Whispers

“So,” Rae ventured, parking the car. Harry was sitting in the passenger seat, casting his green eyes towards her. He was dressed in a simple white t-shirt, his tattoos peaking out the color and his curls pushed back in a snapback. She hated when he dressed like that. It was hard for her to form coherent sentences when he looked so amazing. “Are you going to tell me what was up with that this morning? Or are you just going to smile and wave like it never happened?”

“Smile and wave?” he questioned. He removed his seat belt, looking at her with a mildly amused expression. She wasn’t so amused. In fact, she was still shaken from the nightmare that had woken her boyfriend, his screams echoing in the caverns of her mind. “Are we in Madagascar, now?”

“What?”

Harry got out of the car, Rae quickly following suit. The brick path up to her Aunt Linda’s was easy enough to walk, and very short. She tried to walk slow, wanting him to explain before they knocked on the door. “Haven’t you seen that movie? Brilliant movie- stop glaring like that. I already told you, it was just a dream.”

Nose scrunched up in distaste, Rae let it go. She knew that wasn’t a normal dream. A single year in psychology in school had taught her enough to know that dreams like that came from some sort of buried fear. But she didn’t want to ruin his chipper mood, not when they were about to have lunch with her aunt and Lily.

Aunt Linda had taken quite a liking to Harry, it seemed. She didn’t have that instant repulsion most parents did, seeing the boy who looked like a charmer, walked with arrogant swagger and had a smile that could make an older woman swoon. He just looked unsafe.

Until you stuck him in a room with children. He melted, then.

Harry ran his knuckles across the door in a quick knock, sticking his hands in his pocket and bouncing on his feet. Rae looked at him through the corner of her eyes, smirking slightly as he waited patiently. He was absolute rubbish at waiting for people to answer doors.

The door opened to reveal a women older than them, her hair blonde and tied in a braid, her smile beautiful and radiant. Her eyes were the same strange quality of Rae’s and her fathers, being that she and Richard Bastian were brother and sister.

“Lovely to see you,” she admonished, giving Harry a kiss on the cheek, having to stand on her tip toes to do so. She kissed Rae as well, ushering the young couple in. “Lily has been dying to see you. She won’t shut up about it, actually.”

On cue, the sound of feet running down the hall hit their ears and the six year old came rushing out of the hall way, blonde hair bouncing in a braid just like her mother’s. Harry’s face lit up and he open his mouth in a smile, bending down and throwing his arms out to catch the little girl, scooping her up.

Rae gave them both a dry look, when they totally ignored her. Whenever it was just Rae, it was the Lily and Rae show. The little girl loved Rae like a sister and vice versa. Rae’s entire life was not complete without the little sunshine of love that was Lily. But the moment Harry was around, Rae could have been an elephant in a banana suit and the little girl wouldn’t have noticed.

Carrying her towards the back yard, Lily peeked over Harry’s shoulder, giving Rae a huge smile, waving. Rae gave her a coy little smile, wiggling her fingers at the girl who giggled and hid her face in Harry’s curls. The little bugger.

Outside the weather was still holding up, the sun a burning circle in the sky, only a few large clouds blooming and white. The back yard was warm and small, just big enough for a small table and a small enclosed trampoline. Death trap, Rae called it, though she was pretty good at it.

Sitting at the table, Rae poured herself a glass of lemonade, eager to get her hands on the sandwiches her aunt made. Her aunt made the best sandwiches and Harry knew that, often trying to eat more than Rae. It was always a race to see who could get more.

Next to Harry, Rae watched as he talked to Lily, who sat across from him. She was telling him what she wanted for Christmas, seeing as it was coming in just a few months. The days were going to get colder, and it was going to come much faster than Rae wanted it to. But the holidays was her favorite, especially since her birthday was soon.

“Here that, Rae?” Harry asked, grinning at her. She blinked, giving a questioning face so that he would repeat whatever had been said. She hadn’t been listening. “Lily wants a new puppy.”

