Evanescent

26 | R A I N

Noah had felt his heart sink when he found Rosa's father in the obituary on the news app of his phone. His poor Rosa.

She had worked for years and years trying to pay off something that would enivitably end in death. All her hard work, dead and buried with her father.

And though he had said he didn't care to return to her and take care of her - his heart ached to be with her. Kiss her forehead and tell her everything would be okay.

He had to keep in mind that she was underaged and doing anything sexual with her would ruin everything he had worked for.

But this wasn't about sex. This wasn't about the intimacy or her body.

This was about true, pure, honest, innocent feelings.

Even feelings could get him in trouble.

But to him, Rosa was worth the risk.

She made him happy.

She was mature for her age. She worked for what she wanted. And so did he.

And he wanted her.

He grabbed his dark suit jacket off the back of his office chair and skipped the elevators, running down the stairs, his work shoes clicking against the stairs.

___

Noah stood at a distance, under a willow tree beside the gates of the grave yard. The sky had turned gray before he had even arrived and people had already begun filing out and making their way to the reception.

Rosa however, was the only one there. On her knees, dirtying up her pretty little navy blue pleated dress with mesh flowy sleeves. Her white knee high socks were covered in dirt as well.

She was situating flowers carefully around the dirt, ignoring the small trickle of rain that was starting to fall.

Noah fought the urge to go pick her up and get her out of the rain as it started to pour down harder, steady drops plopping against the leaves.

He smiled a little as she stood up and stuck her tongue out, trying to catch the cool rain on her tongue. She hugged herself close and though he couldn't hear her, he knew she was humming softly to herself.

She began to sway slowly with one of the flowers in her hand as the rain came down harder and her tears started rushing down her face. His heart was hurting for her.

The rain seemed like such a clichè addition to the moment, but Rosa seemed to be taking full advantage of it.

Noah was mesmerized by her movements through the rain, hardly noticing that his suit and hair were now soaked.

Just as a light flash of lightning and thunder rolled through the sky, Rosa turned and spotted him there under the weeping willow tree. His lips quirked up slightly as a small smile formed on her face before her body suddenly shook with a silent sob.

He opened his arms slightly and she immediately threw her shoes off, her socked feet squishing through the rain soaked grass surrounding them. She threw herself into his arms and he wrapped his arms under her bum, lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

She nuzzled her face into his neck as she cried and he felt his heart race a little as he let out a small exhale, rain dripping down his face, mirroring Rosa's tears.

He pressed a soft kiss to her head. "Hey babydoll," he said softly, trying to lift her head from his neck so he could see her pretty face. She only huffed and pressed her face harder into his neck, her cries quietening down to little sniffles.

"You don't wanna say hi back?" He teased as he lifted her higher into his arms, swaying them slowly.

She shook her head and turned her face so her cheek rest on his shoulder. She caressed his jaw slowly, as if touching him made things more real. "Y-you came?" She asked through a small sniffle.

"Mhm," he said quietly as he smoothed down the back of her wet hair.

"W-why? I hurt you," she said quietly as she wiped her eyes.

"Well good thing I beleive in second chances then, huh?" He asked with a small chuckle.

Rosa only responded with a nod and tucked her face back into his neck as she began to shiver.

"Lets get you out of this rain," he said quietly, carrying her over to collect her shoes and then take her to his car. "I'm sorry it had to be bad weather on this day."

"It's not bad weather," she commented as he gently placed her onto the passenger seat, her hair dripping into her lap.

He quickly ran around to the drivers side, hopped in and peeled his shoes off. "Really?"

"No, this is good weather. It helps the flowers grow and get pretty," Rosa said softly as she grabbed his suit jacket sleeve and wiped her eyes.

"Well you must have spent a long time in the rain then, huh," he chuckled and she blushed when she realized what he meant.

"My dad used to dance with me in the rain anyway. When he wasn't bed ridden at least. I haven't been able to do that in four years," she said as she opened the glove compartment and her eyes widened when she spotted a lollipop. She grabbed it and pulled the wrapper off as she gently closed the glove compartment with her socked foot.

He decided not to comment on what she had just told him because her mood had progressively gone down. "Put on your seat belt Rosa."

"I like it better when you use nicknames," she mumbled around her lollipop as she clicked the seatbelt into place.

"Rosa is a nickname," he chuckled as he started to slowly pull onto the main road.

"But not the nicknames you use for me," she pouted, looking over at him with twinkling eyes. Her eyes lingered on one of his hands on the steering wheel and he smiled as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Alright then. Would you like to hold my hand, babydoll?" He asked with a small smirk.

She blushed lightly and nodded, immediately intertwining her slim fingers with his as he offered her his hand.

"Do you want anything?"

"I wanna go home," she said quietly as she held on tighter to his hand.

"Oh, right," he said, clearing his throat. "Of course. What's the adress for your foster home again?"

She whimpered and shook her head. "I-i wanna go home. With you."

Noah's hands tightened around the steering wheel and he took a deep breath. "You can't baby."

"But I want to," she argued and he narrowed his eyes as he looked over at her.

This was a trap. And he had walked right into it.