid step when you realize the she he’s referring to is you.

“I’m friends with the girl, and even I agree. She’s just…not it” Ruthie chimes in, wrinkling her nose.

That hurt, because you were friends with her. She’d even been planning double dates when you’d first told her you and Rafe were a thing. You bite your lip, trying to tell yourself to remain calm. You wanted to storm over there and rip them both a new one, because where did they get the right to try and interfere in your relationship? You thought Topper was about as exciting as white bread, but you weren’t going behind his back to tell Ruthie she could do better.

Rafe’s jaw sets in irritation, and he rubs his hand against the back of his neck. It made him angry that his friends thought they had an opinion about who he dated. Angrier still that they were badmouthing you. He lets out a bitter laugh.

“Not every thought you have needs to be said” his voice is cold, his grip on his glass of bourbon is so tight, he’s surprised that he hasn’t broken it. He’s trying to restrain himself from breaking Topper’s jaw for what he’s said about you tonight. That resolve flies out the window when he looks out into the crowd and sees you. The pain he sees on your face tells him that you overheard the conversation, and he wants to use his fists to make his friend hurt for hurting you.