Rain poured down in sheets, cascading off of the windshield and making it nearly impossible to see the road. The pale yellow streelights, unhelpful at the best of times, were now rendered completely useless by the onslaught of rain. The woman inside of the car sighed. Her chocolate colored hair frizzed out in nearly every direction imaginable. Wide brown eyes squinted, straining to see what was not even 10 yards ahead of her.

That was the problem with this town. When Lana had first decided to move to a suburb of Seattle, people had told her it rained constantly. "I like the rain," was her standard response as she brushed away the comments. It was true, she did like the rain. This, however, was not the rain. The heavens had simply sprung a leak and water constantly flowed. Everything was wet here. It was a great contrast to her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. It rained rarely there, and when it did, it evaporated before most people had even noticed the precipitation.

A slight panic set in as she realized that she might hydroplane at any moment. She quickly turned off of the road into a nearby diner, and decided to wait until the storm had died down. The old fashioned silver bell fastened to the door let out a tired melody as she stepped into the diner. Its furnishings and decoration were typical of a diner, flourescent lighting that reflected off of red and white linoleum tile. The seats were well worn and booth style, and there was a imitation marble counter with stools and a very old fashioned cash register. People were crowded into the booths and chatting pleasantly. Apparently, she was not the only one who felt that driving was hardly worth the effort at the moment. Since she was alone, she decided to sit at the counter.

As she made her way across the checkered floor, a lone figure caught her eye. He was completely isolated from the general buzz of the diner. He was looking around somewhat nervously, perhaps uncomfortable with eating alone when everyone else had company. After looking at this man for a moment, Lana recalled the feelings that surrounded her when she had first arrived here. The little town she now resided in did not take kindly to strangers until you had proven yourself decent. Pitying the stranger, she uncharacteristically decided to ask if she might join him for a cup of coffee.

Summoning up her courage, and her friendliest of smiles, she cautiously approached the table.

"Excuse me?"

The stranger glanced up at her. For the first time, Lana was able to see his eyes. She was startled by the intensity she found there. There were large and the deepest brown acheivable by nature. He looked up at her through thick, long lashes. He seemed to be judging her, but not in the way her neighbors had. Instead of judging her appearance to make conclusions about what type of a person he was, he seemed to be trying to read her mind. Apparently content with what he saw, he addressed her with a throaty. "hmph?"

"Er, I was wondering, since we are both alone, if I might sit with you for a while?"

It was the strangers turn to look surprised. He blinked slowly and nodded cautiously, as though he wasn't really sure what she was saying. She removed her shoulder bag and sat down across from him. he continued to stare at her curiously.

She extended her hand. "I'm Lana."

He shook her hand reluctantly, but continued to give her the same bewildered expression. Slightly 

irritated now, Lana asked, "and you are...?"

He shook his head as if clearing away something. "Sorry," he coughed out, "I'm Griggs."

Confused, Lana asked, "Is that your first name?"

He glanced around nervously. Lana, aware that she might be sitting with a psychopath, followed his gaze. Other occupants of the diner were shooting their booth judgmental glances. Wondering why, she turned her eyes back to the man. It became instantly clear. His appearance, which may have been brushed off in a larger city, was clearly the cause of most of this controversy. His hair was longish and unkept and hung all over his head in dark curls. His clothing said that he was a working man of some type, but the logo was too faded to read from where she was sitting, and she thought it would be rude to lean forward to look. His skin was nearly as dark as hers, even though she was African- American and he certainly was not. He might be Spanish or italian by the look of him. Either way, he clearly was not welcomed. His deep, gruff voice brought her crashing back into the present.

"Look, why are you over here anyway? You gonna give me some more shit? Cuz, believe me, I have all I can handle right now. I'm just gonna get some food, and I swear, I'll leave your little one horse town."

Well, Lana, thought, that explains a lot about his behavior.

" I wasn't going to give you any shit, I just figured you could use the company, but if you don't want it..." She stood up.

"No!" he said quickly. It startled some of the already on edge eavesdroppers. Lowering his voice into what she was coming to see was a customary monotone, he said, "People don't tend to want me around. Apparently I'm scruffy looking or something like that. They think I'm dangerous. If only they knew..."

He trailed off and Lana could see a great deal of hurt in his eyes. Overcome with a mothering sense of pity, she sat back down. After sifting through the limited menu for a moment, and confirming she didn't want a damn thing on the menu, he spoke again.

"Jason."

"What?"

"That's my first name. You asked remember?"

"Well, it's nice to meet you Jason Griggs. What brings you to this little hell hole?"

She realized the nosy bastards around her were sure to hear and her reputation was going to take a beating. Screw it, she thought. Why did she care what a bunch of country bumpkins in the middle of nowhere thought in the first place?

Jason chuckled at her blunt question. "Necessity I guess. I lost my job, and had nowhere else to go."

"No family or anything to go home to?"

"Nah, family is gone, and all my friends are buried. Price of being in the army I guess."


Suddenly, the reason for those sad puppy eyes became clear. Lana's heart went out to the guy.

"So you have nowhere to stay?"

"Nah, unless they let me sleep on the floor in here. But I figure I gotta a snow balls chance in hell of that." He shrugged, "it's probably uncomfortable anyway."

Before Lana's mind registered what she was doing, before she thought of the consequences, she heard her voice offering him the couch at her house.