Chapter 25: Fallin' Like Rain

Maybe it was your laugh,

Or your eyes,

Or your smile.

It could have been your hair,

Or your voice,

Or your personality.

Whatever it was,

It made me fall,

Fall pretty damn hard.

Jaimie-mae groaned when she realized her head wouldn't be able to absorb much more algebra problems.

Fabian was a suprisingly good teacher and she had gotten through most of the questions. But when she got to the part where she had to figure out where the y-axis intercepts with the x-axis, she was just about ready to burst into tears.

Her mood had visibly dropped and she couldn't tell why. She wasn't having a bad day. Today was a good day and math didn't usually ruin that.

"We should probably stop here. You look like you want to tear your homework apart," Fabian said as he dropped down his pen.

"Thank you." She collasped backwards into the bed and sprawled her limbs out into the air.

"Ow."

She sat up quickly. "Oh my gosh. Did i-" Suddenly she burst out laughing. "Did i kick you?"

He fake pouted. "Yes."

"Aww poor baby. Should i kiss it make it better?" She asked playfully.

He smirked at her. "Yes, you really should."

Her eyes widened. She had really walked into that one.

"Relax. I'm just kiddng," he gave one of his heart-fluttering worthy smiles "I mean, unless you want to."

Jaimie-mae suddenly thought of Fabian kissing her with his full lips and she blushed furiously. She smashed her face into the bed to hide her blush.

"Oh come onnn," he whined. "Stop hiding the adorable blush."

If it was even possible, she blushed more. Her neck and ears were hot now and she could feel her stomach jumping around happily.

"Fabian! I was-"

Both Jaimie-mae's and Fabian's heads turned to the door. Justin's big figure stood tall in the doorway of his room and he did not look happy.

"Hello."

Jaimie-mae gulped. "Hi, Mr. Sharp."

She noticed how both boys looked extremely tense and she wondered if she was the reason the house seemed so cold now.

"Fabian, can you step out here for a second please," Justin asked tightly.

"I was helping Jaimie-mae with her homework. Nothing more," he said, getting straight to the point.

Justin's gaze travelled to the piles of paper scattered over Fabian's bed then he looked over to Jaimie-mae. He nodded. "Alright. Im going out for work. Watch your brother," he said sternly. "It's nice to see you again Jaimie-mae."

"You as well."

The two of them watched as Justin walked away. Then they both let out relieved breaths.

"You know, for such a shy person, you handle my dad really well. If i were you, i would absolutely be crapping my pants right now."

Jaimie-mae laughed quietly. "Yeah."

She felt her mood suddenly dappening again and Fabian took notice. He watched as she began fidgeting with the comforter. It was cute in a way, but it was also showing that her mood wasn't at it's best point now.

He grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about my dad. He likes you. He just needs a bit of time."

She shook her head. She was beginning to feel a little sick in her stomach. "I'm not worrying about your dad. I'm okay."

Fabian looked at her worridely. She was beginning to look a little pale. "Are you sure."

"Yeah. Um... im just not feeling myself."

"Oh okay. Ugh, can i get you anything?"

"No thanks. I'll be fine."

"You don't look it."

"Gee thanks," she muttered.

He shook his head. "Sorry. That's not what i meant. Hold on a second."

Jaimie-mae watched as he got up and ran out of the room. She gazed around and lay back down until he came back in.

He had a glass of water and some crackers in his hand. "Here you go. You're probably just hungry."

"Thank you."

After she finished with the water and snacks she felt a little better but she still had this lingering feeling of irratation surrounding her and she had no idea why.

Fabian hadn't done anything wrong.

At around eight o'clock, Mason came into the room and plopped himself in between the two of them.

"Mom made dinner. She said she's going to bed early so she said to tell Jaimie-mae she said hi and to take her home soon before the rain get's too heavy."

Both Jaimie-mae and Fabian looked out the window and sure enough, it was raining. They hadn't even noticed.

Jaimie-mae felt Fabian looking at her and she scooted around uncomfortably. She felt Mason pressed up against her leg and she suddenly felt like shoving the cute little boy off the bed. What was wrong with her? She wasn't normally this irritable.

Mason yawned tiredly and he started to slump against Jaimie-mae.

