Burn

Rae chewed on her lip, looking in the mirror as she turned to show her back, making sure all aspects of her outfit were just perfect. Everything about tonight was making her nervous, since it was a first legit date with Harry. Though she considered the carnival a date, she knew he was setting this one as their first real outing, attempting relationships.

The girl’s fingers drummed on the marble top of the bathroom sink. She had no idea what he was intending for them to do, but it made her both nervous and excited. Harry liked to think outside of the box, so she knew whatever they were doing wasn’t going to be the traditional dinner and a movie, which was part of the reason she liked him so much.

Brown hair curled in cascades down her back, resembling the chocolate waterfall of the lovely Willy Wonka. A high-waisted peach skirt was pulled over a tucked in, crisp white tank top, and white sandals were slid on her small feet. A watch, necklace and earrings were all she added, trying to keep it simple but nice.

The chances of Harry even caring what Rae wore were slim to none she knew, but it made her comfortable to try and look nice. It was a mental thing, for girls to think that they at least caught an eye because of what they wore, when in reality, most guys didn’t even remember what color shirt you had on.

Giving up on assessing her reflection, she turned the light off, walking out and starting when she saw Trystan sitting on her bed, giving her a thumbs up. Rae’s hand had flown up to her chest in surprise. “Can you not do that, Casper? You about gave me a heart attack.”

“Well maybe if you weren’t so flighty.”

“I’m not-"

“I’m kidding,” Trystan cut her off, leaning back on the bed and twirling her finger in a circle. “Turn around, let me judge.”

Feeling like a science project, Rae rotated slightly, trying not to laugh as Trystan made obnoxious noises, judging what she was wearing. When Rae had turned for the third time, she threw up her hands and stopped, giving Trystan a look, who burst out into laughter.

“Sorry,” her blonde friend said, shrugging. “I had to. But I like it, very simple and proper. Has he said where you’re going?”

Shaking her head, Rae moved to sit down on the bed. It bounced slightly with her weight. Trystan turned to look at her, waiting for Rae to get out whatever was on her mind. “No,” Rae breathed. “He hasn’t.”

Rae didn’t say that she was nervous, but Trystan seemed to have heard it. “I think that it’s going to be fine, whatever it is. I still stand by what I’ve said, that you should tread carefully. But he looks at you in a way that… well it makes me feel like you’re safe, with him. Okay?”

Green eyes found Trystan’s face, a small smiling grace the brunettes face. It was strange to hear the seriousness in Trystan’s voice, the understanding and the slow-coming honesty. “You worry about my safety a lot, don’t you?”

Trystan shrugged, giving Rae a half smile. “You often see the good in people, and forget there is bad in them too. So yeah, sometimes I worry about your bloody safety.”

Trystan was very right. Rae often saw too much good in people, and in a world like they lived in today, that wasn’t always safe. Trying to see the good in murderers wasn’t always the smartest thing, but somehow the girl could not bring herself to not find at least one good quality about the worst people. It was her biggest flaw.

Patting her on the arm, Trystan left Rae to her own devices, waiting for Harry patiently. She certainly felt calmer after her friend’s word. If Trystan thought that Harry wouldn’t hurt Rae, it made her all the more confident. Trystan, though wild and out there, would never let anyone hurt Rae, even if Trys was not the best in her relationship judgments.

It wasn’t that Rae was innocent, that everyone was protective over her; she was far from it. Rae had done irresponsible things like any normal person. It was that Rae was pure in such a way that she was almost angelic. Every decision she made wasn’t just based off of what she wanted, it always included whether it would benefit everyone else. She was a giver, and those were rare to come by.

Downstairs, Rae heard Trystan call her name. Rae had been in such a daze, staring off into space that she had never heard Harry knock on the door or pull in the drive. Taking a deep breath, she rose from her bed and head towards the first floor, rubbing her sweaty palms on her skirt.

The fact that she was so nervous made her want to laugh. She knew that it was just Harry at the bottom of those steps, and that he was pretty easy going when it came to her. He never expected a lot out of her, so why was she being a total sketch master?

Harry stood at the bottom of the steps, listening to rules that mother Trystan gave to him. Rae couldn’t help but blush and roll her eyes. As if Trystan were in any position to play the motherly role.

