Nothing but the Rain

Nothing but the rain drizzled around them made any sound, a calming pitter patter of droplets tapping on the roof above a small outside deck connected to a small farm house that sat in the middle of nowhere. A thick canopy of tree branches layered the sky. 

They both sat there, enjoying the peacefulness of the outdoors, enjoying the silence that ran between them. The silence that has been running for a long time. The silence waiting, wanting, to be broken. 

“So how long?” he asked apprehensively, his gaze tilted downwards, fixated on an ant running across the deck carrying something twice its size. Crazy, he thought, how something so small can carry something so heavy. 

The girl sitting on the opposite end of the bench snapped her look toward him; his dark brown hair gently sweeping across his forehead, just above his hazel brown eyes that look like pots of honey when in the right lighting. His face looked…unbothered. Perfect, like a sculpture. 

He knows how to hide things pretty well. 

“It’s been a month,” she bit her lip with guilt, staring at him with her large almond eyes and picking at her mint painted fingernails, “I was gonna tell you, It just-“

“It just what?” he blurted, his eyebrows furrowed, erasing that unbothered aura, “It what, Addy?” His eyes met hers, and with a jump, Addy impulsively looked away. A dull knife twisted itself into his chest and throat. 

“It never came up,” Addy’s voice was brittle, her composure slowly fading away as her eyes glassed over, a glint and glisten of unshed emotion. 

“It never came up,” he leaned towards her, turning his body sideways on the bench, one hand gripping the back of the bench, “you’ve been planning on leaving for a month and you weren’t going to tell me!” He threw his arm up towards her small blue bug sitting in the driveway on the far side of the deck, “Do I have to be worried about you leaving in the middle of the night now?” 

“Okay, so are you telling me that I should stay and work things out with you?” Addy’s voice grew in volume, “Are we going to keep telling ourselves it’s gonna get better? Snap back to reality, Issac! We aren’t meant for each other. The sooner you realize, the better.” She leaned back in the bench, traveling off to a far off world without moving an inch. 

Issac stared at her hopelessly, searching for words to say to fix everything, to keep her here. 

“What happened to you?” He said. 

“What are you talking about,” she rolled her head in annoyance, facing him once again. 

“You’re running, taking the easy way out,” Issac accused. 

Addy shook her head in disbelief, “This is exactly what I mean!” Addy jumped up out of the bench, her arms pulled tight to her sides, hands balled up into fists, “The blaming and the pointing fingers. It’s my life! Let me live it how I want!” 

Issac stands up, towering a good foot above her. His hands find her shoulders and he’s pulling her closer to him, “It was supposed to be me and you, here!” He inhaled hard, fixating his gaze to different parts of her face, searching for an answer to which he has no question to. “Why do you want to give up on me? Just talk to me, please.” 

Addy’s eyes filled with oceans, turning to rivers, flowing down the soft features of her face, wetting the stands of hair that framed her face. She stared at him for a long time before quickly looking towards the ground. “It’s not working,” she choked out, her face becoming red. 

“Please,” Issac willed her to look at him. He wished for her to realize they are meant for each other. He wanted to carry her inside and sit her on the sofa, curl up around her and let her cry on his shoulder. He wanted her more than anything. 

She was everything to him. He loved her more than life itself. 

“I can’t,” She broke down now, crying hysterically, sniffing and coughing. barely getting her words out, “I have to leave. Now,” She said as she ripped herself out of his grasp, leaving him grabbing at the air. She made for the steps and ran out into the ran towards her car. 

Issac followed her closely, noticing that the rain was not a light shower anymore, but a down pour of thick water droplets that made a sound like constant thunder. 

Issac’s eyes started tearing up too, his mind raced for things to say, and by the time he got off the deck, Addy was already gripping the handle of her door, ready to pull it open. 

“Wait,” Issac blurted out, and to his surprised, Addy stopped in her tracks. Her blue sundress and long brown hair flowing in the wind. Her eyes remained pointing at the car door, “Please. Why can’t you try, just a little longer.” His voice was soft. He stopped a few feet away from her, as if she was a wild bunny, close to running away if he got too close. 

“Don’t you see,” she shook her head and lifted her eyes towards him, tears streaming down her face. Her hair was soaked with rainwater, forming ropes, but she either didn’t notice or didn't care, “we’ve been trying for so long. Nothing is going to change,” She gasped for air between each word, crying uncontrollably, “We’re reading the same book over and over again, expecting a different ending.” She screamed, flailing her arms.

Issac felt as if this is a dream, that it wasn’t him standing in the rain. It was someone else who’s hair was sticking to their forehead, soaked from standing in the rain, dripping wet from top to bottom. He watched feet that weren’t his move themselves towards this girl standing in the rain right in front of him. 

Addy pulled open the door to the small blue bug, “I’m so sorry, Issac,” she wiped her face, and stepped into the car. 

Hearing his name brought him back, and he realized that this was him. “Please,” he cried, “Please wait,” but Addy slammed the door to the car and turned the key, not making eye contact, and before Issac could reach the car, she drove down the long driveway, leaving Issac alone in the rain.

Issac threw his hands up and rested them at the top of his head, following the blue bug out of the driveway with his eyes until he couldn’t. 

And there he was, pacing back and forth, breathing heavy with his hands on his head.

Nothing but the rain pouring around him made any sound.