The girls went to Ariel's house after school. This was a regular occurance, since her house just became the designated place for the girls to hang out, ever since they were little.
Not to mention, Ariel's mum was a baker, and always over doing it with her measurements on purpose, meaning there were always treats waiting for them.
Sat in front of the tv in the living room, the girls were watching The Little Mermaid.
They always took turn in picking the movies and so it was Ariel's turn to pick.
She didn't like the movie all that much, especially since sharing the name as the titular character always led to her being teased. The only real reason she watched it was because it would get Raina riled up.
"I'm just saying, I think she's stupid" Raina noted, as they were in the middle of the movie, at the part where Ariel decides to make the deal with Ursula, trading her voice for a pair of legs.
Ariel, who was sat on the couch with Rue beside her then questioned Raina, "How?".
She then turned around from her position on the floor in front of the sofa, atop of some pillows.
Raina gave Ariel a look of disbelief, as Rue looked on amused, knowing what was about to happen.
"She gave up a beautiful mermaid tail, for some pale legs. Is she stupid?" Raina questioned both the girls, as if they had any control over what fictional Ariel does.
Rue let out a laugh. "She's a Disney Princess" she stated, and Raina gave her a bored look.
"So?" She questioned.
Raina's favourite movie was Mulan, because that princess was a fighter, and seemed to have bravery and intelligence. She didn't really throw herself on the bed and cry in helplessness, these were Raina's words.
"She did it for love" Ariel then mentioned to Raina, and she grabbed the remote to pause the movie.
Raina then rolled her eyes. "She did it for lust" she scoffed, shaking her head at the decision made by the fictional princess.
This whole debate would come up the every time this movie was played.
Before Ariel could say any words in protest, Raina continued to speak.
"Which just proves she's stupid" she shook her head, before giving the girls a mischievous smile. "Plus how's Ariel gonna spread her legs for him, if she don't have any?" Raina jokes, and Rue and Ariel couldn't help the laugh that came bubbling out of them.
However, the moment didn't last long when Ariel's older brother, Damon, came storming into the room, staring down at Raina.
Raina and Damon had a whole lot of history together, and whenever they seemed to be in a room together, there was always some kind of tension, mostly because the pair couldn't go a minute without being at each other's throats.
Damon was a year older than Ariel, so whilst the girls were in their last year of high school, he was already at college, coming home occasionally and randomly.
"Ariel's not spreading her legs for anyone. She's not a whore like you" Damon glared at Raina.
Whilst the other girl's eyes widened at his cruel words, and looked to Raina, thinking she'd have an expression of hurt but instead, she looked on with an amused expression.
She knew that he had completely misunderstood the context of their conversation, only coming in with Ariel and spreading legs was mentioned, and of course he assumed it was something to do with his little sister.
Damon was always protective of Ariel, and keeping her away from boys.
He, himself, used to be the bad boy of the high school, a complete cliched, right down to the leather jacket and bike. His reputation alone was enough to keep guys away from Ariel when they found out she was related to him.
"Right, because I'm the whore in this room" she bit back.
"How many girls have you slept with? By now I know you can't count them on your hands, but do you even know your body count or is the number just that high?" She asked, and the room went silent, aside from the sound of Rue trying to stifle her laugh.
Damon narrowed his eyes at Raina's insult.
"Ariel doesn't need lessons on guys from someone like you" Damon then spat out and once again Raina looked unaffected by his words.
Raina then shook her head. "No she doesn't-" she started to stay, and then smiled, "-Not when she lives with a prime example of the kind of guy she should stay the hell away from".
Damon took a step forward, annoyance in his eyes. "Fuck you Raina" he cursed at her.
Raina gave him a sweet smile in return. "Oh you wish you could" she then said.
Damon visibly froze for a moment, as he were actually contemplating it, her words seemingly striking a nerve.
Problem with that is, if someone struck a nerve with Damon, he tended to hit back harder, a trait he shared with Raina.
Before things could turn ugly, Ariel then decided to intervene. "Stop it guys. We're trying to have a Disney marathon and you're ruining it" she said.
Damon looked at little lost until his eyes settled on the tv that Ariel was gesturing towards, with the Little Mermaid paused on the screen.
Damon's eyes widened, whilst Raina looked at him with a smirk. "You're watching the Little Mermaid?" He asked and all the girls nodded at him.
"So you were talking about-" he then said to Raina, realising that she was talking about the mermaid and not his sister.
"The fictional Ariel. But whatever I said stands for the real one too" Raina said, always loving getting the last word in, and Damon surprisingly didn't retaliate, instead he left the room, whilst Raina was left smirking.
***
Damon left the living room, clenching his jaw as he strode towards his room in rage, walking up the stairs just muttering curses towards himself for not assessing the whole situation before he jumped down Raina's throat.
No.
