MIDNIGHT RAIN, ʲ.ᵏ

𐬾chapter one𐬾

johnny was noticeably irritated. his abductor was sore, he was off his game, and he had a late paper in english. his only consolation today was rugby practice. he loved the part of the day when he got to just be out on the field with the lads, nothing to worry about but scoring. he walked to the field at a steady pace, not wanting to do more damage to his already hurting abductor. he knew he needed to give it more time to heal, but the rugby season was about to start, and he couldn't waste precious time, especially now that he was part of the academy.

after changing into his rugby gear, johnny ran out onto the field. he grabbed a ball and found the boy he was looking for. gerard gibson, his best friend since he had first moved to Cork. he threw the ball forcefully at gibsie, hitting him in the chest due to his lack of attention.

"look alive gibs," he shouted across the field with a laugh. gibsie rolled his eyes and threw the ball back with equal amounts of force, though it was no struggle for johnny to catch it. they played simple catch for a bit to warm up, but as always, johnny was ready for more. he backed up a bit and gestured for gibsie to run a bit down field, close to where the sidewalk met the bleachers.

"go long!" he shouted, before throwing the ball harshly toward gibsie. or, what he thought was gibsie. johnny barely registered the small, girlish body on the edge of the field until it had fallen to the ground on the sidewalk. shite. he took off his helmet and threw it to the ground, running over to the girl. when he reached her, she was looking down, clutching her head in one of her hands and holding her bleeding knee with the other. he wasn't too worried, truthfully, until she raised her head and he realized he vaguely recognized her warm brown hair and the precise green of her eyes.

"shite," he muttered, bending down in front of her, "shite, shite, shite. charlotte are you okay?" he asked in concern.

charlotte biggs sat in front of him, bleeding and clutching her head. motherfucker. he grabbed the hand that was clutching her knee and peeled it away, wanting to assess the damage. where there was smooth, pale skin on her left knee, her right was torn up and bloody, and he could already see hints of a deep purple bruise blossoming at the edges of the cut. he heard a sharp inhale, and looked up to meet her eyes. this was hughie's little sister. and he had fucking pummeled her. her lip was quivering slightly, and her hazel green eyes were filled with tears, but surprisingly, she didn't cry at the sight of her wound, she just took her hand out of his grasp and pressed it back against the steadily bleeding scrape.

"shite charlotte, i'm so fucking sorry." johnny sighed, "do you want me to get your brother?"

she shook her head swiftly, and then stopped like she regretted the action. she was still clutching her head tightly, and he knew she needed to see the nurse. as if he had summoned him, coach daniels walked up to them quickly.

"what the hell is this johnny?" he demanded, "you're my star player, you can't be doing stuff like this."
johnny sighed in irritation, "it's not like i did it on purpose!"
coach daniels looked down at charlotte, "are you alright, miss?"
charlotte looked up slightly, squinting against the sun. she nodded slightly and then dropped her head back into her hands like just sitting up was painful.
johnny made an exaggerated motion at her, "see? she's grand."
coach raised an eyebrow, "get her off the field and to the nurse, kavanagh."

johnny nodded and crouched down next to charlotte. a tear had slid down her cheek, and a chunk of her hair blew in the wind and got stuck in it. cautiously, johnny wiped the tear and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"can you walk, charlotte?" he whispered, not wanting to attract the notice of his teammates. charlotte nodded, blinking rapidly, but to his shock, no more tears fell. she slowly climbed to her feet, and he felt surprisingly protective of her as she wiped her blood covered hands against her black skirt. her legs shook a little as she walked, and her shoulder were tense, but johnny knew she was strong. he knew she'd be alright. the walk was long and he knew she was really hurt, so it came as no surprise when she stumbled halfway across campus. without hesitating, johnny wrapped a strong arm around her narrow waist. she tensed for a moment before relaxing again.

johnny had known charlotte biggs since he had first moved to cork six years ago. she had curly hair when she was young, and every summer her face would become splotchy with clusters of freckles, but despite knowing all of this, he knew little else about her. she had always been hughie's sister, someone he saw momentarily in passing, but now, it felt like he was seeing her for the first time. she was beautiful, he had to admit. she had a perfect body, and everything about her was pretty, but her eyes were his favorite. they were big and kinda wide and the perfect mix between brown and green. he had never seen anyone like her before. he kept his arm around her waist as they walked into the entrance hall, and he steered her gently through the corridors until they reached the nurse. he helped her sit down in one of the chairs in the waiting room and walked up to the front desk.

"i need to see the nurse," he insisted, looking at the office lady. she looked up lazily and rolled her eyes, "for what, exactly?" johnny stepped out of the way and pointed at charlotte, who was clutching her knee and resting her head against the wall.
"for her." johnny said coldly, "i need to see the nurse," he repeated.
the lady nodded and he walked back to charlotte, who was looking worse and worse by the minute. he helped her up and held her waist protectively as they walked into the nurses office. he sat in one of the chairs in the office, too worried to just leave her there alone. he knew realistically she would be fine, but deep down, he didn't wanna leave her just yet. once the nurse had done a head exam and checked her wound, she left to her a bandage. johnny got up and walked over to where charlotte sat on the exam table.

"i'm so sorry charlotte," he said softly, placing a big hand on her arm, "i'm gonna make it up to you, i promise."
charlotte looked up at him through her eyelashes and nodded slowly, "okay johnny."