Dance With Me In the Pouring Rain

"Are we there yet?" Tory asked for what felt like the millionth time.

"No."

There was a pause. "Are we there yet?"

"No."

Amir chuckled softly and turned a corner.

"Are we there yet?"

"We're about five seconds closer than the last time you asked," I growled. "Jeez, Tory. Have you no patience at all?"

"I can't help it!" she protested, and I could tell she was glaring at me from behind her blindfold. "The suspense is killing me!"

"Not long now," I muttered.

After a while, Amir started slowing down.

"Are we there yet?" Tory asked hopefully.

"NO!" I exploded. "For the last bloody time, Tory, we're-"

"Here," Amir announced, cutting me off mid-rant, as he pulled effortlessly into a parking space. He really was a good driver. There wasn't anything either side of him, but still.

"Thank you, Amir," Tory said pointedly. "Can I take this stupid thing off now?"

Amir chuckled and got out of the car to open the door. He helped Tory out, and I felt a surge of unbidden jealousy at their contact. Telling myself to stop being so stupid, I got out after her and closed the door behind me.

"Thanks for the lift, Amir," I told him gratefully. "Can you pick us up in a couple of hours? I'll call you."

He gave a mock salute. "Yes sir." He winked at Tory. "Enjoy your night."

Whistling, he returned to his car and drove away. I went up behind Tory and shifted her slightly.

"Three, two, one," I whispered, undoing the blindfold.

Doing a three-sixty, she whistled through her teeth. "Whoa. This is... I mean... whoa."

I grinned. "You been here before?"

'Here' was Lickey Hills, a park-type place in the middle of Birmingham. You could see the whole of the city from where we were, like a tiny little model, the buildings rising up to touch the sky. There was stretches and stretches of land, and even a lake a bit further over.

Tory nodded. "A few times. Never this late, though." She turned to smile at me. "Come on. Let's find somewhere to sit."

Our arms linked, we wandered over to a patch of gently sloping land with a spectacular view over the city. I produced the blanket I'd brought and settled it on the ground.

Tory grinned. "What else have you got in that TARDIS of a bag? A small house?"

Rolling my eyes, I sat down, pulling her down with me. I dumped out the remaining contents, while Tory's eyes grew rounder and rounder.

"Oh my God!" she squealed, her voice akin to that of a chipmunk. "You have a four hundred gram bar of Dairy Milk chocolate?! I think I love you."

I blushed, knowing she wasn't serious. "You haven't seen the rest yet."

"Doritos!" she shrieked. "And tonnes of packets of crisps! And blackcurrant juice! And… serious healthy crap?" She frowned, looking at the pot of carrot sticks I had brought.

I bit back a smile. "That's for you. The rest is mine."

Her face was murderous. She looked about ready to throttle me. I couldn't keep the laughter in anymore and started giggling helplessly - in a very manly way, of course.

Tory scowled when she realised she'd been had. "Not nice. I'm taking the chocolate as payment."

"Oh, there's plenty more where that came from," I grinned, producing another bar.

She was practically drooling. "Fletch, you evil boy. You're going to make me fat."

I rolled my eyes. "Like that would ever happen. You could do with putting on some weight, actually."

"So I will have no guilt whatsoever after consuming all this unhealthy crap, then," Tory concluded.

"You've got the carrots," I reminded her.

She leant over and hugged me. "Thanks. This stuff must've cost a bomb."

"Not really," I said truthfully. Most of it was just lying around the house waiting to be eaten. I was broke after all and couldn’t afford much, so I had jacked some off my mates. "Besides. You're worth it."

"Aw," she, uh, aw-ed. "That's so sweet." She smiled at me, and I smiled back. "Got anything else?"

I shook my head. "Nope. That's it."

She grinned. "Then I call dibs on the first bar of chocolate."

"Oi!" I protested as she broke off two rows. "Share!"

She handed me two chunks and I rolled my eyes, grinning. I popped one in my mouth and let it melt a bit before swallowing.

"Would Tory like some blackcurrant juice?" I asked.

"Yes, Tory would, s'il vous plait," she replied pleasantly.

"See voo what?" I queried.

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "It means please in French."

"Yes, well," I replied as I poured some juice into a plastic cup for her. "I never was particularly good at French."

"Yeah, I got that impression," she commented, taking the cup. "Merci beaucoup." I just looked at her. "Thanks, you moron."

I chucked a packet of crisps at her face, but I missed and she caught.

"Why thank you, Fletcher dear," she said sweetly. "Je pense que je vais parler en francais. J'aime t'ennuyer."

