•esther gray•➳{h.s}

➶iv -torpe-

•Previously•

"Bye!" She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a side hug before flinging the front door open and skipping away.

He didn't want her to be alone out there. And in all honesty, he would've rather canceled the dinner to be with her. To protect her.

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The rain pattered on her sweater lightly, her tank top underneath getting slightly wet. Her headphones in her ears, her music on full blast, her body mindlessly swaying to the music. She didn't really have a reason to be outside , she just didn't want to intrude on him and her. As her feet shuffled to the music, she felt a tall presence behind her.

A blonde boy with the bluest of eyes and piercing in his lip gazed at her with an amused mask on his face. His lips were pulled into a loose smirk and his blonde quiff slightly matted due to the droplets of water cascading down his forehead. The rain was getting heavier by the second.

"What'cha listening to?" His deep voice rang as she glanced at his body, the band shirt he wore sticking to his broad shoulders and biceps.

"Music." Her voice returned into the boring monotone that it previously was.

"Well obviously." He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. She relaxed a bit, liking his sassiness.

"What's your name?" She quipped, her voice progressively regaining back its emotion. It startled him how comfortable she became with him all together.

"Luke, Luke Hemmings." He licked the droplets off his lips and glanced down at her. The wet clothes clinging to her tiny frame, her hair stuck against her forehead, her large eyes sparkling as the rain poured down her face. His chest tightened as she slid under his arm, shielding herself from the rain, but he whelved the feeling inside.

"Do you have an umbrella?" He asked nervously, shocked by her indirect forwardness.

It was her turn to roll her eyes as she replied,"If I did, don't you think I would be using it. You're my umbrella now."

"O-Okay." He said, shielding the stranger from the pour. He was confused why she was acting like this to a, stranger.

"What are you doing here?" He concluded before she buried her head in his shirt. Maybe he had a chance with her as he was filled with cingulomania.

"Taking an ephemeral walk in the rain. What about you, Lukey?" She said twirling her finger in the rain filled air. He smiled at the nickname that the girl he didn't met a few seconds ago gave him as he squeezed her tightly while she shivered. It was peculiar how she took safety in strangers, maybe it was just that her sense of trust was undeniably mighty.

"Doing the same as you. What did you say your name was again?" He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. As she untangled herself from him and peered at him through her dark lashes, her eyes held innocence as they looked amaranthine.

"I didn't." She stated simply, before stomping away, leaving him to stir with the filipendulos thoughts in his cosmogyral mind.

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His eyes fluttered towards the window as his girlfriend chippered on about a high school story that was frankly the least bit interesting, but he couldn't concentrate at the least.

The rain out side was pouring heavily as the atmosphere was filled with the sound of brontide. His heart panicked as she didn't return, it was storming outside and she still wasn't here. He had half the mind to just leave and look for her, but he couldn't. Not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't want to get attached to her. If he looked for her, he would look for forever, even if it took him an eternity.

His body itched to jump out of his chair and just flee. He sighed heavily, maybe she did just straight up leave him. Of course she would leave him, she barely knew the man. His mind felt heavy as the thought cautiously dawned on him. He was becoming a torpe.

A small knock erupted from the flat as his soul leaped. He ran to door before flinging it open revealing her. Her wet clothes clung to her cold, her hair completely stuck to her forehead, she was soaked to the bone.

"H-Harry." She chattered obviously, her body shivering severely. "I-I think it's r-raining."

He sighed in relief before shaking his head and gently dragging her in. Her melliflious voice physically and visibly relaxing him.

"Go change into one of my shirts, I'll be right with you." He ordered as he pushed her inside, running to the bedroom to grab a blanket before shoving it in the microwave, forgetting that the other she was here.

As the teenager walked into the living room she took small weary steps, his shirt so large that it exposed the creamy complexion of her shoulder and defined collarbone. As the microwave beeped he thrust the small door open and grabbed the warm blanket from inside before dashing to her side, draping it over her whole body.

"T-Thank you." Her teeth still chattering. He brushed a piece of her wet hair out of her eyes as she took erratic breaths.

"You could've gotten a cold, or worse hypothermia!" He scolded her in a calm voice as he rubbed her small back up and down. Quinn sat still in her in place, obviously bothered that her boyfriend's attention was completely diverted from her, little did she know that it the attention was gone ever since he met her.

"Uhm....Harry?" Quinn asked awkwardly as he continued to warm the shivering girl in his arms. She was the one that deserved his undivided attention.

"Mhmm?" He distractedly replied, his glazed eyes never leaving the pale face of the cold young girl.

"Wow okay then, I'm just going to leave." She shook her head lugubriously before sliding her bag of her shoulder, pausing a bit to give him a chance to ask her to stay, but he didn't. "Make sure she's okay."

And with that, the vanilla cake sat in the middle of the table, untouched and surrounded by anagapesis.

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Her head lolled to side on the airy pillow as her damp hair was finally drying. Her temperature sky rocketed as he placed his large palm on her scalding forehead. He wished he could photo her ethereal beauty in her slumber.

Her eyes fluttered open as his widened. She coughed before rubbing the mist from her eyes.

"I'm sick aren't I?" She rhetorically asked. He nodded slowly, still dazed by her pulchritudinous features. She sighed and shook her head before resting her back on the pillow.

"I'm sorry Harry. Once I get better, I promise I'll leave." His mind races as she uttered the sentence. Leave? No.

"No!" He blurted, a bit more loudly then he wanted to. "You can stay for as long as you want, Gray."

Her slightly red, large eyes twinkled as a small smile tugged on her lips, this was the first time he witnessed her smile. It was so acardian, not debauched by the vitriolic hands of the world. He wanted her to stay more than anything, even if it was hedonistic.