chapter fourteen

DOMINIC HAD BEEN DREADING midsummers. he normally didn't mind attending, but this year was different. he wouldn't be arriving with rafe like he had for the past few years. he decided he was attending with his family since he didn't really have a choice in whether he would go or not. his parents were a bit shocked when he said he wasn't going with rafe. "did you two break up?" his mom asked and dom simply did not feel like lying anymore.

"yeah, we did." he pursed his lips, fixing his tie as he stood in the mirror.

his mother sighed, stepping forward to help him since he was struggling. "did something happen?"

dom would never ruin rafe's reputation, so he settled for peace. "no, it was just a mutual thing." he shrugged his shoulders. "i guess we both needed to go our separate ways."

"how do you feel about that?" she asked, smiling once she did a once over of her son. she was content with the way he looked, not wanting to jeopardize the family name by wearing something not appropriate for midsummers.

"i'm okay." he answered, looking in the mirror again. "it's for the best, you know?"

"i just don't want you to fall into another episode." she frowned, looking at the boy through the mirror.

dom smiled small, turning to face the woman. "i won't, ma. i got this." he pressed a kiss to her cheek before heading downstairs, ready to leave. his nerves were getting the best of him as he sat in the backseat of the car on the ride over. he pulled his phone from his pocket, seeing a text from jj, telling him to have a good time and that he'd see him after. the two had made plans to meet up with the rest of the group for some drinks and to also have some alone time. he sent back a smiley face before pocketing his phone as they pulled up to the place. he climbed out, ready to get the night over with when the cameron's pulled up alongside them. a small sigh escaped from dom's lips as he started to follow his parents through the building, but rafe calling his name stopped him. his parents kept walking and dom politely greeted ward and his wife along with rafe's sister's before turning back to rafe.

"what's up?" he asked. he watched as the cameron's made their way inside, leaving the two boys alone–which meant that dom would then have to walk in with rafe. he mentally cursed, forcing a smile on his face as he waited for the boy to speak.

"how are you?" rafe asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "i–i wasn't sure if we were walking in together or not."

"i told my parents we broke up." dominic stated, his lips forming a straight line.

"oh." rafe sighed, pulling one of his hands from his pocket to run his fingers through his hair. dom let out a small chuckle, lifting his own hand to find the few pieces of rafe's hair that fell out of place when he did that. "i didn't realize you told them."

"i told them before we came here, actually." dom admitted. "they were asking why i had planned on going in with them and i kind of just had to say it."

"do they–do they know why?" rafe nervously looked away.

"mutual agreement." dom stated. "rafe, i would never sell you out. besides, what we had was an agreement. i'm not going to say something when we had agreed to it."

"okay..." rafe sighed, a frown forming on his face. "not that it matters anymore, but you look amazing."

a small laugh fell from the brunet's lips. "thanks. so do you."

"thank you." he gave a slight bow and a smile then formed on his face. god, dom loved his smile so damn much. "i guess i'll see you in there." rafe pursed his lips before heading inside.

"i mean," dom spoke, catching rafe's attention. he spun around to look at the younger boy. "why not walk in together one last time?" he shrugged his shoulders and a small smile formed on rafe's face when he nodded. dom walked beside him and the two entered the building together. when they reached the backyard they were honestly both relieved that not many people had paid attention to their entrance. dom really didn't want to discuss anything with anyone.

however, as they approached their group of friends they were bombarded with questions. rafe placed a calming hand on dominic's back, seeing as the boy's anxiety was getting a bit rough because everyone speaking at once. "no, we're not back together." he concluded and everyone simply nodded before asking if the two boys wanted a drink. they'd stolen a bottle of whiskey from the bar and were sat at a table away from the adults, drinking out of fancy glasses.

they began talking about something that dom had no interest in, so his eyes wandered around the place, a small smile forming on his face when he made eye contact with kie and he playfully rolled his eyes to show that he had no interest in what was happening around him. she simply smiled and waved before turning back to pope who was helping his father at the grill.

a few hours had passed and dom thankfully did not have to talk much with his group of friends because they entertained themselves pretty well. he spotted sarah over by her parents looking bored out of her damn mind and dom excused himself, causing rafe to ask if he was okay. he simply said he had to go to the bathroom and gave the older boy a reassuring smile that he was fine before swallowing one final sip of his whiskey. he headed inside, gesturing for sarah to follow and made his way in the direction of the front door.

he leaned against the wall, waiting for sarah to arrive and when she did she had kie and pope with her. "you guys ready to ditch?" he asked. he'd already had a bunch to drink and was slightly tipsy, but he simply wanted to get out of there so bad.

"please." sarah sighed. "if i have to hear my dad talk about how successful he is anymore i might explode."

kie laughed and reached for pope's hand. "let's get out of here."

short chapters bc i could
go on forever with long
ones and i want to try to
make this book a bit longer