─☼☼☼─

─FIVE YEARS EARLIER─

"𝙒𝙀 𝙉𝙀𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙊  talk." Kensington Lewis announced as she arrived next to Charlotte Carrera, Willa Connors in tow.

Charlotte turned from her locker, her dark hair falling over her shoulders, "About what, Kens?"

Kensington rose her brows, hands fastened on her hips, "Why did Madison Wheeler tell me that Lauren Tucker told her that you and Rafe Cameron spent the entire night together at Beckett Gibson's end of summer party?"

"Geez." Charlotte muttered, trying to recover from that whirlwind of a sentence.

"Don't try to avoid the question!" Willa almost shrieked, forced to cover her mouth at the outburst.

"Willa's right, Char. Answer the question." Kensington prodded.

It was the second week of school, two weeks after Beckett Gibson's party, two weeks since her and Rafe had become something more than they were before. She still wasn't sure what, but she knew they were more than acquaintances, more than friends even.

But despite the fact that a fortnight had passed, Charlotte had yet to say a single word about it to her best friends. She knew how they could get, and she wasn't ready to let anyone in on her and Rafe's little secret. It had almost been more fun that way.

Much to her dismay, it now seemed as if the secret was out.

Scanning the halls, Charlotte's eyes snagged on Rafe. He was surrounded by his friends, but it seemed as if he could feel her looking at him. Meeting her gaze, he sent her a small smile. One that seemed to say so much.

"Charlotte!"

Dropping the smile that had begun to spread across her lips, Charlotte looked back to her friends, being face with the impatient glares of Kensington and Willa.

"We're your best friends!" Kensington whined, "You have to tell us everything."

Pulling at her uniformed skirt, Charlotte shook her head, "Nothing to tell."

"Nothing to tell?" Willa echoed incredulously. "You're dating Rafe Cameron and you think there's nothing to tell! Charlotte, literally ever girl in our grade wants to date him."

"Or his dad." Kensington muttered under her breath.

"Gross." Charlotte dismissed Kensington before addressing Willa. "No one said we're dating."

Willa rolled her eyes, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders. "Right, that's why you spent an entire night together at a party, and I bet if I checked your phone right now there would be, like, a million texts between the two of you." She paused for a moment, studying Charlotte's facial expressions. "Oh my God! Charlotte, did he─did he take your virginity?" She whispered the last word as if it were the poison.

"No!" Charlotte answered quickly, cheeks reddening slightly, "We haven't even kissed."

Kensington scrunched up her face, casting a look over at Rafe, "Well then what the hell have you two been doing?"

Slamming her locker, Charlotte resisted letting out a groan. "I'm going to class."

"Oh, come on!" Kensington called after her, "You suck!"

As she walked passed Rafe, Charlotte could feel his eyes on her, watching her every move. His friends, unlike hers, were oblivious to where his attention was focused, still rambling on about their weekend plans at the country club.

Barely passed him, Charlotte's phone buzzed in the pocket of her blazer.

rafe: what were tweedle dee and tweedle dumb on about?

Charlotte rolled her eyes, casting a glance over her shoulder. Rafe was grinning when her eyes landed on him.

charlotte: don't call them that

charlotte: but they know that we no longer hate each other

His response was almost instantaneous.

rafe: we've been over this. I never hated you

charlotte: not the point. they're going to start telling everyone

rafe: meet me outside the library in twenty minutes.

Sighing, Charlotte slid into her seat in her last period math class. Truthfully, she would have taken any excuse to skip out on a portion of math...but she was glad her excuse was Rafe.

The minutes seemed to creep by, each second Charlotte grew more and more anxious to speak to Rafe.

She never grew tired of hearing his voice.

For the past two weeks, they had talked on the phone every single night and Charlotte swore she could do it for the rest of her life.

She really hated to admit it, but Charlotte Carrera had fully fallen for Rafe Cameron.

Nineteen minutes after she had received the text, Charlotte was out of her seat and making her way down the hall toward the library.

Rafe was already standing there when she reached it, a smile lighting up on his face at the sight of her.

"Hey, Charlotte." He greeted, voice teetering slightly...he was nervous.

Charlotte smiled, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear, "Hey, Rafe."

