THE ONE WHO WAITED

Drey stood at the bus stop, rain soaking through his coat, but he didn’t notice he hadn’t noticed rain or sun, or time ever since she disappeared. Every year, same place, same day, same futile hope and yet, somehow, he kept coming back but tonight, something felt different the air hung heavier, sharper, like it carried a secret, he pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders, though it did nothing to shield him from the chill crawling up his spine. “Drey? You okay?” Shuga’s voice cut through the static hum of the rain. She was soaked too, hair plastered to her face, eyes wide with concern. “I’m fine,” Drey muttered, but his voice betrayed him. Shuga had always known when something was wrong, even when he tried to hide it. “Fine?” Shuga stepped closer, squinting through the rain. “You’ve been staring at this stupid bus stop for hours. There’s something really off about you tonight. You’re… I don’t know… different.” Drey swallowed hard, the lump in his throat growing bigger. “I feel like… like something’s coming.” Shuga frowned, her hands clenched in the pockets of her hoodie. “Something? Pffft”. “Someone.” He exhaled slowly, trying to calm the racing of his heart. “She’s coming back.” Shuga’s brow arched. “Drey… don’t” Before she could finish, a figure appeared through the rain. Slow. Deliberate. And then he saw her. Isla. The world seemed to pause. The rain fell around her, tracing her hair and dress, yet she moved with a kind of impossible stillness. She looked the same exactly the same as the day she vanished. No time had touched her not even a bit. Drey’s knees threatened to buckle. His mouth went dry. “Isla…” Her eyes found his, wide and unblinking, but something in them flickered confusion, fear, disbelief. “Drey?” Her voice was soft, trembling, yet utterly familiar. Shuga stepped in front of him, protective, her own voice sharp with disbelief. “You you’re seeing things. She’s not real.” Isla blinked at Shuga, and for a moment, Drey saw a flicker of hesitation in her gaze. Then she stepped closer, rain dripping from her hair. “Shuga?” Shuga froze. “No. I’m… I’m Shuga,” she said, her voice shaking. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. Drey could barely breathe. He wanted to reach out, to touch her, to confirm she was real but terror clawed at him. “How… how is this possible?” Isla shook her head, water streaking her face. “I… I don’t know. I don’t remember… anything after that day.” Shuga’s jaw tightened. “You… disappeared. Like dead and gone or everyone thought so.” “I know,” Isla whispered, voice breaking. “But I’m here.” The words struck Drey like lightning. Every rational thought he’d tried to cling to shattered and every heartbeat screamed that this wasn’t possible. And yet… here she was. Shuga’s voice cut through the charged silence. “This isn’t right, something’s… wrong.” She turned to Drey. “You need to stop, don’t forget yourself” “Shuga, please!” Drey’s voice cracked. “Just… let me talk to her!” He took a step forward, hands trembling, and Isla mirrored him. Their fingers brushed lightly, almost impossibly and Drey felt the world tilt. The rain around them blurred. He could barely think, barely breathe. He couldn’t believe this was real. He shouldn’t even be seeing her. “Drey… it’s really you,” Isla said, her voice barely a whisper. Her lips quivered, and tears mixed with the rain. “I… I don’t know how, but… I remember us. That day I remember you, I remember everything before the vanishing. But after… nothing.” Drey’s throat tightened. He closed the gap between them, finally holding her hands in his, drenched fingers trembling against hers. “I’ve waited for you… every year. I’ve waited in the rain… every single year, Isla. I thought I’d never see you again”, He said with his face expressing mixed feelings. Shuga stepped closer, tension radiating off her. “Drey, wait. Stop. Think about this. She’s here, but… there’s no explanation. None and we don’t even know if…” “Shuga…” Drey’s voice was firm but soft, pleading. “Just let me. Please. Just… listen.” Isla squeezed his hands, a tiny, desperate gesture of reassurance. “I don’t know why I’m here… why I’m like this. But I do know I’m here with you.” Shuga’s fists tightened. She wanted to yell, to scream, to make him see reason. But even as fear gnawed at her, she couldn’t deny the truth etched into Drey’s face. His eyes wild, shaking, alive spoke of a love that hadn’t died, that hadn’t given up. A flash of lightning cracked across the sky. Thunder followed instantly. The rain pounded harder, drumming against them, drenching their hair, soaking them to the bone. Isla’s eyes glistened with tears. “Drey… I’m scared.” He cupped her face, his thumbs brushing her cheeks, feeling her trembling under his hands. “I know,” he whispered. “I’m scared too. But we’ll figure this out… together, somehow.” Shuga’s voice was quieter now, laced with dread and awe. “Together… but how? How do we even begin to understand what’s happening here?” with disbelief in her tone she looked at Drey but Drey didn’t have an answer, he couldn’t. Every rational thought screamed that this was impossible; Every ounce of his mind warned him to run, to flee, to escape the impossible. But he couldn’t move he couldn’t let go. Isla leaned into him, pressing her forehead against his chest, shaking. “I’m here. That’s all I know. And I… I feel like I’ve known you forever. But I also feel like… something terrible is waiting.” Drey swallowed hard. The words echoed in his mind, matching the pounding of the rain. Something was waiting. Something was coming. And yet, for the first time in seven years, he didn’t care because she was back and nothing else mattered. Shuga stepped back slightly, her arms crossed over her chest. Her voice shook, but her eyes never left them. “I don’t know what this is. But… you both need to be careful. This doesn’t feel natural not even a tiny bit.” Drey didn’t answer. He simply held Isla tighter, feeling the impossible warmth of her body through the chill of the rain. For a moment, time seemed to freeze around them the world narrowing to three figures drenched in water, hearts pounding, and eyes locked in disbelief. Then Isla whispered again, a tremor in her voice. “Drey… the rain… it’s like it brought me back. But… I feel like I was never really gone. And I also feel… watched. Followed.” Drey’s stomach churned. He didn’t need to hear more to know she was right. He’d felt it too like the world had shifted the moment she appeared, like something was moving behind the edges of the rain. Shuga’s eyes narrowed, her instincts sharp. “I don’t like this. Not at all! Whatever’s going on… we’re not ready for it.” But Drey didn’t pull away, he couldn’t. His fingers tightened around Isla’s hands while his chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. “Then we’ll face it together,” he said. And in the pouring rain, between disbelief and longing, fear and hope, something unspoken passed between the three of them a bond forged in impossibility, in reunion, in the knowledge that the world had just tilted into something no one could explain. Somewhere, deep in the night, lightning split the sky again and Drey, for the first time in years, smiled because she was here. And the waiting… was finally over.