Southern Sunrise (Southern 4)

I slam the fork down and grab my car keys. The minute my foot touches the last step, the clouds open, and the rain pours down. Not just a little drizzle, I’m talking downpour, and by the time I get in my car, I’m soaked all the way through. I don’t care as I drive with the wipers going as fast as they can. Yet I can barely see the road. It takes me more time than I thought to get there, and when I get out, I can’t avoid being rained on. The sound of thunder now comes rolling in, and when I knock on the door, harder than I wanted to, a bolt of lightning illuminates the sky. I wait at the door as the wind picks up and the water flies at me.

He opens the door, and I see him wearing shorts and nothing else. I had this whole speech prepared, but now, looking at him, all the words are out of my head, so I say the two words that I was going to end the speech with. “Fuck you.” He just looks at me, which makes him even hotter. “Fuck you for everything.”

He stands there, holding the door with one hand, and I advance and then push him with everything I have. With my hands on his chest, I push him back, and he stumbles back a couple of steps and the wind slams the door behind me. “Fuck you,” I say again, pushing him again. “I was getting over you. I was moving on, and then you just come back and …” I push him, but this time, he grabs my arms. Neither of us says anything as I try to rip my hands free from him. My heart pounds as if I just ran a marathon. My stomach sinks, or maybe it’s the butterflies from touching him.

My back is against the door now, and I try to push him away one more time, but this time, he steps in closer to me. The sound of the rain hitting the door echoes in the doorway. He pushes my hands beside my head. I catch my breath from running up here and pushing him back. He looks at me, and I see that he’s so close to me, he’s too close to me. I look at him in the eyes, look at the blue of his eyes, and I can’t believe he’s here. In all this time having him here, I never really had to think he was actually here. After five years, he’s here in front of me, after years of dreaming of touching him and actually touching him. It’s overwhelming, and I do the only thing I can. I lean my head forward, and before you know it, my lips are on his.

He opens his mouth for me and slides his tongue in with mine. I think I moan, or maybe it’s him. Either way, he moves in even closer to me, making my head touch the door softly. His fingers intertwine in mine as our tongues wrestle with each other. The sound of our heavy breathing is cut out by the thunder again. He bends his knees a bit and turns his head to the other side, and his hands leave mine as he takes my head in his hand, and my hand slips from his hands to his arms and then his back.

I want to touch him everywhere. I move my hands from his shoulder to his face the same time he holds my face in his hands. I arch my back to get closer to him, and his hand slips around my waist while I move my hand from his face to his neck and then to his shoulders. The whole time, our heads move from side to side to get the kiss to go deeper. His one arm around my waist brings me closer to him, and our heads finally let go just a little as our lips move away from each other. Our noses still touch as I open my eyes and look at him, his lips come closer to mine now, and the hand I had on his neck slowly moves away from him. His hands fall from my waist, and I just look at him. The man who broke my heart five years ago by walking away from me, the man who I tried to get over, the man who I will never stop loving. He takes a step away from me, and I open the door, and it’s my turn to walk away from him.

Chapter Twenty

Ethan

I watch her through the rain as she walks to her car. I call out her name, but she ignores me. “Emily!” I shout, walking out of the house into the pouring rain. “Emily!” I shout her name again, and I can see her shoulders shaking. “Emily.” I jog to her and stop her from opening the door. “Emily, stop.”