Anonymous
- 17: rain kiss
She always looked pretty to him,or so he said, whether soaked in blood or in rainwater that cascaded down through tresses of sunflower shade. It seemed to wash away the pretense that she carried, burdened and downtrodden with a warped sense of purpose and mournful identity. Suffering is how she laid herself bare, through weeps and wails, clinging to his jacket like he was the only thing tangible in her life— as far as she was concerned, he was.
A pillar of existence that shrouded her warmth and dignity even now as cool droplets pelted their heads and her face deemed to bury itself into the wide berth of his chest. Taut arms came around her lithe shoulders, tugging her close than she was before and she felt lips atop her skill, the nuzzle of a nose and she felt herself home for the first time in ages; his heartbeat calming her.
”I…. I thought you both… You both left me,“ came her sob. Weak, pathetic, but so happy as she sniffled and clawed at his clothes. The arms locked around her pulled tighter, tighter than she remember crystal hugging her body— this was warmth, not cold, not shivering emptiness that kept her safe but hollow. Pure, unadulterated warmth.
He squeezed once before pulling back somewhat, her fingers refusing to tug away from their tangled state in his shirt, mussing buckles and belts once used for their maneuver gear. Hands larger than her own cupped her face and gently encourage her to look up, watching the swirling grey clouds above them match gentle eyes and swarthy tanned skin. Did he get taller? Older? She could feel calluses rubbing soft circles on the apple’s of her cheeks and she could only focus her gaze on his smile, the bend of his nose, and the kindness swimming in his irises mixed with an emotion that only her heart could describe. “— Never. Annie, we could never leave you… I could never leave you.”
Breath hitched and she let out a sob, hiccuping as she pressed herself closer to him yet again, yanking on his clothes and cursing wildly. They were all she had, all she wanted, and here now, she was finally whole— with her friends, with the ones she harkened to family. The one she could fully admit love to. And yet silence pervaded her senses the minute her name was uttered upon thinner lips, a coo and calm— “Annie,” was all the warning she got before the press of his mouth tapped the bridge of her nose, between the furrow brow of her knotted face.
Lips peppered endearing affections on her face, over the cheeks in he held in his hands, over her temples, eyelids, and back again to her brow. Just like the rain, rivulets of adoration in butterfly fashion that kept her calm, stopped her shrieking, and made her heart flutter and resound like the thunder churning above them. She didn’t think it real until his mouth boldly sealed itself against her own, fingers moving into the damp locks of her hair and tugging her up just a bit to meet him— far more demanding than she remembered him being but that didn’t matter now. Only the pulse of their hearts and how he tasted like cinnamon, cloves, and steel, a bold memory each time his lips slid against her own, a groan rumbling in both of their throats. Her fingers unfastened from his shirt, skirting up to wrap around his neck to return the kiss with just as much force.
The rain could stay, pattering between and on them. She was finally home again.
