"All I'm saying is that you don't kiss a girl and then say Catch ya later." Erin rants from the other end of the phone. She was annoyed and rightly so, Kyle had asked her out on a date last week and after their movie he kissed her -which apparently was great - but then he said "Catch ya later" and Erin got out of the car, not knowing how to respond. 

"I agree. Have you talked to him since?" 

"No! He hasn't texted or called, which is another thing..." Erin continued to ramble on about proper after date etiquette while I moved the phone from my ear and scrolled through my texts, reading and replying to the new message from Rave that said he just got off work and is on his way over.  

"Ky!" 

"What?" I snap my attention back to the conversation and hear Erin give an annoyed breath through the speaker. 

"We you even listening to me?" 

"Yes." I wasn't lying, I was listening to the first part of her rant, but then I got distracted. "No, I'm sorry, Erin. Rave texted me and I got distracted." 

"Rave, huh?" All the annoyance falls from her voice as she suddenly becomes more interested in my text with Rave than her own problems with Rave's friend. I swear that Erin and Whitley are more invested in this relationship that I am...can I even call Rave and I a relationship? I shake off the thought and tune back in to Erin's interrogation. "So, how is it?"

"How is what?" I get up to fix my hair before Rave arrives, standing in front of my mirror and running a brush through it quickly before letting it flow in its natural waves. Rave had agreed to spending the day inside and watching movies so I. trade my pajama shorts for a pair of leggings and keep my dad's old Led Zeppelin shirt on. 

"Sex, Ky. How is the sex?" 

I almost drop the phone at Erin's question, I was so surprised by it, even though I should have known better. I look at myself in the mirror wandering if Rave thinks we should have done it by now. He doesn't seem to really be in a hurry to do anything, sometimes we don't even make out when he's over and he's never mentioned it. If I seem uncomfortable or not ready to do something he always stops and gives me that heart melting smile before kissing my head or cheek and going back to whatever it was we were doing before. 

"You haven't had sex with him yet, have you?" Erin asks after taking my silence as the answer to her question. 

"No. I mean, it's only been a few weeks..." I start to chew on my lip, desperately wanting this conversation to be over. 

"Yeah, but that on top of all those months you two spent getting close last year, it's not like you just met him." 

"Yeah, but it's not like a lot didn't happen between the two." I defend. A lot did happen, a lot of things that I still don't know that I'm over, like how easily he dropped my friendship and whatever else was happening between us at the time. I know he said it was because he was scared and Lexy was familiar, but to me that's just a cop-out and regardless, he hurt me. 

"You're right. Take your time, girl. I would be dying for a piece of Rave Matthews though." I can hear the smirk in her dreamy tone. 

"Erin!" 

"Sorry! I couldn't resist. Hey, I gotta go, Kyle is finally texting me." She tries to sound as if it's no big deal, but I can hear how happy she is in her voice. 

"Tell me about it later?" 

"Yep." She says before hanging up, just as I hear Rave's car pull up in front of my house. I do a quick sweep of my room, tossing a dirty shirt in the hamper and kicking some shoes into my closet, before making my way downstairs. My mom is home and doesn't go to work for another few hours, and that's who I found Rave with when I got to the front door. They were talking to each other like this wasn't the third time they have met. Their voices are low but when I come in to view, Rave's green eyes snap to mine and he gives me a toothy smile. 

"Hey, Princess."

"Hey." I smile back as my mom says a quick goodbye to Rave and heads back towards the kitchen where I can see her laptop open on the table and a stack of papers scattered around it.

Rave walks towards me and holds up his hands, which are coated black, the color matching the smudges on his jeans and shirt. "I'd hug you but..."

"Do you want to use my shower while I get the movies and snacks set up?" He nods his head, causing his hair to flop down into his face, and I brush it back before walking up the stairs towards my room. Rave follows and heads straight to my connected bathroom, saying it will only take him a few minutes. 

After picking out a movie I head back to the kitchen to get some drinks and popcorn. My mom is still sitting at the table and gives me a smile when I walk past her. "Things seem to be going good between you two." 

I reach into the cabinet and grab the popcorn and a large bowl. I turn to my mom and match her smile before putting the popcorn in the microwave and hitting the start button. "Things are going great, actually." 

