A/N: Hello! Here is my first Rilaya one-shot, so please be kind! I wrote this during a storm. I got lost in thoughts while I was observing the sky, and this idea for a story came to me.
Quick note: Riley and Maya just graduated from college, and the story is written in Riley's P.O.V. The italics mean that it's a flashback.
What was it about the storm that made it so comforting?
Probably because all it did was remind me of her.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
As I stood in the rain, the lightning shattering the sky above me, all I could think about was the blonde-haired blue-eyed she-devil that was Maya Hart. Thunder boomed through the night sky as I once again knocked on her window, hoping for an answer.
"Come on, Maya. This isn't funny." I said, knocking on the window repeatedly. She smirked at me through the glass and the look of mischief in her eyes was enough to give me shivers. I knew she would never let me in.
"Please! It's going to rain soon, and you know I get scared during storms." I said. The sky cracked above me, rain suddenly pouring down on me. I gasped, trying to open the window.
"Maya!" I yelled, banging on her window with my fist. As she opened the window, I could hear her laugh, and that was all it took to make the anger float away.
"I'm sorry." She said, still chuckling a bit. I knew she wasn't sorry, but rare were the days where Maya Hart would laugh.
"It's okay," I started, a smirk appearing on my lips. "Now I can hug you." I said, throwing myself at her, our bodies crashing and landing on the carpeted floor. She squirmed as I laughed, knowing how much she hated it when I did that.
She laughed again.
This time, the window opened.
She let me in; not because she wanted to, but because I probably looked crazy standing in the storm. I made my way inside her room, shivering.
I pushed my bangs out of my face. I probably looked like the biggest mess.
"I'm not sure that this haircut would suit me well." I said hesitantly. I was seated in a salon chair, looking at myself in the mirror.
"Oh please." Maya said, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and leaning closer to me. "You've had the same haircut for years. Plus, you looked really hot with the wig." She said. I chuckled, the nervousness leaving my body.
"I could just wear the wig again?" I asked tentatively. She smirked.
"You promised you would do this." She reminded me. I groaned.
"Fine."
Her window was clear from curtains, just like she wanted it to be during storms. Her fascination with storms dated from way back – I personally believed that she was born to love the storm. After all, that's what she was. A big, dark, scary storm.
"What the fuck was I supposed to do?!" She yelled. I sat on my bed, looking away from her.
"You lied to me. You said you wanted to be alone, so I leave you alone. But you didn't want to be alone, didn't you? No! You were too busy getting drunk and making out with other people. How… How could you do this to me?" She asked, her voice quieting down.
"You did the same to me." I replied, my voice equally quiet. I looked at her. She was staring at me, those blue eyes letting me see right into her soul. The soul that was so sad, so broken that I wasn't sure if I had even shattered one piece.
A few minutes later, we were laying on my bed, listening to the storm outside. Her arm was wrapped around my waist, mirroring my position. Our legs were tangled together and some of her hair covered her face. She hadn't cried, and I hadn't either. She soon fell asleep, the storm outside calming the storm inside.
Her room hadn't changed. The blue-grey paint, the hundreds of drawings and pictures scotch-taped to the wall.
I couldn't help but notice the drawing she had done of me was missing.
"Done!" Maya said, dropping her pencil and smiling excitedly. I had been posing for several hours, and I was glad that it was over.
I turned to her – the smile on her face made it all worthwhile.
She handed me the drawing.
It was a drawing of me, exactly like I had posed. I was sitting on a rock, my back turned to the picture. Every detail, from the grains of sand to the wave of the water, to my shadow resting behind me, to the curves of my body; everything was just like it was in real life.
"Maya… This is amazing." I said, looking up to her. The relieved look on her face confirmed what I had suspected; she was afraid I would have hated it.
"It's beautiful." I said.
"Just like you are." She replied, grinning. I couldn't help the laughter that came out of me.
"That was so freaking cheesy." I said, letting a small giggle escape my lips.
She answered by wrapping her arms around my neck, pulling me closer to her. I wrapped my arms around her waist, being careful not to damage the drawing. She pressed her lips against mine, and once again, just like everything her lips touched mine, I was in Heaven.
"Did you want something?" She asked. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, some blonde curls falling out and framing her face. She was only wearing an over-sized grey t-shirt bought from Demolition with her white slippers.
"You know what I want." I replied quietly. Her face showed no emotions whatsoever. She simply reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. Just as I thought she was going to give in, she reached behind me and opened one of her drawers, pulling out another one of her over-sized shirts. She slapped it in my hands and took a few steps back before sitting on the chair facing the window.
I took off my skinny jeans and slipped the shirt over my head. I tried to dry my hair as much as possible by scrunching it up, but it didn't seem to do much.
"Why is it that every time we have this conversation, you always end up crying?"
"Because it's frustrating, Maya!"
I could hear her sigh as she stood up. She kneeled in front of me and tilted up my chin towards her face.
"There is nothing frustrating about this situation. Most of them have known for a long time that we would end up together. I know that you're scared, and that's understandable. But I can be brave enough for the both of us, just like you're optimist enough for the both of us. You have to look on the bright side of things. This will be such a relief, and we can stop hiding after that." She said to me. I looked into her blue eyes, hoping to find the courage I was supposed to magically find.
"What if they're not okay with it?" I asked. She chuckled.
"Then we run away." She grinned. A small laugh escaped my lips, and her smile reassured me. Almost all of the stress came out at the same time. Boy, was I lucky to have her.
I sat down on her bed, waiting for her to look at me. When she finally did, all I could see was the hurt in those blue eyes.
That look was enough to drive me crazy.
The letter was waiting for me on the kitchen table.
I didn't open it until Maya and I were sitting together in my car.
I got in.
She did not.
I went.
She did not.
When our lips crashed, it was everything I had hoped for.
All the time lost, all the years spent away from each other, all the tears, the pain, the suffering; it was all worth it.
In one moment, everything seemed right.
The flying clothes, the bed sheets, the rumbling thunder.
She was the storm.
She was the biggest storm I had ever gotten stuck in. But unlike all the other storms, I never wanted to run to safety.
A/N: Don't forget to leave a review! They always make me want to write some more!
-xx