"You look nice." Rayne says as we get out the car and start heading towards where we were meeting his friends for lunch.

Oh goodness. 'You look nice' is always a- I need something or I am about to ask you to do something not totally okay.

"What do you want?"

Rayne sniggers and wraps his arm around my shoulders. "Nothing. I was just saying you look nice. I like it when you wear the hair stuff."

I had my hair up half up and half down, a bow ribbon tied around my hair band it wasn't- I just raise an eyebrow at him.

"Okay Rayne."

"So." He says and I laugh then shrugging his arm of my shoulder but I grab his hand instead, letting him know I wasn't mad and well we were going on this fake date.

"William and Amelia are excited to meet you."

I nod. "Ive already met Will." I say, eyeing Rayne. "Like he was in my English the whole of high school."

"Yeah, well properly I guess. He just know you as school Em."

I pout. "And what was wrong with school Em?"

"Nothing." Rayne reassures, squeezing my hand in his. "But you're definitely more fun when your head isn't in a book."

"My head is always in a book anyway." I mumble and Rayne laughs.

"I meant like a schoolbook Em. I am just saying I'm excited to introduce my best friend to my other close friend okay?"

I nod, searching his side profile.

"Your hair looks good too." I mumble.

He grins down at me. He had it all braided. I miss the curls but for the summer I guess it did make more sense.

"I feel badass." He says and I laugh at that, pulling open the glass door to this little restaurant called Turner's and Rayne follows in behind me.

"They're by the window." He says and I shake my head at him and turn to the waitress at the door.

"Hi we have a table for four. The other two people are already here."

"What's the name?" She smiles back at me and I look up at Rayne then.

"Did you book it or did...?"

"Oh Parker." Rayne says.

Rayne and August never got their names changed out of respect for their late parents. Ivy, Jackson and Lottie are all Richardson. I think Rayne would have chaned to be honest, but August wouldn't want to and Rayne didn't want to make August feel even more out of the family unit.

August is close with Ivy, I know that. And he respects Jackson, probably even loves him. But I don't think he sees him as his father. August remembers a lot more from his childhood than Rayne does I think. So he holds on to stuff more.

The waitress, her name is Bella, led us to our table and I couldn't help but compliment her nails.

"Shush I am not allowed to have them." She laughs gently and gives me a small grin. They were acrylics, but they were bright green with flowers and I thought it was super cute.

"Emersyn." Rayne says getting my attention and I look back to the table with a similar smile.

"Em this is Will." He nods to Will, who I do actually know, sort of. William Adams. He went to our school. He looked like the typical Rugby player, big, broad, shorter hair but very blue eyes. I was surprised.

"Hi." I smile and look at Amelia. "It's nice to meet you both."

Rayne pulls out a seat for me and I just send him an amused smile and sit down.

"It's nice to meet you too." Will's girlfriend says. "I love double dates, more interesting than just being with this tool." She laughs, lifting her hand to his face and he throws her a mockingly dirty look. They were cute together. She has sort hair, stylishly, scarily short that you have to have so much confidence to pull off. But she did, she was so beautiful. They both were.

I look at Rayne and Rayne tears his eyes from Will's and throws me a soft look.

"What would you like to drink babe?"

My eyebrows raised then, trying not to crinkle my nose up at babe.

I was his Emmy. Not babe.

I laugh at my head and shrug. "what are you having?"

"Just a coke." He says and I look at Amelia's colourful drink.

"What did you have?" I ask and she tells me that they do virgin cocktails. So I just agree to have the same one as she did.

"How was Italy? Rayne said that's where you were all these weeks." Will asks and I nod.

"It was amazing. I studied under this amazing Italian writer, she was so... stern but like eccentric and loving it was so great." Rayne lifts his hand to my face as I say this, tucking some hair behind my ear and I just continue to talk to Will. But I watch as Will follow's Rayne's hand. My eyebrows raise slightly, and I turn back to Amelia.

"Did you go to Sampson's?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"Oh nope. I met Will when I was cheering at one of the away games you guys played at. We exchanged numbers and text throughout the year, now that it's summer we can actually spend time together." She says, throwing William a look of adoration and I kick Rayne subtly under the table when neither Rayne or William were listening to her, instead they had their eyes narrowed at the other.