Silence hung in the hair for a moment before she spoke again, "Sorry about Willa and Kensington. I love them but they have huge mouthes when it comes to gossip."

"Yeah." Rafe nodded, scratching at the back of his neck. "I kinda expected this to happen."

"If you don't want people to know, I can beg them not to say anything." Charlotte paused for a moment, her cheeks heating up as she quickly tried to back pedal, "Not saying that there's anything for people to know─I mean, I know we're just friends and─"

"Charlotte," Rafe interrupted, an amused smile covering his face, "I asked you here, because I was just thinkin' that we should really give people something to talk about."

Charlotte clamped her mouth shut, looking at him with slight confusion. "What?"

Cracking his knuckles, trying to alleviate his nerves, Rafe let out a small breath, "Charlotte, would you like to go on a date with me? Like, a real one this time."

Pure joy washed over the Carrera girl as she let out a small laugh, a huge smile breaking across her face as she nodded. "Yes." She answered more quickly than she probably should have. "I'd love to."

─☼☼☼─
A breeze of early September air blew across the pier, blowing Charlotte Carrera's hair in front of her face.

She reached up to push it away, but someone beat her to it.

When she could see beyond the curtain of hair, Charlotte's eyes met with Rafe's. "Thank you." She said softly, heart hammering in her chest.

He nodded, taking another bite of his ice cream. "Sorry about my sisters." He mumbled, stealing a glance over his shoulder when his family's huge estate sat. "I told them to fuck off for the night but they aren't real great at listening."

Ten minutes ago, the pair had returned from the ice cream parlour with the goal of watching a movie at Tannyhill. They were three minutes into The Longest Ride (a film she was sure Rafe didn't actually want to watch) when Wheezie and Sarah had come bounding into the home theatre, determined to embarrass their older brother in anyway they could.

After a few choice words between Rafe and Sarah, (ones that Charlotte was pretty sure eight year old Wheezie shouldn't have been hearing) Rafe had grabbed a hold of Charlotte's hand, pulling her and her ice cream out to the docks.

The two, now finally alone, quietly picked at their ice cream that had been reduced to a more soup-like consistency. Neither of them knew exactly what to say.

One could likely blame the silence on their fourteen year-old awkwardness.

They were fine when their conversations were over the phone. Completely fine when the words they spoke to one another were simply banter; after all, they had done that for years.

But now, their conversations were weighed down by the stupid "first date" label.

"I'm sorry." Charlotte sighed, setting her cup of Moose Tracks ice cream aside. "I don't really know how to do this. I've never been on a real first date."

Discarding his cup of "Death by Chocolate", Rafe smiled, as if relieved. "Me neither." He admitted with a small shrug.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes slightly. "Didn't you go on a date with Riley Everson last year?"

A laugh fell from his lips as he shook his head. "No, I just told all of you that. I never even asked her out."

"Why?" Charlotte wondered, some of the jealousy she had felt toward poor Riley Everson fading away.

Rafe ducked his head for a moment, cheeks a light tinge of pink. "I was trying to make someone jealous."

"Oh." Charlotte breathed, pushing her lips together to conceal her smile. "It worked."

His head shot up, eyes meeting hers as he let out a breathy laugh. "Wish I had known that a year ago."

Giving him a small smile, Charlotte looked back out toward the water, still not believing this was happening.

Three weeks ago, Charlotte Carrera and Rafe Cameron had let on that they hated each other. Now, they were on their first date, admitting that both had been concealing their feelings for way longer than either of them had thought.

"Besides," Rafe spoke, pulling her attention back to him. "Didn't like ten guys ask you out in eighth grade?"

Charlotte shrugged, recalling the numerous dates she had been asked out on. "My dad didn't want me to date." She explained, that being only part of the reason. If she had really wanted to go on a date, she wouldn't have let her father stop her.

Truth was, she simply didn't like any of those guys.

"Right." Rafe nodded slowly, "But he let you go out with me tonight?"

She looked over at him, a close-lipped smile on her face. "Yeah...because he likes you already."

One perk of dating someone you already knew, no awkward parent introductions.

Rafe tried to turn his head to hide the wide grin that had overtaken his features, but he wasn't quick enough. Charlotte caught the end of it, her heart seeming to flip in her chest.

