The Rain

You walked home slowly, your umbrella protecting you from most of the rain. Your shoes, however, were starting to take on water. It had been a hard day; Your boss - difficult, your coworkers - catty, the customers - insufferable, and the public transit system - late! So, you walked. While part of you just wanted to be back home, curled up on your sofa under a warm blanket, nursing a cup of hot tea, and reading your favorite book, you didn't mind the rain. The walk was far, but the rain was always a joy...when your shoes weren't soggy. You just kept going, because what else could you do, now? You couldn't afford a taxi to take you home. So, you walked, keeping your head down, imagining how wonderful it would be to be home, ready to end an awful day.

... The issue is that you didn't see anyone until it was too late. The issue is that by the time you saw someone else's shoes, you were already walking into them. And bumping into them. And knocking them over. You stopped, immediately feeling the guilt of not having properly been watching where you were going. The man you had unknowingly knocked over landed in a puddle with a splash, getting muddy water all over his clean, albeit wet, white shirt and black trousers. You immediately dropped to your knees, holding your umbrella over him. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Oh! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need help? I'm so sorry!"

The voice that greeted you was deep and playful. In fact, the man was now chuckling. His chuckling made you stop. When he looked up, you froze and stared. Eyes of blue. Deep eyes, the color of rain. When he spoke, you almost didn't hear him, as your attention was lost in the depth of those eyes. "I'm alright, really. You don't need to worry. Besides, I was already wet. It's my own fault for not bringing an umbrella with me, today. But, thank you for giving me a break from the rain, a little, even if I am sitting in a puddle." For a few moments, the only thing that the two of you did is stare at each other. However, he cleared his throat and spoke again, breaking the hold his glorious eyes held over you.

"Uh, if you don't mind...would you help me up?"

"Oh! Of course!"

You held out your hand for him, and helped pull him up...and up...and up. By the time he stood to his full height, he towered over you, and you could no longer hold the umbrella over his head. When he saw the look on your face, he chuckled again. "Yeah. I get that a lot." He hadn't let go of your hand, yet. "What's your name?" The words seemed to be caught in your throat, but a squeak managed to escape. "Y/N. L/N. I'm...I'm Y/N L/N." When he smiled down at you, you blushed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Y/N L/N. I'm Richard, by the way. Richard Armitage." He gently shook the hand that he held, then slowly let go. His hand was warm. You would always remember the warmth of that hand.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this rather messy meeting?"

You looked at his eyes, and fought against being caught, again. "I'm just on my way home from work. I tried to wait for my bus, but it still hadn't arrived, after twenty minutes... so I thought it best to just...walk home. Either my bus was a little early, and I missed it, or very late, and I wasn't going to keep waiting. I just...I just want to get home." He smiled warmly down at you. "I see." His voice was soft and gentle. "Well," he said, "If you don't mind sharing a cab, I'd be more than happy to escort you home. Might help us to get out of rain, even if only for a few minutes."

You agreed, and he hailed a cab. He opened the door for you, as well as closed your umbrella for you. As he slid in next to you, you gave the driver your address, and off you went. The ride was silent, at first, but Richard turned to you, and insisted on asking you about your life. You told him about why you just wanted to be home, what sort of job you had, and what it was that you really wanted to do. When you asked him about his life, he became shy. He played with his wet tousled hair as he told you about his career as an actor. He mentioned the plays he had been in, the kind of work he liked to do, and his love of books. You both spoke about your favorite books until the cab pulled up to your home.

He got out of the cab first, opened your umbrella, and held out a hand to you, giving you a cheeky grin. You rolled your eyes, chuckling and taking his hand. He asked the driver to wait, as he would be taking the cab to another destination. The driver nodded. Richard looked back down at you and looked up at the building. "Is this you?" You nodded. "Yup. My flat is on the 5th floor. It's a bit of climb, but it's great exercise." He smirked down at you. "I thought 'great exercise' for you was walking in the rain with soggy shoes." You groaned and laughed.

He walked you up the steps to the entryway, and turned to you, still warming your hand with the warmth of his. You looked up at him. The light of the entryway to your flat was bright enough to show you his features in greater detail than you had been able to see when you bumped into him. His jaw and cheeks were lightly blanketed in stubble, the few freckles around his eyes were more visible, and his eyes crinkled when he smiled. You felt his eyes studying your face, as you studied his, and you blushed. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. 

"It was a privilege to meet you, Y/N L/N."

"It was nice to meet you, too, Richard Armitage."

Silence, again. The driver honked, breaking the trance. Richard chuckled and sighed. "Uh...I suppose that's my cue to go." You nodded. "But...before...before I do... Would you mind if...could I possibly...could I have your number?" You blinked, your eyes wide. "W-what?" With his free hand, he rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks slowly becoming more and more pink. "Could I have your number?" "Oh...um... yeah. That's okay with me. Um...here." He handed you his phone, which had remained dry, even after being in his pocket when he fell into the puddle. You typed in your number, then your name, and handed it back to him. The driver honked, again, clearly becoming more impatient. Richard looked back at the driver, then back to you.

"I should go. I don't want him to just leave me here...although, that might not be so bad..."

Your cheeks burned. "Yeah, you...you probably should hurry."

"Okay," He said.

He let go of your hand, walked backwards down the stairs, and headed for the cab. You turned to the door of the entryway, and just as you were about to open the door, you heard quick footsteps behind you. You turned just as he got to you. He was breathing heavily and shaking. "I forgot to give you something!" You stared up at him. "What is it?" He leaned down quickly and pressed his lips to your cheek. The peck ended as quickly as it happened. "That." With that, he ran back to the cab, hopped in, and slammed the door, the cab driving off carefully through the rain.

You watched as the car disappeared around a street corner. You stared at the spot where it had disappeared. As if in a trance, you closed your umbrella, walked up the five flights of stairs to your flat, opened your door, closed it, locked it, and leaned back against it. You have no idea how long you stayed there, leaning against your door. What in the world had just happened? Did...did a man that you had only just met...kiss you...on the cheek?! You walked around your flat, completely in a daze, until your text message alert went off. You dug your phone out of your pocket, and saw a text from a number you didn't recognize, but you figured you knew who it was. Sure enough, there in your inbox sat a text from Richard.

"Y/N, I'd like to see you, again. Would tomorrow work? The same time and place where we met?"

You stared at the message. "I'd like to see you, again," it said. He wanted to see you again. Under normal circumstances, you would have said "maybe". This time, however, you couldn't help yourself. Before you could even stop yourself, you quickly texted him back. "Tomorrow's perfect. See you then." The message had already been sent. You'd see him tomorrow. You'd see the man with the rain colored eyes, tomorrow. As the rain continued to fall outside, you sat down on your sofa, curled up under a warm blanket, and opened up your favorite book. To be honest, as you read, Mr. John Thornton started to look and sound more and more like Richard, in your head. You thought about bringing that up to him, tomorrow. Maybe he will have heard of North and South.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Author's Note:

This was inspired by the image posted above. While I've seen the image a few times before, today just seemed to pull my imagination out. I spent all day writing it, at work. I may edit it some more, and I may leave it as it is. Let me know what you all think!

As always constructive criticism is always welcome. I hope you all have a great day and remember to be awesome to each other!