Lyrics from Something Corporate's 'Hurricane':
He realizes that it's raining out. Tiny drops of water are collecting on the sill beneath his open window. Sighing, he closes his textbook. Focus is just not coming to him tonight. Not when he's thinking of her. He misses her. There's not a whole lot he misses about that place, but he sure misses her. He's even gotten rid of all her pictures. Not that it matters. She is perfectly preserved in his memory.
He gets up and makes his way over to the window. He realizes it must have been raining for a while- water is dripping off the window sill and onto his floor. He reaches out to shut it, pausing with his hand on the frame, his arm and face being soaked briefly.
And he swears to God, the rain smells like her bedroom
Shake down you make me break—For goodness sake
"Nate! Can we please at least talk about this?" He knew she'd get like this. He wanted it quick and quiet, but already she's sounding angry and desperate.
"Cody," he keeps his voice level, "there's nothing to talk about. I'm leaving; we'll be going to different colleges…"
"So?" She cuts in loudly. "I thought colleges didn't matter! You said it didn't matter!"
"That was when we were going to the same one! I'll be in B.C., Cody! That's across the continent!"
"Why does it suddenly matter? Why now? I thought we were good! I thought everything was okay!"
"It won't work, Cody!"
"So, what, you get to decide this all on your own? Don't I get a say?" She looks like she hates him. He hopes she hates him. It would all be so much easier if she hated him.
"Why are you so upset about this?"
She looks at him in shock, "I don't know- maybe because I love you?"
"Cody," he says, his voice calm once again, "please just accept this. It's better; for both of us."
"Really?" She asks, and he can hear her voice quivering harshly. "Explain it to me! Because I don't see how this could possibly be better!"
"Cody," he wonders why he keeps saying her name, "please try to understand. We'll never see each other! Never! It's not fair to either of us."
"Nate," she chokes out the first tears, "why are you telling me all this now? You've had weeks! Why couldn't you have told me? We could have talked! We could have…" she lets out another sob.
He walks toward her, placing a hand on either side of her face. He pulls her close; their foreheads are touching. "I have to go," he whispers. His eyes are closed.
Her voice is tiny, "Nate…" He grabs his bag and walks out.
He doesn't kiss her goodbye.
I think I'm on the edge of something new with you
"Are you okay?" He looks up from his book. He hadn't even heard her approach.
"Yeah," he motions to the space beside him and she sits down, "Why?"
"You've seemed kind of…weird lately…" She leans back against the abandoned bleachers and he mimics her actions.
"Nope, fine."
"Okay…" they remain silent for a few moments before she speaks again, "Hey, you sure you're okay with this whole college thing?"
"I thought we talked about this," he smiles lightly.
"We did," she grins sheepishly, "but I just wanna make sure…"
"I'm fine, Cody," he slips an arm around her shoulders.
"Promise?"
He hesitates for a moment, "…Promise."
Shout out don't drown the sound I'll drown you out
"Nate?" Her voice is hesitant as she steps into his room.
"Hey," he looks up from his place on the bed.
"So, you kinda left in a hurry the other day…"
"Yeah…" He doesn't know what to tell her.
"Look, Nate, it's not a big deal. So we go to different colleges, so what?" He sits up on the bed and she sits beside him, "Lots of people have long distance relationships." He nods. He's been thinking about this long and hard, but he doesn't know what to tell her.
"Nate?"
"No, yeah, you're right," he turns to look at her, "we can do this."
"I mean, there's holidays, and…well, that's kind of it. But there are lots of holidays!"
He has to chuckle. She's cute. "Cody," he puts on a smile, "we'll be fine."
"Okay," she smiles sweetly, kissing him quickly. "We're playing cards in the Open. You coming?"
"I've got some homework I should do…"
"Mmkay," she stand up, "call me later?"
"Yeah," he smiles.
You'll never scream so loud as I wanna scream with you
"I can't believe he's doing this!"
"Nate, calm down…"
"No! Did you not hear? He's telling me where to go to university! He can't do this!"
"Nate," she grabs his hand, sounding worried, "please stop!"
"Cody," he's stopped pacing, "Don't you get it? We were almost out of here! We were supposed to go to college together! And now he's ruined it!"
"It's okay! It's not that big of a deal," she tries to reassure him, "we'll be fine!"
"I gotta get out of here," he sighs.
"Nate…"
He's out the door.
Standing there with your smile blinding your eyes from seeing my face
"I told you you'd get in," Nate smiles at the girl on his lap.
"This is so awesome!" She squeals, holding their acceptance letters in her hand, "We're going to college together! To Harvard!"
"Yeah, pretty cool," he laughs. He wraps his arms tighter around her waist.
