Chapter 10 : Monsoon Season
1067 Words
The sky was gray. The kind of gray that warned everyone:
Don’t forget your umbrella. Or else.
Solei stood in front of the café counter, holding a small box and two matcha drinks.
“I hope this cheers you up,” she whispered, staring at the carefully wrapped box like it might explode.
Inside was a simple bracelet. Woven green thread with a tiny silver compass charm.
For someone like Leo, who had wandered through danger, deserts, and maybe grief—she wanted him to have something that reminded him he still had direction.
That he had her.
“Waiting for someone?”
She turned and found Leo behind her—hood down this time, jacket a little wet from the rain, and eyes… warmer.
“I didn’t want to bug you,” Solei said. “But I wanted to do something.”
Leo looked at the box, then back at her. “You’re bugging me in the best way.”
He took the drink and smiled. “Sweet grass.”
Solei laughed. “Shut up.”
They sat by the window while rain danced hard against the glass. It was the kind of weather that makes you spill secrets and sip slowly.
“I used to hate the rain,” Leo said suddenly, watching the drops slide down. “Too many bad memories. Mud, cold nights, broken boots.”
Solei was quiet.
“But now,” he added, looking at her, “I think it’s not so bad. You make it better.”
She blinked. “I… brought you something.”
She handed him the box. Leo unwrapped it slowly, then pulled out the bracelet.
“I know it’s not much,” she said quickly. “But I thought… maybe it could be your lucky charm or something?”
Leo stared at it for a moment, then slipped it on.
“It’s perfect,” he said. “Now I’ll always find my way back to you.”
Boom. Her heart exploded.
The rain poured harder, and they realized neither of them brought an umbrella.
“Well,” Leo said, standing, “guess we’re running.”
Solei groaned. “My white uniform is going to go see-through!”
Leo grinned and handed her his jacket. “Take this. You can be warm. I’ll just be hot.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re insufferable.”
“You’re in love.”
She paused. “What?”
He froze. “What?”
They stared at each other.
Solei’s heart pounded like thunder.
“I—was joking,” Leo said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Unless… you weren’t?”
“I—uh—should go!” Solei turned toward the door.
Leo followed, still flustered. “Solei—wait!”
Outside, under the pouring rain, they stopped.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said softly. “I just—”
Solei looked up at him, wet hair sticking to her face. “You didn’t scare me.”
“Then why’d you run?”
“Because maybe I am falling. And I’m not used to people catching me.”
Leo stepped closer, rain be damned.
“Then fall. I’m here.”
The rain didn’t stop.
It just poured harder, like the universe was holding its breath along with them.
Solei stood frozen on the sidewalk, Leo inches away, his shirt slowly soaking through. Raindrops slipped down his face, tracing his jaw, his eyelashes, even the tiny scar above his brow. She noticed everything.
Leo didn’t move closer. He didn’t touch her. He just looked at her like she was the only thing worth seeing in this storm.
“You don’t have to fall if you’re not ready,” he said quietly. “But if you do… I’ll be right here. No rush. No pressure. Just… here.”
Solei’s throat tightened.
She wanted to say something clever, something calm. But all she could manage was, “I’m scared.”
Leo nodded, like he already knew. “Me too.”
That surprised her. “You? You’re scared?”
He gave a soft, crooked smile. “Terrified. I’ve faced bombs, but your silence hits harder.”
She laughed, and it broke the heaviness like sunlight through clouds. “That’s not fair. You’re too good at saying things.”
“I’m not,” he said. “I just mean it.”
They stood there, the rain blurring the city around them, washing away everything but the way he looked at her.
Finally, she asked, “Why me, Leo?”
He looked at her like the answer was obvious. “Because you’re real. You feel things deeply. You care even when it’s inconvenient. You listen. You laugh like it’s a rebellion.”
Solei blinked fast. “That’s… a lot.”
“It’s all true.”
She crossed her arms, trying to hide the way her heart was hammering. “You make it very hard to keep pretending I don’t like you.”
Leo chuckled. “Then don’t pretend.”
A flash of lightning lit up the sky above them.
Thunder followed.
And still—neither of them moved.
She looked down, chewing the inside of her cheek. “This feels like one of those moments where people kiss in movies.”
Leo’s voice dropped. “It does.”
“But we’re not doing that.”
“Nope. Not yet.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yet?”
Leo smirked. “Hey, a guy can hope.”
She rolled her eyes, stepping back and wrapping his jacket tighter around herself. “Let’s go before I catch pneumonia.”
Leo nodded, falling into step beside her as they jogged through the puddles toward the waiting tricycle. But before she climbed in, he caught her hand for just a second. Just long enough to warm her fingers.
Just long enough to say without words: I’m here.
And just like that, the moment passed.
But it left something behind.
Something unspoken.
Something undeniable.
Later that night Solei wrote another diary entry...
I didn’t kiss him.
But it still felt like something happened. Something real.
He wore the bracelet. Said it would help him find his way back to me.
I think that broke me a little—in a soft, dizzy kind of way.
We’re both scared.
But maybe that means this is real.
And maybe real is enough… for now.
- Writer
