I'm With You
I'm standing on a bridge
I'm waiting in the dark
I thought that you'd be here by now
There's nothing but the rain
No Footsteps on the ground
I'm listening but there's no sound
A dull orange leaf was swept along the strong current of the stream. The color stood out clearly against the black water with white foam, but it was still hard to catch sight of the leaf. The stream was moving so fast… so fast… Like life. And if you were a leaf stupid enough to get caught in the current, you would get swept along, crushed by a torrent, unable to escape.
The leaf did an impressive series of flips and spins as the water tugged it along. It would float on the rain-hammered surface for only a moment before being pulled back under again. The water yanked the orange leaf along as it travelled under a bridge and then back out into the open, carrying it downstream.
I saw the leaf as it emerged from under the bridge that I sat upon. I felt sympathy—no, empathy for it. I knew how it felt, getting pulled along in a torrent you had no control over.
I shivered slightly and wrapped my arms tighter around the plank of wood I sat against. I took in a deep breath, held it a moment, and then let it out as the leaf disappeared from view. My breath made a faint white mist in the air, and I shivered again.
The rain was still coming down steadily, though not as hard as it had been when I had first collapsed on the wooden planks of the bridge. How long ago had that been? I wasn't sure. It was hard to tell, since it had been dark for hours. My clothes were soaked through, rendering my black sweatshirt useless. Not that I particularly cared.
My life sucked anyway. It wasn't like a little cold was going to make it much worse.
At least the tears had stopped. When I had first collapsed on the bridge, the raindrops and tears mixed and ran down my face together. I hadn't bothered pulling up the hood of my sweatshirt.
I briefly wondered what my parents were doing now. Whether they had stopped screaming at each other yet. If they had even noticed I had run out the back door.
Isn't anyone trying to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home?
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I…. I'm with you
"I thought most people went inside when it was cold and rainy," a man suddenly said, behind me and off to my left.
I jumped in surprise, jerking my head to see who it was.
A young man stood on the bridge I sat on a few yards away. He was pale, with dark hair and blue eyes.
I felt my stomach tighten with panic. Meeting strange men in the dark in the middle of an empty park was not a good idea. An in my desperation to get away from my fighting parents, I hadn't even bothered to grab my purse, which had pepper spray in it. I didn't even have my phone. No one knew where I was, no one was out at this time of night in this weather… except this man and me. All around not a good idea.
The man smirked slightly, probably seeing my eyes widen and the expression of shock, fear, and panic on my face. "Afraid?" he asked smoothly.
I didn't answer, wondering what the hell I could possibly do.
The man took a step closer to me. "There's really no need to be."
His words only made me more afraid, of course. As he stepped even closer, I abruptly stood, jumping up from the soaked wooden planks of the bridge. My limbs were stiff from sitting for so long. I retreated a few steps away from the man, trailing the rail.
My movements didn't seem to faze the man. He simply cocked a dark eyebrow at me and leaned against the rail, though he allowed for some distance between us.
I stared at him another moment, unsure if I should turn my back on him and leave, or back away, or if, since he didn't seem to be advancing towards me, to simply stay.
There was a moment of tense silence as we simply looked at each other, his gaze somewhat amused and curious, my own nervous and afraid. The man looked me up and down once before his eyes searched my face.
My heart hammered in my chest as our eyes locked for a moment.
Finally, he simply said, "You're soaked."
I blinked blankly, then nodded.
"Why?" he asked.
I swallowed, finally finding my voice. "That's what happens when you get water on you," I said, adopting the air of someone telling someone else something obvious.
I expected him to roll his eyes or glare, or some other form of disapproval. Instead, the corners of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "Observant of you to notice that," he replied, adopting the tone of someone congratulating someone else for accomplishing something that was rather unimpressive.
I felt my lips purse. Most people couldn't so easily turn someone else's sarcasm back on them.
He smiled a little more broadly at my irritated expression. "So tell me, why are you alone in the rain?"
I tried to think fast, of a good lie. Something that would convince him I wasn't alone, or at least that someone would notice quickly if I went missing. "I'm, um, meeting someone here. They should be here soon," I added hastily.
He gave me a patronizing look. "You're not a particularly good liar. If you were meeting someone who would be here soon, you wouldn't have been sitting out here long enough to get so drenched."
My brow furrowed. This was starting to get unnerving. This guy could read people like a book. I leaned against the rail of the bridge and stared into the rushing stream, its waters swollen by the torrential rain, which was now starting to die down a bit. "You're right. I'm not meeting someone," I confessed quietly. I sighed, staring into the swirling black water. I didn't look up, but I could feel the man's eyes regarding me carefully.