I groaned, pressing my fingers to my temples. "I hate you."

She pouted. "You can't hate me. I'm your girlfriend."

"So?" I responded.

She threw the packet of crisps back at me which I caught deftly. I popped it open and started eating them.

"Fletch," Tory said softly, "stay like that one second."

The crisp I was holding froze halfway to my mouth. "Okay. Why?"

"Because," she replied, rooting in the pockets of her jeans, "I want to take a picture of you." She pulled out her phone and aimed it at me.

"Ugh!" I protested, ducking my head. "I hate pictures."

"Trust me, Fletch, you look beautiful right now."

I hesitated. "Really?" Because every guy wants to hear he's beautiful. Right.

My momentary hesitation was long enough for her to snap a picture. "Hah! Perfect." She shifted to show it me. "Look, with your head turned slightly that way and your hair sticking up all over the place." She giggled. "You look kind of constipated with that expression, though."

"I do not look constipated!" I protested, my face flushing. "Besides, you caught me off-guard."

"They make the best pictures," she replied knowingly.

"Give me that," I muttered, grabbing the phone off her with my superior strength. Before she knew what I was doing, I snapped a picture of her. "Payback," I said triumphantly.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "How about we just take random crazy pictures now?"

I grinned. "That sounds like a great idea."

We took some of us pulling faces that looked like a cross between a Halloween mask and a crazy person. We took some of us lying on the floor grinning up at the camera. We took some of us dancing like crazy people.

When we'd finished laughing hysterically at the crazy pictures, we flopped back down on the blanket.

"You know," I commented, "I have way too much fun with you."

She turned to grin at me. "Agreed. How about a picture of the sunset?"

The sun had all but disappeared under the buildings, and was practically invisible. Tory took a picture, but didn't sit down. She just stood there, staring out at the city.

"What are you looking at?" I asked softly.

Her voice was serious. "I'm trying to see if I can see my house."

I chuckled. "You can't see your house from here, Tory." I got to my feet and stood beside her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.

"It really is beautiful," she whispered.

Simultaneously, we looked up at the sky. It was a mix of deep pinks, purples and blues, a canvas for the brilliant orange sun. It was partially hidden behind some buildings and hadn't quite reached the horizon, but I was guessing sunset was less than half an hour away.

"Who needs a beach, eh?" I said softly. “Though it probably would be a lot nicer. Shame we’re right smack bang in the middle of England.”

She smiled. "Thank you for tonight, Fletch."

"No problem," I replied lightly.

She looked up at me then, her long-lashed, innocent brown eyes staring into my grey ones. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled my neck down to her face to kiss me. She tasted sweet, like chocolate and blackcurrant juice.

After what seemed like an age, I pulled away. "Let's go for a walk."

We packed the stuff into the so-called TARDIS bag easily; it was less of a squeeze now because we’d eaten most of the stuff. Linking arms, we wandered off aimlessly.

“Got anymore chocolate left?” Tory asked.

“No. You ate it all, you pig,” I teased.

“Oi!” she protested. “I didn't eat all of it. Just most of it.”

I rolled my eyes and handed her a packet of BBQ rib crisps. “This is all that’s left. Enjoy it while you can.”

She popped it open and offered me a crisp. “So, Fletch, how’s life for you?” She sounded hesitant. “How’s your dad been about your brother?”

I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could, trying to play it cool. “I don't know. I don’t think he really noticed, to be honest.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my voice.

Tory rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. “I’m sure he did. Are you and him okay?”

I shrugged again. “No different than normal. We just ignore each other. It’s the easiest way to live. When he’s not at work, he’s at the pub. When he’s not at the pub, he’s watching TV. I stay in my room and come out to make us dinner. That’s it,” I finish flatly.

She smiled wryly, squeezing my hand comfortingly. “I can see why you like my family so much. Want to swap?”

“Don’t even joke about that,” I warned her. “Because I would totally take you up on that offer.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” she suggested, wisely. Her eyes lit up. “I'm going on holiday at the start of the summer holidays.”

“Really?” I replied interestedly. “Where to?”

“France, for a week,” she informed me excitedly. “It’s going to be amazing.”

“Right. So when do you leave, exactly?” I asked.

She thought for a second. “Let’s see. School breaks up on Wednesday 20th, so it’ll be really early Thursday. Seventeen days approximately. I can’t wait!” She gave a little squeal of delight. “You going anywhere, Fletch?”

