Leo held his umbrella tight. The winter wind gently touched his cheeks as he fumbled around trying to block it with his scarf. He was just few feet away from Jemma but if you looked at them separately it would look like they were in different parts of the world. Leo was dressed for the winter, buried under different layers of cotton and wool but prepared for a mid-June downpour. His scarf all the way up to his ears. His glasses covered with fog and droplets of rain. His shoes so covered in mud and water that he could feel it in his socks. He hated winter. Every part of it. Not like he liked much of anything at all, apart from Jemma off course.
Jemma on the other hand, was not prepared for anything at all. She looked at the dusty murky sky will a smile. She felt the rain on her skin; from her face right down to her spine. She is was the ideal character for a poets fantasy. So full of life, so full of love. She beckoned Leo to join her as she spun around like a child dancing to the music of the rain. Droplets of rain sprinting off from the ends of her hair. It was as if she couldn't feel cold at all, as if she could still feel the summer heat in the middle of June. "When will you ever feel like this again?" She asked him rhetorically, teasing him.
When he built a glass walls around his heart to keep the world away, Jemma came in like light. So effortlessly, that Leo even mistook her as something he planned for. It was a perfect plan, he could protect himself from the world, always been on guard but at the same time he could witness the beauty of the world through her eyes. There was one little flaw in his masterplan, Love.
Love being the only true weakness of the world. The worst kind of distraction that deludes you into thinking that it is not a distraction. The one thing that was completely out of Leo's control. He loved her free spirit, her kindness, her unwillingness to follow orders, her better judgement, and the fact that she didn't want him to change for her. He basically loved all of her. He loved absolutely everything about her. But most of all he loved how different she was to him.
"This is embarrassing Jemma. People are looking at you." Leo blurted out. Most people would possibly get offended, but not Jemma. She smiled back at him
"They are looking at US." She giggled. "You're in this with me Leo whether you like it or not, might as well join me".
Leo gave a sigh. It was true. Standing in the middle of the park during the morning rush hour it almost seemed as if time had slowed down exactly where they were standing. Leo and Jemma were in their own little world they had created where materialistic things were meaningless. Where the only sound that mattered were the rhythm of their hearts, the rain and offcourse her voice. Jemma was sinking into this world, soaking everything in while Leo was fully aware of the people around her. The people around them all hurrying to get to their respective destination, somewhere they could make a living and maybe even leaving their own little mark on the world. Looking at them as they pass them by. Judging them as they do so, and perhaps even envying their carefree nature a little.
"What is the point of this?" Leo thought. There was no logical gain you could get by dancing around in the rain, apart from Pneumonia (which Leo considered to be more of a loss than a gain). There was absolutely zero profit out of this. And yet, Jemma was so happy, so full of energy that even Leo couldn't help but smile.
"You ruin me." He whispered under his breath. Jemma abruptly stopped, making Leo a bit nervous. Could she have heard him? She walked slowly towards him. The rain had turned her bubbly curls dead straight, she looked even more beautiful now. The water dropping from the ends of her summer dress. She was trying to control her shivering but it was easily seen that she was failing. Suddenly Leo couldn't hear the crowd or the noise. It was just him and Jemma, nothing else mattered. She stood under the umbrella now, so close to him that he could feel how cold she was. The only warm thing about her was her foggy breath. Instinctively he put his coat around her. They were closer than ever now. She put on a mischievous smile as leaned forward to whisper in his ear. Leo got Goosebumps in the back of his neck as she did so. "I know." She whispered.
