Back in the Rain

by Elen Chase

  "You..." I said, speechless. The living room of our apartment had been decorated with balloons and a big “Welcome Home” banner, and they had moved couch and chairs to the walls to make space for a table with a small buffet of snacks and drinks. Sean, the old lady, Bill, Jim and his little sister, Ray and Nick, and even Miller had come to greet us.

  "How did you manage to bring all these people in?" asked Dan, surprised as much as I was.

  "Don't underestimate women's organizational abilities," Chloe told him with a big smile.

  "We did a great job, didn't we?" said Sara.

  "Yeah," I said, happy. "Girls, you're amazing."

  "Yay!" They exchanged a high five. I was glad to see how their friendship had grown in the previous months.

  "Dan, I'm glad to see you're both recovering," said Miller, a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. "I'd like to spend some more time with you from now on to get to know you better. Am I too late?" he asked.

  Dan shook his head. "I know you always worried about me, especially when my mother left. I was the one who kept you out all this time. Thank you, Uncle."

  "Does everyone in your family have the same face? Do they clone you or something?" asked Jim, interrupting their conversation and bringing drinks for everyone.

  "Dan!" Jim's little sister ran into Dan's arms and he picked her up.

  "Could it be that you know Zack, my brother?" Miller asked Jim.

  "Don't know his real name, but if you're talking about the bastard of the West End Casino, yes." Jim turned to look at me. "About that, Drew, what the hell did you do for him to hide those recordings from me?"

  "You met him?" Dan asked me with worry showing on his face. I had completely forgotten to tell him.

  "He met him, and he even made some sort of deal with him behind my back." Obviously Jim wasn’t over it yet.

  "Come on Jim, Drew's already paid us back for those cameras," said Bill. "Anyway, I already knew it was him."

  "You did?" I asked him.

  "When Dan left, I had all the door codes changed, for safety reasons, so I was sure it couldn't be him. On the contrary, Nick told me he had passed you all our passwords less than a week before." I looked at Nick, busy eating and talking with Sean, and he waved his hand at me.

  "I see." I felt like an idiot.

  "Well, I have to go to work. I'll leave the fun to you young people," said Miller, putting his jacket on. "Sara, I will contact you soon for that thing we talked about."

  "Oh, yes, thank you, Mark," she said, and she went to see him off at the door. Sean and I exchanged a look.

  "It's time to go for us too, Marta," said Jim to his sister.

  "Ehhh? I want to stay here with Dan."

  "Big brother has a business to run, sweetheart. Dan will come to visit soon, right?"

  "Yes, I'll come to see you soon, Marta." The little girl blushed, hit by Dan’s sweet smile. That lady killer.

  "Ray, Nick, let's go," said Jim, and they greeted us before leaving.

  "Jim," I called him in the kitchen to talk to him alone. "Thank you for everything. I think I'll enter the police academy after all."

  "I thought so, Drew," he said. "You're a good kid, gotta do good kids' stuff."

  "But I'll always be there for you guys," I said. "If you're in trouble, you can count on me."

  He smirked. "It's because of corrupted cops like you that this world sucks," he said, "and I love it this way."

  "You know what? Me too," I said, and we shook hands.

  As soon as they went away, Sean and I sat on the couch beside Sara.

  "That thing, what could it be?" I said, thinking of what Miller had said before leaving.

  "Marriage? Don't be fooled by the blue eyes, Sara, it's too early for that," said Sean.

  "What is with you gossipy guys?" said Chloe, hitting us in the head with one of the party poppers from before.

  "I just asked him for some advice, Drew, Sean," said Sara. "I'm thinking of entering a specialization school. To become a nurse."

  "Eh? Really? Sara, that's great!" I said. I was happy she was already thinking about how to move forward.

  "But even if she wanted to date that Dr. Sexy, you have to mind your own business!" pointed out Chloe.

  "Ahem, Chloe, I appreciate your concern, but…" Sara was awfully upset. Everyone in the room was now looking at us.

  "She said he's sexy, my life is over!" yelled Sean, making a dramatic pose.

