Alice

Little taps sounded on the window. Rain. I opened my eyes and saw the gray sky being distorted by the water on the window. I thought it was supposed to be sunny all day. I felt something kick my leg, and I turned to see Shun tossing and turning. He was wrapping himself up in the covers as he did so, and I pulled them back so he wouldn't hog all of them. Shun only kicked and stole the blanket when he was deep in sleep.

This was no special occasion. There could have been a fire in the room and he'd sleep through it. The rain had a steady beat to it. If there was any wind blowing, I couldn't hear it. Shun attempted to take then covers, and I let him succeed this time. I sighed and climbed out of the bed. I walked through the hallway and living room, and stepped outside into the rain.

There was steam rising from the hot asphalt streets that were being cooled by the water. I felt my hair frizzing out, and took the ponytail I left around my wrist, and tied my hair up so it wouldn't be as bad. The whole house was surrounded by steam, and almost looked like a fog. The only difference was that the steam was clinging to my body, and to my lungs when I breathed in. The wind blew a stray raindrop went and fell onto my arm. I saw the floor behind the doorway where I was standing was beginning to get wet from stray droplets just like the one that hit my arm. I reached into the umbrella stand and pulled one out, then stepped out into the rain, closing the door behind me.

I peered from under the umbrella and saw the gray sky, remembering there was a fiery sun and blue sky behind it. A raindrop caught my cheek, startling me. I wiped it away and walked towards the edge of the woods. About eight months ago, Shun had run off and gotten lost in the icy forest. He had seen the lights in our house and made his way towards them, seeking help.

Me and grandfather were just about to go to bed too. I wonder what would of happened if we had turned out the lights, and Shun didn't see them. Would he of still found the house? Or would he of frozen to death? I remembered hearing the weak pleas for help, and the knocking on the door. When I opened the door, I found Shun passed out on the concrete steps, and called for my grandfather to help.

It was completely unexpected. Nobody could of predicted that late in a winter night, that Shun would have been laying on the steps unconscious, nearly frozen. I was still standing near the edge of the forest that seemed to of brought Shun this way, when I felt a finger poke my shoulder.

I turned and saw Shun standing behind me, soaking wet from the rain. "Shun?" He grinned, and against the steamy air, he looked unreal. The color of his eyes popped out against the foggy background. I then reminded myself he was standing in the pouring rain. "Shun, you're gunna catch your death if you keep standing in that rain." I motioned for him to get under the umbrella with me, and he did. We were pressed up against each other to stay dry. I felt his arm wrap around my waist and pull me even closer to his wet body.

My face blushed when he smirked at me. I lifted my head and met his gaze. I saw my reflection in his amber eyes, but it wasn't just me. It was trust, understanding, care. All things that people thought Shun was incapable of, and he had given me all of them. Nobody else. I breeze blew from behind him, making his hair blow towards his face and my hair away from mine.

Once the breeze stopped, a lock of his wet hair was stuck to his face. I giggled and unstuck it. He said softly, "Thanks." I smiled. Water cascaded from the tips on the umbrella now with the continuous rainfall. If ether of us moved any, water would of soak our backs. Just from the sheer humidity, my hair was now wet. A bead of the humidity formed into a water droplet, and rolled from my hair and onto my neck. Shun's thumb wiped it away gently. It was if he were scared I'd break if he wasn't careful.

I was amazed at how many words were being exchanged without saying a single sentence. Without realizing it, our lips were closing in on each other, when a large gust of wind swooped in and stole the umbrella from us. I held my hair and watched as the wind carried it down the driveway and then into the woods. I was now exposed to the rain, and I was soaked in no time.

The temperature then dropped from a hot and humid, to chilly. I shuddered. I didn't know if it was from the drop in degrees, or cause I was wet and the wind was still nipping at me. I felt Shun's body press against my back, and his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he whispered softly into my ear, "How about we go inside now? We can start up a fire in the fireplace and warm up by it while our clothes dry." I leaned my head back and smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Shun

We had changed clothes, and hung them up near the fire. Now, the two of us were laid out on a blanket in front of the fireplace. The coffee table had been moved back to make room for us. I was propping myself up on my elbow and letting Alice lean into my chest. She was on the floor, her head resting on a pillow from the couch, and she was holding my free hand.

Her soft fingers rubbed the back of my hand, and I smiled. She wasn't aware that I was looking at her, and I didn't mind. Sometimes it was ok to be unnoticed. Her hair was still damp on the ends, where the bright orange was tinted almost auburn.

My hair was dry now, maybe a little wet on the ends like hers. The crackling fire made a popping noise as a coal or something in it exploded from the heat. Embers rose up from the blaze and the fell right back into the fire. It brought back the memory of Alice being trapped in the lab when it caught on fire.

