THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

064; day two continuation

Myra got in the shower, feeling the warm water upon her cold skin. She sighed with relief as she let it soak her hair while she ran her hands through it. She closed her eyes. For one second she imagined her life like this. A nice big house down by the water, always being able to take hot showers. Birds singing outside of the windows and a lovely scent of freshly baked bread spreading throughout the home. Two or three kids playing out in the backyard and a loving husband sitting on the deck as he watched them. Myra imagined herself with a heart full of love and a joyful family around her. It didn't have to be so lavish, just a normal kind of life.

Myra had never thought like that before. Being married with a nice house and a few kids had never been a goal of hers. She wanted to travel from coast to coast, seeing all the small beach towns around the world. She wanted to surf and sail. She wanted no musts or obligations, she had always wanted to just float around like a fish in the sea or soar like a bird in the sky. Completely free to just follow the stream wherever it took her. Now all of a sudden a whole different kind of life felt compelling. Weird, she thought. It must be a curse of the nice hot water in this kook bathroom.

She washed her hair before she got out of the shower, patting her body dry with the towel. She hung it over the glass doors of the shower to air dry before she got dressed in the boxers and the t-shirt that Rafe had let her borrow. It was a little big on her but it didn't matter, at least it was comfy. Myra wiped the condensation off of the mirror by the sink, taking a look at her reflection. She stared at herself for a moment, seeing the tired purple bags underneath her eyes and the fading marks upon her neck. Her wet hair was slowly soaking the shirt that hung over her shoulders, so she grabbed a hold of it before she put it up in a messy bun. She then gathered herself, sighing as she left the bathroom.

Myra's feet dragged along the wooden floorboards of the nice house. They were a little cold, but there was nothing she could do. Her own socks were in the dryer. She wandered around until she heard some noise coming from the kitchen. Myra turned a corner, seeing Rafe stood by the stove with a white and blue checkered kitchen towel hanging over his right shoulder. "What are you doing?" Myra asked curiously as she stopped by the door, leaning against the doorframe. She peered upon Rafe who clearly hadn't noticed her walking up to the kitchen. "Hey" he urged in a rush as he turned around to face the pouge girl, "I'm making us some dinner, mac and cheese was all I could find... do you want some?"

Mac and cheese had been a cheap and easy dinner for Myra as she grew up. It was something that her dad would make her and JJ quite often and it was easy enough for her to prepare herself whenever her dad wasn't home. The simple meal held good memories of a time when things weren't as complicated. Myra was fairly sure that her dad had been up to no good back then too, but she just hadn't noticed it as much. He wasn't so physically violent back then at least. "Yeah I love mac and cheese" Myra hummed in response to Rafe, a faint smile finding its way onto her lips. "Good" he spoke, smiling back at her before he turned back towards the stove. Myra dragged her feet closer to him, carefully stopping by his side. The kitchen smelled nice, even if it was just simple mac and cheese that he was making. She still appreciated the effort of it.

"Did you have a nice shower?" Rafe then asked, stirring the macaroni. "Yeah" Myra urged, nodding her head. She placed her hands on the kitchen counter next to the stove, leaning forward a little. "Still feeling cold?" Rafe asked as he peered down at her, something so curious sparkling within his blue eyes. "Not as much" Myra assured him, to which a Rafe furrowed his eyebrows slightly. "Not as much?" he questioned. He had expected a plain no. "Eh, my feet are a little cold" Myra confessed as she shrugged her shoulders, "but they usually are so..."

"There's some socks in my bag if you want them"

Myra glanced over at Rafe's gym bag that stood in the living room. "Yeah, thanks" she hummed, taking him up on his offer. She skipped over to the bag, grabbing a pair of light grey tube socks before she slipped them onto her cold feet. They instantly felt warmer, making Myra relax a little. Rafe peered over his shoulder, looking at her as she began to walk back towards him. "Better?" he asked, a small smirk forming at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, a lot better" Myra hummed with a confident nod of her head. Rafe smiled to himself, seemingly pleased. Anything good he could do for her was a good deed according to him.