  "Sean, don't die, my friend!" I said, grabbing his hand. "It's the blue eyes' fault!"

  "You guys don't feel any shame, do you?" Dan’s voice was cold as ice.

  "Brats," commented Bill. "Why don't you leave him and get back with me?" he asked Dan, probably half ironically. Dan turned away from him, but didn't say anything. I felt sort of disappointed about it.

  "That's another one who doesn't feel any shame," said Chloe referring to Bill's words.

  "Must be this place's fault… Ah, so many memories," he said just to tease me like always.

  "Now that you say that… " Chloe turned my way too, making the exact same sarcastic smile. That's what you get for being friends with your lover’s ex. And it was two of them.

  "Oh hey, is that apartment on the third floor still available?" I asked the old lady, reacting to those irritating stares. She winked at me, a wide smile on her face, and made the okay sign with her hand.

  "Enough!" said Sean, suddenly attracting everyone's attention as he drank a glass of beer all at once. "Chloe, I've done all I could think of at this point! Please, go out with me!" he screamed.

  "Sean, you can't scream it like that in front of everyone," I said.

  "Okay," she said. A thick silence fell in the room and we turned to look at her. "Well, since you've insisted so much I got sort of curious to know what you've got. I'll give you a chance, Sean."

  Sean fell on his knees, completely frozen, with his eyes and mouth open.

  "Sean, are you alright?" I asked him.

  "Drew… she said yes," he said. "I still can't believe it."

  "Me neither, Sean. I wouldn't have bet a single credit on you. But you did it, you're amazing!"

  "Drew, you're a terrible friend," said Sara, holding back a laugh.

  "Well, for starters why don't we take a walk outside and talk it out, boyfriend?" said Chloe, offering her hand to help him stand up. He took it and they left together, still holding hands.

  "I'm leaving too," said Bill at that point, and he ruffled Dan's hair. "It's nice that you're back." Then he looked at me and ruffled mine too. It took me by surprise, but it was nice of him. He left us with a “see you soon” and a smile.

  "Ah, I had fun looking at you kids," said the old lady when it was just the four of us left. "Dan, Sara," she called them, and before they could say anything, she hugged them. "I'm so proud of you… Mama loves you."

  "What are you saying now?" said Dan, hugging them back. "It's creepy." I was happy they were so close again and happy he had them despite all that had happened to him. I felt just a little out of place, so I left them for a while to go to the toilet. On my way back I stopped in our bedroom and looked at it. I couldn't wait to sleep with him by my side again. Also, even if I said it as a joke, I sort of liked the thought of us moving to a new apartment; he had shared that bed and that place with too many people. I wanted one that could be only ours. If it was alright for him, of course.

  When I got back Dan was alone, sitting on the couch. "I'm not used to having so many people here. Of course clean up is on us now," he said. I sat next to him, and he turned the other way.

  "You're angry at me," I said. "What have I done?"

  "You made a deal with that man," he said. "What did he ask you?"

  "So that's what it was… He wants to meet you again. Only once. I was careless and got caught up in this promise. I'm sorry."

  "That's it?" he asked. "He didn't force you to do anything else?" I shook my head and he let out a sigh of relief. "That guy can be dangerous… I don't want you to
be near him."

  "You were angry at me… Is this why you didn't say anything when Bill tried to flirt with you?" I said, and he looked at the floor. "If it happens again, tell him that you're mine and you're never gonna leave me no matter what. Will you, Dan? Will you fight for me?"

  "Do the same then," he said. "If you met someone, a woman… I told you that it was alright for you to leave me, but now I can't stand this thought anymore. I want you to be only mine."

  "Dan?" What the hell was he talking about? "It never even passed through my head to leave you, for anybody. Never. Dan, I love you. Is it not enough?" I asked, worried.

  He looked at me and shook his head. "It's enough… sorry," he said. "And for you?"

  "Hmm… let me hear it again and I'll tell you," I said, passing my arms around his neck.

  "I love you, Drew," he said, looking deeply into my eyes.

