Forever Rain

Chapter 21

Damon

"Rain. I know you're in there. Please, open up."

There's silence beyond the other side of the door, and I wonder if this is the wrong house. I check my phone, reading the long and detailed text Lila had sent me. Yes, this is the house, and according to Lila, Rain should be here alone tonight and the rest of this weekend.

Lila has revealed the heartaches Rain had been through after our breakup, and within it, she has said that there was something that Rain wishes to tell me, but unable to because I wasn't trying hard enough. She also called me multiple names, but I will pass it off as an aggressive friend who is endearingly caring for her friend.

Despite her aggression, she has made me realize that I truly have not fought for Rain at all. How easily it was that I let her escape my arms after graduation, watching her leave my life in her best friend's car. I saw the tears, felt the pain, but did nothing.

I had called her phone until one day, it showed up on the steps of my house. I waited on our dirt patch every day for her to pass, only to find it empty of her presence, desiring the image of the radiant brunette pedaling her bike over the hill. I could have gone further down the road and knocked on each door until I found her. I didn't do it until it was too late, and her hostile father screamed in my face that she was gone and slammed the door shut.

I was given another chance, to show her how I have felt about her then, how I still feel about her now. I will not give up tonight, until she knows the sincerity of my feelings for her.

"I won't leave Rain. I'll die out here if I have to, or until the neighbors decide to call the cops on me and take me away. But I won't leave until you open this door."

I am being melodramatic, but I need to cause a scene for her to notice the seriousness of my devotion. I can't let her doubt me now.

There's complete silence, and I'm considering heading to the back door when the handle starts to rattle. Slowly, the door moves slightly ajar, and Rain is peeking out through the crevice of the opening. Even with the fraction of her face revealed, I feel my heart sent into flutters and palpitation.

"What do you want, Damon? Why are you here?" Her tone is harsh and sharp, leaving me deprived of air and strength, but I refuse to let her see the weakness within me.

"I'm here for you, Rain. Because five fucking years is enough. And I can't wait another minute, another second." I have never been like this, causing such an idiotic scene. But there are no other options. I have to make my move audacious and bold, something that should have been done a long time ago.

She's hesitant, still not opening the door any wider, but I recite Lila's words in my mind, that I haven't fought hard enough for her. So I gently push the door wider as she steps back, and I revel in the beauty that portrays itself in front of me.

She is mesmerizing without words, clinging to the satin robe that wraps itself around her petite body. Her fair skin glows without the need of makeup, bronze hair in luscious waves that cascades over her shoulders, those succulent lips slightly pouting, those hazel eyes damp with weariness and query. Every part of her ignites every part of me.

I move inside her house, closing the door behind me. Her cheeks are scarcely flushed, and I notice the empty wine glass and bottle atop the coffee table in the living room. I refuse to take advantage of her if she's even the least bit intoxicated, but I cannot back down from my confrontation at this point.

"Rain, I have to tell you what you have done to me, since the very first day I have met you. I've always felt like an unworthy, privileged, spoiled brat without a purpose in life. I was arrogant, thinking I could get anything, or anyone, with just a snap of my fingers. But when I met you that day, and you treated me as nothing more than the mere imbecile I was, I have wanted you and craved for you in a way I couldn't think humanly possible."