Thinking about anything going down her throat was basically a sin.
He'd sinned once, and promised himself and her, that he'd never do it again.
When he got to his room, Damon locked the door behind him and laid down on his bed, an arm resting begin his head as the other toyed with the dog-tag chain around his neck.
The chain was silver, as was the tags attached to it. There were two tags, both with a smooth surface. One had the letter 'D' engraved into it in small writing, whilst the other tag had 'R' etched into it.
It was something he received on his 16th birthday, and he'd never taken it off since. It had became part of him.
Talking to Raina like that was never something that he liked to do, but seeing her, it was like there was a spell cast over him. His blood would boil seeing her, in two, very different ways.
Damon knew he had been the one to tell her to stay away, but then she'd also been the one to break his heart.
He wasn't ready to forgive her, nor could he truly stay away from her.
***
Raina's mirthful expression hadn't left her as Damon left the room.
She loved getting him riled up, knowing full well that it was only her that could make him react in such a way.
They had a really odd relationship in that way.
Pushing his buttons was fun to do, especially when it made Damon all frustrated, and in turn, amused her, but in reality it was only a means for a end for Raina.
She would only do it, so he would stay with her longer, instead running from her.
Raina looked towards Ariel and Rue who were looking at her confused.
"Why aren't you and Damon together?" Ariel then blurted out and Raina was a little taken aback by her question.
"We just want to know" Rue then said, with a small smile.
Despite being her best friends, Ariel and Rue never really knew the full story between Raina and Damon.
All they knew was at one point Raina suddenly liked him, and still does, but he runs from her. Only, they didn't know that there was so much more too it.
It wasn't that Raina wanted to hide it or was ashamed about it, it was just hard to talk about.
Raina gave Ariel a curious look. "Are you sure you want to hear this Ariel? I mean, he's your brother" she said, as if reminding her friend of her relation to Damon, and that he wasn't just any other guy.
"And you're my best friend, so spill" Ariel urged, and Raina smiled in return.
Crossing her legs on the floor, she got ready to tell the girls her story.
"Okay, so you know how we've been friends since we were little?" Raina asked them and they nodded at her.
They resembled little girls waiting for story time.
Raina then looked at Ariel. "We always came to your house to spend time with each other. We spent countless days here, and that in turn meant, always seeing Damon". Raina let out an amused breath. "He was always your older brother, I never thought of him of anything else, until one day, everything just seemed to change".
The girls listened to every word she said, hanging on, waiting her to continue.
Taking a deep breath, Raina then continued. "I was seven, and riding my bike to yours. My Dad had just got me this new backpack, that I just had to show you right away. I was coming to yours, when I fell off my bike and ended up scraping my elbow and my knee. A little blood came out, and you know how I am with blood?".
Both the girls nodded, "Faint at the sight of it" Rue noted, which wasn't even an exaggeration, it was true.
Raina had a fear of blood. It was strange, if it were anyone else's blood, she could take it, but if it were own blood, she could barely stand the sight of it. Feeling queasy was the general reaction, fainting when it was extreme.
"Exactly" Raina smiled. "I was on the pavement, just outside of your house, crying my eyes out. I felt like I was dying and couldn't move" she continued.
Ariel laughed, "Always so dramatic" she mentioned and Raina grinned at her.
"Can't help it" Raina said with a little hair flip, and then carried on.
"That was when Damon found me" her expression then changed, as she reminisced that time, so long ago, but the memory of it like it were only yesterday.
"He saw me crying in front of your house, as he had just opened the front door. As soon as he saw me, he ran up to where I was, and then unexpectedly, hugged my little body, trying to get me to stop crying. I clutched onto him, as my sobs began to die down, and instead I was left a sniffling mess".
"Damon then helped me get to my feet, placing an arm around my waist and moving my arm so it was around his neck, as I limped inside. He led me to your kitchen, and helped me clean my knee and elbow. For an eight year old, he was pretty smart, knowing what to do like a pro. He put a plaster on my knee and elbow, and kissed each place and then gave me a kiss on the cheek. He said he'd always take care of me, and since that moment I was a goner" Raina told the girls.
The girls both looked stunned at her revelation. Never before hearing this story.
Raina had never told them this, and even though she was at Ariel's house, when it had occurred. Ariel had asked what happened when she saw Raina's injuries, but she had just told her she fell, before showing her the new bag.
At seven years old, Raina didn't exactly know how to say she was just kissed by her brother. Even though it was only a kiss on the cheek, her little self thought it was the real deal and she was all shy.
"Damn" Rue then muttered breathlessly at the same time Ariel said "Wow".
Raina nodded at them both, agreeing with their words. "Since then, I basically developed this insane crush on him. Every time I'd come to yours, I hoped to see him too" she told them.
Ariel gaped at her. "Ouch. Using me much?" She asked and Raina couldn't help laugh.