"Next year is going to be amazing!" She leans back against him. He smiles and kisses her.
As I'm dying to figure out a girl
"Just open it," he laughs.
"I will!" Cody insists. "Why don't you open yours?"
"Okay," he shrugs, smirking. He goes to rip open the envelope when…
"No! Okay, how about, I open your and you open mine? At the same time."
"Sure," he chuckles. He's never seen her so nervous before. They swap envelopes and he looks at her.
"Ready?"
"Yeah…on three."
"One."
"Two."
"Three." The sound of ripping paper.
"You did it! Nate!" She shrieks. He grins at her. "…Well?"
"Well what?"
"Nate!"
"Oh, fine," he smiles proudly at the girl in front of him, "Ms. Myers, it looks like you're going to Harvard."
She flings herself into his arms.
But she drifts so far away I'm on the coast
"You ready?"
"Yeah…" she sighs, but doesn't move.
"Cody…it's time to put them in the mail now."
"I know."
"So…"
"I know! Fine," she hesitantly raises her hand, and at the same time they slide their applications into the mailbox.
"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"What if I don't get in? What if you don't get in?"
"Oh, I know I'll get in," he informs her, "I'm smart."
"I'm ignoring you now," she says flatly.
"Come on, Cody," he puts an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close, "we will both get in, and we'll both go to Harvard, and everything will be perfect."
"You don't know that!"
"Sure I do. Now come on," he says, leading her back to the school, "I think we're watching The Breakfast Club tonight…"
So maybe I should stay and map around your world
"This is hard," he complains.
"It's supposed to be hard. It's Harvard."
"It's too hard. Let's not bother."
"Nate!"
He sticks his tongue out at her, "Come on, can't we stop now? I've filled out, like, a million applications in the last two days!"
She looks hesitant, "We'll finish later, right?"
"Of course," he says. She's about to speak again, but he's already kissing her.
So don't say, "These currents are still killing me," and you can't explain
They're lying on the floor, some old vinyl playing the background. He is acutely aware of their touching shoulders, and her head is tilted at such an angle that he can feel her warm breath on his neck.
"You think they'll be here tomorrow?"
"Cody, the applications will come when they come," he tells her.
"Fine, but the second they get here, I'm locking myself in my room and not coming out until I've finished every last one of them."
"Okay," he laughs and continues the game they were playing before colleges came up, "oatmeal or chocolate chip?"
She plays with the hem of his shirt, "Chocolate chip. Strawberries or cherries?"
"Strawberries," he taps her Converse-endowed foot with his own, "Coke or Pepsi?"
"Coke," and she smiles, because she knows he already knew the answer to that, "supermodels or photographers?"
He rolls over and kisses her.
But the wind went and pulled me into the hurricane
"I so don't want to be here."
"We have no choice, our fathers are on staff," she reminds him. She readjusts the hand on his shoulder as they sway to the music.
"It's just a bunch of tennis sponsors," he gestures around the decorated gymnasium before returning his hand to her waist.
"I'm not saying I'm enjoying it," she clarifies.
"So let's go."
"What?" She pulls away only slightly, looking up at him.
"Let's go," he repeats.
"Go where?"
"Somewhere. Into town."
"Nate, we can't just leave!" But he's known her long enough to tell by the gleam in her eyes that she's considering it.
"Sure we can! We'll be back by the time the dance ends. They'll never notice."
She pauses, thinking.
"Okay."
He grabs her hand and leads her out of the gym.
Stand up don't make a sound your ears might bleed
It's late. He's not sure how late, but it's dark out. It doesn't matter, though. Both of their dads are gone on some staff weekend retreat meant to build teamwork, or something stupid like that.
She's already tugged off his shirt, and his hands are making their way under hers. He places a row of kisses along her neck before returning to her lips.
"Cody," he breaks away, panting slightly, "are you…" She cuts him off, tangling her hand in his hair and pulling him back to her.
"Cody…" he pulls away again, trailing off because she knows what he's asking.
"Yes." She says, confident and forceful. He takes in her sure face for a moment, before nodding slowly and kissing her once again. He slips his hands back under her shirt and begins slowly pulling it off.
There are sweet fluorescent enemies that live inside of me
She walks into his dad's office and settles herself comfortably on the floor before speaking, "I'm bored."
"Oh, really?" He chuckles.
"Yes, really. What are you doing?" She indicates the various records strewn around the room.
"I found a box of my dad's old vinyl. Who knew he was once cool?"
"Wait, you mean, like, Bates?"
"That's usually who I mean when I say 'my dad'."
"Huh. That's…kinda creepy," she says, pulling a few records out of the box in front of them.
"Tell me about it." After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he speaks again.
"Hey, Cody?"
"Mmm hmm?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Shoot."
