Not In the Rain

Happy Channy Day! Hooray! This one is the most romantic one in the whole challenge, I think. There's just something about rain that's so easy to write about, you know? Anyway, here it is, my gift from me to you. 3

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The window was open.

Outside, all that was to be heard was the pitter-patter of raindrops as they fell from the dark grey sky onto the cement surrounding the studio. A cold breeze swirled in, but she didn't mind at all. Rain was what she missed most about her hometown.

She stared out through the streaked glass, watching as the rain spiraled downward and hit the pavement. There was no thunder, but off in the distance, somewhere beyond the horizon of skyscrapers, she could see flashes of lightning tearing through the sky.

The storm had lasted most of the day, having started around five in the morning. Marshall insisted that the rain couldn't affect them while they were inside, that's why they had extra time to rehearse their new sketch. But he was wrong. Rainstorms always had this effect on her; something about them captivated her eyes and made her feel like standing there in front of the window the entire day.

She pushed the thought of someone else that had this effect on her out of her head.

"I didn't expect to see you here today," a voice from the doorway said. She turned, unsurprised that he would barge in on her like this in her moment of serenity. He let himself in, sliding his arm off the doorway and back down to his side.

"Hey, Chad," she said quietly, not feeling like radiating her warm personality right at that moment.

He was wearing a shiny black raincoat that somehow looked extremely expensive. In his left hand was a large grey umbrella, which he was leaning on like a cane. An easy smile decorated his face, and he looked at her in the way that he did whenever he was talking to her and only her.

"You don't like the rain, do you Sonny?" he asked, walking towards her.

"What makes you think that?" she asked, still using that quiet, alien tone.

"Well, you haven't smiled once today. You've just been staring out the window with your head in your palm and a vacant expression. Now either something's wrong, or you just don't like the weather." he reasoned.

Sonny shrugged. "It's not that I don't like it. I just – it makes me think." She turned back to her window, this time resting her palms on the little edge that bordered the rim. "Did you want something, Chad?"

She heard his clothes rustle as his footsteps walked closer to her spot by the window. "I was gonna go for a walk. Do you want to come?"

By a fraction of an inch she inclined her head back to him. "A walk? In the rain?"

"I have an extra jacket if you want it," Chad replied, shrugging off his shiny black raincoat to reveal a light blue blazer. Sonny shook her head.

"You planned this, didn't you?" she asked. He merely smiled.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked, holding the blue blazer out to her. She looked at him for a moment, taking in his cocky expression, then, slightly hesitantly, took the jacket and slid her arms through the sleeves, zipping it up and adjusting the collar. His smile grew.

"What?" she asked, slightly indifferently.

"Blue's a really good color on you," he told her, and she raised an eyebrow at him. He turned back towards the open door and said over his shoulder: "Ready?"

She took one last look at the open window, then followed suit, snuggling her hands into the soft, warm pockets of his jacket.

"Let's go, then." She said, and she led the way down the brightly lit hallway and down the stairway. She pushed the heavy metal door open and held it open for him. He smiled crookedly at her in an adorable way, and walked out into the rain. Raising the gray umbrella up to waist level, he held it open and slid the hold into place. Almost gracefully, he lifted it up over their heads.

She saw how the raindrops seemed to nestle in his blonde hair like beads. His hair was slightly damp now, and it seemed to hang down around his face in strands, framing his deep blue eyes quite nicely.

"So," she said, looking down and brushing a strand of hair away from her own face. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, just around. I didn't really have a destination in mind." He said, and together they set off down the middle of the deserted street, both of them huddled together for warmth underneath the large grey umbrella.

They walked together for some time, strolling through the wet block, making small talk about this and that. Rain poured consistently on the roofs of the buildings they passed, and after a while she let herself become distracted with the patterns of the raindrops on all the windows she could see.

"So how come you decided to come with me?" Chad asked sometime later.

Sonny thought for a minute. "I've never gone for a walk in the rain. It sounded…appealing."

"Please. You just wanted to spend some alone time with me," came his response. Suddenly indifferent, she whirled on him.

"Well so what if I did, then? Maybe I like spending time with you, Chad, have you ever considered that? There's nothing wrong with me wanting to be with you, you know." She raised her voice at him, and then her mouth opened in surprise when she realized what she'd said. Her heart was suddenly pounding much faster: she wasn't used to confessing her feelings to a boy. Deciding that looking away like she wanted to wasn't going to help the matter out, she continued on.

"Why are you always teasing me, anyway? Is it because you're scared to be with me too? Or are you scared that you might actually have feelings for me? Chad, you're so complicated, and it's driving me crazy. That's why I needed this rainy day, to help me think."

She had stepped back away from him to get a better look at his whole face. Her chest was rising and falling slightly faster than usual, and, although she wasn't quite sure how, her hand was securely held in his.

"Sonny," Chad said, and his voice was almost pleading. "You don't understand. You're the only person who's ever made me feel anything like this. I – I don't know how to react to you, I never do, because I've never met anyone like you."

"But Chad, that still doesn't give you an excuse to tease and torment me all the time just because you have an inkling about how I feel about you." Sonny said, and her tone was bitter.

"I'm sorry," he said, and she knew from the look in his eyes that he couldn't be more sincere. "I just – I've said this in about a million of my lines for Mackenzie Falls, but I don't know how to put it differently; I've never felt this way about any other girl, and you're driving me just as crazy."

Her face still had hard unease etched into it, but at his words her eyes softened. "You really mean that?"

The rain fell hard around them, and somewhere far away she heard a roll of thunder fill the distant sky. Chad had let go of the umbrella; it was stationed somewhere in a puddle a few feet behind the. No longer walking, they were staring at each other, both of them drenched in the middle of the road. Her hair was soaked and plastered to her face, and his was hanging down the back of his neck. Her gaze was filled with wonder.

He hesitated, and his fingers intertwined with hers as he looked down at her. "Yes." He said, and it sounded like part of the rain itself.

She looked at him and felt like she couldn't ever look away. His eyes were so alluring in their depth, and before she knew it she was letting herself fall into them. With magnetic-like force, she felt her mouth being pulled to his, and they stood there, kissing, for the longest time, rain pouring down around them the whole time. She closed her eyes and lost herself, until at last he pulled away for air.

As another roll of thunder sounded, and silent lightning streaked the clouds, Sonny smiled.

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I don't know about you, but I feel really drowsy right now. Sorry if this was so boring, it just kinda wrote itself, you know? Anyways, I'm gonna go try and find Spirited Away so I can watch it, cuz I have the weirdest feeling I've seen it before. Review, please! Be nice! It's not nice if you don't review, and if you ignore this then you're gonna feel guilty the whole day until it eats you alive. Please. Please, please, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!