"Sorry babe" Raina looked at her sheepishly, and then continued. "Damon was always this bad boy type, but with me, and only me, was he sweet, kind and caring. He was a different guy. My guy. I fell even harder for him".
Growing up, Damon was always so protective over her. Raina was sometimes scared it was in the way he was protective over Ariel, but then again she saw the lingering looks, the way he held her hand, took care of her if she got hurt and glared at boys who would approach her.
He was different, and to Raina's relief it was not in the brotherly kind of way.
"Do you remember Cassie's sixteenth birthday party, that you guys didn't want to go to?" she asked the girls.
Rue nodded. "Yeah I was grounded, and Ariel just didn't want to" she remembered.
"I decided to go anyway" Raina told them, but that wasn't news, since they knew that.
Raina was often invited to parties, and she often went to them, mainly because she loved to dance. It was kind of the way Raina gained her popularity, as parties became a source of networking. People remembered her and many liked her. They assumed where Raina would be, was the place for them to be.
"I didn't even know Damon was going be there. I remember I was talking to this guy, who then didn't know how to take no for an answer. I was about to let him know exactly how I felt, when Damon showed up. He was always my hero, my knight in...ripped jeans" Raina said and the girls laughed at her description.
Raina then gave a small smile. "I was completely sober, but he had a couple to drink. I don't know where I got the courage from, but I confessed my feelings for him. Told him I was completely in love with him" she said and the girls gasped at her words, with Rue shaking her head.
"Oh no" Rue said, feeling secondhand embarrassment.
Raina nodded, "Yup".
"He didn't say anything, and I got scared. I thought that I had messed everything up, because for the way he looked at me, I couldn't even tell what he was thinking, but love didn't seem like the expression on his face. I shocked him, I'm pretty sure I did" she said, taking a breath.
Raina then closed her eyes. "But then he kissed me" she said, a gasp could be heard from the other girls.
She kept her eyes closed, remembering the kiss, a memory that had been etched into her very soul.
She remembered the way Damon's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe what she had just said. In fact, she couldn't believe what she had just said.
Confessing her feelings for him wasn't meant to be like this, but she couldn't help herself. Keeping it in was beginning to pain Raina and so instead of continuing to hurt herself, she chose to be a little selfish and told Damon how she felt.
Raina remembered the way Damon stilled for a moment, but then as if something had struck him, he was pulled out of his stunned state.
His hands then reached out and cradled Raina's face as he leaned into her and crashed his lips atop of hers. A kiss that started out heated and rough which then simmered down to one that was painfully slow but full of passion.
In that moment, Raina was convinced that what felt for Damon, he also felt the same for her. The kiss was evidence of that, and when they both breathlessly leaned away from each other, resting their foreheads against one another, Raina looked into his eyes and saw her emotions reflected in them.
Raina looked at the girls, whose jaws had dropped to the floor. "The kiss led to more, and we ended up..." she trailed off.
Rue's eyes widened, "You had sex!?" She exclaimed and Raina threw popcorn at her.
"A little louder Rue, people in China didn't quite hear you" she glared at her.
Rue chuckled nervously, "Sorry".
Raina cautiously looked at Ariel who seemed to be a little shocked, which was understandable. Finding out your best friend had sex with your brother was a lot to take in.
After that party, Raina had confessed that she wasn't a virgin, but withheld who it actually was, promising to tell them at a later time. By sixteen, both Ariel and Rue were aware of Raina's feelings for Damon, so she was sure they knew who it would be with, since for her there was no one else but him, but between them, it remained unspoken.
Surprisingly, instead of accusing her of betrayal as Raina thought she would, Ariel asked "what happened after?"
"I was sober, and knew what I was doing, I wanted it. He had a few to drink, but was still sober enough to know what he was doing too. That night was the best night of my life" she reminisced happily with a smile.
Raina didn't resist as Damon had led her to guest bedroom upstairs. Cassie's brother was a friend of Damon's and he had been to the house where the party was held before, he knew where he was going.
The pair had stayed in the room for a moment, with Raina standing in the middle, watching as Damon closed and locked the door and then turned towards her.
He slowly stalked towards her, waiting for her to show any sign that she didn't want him.
Raina trusted Damon enough to know that if she were to push him away in that moment, he would not be mad at her, instead he'd accept the decision happily, but she couldn't do that.
Being with him was all that she had wanted for the longest time, and now that she had become a little selfish and confessed her feelings, she wanted to be a lot more selfish and give herself to him.
She remembered the way he gently held her face, and asked her if she was sure this was what she wanted.
With a confident yes, Raina smiled at him and it was all the confirmation Damon needed from her, as he leaned in once more to kiss her.
The apprehension and bundle of nerves that she was faded away, as she let Damon hold her close to him, close enough that she could hear his heartbeat and for hers to sync into rhythm with his.