I shook my head. “Nah. I’ll just be hanging out, enjoying not having to go to school anymore.”

She cracked a grin. “I’ll send you a postcard, so you can see exactly what you’re missing.”

“As long as it’s not in French, I don’t mind,” I told her.

She got this mischievous smile on her face. “’course not.”

“How’s your life going?” I asked.

“Pretty good,” she replied. “Sophie’s got a new crush, this random guy in sixth form. So she’s over you.”

I grabbed my heart like it had been pained by an arrow. “Oh no. I’m devastated. I though the bonds of our love could never be broken!”

Tory grinned, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure. Ally and Rory are still going strong, but she’s a bit worried. He has a rep for being a bit of a player, but so far he’s behaving himself. Matt is… Matt. He’s still being an idiot, but yeah.”

I nodded. “Have you told them about you and me?”

“Well, Ally knows, and I think she posted it on Facebook,” she replied calmly.

My eyebrows shot up. “She posted it on Facebook? Blimey. The whole world knows now.”

Tory grinned. “Yeah. I haven’t got Facebook because my mum is annoyingly overprotective when it comes to the internet. She only recently let me use MSN, and only because I explained in detail that it wasn’t at all like a chat room. She’s such an internet virgin. It’s kind of cute.”

“Well, I don’t have it either because I could never be bothered with that stuff,” I replied as we reached back where we started. Looking around, I started; it was getting really dark now. “It’s late. I should call Amir.”

“Yeah,” she said. She almost sounded… reluctant? “You should.”

I detached myself from Tory and fished out my phone, calling up Amir’s number. He answered on the third ring.

“Hey, Fletch,” he greeted me. “How’s the date going?”

“Great, thanks,” I replied. “Can you pick us up soon?”

“Anything for you,” he teased. “Say hi to Tory for me.”

“Will do. Bye Amir.” I clicked off and turned to Tory, who was sitting on a bench. “Amir says hi.”

She smiled. “He’s not going to be here for a while, is he?”

I shook my head. “What do you suggest we do?”

She smiled mischievously. “I have a few ideas.”

She beckoned me forward with a curled finger and I followed duly. Smiling, I folded her into my arms and kissed her.

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I don’t know how long we stood like that, entangled in a kiss. But sometime later, bright headlights appeared on us like a spotlight and a car horn beeped rudely. We broke apart quickly, Tory biting her lip and smiling shyly.

Amir stuck his head out the window. “You coming or not?” he hollered.

Tory rolled her eyes and got in first. I got in after her, slamming the door a little harder than I intended.

“Watch it!” Amir protested. “That’s my baby you’re abusing.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I apologise to your baby. I’ll be more careful in future.”

He looked at me. “Sarcasm? You dare insult my baby with sarcasm?”

I rolled my eyes, smirking. “Just get us home, Amir.”

“Righty-ho, sir!” he called, winking at us.

Tory leant her head on my shoulder and slowly, her breathing became shallow – she’d fallen asleep. I envied her ability to get to sleep so easily; it was never something I was able to do.

“She seems like a great girl,” Amir said softly.

“Yeah,” I replied. “She is.”

I tangled my hands in her hair, feeling the soft, silkiness of it. She really was beautiful. Remembering what she'd said earlier about catching people unawares, I grinned and reached into her pocket for her phone, since hers was better quality. I took a picture of us like that, her head resting on my shoulder. I wanted as many memories as I could of this night.

We reached Tory’s house first, and I shook her awake gently. “Tory? We’re here.”

She groaned, yawning slightly. “Already? I was having such a nice dream.”

I grinned as the car ground to a halt outside her house.

“Madam,” Amir called, getting out to open her door “I do believe this is your stop.”

Tory smiled, accepting his hand out. “Thank you, Amir.”

He smiled back. Bending to her level – he was even taller than her than me – he whispered something in her ear. Then he pulled away and looked at her. She just nodded, smiling, as he got back in the car. I frowned, wondering what I was missing. I got out of the car after her.

“Bye Tory,” I said, kissing her quickly. “When can I see you again?”

“You’re keen,” she teased. “How does Monday after school in the park sound?”

“Perfect,” I replied. “Just out of curiosity, what did Amir say to you?”

She shrugged. “Nothing, really.”

“It didn't sound like nothing,” I said bluntly.

She looked at me. “It was nothing for you to be jealous about, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

I smiled. “I wasn’t.” I hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go. But of course, I had to.

“Good night,” she said softly.

“Good night,” I echoed, as she walked up to her front door.

