2-12: Oh No

Who you trying to fool, you know you're in over your head,
Cause you're holding onto heaven, but you're hanging by a thread

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"You look upset."

Rain looked up at Thorne from where she was laying on his couch, biting down on her lip.

"I'm not."

He didn't look convinced as he approached her. He knelt down beside the couch and she sat up, her hair falling around her face. He reached over to brush it away, touching his lips to her forehead. His voice was calm, quiet.

"Don't lie to me."

She was startled by the way he said it, but only briefly. She met his gaze and instantly felt secure in it. His eyes almost commanded her to spill her thoughts, and the way she obeyed was almost ingrained already. She didn't know how to say no to his eyes.

To his words.

He had some sort of monopoly on her.

"My sister is flying out to London in a couple of weeks, and she's bringing Ryan with her. And apparently also my best friend.

I forgot all about it. I swear I meant to tell you sooner."

He raised an eyebrow, dropping his hand to hers on her knee. He squeezed it, his words still in that same tone.

"And that's a problem?"

Rain stumbled over the thoughts in her head, trying to come up with an answer to that question. One that would make sense to him.

"They don't know about us."

His eyes flashed for a second, and he moved to sit beside Rain on the couch. His sigh seemed to echo.

"Us?"

Rain looked down at the ground, her voice nearly inaudible.

"I'm sorry. I know, I should tell them the truth, but I just haven't yet."

Thorne removed his hand from hers, twisting the ring that he wore on his thumb. 

"So I'm your secret?"

Rain shook her head, her eyes wide as she looked at him.

"No, I told her that you were here. Just not that I was with you.

It's just that it has all happened so fast, and they already doubt me. They would never approve of me having a boyfriend so quickly after getting to know him.

They would never understand."

She moved quickly to try and explain herself, but her words seemed to have almost no weight.

"You have to tell them eventually, Rain. Because I plan on staying around for a long time. I'm not going anywhere..."

He looked over at her, his eyes serious. 

"I love you, remember?

Time is just a number."

Rain's heart flipped in her chest at his words and she smiled. Her cheeks grew hot and she knew she was probably red all over her chest too.

"When you know, you know, right?"

Thorne nodded, leaning over and pressing his lips against hers.

And it didn't feel like kissing Ryan. It hadn't any of the times he'd done it. It had some other type of color to it. Something different.

Everything with him had escalated so fast. He had told her he loved her days after she had arrived. 

It had put a name to that unexplainable feeling in her chest.

She loved him.

It was such a weird concept, but it made sense. It was a whirlwind, and she had fallen fast and hard for him.

He made her happy, and she knew that's what mattered.

But she had no idea if that's what anyone else would think.

She'd been in London four weeks.

And she had a boyfriend. She had feelings for him.

Her first anything. 

And if they didn't accept it, what could she really do? She wouldn't leave him. She loved him. And how many times had she had it dumped down her throat that love is more important than anything?

She was making her first real choice.

And it was Hawthorne Campbell.

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"I have a question to ask you."

The words wrapped around her, making her heart accelerate as she examined all of the flowers in their surroundings. Thorne had brought her to this garden as a sort of way for them to be alone for the last time before Ryan, Storm and Nash arrived the next day.

Time had passed so quickly... And she still hadn't told any of them that she was dating Thorne. She spent every waking moment when she wasn't at lessons with him. There was hardly any time for anything else.

"Yes?"

She turned away from the flowers to face him, and he took her hand in his. She glanced down at their fingers intertwined and smiled, pushing onto her toes to touch a kiss onto his cheek.

"Will you marry me?"

Rain immediately stopped walking and Thorne mirrored her, looking down into her blue eyes.

"What?"

He laughed, reaching into his pocket. He bent down in front of her, one knee hitting the concrete below them.

"I know it's fast. I know I've only known you a year, and we've been together around six weeks... but it's like we always say.

When you know, you know.

You're safe with me, and I've been drawn to you from the moment I first laid eyes on you.

So... Rain Olivia Nile... Will you marry me?"

Rain's mind exploded. She could think of so many reasons to say no. She knew how fast this was and how much of a bad idea it was bound to be.

She knew her family would never accept it, and she knew that it had to be almost breaking a record of some kind with how quickly it was happening.

But she didn't care about any of those reasons.

All she cared about was that she was in love with him.

And that he loved her.

She would be safe and happy with him.

She could have everything she had ever wanted, with a man more perfect than she could have asked for.

She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes, her own dropping tears down her cheeks.

