//------------------------------// // In the Rain // Story: If I Could // by FriendlyTwo3 //------------------------------// In the Rain The final bell rings and you let out a sigh of relief. You quickly put up your chair and throw on your backpack. Fluttershy had agreed to coming over to your house today. The students pile out of the room. You look back at Twilight, who smiles at you. You smile back. “I’ll see you later,” she says to you. You nod in return. She walks over to Fluttershy and begins to talk with her. You hear a female voice call to you. Looking back, you see none other than your cousin Raindrops. “Fluttershy comin’ over today?” she asks you. You nod in return, unable to stave off a thoughtful smile. “Nice. I’ll be home later. Gonna do some studying at Colgate’s. I’ll be home around 4:30.” Again, you nod. Before you can turn to walk away, she grabs your shoulder. You look at her quizzically. “Hey, is she doin’ alright? I mean, is she feelin’ any better?” You look back at Fluttershy again. She and Twilight are wrapped in a caring hug. A content smile is on Fluttershy’s face. Your smile falters a bit, but remains nonetheless. Your gaze hangs for a few moments before you look back at your cousin. You give her a sincere nod. She smiles a bit before walking past you, patting your shoulder with a quick ‘love you.’ You look back toward Fluttershy, who grips the straps of her backpack enthusiastically, beaming up at you. You look up and see Twilight heading out the door. Your gaze meets Fluttershy’s and your smile widens. You grab her hand gently and walk out. Fluttershy gives you a caring look before gazing back down the hallway. The smile remains on your face. Your thumb rubs the back of Fluttershy’s hand softly. Reaching into your pocket, you grab your IPod. You turn it on and flick to a song, before pausing it. You place one earbud in your ear and hand Fluttershy the other. She takes it and places it in her ear. You press play. Music was always something you loved. It let you escape from life’s daily challenges and stresses. You seem to share your music with Fluttershy a lot too. It’s almost every day you hand her the other earbud. Hell, after the incident, you and her spent an hour just sitting there listening to your music. Fluttershy scratches her shoulder quickly, but winces as she does, giving off a quiet squeak. She doesn’t notice it, but you cock an eyebrow at this. She rubs the spot softly before lowering her arm. That was certainly odd. She didn’t scratch it that hard. She’s also wearing two layers of clothing over that spot. Huh. Probably a bruise or something. That rabbit of hers does like kicking her. Lord knows it likes kicking you. You look back up and notice that you’re almost outside. The entire sky is a light gray and it’s drizzling a bit. Almost simultaneously, you and Fluttershy put up your hoods. A low rumble is heard from your pocket. You take out you phone. It’s a text from your mom. “Fluttershy still coming over?” You tap the buttons with your thumb. “Yeah. We’re on our way” A few moments later, she replies. “Well, I’m going to your aunt’s for a while to bring her the cake. I’ll be home in about an hour or so. And try to get home before the storm starts.” “K. Love you.” “Love you too.” You return your phone to your pocket. Good. Some quality alone time with your new girlfriend. It’s about time too. You extend your arm and push the door open. You step out of the way for Fluttershy to get through. She quietly thanks you. You continue to walk toward the road. The rain is cold, and is starting to come down a little harder. “Wait,” Fluttershy says, stopping in her tracks, “I completely forgot to text my mom. Is it alright with you if I. . .?” She holds up her phone for emphasis. You gesture in a ‘go ahead’ motion. She looks down to the device as it lights up. You look up to the sky. The rain was never really a problem for you. It calms you, puts your nerves at ease. You’re actually pretty thankful it’s drizzling now; your nerves had been quite racked as of late. Suddenly, you feel a presence nearing toward you from behind. Slowly, you turn around. Behind you is the person you hate most. He’s always laughing in other people’s faces, including yours and Fluttershy’s. He’s always flaunting himself just because he can lift a few more weights than other people or play basketball better. Hoops. “He-ey, Flutters! Ain’t seen ya round in a while!” he yells toward Fluttershy, who puts her phone in her pocket. She seems to quickly hide it for some reason, as if afraid he were going to take it. Sounds like something Hoops would do. As he nears closer, you get another look at him. His hair goes down in front of his eyes, yet somehow he can play basketball with ease. Oh, the gym classes you have with him. . . He actually used to be your friend, when you used to be a jerk. But the second you lost your voice, that all changed. The jock is about the same height as you, and slightly more muscular. His shoulders are small and weak looking however. “Oh, um. . . H-hello, Hoops. . .” You sigh, take Fluttershy’s hand in yours again, and begin to lead her away. “Hey, hey, hey, now, voiceless, what’s