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"Your hands are cold,” her partner whimpered as she held their face, bringing them closer for a kiss.
"Warm them up then," she replied, and Raine didn't waste more than a second to take their girlfriend's hands in their own, rubbing their rough musician fingers over her soft but extremely cold hands, "We should go to class," Raine whispered.
Eda, however, didn't listen to them, instead finding their lips for another soft kiss, "Who needs school," she hummed against their lips.
"We do if we want to get good paying jobs so we can move in together,"
"We can live in a car and travel around, your parents would never find us," she stole another kiss from them.
The young musician sighed as they kissed her back, but a minute later they pulled away, turning their head worriedly towards the locker room door, "The next class will be coming in soon, we really should..."
"Fine," the redhead whined as she pulled away from them, adjusting her clothes," You are too careful, Rainestorm,"
"Well, I'm sorry for worrying about your well-being," they pinched the bridge of their nose in frustration, they had talked about this a lot before, but their red-headed goddess never seemed to want to understand their concern, they quickly lost their frustration and walked over to Eda, taking her hands," Eda, you know what our world is like and that I want you to have a chance...”
"To come out on your own terms, I know, Rainestorm. But sometimes it seems to me that you worry too much. No one at school would dare mess with me anyway, and I'm pretty sure half the school already knows,"
"What about your family?"
This made Eda look up at them. She knew how sensitive this topic was for Raine, their parents were assholes, horrible people who didn't care at all about their child's well-being, their feelings, or their needs, and that's because they didn't see Raine as a person anymore, but as a sinful animal who needed to be corrected. Eda knew that Raine's fear was not in vain, and she had to admit, she didn't want her parents to know everything, she couldn't bear it if her parents turned out to be just like Raine's.
"I hate that we have to hide it," she said, her eyes looking down at their joined hands, "It's not fair,"
"I know, sunshine, that's why we have to work hard now, finish high school, and find a job so that we can rent our own apartment as soon as possible."
Raine themself had been on very thin ice for years, and they were in constant danger that one day they would have no roof over their head and their parents would throw them out on the streets. The last thing they wanted was for Eda to suffer the same fear and fate. The faster they got a hiding place where they can be alone without fear, the safer.
"Yeah, your right," she agreed, a slightly unhappy tone still in her voice, "Let's get our asses to the class before the teacher loses her mind again that we're late,"
They headed to their boring math class, which luckily hadn't started yet. As soon as they entered the class, so many of their classmates looked at them with not-so-friendly looks, but they ignored all those looks and walked past them to the back of the class where Raine and Eda usually always sat. For the whole class, Raine listened and took notes while Eda drew in the margins of her notebook, and instead of math problems, she wrote something in the notebook that Raine couldn't read.
It was always like this, Raine would listen in class while Eda planned and did everything else, and later she would steal their notes, read them once and ace all the tests. Her attention span was zero, but that didn't mean she couldn't be great at her school stuff. Raine, however, tended to focus on only one main task at a time, and while Eda was perfectly capable of doing five things at once, Raine found it difficult to do many things at once, and it often overwhelmed them when they had to focus on more than one or two things at once. Between them they worked as a very good team because of it, Raine focusing and Eda making sure they didn't forget to breathe and thinking of everything else the couple needed.
Even now, Eda was thinking about their future, she was thinking of looking for a part-time job and was trying to think of the best places to apply. She was convinced that she wanted to move in with Raine right after high school, probably somewhere in another city, and if things went well and Raine managed to get a scholarship to a music university, they could look for a small apartment near the university. Eda herself didn't care about the university, but she wanted her Rainestorm to be able to fulfill their dream without them having to worry about money, her plan was to save up money before they graduated so that if necessary Raine could pay some of their university expenses or they could use the money to find a better apartment.
Oh, how she loved that nerd. She would be willing to go to hell and back for them. And to be honest, she already had, namely, they had met at a hell called summer camp two years ago, and while fourteen-year-old Eda couldn't think of a worse fate for herself than going to a Christian summer camp for the summer, now sixteen-year-old Eda couldn't be happier that her parents had sent her there, because otherwise, she would never have met her partner for whom she had very gay feelings for.
She had picked out a few places to send her resume to get a job, and maybe she could go after school and hand them in, she didn't want to put all her apples in one basket and rather apply to several places, and if she gets several offers, choose the one that pays better. Currently, she had two different fast food places, one flower shop, one cosmetic shop, two clothing stores, and what she was most excited about, a local comic and music store written down in her notebook. Maybe Raine is willing to come with her, of course, she wouldn't tell them why, she wants it to be a surprise, however, Eda still wanted them to join her as it would give the pair a chance to spend time together outside of school and gave them a chance to do something other than studying for tests, which Eda thought wasn't the most romantic thing to do.
