023 !! INVISIBLE

Sunlight streams through the sheer white curtains, the warmth of the Summer morning filling the air inside the cabin.

The bare skins of the duo lying under the blanket swim with the warming of the sun's rays pooling over the texture of their skin.

Light makes its way up to her closed eyelids and despite the exhaustion of the night before, something inside of her sleeping mind clicks.

She blinks her eyes open squinting against the light coming in from beneath the closed curtains.

Realisation slowly dawns upon her and in an instant, she gasps quickly sitting up on the bed.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck", she mutters under her breath pulling her phone from the windowsill and furiously taps on the screen to find not one but twenty notifications full of calls from her brother, Pope and John B along with frustrated texts sent to her just two hours ago.

But the notifications are not what send her into panic, it's the time on the phone screen.

9:08 am.

"Fuck", Georgie rubs a hand over her eyes and shakes her head feeling herself overcome with panic stricken nausea.

A groan from beside her freezes her into place, she reflexively pulls her end of the blanket up her chest as if he hasn't already marked every corner of her skin with his touch.

"What's wrong?", he mumbles sleepily.

She turns her head to the right looking down at him from her position, he rubs his fists over his eyes scrunching up his nose in habit.

If she wasn't so guilt ridden already, she'd think he's the most adorable person she's ever seen.

And yet, she is looking at him like her thoughts have won over the guilt swimming inside of her.

Georgie swallows tightening her grip on the blanket.

Rafe's hands fall down on the bed and his eyes catch hers blinking as he adjusts to the newfound light.

"Georgie".

He gently traces his finger over her arm, shivers arising from his touch memories of the night before flooding her brain as his finger trails down softly catching hold of her wrist.

"We shouldn't have . . . .", she begins nervously.

His eyebrow perks up silencing her not because she's scared of him but because she knows that she'd be lying if she completed herself.

What she should really be saying is, We should have done this ages ago.

And Georgie's mind - if not the fire ignited under her skin when he begins softly rubbing his thumb against her knuckle - is well aware of that.

Last night was perhaps the best night she's had in a really long time.

And Rafe Cameron can sense it.

In fact, he can see it too in the way she sighs defeated and turns her body to face him still clutching onto the grey blanket as if her life depends on it.

"This", she gestures between them, "can't be anything. You know that".

He, very slowly, turns her wrist and touches her palm trailing an invisible line over the gentle skin there.

Georgie gulps.

"And why is that?", he speaks in a low rasp making her wish she could forget all about this conversation and just kiss him already.

But they need to talk about this.

"Because . . . . because you're a Kook. You hate Pogues. You hate me and I . . . . I hate you".

Her voice is laced with defeat, uncertainty.

The finger drawing circles on her palm halts its motions.

His eyes flick up to hers.

"You think I do the things we did last night with people I hate?".

She opens her mouth to respond but he beats her to it.

"And wasn't it you, who only a few days ago said that you don't know me enough to 'hate' me?".

Georgie is stumped by the fact that he remembers.

That Rafe Cameron remembers something she said to him.

"But . . . . you hate Pogues", she replies quietly in a small voice.

"Well, you're a Pogue. And I don't hate you".

His fingers lace themselves with hers and she surprisingly finds herself wanting more.

So much more.

"My friends will hate me if they find out", she admits sighing loudly.

Rafe leans his head against his hand and stares up at her with an indecipherable emotion.

The way his ocean blue eyes look at her - as if they're staring right into her soul - makes her feel so much smaller than she's ever felt in her life.

The weight of his gaze is heavy of her skin.

She almost finds herself begging to ask him to say something, anything for this weird staring contest to end.

But he just continues staring.

Until he nonchalantly shrugs his bare shoulder.

"Who said you had to tell them?".

Georgie gawks, unsure of what to say.

"Look, Georgie", he keeps going, "I . . . . don't what this to . . . . stop. We don't have to date, we don't have to tell anyone. We can just . . . . continue doing this. Whatever this is".

"Do you mean we should be friends with benefits?", her eyes widen.

He shrugs.

"Whatever you wanna call it but don't pretend that you didn't have an incredible time last night. Because I know I did".

"What if they find out though?".

He smiles.

She's considering it.

"Then . . . . nothing. It's your life, you can't live it according to them".

She looks at him for a long time, quietly weighing out her options.

On the one hand, she would be risking everything if she got involved with him.

Her friends, her relationship with her brother, the small amount of happiness in her life.

But on the other . . . . he's right.

She did have an incredible time last night. And she wants to do it again, and again and again.

And now that she knows what his lips taste like, she's not sure she can go without tasting them everyday.

And it's Rafe Cameron, who would even suspect her of doing anything with him?

He also did take her mind off John B and everything else that she's been secretly battling in her mind every day and it just felt so good.

It felt so good to be touched by him.

Also, she'd have to do is be careful and sneak around.

Which actually sounds kind of exciting.

So she finds herself nodding, and smiling and he pulls himself up connecting their lips in a much more gentle way than the night before.

It's as if the touch of his lips alone is proof enough of what she'd be missing if she hadn't agreed.

He pushes her back on the mattress, keeping their lips firmly connected.

He rolls on top of her and kisses down her cheek, spreading featherlight kisses down her jaw.

Her fingers entangle in his hair, and she throws her head back allowing him to kiss more fervently over her exposed skin.

He presses a long kiss on her neck, slowly opening his mouth and running his tongue over her sweet spot one which he discovered just last night.

She moans, his smiles against her skin.

His sucks on the skin of her neck, nibbling softly and touching her waist with a deep sensuality pulling her flush against him.

She forgets everything when his lips meet hers again.

He consumes her and she lets him.

***
for ftws stans : i just published a riven fic so go on and check it out bffs !!!