Breathe with me cole

RAGE

*Chapter 3: The Rain*

Andrea didn't go.

Friday. 8pm. The most expensive restaurant near Westwood - La Rose. Marcus had actually booked the entire terrace. And Andrea Cole was sitting in her small apartment eating instant noodles with Ashley.

"He's going to kill you," Ashley said, scrolling through the school group chat.

The messages were flying.

_Marcus Drake is waiting at La Rose alone???_

_Who is Andrea Cole???_

_She stood him up? No one stands up Drake!_

Andrea shoved her phone under her pillow. "I didn't agree to a date. He just announced it like I'm his property. I'm not going."

"You slammed cash in his face and whipped him with your hair," Ashley said. "In this school, that's basically a marriage proposal to him."

Andrea laughed, but her chest felt tight.

Then her phone buzzed again. Not a group chat. A DM from an unknown number.

> *Unknown:* I'm waiting. You have 20 minutes. Don't make me come find you, Cole.

> - M.A.D

Her stomach dropped. How did he get her number?

She ignored it.

10 minutes later.

> *Unknown:* It's raining. I don't wait for anyone. But for you, I'm making an exception. 10 more minutes.

She looked out her window. It was raining. Hard. That cold, heavy rain that soaks you in seconds.

And suddenly she wasn't in her apartment anymore.

---

_She was 15. School had closed early. It was raining just like this._

_"Andrea! Wait! My mom said we can't go out in the rain, you'll get sick!" she had shouted._

_Liam Dela Cruz had already pulled off his blazer and thrown it over her head. He was grinning, his hair already wet._

_"So what? You want to get home, right? Stay here, I'll be fast!"_

_Before she could stop him, he ran. Straight into the rain, across the school field, his white shirt turning transparent. He ran all the way to his house three blocks away._

_He came back 10 minutes later, soaking wet, holding a big blue umbrella. He was shivering._

_"See? Told you I'd come back," he said, his teeth chattering. "For you, I'd run in any rain."_

_He caught a cold the next day. A bad cold that lasted two weeks. The first cold that never really went away. The doctors later said his immune system was already weak because of the leukemia no one knew about._

_That was the last time he ever ran in the rain for her._

---

"Andrea?" Ashley touched her shoulder. "You okay? You're crying."

Andrea wiped her face quickly. "I... I need to go."

She grabbed the big black umbrella by the door.

"Where are you going? To La Rose?"

"No," she said, her voice shaking. "To tell him I'm not his date."

She ran out into the rain.

La Rose was only 10 minutes away on foot. The rain was hammering the streets. Her sneakers splashed through puddles. The umbrella barely helped - wind kept flipping it.

And there he was.

Marcus Ashton Drake was standing under the streetlight in front of La Rose. No umbrella. His black shirt was completely soaked, clinging to his chest. His hair was dripping. He looked like a model from a sad cologne ad, except he looked absolutely furious.

He saw her.

He started shouting even before she got close.

"Do you know how long I've been standing here?!" His voice cut through the rain.

Andrea stopped two feet away, holding her umbrella over both of them now. "Then why didn't you leave?!"

"I don't leave! I don't wait!" He threw his hands up, and rain flew everywhere. "Do you know who I am? People wait three hours for me!"

"Then you could have gone into a shed!" She shouted back, water dripping down her face. "Or better still, gone home! No one asked you to stand in the rain like a drama queen!"

"A DRAMA QUEEN?!" He stared at her like she had grown two heads. "You stood me up, Cole!"

"I never said yes! You kidn*pped my Friday with a text message!"

They were both shouting now, in the middle of the street, under one small umbrella that didn't cover either of them properly.

"You are the most infuriating, stubborn, crazy girl I've ever met!" He stepped closer. Rain ran down his jaw.

"And you are the most arrogant, spoiled, skincare-obsessed boy I've ever met!" She stepped closer too.

They were inches apart. Breathing hard. Soaked.

He looked down at her lips.

She saw his eyes drop.

Andrea felt her heart stop. For a second, the rain didn't exist. His face was so close she could feel his warm breath. His wet shirt was almost touching her wet t-shirt.

"I am leaving," she whispered, suddenly scared of how fast her heart was beating. She turned.

He grabbed her wrist. Not hard. Just enough to stop her.

His hand was warm despite the rain.

"No you're not," he said, his voice suddenly low. Not shouting anymore. Husky.

"Let go of me, Drake."

"You owe me," he said. "You made me wait an hour in the rain. You owe me dinner. To apologize."

"I don't owe you anything!"

"Fine." He leaned down. His mouth was so close to hers she could taste the rain on him. His blue eyes were dark, locked on her mouth.

"Then if you don't buy me dinner to apologize..."

Andrea's eyes widened.

"...I will kiss you right here. In the rain. In front of everyone watching from that restaurant."

Her eyes went wide. Her lips parted. The umbrella shook in her hand.

"Marcus... you wouldn't..."

"Try me, Andrea Cole."

---