When The Rain Washes You Clean. (You'll Know.)

Chapter One.

1979

"So it's three months now, until your wedding. Am I correct?"

Leland looks up from where he was sitting, his fingers fiddling with each other as a smile stretches across his face. His eyes lock with the older woman in front of him, and he takes note of how her grey hair is pulled back into a bun. She's laced herself in rich jewellery, and Leland wonders just how much her earrings cost. His eyebrow raises just a little bit at it, before he shakes his head - and gives her the answer she wants to hear.

"Yes," He says, clearing his throat just a little bit, before sitting himself up properly in the chair, "In three months time, I will be marrying your daughter."

"I'm pleased to hear that," She says, a crooked smile stretching on her face - before she brings a hand up to fiddle with her necklace, "Now I wanted to talk to you today about your.." Her eyes travel up and down Leland's face for a brief second, before a small frown appears on her face, "Situation."

Leland knows exactly what she means by that, and he lets a small sigh out - though he refuses to let the smile drop off his face.

Leland was born and raised in a small part of Texas, growing up with just his mother made things a little bit difficult for him. He learnt from a young age how to become the man of the house, and he learnt how to take proper care of things when needed. He never really had time to experience what it's like to be a kid, and he knew he grew up a little bit too fast. But he loves his mother with everything inside of him, and he wouldn't trade it for the world. He learnt how to balance two jobs as well, and when his mother fell ill - he took on a third job. It was safe to say things took a toll on Leland before he hit the age of twenty, and by the time he turned twenty-three he had to learn to live a life without his mother.

He knows the loss of his mother wasn't the reason this woman was looking at him this way. It was because despite it all, Leland didn't have any money to his name. Medical bills became too much, and trying to feed himself was another. So he knows he's close to being dirt poor, one more small meal away from nearly sleeping on the street. And the woman in front of him knows that, which is why he understands how sceptical she's being about all of this. Leland too would feel this way, if he had a daughter that came to him - telling him she wanted to marry a man worth nothing. While they had everything.

He wants to yell it out to this woman, tell her that it's not what she thinks. That he truly does love her daughter Ana.

He still remembers the day that he met her, he remembers the thunder that was crashing down around the building. He remembers how he was knelt down in the hospital hallway, his face in his knees as he cursed at the world for taking his mother away. The tears were staining his cheeks and making his vision blurry, he was so lost in his own little world - that he nearly jolted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He remembers looking up, being momentarily blinded by one of the hospital lights until he saw the woman in front of him.

Her black hair was tied up and hidden mostly under a nurse's hat, while a frown was on her face as she looked down at Leland. He could see the sorrow behind her eyes as she looked at him, and for a moment he didn't want that pity, he didn't want to feel this way from her gaze. But as his eyes stayed locked with hers, his vision still half blurry, he felt something shift inside of him. It was small, but it was enough - he offered her a weak smile, and she knelt down beside him, offering him one back. He remembers how they didn't have to say much to each other, she let him cry just a little bit longer before their first words were spoken in a whisper.