In The Arms of Rain We...

The Path

I know I know...he's not here yet but he will be I promise just setting up the story :D

Her eyes widened with glee, startling a now hissing Hope who proudly turned and jumped out her door slit towards the kitchen, clearly offended at the excessive ruckus his owner was engaging in on this fine, sleep-worthy, morning. She jumped on her Edward Scissorhands mattress, screaming in joy. Her mind was on overdrive, she needed to let them know, in case they had not gotten the email yet.

At that moment her heart felt a bittersweet jolt, what if she had been the only one accepted or only a few of them had gotten in? Or worse that they had been accepted at other places, it would by any means not be bad news, but it would mean goodbye for a while. 

She could not imagine going without them. Her fears were dissuaded when before she could message them back, her phone buzzed with messages of joy as each girl confirmed they had been accepted. She thanked all the gods known and unknown for this blessing, and her face hurt from smiling so hard, her dream of becoming a musician was closer than ever. She stood up to go comfort and apologize to Hope and found him bathing himself by the food bowl. She picked him up gently and yet another pang of guilt, wilted her present, joy.

She knew it had to happen. She could not take Hope with her. She would have to do as she had promised and left him in the care of her friend Josh. Josh Summers, who was also the ex of her friend Starr, was what they all called an "animal whisperer", he had given Hope to Raine after her time in rehabilitation. 

Hope had comforted her in all those dark days when the demons from her past still clawed at her, and now it seemed that by gaining something she would have to part with him, if only for a couple of years, but still, it hurt. The problem was that Hope was sickly and delicate and though he was doing much better she was afraid that even if she took him the drastic weather change might take a toll on him.

She looked at his cute green eyes which stared at her with unbounded love and adoration. Absentmindedly she wept and scratched his ears making him purr. Will you be ok? She pondered looking at him her heart plagued with worry. She walked to her bed holding him close, she had been planning this for days and preparing her mind and emotions. And yet even though she knew it had to be done, it broke her. 

So, with the last remnants of her willpower, she held him and looked into his eyes, hoping he could sense that this was not a permanent separation, that she would be back. So, with her heart aching and mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, she texted Josh. She hoped he would keep his promise of caring for Hope while she was away for the next three years and a half.

She remembered it as if it was yesterday. She had just gotten out of rehab and she was scared of even going out the doors of Nova's bedroom, days had passed and little by little her friends did everything they could to pull her back up. But it was proving hard for her to eat or sleep, she felt alone even with company. It was a fateful winter day with their air freezing cold after the snow had covered, the ground and began to melt. 

It was then, that Josh appeared carrying a small black ball of fluff and carefully placed it on the bed near Raine. The small black fluff had been bandaged up and Raine's heart softened at its plight as she held it its small green eyes looking at her, shaking as it did not know if he could trust her too. It seemed they had both known pain and her heart grew warmer each day as she held and interacted with what she decided to call Hope, a fitting name for a survivor, at the hands of cruel humankind. She grew close to him and with the coming days he was part of her therapy, she felt motivated to keep him safe, and they became a comfort for each other...