This is part of the 'There's No Place Like Home' universe... read and review!
Rhyleigh xoxox
"Rach, you look absolutely gorgeous", Julie Rafter told her daughter- her only girl- as she piled her blonde hair on top of her head, securing it in just the right places. "Jake isn't gonna now what hit him!"
"Mum", sixteen year old Rachel protested, blushing slightly.
"Aw, Rach, I'm just teasing", Julie said gently. "You look amazing, darling! Dad isn't going to be happy... I think he's struggling with the fact that you're growing up, baby".
"He will", Rachel said confidently. "Are you nearly done, Mum?"
"I think you're ready to go. Want me to zip you up?"
"In a minute".
She slipped out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, ignoring the looks her brothers were shooting down the hall. She ditched her shorts and singlet, abandoning her casual clothes for the gorgeous red dress she had shopped for with her mother. Slipping into it, her eyes caught the photo beside her bed.
It was her and Jake- her best friend and date for the formal that night. In that photo, they were no older than seven, the two of them missing their front teeth and grinning wider than their faces would allow. It was back in the days when they were still slaying dragons and building castles in her backyard. Back in the days where princesses and princes seemed real, and fairytale endings still existed. It seemed like such a long time ago. They had been the queen and king of their own little world for what seemed like years... and Rachel sort of missed those days.
"Rach?" Julie called.
"Coming!" Rachel called. Opening her bedroom door, she turned around. "Zip me up, please?"
"Hello?" Grace Barton called. "We're here! Is she ready yet?"
"Almost", Dave reported.
"Shoes on, darling", Julie reminded her.
Rachel stepped out of the room, almost shyly, to face her family and best friend. Jake's eyes bulged.
"Wow", he breathed. "Rach!"
"Hey Jake", she said cheerfully. "Wow, you scrub up good!"
Grace laughed. "Says the princess!"
There was a flash, as Rachel's younger brother Nathan pressed the shutter down on the camera. If the parents weren't bad enough, Rachel thought, Nathan had taken it upon himself to record every embarrassing moment of his sister's life. While standing in the lounge room with her best friend was hardly embarrassing, she'd seen how seemingly safe events had gone down in the past.
She was not going to take any chances.
"Woo woo!" Nick 'Carbo' Karandonis, the neighbour they'd known since nappies, and Ben's best friend, cheered.
"Excuse me?" Ben glared. "That's my sister".
"And my daughter, go home".
"I'll be good". Carbo snapped his mouth shut and Rachel smiled. She knew her father, and her father would never kick out family.
After posing, Jake and Rachel headed out to their car- the old beast Jake had gotten from a mate. Waving, the two departed the Rafter driveway for their school.
"You look really pretty, Rach", Jake said honestly, looking at the girl that was his, but he could never have.
"Thanks, Jake". Rachel's cheeks were tinged pink, and not just from excitement.
All Jake could see, when he looked at his best friend, was the little girl who wore a princess crown for a week straight, as they slayed dragons and built castles. When he saw himself in the mirror, he saw the kid with floppy brown hair, missing his front teeth. They had had the time of their lives, running amuck as kids. That afternoon, while getting dressed, his eyes had fallen on the photo on his desk. The smiling seven year olds, grinning out the windows of the infamous Rafter cubbyhouse seemed so long ago, before the trials of real life came along and shot them down.
When they were kids, they were so innocent. They had played from the moment the sun came up to the moment it set at night- and even then, they continued. Spotlight in the darkened backyard, UNO when it got cold. Back when the only rule they had was 'be home by dinner'- and even then, they ended up sharing meals, sitting beside each other at the table. To them, their houses were shared- they were home.
"Its gonna be amazing", Jake said knowingly, a grin spreading across his face and making him look a lot younger than he was.
And the night was. Dancing it up with all their friends- the friends they had grown up with- posing cheesily for the photos. They had swapped their swords and crowns for suits and gowns, but nothing had changed, as Jake and Rachel laughed.
They had a medieval theme. Rapunzel's golden hair hung down from the wall, and cut out horses floated around the room. It was a far cry from the school hall they had sat in, on so many occasions.
And, to roll with the theme, their teachers had decided to crown them king and queen. "Can I have your attention please?" their year advisor called, standing at the front of the hall with a microphone.
"Tasha McNeil and Mark Antico". Libby Bromilow nodded knowingly, squeezing Rachel's hand. Rachel grimaced, watching the self claimed golden couple smile, awaiting their prize. Tasha McNeil had been making the teenager's life miserable since kindergarten, and Mark Antico had broken her heart (admittedly, after Dave had tackled him while searching for condoms).
"Obviously". George Booth nodded in agreement, his eyes shining as he looked at Rachel. "God, they frustrate me".
"I hate them". Jake broke into a grin as he heard his best friend giggle.
"She is pretty hot, though", Camel offered.
Jake reached over Rachel and smacked the back of his head.
"The king and queen are... Miss Rachel Rafter and Mr Jake Barton".
Jake whipped his head around to watch Tasha McNeil's reaction. Her jaw dropped and she stumbled to her feet. Mark tugged her back down, as both Libby, George and Camel (he was Camel to everyone, even the teachers) whooped excitedly. Rachel, with a small squeal, took Jake's hand and pulled him to his feet, twirling her around for their classmates to see.
As their teachers placed the crowns on their heads, the two of them smiled. they had abandoned their crowns when they were seven years old, but it seemed the memories would live on. as they grinned cheesily at the camera, they were flashed back to their childhood days, where both Grace and Julie would snap their photo as they grinned cheekily out of the cubbyhouse windows, crowns on their heads, a sword in Jake's hand.
"Jake?" Rachel whispered, as they went back to the table.
"Yeah?" he faced her, his brown eyes sparkling in the candlelight.
"When you have kids one day... will you show them these pictures?"
"Absolutely". he nodded firmly. "as long as you show your kids".
"Promise". Rachel nodded, and the two shook on it.
When the photos were developed, Rachel placed her copy in a frame, beside her bed. When Jake got his copy, he framed it and placed it on his desk, where he could see it from any angle. And when Rachel left for university, she left her bedroom in mint condition, the same way she left it- with two missing photos. They were carried with her, when she left the house, and returned to their respective spots on her bedside table when she came home.
The two got together as a couple after Rachel moved back home, leaning on Jake for support. When they got married, the photos were shown at their wedding, their daughter Isabelle simply too young to understand.
But, when they deemed their children old enough, Isabelle, Zane and Ryan were told all about the childhood they had shared, their three laughing at the adventures their parents had had. Isabelle had declared it a love story, when Rachel told them about the promises they had made, that night.
They were the king and queen of their high school formal, and the king and queen of their own castle- with a little princess and two rough and tumble princes to match.