"Yes."

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"We're getting married."

Rain said the words hesitantly, her eyes on the ground. She knew that her sister and Nash were probably not going to be okay with this. Not in any way.

And she had no idea what to expect from Ryan.

Nash stared at her from her seat on the couch, her mouth hanging open, and Storm's face was unreadable... But Rain knew there had to be something brewing behind it. Something that was sure to explode in time.

"I didn't even know you were dating?"

Storm's words were monotone and she stared at the man standing next to Rain, her hand firmly grasped in his. She didn't even look at him, didn't want to know his reaction to the fact that she still hadn't told any of them.

"Likewise. What the fuck Rain?"

Nash's voice and choice of words made Rain wince and she looked at her, her expression apologetic.

"I know. I've just been so busy-"

"Clearly. Planning on getting married to Money Bags here without telling your best friend or sister."

Nash threw him a glance, shrugging a shoulder.

"Sorry dude, no offense."

Nash got to her feet, shaking her head at the two of them.

"I'm gonna go smoke a cigarette and process this." 

She exited the room, and Storm didn't say anything else. Just continued to stare at them.

Ryan, however, stood still. Not saying a word either. 

At first.

And then. 

His eyes shifted from Thorne to Rain and back again. His face was completely different than Rain was used to seeing and it surprised her. Why did he look... almost angry? He had told her, very clearly, that nothing could ever happen between them.

He was in California anyway, and she was across an ocean. 

There were so many reasons that she could name for why he shouldn't look the way he did. But she had none for why he should.

"Rain, can I talk to you?"

Ryan's voice cut through her thoughts and she looked up at him before glancing at Thorne nervously. Thorne studied Ryan before nodding once at Rain.

"Go on, Rain."

She withdrew her hand from his and followed behind Ryan as he made his way up her apartment stairs. She was about to ask him exactly why he needed to speak to her alone at all, when his questioning voice stopped her in place.

"Why are you doing this?"

Rain shifted her eyes to the floor, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Doing what?"

She knew she was playing stupid, and she knew what he was asking. She just still couldn't come up with why he cared at all.

Ryan sighed, the exasperation obvious.

"I don't understand why you're marrying this guy. What made you say yes so quickly, Rain? Maybe you could explain it to me.

Because you were kissing me right before you left California and that was six weeks ago."

Rain's chest filled with static and her voice rose so quickly, she knew that the other people in the bottom half of her apartment could probably hear her. The anxiety filtered into her calm exterior so easily, it was like a disease.

"Because I love him!"

Ryan shook his head, covering his face in his hands. He looked up at her, his eyes flashing irritation.

"No. Rain this isn't love. This doesn't count as love. You barely know him. 

I don't know why you think that it is, but maybe it's because you're so young.

But love isn't like this. You're making a mistake."

Rain shook her head vehemently, staring at him and not the floor for the first time.

"Don't do this, Ryan. Don't do this to me. 

Why can't you just be happy for me? You're supposed to be my friend."

Her voice broke on the last word and she fought hard to keep herself from crying. But most of the time, that was a losing battle.

"Yes, because friends kiss each other right?"

He seemed to weigh the weight of his own words, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

"Just forget it."

He walked over to the door, but right before he exited, he turned back to face her. He walked over to her, grabbing the hand that held the massive ring that Thorne had put there the night before. He put his touch on either side of it, twisting the ring in the light of the room. 

He didn't speak for a few minutes, and Rain didn't know how to respond. She stared down at his touch, and the ring, her chest rising and falling with the effort of holding back tears.

"Congratulations, Rain. I hope he makes you happy."

He dropped his grip on her hand, turning and exiting the room without another word.

She watched the doorway, almost expecting him to return. To say something else.

But he didn't.

When she made her way downstairs to the people she had left there, Ryan was nowhere to be found.

And the emptiness of his presence seemed to permeate her chest.

She walked over to Thorne, and he took her hand again. But it felt different now. Colder than the hand of the vampire who had just touched hers. He looked down at her, a small smile on his face.

But she couldn't return it.

All she could think about were the numerous mistakes that Ryan seemed to think she made.

At least this mistake was one she didn't mind making.

One that she wouldn't regret, unlike the night she and Ryan had kissed.

Unlike the goodbye, and leaving home.

She'd make her way here, with Thorne by her side.

And Ryan would have to learn to live with it.

Or live without her.

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Don't call it a party cause it never stops
Now one is too many but it's never enough
Don't tell me you're happy cause this isn't love
So be careful what you wish for