The lessons were finally over, and when they put their things back in the lockers for the day, Eda decided to ask them, she leaned against the locker that was next to Raine's, watching with a sly glance as they put their school books in the locker and took out the books they borrowed from the school library to read, "So, do you have plans for today?"
"Does my lady want to take me out?” Raine asked with a smirk, looking at their blushing girlfriend out of the corner of their eye.
"Does every get-together have to be a date? I was just thinking of going to eat some fried chicken, hang out at the mall, and then go to your favorite nerd store,"
"Hmm, so a date?"
"Fine, a date. Are you free? No nerd places to be or band rehearsals where to be a geek?"
"Nope, no nerd stuff today," they put their books back in their locker, not wanting to carry them around all day, they closed their locker and turned to their girlfriend, "The only place I need to be today is on a date with my goddess,"
The blush reappeared on Eda's vampirically pale skin, the young musician giggled, they loved seeing Eda blush. And Eda knew that, which made her blush even more.
Raine looked around the corridor, it was deserted at the moment, and they took this quick opportunity to plant a kiss on Eda's cheek and then grab her hand to leave the school. It was a Friday, which meant that the students usually rushed out of the school quickly, and the corridors were empty a few minutes after classes ended, but outside the school doors, all the streets and shops were full of young people, and much to the displeasure of two teens, Raine had to let go of Eda's hand as soon as they stepped out of the school doors. Eda didn't mind and put her hands deep into her jeans pockets, playing with the sand and some stray coins in her pockets.
"So where to first?" Raine asked, their hands excitedly picking at the straps of their violin case which rested on their back, the straps running across their torso.
"How about some food first? I'ma spoil you with a bucket of fried chicken," she said with a smile, knowing very well what her partner loved.
"Mmm sounds amazing,"
When they got to the restaurant, Eda sent Raine to find them a table somewhere away from the others while she herself went and ordered their food, a small bucket of spicy crispy chicken for Raine and a small bucket of original recipe chicken for herself, she ordered two more milkshakes and two toffee cookies, and after paying, she also handed the employee her resume asking him to pass it on to the manager, and the redhead could swear, that the employee looked at her with pity and a warning look that said, 'Run while you still can,' but Eda ignored it and went to her partner so they could wait for their food together. Eda was not at all surprised to see her partner with their nose in a book when she finally reached the table.
"Where did you even get that? You didn't bring your backpack,” she sat down next to them, a little closer than some middle-aged, white women would have liked.
"Well, after you destroyed my shoulder bag, I started carrying my things in my violin case, it doesn't hold much, but enough to hold a book or two," they replied, closing their book and pushing it to the corner of the table, their attention now on Eda.
"I have to buy you a new shoulder bag, don't I?" she asked, she still felt bad about that firework accident, all that was left of Raine's bag was torn, smoking fabric and a bunch of band pins," You can pick out a new one today,"
"You robbed a bank or something?"
"Nah, I'll save that idea for our next anniversary date," she said, taking their hand in her own hiding their not-so-straight activities under the table "Dad managed to get a good job from a rich family, he's building them a full wooden staircase and living room furniture, he got a generous advance and decided to give me and Lily some."
"How is Lilith doing?" Raine asked, they weren't very close to Lilith, but they still considered Eda's sister a friend...acquaintance...something in between.
A slightly longing look came on Eda's face, she and Lilith had been very close when they were younger, but the closer Lilith got to entering university, the further she mentally disappeared, and even though they lived in the same house, they barely communicated, "She works hard to get the best results in university entrance exams, like she needs all that studying, I don't think any teacher in this school knows as much about history as Lily does," it was hard to think about, as if it wasn't bad enough that Lilith will graduate from high school in a few months, but Eda will have to warm the seats there for another year, but with great probability, Lilith will soon move away from home to go to university, which is hours away from their home, luckily Eda has Raine and she will not be completely alone.
"She'll definitely get in, she's worked so hard,"
"Yeah, worse nerd than you. Help, I'm a nerd magnet,” Eda said with mock horror.
Raine giggled, briefly resting their head on Eda's shoulder, "A nerd attracts other nerds,"
"I'm not a nerd,"
"Denial doesn't change the truth, sunshine,"
"I'll show you the truth,” she said sharply, her fingers attacking her partner's sides to tickle them.
The blue-haired teenager laughed trying to push Eda away but Eda didn't give in and continued to tickle them, Raine squirmed so hard they almost fell off the long restaurant chair, luckily for Raine their order was ready and Eda had to go after it giving Raine a chance to breathe. The restaurant was luckily pretty empty, with only a few customers at the other end of the restaurant, none of them seemed to pay any attention to the two giggling teenagers, which gave Eda the opportunity to be a special dork and feed Raine some chicken, and Raine in return, gave her a few quick kisses on the cheeks. They left the restaurant half an hour later, bellies full, Eda's mouth burning slightly because she couldn't keep her hands off Raine's spicy chicken, but her spice tolerance level was close to zero, and even a milkshake couldn't put that fire off in her mouth.
