DATE STARTED: MAY 30, 2016
DATE FINISHED: JUNE 21, 2016
DATE FIRST PUBLISHED: JUNE 4, 2016
DATE EDITED: PENDING
WORD COUNT: 1645

"It's raining."

My eyes stared out into busy street below me as the rain poured from the clouds and the sky started to darken. The TV in the background was showing an old movie about a postulant leaving the convent for a former sea captain and his seven children.

I walked back to my place on the couch and reclaimed my spot, making my dog Kash jump and get out of my way so I can sit on my spot with my legs crossed and under a blanket. I savored the twenty seconds I had before Kash barked at me, asking for permission to sit on my lap and get a belly scratch while we killed time watching the movie.

I rolled my eyes at the silly dog and extended my arms towards him so he knew to jump into them and get what he wanted, which he did. The little devil licked my cheek the moment he was on my lap. It made me smile a little bit before both Kash and I settled in and we put our focus on Maria singing about her favorite things.

Kash had left my lap long before the movie ended and I was left alone, feeling familiar emotions flow through me as the family fled from their would-be new life. In my twenty-one years of existence, I've always thought of myself as Maria but then one person showed me that I was a Captain Von Trapp in my own way.

I turned the TV off and stood up from the couch, to go to the kitchen in my two-bedroom apartment so I could make myself a cup of hot chocolate in my beautiful red mug. Outside the rain was still pouring and that made me feel grim. Everything looked dark to me.

Second cupboard to the left, that's where my favorite mug is, sitting next to a similar mint green mug lay abandoned, its owner in Japan. I grabbed my own mug and closed the cupboard, not bearing to look at the other mug and how despite the cheery color, it made everything a little bit grayer.

I made a tear on the pale blue packet and frowned. I had forgotten to boil water. My eyes automatically rolled as I marched to the other side of the kitchen to the kettle and filled it with water from the sink. I glared at the kettle while it boiled my water, willing it to go faster, willing the time to go faster so I can get it all over with.

I glanced at the window, all the buildings outside seemed to glum, matching my mood. They were all painted in serious black or grey or anything as dull. I could imagine the frustrated faces of the commuters stuck in the shower down there while I stood here, my hands on the counter, wearing comfy shorts and a sweater, waiting for my hot water to boil. I almost started to feel pity for them but then I realized that everyone gets stuck in that situation every once in a while and feeling pity for them didn't do anything.

My frown deepened when I felt soft tufts tickle my legs and brought me back to reality. Kash usually only did this when he needed to do his business and that meant having to bring him downstairs, ten floors down and out into the cold streets to take a piss. I grumbled but otherwise went to the coat hanger to grab a hoodie and to promptly put it on with Kash following me. I also picked up my keys and Kash's leash and bent down to connect it to his collar so we could get it over with. The little devil practically had a spring in his step as we walked to the elevator.

The streets felt so congested with people trying to get away from the rain that Kash found it really hard to do his thing and when he finished, I was glad to be able to get away from the mosh pit of cold, wet bodies. When we got out the front door of my building, the rain wasn't really enough to hinder our task on hand so I denied the offer of an umbrella from the attendant at the door. As fate would have it, while Kash was relieving himself, the rain got bad and we had to duck back in before we got struck by lightning.

On the way back in, I decided to stop by the bakery in front of my apartment, hoping to buy a coffee biscotti. But as my luck would have it, all they had left was pumpkin pie and sugar cookies and it would take them a while to restock the biscotti.

I bought the sugar cookies with my frown turning into a scowl.

When we got back into the apartment, the first thing Kash did was shake all of the water from his fur, which of course got me wet. I shot him a look and he ignored it as he happily trotted back to his chew toy.

In the ten minutes we were gone, my water had boiled and cooled down. Of all the things that could be delayed, it had to be my calming hot chocolate. Something that I needed to get my nerves to calm down while I waited for dinnertime to roll around so I can eat my feelings with a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs. I restarted the kettle and sat cross-legged on the counter, scrolling through my Facebook feed while I waited for the water to finish boiling again.

