Tonight, the Rain Lost

It was nights like these that made her feel like this.

Miserable nights, where the rain of the day persisted into the night. Rain that caught the unwary by surprise and soaked them to the bone, leaving them wet hours after the sun went down. Rain that was cold, and cruel, and relentless despite the silent pleas of all who were stuck waiting for the bus or biking to work.

It was one of those nights.

She stood in front of the mirror lit with fluorescent, artificial yellow light, and the white of a pale face; a face twisted in a way that betrayed the feelings of the mind behind it. Critical eyes roved over the curvy body, the hunched shoulders, through the brown hair. And as she looked, the reflection stared back, and as they stared, a few lonely tears slid down the reddened cheeks, dripping silently into the porcelain sink.

A knock came at the door, and she dried her eyes with her wrists, glanced again at the reflection in the mirror, and answered in a broken, croaky voice, "Yeah?"

"Are you going to come out?" asked another voice outside the door.

"Yeah, j-just give me a second."

"... Ell?"

Cursing herself at her weak voice, Ell glanced once again, hatefully at the mirror. "I'm fine, just give me a second."

She shut her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and opened the bathroom door, to be greeted by the sight of the man she loved.

He wasn't especially tall, he wasn't especially strong. The entire right side of his face and his right arm were covered in a fine scar tissue, and blonde hair curled upward toward the ceiling like devil horns. But whenever he smiled, Ell absolutely fell apart, and she was forever enchanted by his silvery eyes.

But the expression wasn't one of happiness. Instead, concern etched every line as Tord stared. A little crease grew between his brow. "Ell, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Liar.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying."

"Ellie?" Tord stood from where he sat on the edge of the bed and made his way over to her, lifting her face by her chin so he could look into her eyes - her lying eyes - grey into suddenly watering brown.

"Ell...?" he asked again.

Ell turned away, furious at herself and wiping away tears that wouldn't hold themselves back. "I'm fine," she muttered, emphasizing her lie.

"No, you're not... What's wrong?"

Ell's back was to him, her shoulders slumped, folding in on herself. She muttered something incoherent.

"What?"

"I just... I don't like myself..."

His heart broke a little. Who could ever guess that such a defeated voice could come from such a happy person? Silently, Tord walked again to Ell, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and resting his forehead against the back of her hair, just breathing in the scent of her soap and lotion. "Why," he asked softly, "Would you ever say that?"

"I just..." Ell took a deep, shuddering, ashamed breath. "I hate looking in the mirror... I hate seeing myself... I feel... Ugly..."

Tord screwed his eyes shut. He'd known for a while now that Ell was very self conscious of the way she looked. He noticed it the most before nights out together, when she would stare appraisingly in the mirror after applying layers of makeup, when little lines made an appearance between her eyebrows. Sometimes, she would even wash off everything and start from scratch. It was hard to watch sometimes.

"Well..." He took a deep breath, untangling himself and running his hands down her arms and shoulders, sliding them down her ribcage so they came to rest on her hips. "I love to look at you. In fact, you're my favorite thing to look at. I love every bit of you."

"Don't lie to me, please Tord, please... I'm upset enough as it is..."

"Lie? Never! Why would I lie? Look." He turned them both of them so they could see themselves in the mirror on the wall. "Know what I see?"

"An ugly, fat nobody that doesn't deserve anyone's love," Ell said. Tord watched as her face reddened with tears.

"No. You're not looking. You don't see what I see. Because I see the most perfect woman I know. I see a gorgeous face, and a beautiful body, and a wonderful, kind person who deserves all the love in the world, including the love from herself."

"No... She doesn't... There's nothing she deserves... Nobody should love any part of her..."

"Really? Because I love this part of you." He kissed the top of her head, making her turn and stare at him, eyes wide. "And I love this part of you-" He kissed her forehead. "And I love this part of you, and I love this part, and this part-"

Over and over, he said that phrase, and it was followed by a peppering of kisses, from her nose, to her shoulder, to her cheek, to her ear, to her neck, to her eyelid, and with every kiss, Ell started to laugh, until by the end she was practically dangling from his arms, her knees weak and face bright. Laughing himself, he paused, and the two of them gazed at each other, happiness overcoming melancholy.

"And this is my favorite part of you, too..."

The rain was heavy, and dark, and cold. The rain was relentless and despairing, and the rain could make anyone feel miserable. The rain fought to create misery and despair. It fought to douse the fires of people's' souls, and make them cold and dark, just like it.

But tonight, the rain lost.

Because tonight, the rain could not dampen the spirits of the two people laughing together in a little house on the edge of a big city, helplessly in love.

A/N I've been kinda sad lately. I don't like being sad. I especially don't like to see other people sad. I don't like telling people why I'm sad, either. And it's okay to be sad sometimes. It's okay to be afraid and insecure. But it's only okay up until a point; when it starts taking over who you are. It's okay to tell someone you're sad. A good cry is sometimes what you really need.

I really debated on whether I should post this right now, if I should have waited to create some more detail in the characters before going into dark, angsty shtuffs. But then I thought,"... Meh, screw it." Sooooo, I did it XD

Also, to the guest named "BOI" who left the lurvely review about my Undertale reference, that review made my day, it was hilarious. Yes, I know what Undertale is, I was quite obsessed with it for a while (Then EDDSWORLD HAPPENED). I have a couple Undertale stories on FFN as well for those of you who are interested in my stuff. BE WARNED: It contains a lot of SansxOlder!Frisk, as well as my UT AU thing Soultale... Which is still unfinished XD Someday, someday.

I give a special thanks to those of you who favorited this story, those of you who left reviews and requests, and even those of you who read this far! You're the people who keep me strong in the face of trial XD Love you all

Also, for those of you who are Hamiltrash (Hamilton fans), see if you can spot my very vague reference to the song "Dear Theodosia" (that's one of my fave songs btw)

SEND ME A REQUEST OR PROMPT! THANKS 4 READING!