Next, they went to the shopping center where there were three places where Eda wanted to give her resume. This proved to be a bit more difficult as it was harder for her to find excuses to leave Raine alone for a moment or to find something to distract them long enough for her to quickly run and throw her resume over the counter to an employee. Despite the difficulties, she succeeded, and they left the mall with Eda's bag three papers lighter, and Raine holding a bag with a new shirt that Eda had bought for them. She loved buying things for Raine, even though Raine always tried to refuse, but Eda knew that Raine's parents would never buy anything for them, and their brother couldn't often send them packages.
By the time they got out of the mall it was late, and they decided it would be best to go home, so Eda sent Raine to the bus. Eda herself lived close to the school, but Raine lived at the other end of the city, and they depended on public transportation or the school bus to get to school every day.
"Can we meet tomorrow?" the redhead asked as they waited for Raine's bus, "I can come to your neighborhood by bike and we can ride somewhere in the forest or go swimming in the lake."
"Sounds good,” they replied.
"Cool, I'll call you tonight so we can make more plans,"
Raine's bus came a little too fast for the two of them, and they had to say goodbye. They didn't want to.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Raine said, giving Eda's hand a light squeeze.
"See you," she replied, leaning forward to give them a quick kiss, but Raine, seeing that there were other people on the bus, pulled away and entered the bus, giving her an apologetic smile before the doors closed between them and the bus drove off.
A sad look came to Eda's face as she watched the bus drive away, she hated the world that didn't allow them to show their love in public, but she understood Raine's fear, strangers had attacked them before because some didn't like them holding hands. She knew Raine was doing it because they worried and cared, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt a little.
All her walk home she thought about them, and everything she could do to make sure their future was better than the life they were currently living, fate had played them some of the worst cards a young queer kid could get taking into account the country and time in which they lived in, and just as Raine worried about Eda, she worried about them every goddamn day.
She arrived home, threw her backpack in front of the door, and kicked off her sneakers, she had planned to climb the stairs and go to her room to look for more job offers in the newspaper, but when she heard her mother calling her from the kitchen, she decided to go and say hello before escaping to her room. The kitchen was filled with an appetizing smell as usual, her mother was a great cook and baker, and even though Eda was still full, the smell was enough to make her mouth water.
Gwendolyn turned her head away from the stove and smiled at her daughter, "Hi sweet pie, how was school?"
"It was okay," Eda answered, sitting down at the dining table.
"Where have you been for so long?"
"Raine and I went shopping, we...we wanted to see the new summer collection in different stores," she lied.
"Oh, how nice, it's so nice that you have a friend who is such a good influencer for you. Did you find anything you liked,” Gwen turned off the stove, leaving the pot of soup on it.
Eda shook her head, trying to think of a quick lie, "Everything was too...pink? Yeah, all new things are terribly pink,"
"Hmm,” was all Gwen said before setting the table for three.
"Dad isn't home?" Eda asked, looking at the three plates on the table.
"No, dear, he'll be a little late. These new customers do not know what normal working hours are. Hopefully, it won't take him long,"
The redhead nodded her head, it was common for her father to be away often or come home late, he traveled a lot for work, doing woodwork for people in several different cities. After a few minutes, Gwen called Lilith down who came to dinner with a math textbook, and while her sister and mother ate, the older sister never looked up from the textbook, nearly spilling her soup on it several times because her attention was too far away from eating.
"So, me and your dad were talking yesterday about maybe going somewhere for the weekend," Gwen said after a while of silence.
"I can't, Mom, I have extra lessons at school tomorrow with Mrs. Winter,” Lilith replied dryly.
"Okay, sugar cake, understandable. What about you, Edalyn?"
"Sorry, Mom, I'm meeting Raine tomorrow,"
"Oh," the look on Gwen's face fell for a moment before it brightened again as she suggested, "But she can come with us, Raine is such a nice girl, me and dad wouldn't mind,"
Eda wanted to growl, she hated it when someone called Raine a girl, but she knew she couldn't be mad at her mother, no one had ever said anything to her. Eda had wanted one time because she was bothered by Raine's discomfort when her mother called them the wrong way all day, but Raine had said it was okay and that they didn't want to risk Eda's parents not letting them get together again.
"I don't think th...Raine would like that, umm...Raine can be quite shy,"
Gwen said nothing, but Eda could see the disappointment on her face. Once they had eaten, Gwen stayed downstairs to wash the dishes while both sisters went upstairs and each disappeared into their respective rooms, most likely for the rest of the evening. Eda closed her door and sat down at her desk, grabbing her ancient football-shaped phone, typing in Raine's cell phone number, which she had memorized long ago, her stomach filling with butterflies as she waited for her partner to answer the phone. Raine was one of the few in their class who had their own cell phone, their father had bought himself a new one and wanted to throw away the old one and Raine managed to steal it before he could throw it away.