“Does she?” Rae asked animatedly, loosing at the little girl. She nodded, big smile on her face. “Well someone will have to be a good little bird so Santa can bring you one.”

“So Santa can bring what?” Linda asked, coming out with the tray of sandwiches. She set them down, Rae and Harry both attacking with laughs. “A nice long break for mummy, I hope.”

Rae snorted. “Lily wants a puppy.”

“Don’t worry,” Harry said, stuffing his mouth. Rae gave him a look and he shot an innocent one back, shrugging his shoulders and ignoring her. Sometimes he could be such an utter boy. “Santa will bring her one.”

Linda paused, narrowing her eyes at Harry. “Santa will also find the chimney lit if he plans on bringing a puppy.”

Rae snickered into her glass of lemonade. Harry turned on her before muttering, “Traitor.”

Throughout the lunch, they conversed about many topics. The entire time, Lily was entertained by Harry, who was slipping her candy from his pocket, pretending like Linda and Rae didn’t notice, which they did. Getting Harry to stop spoiling Lily was like trying to make a dog not chase a ball; hard.

Rae had always refused to let Harry spoilt her immensely. He was one of those boys who had the tendency to want to shower their girl friend in things, simply because he had the money to do it and because he had never had anyone to give gifts too before. He was trying to make up for twenty years of never giving gifts.

Though he got away with it once in a while, Rae had made it absolutely clear that she was not going to put up with jewelry and expensive things. That’s not the way she worked, and it wasn’t the way she wanted him to think that she worked. So as soon as he realized it, he changed his game, buying her cheap, humorous things. Like fuzzy hand cuffs or sex goggles. Things that made her laugh. Sometimes.

After lunch, Linda brought out cookies, purposefully not allowing Harry or Lily to have any, much to Harry’s disappointment. “That’s not fair!”

“You two were stuffing your face with chocolate like Augustus Gloop!” Rae laughed, waving a cookie in front of his face. “Sorry, the second mouse gets the cheese!”

“I hate that expression,” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Rae rolled her eyes, biting into the chocolate chip cookie. What surprised her was when he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips when she was done chewing, running his tongue against the bottom lip. “You had chocolate there,” he smirked, pulling away.

Both Lily and Linda stared at his actions, caught off guard. Rae blushed slightly and tried to ignore the fact that he had just completely turned her on. But Harry knew her. He saw it in her eyes, when she looked at him. “Can you refrain from doing that in front of company?”

“It’s family!”

“I’m going to have to agree,” Linda laughed, simply teasing.

An hour later Linda was shutting the door behind the two, carrying a sleeping Lily to take a nap. Harry had sang her right to sleep in the backyard, something that had made Rae’s sudden lust for him ten fold. She was trying to ignore that as they got in the car, but she could see him looking her up and down on purpose.

Starting the car and driving down the street, she stopped at the traffic light, waiting for it to turn green. She hadn’t expected Harry to jerk over the center console of her car and attack her neck with a very aggressive, heart-throbbing kiss, making Rae gasp a little in surprise and pleasure.

Though her tint was extremely dark, it took a moment for Rae to bat at him, trying to find her sense through the instant bliss that came from the spot on her neck he was biting down gently on. “Oi, not in the car!”

“Rae,” he whined against her neck, his breath hot. It made her shiver visibly, pulling his lips in a smirk. She could feel the infamous mouth position against her skin, and it made her inhale slowly. “Why not in the car! You love the car!”

“Not when I’m driving!”

“Ugh.” He leaned back into his own seat, pouting. Glance through the corners of her eye, she saw the pout, squirming in her seat. Harry’s pout was nothing short of sexy, and it wasn’t helping. “Drive faster, then.”

“If you remember correctly, I got a speeding ticket the last time you want to ‘be home faster.’”

“If you remember correctly, you didn’t care about the speeding ticket when you got in the shower five minutes after.”

“Yeah, but I sure minded the water bill.”

“You’re going to pay for these comments when you get home.”

Rae smirked. “We’ll see.”