She hated storms. They made everything wet and miserable. It was always loud and it caused too many accidents. During the summer in Miami, there were always too many storms. They weren't pleasant, especially when she was alone. It was summer break and most of the student left for home. She stayed and took summer classes and hoped to get ahead in school. Miami was her home but she felt that it was better to stay in the dorms so her dad had time for painting. She was pretty sure no one else was staying here. Well, except for maybe a few.

It was raining heavily and she heard the trees blowing harshly in the wind. She was up reading to help calm her down. It had worked, until the power went out. She groaned loudly and quickly left her dorm, hoping to find a place where she wouldn't have to suffer alone. The chances of her finding someone were pretty slim, but it worked out. She was about to turn the corner when she smacked into something or more accurately, someone. Her eyes wandered up to meet brown ones. The person standing in front of her was over a head taller and had shaggy blond hair. She immediately stepped back.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Hey it's alright, too dark to see much anyway."

He offered her a smirk and her cheeks warmed at the sight of it.

"I'm Austin."

"Ally."

"Well Ally, mind some company tonight?"

He was very upfront and blunt about it and it took her by surprise. He must have noticed because he stumbled to correct himself.

"I mean, if you want? I'm not really a fan of the dark and I was going to see if-"

She smiled as he rambled on. He was kind of adorable and his smile did ludicrous things to her heart.

"Sure! Your place or mines?"

She smiled at him and he beamed. He gestured to hers and they both walked back to her dorm. She grabbed a few candles from the cupboard and lit them up to provide a bit of lighting. She rearranged the pillows on the couch and looked back towards him. He still stood by the door and shuffled back and forth. She chuckled at his awkward stance and invited him over to sit. He slowly walked over and she could hear him take in a breath.

"Is that syrup?"

"Uh yeah, maple. My dad likes to get me candles and this is the one I've been using. Sorry if you don't like it.."

"No, it's all good! It's actually one of my favorite scents."

He offered her another smile before he sat down beside her. The maple smell filled the room and the silence thickened. She was sitting in her dorm room with someone she had never met and it could easily be a huge mistake. Panic filled her and she wasn't sure if she should kick him out or let him stay. He looked really sweet and she didn't want to be mean, but what if something happened? She was about to ask him to leave when he broke the silence.

"Hey, is that the textbook for music theory?"

Her mouth shut and she nodded, a little surprised that he chose to bring that up of all things.

"That's cool! I'm taking music theory too. It's nothing new really but I had to get the credits."

"Me too.."

His eyes lit up and he began to ask her questions about everything: her major, hobbies, favorite foods.

Music. Songwriting. Pickles.

For him?

Music. Performing. Pancakes.

They shared few interests, but the one thing they had in common was their interest in music. She found out that he has always wanted to become a performer, but he wasn't that great at writing songs and getting his thoughts out onto paper. It didn't work out too well, so he ended up at his parents' mattress store. He found out that she wanted to perform too, but she had terrible stage fright. She resorted to just writing songs and working at her dad's music store whenever she had time. The two of them chose music as their majors, hoping that they'd get somewhere. She discovered that he was rather ticklish and spent nearly half an hour just listening to his laughter and cries for her to stop. He discovered that she was equally as ticklish and repeated her actions for another half hour. They talked for ages, but it didn't feel like it to them. They were strangers when they entered her dorm, but it felt like they've known each other all their lives by the end of the night.

The power came back on eventually. When she finally checked her phone to see how much time passed, she discovered it had been seven hours. He stood up and smiled at her. It was late and he had to get going. She walked him to the door and he turned to face her, his tired eyes still carrying a bit of brightness.

"Thanks for tonight. See you around?"

She nodded and he left for his dorm. The door shut as he walked off and she sat back down on the couch. She nearly dozed off until she noticed something scribbled onto a piece of paper on the table.

Call me sometime.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Her eyes rolled and she put the number into her phone with a chuckle. She'd text him tomorrow. She wouldn't know it, but his name will frequent her texts and call log. Eventually, they'd share nights at each other's dorms and practically every meal of every day. That's all a bit too far in the future though. Tomorrow he will stop by in the morning and offer to take her to eat breakfast as a thank you for last night. He'll want to take her to the best place for pancakes of course. And when she sees his bright eyes and blond head, she'll say yes. Starting from that night, she wouldn't hate storms so much anymore.