Read the A/N at the end! It's sort of important. ;) And it could also be fun! ^_^ Enjoy, toffees :)

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I say curled on my bed, unsure what to do while I waited.

Not even fifteen minutes into the wait, the computerised voice in my room informed me that I had a visitor.

Thinking I was being summoned to leave for work, I got up and headed to the door. When I allowed the visitor entrance, my door slid apart to show me coal and fire eyes. He stood tall, with his hands behind his back. His face expressionless, his dark hair was like silk against his forehead. My eyes shifted from him to look to Freesia, who was standing awkwardly next to him.

"Hey," I said, smiling at her.

"Um," Freesia looked from me to Rafe, before raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged and she seemed to shake away some thought.

"I came to give you this," she said and she held out something in her palm. When I looked at what she held, emotion clogged my throat.

Earrings.

She was giving me earrings. It was a small hooked earring with two angel wings at the end. I took them into my hand with reverence and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you," I said, smiling at her once I released her from my bear-grip.

She rolled her eyes, but was smiling too, "Don't go all girl-y on me." She finally said.

"Never." I told her.

Then she awkwardly waved and went away to her room. I ignored the presence of a looming, energy drawing alien and headed to the side of the wall that had presented me a reflection of myself.

Seeming to be aware of what I want, the 'mirror' appeared immediately, and I hooked on the earrings, smiling all the while.

They were cute and they seemed to really complete a look. I loved them.

My smile tapered away, when Rafe came to stand behind me, his eyes examining my face intently.

His eyes stopped when they met mine, and I noticed how they looked more fire today than coal. I turned around, stepping back a little.

Rafe's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't say anything.

We just looked at each other. Neither giving in to the pressure to talk. Slowly, awareness started to prickle at the back of my neck, making the hair on my arms stand. His eyes were...

Hypnotic.

I could get sucked into them. He looked at me with an intensity that was...

I drew in a quick breath.

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms.

A small smile tipped his full lips, and I glared at him. He was smiling that I gave in first.

"You did not eat," he said.

Believe me, I know.

I raised an eyebrow, as if to say So?

"So," he said, his head dipping a little as he came a little closer to me, "I brought you something."

I shook my head, "Whatever it is, I don't want it." I said and gestured that he leave.

Rafe ignored me and finally removed the hands he'd held behind his back, holding out...a fruit.

The fruit he'd given me after our first Field work day.

The one that tasted like chocolate.

My eyes whipped up to meet his, before I looked away.

"I don't want it," I said, crossing my hands.

He stepped a little closer again, dropping his hand to his side, fruit and all.

I pressed back against the wall, still not looking at him.

"I am sorry." He murmured to me in a low voice.

The intimate tone of his voice had the pace of my heart increasing. How could his voice do this to me?

Then I caught a whiff of his scent. Chocolate and almonds.

A thought struck.

"Do you keep a stock of those with you?" I asked him pointing to the fruit, completely forgetting my anger.

His head tilted to the side as he considered me, a small smile tipping his lips again.

Don't look at his lips, Amour.

"I do," he admitted slowly, his smile drawing up further with mischief as his eyes glinted.

"How did you figure?" He asked me, another glint of mischief and something else glowing in his eyes.

Mesmerised by the smile and his eyes, I blurted the truth, "You smell like them."

Dammit.

Rafe's smile was now a full beam as he let out a laugh. I really liked his laugh. He tipped his head back slightly and the strong cords of his throat vibrated with the action.

When he looked back at me, he pressed the index of his left hand, that wasn't holding the fruit, to his lips.

"Do not tell anyone." He told me.

I swallowed and looked away.

Rafe seemed to realise my sudden loss of anger was temporary and I was back to being angry.

A small breath left him, tickling the strands of my hair at my forehead.

My eyes slanted back up to meet his.

"Skin contact to a C'Riel is-" he started but I cut him off.

"I know, Wolf explained it to me today." I told him, my voice skating on the verge of burning him with how frigid it was.

My mood swings were probably whiplash-ing the alien out of him.

He kept quiet for a few seconds.

"I apologise for the words I used. It was a reflex, Hills." He said.

"But I'm your friend!" I exclaimed, "How can you say something like that to a friend?"

Rafe rubbed his middle finger against his forehead as I watched him, temper boiling in me.

"I was not in the right state of mind," he said finally.

I snorted, looking away.

"No, Amour," he said, and when he said my name with that intensity...I had to look up at him, helplessly watching as he drew in every single molecule of energy around him, seeming to take up space. Too much space.

"We are..." He seemed to stop, searching for the right word, "Aggressive."

My brows furrowed as I tried to understand.

"You're aggressive?" I asked.

He shook his head, "My kind. We're very aggressive. Our aggression is always held in on a tight leash. But when it snaps, we almost go.."

"Crazy?" I finished, sarcastically.

Rafe smiled.

Why was he smiling and not getting angry? Damn it. Stop smiling.

"I presume you could say that." He said slowly, finally.

"I truly am sorry." He said again.

I looked up at him, watching sincerity gleam in his eyes. I thought about how, he'd been trailing me since I'd gotten mad at him. He'd always been around. His dark and light eyes following my every moment. I knew that he wouldn't give up till I accepted his apology. And I also now knew that he was sincerely sorry.

I held my hand out, and Rafe's lips slipped up into a smile. A genuine one. Not a smirk or one of humour. But one of happiness.