She pulled out her keys and opened it, slipping inside. But just before the door closed, she turned around and blew me a kiss, smiling. Then the front door shut, blocking her out.

I sighed and returned to the car. “What did you say to her?” I asked Amir curiously.

“Nothing she didn't know already,” he replied cryptically.

I nodded. It seemed like I wasn’t meant to know. Oh well. It only took us a few minutes to get home, but I was already missing Tory. I got out my phone and dialled her number; I had learnt it by heart.

“Fletch?” Tory sounded incredulous. “What are you calling for? I only just saw you a few minutes ago.”

“I know, but I'm missing you already,” I replied honestly. “Is it a crime to phone my girlfriend?”

Desperate, Amir mouthed in the rear-view mirror, but I ignored him.

“I guess not,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“What are you doing right now?” I asked.

“Well,” she replied, “I’m actually getting changed.”

My eyes widened and I gulped. Sudden mental image. Not a particularly unpleasant one, granted.

“Fletch? You still there?”

I nodded, then realised she couldn’t see me. “Yeah.”

“Like you didn't just space out thinking about me naked,” she teased.

“I’m a guy, aren’t I?” I retorted.

“Hmm, debatable,” she replied teasingly.

“Well, if you’re going to insult me,” I mock-huffed.

“Oh, Fletch, I didn't mean to insult your macho manhood,” she giggled.

I rolled my eyes. “My ‘macho manhood’? What the hell is that?”

“You know,” she replied, stifling a laugh. “The thing that makes you feel all big and strong and manly.” She giggled. Down the phone, it sounded like a crackle of static. But a beautiful crackle of static.

“You are so immature, you know that?” I responded.

“Thank you,” she said. I heard someone yelling in the background; it sounded like her mum. “One sec.” She was clearly covering the phone; I could still hear muffled sounds in the background. She returned a few seconds later. “Sorry, Fletch, but I have to go. Mum wants me to go to bed because we’ve got this family thing tomorrow. My cousins that I haven’t seen in ages have decided to visit, and I get told now.” She sighed. “But that’s my dad for you. It is his family after all.”

“It’s okay, we’re nearly at my house anyway,” I replied reluctantly. “Good night, Tory.”

“Good night, Fletch.”

“Are you going to hang up or should I?”

“You hang up.”

“No, you hang up.”

“No, you hang up.”

“Oh God, we sound like that song,” I exclaimed, horrified. “By what's his name? Shayne Ward. You hang up, no you hang up, no you, duh da duh.”

“Duh da duh?”

“I don’t know the rest of the song,” I said defensively. “Sue me.”

I could sense her rolling her eyes. “Okay, we’ll hang up at the same time. One, two, three!”

Neither of us hung up.

“You didn't hang up!” Tory whined.

“Neither did you!” I pointed out. “We’ll do it properly this time. Goodbye, Victoria.”

“Goodbye, Fletcher.”

I hung up just as she did, still smiling.

“Mate,” Amir commented, “you are pathetic. Sweet, but pathetic.” I rolled my eyes. “This is your house, right?”

I nodded and got out, stooping by his open window. “Thanks for this, Amir.” I was suddenly awkward. “Look, I might have a couple of pounds somewhere-”

“Fletch,” he cut me off, “I didn't do this for money. I did it as a favour, for you looking out for my little brother all these years. Besides, I’m Muslim. We’re supposed to do random acts of selflessness,” he grinned.

I grinned back. “Thanks, really. If there’s anything you ever need, just ask.”

He nodded. “Sure thing. See you around, bro.”

He drove away, and I walked inside. I could hear the TV in the living room, and knew instantly that Dad was home. Slipping out of my converse, I headed into the kitchen and dumped the bag. I’d sort it out tomorrow. Then I headed upstairs. I don’t think Dad even noticed I was gone, let alone that I’d come back. I felt a bit resentful. I mean, it would be nice to be noticed. But I forced myself to stop thinking about it. I didn't want to ruin my night.

Perching on the end of my bed, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the pictures we’d taken. Mostly, they made me smile, just at the pure idiocy of the poses, until I got to the last one.

Tory was standing next to me, an arm around my shoulders, a grin on her face. My arm was around her waist, and I was smiling fit to burst at the camera.

I remembered that picture. Seconds later, Tory had dumped an entire packet of crisps on me. That was why she was grinning like that.

Smiling, I shook my head, not entirely sure what at.

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Later, as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, all I could think of was Tory. And as I closed my eyes, ready to be claimed by sleep, the last thing I saw was her beautiful face.