"Summer Rain"

by: XdefyXgravityX

Chapter 3

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I LOVE YOU

I LOVE YOU.

The words chased each other endlessly around Zoey's mind faster than the speed of light. Her widened eyes never left the minute screen, her mouth hanging open in dumb disbelief. The TekMate's backlight clicked off, yet she still didn't look away.

I LOVE YOU.

The minutes dragged by, yet she never noticed: for Zoey Brooks, time stood perfectly still.

I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE YOU.

She sank onto the sofa that it seemed like she had only just leapt up from, finally tearing her eyes from that pivotal message. Her gaze lifted to rest instead on the door, which still hung open as Chase had left it.

Chase.

He loved her. How was it possible? How could he love her? How could he keep it from her for so long?

But wait… Looking back she realized that none of these were the right questions to be asking. There had been, she finally saw, plenty of signs. The way he ran into a pole when he first saw her, and again at the beginning of this year. How hard he tried to stop her from kissing Logan in the school play. His seemingly disappointed look when she brought Nicole and Dana to the movies with them. Why he stole her personality test to make sure they got paired up to go to the dance together. Why he was so desperate to see her Time Capsule DVD. The reason he was so eager to kiss her for that Trisha girl…The thing to be asking herself wasn't 'Why?' or 'How?' or even 'Why didn't he say something?'. No, the question here was 'How could I not see it before?'

She stared straight ahead with a look of intense concentration on her face. To passersby, she may have appeared to be extremely interested in the dull wallpaper just outside the open door. But in reality, she was mentally asking herself yet another question: How do I really feel about Chase?

The answer used to be obvious: they were best friends. But now, Zoey wasn't so sure anymore.

Sure, she'd only known Chase Matthews for two years, but in that time, they had become closer than either had ever imagined. She could be more herself with him than with anyone else, including her own parents. He was really an amazing guy; she'd always known it. Whenever she had a problem, he was always the one she'd run to. When she needed to talk, his door, his ears, and his arms were always wide open. At any sign of trouble, he'd be running to protect her. Any time she needed him, she'd just turn around, and there he'd be, without fail. Yes, he was her best friend, and that's what he'd always be.

But now, reliving the last two years in her mind and looking deep within herself, she found a few things that greatly surprised her. Going back to the day they met, after he hit that pole, the enormous concern for him that tugged at her heart, far greater than she would have expected, seeing as she didn't know him. She remembered the Trisha incident. Walking up to her, she couldn't help but notice how right her hand felt in his, how perfectly they fit together. And when they almost kissed: He was a mere breath away, closer than he'd ever been, and she wouldn't soon forget the look of intensity in his eyes, the last thing she saw before her own fluttered closed…then Dustin had to come along and ruin it. What was that thing she remembered feeling in that instant? Was it…disappointment?

She pictured him now in her mind's eye: his 'poodle-ish' hair all over the place, his deep green eyes glittering with the warmth and affection they always held in her presence. Two miniscule dimples dented his smooth, boyish face, and smiling that special smile, that single, lopsided Chase-smile that made her heart melt…

Zoey glanced once more at the message on the now-dark screen on her TekMate, and then clutched the small device to her chest with wide eyes and a gaping mouth once more. This time, though, it was a different realization that stunned her so:

I love him, too.

A clap of thunder, much louder and closer this time, shattered her stunned reverie, bringing her back down to Earth. The last ten minutes or so came rushing back to her in a sudden wave of memory. He ran she thought. He ran when I didn't say anything, he…oh no.

Another roar of thunder sent her to her feet, not hesitating a moment as she ran out of the open door and down the stairs, out into the gale outside. She was completely oblivious to the hot pink TekMate, which had fallen from her slackened grip and onto the flecked carpet. She had only one thought, one objective, lodged firmly in her numb brain:

I have to find him.

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The sky was completely dark now, the rain falling in a heavy and unending torrent. The murky, icy waters of the nearby Pacific Ocean swirled and tossed threateningly, and ear-shattering thunder boomed every few seconds. Still, through all this, one person was out and about. The tall, lean figure of Chase Matthews, shadowy in the dismal light, slowly made it's way up the small strip of land that used to be a beach, but was now a muddy river, squelching sluggishly with every step. His enormous hair was drenched, plastered to his head from the rain, and his t-shirt was soaked through. He shivered slightly, drawing his bare arms around himself, trying futilely to block out the cold moisture that cascaded down upon him. He felt as if he were drowning, but in two things: the rain and misery.

