It's a mystery even to me where this came from. It's sad…but as always I must have an HEA, so no worries.

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Penname: Jburdick

Original or Derivative (fanfiction): Original

Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T-tissue warning

Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.

Prompt: Cloud

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I curled my arms tighter around my knees and leaned my back firmly into the corner of the park bench. The air was getting colder, the wind blowing faster. But I couldn't find it in me to care.

My body was shaking violently as deep sobs were ripped from my chest, croaking out my throat.

Watching the leaves float across the grass didn't help to distract me from the tears clouding my vision. Neither did the howl of a cat trying to hide somewhere nearby. I'd been sitting on this bench for three hours now. My ass was numb and I craved the warmth of my bed; but I couldn't go back there.

I started at a crack of thunder and watched the lightening light up the sky in the distance. The downpour wouldn't be far behind.

I gazed up at the sky, the clouds darkening it immensely. They hung low and thick, looking menacing as they threatened harsher weather. I closed my eyes for just a moment and felt the first cold, wet drops hit my cheeks, mixing with my tears.

I let my mind drift for a moment to the mere hours before, when I still thought everything would be okay. Before he threw me away like a piece of trash. I had begged him…followed him. Plead with him not to do this, not to leave me. His cold stare finally silenced me as his lack of caring sunk in deeply.

He really didn't want me.

Another sob ripped from my throat and I buried my face in my knees, gripping the material of my jeans tighter in my fingers. My knuckles burned with the effort and my back ached from the position I'd been in for so long. But nothing compared to the bloody gash in my heart.

I didn't want to live without him…I needed him so much more than I could ever have imagined needing anyone. I didn't want to be that girl, I swore I never would be. No man would hold me strong enough to break me once he'd gone. So why did I feel so broken? I suppose it truly was my fault for letting my self fall so completely.

I felt pathetic for feeling as badly as I did at that moment. My life felt over, though I knew it was far from it.

After another lonely hour, where not so much as a squirrel passed by in this awful weather, I dragged myself from the bench. I looked up to the clouds again, heavy and black, then back down to my sopping clothes. I'd probably get frostbite and have to live toeless for the rest of my life.

Fabulous.

I didn't realize how far I had walked when I first got here, and now only halfway back to the parking lot I already felt exhausted. Which was also probably due to the fact that I had twenty pounds of sopping wet clothes on my body.

Five more steps and I let the physical and emotional exhaustion take me, and I collapsed to my knees in the middle of the grass. Still alone. How I wished I would close my eyes…and that when I would open them again it would be early morning, and I would be wrapped in his strong warm arms in bed; soft lips pressed to my forehead.

Unbelievably more tears came, I had to be running out, but I couldn't stop crying no matter how hard I tried. But every time I saw his face or heard his voice in my mind the pain ripped through me again, bringing with it the tears.

I folded myself forward, bent awkwardly, and hugged my knees as best I could while the rain beat against my back. My sobs grew embarrassingly loud, and in that moment I was truly glad to be alone so I wouldn't humiliate myself with my dependency on the man who left me.

After several minutes I realized the rain had stopped, and I had to leave, even if I was convinced I had nowhere to go. I lifted slightly, still bent forward and saw a pair of painfully familiar chucks in front of me. I closed my eyes tight and opened them again. The shoes were still there.

Faster than I thought possible, I was up and in his arms, wrapping myself around him as tightly as I could. I felt the sob in his chest before I heard the tears thick in his voice.

"Baby, I don't know what's wrong with me. Please. I'm s-so s-sorry." He choked out, burying his face in my hair.

"I don't c-care. I don't…." I hiccupped loudly, squeezing him impossibly tighter. "Just p-please. Please god, don't leave me again. I can't…if you do…I can't…" I wasn't even sure what I was trying to say, I just kept babbling and squeezing him to me, breathing in his scent greedily.

"I won't. I can't." He sobbed out, pulling me up tightly in his arms and walking us toward his car. "I love you, baby."

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