  His unrestrained honesty made me smile.

  "Yes, it's enough," I whispered, and kissed him lightly.

  An, I know you're watching over us. After you left, we lost our way and made a lot of mistakes. But we found our way back, and we're not losing each other again. Will you wait for us with a smile? Like you did that day, when we ran off on our own, and you waited for us to come back in the rain.

  Epilogue

  "Hey, Drew." His sweet voice slipped inside my dreamless sleep, and as I was about to open my eyes I could feel him kissing my cheek, like he did every morning when it was time for me to wake up. And like always, with my eyes still closed, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, joining our lips in a deep, lazy, good morning kiss. I let my hand move on his back, and I felt under my fingers the soft fabric of a winter hoodie.

  "Nh?" I opened one eye and slowly pushed him back to look at him. "Why do you have your clothes on?" I asked, still half asleep.

  "You'll find out," he replied, smiling. "Come on, get dressed."

  I looked around and noted that it was still dark outside. "Did I have work today?" I asked, confused. "No, wait, aren't we on a holiday?"

  "Too many questions, come on." He passed me pants and a sweater, and I silently put them on. We had moved to our new apartment a month before and were still saving up money to make it more comfortable. Dan, following the advice of his psychologist, had started working as a volunteer in a counseling center for young people, and since he was incredibly good at it, they had hired him for a part-time job. The job and his therapy were slowly helping him get past his traumas, even though he still often had panic attacks at night. After I testified during the trial of the sect, basically everyone in Rosedeer knew about me, and I had the chance to choose almost whatever job I wanted. However, since I was going to start the academy soon, I could work only in the early morning and at night, so I chose to work part-time in a very fancy hotel restaurant in Uptown. Who would have thought that my waiter experience at the Summer Festival would have proved itself so useful. I took a look at the picture of me, Dan and An lying on the dresser in our bedroom. I was proud to say that our house was incredibly cozy. From the position of the furniture to the towel on the table and the bed sheets, we had decided everything together. The originally empty shelves were naturally filling up with presents from our friends, books or useless objects we randomly bought at a garage sale for a couple of credits. On the walls, I had insisted on hanging some of Dan's drawings and paintings, along with a few pictures.

  "Here, it's cold outside," said Dan, putting my winter coat on my shoulders and passing a scarf around my neck.

  "Outside? We're going outside?" I was getting curious to know what he had in mind, but he just smiled at me without replying. I followed him out of the apartment, but instead of going down the stairs toward the exit, we went up. I felt a little nostalgic to walk by the corridor of the fourth floor where we had lived together for months. I remembered the very first time I set foot there and the way the old lady threatened me with her gun when I first met Sara. She was also about to move out to go live in the dormitory of her specialization school. We arrived at the end of the corridor to a little door I had always seen without even asking myself what it was for, and Dan opened it with our key. Behind it there was a small staircase going up. We took it and reached the rooftop. The morning air was really cold, but fortunately it wasn't raining. The sky was clear and the air clean. The building wasn't too tall compared to the Uptown ones, but there was a nice view of Downtown.

  "I promised you I would bring you here once, but I never found the right time," he said, walking toward the roof fence and resting his arms on it. I followed him and passed my arm around his shoulders, looking at the landscape.

  "I had completely forgotten about it." I smiled. It was almost dawn. "You wanted to watch the sunrise with me?" I whispered to him, and he nodded.

  "Where were you today last year?" he asked me.

  "At Sean's place. He had organized a party for New Year’s Eve, and I think there were more than fifty people. It was too crowded for me and Shallie, so we stole a bottle of champagne, hid in the terrace of Sean's room and stayed there by ourselves, talking and looking at the sky until morning." She went missing just a few days after that. "And you? Where were you?" I asked him, even though I already had an idea about it.

  "I was at Colten's house. On the eve he had to attend an institutional dinner with his family and was going to spend the night at his wife's chalet, so I was there alone. Ms. Wilson wasn't there either, because she was going to meet her daughter, and Hutchison had followed Colten. It was perfect for me since I wasn't feeling well and needed to rest. I went to bed without even touching the food that had been prepared for me and slept until he came back the next day."

