Lilith hadn't anticipated the rain. She hadn't anticipated the pouring rain anyway. It had only been cloudy when she left home, and she had packed a hoodie with her, but that wasn't going to do her any good now. She was already soaked and cold, and she had no choice but to keep walking until she could find some out of the way shelter.
Her decision to leave home had been a quick one, fueled not only by her constant fighting with her parents and sister, but the arguments between her parents as well. She couldn't stay someplace where everyone treated her horribly. She knew when she wasn't wanted. So she had packed some of her clothes, grabbed all the cash she had and slipped out the door. She didn't know how long she had been walking, maybe two hours or so. She didn't know where she was going, but she just had to get away from home. She'd figure something out, she told herself. But then she got caught in the pouring rain with nowhere to go.
She barely noticed the car pulling off the road, the passenger door opening or the boy who got out until she heard him call her name.
“Lilith!”
She ran toward Dirk Dreamer and embraced him, tears forming in her eyes. “Lilith.” He touched his forehead to hers. “Oh Lilith. What in the world are you doing out in this rain?”
“I got caught,” she said. It was barely a whisper, but Dirk was close enough to hear it clearly. “It just suddenly started pouring and I couldn't do anything.”
“Come on,” Dirk said, taking her hand. “Let's get you home.”
“No Dirk.” She pulled him back as he tried to lead her to the car. “I can't go home.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can't stand it there anymore, Dirk. Everyone treats me like trash, and they can't go two seconds without starting a fight. I'll be better off somewhere else.”
“You mean you ran away?” Dirk asked, his gaze moving to the suitcase at her feet. “Lilith, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
“I can take care of myself, Dirk.”
“I have no doubt that you can, but I'm not going anywhere until I know you're safe.” He slipped his arms around her and pulled her to him. His warmth made her realize just how cold she was and she shivered against his chest. “Oh Lilith, you're freezing. At least let me take you to my house where you can get a warm shower and a change of clothes.”
“But I can't stay,” Lilith replied. “If your dad finds out I'm there he'll just call call my mom and let her know. I can't take that chance.”
“I'm not going to lie to my dad.”
“I'm not asking you to.”
“Lilith, even soaked from the rain and your makeup running all over your face, you're still so beautiful.” That would have made her feel better, except that her natural beauty wasn't her own. “What's wrong?”
“I guess that means you think Angela is beautiful too.”
“No, she's pretty. You're beautiful.”
“We look the same.”
“But there's something you have that she doesn't. Spunk. A willingness to stick up for yourself. I can't even exactly say what it is except that it makes you more beautiful than her.”
And then his lips were on hers. The pouring rain and all of her problems disappeared. Kissing him deeply brought warmth to her cold, soaked self, and she wouldn't have let go even if she wanted to.
“Hey Dirk,” called a voice from the car. “You gonna keep kissing her, or are you gonna get back in this car and out of the rain?”
“That depends,” Dirk fired back. “Are you gonna let us into the car, or are you gonna give away and leave me with no choice but to keep kissing her?”
Lilith could not help but laugh at that, and she noticed a smile forming on Dirk's face. He was soaked now too, but at least he had a nice warm home to go back to. A home where he was wanted.
She glanced over to the car. It looked so warm and inviting. She shivered again and Dirk pulled her closer to him.
“Come on Lilith,” he said. “Let's at least get you in the car. There has to be somewhere you can go.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him another hug. He took her suitcase, and led her over to the backdoor.
“Look,” he told his friend in the driver's seat, “I'm sorry about getting your car all wet, but as you can see, this is kind of an emergency.” They got inside, Dirk setting her suitcase on the floor.
“It's too bad my mom took the blankets out to wash them,” the friend said. Lilith recognized him as someone that Dirk hung out with, but she hadn't formally met him yet.
“ Anyway,” Dirk continued, “This is Lilith, my girlfriend.”
Thankfully, the friend didn't comment about the fact that Lilith had walking alone in the rain. He just turned around and said “So you're Dirk's mystery girl.”
“Oh, and don't breathe a word about this,” Dirk added as he fastened his seat belt.
“Alright,” his friend said hesitantly. ”Where are we going?”
“Somewhere that isn't here,” Lilith said quietly.