The first ring, second ring, third, fourth, fifth, and finally fifteen rang out, but Raine did not answer the call. She thought nothing of it at first and tried again ten minutes later, Raine didn't answer, and they didn't answer Eda's next four calls either.
Eda's worry grew so great that she thought of grabbing her bicycle and making the hour-long journey to them, but just then she heard a rumble, and a few seconds later a small flash of light shone through the window of her room, and she heard the rain on the other side of the glass. The first crazy rainstorm of the year. She tried to call again, but again no one answered, and she started to think that maybe the call didn't go through because of the storm, but this theory got negative proof after she called a very grumpy Darius, who didn't understand why Eda called him at nine o'clock in the evening.
"What's so important that you interrupt me during my nightly beauty routine?" he had asked, and when Eda tried to explain, she swore she heard Darius roll his eyes through the phone, "Oh goodness, Red, maybe they're already asleep or I don't know, playing their violin and don't hear the phone ringing. You should know them best, Clawthorne,”
And actually, it sounded logical, and even though Eda didn't want to admit it right away, Darius could be right. So she waited a little longer, calling again later, but her worry didn't go away but grew every time they didn't answer.
After thirty forth missed calls, she heard her mother call, "Edalyn, come down please."
She gritted her teeth, too worried to deal with her mother right now, but still, she slid off her chair and headed downstairs, stopping halfway down the stairs when she noticed who was standing by the front door. Her father was there, smiling at her, but her main focus was on the one standing next to him.
"Hi pumpkin, look who I found in the rain," her father said, his arm wrapped around the shoulders of the young teenager, who was wearing his jacket that was too big for them, they were dripping from the water like a cat after a bath.
"Raine?" Eda asked in shock.
"Hi Eda,” she got a response from Raine who had their face looking down as if they didn't want to look at anyone.
As fast as the thunder rumbled outside, Eda ran down the stairs, her hands going on her partner's shoulders, "Hey, what happened? Why were you out in this weather? I tried to call you, but..."
"It...it's a long story,” they answered, finally looking up, and before Eda's thoughts could come home, her mother screamed.
"Oh, what happened to you, ou dear," Gwen gently pushed her daughter away from Raine, grabbing their arm, "What happened to your face, honey?"
"I…fell,” Raine answered, clearly lying.
Eda looked at her partner in horror, she didn't know what to say or do, a slightly darker circle surrounded their left eye, and their lip was bloody at the corner, and their entire lower lip was slightly swollen. She tried to walk towards them, but her mother was faster, leading Raine into the living room to make them sit on the couch.
"Come on dear, I'll give your lip a quick clean and then I'll call your parents to tell them you're safe,"
"NO, don't!" Raine protested a little too quickly, the panic growing in their eyes to the point that all three Clawthornes could clearly see it, and Raine noticed as well and they said extremely nervously," D-Don't call them Mrs. Clawthorne, they...they're not home. They are on a business trip and...and very busy. Besides, the cost of this call would be too much,"
"Your parents are not at home? They left you home alone?” Gwen didn't even give them a chance to answer before she said, “Oh, you poor girl. Don't worry, you can stay with us for today or until your parents come home. It is not safe for a young girl to be all alone. Dell can drive you home once your parents are back. Are you hungry, dear?"
"No, I'm good, thanks,"
"Okay, wait here a second, I'm going to get the band-aids right away,” Gwen said, going to the other end of the living room to look for some band-aids in the drawer.
Eda finally gathered herself and sat down next to Raine, and the instant she did so, Raine's gaze dropped as if they were afraid to meet her eyes, "Hey, you all right?" it was a stupid question because it was clear they weren't okay at all, but she couldn't think of anything better to say.
Raine just shook their head and Eda noticed they were holding back tears, "I'll tell you later," they whispered back, and Eda nodded in understanding.
Across the room, Dell and Gwen were talking to each other in what they thought was a whisper, but which both teenagers could clearly hear, "Where did you find her, Dell?"
"Walking on the streets, I almost ran over her in the dark, but luckily I noticed before and recognized her immediately. She didn't even have a jacket on, I think someone attacked her on the street and stole it from her,” Dell replied with a quick sad glance toward Raine.
