Rain -- ~Chapter 2~ Aiden

It hardly seemed fair. Why couldn't I have just let her fall to her death? Stupid boy. It's not like she even remembers you, so why do you even bother? She'll never love you again. She'll never be yours.

Why did I feel so pathetic in that cold rain? It's been years since I returned to that damned city, so why was it such a surprise when I came back to see her? I remember telling myself that I didn't go for her. I guess I was only lying to myself.

"Aiden, promise that you'll always be there for me?"

"That's one helluva promise to make, Diana...but I'll try."

It was a stupid promise to make, but anything to keep her quiet...anything to keep her happy. It's been a hectic couple of years, but I'm back. I don't know why, but I am all the same. I took a long drag from my cig and looked out of the window. Rain. That's all there ever was in this town- forget the sights, forget the Unity Bridge. Forget everything. It's the rain that keeps everyone here.

I never liked the rain. To be honest, I despise it.

Rain...Now, there's something I can really talk about. The only thing I can really remember about my life here was the rain. It rained when I was born, it rained when I grew up, hell it even rained when I left for, how long as it been? Thirteen years maybe? Either way, I came back and I don't know why. It felt like I could never get away from the rain or the endless cold that came with it. It always rained in that city, so why didn't it surprise me when I returned to it to see that it was raining? It didn’t surprise me to feel the cold air against my skin. It didn’t surprise me to see her walking across the bridge home like she did before I left.

She hadn’t changed in this dying city. She still had her long, black hair that poured down her back to her slim waist. Those sparkling blue stars that could stop any man in his tracks and stare into his very heart, her ivory skin that glowed eerily in the harsh glow of a street lamp, everything about her was the same. Everything about her was almost perfection; something I wish had changed during my absence. That was the reason behind my homecoming if that’s what you call it.

Taking another long one, I blew the smoke and watched it hover before brooding out the window again. "The lights seem dimmer somehow," I muttered, taking a short drag from my steadily dying cigarette. My mind decided to dwell on the events that took place earlier during the evening. It's not fair when your mind decides to do things to you that you don't agree to, but on that damned bridge, I just couldn't help it. I thought about ignoring her and letting her go on her merry way home...But when she came closer I couldn’t help but steal a glance.

She stopped and looked back at me. Her hair was plastered to her head and hung beautifully down her back, soaked with the icy rain that plagued this city for eternities. She shivered silently and then walked closer to me.

I said the only thing that came to mind. “It’s gonna be a cold one tonight.” She looked at me, her eyes wide with surprise. I prayed she didn’t recognize my voice.

Y-yeah,” she stuttered, “It gets this way this time of year.” She shivered in the cold as the rain rolled down my hood.

“A lady like you shouldn’t be wandering alone at night,” I said, looking straight into her eyes.

She shook her head. “It’s been this way for a long time,” she said. “I’ve gotten used to the lack of company.” I nodded slightly and looked back down at the river below us. She continued walking across the bridge. I sighed relieved that nothing had happened to her. Diana was always special. Clumsy as hell, but she was still special. Part of me was relieved to see that she was okay....Until she slipped. She must've stepped on slick ice or something, but somehow or another she found her way on the edge of the bridge, dangling over the half-frozen river. I grabbed her hand as fast as I possibly could, urging her to give me her other one so I could pull her to safety. She obeyed, but barely touched my own, slipping further out of my reach. Her other hand was slipping out of my grip.

“Don't let me go...please...I don't want to die tonight," she sobbed. I didn’t plan on letting her die. I still don't know why, but during that whole fiasco, I never let my eyes stray from her, not for a second. She shut hers as our hands broke apart. Trying to catch her again I reached farther, but missed her. “DIANA!!” I screamed after her, but she couldn’t have heard me, because the second I said her name she was gone...

She was gone...Disappeared into the darkness before she even hit the water. She always was special...I guess I never really knew how special until then.

I tried to shake it out of my head as I snuffed out my cigarette and rested my forehead on the cool glass. "It's a shame she had to be so damn helpless without me," I growled, glaring at the dim city lights. The hotel suite was overly accommodating. Too gaudy, too gold. It was just too much- too over the top. "Tch..." I chuckled. "I must be losing it now if I'm missing her already."

Vivid emerald eyes flickered toward the door in a sideways glance, almost as if I were expecting something to splinter the door; a stony face with an expression to match followed them. "Diana..." I murmured, eyeing the door wearily. The box of fags fell into my hand, the thin cancer stick lingered at my fingertips as I flipped the Zippo up and lit the tip, taking a long drag as I wandered around the suite.

With smoke on my lips I found myself on the bed, thinking about her again. "You'd think after missing out on the last decade or so of that bitch's life I would've forgotten about her by now...and then the one night I see her, bam..." I mused. It was kinda hard not to laugh at my own cynicism. "She hasn't changed much...just filled out and got taller...Gah...Aiden, you're an idiot." I sat on that bed, taking short drags from my cig and argued with myself for the rest of the night, holding my head in one hand and a steadily dwindling cig in the other.

"Diana, you've still got a lot of growing to do....I might as well stick around for a while."