"He seems like a good guy." 

I lean against the counter as I wait for the microwave to finish and agree with my mom, "He is." 

Her phone starts to ring and by the look on her face I know that it's the hospital calling her in early. Lately they've been busier than usual and even though I think my mom is Superwoman, she's not. She needs sleep and some time to herself, but she won't do it and I'm afraid she's going to crash soon. Closing her laptop she answers her phone and answers the questions the person on the other end asks. 

She kissed my cheek and tells me to have fun before stuffing her laptop into her bag and grabbing her keys, still talking to her supervisor as she closes the front door behind her. All I get with my mom anymore are fleeting moments, and usually I'm okay with it, but now I want to talk to her, I want to get her opinion and I want her to know what's going on in my life. 

I jump away from the counter as the microwave beeps and startles me. I try to clear my mind for what feels like the hundredth time today as I pour the popped kernels into the large blue bowld and grab two sodas before going back upstairs to my room. 

Rave came out of the bathroom at the same time I entered the room, he was freshly showered and dressed in clean clothes that I assume were in the backpack he was wearing earlier. He gives me that same heart melting smile from before and opens his arms, "I can hug you now." 

I sit the snacks down on my bed and walk over to him, immediately feeling at ease and warm all over in his embrace. Unconsciously, I hug him tighter and he does the same as he rests his chin on top of my head. I let out a breath and he kisses the top of my head softly before letting me go and looking down at me questioningly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just really needed that hug." I reach for his hand and drag him to my bed before he has the chance to say anything more. Thankfully, Rave drops the topic and instead asks what movie we're watching first and drops down onto my queen sized bed, his arm stretched out and waiting for me. 

------------------------

Kissing Rave is like having electricity coursing through my entire body while fireworks go off in my mind. Every part of me that his hands touch leaves a burning trail and it spreads like wildfire, making me crave more. The feel of his lips on my neck makes it unable to think straight and every thought gets hazier and hazier the farther down his mouth moves. I can feel him smirking against my skin as I tug on his hair and pull his mouth back to mine, as if I'm addicted to the taste of him - which I'm beginning to think that I am. 

My heart is pounding and my mind is racing but I still somehow feel calm and content. I feel safe and happy, like Rave is the destination I've been trying to reach for so long and now that I'm finally here I want to enjoy it and feel every bit of emotion that is making my heart want to explode out of my chest. 

Rave's hand slipped under my shirt and I nodded my head in encouragement for him to take it off of me, forgetting that I was wearing nothing underneath. My cheeks flamed red but he didn't make a teasing comment because his eyes were now glued to my exposed body, and instead of feeling embarrassed, the look in his eyes made me feel more confident. 

The second movie is still playing on my television but I honestly couldn't tell you one single thing about the characters or the plot, all I can tell you is that this beautiful boy with the tangles of hair and piercing green eyes is making me feel things I never thought I could feel. Just holding his hand makes me giddy and now...now I think my body is going haywire. 

At some point Rave lost his shirt and my hands explored his body, amazed at how he can be this perfect and still here with me - boring and plain Kylie Hatton. After some time I felt Rave's hand travel farther down until it was resting on the waistband of my leggings, waiting for me to give him the green light. I almost did, I almost said yes and gave in to what my body was screaming for me to do, but I listened to my head instead. 

My head was telling me that I still need to be sure, I still need to take this slow and make sure he means what he says. So i look into Rave's dark green eyes and shake my head no. There's no disappointment or anger in his expression, instead he reaches over and grabs my shirt, handing it to me while smiling and then kisses me once I put it on. 

He doesn't put his own shirt back on, and leans against the headboard, pulling me into his side. With one arm draped over me, he grabs the remote with the other and restarts the movie. His fingers comb through my hair as we watch the previews instead of skipping through them, and I think back to how I used to think Rave Matthews was this bad, party boy that didn't care about anything other than smoking and having a good time. I learned that was all wrong last year, but I feel like I'm still learning about Rave, even now. 

I tilt my head and look up at him as he looks down to meet my gaze, "Thank you." 

"For what?" He asks, his fingers still tangling themselves in my hair. 