Gwen let out a heavy sigh, then turned back to the couch, carrying the band-aids, cotton wool, and rubbing alcohol, she knelt on the couch in front of Raine, cautiously turning to face them, "Okay, darling, this might sting a little,"
She waited for Raine to nod before moistening a piece of cotton with alcohol and dabbing it gently on Raine's lip. They winced a little, but stayed put. Eda wanted to support them and put her arm around their waist, but she didn't get very close with her arm before Raine gave her a small look, telling her to wait until they were somewhere more private. Gwen finished a few minutes later and after placing a tiny band-aid on the corner of their lips, she allowed the two teenagers to go up to Eda's room.
"Dell will bring you a mattress and a sleeping bag right away, okay, dear?"
Raine couldn't do anything but nod, and Eda led them upstairs, Dell immediately followed them with an empty mattress that needed to be inflated and a sleeping bag under his other arm. They entered Eda's room, Raine stood in the middle of the room while Eda looked for a change of clothes for them and Dell started to put the mattress on the floor and inflate it, but Eda stopped him.
"I can do it myself,” she told her father.
"You sure, pumpkin?” Dell asked.
She nodded, "Go eat dinner, we're fine,"
Dell smiled at her and then left the room, and as soon as the door closed, Eda turned to her partner and pulled them into a hug, and as if someone had blown up a dam in their eyes, they burst into tears, hands clutching Eda's clothes as they wept on her chest. Eda hugged them tighter, whispering sweet nothings into their wet hair. She pulled them with her, inviting them into her arms as she sat down on her bed. Raine instantly wrapped all of their limbs around her narrow frame, clinging to her as if they needed it to survive, their face buried in her shoulder, their tears staining her shirt. The rain outside grew louder while Raine's tears quieted down, their breathing settling into a slower rhythm similar to the rhythm Eda was rubbing their back with.
A few more minutes of silence was finally broken by Eda, "What happened, Rainestorm?"
Raine sniffed, tilting their head slightly so they were looking at her a little more, their head still tiredly resting on her shoulder, "One of the neighbors saw us today," they whispered, causing alarm bells to scream loudly in Eda's head, she knew where this was going, "She...she is a very Christian woman like my parents and...she told them what she saw...my parents..." they burst into tears again, breaking Eda's heart more and more every second," My parents were so angry, they yelled at me for so long and when I finally said something back father attacked me...they threw me out Eda, didn't even give me time to grab anything," two strong hands held them even tighter, Eda's eyes looking into the distance as she tried to take in the meaning of those words," I don't know what to do Eda, I...I didn't expect it to happen so soon,"
"Shh,” she tried to calm them down with a kiss behind their ear, “We…we'll figure something out. I'll take care of you,"
"How? We are both in school, I don't have a penny on my name, nothing but the clothes I'm wearing. No work, nothing,"
"Everything will be fine, love,” she said this even though she didn't know if she would ever be able to keep that promise, she was as scared as they were.
Raine sniffed, burying their face more into Eda's neck, "I don't know if I believe it,"
Eda sighed sadly, resting her head against theirs, slightly relieved that their breathing against her neck was calm. Hundreds of plans but none of them that would actually work in the long run were going through her head, they had known that this danger was lurking for them, but neither of them would have ever believed that it would come so quickly. Guilt haunted her soul, because maybe if she hadn't been so clingy all the time, maybe if she'd listened to Raine's warnings and not flirted, or if she hadn't been such an idiot in love in public, Raine would still have a place to go. She had to make it up to them.
"I wanted it to be a surprise but...I've planned to go to work part-time, I delivered four resumes today,"
"Was that why you kept disappearing in stores," Raine asked.
She nodded, a little surprised that they had noticed, "I can go to work and maybe there's a cheaper apartment to rent,"
"I don't want to live at your expense," they said before sighing heavily, they raised their head and looked at Eda unhappily, Eda was afraid of what they were going to say, "I...I found a few coins on the street and used them to call Fred, he...he promised to buy plane tickets and come over as soon as he could, and if...if we can't find another solution he will try to get me an immigration permit and take me to Ireland with him,”
"What?"
"That's the only plan we could think of in a hurry, we ran out of call time, and the last thing he managed to say was that he would come as soon as he could, that I should call him as often as I could and stay somewhere safe."
"You can't leave," Eda said, her voice louder than she would have liked, but she was too upset to stop it, "You can't, Rainestorm," she cupped their face in her hands, looking at them with begging eyes," Please, Raine, we...we'll find another way, I'm will find a job, I...I'll help you find a part-time job too, we can run away together, live in that house in the woods where we go camping, for long as we can afford to rent an apartment,"
"Eda,"
"Please,” she cried, tears rolling down her pale skin.
Raine couldn't answer and instead hugged her. Oh, how they hoped that Eda's plan was something they could do, but they knew it wouldn't be safe, as many drug addicts frequented this forest house regularly, not to mention how it's hard to live in a forest house without electricity and water and look decent enough to keep a job, also there were the cold nights and storms that come more and more as summer approaches.
Neither of them knew when their lips met in the midst of this crying, and when they began to hold each other with such desperate strength.