By the time the water had finally finished boiling, I had gone back to the start of a friends' Facebook posts from 2014. I quickly fixed my drink and soon I was back on the couch, my blanket once again shielding me from the cold while my hands were enveloped around the hot drink.

I listened to the sound of the downpour and let my sadness and frustration flow through, imagining all of the negative vibes surrounding me drifting away and out into the gloomy weather. The sound of raindrops felt almost melodic and peaceful after a while so I let it envelop me as I finished my drink and placed it on the coffee table.

My body soon drifted into peaceful sleep with my head on the armrest of the couch, my toes curled up inside my purple blanket and Kash on the other side of the couch, also dozing off. The apartment fell silent with only my snores and the whirring of the ac unit to make any noise.

All of a sudden, I felt the sensation of being carried and my nose picked up the scent of oak wood and baby's breath. In my daze, I cuddled up to the person carrying me, smiling as I lost myself in his essence. I almost felt bad when the person put me down and tucked me into bed, taking the scent away from me.

"Don't go." I whispered, fumbling for a part of his body I can use to pull the scent back to me. It was a difficult feat seeing as I was half asleep.

I was able to grab the shirtsleeve and tug the person into bed with me. I felt a hand reach out to cup my face and I felt the heat emanating from it. The action made me open my eyes to red orbs that I knew all too well.

My hands moved to tug on his shirt to pull him closer until his nose bumped into mine and his arms moved to envelop me into a hug that was six months overdue. I inhaled his scent and I felt my tears flow.

"I missed you." I whispered.

He gave me a soft smile that made my heart flutter and kissed my nose. His left hand moved to awkwardly brush stray hairs out of my face the way he used to. My heart swooned at the action and I felt my cheeks flush.

Natsume was just about to say something when my nose picked up a familiar scent that made me jump off the bed and run for the kitchen.

On the counter was a plain box that I opened as fast as I possibly could. Inside in neat little rows were the greatest things known to man. Howalons. My favorite treat in the entire universe. I forgot all about my anger and anguish as I pulled one puff out of the box and inhaled its tantalizing scent. I could practically hear angels in the background singing halleluiah as I took a bite.

The soft puff melted in my mouth and I could feel myself smiling. The small lopsided grin I had on my face from when I was dashing towards the real love of my life turned into a full smile with my upper molars practically showing as I allowed myself a few seconds of pure heaven when the sweet, sweet, delicious, amazing work of art went into my body.

I heard a chuckle from behind me as an arm wrapped itself around my waist and rested on my hip. I rolled my eyes and leaned into Natsume, inhaling more of his scent. I turned back to my treat and continued to eat with him watching me with a small, knowing smile on his lips. At some point, his hand moved from my hip to my arm so he could pull me closer and plant a kiss on my forehead.

When I finished half of the box, I looked at Natsume and winked at him.

"Don't think you're off the hook, honey. You need to shower."

He smirked at me and raised his hands in defeat, backing away to head to the bathroom.

END

Hey there! For everyone who is just reading this for the first time, then you really don't need to know this but the ending you just read isn't the original one. I'd finished the original story on June 4th but I'd had a fight with someone while writing the ending, which made the story give off a boring feel. So once I had reconciled with said person, I decided to rewrite the ending. It took so long because school just started again and I really couldn't be bothered with writing since I had a lot going on in my personal life.

If you've been reading my works since I started out, maybe you'll notice the significant changes in the way I write and the frequency of my works. Either way, I apologize for not posting as much as I used to. My priorities have changed and due to a life-changing decision, I've finally decided to put schoolwork above my other activities. I can't exactly be a good lawyer if all I'm doing is writing fanfiction and making reviews to stories rather than memorizing the rights of the accused, right? Yeah. Thought so. Until next time! Hanyaaaaaa~