I don't know what I was specifically thanking him for. For not getting mad at me when I said no? For apologizing to me a few weeks ago? For the hug earlier? For not ignoring me in public and letting it be known we're an item or whatever we are? For all of it and more? 

"For everything, I think." I wasn't sure he would understand what I was saying. I wasn't even sure what I was saying, but when he smiled and leaned down to connect his lips with mine, I knew he understood. 

"You're welcome, Ky." He hugged me closer to him and I rested my head on his chest as the movie began for the second time. 

-------------------

"Okay, Ever, I'm on my way." 

I watched as Rave talked to his sister and pulled his shirt over his head. We had both fallen asleep a few hours ago and were woken up by the sound of Ever calling her brother and asking him to come pick her up from her friend's house. I hadn't realized how late it was until I looked at my phone, where I also saw that I had a text from Cade. I assumed it was about the concert we're going to tomorrow night, so deeming it unimportant at the moment, I left it unread. 

Looking at Rave, he seems more rested than he did a couple of days ago. He was exhausted the day he came to the station with me, he slept on the couch for hours and when I woke him and told him it was time to go, he was still pretty tired. I don't know why he hasn't been getting much sleep, but he seems better now, there are no longer bags under his eyes and he doesn't yawn every few minutes. 

He ends the call with Ever and gives me a look that says he wishes he didn't have to leave before leaning in and kissing me goodbye. "Don't forget your backpack." 

"Oh yeah." He looks around the room and I point to the bathroom when he doesn't see it anywhere. Leaving his phone on the bed beside me, he goes to my bathroom to get his things. "Do you have a bag or something I can put my dirty clothes in?" He asks a few seconds later.

"Check in the closet, there should be a shopping bag somewhere." 

Rave walks over to my closet and immediately finds an old shopping bag on the floor, he holds it up and walks back to the bathroom just as his phone dings with a text beside me. "Is that Ever?" he calls out to me. 

Flipping over his phone and pushing the home button to light up his screen, I see a text and the text's contents. 

My heart stops and my blood runs cold. Every happy, nice, comforting feeling that I had felt with him today disappears and fades away as I read the message over and over. 

I trusted him. I fell for his act, his words, his touch. 

Lex: Last night was fun. ;)

I can feel the tears threatening to fall and the ache in my chest is so heavy that it's hard to breathe. I can't believe this is happening, I don't want to believe that this is happening, but there it is right in front of me. 

I'm still looking down at his phone when he steps back into my room, "What did she say?" 

He sounds so innocent, so unaware of the fact that he's been caught. I hate how even his voice makes me want him, I hate everything about him right now. I force the tears in my eyes back as I look at him, I can feel the anger building as he smiles at me, totally clueless. His smile quickly fades when he sees the look on my face, "What?"

"Get out." I say coldly, standing and walking towards him, slamming his phone into his chest. and shoving him backwards. 

"Ky? What the hell? What happened?" His eyes are wide and full of confusion as well as hurt. Good, I'm hurt too. 

"GET OUT!" I scream at him, unable to look at him anymore and barely able to hold back the tears any longer. 

"Kylie..." He reaches for my hands but I cross my arms and turn away from him. 

"Just leave, Rave. Leave and don't come back this time." 

"Kylie, tell me what happened." He begs, and it fuels my anger even more because he knows exactly what he did. 

I spin around on my heel and avoid looking at the broken expression on his face. I don't want to see the green in his eyes or his perfect jawline. I don't want to be tempted to run my hands through his hair or comfort him. I shove him towards my bedroom door and shake his hands off of me as he tries to stop me. "GO! I HATE YOU!" I shout as soon as he is in the hallway and I slam the door in his face. 

I slide to the ground against the door and let the tears silently fall. I know he's still out there, still waiting for me to tell him what happened. Minutes pass and after awhile I hear his phone ring and him tell his sister that he's on his way. 

"Kylie, please talk to me." He begs once more before finally walking down the stairs and out the door minutes later. 

I crawl into my bed and reach for my phone, needing to talk to my best friends. I see the text from Cade and open it. 

Cade: So, still on for tomorrow night? 

Without rationally thinking, I reply, fueled by anger and betrayal. 

We're still on. & you can call it a date.