"Let's take it one day at a time, okay," she asked, resting her forehead against theirs, "I'll hide you in my closet if I have to, at least until your brother gets here and I can threaten him enough to find a way without taking you to the other side of the ocean."
"Hmm, you want to put me back in the closet,” they said with a smirk that made her smile too.
"If it means I can keep you, then yes"
At this moment, Raine didn't dare to promise her anything, but still, they gave her a smile and wiped the tears from her cheeks, kissing some away. Even though things seemed hopeless, they both wanted to hope that maybe they would be okay and everything would somehow miraculously work out. It wasn't the first time life tried to tear them apart, and just like last time, they refused to let go of the threat of hope things could work out in their favor in the end.
The storm outside was as strong as before, but they both felt a little lighter, it wasn't enough to breathe without worry, but enough that they didn't cry anymore, but just held each other close. At some point, Eda started painting their face with many kisses, making them giggle and blush, they enjoyed her teasing, but they enjoyed, even more, the chance to press their lips against hers, capturing those soft lips in a kiss. It gave them the hope they so desperately needed, even if it was a short-lived illusion of hope.
They failed to hear someone opening the door before a voice said, "Hey, kids, I brought you some cookies. Ah," the plate dropped to the floor with a loud clatter, causing the amorous teenagers to startle and jump away from each other, their panicked eyes looking in shock at Gwen, who was standing by the door wide-eyed, hundreds of shards of the plate and freshly baked cookies lying on the floor at her feet.
"MOM!" Eda jumped up from her bed with a start, and without thinking, stepped to the center of the room, hiding Raine behind her, "This...this it's not what it looks like," she tried to explain, her voice drowning in panic, slightly shaking hands coming forward a bit defensively, as if she was worried about being attacked, "It...okay, maybe it's just what it looks like," she looked down, her eyes filling with tears again, and she didn't think that she has ever been more scared in her life, she could hear Raine's quickened breathing behind her, "Mom, I..." her arms dropped, wrapping around her body, her eyes looked down as if seeking protection from the floor beneath her feet, "I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean for it to come out like this. T-the trut-h...the truth is that I...that I," she quickly looked over her shoulder seeing Raine frozen in panic, but still the look on their face told her that they were ready to jump up at any moment and attack if necessary, she knew there was no way out of this situation but to face her fear," The truth is that me and Raine have been together for two years now," she said turning her head back towards her mother but still not looking at her, she didn't want to to see anger, hatred, or disgust on her mother's face," I...I love them, mom. I'm gay and I love them. I...I-I'm sorry," a sob came from deep within her and she hugged herself tighter, not ready for the blow that could come at any moment.
What she didn't expect was a pair of hands to come and hold her, and to hear her mother's voice whispering, "Oh, Edalyn...baby," she didn't understand what was happening, but she still threw her arms around her mother's neck, pulling her closer, "I'm sorry, baby,"
Confused, Eda pulled away a bit, looking at her in bewilderment, she was surprised that her mother's eyes also had tears shining in them, "Why are you apologizing?"
"The way I reacted," she said, shaking her head a little as if she was disappointed in herself, "I just wasn't expecting it, it...it wasn't something I thought I'd see when I opened the door, but it's okay, honey, I'm not mad,"
"You're not?” Eda sniffed, wiping her nose on her shirt sleeve.
"Of course not, dear. I'm sorry that you thought I was and that you felt you had to hide something like that from me or your father," Gwen raised her hands, but instead of hurting her daughter, she wiped the tears from her cheeks before kissing her forehead, "You're my daughter and I'll love you no matter who you love or who you choose to be,"
Eda cried again, but this time the feelings behind it were completely different, she jumped into her mother's arms again, hugging her, "Thank you...t-thank you, mom,"
"Don't thank me, sugar pie. I love you,"
"I love you too, mom,"
Mother and daughter held each other for a few more brief moments before Eda pulled away, wiping her face inside her shirt. Smiling, she looked back at the bed on the edge of which Raine sat now, their fingers nervously clinging to the bed frame, while they smiled back at her nervously.
"Two years, huh?" her mother bumped her hip against hers playfully, smiling as her daughter's face turned red.
"Yeah," Eda said blissfully, she was startled for a moment when she saw her mother walking towards Raine, and Raine seemed to panic as well, but when Gwen pulled them into a hug, Eda quickly calmed down and smiled.
"You know, I'm glad that Edalyn isn't with some mischievous guy, sometimes I was quite worried that she might go down that path," Gwen said, still hugging Raine, who had no idea what to do and looked at their girlfriend asking for help.
"Mom, you are overwhelming them," she said, putting a hand on her mother's shoulder.
"Oh, sorry," the elder Clawthorne let go of Raine before looking between her daughter and her daughter's partner with a confused look, "Them?"