Shit.

I see what's going on here.

Fuck sake Rayne, why would you do this?

I swallow when he looks at me and I know my eyes are cold but I just turn back around to sweet Amelia and give her a smile. "That is so sweet. Shall we order?" I say. Let's get this lunch over and done with real quick.

"Yess." She smiles, handing me the menu.

"Oh no." I laugh. "I googled it on the drive over."

"Wow." She laughs. "So you know what you want already?"

"Mhm. Always do. Me and my mum always study the menu before we go to a restaurant I don't even know why."

Amelia grins and Will even laughs at that. "What are you getting?" He asks.

"Um the spinach veggie wrap." I say and he looks up.

"Ah, I wondered why Rayne asked about the vegetarian options." Will says and I look at Rayne.

"He doesn't know you're veggie?" I ask and Rayne laughs, shooting me a guilty look.

"I may have given up since you were away. Ima have a burger."

I pout but nod, his choice whatever.

"Same." Amelia says, shutting the menu and we all grin when the waitress see's us ready and starving.

Well, I think I've lost my appetite to be honest. Is Will the guy Rayne is seeing?

Does Rayne seriously see this whole situation as okay?

I look down at my phone, not trying to be unsociable but wanting to check it and I see a text from a new number.

I work in the town Library. Usually it was literally just me and old women who were bored and wanted to work. But this girl seems pretty young? I don't know, she just seems friendly.

I replied telling her not to worry and I thanked her for letting me know.

"There's a new girl at work." I say to Rayne. "I am excited to meet her."

He smiles at me. "You're working tomorrow?"

"Mhm morning so I can't really stay at yours tonight."

"Your parents let you sleep round each others?" Amelia asks and Rayne and I look up.

"Oh yeah, but we've been close for years so it's not a new thing."

"When did you guys stop being just close friends?" Will asks and I squirm slightly, which makes Rayne place a reassuring hand on my arm.

He thought it was reassuring. I just squirmed again. I don't like lies, I definitely don't want to be apart of this little web of lies. I agreed to support Rayne because he was hurting. I didn't know I was actively helping hurt someone else. Like Amelia-

"The last few months of school." Rayne says. "We got together at the start of June."

I mean that's news to me. I didn't realise we had a whole ass back story that he had created for us. This was a little much. A lot much actually.

I throw him a look and move his hand off my arm.

He looks are me warily and I just stare up at him. "Didn't we Em?" He whispers watching me and I just sigh.

I turn to the couple and nod for my best friend and take a deep breath.

"Yep."

"Anyway." Rayne says carefully. "That's fine. Can I sleep at yours? You can just get up and go and leave me there."

I give him a small smile. "My dad's at home tomorrow. You can but he is also macho Cole at the moment so I dunno if you-"

Rayne shakes his head quickly. "Got it." He laughs.

I just smile slightly at that and I turn away from him, bringing Amelia into a conversation because I was mad at Rayne. I was rubbish at being mad at people but I was mad.

"So you cheer?"

"No actually I dance." She says. "But I was just filling in for someone."

"Oh I used to dance." I say and she cocks her head at me.

"I stopped when I was like seventeen because it got all serious, they wanted to start training for the dance schools and I was just like bro this is a hobby no?"

Rayne laughs at my language and nudges me, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh so ballet?" She asks and I nod.

"What about you?"

"More like- I don't know it's just with the school. Lyrical, Jazz-Whatever the theme is for that week."

"That sounds fun." I say. "My ankles are still messed up." I say, rolling my ankles under the table and feeling them grind slightly.

"You must have been good then?" Amelia asks and Will and Rayne start up their own quiet conversation.

"Not that good. I got to like advanced 2 but my teacher always got annoyed because I didn't take it seriously enough. Like I just liked having something to do three times a week."

"Oh." Amelia laughs. "What do you do now then?" She asks. "To fill that time?"

"Um... Write?"

