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The dark and low rumbling clouds rolled in almost out of nowhere as you exited the opera house with Neuvillette. “I thought the forecast today was clear of any rain?” You looked out to the gloomy night skies, stars covered by the menacing clouds.
“I believe it was. I’m not sure what the cause for these clouds is, but I suppose it means something in the forecast changed since the last time we looked at it.”
“You don’t think it’s going to start raining on 𝘶𝘴, do you?”
“From the looks of it, it very well may start raining any second now,” Neuvillette smiled. He did feel bad for you, but part of him felt delighted at the idea of a downpour.
Only moments after you started walking did it actually start drizzling. And it did start calm and peaceful, just a light shower. But the clouds were too doomingly-dark for such light rain, and you couldn’t even count the seconds before it went from a pleasant pitter-patter to an entire tsunami. Your hair was fully drenched, your clothes got heavier from the weight of the water soaking into it, and the visibility of the sidewalk in front of you faltered.
“Couldn’t it have waited, seriously?”
“[Name], I don’t believe the weather waits for anyone.” Neuvillette looked like a fish out of water with the way his tidy opera-attending clothes—a formal white blouse and black dress pants paired with a blue shoulder coat and accessories—were sticking to his skin. The way his hair un-styled itself and fell flat around his face. You couldn’t help but think to yourself that he looked like he came straight out of a Ghibli movie.
You pouted at him. “Of course it doesn’t wait! It clearly didn’t see us trying to head home after seeing a wonderful orchestra perform and wanted to create some downpour on that joy and excitement. The rain has no whimsy.”
“That’s an… interesting way to personify the rain.”
“You think so? Anyways… Let’s go, before we turn into puddles from being so drenched.”
Even though you were busy trying to grab his arm and drag him along to run away from the rain, you still managed to hear his little chuckle. “Don’t make me leave you here, Neuvi!”
“I don’t entirely believe you’d be harsh enough to do that,” Neuvillette started to pick up speed as he was getting pulled through the rain by your hand.
You weren’t looking back at him anymore, but forward, searching for the bus stop you were supposed to wait at together. He admired your back profile, your courage to drag him somewhere when most people wouldn’t dare lift a finger against him, and the care you had for someone who clearly didn’t even mind a little bit of rain. A lot bit of rain, actually, but nothing would stop this man from standing in the rain all day if he could.
Given his intimidating presence, Neuvillette didn’t typically experience someone taking the lead and ‘protecting’ him in their own way like this. And even though the rain was cold, he found that he felt quite warm.
It was something that he’d recently realized only happened when he was together with you. But for someone who had no previous romantic experience, he was unsure. He didn’t wish to make things difficult for you, and so he always decided that this was an issue he could not afford to tackle in the present moment.
Including this moment.
A strong gust of wind pushed you nearly off balance, but you recovered from it and kept running along. “I think I see the bus stop!”
“Ah, Are you sure you see it?” His view was almost entirely obstructed by rain and your back profile.
“Huh?” You called out, not sure if you heard him correctly with the hissing of the rainfall.
For once, Neuvillette’s willpower wavered. If you couldn’t hear him, then it wouldn’t hurt if he spoke the words he’d been looping over and over in his head whenever he thought too deeply about you. He didn't hesitate, afraid that he'd lose the chance in a blink.
“I adore you, ma chérie.”
Perhaps it was the wine he’d been drinking during the performance earlier. Maybe the rain, or the affection lingering in the air in a situation like this. Had the warmth in his heart compelled him to say this? Nonetheless, he said it. Albeit quietly, afraid that you’d hear the thoughts he held closest and never even dream of reciprocating, or worse, judge him. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten so ahead of himself.
You didn’t react.
‘𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦… 𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.’ Neuvillette thought.
But you did hear him, and the heart sitting in your chest started beating faster than the rain would dare come down. Part of you wished the bus stop wasn’t so close anymore, so that you could linger in this moment. You wouldn’t need to think up a response, or pretend that you didn’t hear him knowing that he didn’t mean for you to, and you wouldn’t have to face the dilemma you were in now.
“Hurry up, we’re almost there,” you managed to call out.
And it was so annoying, but just as you were about to reach the bus stop, the rain calmed down into a simple windy drizzle again.
As if it had only rained so that he could say those words under the shelter of the rain, as if he could never say them any other time, as if he was so afraid to face the truth himself. It was nothing but a drizzle. If you just ignored his words, would things return to normal?
Would your stormy-ocean-wave of a pacing heart rate learn to hush?
You and Neuvillette stood under the safety of the bus stop, trying to catch your breath and wringing the water out of your hair and clothes. “I suppose that’s an adventure of sorts, right?”
“An adventure is for sure. I think this is the first time I’ve had such an excitable time coming out of an opera house of all places.”
‘𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦,’ you thought.
You sighed, feet squirming in the gross wet shoes you were wearing. Running in the rain with your crush didn’t feel half as romantic as the movies pretend like it does when it was such a sensory nightmare. At least you were out of the worst of it now.
Your eyes drifted over to Neuvillette, who was still trying to calm down the strands of his hair that were trying to fly off and away. “Hopefully we don’t get sick tomorrow after all this free shower nonsense,” you laughed. Part of you really wanted to stare into the abyss of his captivating lilac eyes, get lost in them and never come back. There was no way you could handle that.
“You know my immune system is stronger to things like this, so I worry more about you,” Neuvillette frowned and looked towards you. You made eye contact for a moment, but you quickly turned your head away from him and towards the sky. “I appreciate it, but there’s no way you can’t have a chance of getting sick after this?”
“I would definitely be surprised if I did catch a cold.”
There was a break in the clouds now as they became more transparent and drifted away. It was right around the full moon, which casted a glow on the entire road before you now that it was fully uncovered. You wouldn’t be shocked if it was a super moon and you’d just missed reading it on the news.
Underneath the moon were puddles, scattered everywhere along the road.
While you were still looking away, Neuvillette thought back to the joke you made about turning into puddles. He wouldn’t mind it, honestly. Especially now. A quiet smile grew on his face.
There was no longer any rain. If you said it now, he’d be sure to hear it. You took a deep breath in before opening your mouth.
“Neuvillette. Uh…” You hesitated. Only for a second. “Actually, I think I feel the same way about you.”