She doesn't love me. After all this time, she feels nothing for me.

He kicked a sodden rock, and instantly regretted it, lifting his injured foot and hopping around, a short and almost inaudible stream of curses issuing from his mouth. He sat down upon the rock he had just attacked, letting his head droop between his legs, his hands hanging limply in front of him. Millions of thoughts sped simultaneously through his head, so fast he couldn't discern one from another. They all centered around one person: Zoey.

How could he have been so stupid? How could he have had any tiny miniscule hope that his feelings for her could be returned? She'd never loved him in that way and she never would. And now he'd ruined the friendship between them that would otherwise have been completely indestructible. How could he have been so stupid?

He leaned over, picked up a small pebble, and hurled it into the dark and swirling Pacific. The moment it left his fingertips, it was lost in the darkness and torrential rain. An earsplitting roar of thunder caused him to lift his sodden face to the inky black sky. And it looks like this'll go on all night.

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Zoey was just starting to give up. She'd looked everywhere, and still no sign of him. She'd checked all the dorms, both lounges, the courtyard, the fountain, the football field, the basketball courts, and even the lake. Still nothing. She now slumped dejectedly against the cold brick wall of the administration building, the slim but sturdy overhang giving her a few moments' shelter from the downpour. Her wet and matted hair hung over her eyes, clinging to her neck and shoulders as she stretched her brain trying to think of a place she hadn't checked for Chase. She knew that if she couldn't find him now, it would be too late. She couldn't talk to him about this tomorrow, or ever again. It had to be now, or he would try to forget her, and would refuse to talk to her.

And in that moment, it hit her: the one place she hadn't looked. She leapt from the wall and began running as fast as her already exhausted legs would allow towards the beach. Her lungs throbbed harder with every painful breath she drew and her heart beat so fast she felt it would bust out of her chest, but she didn't slow her pace. She had to reach him before he shut her out of his life forever.

After minutes that seemed like days, she could hear the crashing of the ocean, meaning that she was getting closer. She quickened her already frantic pace, hoping against hope that he would be here, and that she wouldn't have to go back to her dorm and live the rest of her life without him. Opening her eyes, she saw ahead the hunched figure of a boy, slumped on a rock ahead of her.

Chase! At last!

Zoey stopped, catching her breath, not taking her eyes off of Chase's back. But even as she watched him, he got up from his boulder and began walking away.

No!

"Chase!" she yelled, but she was drowned out by the thunder. She began running again, desperate to catch up. "CHASE!"

He stopped and turned around, squinting towards the sound of his name. He knew that voice…but no, he must have been imagining things. He was getting ready to turn around again, but stopped when he saw someone running toward him, growing closer with every second. He could just barely make out the face through the rain. Zoey.

The instant Chase thought her name she crashed into him, her arms locking around him like a straitjacket. His grunt of surprise was instantly muffled by her lips covering his. The force of the impact knocked him over backwards, and he fell into the five or six inches of rainwater that had collected on the ground, taking Zoey with him. He was so surprised at the rough but delicious kiss that it was all he could do to wrap his arms around her waist.

All too soon, it was over. He blinked up at her, astounded.

"Zoey! What the-?"

She cut him off, yelling to be heard over the rain.

"I love you, Chase! I've always loved you! I'm just sorry it took me so long to figure it out!"

And after that, not a word was spoken. Chase brought his hand to the back of her head, pulling her down for another kiss, softer and sweeter this time, but at the same time just as urgent as the first, burning with just as much desire and need. Neither would ever know just how long they lay there, halfway submerged in the rainwater. All they would remember was each other. From then on, nothing could ever part them.

The worst thunderstorm Pacific Coast Academy had ever seen raged all though that night, but for Zoey Brooks and Chase Matthews, the sun had never shone so bright.

THE END

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A/N:

Hello again! I'm so sorry about the ridiculously long wait. I had a major writers block, and I'm sure a lot of you know how THAT feels :). Thanks so much for all the reviews! It completely makes my day to see them waiting for me in my Inbox. Well, that's it! That completes "Summer Rain"! So whadaya think? Love it? Hate it? Want a sequel (because I'm considering it!)? TELL ME! REVIEW PLEASE! Again, sorry about the wait, and thanks so much for all the support of this story!

As Always,

XdefyXgravityX