"Oh yeah- Italy." She says and I nod, smiling at her even though my body seems so in tune with the tension between Will and Rayne. Goodness this was a lot. I tend to feel unnecessarily. Like I don't need to be feeling the stress for them but I am.

Goodness.

"What do you write about?" She asks genuinely interested and I just feel for her because she is so freaking nice.

"I never know how to answer that question-" I laugh and then sigh in relief that our food was coming our way.

"I ordered you some fries because I know you said no but you'll want them when you see ours." Rayne says and I give him a soft smile.

"Okay thanks."

He smiles back and Amelia laughs at that. "Wow you know her so well."

"That is what happens when you know someone for like 13 years."

"It's not been 13 years." I say, my eyes wide and he nods.

"It has Em. Lottie's 13."

"Wow." I mumble.

My mum and Rayne's became friends when Ivy was just about to get pregnant with Lottie. So we always know how long it's been as we have Lottie to remind us.

"Your little sister?" Will says and Rayne nods.

"Yup the little mad lady."

"She's not mad." I laugh and Rayne rolls his eyes.

"She is the devil." He says to Rayne and Amelia and both of them laugh at my appalled look.

"She's spirited." I say. "She a mixture between taking no bullshit from anyone but also being brought up right. So the other day at school some pig said something suggestive to her and she threw a book at his head, explained why he shouldn't speak to people that way and then she apolgised to the teacher for disrupting her lesson."

Will laughs and Amelia giggles. "Then she kicked off about the injustice of her getting a detention." Rayne says.

"It was pretty unjust." I agree and Rayne just looks at me.

"The corner of the book hit his eyes, he has to go to hospital."

I shrugged. "Taught him a lesson though I am sure."

Rayne just throws me a afraid look and looks back to the couple sat across from us. "My sister is dangerous."

I smile at that. "She is, it's great."

"You sound like my dad." Rayne mumbles and I just grin.

"I love Jackson, that's not a bad thing."

He rolls his eyes and we all get stuck into our food. I focus on talking to Amelia and ignoring the looks between Will and Rayne but by the end of lunch, by the time I was walking back towards Rayne's car I was mad.

But I wasn't sure how to communicate it to him. I wasn't sure how to get this right.

"You're mad." He mumbles and I just throw him a look.

"I don't understand why you're mad."

I stay silent. Getting in the car and waiting for him to get in besides me.

"I just wanna go home Rayne."

"Wait to yours? I thought we were spending some time together this afternoon?"

"I meant yours. We'll talk back home."

He nods and I just go through my phone, scrolling through Instagram and replying back to some of my online friends, like people I have connected with due to writing.

"Are you seriously not gonna talk to me?"

Rayne and I don't fight. Like we might bicker, but we don't actually get mad at each other but I just don't see how he thought that double date thing was okay. Maybe I was just picking up vibes that weren't there.

"Will's the guy right?" I say quietly and Rayne tenses.

"I didn't think you'd pick up on that."

"Well I did." I mumble.

He falls silent too then and we drive in tension, me uncomfortably braiding the ends of my hair and I can feel the stress radiating off of him.

"I wont tell anyone." I say. "You don't need to stress about that."

"Emmy I'm stressing because my best friend is mad at me, not about that."

"Oh." I whisper and look up at him. "I am mad at you."

"I- I know."

He pulls into his home and I don't wait for him to get out the car, I just get out and walk to the front door. It's never locked during the day so I just walk in and Ivy calls out.

"Lottie?"

"No It's me." I call back. "What's up?" I ask.

"No nothing." She says. "We're in the kitchen."

I hear Rayne get out of the car and I walk down the hall into the kitchen, stopping slightly when I see August at the kitchen island as well.

"Hi." I say.

"You okay?" Ivy frowns, searching my face and I nod, giving her a smile.

"All good. Can I grab a drink?"

"Yep there's strawberry lemonade in the fridge." She says and I grin in thanks.

"Em lets go upstairs." Rayne says from the kitchen door and I just sigh.

"Okay, do you want a drink?"

"No." He says and I stop getting myself one and abandon that, instead walking to him and we head upstairs without saying anything else to Ivy or August.

"That wasn't okay." I say as I walk into his bedroom.

