«Oh. Hey! Hi! No, you're not interrupting. What are you doing here?» she asked, returning the smile.
«Well I come here often, it's a small place, but it's cozy and favorable to reflection, don't you think? But why are you here? Aren't supposed to live on the other side of town?»
«It is definitely a welcoming place. I just wanted to go for a walk, needed to think about a few things actually... But anyways, so yeah, I was walking and then it started to rain so I got in the first place I saw.» she explained; and noticing he was still standing, she added «You wanna sit here?»
«Sure!» He went back to his booth to grab his coat and cup of coffee then sat across the table. And they started talking about pretty much anything. And it was so different. Rachel thought they had to have something special when they talked about their lives the day before, but this was nothing compared to it, it all just seemed more natural, less calculated: they didn't really think about what they should or should not say because he was a teacher, and she was his student. They were just two people, two equals, sharing a good moment. And in the most evident continuity, she ended up telling him how she felt about everything going on in high school, Finn and Santana, what happened with Jesse the year before, and such. And he told her about Terri, and the baby, and Emma. And the conversation would have seemed so inappropriate might have they been in that teacher/student-scheme state of mind. Naturally after a while, the conversation started to fade away and a soothing silence settled between them, as they both turned their head to the window. The rain was beating hard and didn't seem to weaken. She felt Will's knee against her inner thigh, and suddenly she became aware of their proximity. But she didn't move, she didn't mind, and actually liked it. A warm wave invaded her body.
She snapped back to reality when she felt her cellphone vibrate on the table; she grabbed it and turned her eyes to the screen. «Shit» she whispered.
«What's going on?» Will asked.
«My dads went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, for the day to see my grandmother and now they're telling me they are not coming back tonight; apparently the roads are closed because of the rain.»
«God. Really? Closed. Like no car at all?»
«She's right» a guy said from the booth behind theirs. «No bus or car in Lima either. I've just seen this online he said, agitating his smartphone above the back of his seat»
«That's a shame. But thank you for the info.» Will answered as the guy turned back to his table.
Rachel looked through the window again and said, absentmindedly «I'm so not walking 45 minutes to get home under that rain». Will hesitated, but finally asked.
«I live two minutes away. You could come to my place. At least until the rain stops?»
«You sure you wouldn't mind?»
«I wouldn't be asking if I did.» She flashed a smile at him and in a heartbeat, they were on their way.
They were walking under the pouring rain, close to one another so Will's coat could protect the two of them.
«That could be a 'Singing in the Rain' moment, right?» She said, a little louder than her natural voice so she could cover up the sound of the water dropping violently on the ground and the cars surrounding. He smiled at her, a sparkle in his eye and took the coat away from the heads, putting it back on his shoulders, and said:
«You thought I wouldn't do it?» He laughed a little at the sight of her surprised face. Then she joined him in his laughter and lightly hit his shoulder. She let her hand go down his arms and settle by his elbow. His heart skipped a beat, and they almost floated to his front porch.
She half heartedly released her grip on Will's arm as he started looking for his keys. Soon he unlocked the door and let her in first, like a gentleman would do. She took her shoes off, then her socks, because they were wet as well. He looked at her from head to toes.
«What?» she asked, not really knowing if he was overtly checking her out, or/ He cut her thoughts short
«Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable... How would you want to take a shower and dry yourself off. I'll lend you some clothes... You definitely cannot stay in those, you're gonna get sick.» he proposed.
«I won't say no to that» she replied, after she shivered.
«Alright» he said as he walked to the bathroom; she followed him. He took a fresh towel out of a closet and handed it to her before leaving and closing the door behind him. He then took his clothes off himself and slipped into a grey v-neck shirt and a pair of dry jeans. He gathered his wet clothes, grabbed another shirt and some random pajama pants, and knocked on the bathroom door.
«Rachel?» She turned off the water.
«Yes?»
«Huh, do you want me to grab your soaking clothes and hang them so they dry?» He asked, embarrassed.
«Sure. Come in, the door is not locked» and with this, she turned the shower back on and he entered, suddenly blushing at the thought that Rachel was standing naked, hot water running down her body, just one shower curtain away from quickly grabbed the clothes she neatly folded -even though they were wet- by the sink.
«I brought you dry clothes, okay. I'll cook us a little something while you finish, okay?»
«Sounds great!»