shiver | wilbur soot

21

there was nothing new happening today, apart from the obvious downpour in the middle of june. rain spluttered against wilbur's bedroom window, angry, dark grey clouds surrounded the skies above. yet there they sat, wilbur at his desk, strumming melodies on his guitar and hope sprawled out on his bed sheets, quietly watching a random youtube video on her phone.

tensions were high between the two, both of them suffering with hidden yet confusing feelings towards one another, yet neither of them could admit it. wilbur was heavily distracted by the rain trickling against his window, his eyes following the droplets falling. that was when he began to think about that one time it rained, hope had dragged him out of the comfort of his bedroom to encourage him to love the rain as much as did. at the time it did not work, but every time it had rained since then, he found himself in awe of the soothing sound and splashes. maybe he found himself adoring it because of hope? maybe it was because of what she admitted, about how much she wanted someone to confess their love to her in the rain? whatever it was, he could concentrate on it for hours.

hope's hand was tucked under the pillow beneath her, laid on her side as she peered over her phone, "what happened to the guitar strumming? i was enjoying that." she giggled, but he was still gazing out of the window, "wilbur?"

"huh?" he blinked blankly before swivelling around in his chair, placing down the guitar which rested limply between his fingers.

"you seem distracted." placing her phone down beside her, she rolled over and shuffled up the headboard, resting against it, "what's wrong?"

"nothing." he shook his head quickly, spinning back around to look out of the window, "i just can't believe how much it's raining."

hope slowly pulled her body out of the bed and walked towards where he sat, resting both hands on the back of his chair and placed her chin on his head, also staring out of the window, "i swear it was supposed to be sunny today," she laughed softly, "but it's lovely, isn't it?"

"yeah, i guess it is." he sighed, both gazing at the mere satisfaction from the cloudburst outside. hope pulled back, still concentrating outside, but her fingertips ruffled through his fluffy brown hair.

"are you sure you're okay?" huffing out a small laugh, she leant around and gazed at his impassive facial expression, "just seem a little... off."

"uh - yeah." he swallowed harshly, but he was far from okay. his mind was sidetracked, all because of rain that was not forecasted. it reminded him of hope, feeling as though she had slipped through his fingers when she was stood behind him, fingertips softly stroking his hair which was incredibly relaxing.

"oh, okay." she nodded slowly, pulling away as she fixed his hair back into place, "just checking." muttering under her breath, she span around and seated herself on the edge of his bed, watching his still body.

they sat in silence, only the pattering against the windows from the heavy rain could be heard and their heavy sighs. it felt as though they were sat like that for ages, yet it had barely been 3 minutes, but the silence was eerie.

"hope." wilbur said, spinning around on his chair to stare at her.

"hmm?" she raised a brow, staring up at him, "what is it?"

he stood up in one swift movement, so quickly that hope did not even comprehend it. wilbur seemed in such a rush, as he ran to the other side of his room and picked up hope's coat, "put this on." he chucked it in her direction, "quickly!"