When the Rain Clears ✓

Four

          Phayu woke up with a sense of clarity. Rain. His lover. The one who managed to make him fall in love; the one he was more than willing to lay his life for.

Everything made sense. The dreams, the migraines, the familiarity whenever he went to a certain location or met certain people. He couldn't explain why, or how such an occurrence was possible. But he knew he needed to see Rain. Soon.

The only thing making him stop in his motion to get to Rain, and leaving him baffled was Cloud. He had met nearly everyone in Rain's life, and questioned the younger boy about every aspect of his life before the two of them met, but there had never been a Cloud. Besides one. It had been a passing remark made by Rain's old buddy that had invited them to his wedding.

'I remember how I used to try and catch a glimpse of our high school Goddess, N'Cloud, and now here I am married to someone just as beautiful as her.' The comment of course made the bride roll her eyes before pinching her husband's ear and dragging him away. If it was indeed the same Cloud, then there was a high chance someone else had travelled back in time and caused a butterfly effect that resulted in Rain dating her. Perhaps she herself was the traveller. There was no chance of it being Rain, though, not when he knew how bad of a liar the younger boy was, and how much worse he was at keeping secrets.

Heaving a sigh, Phayu got up from his bed and decided to head to the garage to think things through first.

             Sky knew something was up with his best friend. The tense look was one he was familiar with, and did not like seeing.

"What's up with you?" he asked, poking at Rain's side. He was met with silence, followed by a sigh, and then a shake of the head. He stopped the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose out of frustration, and instead gave Rain another jab to the side.

"You're scaring everyone, you know?" he said softly. His comment made his best friend tense up even more. Rain was always seen as a nice and easygoing person to his friends and family, but those that didn't know him also feared him in a way (as his best friend it was kind of funny to think about, considering how harmless Rain actually was) due to the way he would keep to himself mostly. And if not fear they had for him, then it was admiration. Despite how dense and clumsy he could be, Rain was also seen as one of the top students of their program. Even some seniors would come to him from time to time to get his feedback on their project.

Being someone who was close to him, Sky knew that Rain hated the admiration he was getting, and hated even more when people would misunderstand him as someone cold or capable of conflicting hurt.

"I don't look that mean, do I?" Rain had once asked when the two of them were studying at the library. The answer was of course a no. "You look cute, harmless like a kitten, but you keep to yourself too much, man," had been Sky's reply, "Maybe try and not shut down everyone's approach every time."

At some point, rumours of Rain being a violent person circuited during their first semester at the University after he unknowingly rejected a senior that was interested in him. It only took a short while for the rumours to be proven false, but till now, there were still doubts and wonder to Rain's true colours.

Funny enough, Rain didn't even know about the rumours, or how it even started. He merely misunderstood that his moodiness was the cause, and vowed to be less moody. Sky nearly facepalmed at his friend's lack of awareness of what went on around him when he first heard his declaration.

Ple wanted to tell Rain at some point about why people were scared of him, but at the time, Rain had a lot on his plate, so Sky asked their groups of friends to stay silent as it would only cause him to stress more. No doubt Rain would've gotten upset and tried to make it up to the senior. But the senior had been exposed as being a cruel and vile person who didn't mind dirtying their hands to tarnish another's reputation. If they had gotten to know how naive Rain was at times, they would've certainly tried to manipulate Rain before doing something terrible to him.

Their silence was to keep Rain out of trouble, and away from such a selfish person.

"Sorry," Rain apologised, running his hand through his hair and failing to realise the effect it was having on some of his fans in the corner of the room. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Want to talk about it?" Sky asked, hoping Rain would trust in him enough to open up a bit more.

"It's..." Just then, Rain's phone went off. "Oh, sorry. One second."

He picked up his phone and answered. "Cloud?"

Cloud. Rain's one and only girlfriend. It was no secret now that he was taken, and by an exceptionally beautiful lady. Sky had been surprised when he first saw Cloud. He had not expected that Rain could win over someone so beautiful and smart (sorry not sorry) with how clumsy and socially awkward he was. But he did. And Sky immediately became close friends with her. Rather than a duo, Sky liked to believe they were a trio; him, Rain, and Cloud.

Despite being a couple, the two never once made him feel like an outsider, or a third-wheel, even when he would interrupt their dates. Cloud was like an older sister, calm in ways Rain was not. She knew what she wanted, and where her priorities stood. She was wise and the voice of reason when him and Rain could not be. If not for the fact that he was gay, no doubt Sky would've fallen in love with her.

The three used to hang out really often. Until the diagnosis. It came as a surprise to Sky- devastated him, actually. He had cried for hours, days, even. He could only imagine how much more painful it was for Rain, who at that time of the announcement only held onto Cloud deeply and remained silent.

"Yeah," the sound of Rain's voice broke Sky out of the memory-lane.

"Okay. I'll see you later. Love you, too." As usual, Rain waited for Cloud to hang up the phone. Sky learned that Rain had a habit of waiting for Cloud to hang up the call, just as Cloud had a habit of always saying 'I love you' even when she was angry or upset. It was sweet and envious.

"Cloud wants to go to a restaurant today," Rain said, turning to smile at Sky. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure," Sky grinned, happy to see his friend was in a bit of a better mood, and at the idea of seeing Cloud. It had been a while since he had last seen her in person. With all the tests, assignments, it was hard for Sky to find the right time to plan a hangout with her.

"Which restaurant?" he asked.

"Um, she said it's a new one that opened recently. I'll forward you the details and pick you up later," Rain said.

"Sounds good."