clara !?

“princesa.”

it was nothing more than a breath against your cheek, the puff of air momentarily uncomfortably warm on your skin. you groaned as you turned away, burying your face deeper into the pillow. you didn’t want to wake up yet.

but the pillow suddenly felt much too hot. just like everything else did, you realized. you groaned even louder as sleep slowly slipped through your fingers. there was no way you could fall asleep again. not when every inch of you felt so sticky, so overheated.

the thin sheets stuck to the lower part of your legs. you’d tried to sleep without them, but, for some reason, even during the worst heatwave you’d ever experienced, your feet were still always freezing at night. you couldn’t fall asleep with them cold.

“amooor.”

patri. you felt her move beside you. closer. too close. the heat practically radiated from her, it almost felt suffocating. it was suffocating, a sheen of sweat built on your skin. you groaned, it was the only thing you could do apparently, and scooched away from her.

“too hot.”, you rasped, your voice still thick with sleep.

your girlfriend laughed, though you didn’t understand what was so funny. you only spoke facts. your apartment had turned into a sauna over the last few days, not even the fans were able to do much anymore.

you felt the mattress dip as patri, once again, moved closer. you blindly raised your hand to stop her. as much as you loved her and her cuddles, now was not the time. you’d surely burn alive in her arms.

“princesa…”, your girlfriend chuckled. you could feel her roll her eyes at your dramatics - very warranted dramatics, in your opinion. her hand settled on top of yours, where you’d planted it against her stomach to keep her at a safe distance. “it’s raining.”

“what?”, you asked, confusion cutting through the haze of sleep.

even so, your ears perked up. at first, there was only the hum of the useless fan sitting in the corner that did absolutely nothing. but now that patri had mentioned it, you did hear the steady pitter-patter of raindrops outside. landing on the balcony, on the roof, on the street, the cars.

you cracked your eyes open just as patri repeated, “it’s raining.”

the room was mostly dark, as was expected in the middle of the night. only the orange glow of the streetlights cast a little light inside. your eyes flicked to the alarm clock on your night stand - a few minutes after midnight. you’d only been sleeping for about an hour.

“why did you wake me up for rain?”, you asked, dumb-founded. your gaze settled on your girlfriend lying next to you. she looked much more awake than you currently were. there was a smile on her face as she watched your confusion unfold, merely tilting her head to the side.

“yesterday,” she said softly, “you told me you couldn’t wait for it to rain.”

you frowned, thinking back. you could vaguely remember having said something like that. you’d been lying on the ground, basically melting into a puddle. it still didn’t explain why she woke you up, though.

“you said you want to lie in the rain.”, patri reminded you.

your girlfriend shrugged, as though waking someone in the middle of the night because of a rainstorm was the most normal thing in the world.

“still don’t understand it, by the way. it isn’t even that warm.”, she added, almost as an afterthought. or maybe a nicely wrapped insult about your inability to handle the heat.

you simply rolled your eyes. you’d given up on arguing with her about appropriate summer temperatures a long time ago. it was useless, anyway; this woman grew up in spain and nothing ever seemed to be too hot for her.

“sooo…” a wide grin spread across patri’s face. “being the amazing girlfriend i am, i woke you up so we can do that.”

you just stared, unsure what to feel exactly. you had no recollection of saying that. ever. you must have, otherwise your girlfriend wouldn’t have done what she did, but then it was solely a throw-away comment at most.

patri clearly hadn’t thought so. she was a great listener, you knew that. every word someone said was filed away somewhere in her brain. just like this time. you loved that about her. mostly. not particularly this moment.

another beat of silence stretched between you. “so,” you repeated slowly, still trying to catch up with the fact you were woken up because of weather. “you woke me up…so i can lie outside in the rain.”

patri lightly shook her head no, correcting you quickly. “so we can lie outside in the rain.”

that was…great, you supposed. not what you expected, but at least she included herself in this too.

you laughed, dragging your hand over your face. “dios mio.”, you murmured to yourself.

this was ridiculous. though at the same time, the longer you thought about it, it sounded incredibly inviting. you could hear the rain, still. the occasional gust of wind. surely much better than this suffocating heat in this room.

your mind was made up then. you didn’t care that it was the middle of the night, that you would most likely regret this tomorrow when you would wake up sick, that any sane person would have stayed in bed.

you looked over at patri, her face illuminated by the faint glow of the city. she was smiling already. that specific smile when she knew she’d already won. you let out a long, theatrical sigh, but the same smile tugging at your lips gave you away.

“this is insane.”, you stated as you pushed the sheets down and rolled out of bed. the floor beneath your bare feet was, for a short moment, blissfully cool.

when you looked over at patri, she beamed. “well, come on then”, you sighed and waited for her to get out of bed. much more elegantly than you did. perks of being an athlete, or perks of being awake for longer. probably the latter.

