The rain poured down
Title: The Rain Poured Down
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I did I wouldn't have a problem paying for college. :D
Summary: Just a short little ficlet I thought up during a massive rainstorm. The prompt came from the yahoo group mash-slash forum, but I didn't intend this to be slashy. Just a friend fic.
The rain poured down. The sky had been gray, and the ground had been wet for three days now. BJ sighed as he entered the swamp, removing his poncho and hanging it up. He sat down on his bunk and removed his muddy boots. He poured himself a martini and laid back on his bunk, sighing.
BJ Hunnicutt hated the rain. He hadn't always; in fact he used to love the rain. The first date he had ever taken Peg on was a picnic in the park. Right in the middle of it the heavens had opened and drenched their date. They had quickly gathered their things and ran to his car. He remembers when they got inside he laughed at the sweet way her blonde hair stuck to her cheeks. He had brushed away, and they shared their first, sweet, kiss.
Ever since then they had enjoyed the rain, whether they took a walk or just sat on the porch and watched the water drip off the roof. In fact, he even proposed to her in the rain, on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant. He had planned to do it inside, but when they got out of the car with the rain coming down he just dropped to his knee and asked her. When they finally made it inside they got a lot of stares from the other patrons, but they hadn't noticed. They were too busy looking in each other's eyes.
But now the rain just reminded him that he was away from Peg, and stuck in Korea. The rain here dripped through the tents, and created a slippery muddy mess everywhere. It was no fun to go walking, and there was no porch to sit on. In California, everything brightened up and the plants turned green. Here, everything was green too, but a very dull shade of Army drab that only got darker with the rain.
"For cripes sake!" he yelled as the rain started to drip through the tent, directly onto his forehead. He sat up and wiped it off, grabbing a bedpan and setting it under the leak. He got up and flopped onto the extra bunk, pulling the pillow over his head to block out the sound of the rain. Hawkeye chose that moment to enter the swamp.
"Uh…are we playing musical beds?" he joked as he pulled off his poncho and tossed it on the floor. He waited a second more for a response, but one never came. "Beej?"
"There's a leak above my bed," he said gruffly. Hawkeye shrugged his shoulders, and grab the drink BJ had abandoned. He downed it in one gulp and sat the glass down, and then climbed into his own bunk. He propped himself up on his pillow and grabbed a book from the shelf behind his head. He read for maybe five minutes before losing interest. He dropped the book on the ground and looked over at his bunkmate. He was all the way across the tent, and the sun was hidden behind a cloud, but Hawkeye could swear BJ's shoulders were shaking.
Hawkeye stood up and walked over to the occupied cot and sat on the edge. The shaking had stopped but when BJ coughed Hawkeye could hear the strain that gave away the crying. He reached out a tentative hand and let it land on BJ's shoulder. BJ startled and moved away from him.
"Beej, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine. Just leave me alone." He coughed again.
"What do you take me for…an idiot? Talk to me Beej." He again touched his shoulder, and BJ didn't pull away this time. The rain picked up and BJ pulled the pillow tighter over his ears.
"Rain," came his one-word reply.
The pillow muffled BJ's voice and Hawkeye didn't understand him. "What?"
The blonde moved the pillow enough to free his mouth. "I hate the rain." Hawkeye removed his hand and rested his elbows on his knees, not knowing what to say. They sat for a few silent moments until BJ coughed again and then sat up with his back to the other man, dropping the pillow to the floor. "The rain is mine and Peg's…'thing'. Our first date was in the rain, I proposed to her in the rain, we danced in the rain at our wedding reception. She even told me she was pregnant in the rain. Now, the rain just reminds me that I'm not with her, or with Erin, and stuck in this godforsaken place." He got quiet for a moment before his shoulders started to shake again.
Hawkeye swung his legs around to the other side of the cot and wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulders. BJ's shoulders shook more violently and Hawkeye wrapped his other arm around him and pulled him close. The sobs came in big gulps as all of the longing, fright and pain he'd experienced since he arrived in this foreign land came spilling over. Hawkeye felt his own eyes sting with tears with the sound of his friend's misery.
The sobs became quick breaths, and soon turned into stifled coughs. Hawkeye let his arms fall and BJ turned away from him, wiping harshly at his eyes. Hawkeye sighed and wrung his hands. "I don't know what to say, Beej. I know it's cliché, but you know how they say to remember that you're looking at the same moon as the person you miss? Well maybe you can do the same thing." He paused just long enough to get a confused look from BJ. "You could be walking in the same rain as Peg. She walks in the rain, the water evaporates and makes new clouds, and then they travel over here and rain on you."
BJ turned back around to face Hawkeye and rolled his eyes. "That's really pathetic, Hawk."
Hawkeye laughed. "Yeah, but it got you to smile," he said, indicating the small grin that had made its way to BJ's face. "You want a drink?" He was answered with a nod and got up to pour them each a drink. He returned, handing one to BJ and sat down next to him.
BJ took a sip of his drink and sighed. 'Yeah he made me smile' thought BJ 'but…' He looked up sharply as water dripped into his martini, 'I still hate the rain.'
A/N: Ok, this is my first really angsty fic. Thanks for reading, and let me know what to do differently next time!