the rush? I just wanna catch up,” he says, walking up beside you and roughly slapping your shoulder. You let out a grunt. Okay, he’s a bit stronger than he leads on. “Maybe not with you, but with Flutters here.” You shoot him a look that could intimidate a bear. Sadly, this gentleman is much, much dumber than a bear. He sticks out his foot, catching your ankle. With a yelp, you land face first into the sidewalk. Though, you make sure to let go of Fluttershy’s hand, lest you bring her down with you. You hear multiple people laugh at your expense. You prop yourself up on one elbow with a wheeze that should’ve been a groan and bring two fingers to your nose. No blood. Good. Standing up, you turn around to see that Hoops has taken Fluttershy’s hand and is spewing out some form of nonsense. Fluttershy is covering her mouth with her free hand. She lunges forward and puts a hand on your cheek as you slump your backpack back over your shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asks quickly. You look at her and nod with a tiny smile. Just feeling her warm hand on your cheek makes you feel infinitely better. Suddenly, she’s jerked back quickly. Hoops looks at her with a large frown. “Would you listen to me when I’m talking to you?!” Your heart skipped a beat there. To think that he would treat anyone, especially Fluttershy like that. . . it’s just stunning. Especially considering what’s happened recently. It doesn’t matter if hardly anyone knows about it. Oh, how you want to tear this asshole a new one. If only you could say something. If only you could do something besides silently growl and clench your fists to the point of pain. You grit your teeth hard against each other. The rain is coming down slightly harder now. Now, your hair is stuck to your forehead and dripping down your face. Your black jacket is becoming more and more attached to your body. Your backpack is feeling slightly heavier. Then it happens. You weren’t even listening to what the Hoops was saying, but apparently Fluttershy was focused on you. He did it. “The fuck’d I just tell you?!” His hand comes up and roughly slaps the back of Fluttershy’s head. She lets out a deep grunt, a sound you’ve never heard her make before. And knowing how hard he slapped your shoulder a minute ago? That must have hurt. It happens in the blink of an eye. Hoops is sprawled out on the ground, a heap of blue and white varsity clothing and brown hair. He’s groaning deeply. Slowly, he lifts himself a bit. He lifts his hand to his cheek, coughs a bit, and spits out something small and white, followed by something viscous and red. You take a few breaths. Your knuckles slowly start to regain feeling. Looking down, your knuckles are colored a light red and are slowly starting to ache. Your eyebrows furrowed, you look back to Hoops, who is starting to get up. You take a step forward, moving past Fluttershy, whose hands are firmly cupped around her mouth. Hoops stumbles to his feet. “You little cunt.” Straightening your back, you make yourself look as intimidating as possible. Hoops, meanwhile, lowers himself. He takes a few deep breaths, and lunges forward. As he comes toward you, you quickly move aside, grab his arm, and slam him into the ground. You kneel down, place your hand over the base of his neck, and press down. Apply pressure here and. . . After a moment, Hoops ceases movement. Fluttershy gasps, but relaxes a bit when she hears him start to snore loudly. You stand up straight yet again and look over to Hoops friend, who looks at you with fear. With a scowl, you nod to the unconscious dirt bag. Ever so slowly, you turn to meet Fluttershy. The sight before makes you want to scream. Fluttershy has one hand over her mouth and one hand on the back of her head, her wet hair coming through the spaces between the fingers. She looks at you with a look you can’t deduce. It looks like a mixture of sadness, shock, and fear. Tears stream down her face, mixing with the ice cold water raining down from the sky. Your shoulders drop. A realization comes to you of what you’ve just done. This is Fluttershy, the person who you know that is against violence the most. And you just put someone to sleep right in front of her. If only you could say something to her. All you can do is inch your way toward her, hoping she doesn’t run off, hoping she isn’t now afraid of you. You take a slow step toward her, then another. She doesn’t do much except stare at your feet. You are now right in front of her. You open your mouth to speak, you try so hard to project your voice, but it’s in vain. So you do all that you can do. You reach for your phone, open the notepad app, and write your message. “Fluttershy. . . I’m so sorry. I don’t have any idea what came over me. I was just. . . so angry at him.” She reads the message, but doesn’t say anything. She looks away. You write another message. “I understand if you don’t want to talk. But when he hit you. . . I saw how much it hurt you and I couldn’t hold myself back.” She reads this one, and looks up at you. She looks down at the ground. With a quiet sigh, you realize that it’s not going to work. You’ve been together three days and you already blew it. “Do you want me to walk you home. . .?” She reads the message, looks away, and shakes her head ‘no.’ Your stomach churns, your heart stops, and your blood freezes. You take note of the rain. It’s really coming down now at a near downpour. She wants to walk home alone in this. Fluttershy isn’t a big fan of rain like you are, and she wants to walk home alone in this. You blew it. Big time. She was finally yours. You had her. She loved you back. You were together. You shared your first kiss with her, and you blew it this hard. You can only stare at her before slowly nodding, closing your eyes and taking a step past her. You don’t even bother locking your phone. As you begin to take another step, you feel a pressure around your arm. You open your eyes and turn around to see Fluttershy looking up at you. Without breaking eye contact, she takes your phone from your hand. She looks down and writes her message. After a few moments, she shows it to you. “I still want to go to your house.” You look up at her again, your eyes wide. You feel a smile forming, but quickly bury it, reminding yourself of the current situation. You feel the tickle of rain on your head and you finally realize your hood fell down. You slide it back over your head, knowing full well it won’t do anything at this point. Fluttershy turns as you begin to walk. She begins to walk alongside you. You put both of your hands in the pockets of your jacket. You consider reaching for her hand, why would she want to touch you after all that? You stare at the sidewalk. Each step you take just makes you feel even more uncomfortable. You can’t help but see Fluttershy’s wet blue jeans in the corner of your eye. You try to think about her, but with those thoughts comes the reminder that it may not last. This is probably it for your relationship with her. ‘Why did you have to be so stupid?!’ you think to yourself. You grit your teeth together and close your eyes. All this work to be with her, to finally have her has gone down the toilet in just a couple minutes. All because of one dickhead and a petty personal vendetta. All these years, and you blew it. You lost control. ‘You could’ve just backed him down! Grabbed his collar or something! Let him throw the first punch!’ “I don’t hate you,” a quiet voice says, just loud enough to be heard over the rain. You look over at Fluttershy, who’s looking up at you. You look back down at the ground. “I know you think I do.” With your eyes closed, you continue to walk. You feel something grab your elbow and pull you to a halt. You turn around to see Fluttershy staring at you, a pleading look in her eyes. She quietly says your name. “I need to talk here. I can’t wait until we get to your house.” After a moment of staring, you look down and nod. Rain drips down your cheek and forehead. Your clothes are sticking to your thin frame. Puddles are forming under your feet. Fog is starting to roll in. Hundreds of water droplets hit the concrete sidewalk, but somehow, it’s no trouble hearing Fluttershy as she continues to speak. “I understand why you did what you did,” she begins over the rain, “I know why you felt you did what you had to do. And I’m grateful.” But. . . “But you really scared me,” she says, shivering a bit. The wind begins to howl as it picks up. The rain is at a steady pour. No thunder has rolled, but you’re starting to get worried. You shouldn’t be out here in this. Neither of you should. Hell, you just got over a cold, and the last thing Fluttershy needs on top of everything is to get sick. Nevertheless, you keep listening. “I’d never seen you like that before. I’ve seen you at your worst and I’ve seen you at your best. But. . . Nothing like that. It really scared me.” You lower your head and stare at the ground. “I know you better than you know yourself,” she continues, “I know you’re not prone to violence. At least, not anymore.” For a brief moment, you think back to when you were a kid. Thinking back, you remember how much of a little dick you were. But you expel these thoughts from your head as Fluttershy continues. “But I need to know. I need to KNOW you won’t do that again. No matter what.” You open your mouth. You tighten your chest. You lean forward. But nothing comes out besides a pitiful grunt. You stare Fluttershy right in the eyes as you try in vain yet again to speak. She stares right back with those emerald eyes. You close your lips, lower your head, and close your eyes. “You don’t have to say it. Tell me however you can. I just need to know.” You wait a moment before looking back up at her. She staring right into you, and it feels as if she’s looking right through you. You reach with both hands and interlock your fingers with hers. You slowly move your head closer to hers. You can smell her minty breath. Your gaze still locked with hers, you give a wide smile. You put all the love, care, and regret into it, and make a real effort to make her feel comfortable. After a moment, her lips curl up as well. “I believe you.” The two of you close your eyes, move your heads just a bit closer, and embrace each other’s touch in the rain.