Saviors (Completed)

11. Dancing In The Rain

The weekend went as smoothly as possible, my mother had called Mrs. Green and told her that I could come home.

I stood in front of the school, my last class had just ended. Rain poured down on me. I pulled the gray hood over my little form, as I sauntered out in the hard rain.

My head is turned down on the ground as I walked away. Through one of the pools of rainwater, the familiar flash of police sirens was brought to my attention. I managed to lift my head up just a bit.

The blue and red lights are little more than smudgy illuminations in the slanting rain. It was only a fast blur, but I found myself staring at it as it drove down another street.

I walk over the road. Rain beaded the broken paintwork of the cars and bounced from every hard surface. The sound came from every direction except down and the storm drained bubble with gray-brown run-off. For once the weatherman got it right, fifty millimeters by noon.

"Nina!" I looked up after the caller and my heavy eyes meet Tony's. He strolled out of his shop and over to me. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," I answered, trying not to get eye contact with him. The rain had already drained him, but he didn't seem to freeze in that thick coat of his.

"What are you doing outside in this weather?" he asked, looking down at my body.

Cold licked at my face and crept under my clothes, spreading across my skin like the lacy tide on a frigid winter beach. I bet my lips have already turned a violet purple and the sound of gently chattering teeth filled my ears.

"You look cold," he said, laying his warm hands on my arms. "You even feel cold. Wanna come in?"

I shook my head. "No thanks," I answered, my chest hardened, even though the guilt sat not on my chest but inside my brain. He was really sweet, but I couldn't let him in, like when my walls had slipped with Anthony.

"You sure? It doesn't look like it is getting better," he said, looking up at the dark sky.

"I'm sure," I assured him, but he just kept standing there and looking up the sky. "You can go in now." I sounded more rude than intended and Tony heard it too.

His head snapped towards me, staring at me. "You're in a bad mode," he stated, lifting his eyebrows.

"Uhm-" What should I say? "I guess so."

The way his lips lifted upward. The way his one dimple crinkled. The way his teeth were perfectly aligned. The warm glow his happiness gave. His smile was a ray of sunshine, and I was a sunburn.

He took me around my waist with one of his arms and with the other he took my hand.

Then he moved his body together with mine. "Dance with me," he whispered in my ear and I couldn't do anything but obey.

The silent music spun around us lifting away gravity. I couldn't count how many times I had squished his foot under my own. Still, he smiled brightly as our heels clicked over the wet asphalt. He watched as my hair spun out and bounced more with each move.

We continued to dance and spin. Light from the streets lamps were twinkling with every step as I spun in delicate circles.

Happiness was in the rain, cool and fresh, just as deeply as the sunshine, for they brought forth different emotions. Happiness was enjoying the moment, being present for that gift that was living, and allowing it to become intense.

I felt that.

As Tony twirled me around with a glowing smile on his lips, I felt it. I felt happiness for the first time in over five years. I allowed it to consume me in a tornado of light. A smile stained upon my lips. In the distance there was traffic, but far away enough not to bother me or my concentrated moves.