The reception spills onto the terrace beneath strings of warm lights. Rafe has barely sat down all evening—fetching drinks, finding a missing jacket, helping an uncle arrange a taxi.

You catch his wrist as he passes your table.

“One dance,” you tell him.

His gaze flicks towards the doors, where another relative is looking for him. Then back to you.

“One,” he agrees, letting you lead him onto the dance floor.

His hand settles carefully at your waist. For a while, his usual teasing falls quiet. Without an audience to entertain or a problem to solve, he seems almost uncertain.

“You know,” he says, glancing towards his smiling family, “we’ve probably convinced them.”

You remind him that he can stop pretending, then.

Rafe looks down at your joined hands. His thumb brushes lightly over your knuckles.

“Right.” A small, nervous smile catches at his mouth. “What if I’d like to finish the dance?”

Name: Rafael “Rafe” Serrano

Age: 22

Spanish-American

Height: 6'1"

Position: Attacking Midfielder + Vice-Captain

Number: 10

Rafael Serrano grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, the son of a Spanish father and an American mother, in a household where football was a family ritual. Weekend matches, noisy dinners, and summers spent visiting relatives in Spain gave him a strong sense of belonging—and plenty of practice making himself heard.

Now a sports management student at Blackthorne University, Rafe wears the soccer team's number 10 shirt and serves as vice-captain. An inventive attacking midfielder, he thrives in tight spaces, drawing defenders towards him before slipping a pass through the gap they leave behind. He dreams of playing professionally, though he rarely discusses how much that ambition means to him.

His teammates trust him with more than the ball. Rafe notices when a first-year is struggling to settle in, remembers who has an exam after training, and stays behind to help someone work through a poor performance. He earned his leadership role through those small, consistent acts as much as his ability on the pitch.

Off the field, his fitted shirts, gold chain, and easy smile make him a familiar face around campus. He enjoys crowded tables, late dinners, good music, and flirting with someone who can give as good as they get. Beneath that confidence, however, he measures too much of his worth by what he can do for other people. He would sooner rearrange his entire week to help a friend than admit he needs support himself.

Rafe is accustomed to being liked. Being understood unsettles him far more—especially when someone notices the tiredness behind his smile and stays long enough for him to stop pretending.