He was sitting in his living room watching television. It was late in the evening and a major rain storm was going on outside. Wind howling, thunder booming, lighting flashing, the whole nine yards.
Jumping when the lighting flashed again and rolling his eyes at his own silliness, he got up from the couch with the intention of getting a drink from the kitchen.
Instead, he got a knock at his front door.
A slight frown on his face, he walked towards the door.
"Who the hell in their right mind would be out in a storm like this?"
Pulling the door open, his features soften at the sight before him.
Standing on his welcome mat and soaked to the bone was his best friend. Her hair, normally bouncy and full of life, was weighed down with water and a few of the strands were sticking to her face. He looked her up and down.
He shook his head; she was literally soaked to the skin.
And shivering too.
"Come here" he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.
She allowed him to lead her upstairs and into his room.
The young woman stood dripping and shivering as her friend searched for a towel and some warm clothes.
After finding what he was looking for, he returned to his room. He unfolded the towel and wrapped it around her body, running his hands up and down her arms in hopes of warming her up a little bit.
She simply stood there focusing on a spot of the tan carpet that lined his bedroom floor.
"What happened?"
She didn't answer, she merely shrugged.
He placed his hand under her chin and gently forced her to look at him.
"What happ----oh darlin’, yer freezing. You should take a nice, hot shower okay?"
She nodded.
He let go of her and watched as she walked, numbly he noticed, towards the bathroom that was a part of his room.
"And if ya want to talk afterwards, then I'll be here to listen."
She turned around, a look of shock coming to her pretty face.
He smiled and turned to leave.
"Thank you."
He stopped, almost thinking he had been hearing things. He turned around to see her looking at him with a small smile on her lips.
"No problem."
**********************************
She ran her hands through her freshly washed and dried hair, sighing at how much better she seemed to feel. She walked over to the mirror and wrapped one arm around herself. She stood there taking in her reflection. She was wearing a red Jersey and white pants that her free hand was currently playing with the drawstring of. Both articles of clothing were way too big on her. But that didn’t matter, they were a hell of a lot better than the clothes she came in with.
Taking a deep breath, she ran her hands through her hair once more and headed out of the room.
She walked downstairs expecting to see her friend watching some program on television.
But, he wasn't there.
She called out to him.
"I'm in here" his voice was coming from the kitchen. "I'll be right there."
"Okay."
She sat down, curling her feet underneath herself, and got comfortable.
He walked into the room moments later, with a tray that held two mugs, what was in them she didn't know, and a plate of cookies.
He placed the tray on the coffee table and handed her a mug.
"It's hot chocolate, I kinda thought ya could use some."
"Thank you" she said as she accepted the cup and took a sip.
They sat there for a while, neither one of them really watching what was on the screen. Just simply leaving it on so there wouldn't be an uncomfortable silence between them.
"He cheated on me" she said suddenly.
He nearly choked on the cookie he was eating.
"What?" the he asked as he turned to look at her.
"Forge...he cheated on me."
"What?..he?...Forge cheated? I can't believe....with who?"
"With Raven."
"Raven?! I thought she was with Victor?"
"Yeah, well I thought so too, but apparently not...or maybe she and Forge are in the same boat you know?" she said as she placed her mug down on the coffee table.
He nodded vaguely, believing that it was the latter over the former as to why Raven was with the wrong man.
"How do ya know he cheated on ya? I mean, I'm not doubtin’ ya or anything, but...how?" he said as he turned back to the television in order to use the remote to turn it off.
"I caught them in bed together."
And that was when he heard the first sniffle.
He turned around to find his friend with her head down, obviously trying to hide the fact that she was crying.
"Hey...hey darlin’. It's okay. It's gonna be okay" he said as he placed his own mug down and drew her into his arms.
Normally she was a tough girl, and whenever she was upset and someone tried to comfort her, she would push them away. Letting them know that she could take care of herself.
But not this time though.
As soon as he put an arm around her, she went to him.
She melted into his embrace and set free all of the emotions that she had been trying so hard to keep bottled up inside.
He ran his fingers through her hair, a comforting gesture that led to him rubbing her back soothingly as she cried into his neck.
"H-He blamed me" she managed to get out through her tears.
His heart broke at the sound of her voice. She sounded so distraught.
He would kill Forge for this.
"What? Blamed you for what darlin’?"
"He said that it was my fault that he went to Raven. It was because I was never around. I was always working...I-I was never there for him....I--"
"Darlin’, that's just not true....he--"
"He also said that it was because I never had sex with him enough. Since I wouldn't give it to him, he went to find someone that would" she finished as she wiped her face.
"Oh, darlin’. Look, like I said before. That's just not true."
"But---"
"No buts. He's a fool to do something like this to ya. He has no idea what a great person he's giving up and all for the town slut. Yeah, that's real smart. Yer the one of the greatest, most beautiful people I have ever known. And as for him finding someone that would have sex with him....well he really shouldn't be all that proud of having Raven as a conquest. She'd sleep with anyone."
She managed a weak smile and leaned into him once more.
He accepted her and wrapped his arms around her body, bringing her closer. She snuggled into his chest and he placed his chin on the top of her head.
"Now, I've got a question for you. What on earth were you doing out in that storm? You could have caught a cold...or worse."
"Well, after I caught the two of them together, I ran out of his house. I hopped into my car and just drove. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew that I had to get as far away from the two of them as possible. Then my car stalled out and that's when it started raining."
“Why didn't ya call me? I would have come. You know that."
"I know, but I didn't have my cell phone with me. I guess I must have left it at home. That's when I noticed that I wasn't too far from your house, so I walked."
"I can't believe that. I mean, if anything had happened to ya----"
She pulled out of his embrace and looked up at him.
"I'm fine. See? Nothing happened."
"Yeah, but something could have happened."
"But nothing did. I'm fine. Okay? And if it'll make you feel any better, I'll keep my cell with me and fully charged at all times from now on, okay?"
"Okay. And yes, that would make me feel better" he said as he kissed her on her nose.
She giggled and then yawned.
"Tired?"
She nodded.
"Well, you can have my room---"
"No" she said cutting him off. "I'll take the guest room. I'm a guest, so that's where I'll stay."
"Darlin’..."
"Guest room--my room. This is your house, so you sleep in your bedroom."
He reluctantly gave in.
After making sure that she was comfortable with enough blankets, pillows and the like, He went up to his room to hit the sack himself.
He stripped down to his black boxers and climbed into bed. He felt himself dozing, when he thought he heard a knock.
It was so soft that he wasn't even sure if he'd heard it.
But he definitely knew that he wasn't seeing things when the door opened and a figure crept into his room.
She whispered his name.
"Yeah? What's wrong darlin’?" he asked as he sat up and turned on the lamp that sat next to his bed on the mini dresser.
"Well, um--I was---"
"Yeah?" he said again as he watched her.
She seemed nervous. Shifting from foot to foot, biting her lip, and twirling her long locks around her finger. All of them nervous habits he'd noticed about her after knowing her all these years.
"I--um--I was thinking, um would you mind if I------"
"Yes?"
"Would you mind if I stayed with you tonight? In your bed....I’ve become kind of lonely down there by myself......" she trailed off.
He smiled.
"You don't have to say yes. I mean, you've already done more than enough by listening to me and letting me stay here."
He didn't answer her.
The he just scooted over and drew the covers back for her.
She smiled slightly and climbed in. Snuggling against his chest under the covers.
“Logan?”
“Yeah Ro'?”
“Thank you.”
“No problem darlin’.”
He softly stroked her hair until they were both overtaken by the overwhelming feeling of sleep.
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