Dressed in a Pink Floyd t-shirt and dark jeans, Harry looked beautiful, curls brushed out of his face as he stood talking to Trystan. Rae slowed as she came down the stairs, taking his lack of attention towards her as time to appreciate how handsome she was. It was difficult to wrap her head around, sometimes.

Trystan glanced up at Rae and smiled, causing Harry to turn and look at her, a small smile gracing his pink lips. Like he always did, he looked at Rae like she was some sort of prize instead of undressing her with his eyes. “That color looks nice on you.”

“Pink Floyd looks pretty good on you,” she responded, getting to the last stair and kissing him on the cheek bravely before she stepped off, suddenly much short than him. He was so damned tall. “I’m surprised you have such a good taste in music.”

“And a good taste in girls.”

“Compliments won’t win me over.”

“But haven’t they?”

Rae narrowed her eyes, no comment coming to mind. Raising her brows, Trystan waved a hand as she exited the room, clearly amused by the small exchange. It was hard not to be, when the pair fired comments back and forth all day, trying to one up the other.

“Shall we, madam?” Harry joked, gesturing with his hand like a true gentleman. Rae smacked him on his chest with the back of her hand as she passed. But it collided with his strong chest, making her knuckles sore as she growled in pain. “That’s what you get for being feisty.”

“Shove off.”

The drive to wherever they were going was filled with idle chitchat and joking. Looking out the window every so often, Rae simply could not figure out where they were going. They finally pulled into an empty lot at a closed building, the sign signifying that it was a bakery. Rae was confused.

Harry hoped out the car though, and walked around, opening the door as Rae sat staring at the building, attempting to figure out what exactly they were doing. If he was about to rob a bakery of all its cupcakes and cookies, she was definitely not joining in on the fun.

“What are we doing?” Rae questioned suspiciously as he led her towards the glass door. Her eyes scanned the colorful paintings on the window. “If we’re robbing the muffin man-“

“This isn’t Drury lane, don’t worry.” The sound of keys hit Rae’s ears as Harry pulled them from his pocket, shifting them around until he found the one he wanted, fitting it into the lock perfectly and turning it with a satisfying click. Turning back, he smiled at her. “I told you I worked at a family bakery, remember?”

Rae nodded, absently remembering what he had informed her his occupation was. She was still unaware of what that had to do with anything, but she followed him inside anyways, the bell atop the door jingling happily at their entrance.

Though it was closed, the smelled of delicious cakes, breads, cookies and every other sweet she could possibly think of hit her nose, wafting over her pleasurably. She inhaled long and hard, smiling as she realized that this is what Harry had smelled like on more than one occasion. She decided it was her favorite scent on him.

Moving behind the counter and towards the kitchen, Harry flicked the light on, surprising Rae when she saw a table wiped clean, various utensils and ingredients laid out precariously on it’s gleaming, silver top. It was everything you needed to make a cupcake from scratch, and Rae began to smile.

“Since you’re not the typical bird,” Harry announced, turning to see what she thought of it, “I decided that you might want to learn how to make the best cupcakes in all of the UK from scratch.”

Looking at him, she saw for the first time since she had met him, nervousness in his eyes. He was worried about her not liking his idea, and that made her smile grow even wider and her heart grow fonder. “So what do we do first, Mr. Crocker?”

He rolled his eyes as he walked across the room, handing her an apron. As she tied it around her waist, he assured her, “I am much better than Betty Crocker when it comes to pleasing people- in and out of the kitchen, if you catch my meaning.”

Laughing, Rae rolled her eyes and stood next to him as he began explaining the process of making red velvet cupcakes, his favorite. She listened carefully and followed his instructions to a tee, wanting to prove she could do this.

Harry was extremely patient with her, laughing when she messed up and correctly her with a small nudge, and encouraging her if she forgot what he had said. She was amazed to see just how patient he could be, and she liked that about him.

As Rae took it upon herself to stir the contents she had put in a bowl, she began to grow impatient, not realizing how she had ever baked without an electric mixer before. Harry had insisted they do it by hand, all a part of the learning process.

