It feels like I haven't written anything in ages- I've been having...some troubles... shall we say? I'm exhausted and life won't stop. This is inspired by 'Just Stay here tonight' by Augustana and a few other things.

I hope you all enjoy it and I'll love to hear what you think- please review!

Disclaimer: I own zilch.

Rain from an Empty Sky

There is something about chills that can make you pine more than you ever imagined was possible. Greg stood watching the world from his doorstep a cigarette slowly burning out between his fingers. It struck him how strange it was to feel lonely in a city like this- all it would have taken was a few hundred dollars for him to buy the company he so clearly craved. But that wasn't true- those women weren't her.

They didn't smell like her, sound like her or feel like her. They would all just be his attempts at convincing himself that after all of these years of being madly in love, of hoping and of holding on that he wasn't alone.

It was a strange thing being in love with your best friend he realised with a smile that would only fool those who didn't know him. They had always loved each other. They had always wanted to save each other. But at some stage he fell in love with her. Greg realised he missed the way she frowned when she was in a bad mood, about the way despite all of his insistence she always forgot to use a coaster and how she treated him like her home.

Sometime he would find himself studying her and realise that perhaps it was all just misplaced hate. He despised her sometimes. Just the sight of her would infuriate him and the need to shake her and force her to face all of the things in his mind. He wanted more than anything to tell her that it was her turn at figuring out what the hell was going on between them because he was lost.

Somehow he would forget- he would let his mind wander to the time she had stories of the stars or listened to 'All the Stars and Boulevards' so many times they thought they were losing their minds. She made red wine taste sweeter. She made the sunsets brighter. She made the night skies mean something.

But he still wanted her to disappear into the haze of the desert and never return.

He needed a miracle to fix him after all of these years of abuse that would never show itself on his skin. And he knew that she needed him more than anything she had ever needed before. They wanted each other like oxygen because the world wouldn't have made sense. And as she appeared before him her skin wearing rain, her clothes in a sense of disarray and her heart in her hands he knew he had been right.

"I don't want to hurt him" Sara muttered as she made her way past him into his house refusing to meet his eyes out of fear that it would suddenly strike her that she belonged somewhere else. The gold of her wedding band hadn't been removed he noted the action making him laugh. She turned to face him her eyes narrowed as she tried to understand what was so funny.

"You're already hurt him. You hurt him by coming here tonight. And you've hurt me too." He clarified. She was using him to validate herself. It was more than obvious enough- the ring was still there- if she honestly meant it she would have taken it off. She would have told him that she no longer loved him- and that it was over.

"I need you" She stated plainly. It wasn't a lie. And if he was honest he had wished with the core of his being that she would come here that night. "I need you to make this go away... to stop it all from hurting so much"

"I can" He nodded tossing his cigarette down the steps that led to his house and closed the front door. "Say the word- it could be simple...perfect..."

"I can't" She shook her head, tucking her hands into her pockets. Out of sight; out of mind. She was hoping he'd fall for it and for a split second he almost did. He almost let all of his defences break down and take her to bed without thinking. "Greg...Please..."

"Don't beg" He frowned, his eyes suddenly a gathering storm. "It's nauseating."

"What do you want me to do?" Sara sighed out of frustration her numb hands unbuttoning her coat as if she was getting ready to fight this out. They needed to do that. They needed to clear the air but for some reason every time they tittered on the edge they would walk away.

"I don't want to fight" Greg shook his head making his way up the stairs as Sara followed. They were going towards the inevitable but still neither of them said a word about where this night would end. There was a strange silence ringing through their ears as they made their way into his bedroom.

"What do you want then?" She asked quietly watching the movement of shadows across his sheets. They had shared a bed before. It had been the strange accident of movie night or after a few too many glasses of wine at first. But then it was something more; it was the want of not having to feel a cold side to the bed. It was just a way not to feel alone.

"I could give you everything you want..." Greg stated sitting on the edge of the bed. His hands were clasped together, his elbows resting on his knees in an oddly casual manner. His eyes gleamed in the light and his honesty was making her shiver. "We can be the last ones picking up the pieces... We can make things right... We already love each other..."

"But you want me to leave him...to let him go..." She nodded.

"Yes" He responded with a shrug as if half understanding how hard this was. She had taken everything from her husband. She had forced him to take a leap of faith and the fear of hurting him seemed to burn through her conscious in a way she couldn't understand.

"I can't" Sara shook her head, her attention moving to her wedding ring twisting it around her finger out of habit. Their eyes met and she realised it was time to a make decision she had never thought of.

"You can...All it would take was one phone call..." He urged her but still Sara remind defiant.

"No" The word just lingered in the air as they realised that these were the circumstances they had to start with. It was now or never. "I'll leave..." She eventually said turning to walk away, walk out of his life for good.

"Just stay here tonight..." Greg whispered taking her hands in his own and it struck her in a moment like something she had always known. Sara realised he was home.

The End