Fabian watched curiously as Jaimie-mae tried to subtly inch away from Mason. He wondered why, because she had never shied away from him before.

"Mason i think we should go get you ready for bed."

"Nuh uh." He tried to smack Fabian's hands away, but he was too tired to protest for long.

Fabian picked Mason up off the bed. "Im just gonna get him in bed. You'll be okay in here by yourself?" He asked Jaimie-mae.

She nodded distantly and started to pack the books back into her backpack.

"Okay. Be right back."

***

Fabian was tucking Mason into bed when he heard the low rumble of thunder.

Mason giggled. "Sounds like your stomach."

Fabian ruffled his hair and chuckled as he heard another crack of thunder. "That one sounded like yours."

Suddenly there was a loud boom of thunder that just about shook the house and it was followed by a loud scream.

Fabian rushed out of Mason's room and into his where he had heard the scream come from.

His heart was beating frantically in his chest as he searched the room for Jaimie-mae. He didn't think she was scared of thunder, but when he spotted her pressed against a wall, he realized it was much more than that.

He moved slowly over to her and crouched down a few feet in front of her. His heart felt sore when he saw the tears falling easily down her face, in floods. He didn't feel for people much, but Jaimie-mae was an exception.

Seeing Jaimie-mae crying was making him anxious. It was the strangest thing. He was never so emotionally involved with anyone but his family.

Another boom of thunder went off and Jaimie-mae began visibly shaking.

"No please. Please! Put the gun down. Stop! Don't kill them!"

His heart shattered at every word she spoke hoarsley at the air.

Gun?

Kill?

What had happened to her?

"Jaimie-baby. I need you to listen to my voice. You are not there. You're here with me. Just me, Fabian."

He scooted closer to her. "Can i touch your arm Jaimie?" He waited a few seconds even though he knew he wasn't going to get a reply. "I'm gonna hold your hand now okay. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

He gingerly reached out and grabbed her small trembling hand. He squeezed it, then lifted it and placed a light kiss on her knuckles.

He noticed her shaking was calming down and he smiled knowing he had gotten through to her. He scooted up beside her and sat shoulder to shoulder with her.

Hesitantly, he threw an arm around her shoulder and she just about melted into him. He hugged her close to him and she breathed in his masculine scent shakily.

After a few minutes of silence she looked up at him through her  lashes. "Did i scare you?" She asked in a whisper.

He shivered a little as her breath fanned over his neck lightly. "Can you, for once, not think about everyone else. You just had an attack and you're asking if i'm fine. The world just doesn't deserve you."

Jaimie-mae's heart immediately fluttered and she could have almost swooned and died from a heart attack right there in his arms.

Fabian angled his head down to see her. He stared with those big intense brown eyes and for once, Jaimie-mae didn't look away or fidget uncomforatably. She just stared back with her equally intense blue eyes.

A peice of Fabian's dark hair fell over into his eyes but he didn't move to fix it. Instead, Jaimie-mae reached up and pushed it back and then ran her fingers through his dark, silky hair. His eyes fluttered and he sighed quietly.

When she pulled back, his eyes fluttered back opened.

She noticed him start to lean down and she closed her eyes, unable to face his gaze any longer.

She felt a soft velvety feeling over her forehead. Barely there.

Then, it was on her cheek.

And then on the other cheek.

He was kissing her. Soft, gentle kisses. But so real. So very real.

He brushed his lips down onto her jaw and pecked there. She sighed softly, her hands unconciously falling to his chest. She gently held the fabric of his t-shirt in her hands and tugged slightly when she felt another feather light kiss on the opposite jaw.

When she no longer felt his breath on her face, her eyes fluttered open and her heart beat furiously in her chest at the sight in front of her.

A single shiny tear fell down his handsome face.

Was he crying? For her?

Fabian never cried for anyone, or anything and here he was shedding tears for the beautiful girl in front of him.

She wiped the single tear away with her thumb.

"Why are you crying?" She asked softly.

The soft patter of the rain outside the window was the only thing filling up the calm silence.

"Im sorry," he whispered.

"What? Why are you sorry?" She asked worriedly.

"I didn't mean to fall so fast," he whispered.