"No one knows you're here," he said slowly after a long moment.
I felt my insides shrivel with sadness. "No," I answered quietly.
Another long moment of silence before he came to a conclusion. "You've run away."
I considered for a moment. "Only for a little while," I confirmed. "I was planning to go back. I'd wind up back there… eventually. One way or another." I glanced up at him to see his reaction.
He looked calculating, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. "Why did you run away?"
I frowned. "Why do you care?"
He smiled slyly. "I don't, really."
"You seem awfully interested in me," I said, a biting edge to my voice. My feelings about my parents were starting to seep into my attitude toward this man.
The man considered me for a moment, reading my emotions, no doubt. He had obviously heard the bitter note in my voice, along with the defensive tone. "Perhaps I'm interested as to what could possibly make a young woman sit on a rain-soaked bridge late at night alone. Perhaps it's the situation I'm interested in, not you personally."
I sighed, letting the breath out through my nose. "Could've fooled me."
"If I was interested in you personally," the man said, his eyes flashing as he gave me a warning look that made me feel real fear. "I might have asked your name, not simply why you are out here."
I felt my breath quicken. Maybe this man wasn't hurting me now, but the look in his eyes told me that if he felt like it, he could cause suffering beyond anything I had ever dared to fear before. Forget about strange men in the park at night. This man was something more than that. I didn't know what it was, but this man had real power. He simply chose not to wield it right now. "I believe you," I finally said in a small voice. Then I quickly looked away from his face and turned back to the black water below us.
There was silence for a moment. I was surprised that the man didn't break it. I glanced up at him after a moment to see that he watched the water with an expression as dark as the depths he watched.
"The current's a lot stronger when it rains," I murmured, gazing at the stream. "Normally it's a lazy little slow-moving stream, but when it rains, it gets… dangerous."
I felt his gaze on me once again as his eyes flicked up from the water to my face. "Dangerous," he repeated the word quietly.
I nodded, not looking up to meet his eyes. "There have been times when kids have fallen in after it rained really hard, and… some kids have drowned in this stream. A few adults, too, though usually their deaths are on purpose. When it rains, it gets deeper, wider, and so much faster. It's dangerous if you're not careful. Accidents have happened on this bridge."
"And some not-accidents," he finished my thought. I simply nodded, not taking my eyes off the dark water. "Is that what you were planning when you came here?" he asked. "A not-accident?"
I didn't answer. True, I had thought about it a few times, but never quite gotten close to doing it. I simply came to this bridge when I was sad. Like now.
The man slid a little closer to me, so our elbows, which leaned on the bridge's rail, almost touched. I could feel him watching me, but he had the decency to not ask any further questions. A long, quiet, contemplative minute passed. I watched the water that could kill me if I let it, he watched me, the girl who sat alone in the rain and had suicidal thoughts.
"My parents hate each other," I finally said, breaking the silence suddenly. "They argue constantly, and it got me so stressed out that I couldn't do my schoolwork, and so I just got kicked out of college a week ago for having such crappy grades, and so basically everything I've worked for all my life just went down the drain. Which only makes my parents more stressed out, and therefore argue more, which stresses me out more, and makes it harder for me to focus on getting my life back on track."
He was silent. "Sounds like a vicious cycle," he finally said, not looking at me.
I nodded, feeling my stomach twist. "It is."
I'm looking for a place
I'm searching for a face
Is anybody here I know?
Cause nothing's going right
And everything's a mess
And no one likes to be alone
There was silence for a moment as we both stared at the swirling black depths. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
"Have you ever thought about it?" I asked, nervous this would be crossing the line. It was a deeply personal question, and not one you would normally answer to a stranger.
He glanced at me only briefly, surprise in his eyes. "Jumping off a bridge?"
I returned my gaze to the water. "Not specifically jumping off a bridge, but just… in general."
The question seemed to unsettle him. "No. I've had… problems in my life." He smiled bitterly. "I suppose you could say I had family problems of my own. Even worse than your situation, if you can believe it."
I watched him carefully now. I wasn't going to ask what his family problems were, though I found myself wondering who on Earth this man was and what had happened to him.
"But I don't think ending it would get rid of my problems," he continued, then fell silent.
"So what do you do? How do you…?" I trailed off.
"Keep going?" he finished. He turned and faced me. "By taking my problems and turning them into motivation."
I turned and met his eyes.
