We step off the bus, maybe I was too confused to notice it, too caught up in trying to not feel for Will, but somewhere along the way it had become incredibly rainy, thunder and lightening. Once off the bus, it speeds off to let the other students scurry home and become safe under shelter. I turn to Will, we're already soaked. My house is closer than his.

Screw it.

"Will." I say, I have to slightly yell because of the rain and thunder.

"Yeah?" He asks, hands slightly over his head, as if it would actually prevent the rain from reaching him. A protective bubble that would keep him safe, if only it were real.

"Come on!" I yell, laughing and pulling his hand towards my house. This time though I don't have to fake the laughing.

And so we run, run along the block, laughing, lifting our arms high above our heads, slighting jumping and turning as we run. It is our rain dance, it sets us free, and we fly.

Without our powers.

We reach the end of my house and I push him lightly towards it. We laugh and enter inside the house. Part of me wants me to stop the laughter, the house scolds me, the windows glare. But, the other part tells me to use as much of it I can. So I end the laughter with a smile, looking at my best friend and myself. As we are now drenched head to toe.

I flick the lights on, and look back to Will.

"Are your parents home?" He asks. My smiles slightly fades. I chew the inside of my lip, my mouth. Anything but answering.

"Nope." I say, I add in a smile.

"They're uh, I don't know exactly. Sometimes they just leave."

It's true, I hardly see them at the house anymore, they always come back at night, Sometimes they leave at night, return in the morning, when I'm not there.

"Are you OK with that? I know I wouldn't be." Will asks, bending down to tie his shoe. His brow kind of furrowed, but he asks it casually.

Yes.

"No, not really. I still see them plenty enough. It's not like they're gone 22 hours of the day."

I laugh lightly, trying to make his question seem stupid. But I'm lying, I don't see them, and they are gone. Gone so often, I almost seem orphaned. But somehow I've tricked myself into seeing they'll come back for me. I know it, they wouldn't leave their daughter behind. Who could?

Then again, how come it happens all the time?

"Layla?" I hear Will and I pull out of my stupor. I smile, and grab his hand briefly to pull him into the kitchen.

"You hungry?" I ask.

He smiles and sits down at the table

"Yeah."

"Of course." I say.

"I should have known that"

He shrugs and says "I'm a growing boy."

I snort and pull out popcorn. When it finishes I pull out a bowl and place it in front of Will while I pour out the popcorn.

"I'm sorry I don't have any clothes to give you, unless you want to wear skirts and pink tee shirts." I laugh, and notice that Will and I are still pretty much soaked. His hair is ruffled and damp. Very tempting. Very,

I move to the ground and take off my shoes before I continue those thoughts. I put them in the closet and go back to the kitchen.

"Will?" I ask, he's not there. I move around the kitchen and into the den. I open the closet and see he isn't there.

"Will? Where are you?" I'm getting impatient, I've looked for 5 minutes now. I turn around and walk back to the den, before I enter I hear a very loud.

"BAM!" Yelled into my ear. Will's arms encircle my waste and catches me as I'm pretty much rendered useless from the shock and surprise.

"WILL!" I yell, and I start laughing uncontrollably, Will also, is laughing hysterically. I put my hands in my face and turn around and shove him, hands losing contact.

"You are such a loser!" I laugh and yell through my tears. Will laughs even harder and falls to the floor. I laugh gently and walk to the den. Sitting on the couch and propping my feet on the coffee table.

I look to the outside, the rain is coming down even harder now, it reminds me of the day they first left. The first time, of the many to come. The lights flicker off.

"Shit." I mutter, pulling a candle from the side and lighting it. I lean back into the couch and rest my head back, face reaching towards the ceiling.

The first time they left was at night. They didn't leave a note, they didn't kiss me goodbye, tell me to avoid leaving the house, they didn't give an address, a phone number, a person to call if I got into trouble that would let them know. I can only assume to where they go, but I have no leads, no time to ask them, and no want to know. I'm pretty sure the answer will break my heart.

I take my head off and look around, I see Will leaning against the doorframe. My breathing is quite heavy, I'm pretty sure I'm a moment away from tears.

Will sits beside me and looks me in the eye.

"Layla are you OK?"

"I mean really OK?"

I don't know how to respond, I can only look into his eyes. My eyes feel glassy. Itchy, they hurt. It hurts. Everything hurts.

"Because I've noticed, you're not, you're not the same anymore. You seem so sad, which is so not like you. It doesn't make me like you any less, it just makes me worry. I want to know what happened to the old Layla. Tell me."

I clear my throat and look at his shirt. Damp now, I should probably put it in the dryer.

"I, I umm" I try to talk, I clear my throat, it hurts like I've been crying forever, I haven't cried yet. Not for them, not once for them.

