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It was already a little after ten p.m. when Rafe and Alison suddenly realized that their stomachs were grumbling. They had been having so much fun all day that they had forgotten to eat dinner, and then of course, it didn't help that they had stuffed themselves with junk food at the movies earlier that afternoon.

As they walked around the downtown section of Port Charles, they came upon the Waffle House.

"Hey, that's open. Why don't we go grab a bite there?" Rafe suggested. "Is the food good?"

Alison shrugged her shoulders. "You know, I've never actually ate there before, but I've always wanted to. It's been in Port Charles like, forever."

"Well, you've been introducing me to new life experiences. Why don't we experience this one together?"

Alison smiled. "Okay!"

So the two walked in. They were a sight with the goofy grins on their faces and the shopping bags in tow. Rafe and Alison chose the table by the wall. Everything in this place was yellow, even the chairs.

The waitress was a large woman with vibrant red hair in a bun and a nametag that said "Shirley" on her vest. She chomped vigorously on some gum. She gave Rafe and Alison a big toothy smile as she walked over to the booth they were seated at.

"Aww, aren't you two a cute couple!" She turned to Alison. "What can I get for you, darlin'?"

Alison glanced over at the menu quickly. "Um…I'll just have some blueberry waffles, with lots of syrup. And some…and some coke."

Shirley took the order down on her notepad. Then she turned to Rafe. "And how about you, angel face?"

Alison held back her laughter.

"Uh…" Rafe thought. "I'll just have what she's having."

"Alrighty! Two orders of blueberry waffles comin' right up!" She said cheerfully and scooted off behind the counter.

Alison looked at Rafe and burst into laughter.

"Are my wings showing?" Rafe whispered.

Alison just laughed again.

"It's good to see you smile," Rafe said.

Alison blushed. "I've had a really great time today, Rafe. I can't believe we spent like, the whole day together."

Rafe laughed. "It was fun."

"What was your favorite part?"

Rafe thought. "Hmm, the movie."

"Mine too," Alison said.

A few minutes later, Shirley came back with their food. She gave them another big smile as she set the food down on the table. "Have you two been here before?"

Alison started to answer but Shirley cut her off.

"Oh yeah, aren't you those teenagers that used to come here all the time a few years back? Oh my goodness, look at you! You two have certainly grown up, especially you, darlin'!" Shirley said to Alison.

Alison shook her head. "Oh, no, we've never been here before. That must have been someone else."

"Are you sure? I swear, I would recognize you two anywhere!"

Rafe smiled. "No, this is our first time here."

Shirley frowned. "Oh. Well I swear, you two look awfully familiar. Hmm, well maybe it was in another lifetime, huh?" Shirley laughed. "Enjoy your food!"

"That was a little odd," Rafe said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Alison said. "Well, I'm starving!" Alison took a bite of her waffle, as did Rafe. The both shook their heads in agreement. They were the best waffles they had ever had, hands down.

"Rafe, you didn't have to walk me back…"

"Alison, for the last time, I wanted to. And besides, it's really late. I wouldn't want to take the chance of something happening to you."

Alison smiled. "You're really sweet, Rafe. Thank you for today."

"You're welcome."

Alison stood at the bottom of the steps, gazing into Rafe's eyes.

They both paused for a moment, both wanting to kiss but at the same time, holding back.

Rafe leaned forward ever so slightly, and Alison closed her eyes.

Then Rafe caught himself and pulled away. "I should go!"

"Uh…yeah. And I should…I should get back inside."

"Yeah, Livvie and Jack are probably worried about you."

"Okay."

"Okay," Rafe repeated.

"Goodnight, Rafe."

"Goodnight." Rafe smiled at her and then took off quickly.

Alison inhaled deeply and walked up the front steps and into the house.

"ALISON! THANK GOD!" Livvie exclaimed and ran over to her. "Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you but your cell phone was turned off!"

"Oh, I must have forgot to turn it back on after the movies."

"Is that were you've been this whole time?"

"Alison, thank god you're back!" Jack said as he walked into the living room.

"You guys! What is wrong with you? I'm just fine. Why are you so worried?" Alison asked.

"We're worried because we are your friends and we haven't seen you since breakfast! My god, Alison, we thought something had happened to you! You could have called! Where were you?"

"We thought you might have gone to work out things with Jamal. We didn't call him because we didn't want to risk disturbing you, and then, we didn't want to worry him," Jack explained.

"You guys! Look, I'm sorry I worried you. I'll call next time, okay? I just spent the day having some fun and I sorta lost track of time, that's all."

"Well, sorry we got all freaked out," Livvie said. "But we're your friends so we're going to worry about you anyway."

Alison smiled. "I'm sorry. Won't happen again. Well, I'm beat, so I'm off to bed. Goodnight," Alison said and headed for her bedroom.

"Goodnight," Livvie and Jack said.

After Alison got dressed and ready for bed, she took out her shopping bags and browsed through some of the things from the mall. She took out the little brown bear that Rafe had bought for her. Alison smiled at it and put it on her pillow. Then she took out her new gown. It wasn't too extravagant, but it would be nice for a simple dinner party.

As Alison sorted through her new things, she suddenly came across something that wasn't hers.

"Oh, this is Rafe's stuff," she said softly. "I must have picked up his bag by accident." Alison picked up the bag from the bed and put it against the wall. She was about to walk away from it without giving it a second thought until she noticed something brown and leathery inside of it. Alison peered over the bag to take a closer look. She suddenly realized what it was…Rafe's journal.

Alison took the journal out of the shopping bag.

Rafe's journal! Alison thought to herself.

Alison ran her fingers along the spine of the book. Alison was a curious person by nature. She couldn't help it. She always had to know! And she had been extremely curious as to what kinds of secrets her favorite angel had been writing about so much lately. Alison slowly started to open it, but then she slammed it shut.

No, Alison! No! That's wrong! That's really, really wrong, and you should be ashamed of yourself for even considering it. Rafe's your friend, and you should respect his privacy. It's Rafe's. Okay? It's his private journal, and to read it would be very bad.

"No, I won't do that," Alison said softly. "But…a little peek wouldn't hurt…no!" Alison closed the journal again.

Don't do it, Alison.

"No, I won't read it," Alison whispered. "But…if I…say, accidentally saw some of it, that wouldn't be bad, would it?" Alison then dropped the journal to the floor. "Whoops."

The journal fell to an open page, and Alison smiled. "I'll just…I'll just pick it up very slowly and then…and then close it, slowly."

And as Alison reached for the journal, she gasped. Seven words caught her eye:

I think I'm in love with Alison.