  "This time you're with me," I told him, "and you won't be alone anymore." The sun was rising slowly, lighting up the sky with yellow, pink and light blue shades. Dan's eyes were shining in the first light of day, stealing my soul completely. "Happy New Year, love."

  "Happy New Year, Drew." He laid a small kiss on my lips. "Love?" he asked with a smile.

  "Don't get too used to it. It just sort of came out that way." I couldn't hide my embarrassment.

  "There's no need to feel so uneasy about it, darling." He was mocking me.

  "Say another word and I'll start calling you ‘sweetheart.’" I put my hands on his waist, tickling him. He laughed, and the simple sound of it warmed up my heart.

  "Then I'll call you ‘baby.’"

  "And I'll arrest you every time you do it."

  "Doesn't sound too bad," he said, "being arrested by you."

  "You lusty boyfriend." I hugged him strong.

  "To be honest, I brought you here also to tell you something," he said then.

  "What is it?" I released the hug and took his hand in mine instead.

  "I thought of a few things I want to do this year. It's strange for me, because for seven years I haven't been able to see anything at all in my future, and yet recently I naturally started planning things. It sort of scares me, but if I think you'll be by my side, it feels like everything is gonna be alright."

  "Dan..." I was so happy to hear him say that. We were moving forward. "Tell me what these things are about."

  "I want to buy a microwave. I'm sure you'll need it if you're gonna attend classes and work at the same time. You won't have time to cook, so I'll leave something prepared for you." He said it so seriously it made me laugh. "Is it funny?" he asked.

  "No, no, it's perfect," I said. "Sure, let's buy one."

  "Then, I want to meet James Price, my mother's ex-husband. I want to know more about him and my mother, and if I can, I want to look for her. I wasn't too good at it, but I loved her, and I know she loved me too in her own way. She wasn't the best mother ever, but I wasn't the best son either. I wonder if we can get another chance."

  "That's nice of you."

  "Also, I was thinking… I was told that my job at the Center could get me several extra credits if I tried the exam for the College of Psychology."

&nbs
p; "Dan." I was speechless. It was like I had a flower blooming in my hands. I was so happy I almost had to hold back the tears. "It's great. Being a doctor like my dad: it's what you've always wanted to be."

  "This is just an idea. I don't think I'm ready for it yet. I can't even sleep alone at night, so how can I hope to cure others?"

  "But you're already helping a lot of people with your job."

  "I simply listen to them, and sometimes we share our experiences. It's just a support, not a therapy. Sometimes I think it helps myself more than them."

  "And you're underestimating yourself," I told him, tucking a strand of hair behind his right ear, uncovering his earring. "But it's alright, take your time to think about it. I'm proud of you."

  "There's one last thing."

  "Tell me."

  "You're gonna be busy with the academy and work, so… you can count on me. I'd do anything to help you. Don't hesitate to ask, okay?"

  "Will you make love with me every night, even if I come back home late?"

  "Isn't that what we're doing already?"

  "Let’s keep doing it. And wake me up every morning like you do now."

  "Sure, love," he said, beaming at me.

  "Youuu..." I passed my arms around him and lifted him up a little, his hands holding tight to my back. "You're heavy! Have you gained weight?"

  "No, you're getting out of shape."

  "How dare you!" I made a 360 degree flip with him in my arms, and we fell down on the floor.

  In the silence of the first morning of January, our laughter spread in the air, bright and honest.

  I hoped it would reach the sky, all the way up to An and Shallie, to let them hear how the beginning of the rest of our lives sounded.

  THE END

  A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thank you for reading BACK IN THE RAIN. I hope you enjoyed Drew and Dan’s story!

  The City of Rosedeer still has a lot to tell. I recently published a stand-alone prequel to BACK IN THE RAIN: A FIVE-MINUTES KISS. It is a coming of age, MM romance short story that will deviate completely from the dark themes you saw in this book.