Love Rains

Love Rains
Second Edition
Kira Stone
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2024 Kira Stone

A hard rain fell down upon her as she walked, fast as she dared, up the uneven, slippery stone walkway to the run-down house. The weather had been sunny at home. The cloud-choked sky reminded her of just why England was infamous for its stormy weather. She pulled the hood of her jacket tighter around her face but it didn't help.

As she stood before the dark, shadowed front door, she wondered if she should leave. Coming to him like a drowning rat...

No, she decided. She could feel him inside. Waiting. Tense.

She'd been here before and darted away like a child who suddenly became too scared to go through with a dare. She was scared now, but she wasn't a child. So she knocked this time. The sound came out too timid and nervous. She drew in a strengthening breath and knocked again, three times in rapid succession, sure to be heard inside over the heavy rain.

The door opened almost immediately as if he'd been standing on the other side, waiting for her signal. Perhaps that's why she'd felt him so keenly. He looked clean and carefully dressed, with his habitual black clothes neatly pressed.

She shivered. She told herself it was from the cold rain that plastered her long golden hair to her face and the rivulets of water that invaded the front of her jacket to dampen her shirt. Even as she mentally tried to explain it away, she knew she was lying to herself. It was because she was finally facing him. As an adult. Alone.

"I... I came to you." She had trouble meeting his eyes; eyes she knew were nearly as dark as his long black hair. "To see you."

"Come in," he replied, his tone as expressionless as his face. He stepped back, allowing her to cross the threshold and enter his home for the first time. She felt both honored and ashamed. She should have visited him before now. It would certainly have made her feel less awkward.

She followed him, the form of the man she'd only really known well as a thin, growing boy. A lot of time had passed since they'd spent days talking under the willow tree -- time and experiences that had irrevocably changed them both. Even in this moment, he was a shadowy figure as he moved to the center of the cluttered room lit by a single lamp next to a table where an open book seemed to indicate he'd been reading when she arrived. Only when the lightning flashed through the partially closed curtains could she truly see his face.

His beautiful silky black hair hung loosely about his shoulders, a stark contrast against his pale white skin. The glow from the lamp outlined his facial features rather than illuminating them. Still, it was possible to see how strong emotion had etched deep furrows into his brow. His nose curved downward, leading her eyes to his thin, broad lips which she knew rarely curved up in a smile. One couldn't call him handsome, yet in her eyes he still looked... desirable.

"So you have come to me." His voice was deep and sonorous. "With what purpose in mind?"

"You know." She made a gesture to indicate her loss for words. "You must know why."

"Remove your jacket. Put it on the coat stand to dry." He looked her over from head to toe, and she suddenly wished she'd waited for a sunny day to knock. She must look a horror; not what she wanted him to see. "That is, if you intend to stay a while."

She did. Didn't she? Wasn't that why she was here? To be with him, just for a little while?