Hugs and Kisses
Chapter One: Like an Angel in the Rain

Author's Note: This is, as many of you can easily guess, the first installment to what I hope may be a rather hefty collection of short love stories. And when I use the word love, I use it broadly. This is because I plan to explore every possible corner of the concept. This is going to be my quest for the saddest, the sappiest, the happiest, the funniest, and the hardest stories of love.

As for this story, a thunderstorm and children who make due in life with...difficulties… inspired it. I'm sure that you'll understand once you start to read it. I do not want to give too much of it away, but please do not forget to review. I really do think that this is going to be one of my more favorable stories.

(Begin)

The rain came down and hit the ground like it was mad at the Earth. There was no thunder, no lightning, just the smoky clouds and the pounding rain. I could never remember it ever raining so hard. It was like even nature was mad at me...not just Tom. The streets were deserted; everyone had retreated to their own homes to stay warm and dry and happy. Everyone that is, except for me. I walked down the street slowly, head down and following Tom in front of me. I chanced a look up at him one time, and he was still looking forward, not stopping for anything, and not bothering to look back at me.

"You know you really screwed up this time!" Tom said suddenly. I was a bit surprised that he spoke because he hadn't said a word to me since we left that dark warehouse. But I knew he was right.

"Yeah," I answered softly as I lowered my head again. He was right. He was more than right. I had gotten into the deepest mess yet, and this time I wasn't sure if I'd make it out of the whole thing. I remember being so scared, and I couldn't stop my shaking. I couldn't stop crying either. I wanted to be tough and strong, but the tears came from me like I was a waterfall and I was not in control of my own body. I remember that they were going to hurt me because I didn't do what they wanted me to do. They might have even killed me. And then Tom came...out of nowhere...like an angel.

"Those were some serious punks you got yourself involved with. The real kind that do anything they want and don't let anything get in their way. They're worse than punks, they're low-lives! Those kinds of people only want one thing from girls like you, and you got yourself mixed up with them! How do you manage to get yourself into these things?" Tom asked, but I didn't answer. There was nothing to say to him. Then we walked in silence again.

Walking there in the silence behind Tom gave me plenty of time to think on what had happened in the past few hours, the most exciting part of it (even though it isn't exactly a happy exciting) being the hour that just left. There were a lot of things going through my mind at the time. But surprisingly, I wasn't thinking about most of things that I should have been at that moment. I wasn't thinking about my house, or what I'd tell my mom when I got home. I didn't think of how I'd face everyone at school the next day because I'm sure everyone saw me leaving with those three, and apparently I was the only who didn't care that those boys were bad news. I didn't think about the really bad cold that I'd probably be getting soon for walking through the rain in a skirt.

All I could think about was the guy walking ahead of me, who was probably so mad at me that he'd never speak to me again after he took me home. It's not the first time I've tested his patients or his kindness but it felt like it was about to be the last time he would give it. I couldn't stand the thought of Tom being angry at me, or him not being there. He'd always been there for me, the one person I could count on. I had to say something to him. I just had to.

"T-tom," I began. I didn't have my little helper, it had gotten knocked off my face when one of them slapped me to try and get me to stop crying. And when Tom came, I didn't think to look for it, I just wanted to get out of there. So I couldn't help my stutter. Mom would be furious. "Tom, I-I..."

"Why do you always do this?" Tom shouted as he cut me off and turned around to face me, his eyes beaming with anger. It made me stop dead in my tracks and I bit my lip. "Why do you always make me...make me worry so much!" There was no answer that I could give him. I just never think about anything. I just go for what looks fun, not thinking about what's really going on. And then I end up flat on my face. I couldn't even look him in the eye. I just looked at the ground because everything he said was right, but facing the truth head on would have left me crumpled on the sidewalk in tears…again. After a very long minute Tom knew I didn’t have an answer for him. His expression softened to a really ticked off stare, then he turned and continued walking.

I lost touch with time because the sun was completely gone from sight with the thick cloud cover. And the barrage of rain didn't help for visibility either. I don't know how long we walked in that silence. It could have been hours, or only half n hour. It felt like a lifetime.

The rain didn't stop in the slightest bit. I had no idea where we were going because we were so far from our neighborhood. I didn't even recognize what street we were on. And even if I had been there before, I didn't try to recognize it. My legs were cold and shaking with each step because I only had on a skirt. And it was short; too short for this sort of weather. It was then that I noticed a small convenience store that still had its lights on. We were coming up to it slowly. I looked up to Tom who was still looking forward. Then as we passed the store I quickly went in. There was no sound of bells ringing as I opened the door or as it closed behind me. There was a small woman behind the front counter; she looked Asian but I couldn't really tell from where I was standing. There was also a man at the counter, paying for a small bag of items. When I came in they both stopped whatever they were doing and stared at me like I was a one-eyed dog; their eyebrows raised and they eye's wide. I realized that I must have looked rather odd coming out of that heavy rain, my blonde-white hair dripping on my shoulders, along with my white shirt and black skirt dripping onto the floor.

"Oh my, you poor girl, you're absolutely soaked," said the man at the counter.

"Come in, come in, or you'll catch your death!" said the small woman as she quickly came around the corner from behind the counter and headed towards me, but I met her half way. The man also came with the woman.

"My goodness, what were you doing out in that kind of weather?" asked the man as he pulled off his jacket and slung it over my shoulders.