"Oh, yeah, that's one more thing we should talk about, and really," Eda looked at Raine who gave her a slight nod, "There's something else we should talk about with you and dad,"
Gwen nodded, "I'll give you two a moment then, when you're ready come down, me and your dad will be waiting for you in the kitchen,"
"Thanks,"
Gwendolyn left the room, closing the door behind her, and despite everything, both Eda and Raine sighed in relief, and Eda fell face-first onto her bed, still shocked that things had gone so well. The mattress moved beneath her, betraying to her that Raine had laid down next to her. She turned to the side, greeting them with a smile and a hug, both of their adrenaline-drunken hearts pounding against each other as they hugged close.
"It...it went better than I could have ever believed," Raine admitted.
"I still can't believe I told her,"
"I'm so proud of you," they said placing a kiss on her chin, they would have preferred her cheek but were too lazy to move their head enough.
They took a moment to rest and let their racing hearts settle, after a moment, Eda asked, "How much are you comfortable sharing with them?"
Raine thought for a second before answering, "I don't care really, it's hard to make my situation any worse, and I know they want answers as to why my eye is blue and my lip is split,"
"Hmm, are you ready to go or do you need a second?"
"I think we both need a moment more,” they replied, lifting their leg over her to cuddle her even closer.
Eda agreed with them, they needed a moment more.
Neither of them had any idea how long they had waited before they decided to leave Eda's room, their hands intertwined together, there was no reason to hide anything anymore. They headed down the stairs and as Gwen had promised, both she and Dell were sitting on one side of the kitchen table with a cup of tea in their hands and two more cups across from them. Smiling, Gwen told them to sit down and they did, not letting go of the other's hand even as Raine took a few sips of the tea.
"So, your mom said you wanted to tell me something, Pumpkin,” her dad said, setting down his teacup.
A nervous smile came to Eda's face for a moment, now that her adrenaline was gone, saying it seemed even harder," Hmm, me and Raine...umm we're together, like together-together,"
Dell looked confused, his brow furrowed, while his wife placed a hand on his shoulder and explained in a very cheerful voice, "Their gay, dear,"
He turned his head towards his wife, confusion still on his face, "It's not a prank?"
"No, dear,"
"Oh, bonkers," he said, his eyebrows rising, the room was quiet for a moment as both Eda and Raine forgot to breathe, but finally Dell said, "Well, at least you're not pregnant,"
"DELL,” his wife yelled, hitting him on the head with a teaspoon.
"What, that was one of my concerns," he replied defensively, and after a short laugh, turned to his daughter and said with a smile, "But, hey, it's totally okay, honey," he reached out and grabbed Eda's hand that was resting on the table, "It doesn't change anything, or well, the only change is that I have to rewrite all my dad jokes what I wanted to say when you get a boyfriend,"
"Dad!” Eda protested with a laugh, to which Dell gave a slightly comical look.
"What? I love ya kid, and dad jokes are what dads do when they love their kids very much,"
Eda shook her head in disbelief but still smiled, "Thanks, dad,"
"Anytime, Pumpkin. Was there anything else you two wanted to say?"
"Yeah, there is," Eda said, letting go of her father's hand, briefly glancing at Raine again to make sure they hadn't changed their mind, "It's about what happened with Raine and why we hid our relationship as much as we did,"
Both of her parents nodded as they prepared to listen without saying anything, Raine and Eda shared a few looks before Raine took a deep breath and began, "I lied, my parents aren't away, they kicked me out,"
"Why did they kick you out," Gwen asked in horror and anger.
"Because they hate me,"
"Why do they hate you?” Gwen asked even louder and more shocked, and Dell had to put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from getting up from her chair and accidentally frightening the worried teenager.
Raine took a few more deep breaths, taking comfort from Eda's hand that squeezed theirs, they decided to start from the beginning, "My parents and I have had a terrible relationship for years, they...they tried to get rid of me when I was very young because umm...I expressed gay traits at a very young age," that wording was very bad, but they couldn't think of anything better with the eyes of two near strangers on them," They sent me to boarding school for four years, but I got kicked out from there because...umm yes...uh when I went back home they didn't treat me like their child anymore but something they needed to cure, they tried to cure me with holy water and prayer, it didn't work of course, it got even worse when I learned that I'm also non-binary,"
"Non-whadi-what now?” Dell raised an eyebrow again.
"Someone who doesn't identify as a boy or a girl, Raine goes by they and them instead of she or he," Eda explained, and even though Eda's parents didn't seem to fully understand, they said nothing and let Raine continue.
"Anyway, they put me in an all-girl Christian school and sent me to summer camp every summer, where I eventually met Eda."