His eyes are intense, focusing on me, what I have to say.

"I don't want to drag you down with me. I don't want to be the one that makes you worry, because I know what it does to me, and I don't want to make it happen to you."

"Layla, I'm your friend-".

"I know" I cute him off "And I'm your friend, but, I can't help but think that I'm dragging you down somehow, by being your friend, and I don't want to end up hurting you by being someone that I can't be anymore. I try, god knows I try, and I think I can become who I once used to be, but I can't end up hurting you in the process, because you're all I have left, you're all I have."

It's taken me all I've got to not cry. And it's worked, but I can't help but let one little tear drop escape. Will gathers me in his arms and holds me to him, close, and safe. I breathe heavily into his neck, letting those few tears fall, making his neck and shirt even wetter.

His hands rub my back and hold me closer, the damp material becomes itchy, while my tears continue to free fall.

"Layla you won't ever have to worry about losing me as a friend. Never, and I'm not all you've got."

"Yes you are." I sob out from his chest, my chest constricting back and forth, making it hard to breathe and talk at the same time.

"They left." I gasp out, feeling a burden lifted. But the words don't stop there. "They left a while ago, leaving every night, going somewhere, coming back when I'm not around. They never left anything, no way for me to contact them." I breathe out letting those new tears fall, fall onto his chest, the material of his shirt, where my head now rests "I never know, when they come back or when they leave. It seems like they're gone all the time now. I don't know why they left or why they don't come back, but a part of me wants to think the reason they leave is me."

I sob. And he pulls me to his face, and all I can think of is that I must look horrible, red nosed, puffy eyes, wet cheeks. He wipes the tears. And tells me,

"You'll never be alone Layla, and the reason you're parents are leaving is not because of you. You haven't done anything wrong."

"Sometimes, not doing anything wrong has nothing to do with it." I tell him, the tears have stopped leaking for now.

"So it has nothing to do with you." He tells me.

I nod. It makes sense, but it doesn't make me feel that much better. And he knows that, I like to think he does. He hugs me again, saying all that he can. My head rests on his shoulder. He rubs my back once more with his left hand, while I focus on my hand playing with his right. Interlocking, tracing his fingers. Anything to keep contact, keep busy.

"Layla." He says quietly. I lift my head and look at him. Our faces mere inches away from eachother. I can't look away from him, and when I move my face closer, so does he.

I can feel his breath on my lips, we're only 1 centimeter away from each other. Our eyes held in the most intense of stares.

And he moves.

I feel his lips cover mine, and I close my eyes in sheer bliss. We move slowly, getting used to the sensual feel that only first-timers experience together. I sink my hands into his tresses of hair that I've wanted to feel in my fingers for a long time now. He takes a step further, deepening the kiss, I moan softly and he pulls me closer, into his lap, running his hands soothingly up and down my back. Leaving a hot trail behind him.

When I feel his tongue on my lips I gasp in surprise, allowing his tongue in. We play together, dueling, fighting. We pull out of the kiss with heavy breathing and stare. In a look of pure lust, love, understanding. I put my hands on his chest and he quickly looks down and back at me. I slide them lower and grip the edges of his shirt, pulling it slowly up. He lifts his arms and allows me to take it off. His skin is slightly tan and cold, from the rain. His hands that are planted on my back slide lower and remove my own shirt, peeling it off of me. Clad in a bra. I lean my body onto his, hoping to warm us up, when in a way, we already have.

"Layla." He whispers, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him fiercely, he responds just as greedily, moving his hands across my almost bare back. He pulls out and switches to my neck, spreading small, warm, little crosses up and down my neck, sending chills through my body. I moan and run my hand down his stomach.

I stand up and he looks confusedly at me. I hold my out and he takes it. Slowly, I walk him up the stairs and into my room.

I close the door and turn to him. I wrap my arms around his stomach and pull him to me, smelling his scent, memorizing it. His hands sink into my hair, forcing me to kiss him, not that I mind. Hot breathe, filled with lust. Slides over our cheeks as we kiss as much as we can. His hands wander to my pants and unzips them. He looks to me for an approval and I nod. He slides them off, it's slightly warmer in my room, but the cool air makes me colder. I kick off my socks and slide his own pants off. I grab him by his back and pull him with me towards the bed. I sit on my comforter and run my hands up his back, kissing his chest, his abs.

He climbs on and rests one leg between my own. He looks down at me, kisses me briefly, and says, "I love you."

I take his hand and kiss each finger, I look back to him and say "I love you too."

And the rest is up to fate

End Chapter

A/N: Okay, the next chapter is obviously the aftermath. I would like, I don't know, at least one review please. Things will get happier, I assure you.