"You take the sentiments and ignore them. Take the anger, the hatred, the betrayal… and use them," he said seriously. "Make them work for you instead of against you. And once your emotions are gone…" he paused. "All that's left is your resolve. Resolve to do whatever it is you wish to do. Anything you wish to do." He was smiling now. A humorless, dark smile. And yet… it was genuine, in an impossible way. As if this was really what made him smile on a daily basis.
I almost felt a shiver go down my spine at his words. They made sense… but in a dark way. The same way that his smile seemed genuine, his words seemed genuine. Dark, but true. And easy to twist into something that could be evil. I suppressed a shudder at the thought, but was unable to break away from his gaze.
His eyes glanced towards the stream. "And don't do it."
I stared at him.
"It'd be a waste of time. Your time, your parents' time, and my time. That's a lot of people's time to be wasting. It would be selfish of you," he continued.
I felt my heartbeat speed up as his eyes met mine again.
"So don't," he said, a hidden mix of both pleading and demanding in his voice and eyes.
Unable to stand it anymore, I forced my eyes shut. "Okay. Okay." I kept my eyes shut for another moment before sighing and opening them. I blinked in surprise when, at first, I didn't see the man. I looked around quickly to see him walking briskly away, off the bridge and down the gravel path beyond. "Hey, wait a second," I called, following quickly to catch up with him.
He paused and turned. "Yes?" he asked, eyebrows raised as I stopped a few feet away.
"Well…" I frowned, unable to explain why I didn't want him to just leave me alone. "Aren't you… You're just going to leave without saying goodbye or anything?" I asked breathlessly.
"Goodbye," he said, then continued walking.
"Hang on, I meant…" I stepped after him automatically, and he turned once more, amusement in his eyes.
"Yes?" he asked again.
"I…" I broke off, feeling unsure.
Oh, why is everything so confusing?
Maybe I'm just out of my mind
The man simply smirked, his amusement now more than apparent.
I clenched my hands into balls. "I just… Can you…? Can I…?" I seemed to be unable to finish my sentences.
The man simply smiled. "Come, then. Let's walk."
I felt relief flood me and I stepped closer until we stood side by side.
We exchanged half-smiles and then started walking.
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Won't you take me by the hand?
Take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I… I'm with you
I'm with you
We were both silent, simply walking without speaking, occasionally glancing at each other unsurely before simply settling into what I could easily call a comfortable silence rather than an uncomfortable one.
Soon, we exited the park and began wandering the streets of the city, up and down almost-empty avenues in the lightly drizzling rain. We continued this way for what seemed like a long time, but there was no telling how long.
I looked up at the sky as I stopped feeling raindrops falling on me anymore. "Hey, I think the rain stopped," I said quietly, speaking for the first time since we had left the park.
"Observant of you to notice that," he replied, a small smile curving along his lips.
I rolled my eyes but smiled as well, though my eyes stayed on the sky. Not watching where I was going, I didn't realize I was heading towards a huge puddle on the sidewalk. My foot set down on the wet cement and didn't get enough traction as I put my weight on it. I started to slip, falling backwards to land on my rear unceremoniously.
The man reached out and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to steady me. Instinctively, I grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt as I tried to regain my balance. There was a moment of tense silence while we remained right where we were, almost stunned by the speed with which the incident had happened.
It seemed to take us both a moment to realize that we were still holding onto each other, separated by mere inches.
Our breath mingled in a white mist between us. My hand still clutched his shirt tightly, and his arm was still wrapped firmly around my shoulders. We stared at each other, both of us surprised by the sudden closeness… and the fact that neither of us had drawn away yet. I could feel my heartbeat speed up, and I could feel myself start trembling slightly, but not from cold, or shock from my near-fall. I could see him swallow, and could see, hear, and feel his breath quicken slightly.
His gaze remained on mine. He lifted his free hand (the one not clasped around my shoulders) to my hand, still grasping his shirt. His hand rested over mine for a moment, making my heart almost stop. His fingers were trembling just as bad as mine were, and I had a feeling he wasn't trembling from the cold, either.
"I'd like to have my shirt back now," he murmured, his voice sounding much calmer than his body language let on.
I could feel the blood rush to my face. I quickly let go of his shirt and started to draw my hand away… but his hand caught mine in his. I froze.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if unsure if he should let my hand go again, but he seemed to decide against it. He drew away slightly so his arm wasn't around my shoulders any longer, but he still held my hand in his. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let's keep going, shall we?"
I nodded. "Sure."
So we kept walking, still silent. But now it was a different kind of silence. A little more awkward, a little more of an energetic silence. As if we were both just waiting for the other to say something.
I was the one to do so. "Thanks, by the way," I said, breaking the silence.