"Raine got kicked out of camp because that weird woman I told you about followed us on one of our dates, and we got caught with a 'sin'," Eda made air quotes at the last word," Raine was afraid that if you guys hear that I'm in a relationship with them, you'll hate me as much as Raine's parents hate them, so they took all the blame and they got all the punishment. They were sent home and their parents, out of great anger, changed their school, which happened to be my school,"
"It…is actually pretty cute,” Gwen said.
The young musician continued, "Today Eda and I were walking around the town together and...one of my neighbours saw us and...she told my parents about it," Raine had to blink hard to keep the tears that gathered in the corners of their eyes from escaping, but they couldn't hold them," My parents got angry and threw me out before I even had a chance to pack my things."
"You don't have anywhere to go?” Gwen realized as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"Wait, your parents are the ones who attacked you? Not some hooligans on the street but your parents?” Dell looked completely shocked, his fists clenched tightly as if he was trying to hold back his anger.
Raine decided to ignore both previous questions and said, "I have a brother, he lives in Ireland and he promised to come here as soon as he gets his plane tickets. He...he hopes we can find some kind of solution, but if not, he will take me to Ireland with him."
Those words were enough to bring tears and an extremely sad look to Eda's face, she rested her head on their shoulder and Raine wrapped an arm around her in return, offering her some comfort.
Dell and Gwen exchanged glances, whispering something to each other before Gwen said, "Your father and I need to talk for a moment, sweet pie, we'll be right back," the pair walked into the living room together, leaving the teenagers alone.
Eda slid her chair closer to Raine's so they could be more comfortable, she didn't even feel like smiling when Raine kissed her temple. Sure, she was relieved that her parents finally knew and that they seemed to be taking it very well, but still, every time she thought about her Rainestorm being whisked away to the other side of the ocean, it caused her so much pain. Raine felt the same way, even though they were trying to stay strong for her.
Although their tea had already cooled, they still drank it in silence as they waited for Eda's parents to return, both too tired to think about what her parents had gone to discuss. It had been an extremely long day, and they both wished they could escape together under Eda's warm blanket and sleep next to each other until morning, and then find that all their worries were magically solved. They didn't even notice when Dell and Gwen came back until they sat down at the table in front of them.
"So, Dell and I had a little chat and we decided that if you want Raine you can stay with us as long as you need,"
Eda's head suddenly lifted from her partner's shoulder, she looked at her parents in surprise, "What?"
"You heard me dear,” Gwen said before continuing, “Raine can stay with us as long as you both keep up with school and don't let this…situation interfere with your school. We don't have space for a separate room, but if you want we can get you a bunk bed or a double bed if you prefer."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to be a burden," Raine said worriedly.
"It wouldn't be a burden at all," Dell replied, "Lilith is leaving soon, and Gwen and I were worried that Eda would feel lonely, and well, knowing Eda's ability to be responsible, adopting a dog is much more dangerous than adopting another teenager,"
And for the thousand times that day Raine struggled to find the words to say, single tears escaped their eyes, they quickly wiped them away with the hand they weren't holding Eda's with, "I...I don't know what to say, thank you,"
"Oh, don't thank us, dear, it's the least we could do. You dating our Edalyn makes us a family now. Oh, do you want to call your brother? Dell has a work phone with which you can call abroad without extra charges,"
Raine nodded, and Gwen brought them the phone. They all spent the next hour on the phone talking to Raine's brother, who sounded so relieved that his younger sibling was okay and that they weren't wandering the streets. They had made a deal that when Fred's work and finances allowed, he would visit them, and Raine knew without him saying it that he would visit with lots of gifts, because that was what he always did. He didn't visit often, but every time he did, he made sure to visit Raine with clothes to last them the next couple of years, all the hygiene supplies and basic goods they need, pocket money, and a bunch of books, comics, and band posters, as well as stickers and pride pins that Raine had designed themself. And when he's here, he always takes them to museums or to the movies, to the theater, or a concert, and also to the store to buy them other essentials and a large supply of their favorite snacks and juice packs. He really loved them and always tried to make sure that Raine knew how much he cared about them.
When Eda and Raine finally got back to Eda's room, they were both so exhausted they could barely change before collapsing on the bed, Eda having lent Raine her softest hoodie and the baggiest pajama bottoms she had. They cuddled up together, feeling lighter than ever, finally, their future seemed completely bright.
"I can't believe your dad agreed to come with me to my parents' house tomorrow to get my things,” Raine smirked, their head resting on their girlfriend's chest.
"Those assholes would never dare to be mean to you while my dad is there, he's a woodworker, he can look scary if he wants to," Eda laughed, "Looks like everything went really well and we don't have to move to the woods,"
"Indeed,"
Yes, things couldn't be better, and maybe for the first time in their life, Raine wasn't in a place where they only had a roof over their head but a place they could call home, and like Gwen had said, they can be a part of a family.