I was actually scared. Not for myself, but for Alice. I had lost so much in my life, and I wouldn't of been able to bare it if I lost her when I was starting to fall in love with her. Alice moved herself a little bit closer to the fire, and did as well. Even if it was summer, the weather could be random.

And this was one of those random moments. I decided to make the fire instead of turning up the heat. It just seemed like a more romantic idea. Alice starting humming a song, which I soon figured out what it was. She was humming Tokio Hotel's "Monsoon." All I really knew about them was that they were German, and Alice listened to them what seemed like all the time. I knew the lyrics, and started singing along with her humming.

Running through the monsoon,

Beyond the world,

Through the end of time,

Where the rain won't hurt.

Fighting the storm,

Into the blue,

And when I loose myself I think of you.

Together we'll be running somewhere new.

Through the monsoon.

Just me and you.

She stopped humming and looked at me, smiling. "So you do listen to my iPod." I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Only when you have it plugged into your speakers. Then again, I have no choice, now do I?" She giggled, then laid down on her back, facing the ceiling. "You know, you have a really good singing voice." I smiled at her and told her, "Well thank you. Dan's told me I can't sing, but I think he meant himself."

She laughed. Her hair was splayed out, looking just like the fire in front of us. I looked into her brown eyes, and felt as though I were swimming in them. I laid down on my back like her, and she tried to move but said, "Ouch. Shun, you're on my hair." I apologized and moved so she could retrieve her hair, then laid back down. The roof had that spiked pattern on it, and reminded me of a snow storm for some reason.

Just then, I craved for that winter to return to us. That harsh winter when I got caught out in the storm, and was found by Alice and her grandfather. Things were just starting to kindle between us. Neither one brave enough to admit our feelings for each other, and when we kissed it was awkward, but we both craved more. I knew winter would be around the corner in no time, but it wasn't that winter that we shared.

I looked back at Alice, and saw she was twirling one of her orange curls. She was still looking at the ceiling. I wondered if she was thinking about the same thing as me. I noticed her other hand was tracing patterns into the blanket. Maybe a pattern from the ceiling? I looked up and didn't see anything that mimicked what she was drawing into the fabric.

A tear then rolled down her cheek. "Alice, what's wrong?" She touched her cheek where the tear rolled off, and wiped it dry. "Oh, I was just remembering some of our memories. You must think it's a silly thing to cry over." So, she was thinking about our past moments. I shook my head. "It's not a silly thing to cry over. I was just worried." She smiled and told me, "Thanks for your concern."

I glanced out the window and saw it was still raining, but the sky was darkening. Signaling the coming night. I turned back to Alice and saw she was beginning to doze off. The fire was now dying down, and only a small flame remained. I got up to see if our clothes had dried, and they had. I removed them for the rig we set up to dry them, and took them into our room and put them in the dresser. They were still warm, and smelled off the smoke from the fire. Our room was dark and chilly compared to the living room.

I was about to walk back into the living room, and stopped to look at a picture Alice had hung up without me knowing. It was when we went to Murucho's party, and both of us ended up sick by the end of the night. She looked beautiful that night. We were standing in front of the staircase in the dining hall, my arm wrapped around Alice's back. God I looked dorky in that tux…. Overall though, it was a nice picture of us. My eyes saw the necklace I bought her while she was in the hospital.

It really did go with that purple dress. If only that night didn't end in a total disaster. I walked out of the room and back into the living room where Alice was. She was still on the floor, sleeping, and the fire was almost completely out. I laid back down next to her, grabbing the extra blanket we got incase the fire wasn't enough warmth. I covered both of us up with it, and wrapped my arms around her.

It was weird how now we were so comfortable being this close, when not long ago it was insanely awkward to just hug or kiss. Alice felt me lay next to her, and buried herself into my chest, sighing contently. I buried my face into her hair, felling the heat from my breath surround my face.

Her hair didn't smell like her shampoo, it smelled like the fresh rain that was falling from the sky. Something so simple could have been marketed and turned into the must have item of the year. But I was the only one that had any access to it, and that made me feel special.

I heard a low wail and a gust of wind found its way down the chimney and blew the fire out like a candle. The room then fell dark, and the only thing that reassured me that I wasn't alone, was Alice's body pressed against mine.

omg mushy moment! ^^ i like have had this idea for a ShunxAlice story for years actually, and its constantly evolved through the years to almost a stage of perfection. I do believe that i'll start up on it when i finish this one. it's kind of a supernatural thing for forwarning if you dont like em. -.- well, that's it. read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~