Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine.
A/N: A few thank-yous are due before this story can begin. First, to Pandorama, for the premise of this story. I hope to do justice to your idea. Second, as always, to Melissa, for being the best beta an author could ask for. Committed, fast, and always willing to stay up the extra hour or so to help me choose a title. I hope we make this story amazing.
It was raining.
She had no umbrella, no hood, nothing to prevent the relentless drops from soaking her hair as she ran. As it was, the rain was the least of her problems.
She turned the corner, her breath catching in her throat. She leaned against the wall as she struggled to catch her breath. She had been running for nearly twenty blocks. Taking a cab from the bus stop might have been a smarter idea, but she hadn't had time to wait for a cab to hail down. She wished that she had thought this plan through more thoroughly, that she hadn't taken off straight from her office for the bus stop that would get her as far away as fast as possible. Her car was still parked in the garage behind the hospital where she now worked. Or, as it were, used to work; she had no intention of returning.
Going back was simply out of the question now that not even the place she worked was safe. Once or twice was merely coincidence, but this had been five times in the past three days. He didn't even work there. He had no business being at her hospital. She could understand if they had a mutual acquaintance, but she knew that wasn't the case. There was no reason for him to be there. There had been one date, just the one, and it hadn't even been that great. Now he refused to leave her alone.
The rain did not let up as she began moving again toward her destination. It hurt too much to run – she had not been practical enough to change out of the heels she had worn to work – so instead she walked at a brisk pace. Practicality had not been at the top of her list of worries as she had fled from the hospital to the nearest bus stop. None of it had been practical. It had been all about the escape.
The street was familiar and it brought back memories that were as comforting as they were painful. She had not lived on this street for very long, and she hoped the person she was going to see still lived there. She pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket and checked the battery. It was nearly dead. If he no longer lived at this address, she would have barely enough phone battery to call for a cab to a hotel. She hoped once more that he hadn't moved…
The lights were on in his living room window; that much she could tell as she approached. Someone was home, but was it the right person? She swallowed hard and brushed her soaking bangs from her face as she approached the door. She knocked once, twice, and then stepped back to wait. The door opened a moment later.
Her eyes filled with tears at the sound of his voice. He spoke her name in a tone of surprise, maybe even trepidation, but it also held notes of curiosity and concern. He stepped back to allow her to enter. She began shaking as she crossed through the doorway. She wrapped her arms around her body as she stood next to the door, suddenly aware of the fact she was dripping water all over what had once been their floor.
He seemed to have noticed this, too. Turning around, he walked away from her, down a long hallway that she knew led to a bathroom. He returned with his arms full of towels. He unfolded the largest one and draped it around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She made no movement to stop him as he used another towel to dry her hair. She rested her head on his neck as she felt tears begin to fall freely down her cheeks.
At some point, he must have realized that she wasn't just wet from the rain and she wasn't shaking just because it was cold. He stopped rubbing her hair to drape the second towel around her shoulders as well. She lifted her head from his chest and looked at him. He slowly brought his thumb to her face and brushed the tears away from her eyes. She closed her eyes as he touched her and he pulled her closer to him, enveloping her in a tight embrace.
They stood there for a long time, neither of them daring to break the silence. As he held her, she suddenly became aware of how pathetic she looked, with her hair in desperate need of another round of dye and her only clothing soaking wet. She dreaded the moment when he would remember whom he was embracing and what she had done to him. She feared the moment he would push her away from him and send her back out into the rain, into the street, into his path once more. Unconsciously, she clung to him tighter.
He took a step backward suddenly, gently prying her hands from around his neck. He kept his hands on her upper arms and studied her face. She did not drop her gaze as his eyes moved up her face to the deep roots of her hair and across to her right ear, which she knew was missing its earring. He stared at her a long time before finally speaking.
"Do you want to sit down?" he asked finally. "You look exhausted." She didn't answer, but he led her over to the couch anyway and half-pushed her down onto one of the cushions. He sat down next to her and looked at her expectantly, clearly waiting for her to break the silence next.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears again. "I'm so-"
Perhaps he didn't want her to ramble because he quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but closed it just as quickly. The words literally died in the back of her throat. The enormous weight of the situation, the gravity, the improbability, pressed upon her chest so with such force it felt as though she were suffocating from the inside out. It strangled her lungs, making it impossible for her to breathe. His hands were on her shoulders in an instant, and he directed her eyes upward to meet his.
"Breathe," he instructed softly, but firmly. "Just look at me and breathe." She struggled to match her breath with his slow, even breathing. "That's it," he said, as she began calming down. She saw him rub the back of his neck, which he tended to do when the situation was stressful and he was thinking hard and fast. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She tried to reply, but her voice box would not cooperate. She instead nodded to show her acceptance of his apology. He looked at his watched and sighed.
"It's nearly midnight," he said. "Do you want to take a shower, maybe warm up? You can put on some dry clothes if you…oh." He broke off as his eyes trailed over to the door and back to her. "You didn't bring any other clothes with you." She just looked at him; it had not been a question.
"Okay," he began again, and she knew him well enough to know he was hiding his surprise. She supposed it must be odd, her showing up soaking wet in the middle of the night with no extra clothing and unable to speak. If the situation were not so grave, she would have laughed. "Right, well, you can take a shower and I'll…I'll just lend you some things for tonight, then." She nodded, grateful for this gesture, and wondered vaguely if he had kept any of her old clothes here. She had taken almost everything with her when she'd moved out, but she supposed it was possible she'd missed a few articles by mistake.
He showed her to the bathroom as though she wouldn't remember where it was. She got the sense that he was afraid to leave her alone, unsure of what she would do if she didn't have someone to guide her. He faltered as he stood in the doorway, clearly uncertain of what he should do next. "I'll…get you another towel, all right?" Without waiting for her reply, he turned around and walked back down the hall.
She shut the door behind him and looked at herself in the mirror for the first time since the morning. Her makeup was blotchy, smeared on her face in some places. Her hair was a tangled mess; she strongly wished she had a thick brush and a hair band to pull it back with. She ran her fingers through the tangles, trying her best to comb out some of the worst knots, but it was futile. Her arm fell uselessly to her side, overcome by exhaustion. She turned around and faced the shower, but even turning on the water felt like the most strenuous task. Blindly, she stumbled her way into the adjourning bedroom and collapsed onto the bed they had once shared. She was asleep within seconds. She didn't feel him join her as he slid into bed next to her twenty minutes later, didn't respond as he wrapped his arms around her, and didn't object as he kissed her temple and wondered why the hell she had returned to him once more.
A/N: Please review. I would love to know your thoughts! I promise to update soon.
