Alison had stayed at Jack and Livvie's for three days now, and she had not since heard from Jamal. Well, technically, he did call when he found out from Jack that she was staying there, but considering the fact that Alison was still not speaking to him, he decided to just lay low for a while and let things cool off. He would call her later.

Alison had not heard from Rafe either. In fact, other than Livvie and Jack, Alison had not seen much of anyone. Alison didn't really leave the house, except for the odd time or two she went out to get a bite to eat with Livvie and Jack. She really just wanted some time to herself, time to sort all of this stuff out in her head. And she had a lot on her mind, so it was taking considerable time.

"Where are you off to?" Jack asked after breakfast when he saw Alison was putting on her coat.

"Just for a walk in the park, to clear my head," Alison explained. "I think I really should get out and stuff. See ya."

Livvie walked into the living room. "Where's Ali going?"

"She said she had to get out. I hope she and Jamal can work things out."

"I'm sure they will," Livvie said with a smile and kissed her boyfriend.

But Alison was not so sure of that. She had been moping around Jack and Livvie's for days with this sad expression on her face. They assumed she was still upset over the whole Jamal/Valerie mess. That was only part of it. She was secretly tormenting herself with Rafe.

Over and over, Alison always managed to think of Rafe when she was trying not to. When it was cold first thing in the morning and Alison would pull the covers up over her head, she'd think about Rafe and his twenty layers of clothing he always wore. It brought a smile to her face. When Jack bought Livvie a bouquet of pink roses, he smiled at Alison and gave her one. Alison, of course, couldn't help but think of Rafe then.

And the most annoying thing was the fact that Alison was finally coming to terms with what was going on. She had been in denial, but she knew that she couldn't deny it any longer. She was in love with Rafe.

Yes, love. But this was crazy! It was absolutely absurd. Rafe was an angel! Alison would have conversations with herself in her mind, going over and over how ridiculous it was to even think of having a relationship with someone who called "home" heaven!

And then, there was Jamal. As the days went by, Alison was slowly coming to realize something that she had known for a while now. Things with Jamal were changing. They weren't the same anymore, and Alison didn't think they could get back to where they were before. And even if they could, Alison wasn't so sure she really wanted to.

This was the hell Alison was going through, tormenting herself with thoughts of Rafe and Jamal and Rafe and Jamal and Rafe, Rafe, Rafe…it had to stop! She needed to get her mind off of it. But of course, that was never possible. Because it was then that Alison looked ahead and saw Rafe.

Rafe was sitting on the park bench, still wearing her scarf, and the twenty layers of clothing as usual, writing feverishly in his journal.

Alison watched him unnoticed and smiled. He was so cute, writing in his journal. Alison didn't know of many guys who actually kept journals. Alison thought it was endearing. She didn't want to disturb him, so she waited until he finished writing to go over to him and say hello.

"Rafe," Alison said.

Rafe looked up at the sweet sound of Alison's voice. "Alison! Hey, it's…it's so good to see you."

Alison joined Rafe on the bench. "What are you up to?"

"Oh…nothing, just clearing my head."

"Me too."

"How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I know. I've been sort of a recluse. But I'm…I'm doing better."

"Did you work things out with Jamal?"

Alison nervously pushed her hair behind her ear. "I…I haven't spoken to Jamal yet. I'm still staying at Jack and Livvie's."

"Oh," Rafe said. "Well…well maybe you should uh…you should call him. It's been a few days now. You don't want to go for too long without talking to him. You need to talk so that you can work things out and…"

"Rafe. Rafe!" Alison interrupted him. "I don't want to talk about Jamal."

"Oh. Well, okay then. We won't talk about…what's his name."

"Thank you. I just…I just really wanted to clear my head and stuff, so that means not dealing with, like all that right now."

"I understand."

"Are you doing anything now?"

"I'm sitting here talking to you," Rafe joked.

Alison laughed. "No, I mean, do you have any plans for today?"

Rafe smiled. "I'm free."

"Well good! You can help me then!" Alison lit up.

"Help you with what?"

"I need a distraction."