“Let me take you to my house,” Dirk said as Lilith rested her head on his shoulder. “Dad's out for the night. You can sneak in and sneak back out before he wakes up.” Lilith thought about it. She needed to warm up and find a place to sleep. She knew the layout of Dirk's house. His bedroom was on the first floor, while his father's room and art studio were on the second. It would be easy to get in and out unnoticed.
“Okay,” she said. She closed her eyes and felt him place a kiss on her forehead.
“Why don't you take me and my mystery girl back to my place?” Dirk asked his friend. Lilith could feel her heart warming at how Dirk was able to be funny when he had just gotten soaked trying to get her out of the rain. Her laugh was interrupted by another shiver and Dirk pulled her to him, cuddling her in the backseat.
“Were you really going to run away with out telling me?” he asked as the car started moving.
“I sent you a text,” she said weakly. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared at the screen, holding her even tighter as he read the message.
“I'm sorry I didn't get it,” he said. “I was out with my friend. If I had, I would have found you sooner, before the rain started.”
“I would have found somewhere to go.”
“You're here now. And you're safe. That's all that matters,” he said before giving her another warm kiss.
Bella
“Bella?” Bella turned to find Lilith standing in the doorway. It was the first time she'd seen Lilith since Mary-Sue had left with Angela that morning, which made her realize Lilith had actively sought her out. “What's it feel like to be in love?”
“It's a lot of different feelings, really,” Bella replied, setting down the pile of Alice's toys in her arms. She sat down on the family room sofa and Lilith joined her. “It's always wanting to be with him. It's being happy when you think about him, no matter what you were feeling before. It's caring about him more than you care about yourself.”
“You do feel like that, right?”
“Everyday,” Bella said. She could feel a smile coming across her lips. “Love is something that can sneak up on you. But once you fall, eventually, you will know.”
“How did you know?” Lilith asked.
“When we kissed for the first time,” Bella replied. “It just happened, but when we kissed, the emotions that I felt were so strong that I knew they couldn't have been anything but love.” Lilith nodded. “Is this about Dirk? Do you love him?”
“Yeah,” Lilith said, “I think I do.” Bella couldn't help but think about that first kiss with Mortimer. She knew what it was like to be in love at such a young age. And that love hadn't faded. Even after years of marriage, even after those ten years apart, she still loved him as much as she had then, and if Lilith was feeling anything similar, Bella had no doubt in her mind that this could be the real thing. “I love him,” Lilith admitted. “I love his sense of humor and how he can make me laugh without even trying. I love his bravery and his drive to be successful. And I love how he's always got my back, even no one else does. He's always been there for me. He's always been able to make even the worst days better just by being at my side. I... I can't not love him, Bella. I know it may sound crazy. A lot of people think we can't be serious at our age, but I don't think we've ever been more serious about anything.”
“Mortimer and I were serious too when we were your age,” Bella told her.
“Do... do I tell him?”
“That's something you have to decide. Has he told you he loves you?”
“Not yet. We've never said that to each other.”
“I think there's a good chance that he does love you. Didn't he rush out to the store to buy a game so he could play with you?”
“Who told you...”
“Amanda,” they both said at the same time. Lilith smiled and Bella couldn't help but laugh a little.
“You've never met him, have you?” Lilith asked.
“No,” Bella replied. “I've only met Darren twice, but Cassandra is pretty close with him. She told me that he had fallen in love with her and she had no idea. If Dirk is anything like his father, then it's possible he loves you and just hasn't said anything.”
“But what if I tell him and he doesn't? What if it kinda pushes him away? I mean don't guys usually get turned off if a girl tells him first?”
“It depends on the guy. You know Dirk better than I do. Is he the kind of person who would need to say it first?”
“No.”
“Then I don't see a problem,” Bella told her.
“Who said it first for you?”
“Mortimer did.”
“When did he tell you?”
“Shortly after we kissed. He didn't want me wondering if he loved me so he said it as soon as he figured it out.”
“Well, that won't work for me. It's not something I want to tell him over the phone. It has to be in person.”
“You'll get your chance Saturday.”
“Wait, I thought we were leaving on Friday.”
“There was an issue with the tickets. We couldn't get another one for Friday afternoon so we'll be leaving early Saturday morning.” Lilith's face fell.
“I don't want to tell him at the art show,” she said. “I want it to be a little more private.”
“I'm sure you'll get a moment alone before the show,” Bella said, getting off the couch. “These things tend to work out.”