"I love you."
That gets her attention. Her head snaps up, "You…what?"
"I love you," he's blushing, "I didn't know if you wanted some big romantic gesture- which I can do, if you want! But I wasn't sure if there was a way to do this, or just tell you, or… And if you don't wanna say it back, that's cool, I mean…" She cuts him off with her lips.
"I love you, too."
The world moves faster than I knew
"We're supposed to be at the match," she says, even managing to sound a little guilty. But she's making no move to get off him, so they simply continue kissing on his bed.
He rolls her over, smiling and saying, "This is better," just before his lips meet hers again. She lets out a little giggle and any further objections have been quelled.
"What time is your dad getting back?" Cody asks between kisses.
"Sometime later tonight," he slides his hand up her shirt.
"Good."
He nods, "Good." He starts to kiss her neck when they hear a knock at the door.
"Nate?" They freeze. "Nate, are you in there?"
"Uh, yeah, Dad," he looks panicked. Cody looks terrified.
"Can I come in?"
"Just a sec!" She slips her shirt back on, and he fixes his ruffled clothing. They both stand stock still for a moment, when an idea hits him. He motions to the closet, and she runs in. It's cliché, he knows, but he just hopes it will work.
He opens the door, "Hey, Dad. What's up? I thought you weren't getting back until later?"
"The meeting was cut short," Harold Bates informs his son. "Nate, is something wrong? You look a little flustered…"
"Oh, um, I was just…working out."
"Right…well, just wanted to tell you I was home. I'm going down to watch what's left of the match."
"Okay," Nate nods. His father casts him one last suspicious glance before walking out, closing the door behind him. Nate leans against the door, exhaling loudly. She emerges from the closet, giggling.
"Working out?"
"I was under a lot of pressure," he defends with a smile on his face, "shut up." She complies, attaching her lips to his once again.
Not fast enough to not creep up on you and the space you put between
"Miss me?"
Her head whips around at the sound of his voice, "Nate!"
He slips down to the seat beside her, "Of course."
"You're back!" She hugs him, the both of them quickly forgetting about the match being played in front of them. "How was it?" She asks once they've separated. "Was it horrible?"
"It was okay…I mean, all I really did was sit in a hotel room while my dad went to meetings. Kinda boring, though…"
"Well, at least it was only two nights. Imagine if it was the whole week!"
He slips an arm around her as she returns to the match. Taking in her profile, he smiles, "Yes, that would've been tragic."
So pull me under your weather patterns your cold fronts and the rain don't matter
"Okay, so," Nate begins, walking into Cody's room, "the weirdest thing just happened to me."
"What?" She asks, taking the chance to kiss him before he continues.
"Squib just came up and, get this, apologized."
"…What?"
"Oh yeah. And, there's more: Not only that, he told me he hoped we'd be very happy. And I'm, like, 99 percent sure there was no sarcasm."
"Wait…Squib Furlong?"
"Yes."
"Gary Furlong?"
"Either Squib's matured, or it's the end of the world," he says casually.
"Wow. So, now we can all be friends!" She exclaims excitedly.
"I can't make miracles happen, Cody," he says, "but I think he and I can be civil around each other now."
"Good enough," she shrugs, kissing him.
Because the sun burns what I needed
"Your friend has anger issues," he informs her when he meets her outside.
"What did he do this time?"
"He seems to enjoy slamming me into lockers."
"I thought you said you could take him," she smirks.
"And I could, but there are teachers everywhere…"
"Go easy, this is rough on him."
"When's he going to accept that we're together?"
She shrugs as they begin to walk, "In his own time, I guess."
"Fine, but if I punch him, just know that it was self defense."
"I'm sure."
You don't do it on purpose but you make me shake
"What if he goes crazy?" She asks. "What if he hates us? What if he decides to fight you?"
"Cody," he says, "he won't go crazy. Trust me. And he already hates me, so…but he could never hate you."
"So, what if he decides to fight you?"
"I can take him. Have you seen the guy? He may be tall, but he's built like a pipe cleaner."
"Shut up," she laughs.
"Cody, we have to tell Squib. It's just mean to keep it from him," he tells her.
"I guess," she sighs.
"Everyone else already knows. The longer we keep it from him, the angrier he'll be."
She nods, and then looks up at him, "Why are you sticking up for Squib all of a sudden?"
"Because the sooner he knows, the sooner I can rub it in his face," Nate smirks.
"Nate!" She chastises, slapping his chest lightly, but there's a grin on her face.
"Okay, okay, fine, I'll be good," he promises.
She smiles, "Okay, let's go do this." She gets up and walks toward her bedroom door, ready to go out and face the world. Or, in this case, Squib. He follows, but lays a hand on her shoulder and quickly turns her around.