"I thought- look I was just introducing you-"

"No Rayne." I say. "That wasn't okay, I saw the looks you two were exchanging the whole lunch."

Rayne looks at me slightly confused. "I thought you accepted me?"

I sigh, my heart hurting. "Rayne I do. I- this isn't because he's a guy Rayne it's because he's in a relationship."

Rayne just sits down on his bed and his head falls to his hands in stress, I walk around and perch on his desk, watching him.

"You just took me on a date Rayne where you are sleeping with the guy opposite. He has a girlfriend, by all means you have a girlfriend too so what sort of fucked up shit was that? What game did I just witness? I love you so much but that wasn't okay. It's not okay for her, he's literally cheating on her. Do you know what that does to a person?"

He looks up at me.

"We aren't- we aren't together Emersyn. Nothing's even happened."

I look at him confused.

"We are just mates. It's one sided. Like I am the one head over heals Emmy. Not him."

I pull a face. "That's not what I picked up on."

Rayne looks down again. "There have been a few moments. But he- he doesn't. You think I am not open to this? You should see him. I like him, it's obvious. But he has a girlfriend you are right. It drives me insane."

I frown, untying my hair and watching him.

"But then what are you doing?" I ask softly. "He is with someone else."

"But you said it yourself." Rayne says lifting his head. "There's something there."

"Rainie." I breathe. "Don't do this to yourself."

He just huffs. "You don't understand. I- I really like him Em."

"I get that." I say. But he is taken and- I get it. I understand that he isn't out of the closet Rayne but this isn't how it's supposed to go, you can't hide this just because the guy you like is also hiding it."

"This isn't how it's supposed to go?" He laughs bitterly. "Sorry am I not doing this right for you?"

"No." I say. "Hurting someone isn't right with me. Amelia is going to get hurt if you carry this on."

"We haven't done anything." He grits and I just sigh.

"Why did you ask me to do this?" I ask softly and he looks up at me.

"Because I need help-"

"To make him jealous?" I say. "Did you honestly ask this of me because you are scared Rayne or because you are jealous? Because I don't want any part in hurting anyone. I- don't want to help you hurt him just because he is hurting you. I don't want to be apart of keeping a secret that will hurt Amelia."

"But you will hurt me." Rayne says. "If you don't- it'll hurt me. I am not asking you to do this because of him, you know why, we've talked about this Em. I- I need time to get my head around this all."

"But from what it looks like today I am just being used to make Will uncomfortable Rayne. Don't- Gosh- don't do this."

"I am not using you Emersyn. Like okay I know I am but I just need you because I am- I." He sighs and curses to himself. "I would do this for you."

I just stare at him. "I know you would."

"Are you- what are you going to do?" Rayne says and I shrug.

"Please don't like end it." He says.

"Rayne we aren't even together." I huff. "I can't be ending something that-"

"You can though. You can end-"

"Why did you arrange that date today?" I ask, standing up and sitting down besides him.

He looks at me. "Because I wanted to know how he'd react to meeting you."

I sighed. "Rayne the difference is I wouldn't have done that to you. Or to anyone else. You just said you would do it for me and I agree, you definitely would. But I would never get you mixed up in something like this. I wouldn't ask that of you."

He tenses. "I have been a good ass friend to you Emersyn."

I pull away. "I know I am just saying-"

"I know what you are saying- you're saying that you're a better person than me. Yes Em you are, are you happy now? I get it. You wouldn't wanna purposely hurt someone but fuck it, I do okay? Because he's fucking with my head and sometimes the only response to that is fucking with his."

"No Rayne it's not." I say standing back up and watching as his eyes look anywhere other than my eyes. "Have you not heard of the phrase adding fuel to the fire?"

"Yes I have. Sometime Em you'll grow up and figure out that sometimes the fire feels good."

"No Rayne. The fire burns. It hurts. You are going to get hurt. He is going to get hurt. Amelia is going to get hurt. Shit- I am going to get hurt."

"Then hurt back." He explodes and I take a step back from him. "You don't know these people Emersyn. Why do you care? You are my best friend. You aren't supposed to care about them. Care about me."