"So," she wondered, dangling her feet over the water, "Aren't you, like, supposed to ask me questions about myself or something?"

Truthfully, the most Charlotte knew about dating came from movies and cheesy romance books, and she didn't really think her and Rafe's lives mirrored that of Hazel and Gus's from The Fault in Our Stars, or that of Katniss and Peeta's from The Hunger Games. But really, she knew nothing else at fourteen years old.

"I already know everything about you, Charlotte. I know about your family, your friends, your favourite ice cream, your horrible taste in movies—"

"I knew you didn't watch to watch The Longest Ride!" Charlotte interjected, voice coated in triumph.

"I had a pretty girl alone in my theatre, you really think I was going to say no to whatever you want to watch?" Rafe challenged, his flickering toward hers.

This time, it was Charlotte who ducked her head, trying to hide her blush.

"Fine." She conceded to his earlier argument. Sure, the two of them knew each other well having been part of the same group since they were children, but there was no way he could claim he knew everything about her.

"What's your favourite colour?" She wondered, looking up at his with raised brows.

"My favourite colour?"

"Yeah." Charlotte nodded, "If we're going to say we're on a first date, then we should ask at least some questions. 

Rafe laughed again, an impressed smile coming to his face, "Brown." He answered quickly, "Like your eyes."

Charlotte rolled said eyes, "Be serious."

"I am!"

She fixed him with a warning look, "Actually serious."

He was being serious, but she didn't know that.

"Okay." He conceded, raising his hands in surrender. "Orange."

"Like the sunset?" Charlotte wondered, believing she had found her own Peeta Mellark. 

Shaking his head slightly, Rafe spoke. "No. Something else."

Little did Charlotte know, that something else was the colour of the dress she had worn to their eighth grade dance. He had thought it was the most beautiful colour in the world...mostly because it had been her who had worn it. 

When she accepted his answer with a small smile, Rafe spoke. "What's yours."

"Blue." Charlotte answered confidently. "Like the colour of the sky just after sunrise."

Like the colour of his eyes. 

Leaning back slightly, Rafe watched the softness of her face as she smile, her eyes dancing toward the sky. 

To him, everything about Charlotte Carrera was perfect. Everything. 

She felt his gaze, turning to face him with the hint of a smile on her face, "Okay," She admitted, "I'm out of questions."

Rafe laughed, his hand inching toward hers on the wooden dock, "Told you, we already know everything about each other."

Glancing over at him, Charlotte nodded, her hand moving toward his as well. "Fine," She conceded, "Then what else are you supposed to do on a first date?"

She knew what she was doing, knew that her words were a prompt for exactly what she wanted him to do. 

Rafe picked up on her cues, his eyes softening slightly as he leaned toward her, slowly, as if giving her the chance to stop him. 

Charlotte did no such thing, and within a matter of seconds, his lips were on hers. 

She could taste the remnants of the chocolate on his lips as she leaned into him, never wanting to break apart. 

They say that when you kiss the one you're meant to be with you feel fireworks, but what Charlotte was feeling was ten times more than some silly fireworks. Hell, she swore there was an entire light show going off in her chest. 

Rafe must have felt it too, as he only leaned closer, bringing his hands up to brush her hair away from her face mid-kiss. 

Now, none of this is to say that there wasn't any awkwardness in the two fourteen year olds' first kiss, but it was magical nonetheless. 

Well, that was until a voice sounded off from down the pier. 

"Rafe's gotta a girl—"

The two teens pulled away from each other in a hurry, Charlotte's face heating up in embarrassment as Rafe's reddened in anger. 

He sprung to his feet, focusing his attention on his twelve year old sister who was snickering at the other end of the dock. "Sarah, I'm going to kill you!"

He took off after her, her screams of terror retreating into the house. 

Charlotte couldn't help but laugh, her hand slowly touching at her lips that now felt like they were buzzing. 

She never could have known what was to come after that kiss. 

─☼☼☼─

-an-

okay, i am having so much fun writing baby rafe and lottie scenes. 

let me know if there are any flashbacks you would like to see, and i will try to write them while we wait for season three

love you all!

-mads xoxo