"P-please, ma'am," I began.

"Come in back child, where you can warm up," the woman said. "Now, what's your name? How old are you, dear?"

"I, I'm s-sixteen, ma'am," I answered politely. "M-my name is M-Mia."

"Sixteen? I have a son your age," the man said as he and the woman began ushering me to the back room.

"Come now, we'll have to get you out of those wet clothes first. Then we'll get you something warm to eat. I'll bet you like soup," the woman said.

"I bet your parents are worried sick about you," the man said.

"M-ma'am, please," I said, interrupting them and stopping. Both the woman and the man finally stopped talking and looked at me. It was nice that they were worried about me, but they were both about to drown me out. "D-do you carry um-umbrellas?" I finally asked.

"Why yes. Yes, of course, dear," the woman said. "But you couldn't possibly be going back out in that downpour!"

"It's raining cats and dogs," the man added.

"I have to c-catch up with a f-f-friend," I said.

Both the man and the woman looked at each other, and then at me. The looks in their eyes told exactly what she was thinking, ‘She really means to go back out in that rain.’ Finally, the man spoke. "Ah, here! Take mine," the man said as he reached into his bag that was still lying on the counter-top. He fished around for a little while before he pulled out a small blue umbrella.

"N-no! I c-couldn't take yours," I protested. I didn't want to be a bother to anyone else.

"Don't worry about it, I can just get another one," the man said with a kind smile. I was so surprised by the kindness of these two strangers. They didn't even know me, but they were being so nice. I wasn't used to that, and I didn't know how to take it. I almost came close to suspicion, but I chased that evil thought away. They were just being nice, I told myself. They're the kind of good people that I can never seem to meet when I need to. So I walked up to the man and took the umbrella gingerly, not looking him in the eye.

"Ah, are you sure?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it child, it's on the house," the small woman said.

"N-no! B-but I can p-pay for it!" I protested.

"No, I won't hear of it," the woman said in an end-of-story tone. I recognized that tone because I heard it a lot from my mother, and even more from Tom. I lowered my head again.

"Th-thank you very much," I said, trying to say it quickly because I suddenly felt awkward it that small store. I felt out of place, maybe even a little filthy, in the presence of such clean and nice people. I pulled the man's jacket off my shoulders and set it on the counter in front of him. Then I turned and headed for the door, trying my best not to run.

"You take care now, dear," both the woman and the man said as I opened the door and left the store. As soon as I stepped outside, I longed for the warmth of the convenience store again. My legs shivered slightly and I looked around for Tom. I spotted him down the street; he hadn't gone too far. But he didn't seem to have noticed that I wasn't behind him. With my new umbrella in hand, I quickly ran to catch up with him. When I was finally about a foot behind him, I opened up the umbrella and held it over his head. It took him a few seconds before he realized that the rain was no longer falling on him. And when he did realize it, he stopped in his tracks and looked up to see my small blue umbrella.

For the first time all day, Tom turned and looked me straight in the eyes. And for the first time all day, I didn't look away. We held eye contact for what could have been an eternity. Tom regarded me with a look that I couldn't read in the slightest bit. But I knew one thing for sure: he had never looked at me like this before. And if he had, I had never noticed it before. There was something very deep in the look he had, like whatever he was thinking at just that moment was coming from the depths of his heart.

As we stared at each other, our eyes unreadable, the rain continued to pour down without respite. There was a faint rumble coming from somewhere in the distance, foreshadowing a much worse storm to come. A lonely yellow car came rolling down the street, not stopping for a moment to watch the passing scenery, nor did it speed up or slow down.

Then, as Tom and I were locked in each other's gaze, Tom reached over to me and grabbed my arm. Before I knew it, I was only inches away from him. My unreadable look turned to one of puzzlement.

"You should stay under the umbrella," Tom said with a slight smile, so slight that I almost didn't notice it if it wasn't for the friendly sparkle he now had in his eyes.

"Th-thank you," I said.

"Don't worry," Tom replied. "I don't want you catching a cold or something."

"N-no, f-f-for e-ev-everyth-thing," I said. Like an angel, he had saved me from so many things that I had gotten myself into, many if not all of which I'm not proud of. Like an angel, he had been by my side ever since we were little. And now, like an angel in the rain, with all the worlds’ joys around him and his only obstacle in front of him, he gave me the forgiveness that I longed for but didn't deserve. Somehow, I had realized all of this in one instant, where as in my short lifetime I could never completely grasp that amazing fact. I had to say something.

"L-look, I kn-know th-that one thank-you ca-c-can't m-make...make-up for everything that I've d-done," I said, trying desperately to control my stuttering. Sure I was doomed to the impediment for a lifetime, but I thought that I could muster up enough ability to say what I needed to say just this one time without falter. "B-but, I real-l-ly mean it when...I really mean it when I say that -." Before I could finish my sentence, I found myself in Tom's embrace. The umbrella dropped to the ground and we both became victims to the relentless rain again. Tears suddenly began streaming down my cheeks in a silent parade as I buried my face in Tom's chest.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. Tom stroked my soggy hair and held me ever closer to him.

"It's okay," he whispered to me. Thunder sounded again in the distance, only this time distinguishably closer. He was just like an angel in the rain, with all the joys of the world around him, and his one true happiness locked in his arms, never to get away or go astray again.

(The End)