Constellations | A.I.

10 - raining

I dedicate each chapter to one specific writer who either inspires my writing and/or has written incredible books. This chapter goes to fckinghealy for being a great writer, and having such creative and unique stories.

-Ashton-

I've said before that I like describing people. I've always liked nature and I like using images of nature to associate with people. Rain is a good one.

I stayed up that night as I lay beside Em, her brown waves messily strewn across the pillow, silent breaths leaving her parted lips as she slept peacefully. It was the image of rain dancing around in my mind that kept me up, partly because I remembered the forecast for rain the next day, and so it triggered my imaginative mind to come up with ways to describe people using rain.

I noticed Em stir a little, letting out a sigh as she turned away from me to lay on her back. She was the purest kind of beautiful, nothing exceptionally sensual that made guys stop and stare, which I didn't mind at all. There was nothing extraordinary about her looks, but she was still radiant and gorgeous in the simplest of ways. I caught myself far too often staring at her, memorized by her simplicity, yet intricateness.

But it wasn't just that. It was the way she laughed, too, that made me stop my actions and just gaze at her. It was the way she smiled up at me. It was her sense of humor, her wittiness. She wasn't special, at least not at first glance, but she was captivating in her own way almost immediately after meeting her.

I continued to look at her, surprised by how hard it was now to pick out something I hadn't noticed before. I wanted to wake her, my impatience surging through me more as I lay awake. I leaned down, wanting so desperately to press my lips on her smooth cheek again, but I knew better. Instead, I whispered in her ear to wake her up, the quiet sound disrupting the peacefulness of the night.

Her eyes fluttered open, gazing lazily at me as she plastered on a smile. I knew it was wrong to wake her; she was clearly tired and I didn't even have a plan yet.

But after a surprisingly small amount of persuasion, ten minutes later we were in my car which, much to Em's surprise, I'd decided to finally drive.

"You pick," I said after Em had asked where we were going. I could see her gradually waking up, giddier than usual as she did more. She pulled her knees up to her chin, shrugging.

"Something... Exciting. Something kinda crazy and maybe a little illegal, but not very easy to get caught," Em replied, her shining eyes meeting mine as she let out a laugh. It didn't take long for an idea to pop into my head, and soon we were on our way to the lake just outside of town.

"Do you like rain?" I asked when I was afraid she might fall back asleep.

"Yeah, I do. But it doesn't rain enough here," Em responded, trailing off at the end and looking out the window. I debated on whether or not I should even tell her.

"Um, well so do I. And I do this thing where I use, like, real life objects to describe people instead of adjectives," I admitted, glancing over at her, and her moonlit face turned to face me, "For example, if I described you as rain you would be summer rain. You're what everyone needs when they need to cool off. You're casual rain, that slowly gets heavier until it's a steady downpour, affecting everything in its path."

She stared at me, her expression unreadable for a moment until she broke out into a smile, and I turned back to the road, feeling a grin spread across my lips as well as I said, "and you always leave a beautiful rainbow behind."

It was silent for a few minutes, but I could feel her eyes on me and I hoped she was still smiling. I loved it when she smiled.

"You're a thunderstorm. Dark and mysterious but still beautiful in its own way. You light up the sky with unexpected flashes of lightning. You're also a drizzle. When the day is cloudy and dreary and boring, you come in and leave your mark. You make people want to go dance in the rain, splash in the puddles," Em surprised me by saying, and I swallowed back emotion at her words. I couldn't look at her, couldn't let her know how much that affected me.