I let my lips tip up too, in response.

Rafe dropped the fruit into my hand.

"But Wolf can't eat anything..." I said, in dismay.

"And I'm not supposed to eat anything." I told him, handing it back to him.

Rafe stared at me, taking the fruit back.

"You have not eaten." He reminded me.

"I know," I said, "But I was given a punishment and I'm not going to duck out of it like a coward."

"It was never your punishment to endure." He told me, holding the fruit out again.

I lifted my hand to push his away, when I remembered about skin contact. I quickly pulled my hand away. Rafe watched this with mild amusement, but his hand hadn't moved away from mine at all. Not even when I lifted to almost touch his.

I cleared my throat.

"It is now," I told him and when he was going to say something, I continued "And nothing you say is going to change my mind."

He brows furrowed slightly and I had that stupid urge again to smoothen them out.

"What is your punishment?" He asked me.

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you don't know, given your stalking tendencies."

He raised an eyebrow at me, not falling for the bait.

I sighed, "Nutrition privileges revoked for today. Detained to our rooms the whole of next week, except for Education and work. And he doubled our work schedules on Day Seven, Day Eight and Day Nine for the next three weeks."

Rafe's expression had shuttered. His free hand fisted by his side, as his eyes took on a hard hue.

"Hey," I said, involuntarily stepping closer. I realised just how much humans relied on touch only after I'd been told not to touch someone. If this were Wolf or Ren, I would've rubbed their arms or nudged their shoulders with mine.

Rafe looked at me and I watched some of the hardness in them soften.

"Don't worry about it," I said, shrugging.

Rafe looked away.

"Why did you do it?" He asked me.

My brows furrowed. "Do what? Cover for you?" I asked.

Rafe slid a glance towards me and I took that as a yes.

I shrugged.

"You helped me see my dad. Also," I added, "No offence, but your father looks like he could take a few bites out of metal. And I wouldn't want to be caught dead making a mistake if I were his son."

Rafe let out a laugh and it sounded as if it was surprised out of him.

"Only you," he said, shaking his head slightly.

"Only me what?" I asked, grinning.

His eyes lifted to mine, his smile dropped slowly.

His hand lifted towards me and I stilled, not wanting to make any sudden moments. His eyes were locked on my earring as his thumb and index caught the small wings attached to them and he rubbed them gently. His gaze had softened.

"Beautiful." He said softly.

"I really love them," I agreed.

He smiled, as if he knew a secret I didn't.

"What?" I whispered and he shook his head, his hand still gently tugging at my earrings as he examined them intently.

His hands dropped and I looked at him.

"Thank you," he said and I realised he was talking about the cover up.

I rolled my eyes and waved it off.

"No." He said and I looked at him, realising he was serious. He was very very serious.

He stepped closer and I stopped breathing. We were standing really close now.

If I pushed myself up on my toes, I would've been able to press my forehead to his. Not that I wanted to. I didn't.

I watched as his eyes burned into mine.

"What you did today," he took a deep breath, "Is something people I have known all my life have never thought to do and it means more to me than you will ever know."

"Wow," I whispered after a few seconds, "Your dad must really be an asshole."

The look of shock Rafe had, like he hadn't expected me to say that at all, before he burst out laughing was priceless.

I was caught up in the magic of his laugh and it caused me to join in.

Both of us came down from our exuberant feelings to smile at each other. Not smirk, not grin. Smile.

I jerked my chin to the fruit, "You eat that today," I said.

Rafe looked down at me like I was being ridiculous.

"Hills, what makes you think that I would eat today when you've been punished not to?"

My eyes widened.

"You haven't eaten?" I asked.

Rafe shook his head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Something about him doing that for me, the fact that he would go through what I am just because I was doing it for him, made me want to hug him.

I let out a huff, "This whole no-touching thing is annoying. Just imagine I gave you a hug." I said to him, then freaked out that I was going to freak him out.

"What would hugging represent?" He asked me, and the serious look on his face with his head tilted slightly in curiosity made me want to tease him, but I gave him a straight answer because he wanted one.

"It would mean that you just made me very happy and I am expressing my gratitude with a hug." I explained.

Rafe gave me a shy but proud smile that made him look years younger than he was, and I wanted to hug him all the more, for showing me one of his most endearing sides.

"Now get out, before I actually hug you," I said, making shoo-ing motions at him with my hands.

He said nothing as he left, a small smile lifting his lips the whole time.

When the entrance closed in behind him, I leaned my back against it, sliding down. I tilted my head back to rest it against the now-wall-turned-entrance and smiled.

Something has changed today between us. Now we were really friends.

I took his punishment and he shared it's burden with me.

I pressed a hand to my heart, willing it to slow down so I could breathe.

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Tee Hee! Surprise surprise! Okay. Seriously. I'm so proud of myself that if I were to rate myself, I would be off the charts on awesomeness! (For today)

Hope you liked that. It was quite a significant scene.

Also, IMPORTANT. Since I haven't updated for some fifty million years, I was wondering, if as a 'bribe', you guys can suggest some scenes (that you would like to see) and the one I like the most, I will include in the story. You can either leave (in the comments) a detailed description of what the scene would entail or you can just say "Rafe and Amour Dance Scene" (for example). Are you guys interested in that?

Sound cool?

Until next time, my corn puffs! ❤️