“It’s going to rain.”

“It’s not going to rain.”

“I’m telling you, it’s gonna rain.”

“It’s not going to rain, Leah.”

Leah shrugged as she readjusted the straps of her backpack. Though she and Jacob were only going hiking for a day, somehow she had managed to over pack… it was a talent, really. She also had a talent for knowing when it was going to rain. And, okay, that ‘talent’ was mostly due to her ability to turn her television onto the Weather Channel in the morning, but it was still more than Jacob apparently did.

“When we get struck by lightning, I don’t want to hear you crying. I tried to warn you,” she warned him. Jake rolled his eyes at her, a habit of his that annoyed her immensely. She liked Jacob. She did. He was an awesome guy to hang out with, but he had little habits like his eye rolling that drove her crazy.

Above the two dark-haired teenagers, the heavy looking clouds groaned with thunder and sparkled with lightning. Leah glanced up at the clouds, a worried expression briefly crossing her face. She didn’t like storms, she really didn’t. Especially not when she and her best friend were in the middle of a bunch of lightning-attracting trees.

Jacob glanced over at her for a second. “It’s gonna be fine,” he assured her. “If I do get struck by lightning, you’re allowed to laugh, alright?”

She shrugged, her brown eyes still focused on the dark clouds ahead of the pair. It was several minutes before Leah spoke again, her voice forcefully normal. “Hey, err, Jake?” she began. He frowned, glancing over at her. That was her nervous voice – definitely not a good thing when coming from Leah.

He always perceived her as strong, the girl who could do anything without anyone’s help. Storms were her weakness, he guessed, but she usually didn’t get this freaked out by them… so he assumed that the nervousness in her voice had to do with an issue she was about to bring up. Maybe Seth had gotten suspended from school… again, for skipping.

“Yeah?” he asked slowly, mentally bracing himself for the worried flood that he knew was going to bubble out of her mouth.

“Do you think we should, like…” He felt the urge to point out her use of the word ‘like,’ one that she loathed and rarely used. But he patiently waited for her to finish. “Go somewhere together?”

He blinked, his brain overheating momentarily. Together? Like… a date? Him and her? Together? That was crazy! Him and her? Jacob and Leah? Did that sound good to him? Leah was good-looking, that was clearly apparent. Well, more than good-looking. She was beautiful, with her shiny hair and high cheekbones and –

“Yeah!” he said with a little too much enthusiasm that was brought on by his flood of thoughts. “I would. I guess. Yeah. When?”

Leah stared at him. She burst out laughing. “Um, now?” she suggested, grinning. He noticed that her lips looked redder today. Vaguely, he noticed she was talking as he wondered what, exactly, they’d feel like pressed against his.

“But it’s going to rain soon,” he said, puzzled. Why would she want to go on a date now? It was going to rain soon. Wait… a splash on his arm alerted him that it was already starting to sprinkle.

She laughed again, shoving his arm slightly. “Yeah, which would be the whole point of getting below a tree. So we don’t get wet.”

Oh. Shit. She had been talking about ‘going somewhere’ like ‘going to shelter below a tree.’ Not ‘on a date.’ He frowned, foolishness lighting his cheeks ablaze with an uncharacteristic blush.

“It’s not going to rain,” was the only thing he could think of to mutter to her. “It’s fine. Just keep walking.”

“But you just said you wanted to go somewhere!” she protested, but he saw her out of the corner of his eye. She was following him, like she always did. Always a step behind him or ahead of him or right next to him. Leah was always there.

Silence replaced their conversation. He couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t even known what had washed over him when she had mentioned ‘together.’ Leah was his friend. She was a girl, yes, but she was his friend. She had nice legs and nice hair and was an awesome person, but… he had never been interested in her before. What was the matter with him?

“Er, Jake?”

He turned his head to look at the girl next to him, only to notice that her head was trained towards the sky. As soon as he followed her gaze, he noticed why she was staring. The dark gray cloud had somehow transformed into a even darker, almost bluish-black color.

“Um, shi-“

The sentence (and swear word) was lost in a particularly loud clash of thunder. The thunder seemed to release a torrent of rain that suddenly fell from the sky like a popped water balloon.

His first instinct was to simply take off sprinting and try to get home with his limbs all still together and un-fried. But his mind quickly screamed at him that he couldn’t do that… because of her. Because Leah was there. He would never leave her in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Jacob’s hand wrapped around Leah’s without hesitating… and they were off. They were running below trees, while his mind was trying to remember where you were supposed to go in the woods during a storm. Small trees, he remembered. But - what the hell, all these trees were tall!

With the wind and the rain, he wasn’t really sure that he could feel Leah’s hand still in his. But as he glanced to his side, he saw that she was still there, running steadily with him as they dashed toward some shorter trees.

When they arrived safely under the cover of one of the small trees, they were both dripping with rain and out of breath. Leah was panting, her breath as erratic as his heartbeat. Her hands were on her knees as she was doubled over. She seemed totally unaware of the fact that his breathing had nothing to do with the rain and instead was the result of his former epiphany about her.

She finally looked up at him, straightening with a grin. Her black hair had water running off of it and onto her shirt. “I told you it was going to rain! What did I tell you, Jake? I’m never going to let you forget this. You didn’t trust me and I was sure it was going to rain and now we’re both soaked!” Leah was laughing as she spoke, her lips revealing her easygoing smile.

He wasn’t sure what made him kiss her. Maybe he had been struck by lightning and this was the result of a fried brain. Maybe it was the rain that made her hair stick to her face or the fact that he was so out of breath that his brain wasn’t getting any oxygen. Whatever it was, he took a step towards her and pressed his palms against her cheeks. On their short walk, he had been wondering what her lips would feel like on his. And now he knew. God, it was better than he had imagined. Especially because she was kissing him back.

He pulled away after a moment, but let their foreheads touch lightly. “I would trust you with my life,” he murmured to her.

She laughed. “Nobody ever said you were smart,” she said. He kissed her again, his lips covering the grin that now made his heart explode.