MIDNIGHT RAIN, ʲ.ᵏ

𐬿chapter four𐬿

johnnys car was warm. even though it was a little colder out than usual, charlotte was perfectly warm in her dublin shirt and shorts. she had her knees pulled up to her chest and she was waiting for the next song to play on the stereo. to her surprise, johnny had picked a good station, playing songs she knew and liked. she didn't exactly know where they were going, but she didn't particularly care. against her better judgment, she trusted johnny, completely. he kept one hand on the center console as he drove. he looked over to her occasionally, but he never said anything.
"where are we going?" she asked, breaking the silence. a new song had begun playing on the stereo, but she didn't quite recognize it.
he looked over at her and grinned, "it's a surprise."
"johnny," she said in exasperation, "tell me."
he shook his head and looked back at the road, but he never stopped smiling. he started tapping his hand on the console to the beat of the song playing, and charlotte decided it was a very good song. she looked at the stereo and read the title. lust for life, lana del rey. charlotte had never specifically liked lana del rey, but if johnny liked this song, she did too. after a little bit of listening, charlotte started singing along with the singer, nodding her head and smiling as she belted the lyrics. johnny laughed and sang along too, and when the song ended, he clapped against the steering wheel.

"very nice," he said, still laughing.
"i know," charlotte said, smiling.
lust for life, she thought. it reminded her of johnny. it reminded her of johnny and her. she rested her head against the window and waited for them to arrive wherever johnny was taking them, but it seemed they were driving farther than she thought. he stopped suddenly and opened his door. "you coming?" he laughed, waiting for her to get out of the car. she followed him into a cozy looking cafe. when they reached the counter, he order a chai latte and a black coffee. she really hoped the black coffee was for him, because she would rather die than drink plain coffee.
he noticed her look and said, "the chais for you."
she smiled widely. charlotte loved chai. he handed her the drink and began sipping his coffee. it was 6 in the afternoon, so charlotte was unsure what exactly they needed coffee for, but she drank her chai anyway. they didn't drive for long before they reached a blue sign that said 'Dublin'. she was in dublin. johnny took her to dublin. everyone knew how much dublin meant to johnny. it was where he had grown up, where he went to school when he was young. he had taken her to dublin. which also meant she had been in the car with johnny kavanagh for almost three hours. once they reached dublin, they arrived at their final destination quickly.

johnny pulled into a small parking lot surrounded by beech trees. he got out of the car and opened charlottes door for her, taking her hand. he lead her down a dirt path that eventually turned to sand. he had taken her to the beach. the fucking beach. she felt herself smile. he had taken her to both of their favorite places. hers was the beach, his was dublin. she had no idea how he remembered that she loved the beach, but she was happy either way. he stopped after walking a few feet in the sand and turned to her.
"i need to get something out of the car, wait here," he instructed, walking off. she did as he said, but not without dipping her foot in the water first. warm. it was practically always warm in dublin. she wasn't wearing swimming clothes, she reminded herself, but did it really matter? she walked up the beach away from the water and sat on the sand to wait for johnny. he came back quickly, holding a rugby ball.

"i'm teaching you to throw," he grinned, tossing the ball into the air and catching it.
"johnny," charlotte started, "there is no way i'll be able to learn."
he raised an eyebrow and threw the ball toward her, much like he did when they first met. she attempted to catch it, but the ball slipped right through her fingers. she picked it up off the ground, feeling mild irritation at not catching it. she tried to throw it to johnny, but it was a very bad throw, landing a few feet in front of him.
"you need to pull your arm back farther and throw more upwards," he shouted encouragingly. he grabbed the ball and threw it to her again, but like the first time, it slipped right through her fingers.
"try catching it between your arms and your body," he instructed and waited for her to throw it back. her next throw, while being better than her first, was still quite lousy. he nodded at her improvement, and threw her the ball again. this time, she took his advice and tried catching the ball between her arm and her stomach. it landed perfectly in her arms. she threw the ball to the ground and begun jumping around ecstatically. in that moment, she felt the strong sense of accomplishment she only felt every once in a while. johnny clapped loudly, beaming at her excitement.
"try throwing it now!" he shouted, still smiling widely. tentatively, she picked up the ball and threw it as hard as she could. he caught it effortlessly. he cheered for her loudly before letting the ball fall to the ground and running over to her. he was smiling so widely charlotte thought that it had to hurt, but he didn't look hurt, he just looked happy. he pulled her into a hug and spun her around, laughing into her ear softly. she felt herself smile. he put her down and grabbed the ball again, handing it to her.
"now," he said, "you have to get to the other side of the beach without me taking it."
she nodded and started running to the other side of the beach, feeling sand flood her shoes. not even a minute after she begun running, strong arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground slightly.
"caught ya," he whispered in her ear before putting her down. "try again."
she tried again and again, but johnny kept catching her.
she sighed in defeat, "i can't do it."
johnny was beside her in an instant, "of course you can," he nodded, "you need to believe in yourself, i do." he added.
charlotte nodded and grabbed the ball again, running down the beach with no warning. she ran, not knowing if johnny was behind her yet or not, but finally, she reached the far side of the beach.
"yes!!" she shouted, throwing the ball into the sand and jumping around victoriously.