He nodded, looking as if he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to do. Silence for another moment, and then he frowned slightly. "For what, might I ask?"
I considered for a second. I had originally just meant for catching me when I was about to fall, but now that I thought about it, I had more to thank him for. Like talking to me on the bridge, and then walking with me for however long we had been walking for now, even though he might have had somewhere to be. "Just… tonight in general," I sighed, giving him a small smile.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, and our eyes locked. I couldn't tell whose hands were shaking worse; his or mine. I tightened my grip on his hand, and he returned with a gentle squeeze. I decided both our hands were shaking rather badly, but his might have been slightly worse.
We turned down another street and continued walking. I found myself lost in thought, thinking about life, about me, and about this man who had appeared out of nowhere to help me. I studied him. I had no idea who he was, where he had come from, or why he was here… or why he had taken an interest in me.
I smiled to myself. He's not interested in me personally. If he was interested in me personally, he might have asked my name. He's merely interested in my situation.
"Do you know what time it is?" I asked, starting to wonder if I should be getting home.
"No," he said nonchalantly. "I have no idea what time it is. Sometime past midnight, I imagine."
I felt a frown wrinkle my brow. "That late?"
He nodded, then glanced at me again. He smiled briefly at my worried expression. "Don't worry," he said quietly. He squeezed my hand gently once more.
I let out a long breath, watching my breath rise into the air, a white puff.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Alright, I guess. I mean, most of the night kind of sucked, and I'm probably gonna get pneumonia, but…" I paused. "The last hour or two… or however long it's been… it's been nice."
He smiled slightly. He stopped walking suddenly.
I paused. "What?"
He nodded toward the house we had stopped in front of, and smiled, as if secretly satisfied with himself.
I cocked an eyebrow, then looked past him at the house… my house. I stared. "How…?"
He smiled more broadly. "I'm glad that I could make things better for you."
I stared at him, my mouth open. "But… how…?"
He put one of the fingers of his free hand to my lips, silencing me. "Hush. It doesn't matter. Just go on. And…" he paused, hesitating. "Remember what we talked about."
I glanced at him unsurely, then back at my house. "I…" For some reason, I almost felt like crying. I had almost forgotten about my troubles at home… about my parents, about college… about the thought of "not-accidents" at the bridge. I swallowed, hating the idea of going back to all of it. And yet… this man had given me hope. The idea of not letting my emotions go against me, and working for me instead. Maybe he was right, and I still could do anything I wished to do. I glanced at him and suddenly felt a lump in my throat, along with the urge to cry. Instead, I settled for suddenly throwing my arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe and squeezing him tightly.
He immediately tensed, frozen and surprised and unsure.
I smiled to myself and whispered in his ear, "Thank you."
He was obviously taken aback, still tense and unresponsive for a moment. Then he tentatively wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed, allowing his body to relax for a moment.
It was a long moment before I pulled away, tears in my eyes, though not on my cheeks. "Thank you again," I whispered.
He reached forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "You're welcome."
I backed away, then turned to walk down the path to the front door to my house.
His voice stopped me before I had gone more than four steps. "What's your name?"
I glanced back over my shoulder. "Kimberly. What's yours?"
"Loki," he said.
"Thank you, Loki," I said quietly.
"You're welcome. Goodbye, Kimberly," he murmured.
I smiled. I liked the way my name sounded when he said it. "Bye, Loki." I continued walking to my front door. I lay my fingers on the doorknob when I realized something.
"If I cared about you personally, I might have asked your name."
"Hay…" I turned to confront Loki about it… but he was gone.
Take me by the hand take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I… I'm with you
I'm with you
Take me by the hand take me somewhere new
I don't know who you are
But I… I'm with you
I'm with you
Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Well… I have no idea how this came to be… but I really like it. I'm rather proud. I don't know why… It's so random and out of nowhere… yet… well, no matter. So yeah.
I never paid much attention to the song "I'm With You" until I started writing my fan fiction, and then I kind of just felt I had to write something based off of it… and so this appeared, half-written, one night, just before I went to bed … at midnight… and then I finished it two weeks later… the things I write when I'm half-asleep, I'm telling you. O.O
And I've decided that Loki should not be a counselor. He gives out some creepy life advice. God knows what's gonna become of Kimberly if she starts using her hate, anger, and betrayal as motivation… but anywho.
Though I do like Kimberly and Loki's ship name… Kimberloki XD
I may or may not have issues... ha, ha. As you may or may not be able to tell, I'm once again half-asleep.
I would love some reviews on this… tell me if it's as good as I think it is lol. And if it's not, tell me why. I would welcome constructive criticism.