"Is that what I am?"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it that way!" Alison apologized. "I mean, you're my friend, and I love to spend time with you. It makes me happy. That's what I meant."

Rafe smiled. "Well in that case, I'd love to be your distraction."

"Great!" Alison hopped off the bench and grabbed Rafe's hand. "Let's go, Angel Boy!"

For the next few hours, Rafe and Alison did anything to kill time. They got some hot chocolate at Kelly's. They did some walking on the docks. And now, they were wandering around aimlessly at the mall.

"Please tell me I'm not boring you!" Alison said.

"No, no! I'm having a great time! It's a pretty great mall."

"Oh, that is so cool! Jamal hates going shopping with me!"

"Who?" Rafe asked.

"Oh, yeah, oops. We're not talking about him, right?" Alison corrected herself.

"You seem to know this mall pretty well."

"I practically lived here during high school."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. You didn't know me then, Rafe, but I was very materialistic. I was such a spoiled brat, the biggest you've ever seen!"

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well it's true. But I've grown out of that. I like to think that I've really done some maturing over the last year or so."

Rafe smiled at her again.

"OH!" Alison suddenly exclaimed.

"What? What?"

"Okay, that thing about me being mature and all? Well just forget I said that!" Alison suddenly grabbed Rafe's hand and pulled him into a store.

"What…" Rafe asked, confused. And then he realized where Alison was taking him. A toy store.

Rafe laughed hysterically. "I haven't been in one of these for a long time!"

"Neither have I, but haven't you secretly wanted to go back in one since you became an adult?"

"To be completely honest, I feel like I'm still a kid at heart," Rafe admitted.

Alison laughed. "I think we all feel that way, at least once in while. Well come on!"

Alison grabbed Rafe's arm again and she practically ran up the first aisle. They gazed at the toys and pointed out the ones they liked or ones they remembered from their childhoods. Rafe picked up a big bear and when Alison wasn't looking, he made the bear sneak up on her. Alison laughed and then Rafe handed her the bear.

"Okay, I'm starting to feel a bit out of place," Rafe said after a while. "I think some of the kids are staring at us."

"Oh, who cares?" Alison said and threw a pink ball at him. "Nice catch," she sang.

Rafe threw the ball back and walked over to the tricycles. There was one that was pink and purple and had white tassels hanging from the handlebar. "Hey look, Alison, it's the perfect bike for you."

Alison playfully hit him in the shoulder. "Oh, whatever."

And it wasn't as if they had really planned on buying anything, but Rafe couldn't resist getting Alison a little stuffed animal. They left the store with grins on their faces.

"OH! Rafe, this color is so YOU!" Alison held a green sweater against his chest. "Okay, we're getting this for you too." Alison added the sweater to the pile of clothing that Rafe was already holding.

"Um, Alison?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm just wondering…these clothes…I mean, they're all for me and…are you trying to tell me something? Don't you like the clothes I have?"

Alison laughed. "Oh, Rafe, of course I do! I just think we all need a change in fashion every now and then. And seriously, Rafe, I know it's cold in Port Charles, but you don't have to dress in like, 20 layers all the time!"

Rafe laughed. "Alright. But we're going to get you something too. How about some nice gown? I'm paying."

"Alright, deal, we'll get me a gown. But first…we've got to go look at the shoes. Rafe, I hate to tell you this, but those boots have got to go!"

Alison ran off with Rafe trying to catch up with her. "Hey, what's wrong with my boots?"

"What now?" Rafe asked after they had walked past the same stores in the malls three times already.

Alison looked across the street and smiled. "A movie!"

"A movie?"

"Yeah, how 'bout it?"

"Sure. But uh…no vampire movies, please."

Alison laughed. "We can see anything you want to see."

"Okay, then I'm going to go see the movie that you want to see."

"Rafe! Come on, you decide."

"No, you're the one that needs distraction. You pick."

In the end, they both decided to go with the romantic one. It never occurred to Alison that she was resting her head against Rafe's shoulder in the darkened movie theater. Rafe could hardly keep his eyes on the screen.