Between kisses, Damon had whispered sweet words into her ears, so that all her thoughts were only about him and him alone.
Raina could still close her eyes and picture perfectly how Damon had once again asked her if she was sure. She assured him this was what she wanted, before he leaned in to kiss her once again.
His hands and mouth had roamed her entire body, and she was convinced he could draw accurate map of her every curve, and she revelled in what he was making her feel.
The pain of being one with each other only lasted for a moment, before Damon spent the night showing Raina how he felt about her, more that she could ever feel with words. She was in a euphoric bliss, as she surrendered herself to the desire and yearning.
She had longed for him for so long, and it seemed as if he had too.
The pair spent the night in each other's arms, as if only they existed in the world and in that night, Raina was given all the happiness she could ever want.
Raina's smile had not left her face as she remembered that night, but then her smile slowly faded.
"The next morning, he was different" she told the girls in a pained voice, feeling the clench of her heart.
"Oh Rain" Ariel frowned, but she smiled at her.
"He told me the night meant everything to him, but it was still a mistake. I was his little sister's best friend, he wasn't meant to fall for me, he couldn't, nothing was ever supposed to happen" Raina told them.
She felt tears begin to prick her eyes and so she closed her eyes, not wanting them to fall.
Hearing Damon say those words was like her heart, one that she had laid bare to him mere hours before, had been ripped out of her chest.
"He got dressed, as did I, and then he dropped me back home. He told me, it was a mistake, one that won't happen again and I should forget about it" Raina then gulped harshly as the lump she felt in her throat. "He said he wasn't good enough for me".
Part of her did understand where Damon was coming from, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt her.
Damon was a brooding seventeen year old, the school's bad boy and a bit of a player. Raina knew he never thought of himself as being good, especially when it came to her, and that was the only thing she hated about him.
He had decided he wasn't good for her, and that was meant to be it.
"He's an ass" Rue said angrily, before looking to Ariel. "No offence" she then said.
"No I agree" Ariel added.
Raina shook my head at them, smiling. "I didn't think too much of his words. I thought, it was all just too much, and he needed some time to cool off, but then he would come back to me but-"
Ariel sighed, "-he didn't" she finished for Raina who nodded with a pained smile.
"Since the party was on a Friday night, I thought I'd let him have the weekend to think about about and have some space. I didn't want to overwhelm him. When it come to Monday, I came over to yours to talk to him, but he wasn't there. I then thought, let me talk to him at school. That was when I saw him, pressed up against the lockers with Lindsey, making out" Raina's voice grew quieter as Ariel and Rue gasped at the new information.
Raina then closed her eyes, because she remembered that moment all too well, just like every other moment with Damon.
She felt herself shatter that day, watching the guy she loved and just spent the best night of her life with, pressing another girl against the lockers and ravishing her in the middle of the school like she didn't even exist.
Like their night never happened.
Opening her eyes, Raina saw the girls looking at her with concern.
"It hurt, a lot. I assumed he was trying to prove to me and to himself, that he wasn't good enough. I think he expected me to cry and get over him, but it didn't work like that" she said.
"You stuck around" Rue noted and Raina nodded.
She knew that what he was doing was an act of betrayal. Raina wanted to go up to him and slap him for doing that to her, wanting to hurl every curse word there was at his face.
Only, she kept herself from doing that not only because she was too hurt, but because she caught the look in his eyes that day. There was something about it, a mix of emotions, but most of all, hurt.
He was hurting.
Raina couldn't understand why he had a look of hurt, when she was one who was currently being tormented. She assumed he was perhaps feeling her hurt, or what he was doing was also hurting him, and she once again felt like slapping him.
"I decided that if he was so hellbent on proving that he wasn't good enough for me, then he can look me in the eyes and show me" Raina told them.
"Why don't you tell him how you feel?" Ariel asked.
Raina then let out a sigh, knowing the answer to this question all too well.
"All the snide comments, the need to one-up each other, it's toxic, and I don't want to be one of those toxic couples, and sometimes I'm scared we will be" she told Ariel, who nodded in understanding.
"Plus, he doesn't trust himself. Once he can get over that, we might be able to make some progress" Raina said, with hope in her voice.
Rue then let out a laugh. "You're guys are infuriating" she commented, and Raina smiled at her.
"I still love him, I'm just waiting until he can finally tell me the same. He's the only one for me, I just wished he'd hurry the fück up and realise it" she groaned and both the girls laughed.
Raina felt like she was probably an idiot for loving someone like Damon, but it wasn't something she could help unfortunately.
Despite all his words, his actions told her he loved her, she just needed him to use his goddamn words now.
***
There's a little back story on Raina and Damon, although there's a little bit more that will come out later.
This was a fun book to write, hope it's a good read too.
Enjoy :)