“Alright no,” he laughed from over her shoulder. “You’re stirring it like you’re churning butter. Like this.” Harry stood chest to back with her, putting his hands on hers and moving them together in perfect, timed strokes. She was suddenly unaware of what she was doing, her only focus on the heat against her back and the feeling that he gave her. “You stopped mixing.”

Shaking her head, she started again, glad that he couldn’t see her blushing. “My arm got tired.”
“Rae, you draw for a hobby. I’m sure your arm didn’t get tired.”

“Yeah? Well… you look funny.”

Bursting out into laughter, he stepped to the side of her, leaning against the table. She was aware of how green his eyes were as he shook his hair away from them, focusing on her. “You get flustered by me, don’t you?”

“I get annoyed by you. Your comparison of the words is your own.”

His smile grew wider and Rae stopped her stirring, glaring at him the best he could. Deciding she didn’t like being teased, she changed the subject. “So if a family friend owns this, do you get along with them?”

Rae thought nearing personal topics may anger him, but he seemed fine enough to answer the question. “Fairly well. Dan and Leah have always been like parents to me, when my real parents didn’t watch over me. Dan has always been there to talk to me about things that my dad never was. He’s a great bloke, Dan.”

A smile touched Rae’s face. “He sounds great. I wish I had someone else to take the place of my mum when I needed her. I only ever had my father, and it was sometimes a hassle.”

“That must have been an interesting introduction to puberty.”

She burst into laughter. “You have no idea. He looked proper horrified when I told him I was finally becoming a lady- I know you catch my meaning. But he always tried hard, even if at times too hard. Sometimes he used to suffocate me, you know?”

“You love your dad.”

“I do,” she agreed, turning to him. She leaned on the table slightly, looking up at him. “I’m sorry that your dad never… gave you the time of day. For what it’s worth, I think you’ve still ended up alright, besides a few things.”

Harry looked at her seriously. “Do you mean that, or are you saying that to make me feel better?”

“When have I ever spared your feelings?” Harry seemed to think this over, nodding. “Plus, if I wanted to make you feel better, I would have lied and told you that you were charming.”

He raised his brows, “Well then, aren’t we a bit cheeky? Do you know what cheeky girls get, in my bakery?”

“Free cupcakes?”

As an answer, Harry stuck his hand in a bag of flour, grabbing the white substance and holding it in front of his mouth, blowing it right in her face like fairy dust. Rae flinched as the cloud of white hit her in the face, making her close her eyes momentarily as Harry laughed hysterically.

“You did not just do that.”

“I did.”

Before he could react, Rae grabbed a handful of flour and tossing it at him, hitting him square in the chest. In seconds, they were both shoving handfuls at each other, laughing loudly as the entire place clouded, covering the flour and tabletop with snows of it.

Trying to get away from him, Rae ran around the other side of the table, tossing an egg at him and hitting him in the chest, the shell breaking and leaking yellow yolk down the front of his shirt, making him narrow his eyes as he returned fire.

Rae squealed and ran from him as he charged her, egg in hand. She couldn’t run fast enough before a single strong arm snatched her around the waist, picking her off the floor as she giggled, the feeling of a cracked egg on her head making her yell in both disgust and amusement.

The sound of an opening door stopped them both, Harry’s arms freezing around Rae as they both looked up at the kitchen door, frozen in surprise as a blonde woman stood there, looking at them in confusion. Her eyes scanned the kitchen and then back to the kids who were covered in cake materials and tangled in each other’s arms.

“Harry,” she greeted, putting a questioning tone behind her voice.

“Hullo, Leah. Um this is Rae, the girl I told you I was bringing here.”

Rae waved feebly, giving a small smile. “Hullo. Brilliant bakery you’ve got here. Superb, really.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to meet you.” Leah’s eyes flicked to Harry as she gestured to the mess they made. “If I come here in the morning and a speck of this is on the floor, I’ll light you on fire.”

“Right,” he agreed with a smile. “Sorted.”

“I’ve just come to get my phone that I left here. It was nice to meet you, Rae. Hopefully I see you… not covered in egg and flour.”

“Surely. Nice to meet you as well.”

They both watched as Leah exited the bakery, silence enveloping them. For a moment they stood their, tangled limbs and disgusting. Looking at one another, they both burst out into laughter unable to hold in how ridiculous the situation was.

Rae had never had a better laugh.