He places his lips strongly against hers, pulls away, and ushers her out the door before him.
Now Icount the hours till you wake with your babies breath breathe symphonies
"This is wrong," but she's giggling.
"No it's not," he assures her, kissing her again.
"We're sneaking around like criminals!"
"You said you didn't want to tell anyone," he tries to kiss her again, but she pulls away.
"I know, but…" she sighs.
"What?" He plays with the piece of hair hanging out of her bun.
"I just feel so guilty! They're our friends!"
"Cameron already knows. That's one friend."
"But what about everyone else? I feel bad!"
"So, then, let's tell them. Problem solved." He kisses her again, but it's cut short.
"But we can't just tell them! Squib'll freak!"
He sighs, "So then who do you want to tell?"
"Just Adena and Tanis?"
"You do realize they'll spread it around the entire school, right?"
"No," she quickly says, "don't worry! I'll make sure they keep it a secret!"
He laughs and shakes his head, "Whatever you want." She smiles and kisses him.
Come on sweet catastrophe
"Hey, Cody, are you- Oh my God!"
The two quickly separate as Cody begins to sputter, "Cameron! We, uh, you see…we were studying and…"
"I think he's cracked the code, Code," Nate says with just a hint of sarcasm.
Cody blushes, apparently at a loss for words, "…oh."
"Well," Cameron's smiling now, "I was going to see if you wanted to play cards, but you're obviously, um…busy. So I'll just go…" He's holding in laughter.
"Wait, Cameron!" She calls after him.
"Ya?"
"We were kind of…keeping this a secret…so…"
"It's in the vault," he smiles.
"Thanks," she blushes again as he leaves.
"Well, that was…" Nate trails off.
"Yeah." They sit in silence for a few minutes, and suddenly she's kissing him again.
Maybe this time I can follow through I can feel complete stop paying dues
"Nate, someone…will…see," she gets out in between kisses.
"They're all at practice," he says.
"They'll be out soon! We're right out here in the open! Under a tree!"
"Oh, how dangerous," he smirks.
"Nate! I'm serious!"
"Fine, fine," he says, "we'll just go wait for them in the Open and play cards or something."
"I didn't mean that!" She lowers her voice to an almost comical conspiring whisper, "Let's just go find a closet somewhere."
"Well, if you insist."
Stop the rain from falling keep my ocean calm this time I know nothing's wrong
"So, we're not going to tell them?"
"Not right away," she licks her chocolate ice cream. "Is that okay? I just mean…"
"No, you're right," they're walking through town together as their friends practice. The joys of being faculty brats. "It's probably best they don't know for a while."
"Okay, good," she smiles at him, "because, I mean, you know them, they'd blow everything out of proportion, and…"
"Cody, I get it," he assures her, laughing.
"Okay. Good. Great." She smiles, "I like this."
"Glad to hear it."
And no you don't say, "These currents are still killing me," and you can't explain
"Nate?" She calls over the wind.
"Cody? Why are you out here?" He calls back, rain pelting his face.
"I was in the Open," she tells him, "I'm just heading back. What's your excuse?"
"I'm, uh…" he blushes sheepishly, "I'm locked out."
She laughs, "Well, come on." He follows her to her house. The walk is short, but they're both drenched by now.
"Come on," she laughs as they slip off their soaked shoes, "I think I've got a couple towels in my room." He follows her in and, sure enough, there's a laundry basket with two blue towels sitting on top.
"Here," she says almost breathlessly, draping one over his shoulders before doing the same for herself.
"Do you think it will let up before morning?"
"No clue. If not," she says, "you're more than welcome to stay here. I don't want you sitting on your porch or something."
"Thanks," he laughs. The two of them are standing in the middle of her bedroom and he notices that their lips are almost level. Her hair, now stringy from the downpour, hangs in her face and he slowly reaches a hand out, tucking a piece behind her ear. He's not sure if he imagines it or not, but he thinks he can see her shift closer to him.
"Cody…" He wonders why he's whispering. She nods, but he realizes he has nothing else to say, so he leans forward and kisses her lightly. It doesn't last long; he pulls away mere seconds later. But before his lips can even fully leave hers, her hand is on the back of his head, pulling him back.
And it's not like the kiss on the car, or that day in the office. Because this time they both know it's real. For good.
He leaves early the next morning. She's still asleep on the couch where they ended up, watching old movies. He knows they'll have to have some big talk later on, but he also knows it will end well. They will finally be together. And for the first time since his dad made him come to Cascadia, he's truly very happy. He steps out onto the porch, into the light drizzle left over from the night before, taking a deep breath.
And he swears to God, the rain smells like her bedroom.
But the wind went and pulled me into the hurricane