“you and your ideas.”, you muttered under your breath.

“it was your idea, amor.”, she reminded you while following you out, through the living room and toward the balcony. both of you were only in shirts and underwear, but neither of you thought to change.

you stopped in front of the closed balcony door and shot her an unimpressed look. “but you woke me up.”, you countered, slapping her hands away that tried to wind around your waist.

when you turned your head, you could see her much more clearly now that you were closer to the lights. though, the affronted look on her face would have been hard to miss anyhow. her eyebrows were really very expressive, accentuating the deep frown on her face.

you only smiled innocently up at her. “it’s still really warm, don’t you think?”

patri huffed behind you, still close enough you could feel her breath on your shoulder. you were just about to open the door when you felt patri pinch your ass, of all places.

“oye!” you whirled around, fixing patri with a glare. your girlfriend didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. if anything, she looked rather proud of herself. your glare only intensified, which, in turn, made her grin brighten.

as though nothing had happened, patri slipped past you. “you know…if you wait any longer, the rain will stop.”

before you could retaliate, your girlfriend had already gripped the handle and opened the door with a jerk. immediately, cool air drifted in. at first, the sudden cold breeze was a shock to your system, so unexpected you squeezed your eyes shut. but that quickly turned into utter relief.

you couldn’t help the quiet sigh that escaped from your lips. never had you felt anything more pleasant. it wasn’t really cold. after days of unbearable heat, it felt…breathable. finally.

you took a deep breath in, that distinct smell of rain - earthy, fresh - filling your lungs.

“estas bien?”

there was a teasing lilt in your girlfriend’s tone. when you looked at her, that same teasing glint was dancing in her eyes. you didn’t care. you were too relieved to care about anything.

“estoy bien.”, you answered, and moved outside. in passing, you pressed a quick kiss to patri’s cheek before you took her hand in yours and tugged her along.

the rain greeted you immediately. tiny droplets landed on your arms, your legs, soaking into your clothes. you smiled instinctively, tilting your head back until the rain hit your face. it felt…nice. really nice. a content sigh escaped from your lips.

gone was the sticky feeling on your skin, washed away in seconds. you turned around and looked at your girlfriend, happy to share this moment with her.

though by the look on her face, she, evidently, didn’t feel the same as you did. her eyes were narrowed, you could see the annoyed little crease between her eyebrows. her lips were pressed together as she glared at the raindrops rolling down her skin.

you laughed. properly laughed. because she looked miserable in a way that was, somehow, endearing. you felt so much love for her in that moment, you couldn’t explain it. you had the sudden urge to just…be close to her.

glad to give in, you closed the distance between you and wrapped your arms around her neck. hers instinctively fell to your waist, bunching up your soaked shirt.

you leaned forward, until your noses almost touched. “you don’t like it.”, you stated in a whisper, still smiling. it wasn’t even a question, you knew.

“i didn’t say that.” patri’s voice was quiet, distracted.

you felt the words against your lips. so close. too far. you answered with a hum, unconvinced. her breath hitched unmistakably, her eyes flicked down to your lips. yours did too.

your grip tightened slightly, holding onto her like you had no intention of letting go any time soon. rain slid down the side of your face, got caught in your lashes. her hair was damp against your fingers when you brushed it back without thinking.

this was it. you weren’t sure what it was supposed to be exactly, but you knew this moment was that. patri, the love of your life; home; in the rain; in the middle of the night. it was perfect.

your girlfriend leaned her forehead against yours. the breaths she let out was uneven against your lips, just enough you noticed. her hands tightened around your waist, then let go. they slipped under your shirt, fingers tracing shapes along your bare skin which left goosebumps in their wake.

“are we really going to kiss in the rain like they do in those stupid movies?”, patri asked, sounding amused and out of breath.

you huffed a quiet laugh, tilting your head slightly. “seems like it.”, you replied simply.

your one hand moved from her hair to her cheek, cupping it gently. you didn’t hesitate anymore, and let your lips finally touch hers. you kissed her properly, with all the time in the world. her breath caught against your mouth for half a second before she kissed you back, deeper, hungrily.

it was messy, warm, cold because of the rain. just right. when you finally pulled back, you didn’t go far. just enough to see her. her lips were swollen, her eyes sparkling in a way they hadn’t been for a while. probably because you were finally back in her arms, after days of you complaining about it being too hot to touch her.

“stupid movies, huh?”, you joked and watched as her smile turned into a laugh.

“maybe not so stupid.”, patri admitted and tried to pull you even closer even though there was no space left between you.

you were thankful for the warmth she gave you, the rain now only feeling too cold on your skin. you felt like you came back from somewhere else entirely. all of a sudden, this weather didn’t feel so great anymore. now, the shirt just stuck uncomfortably to your skin, the raindrops tickled as they rolled down your arms and legs.

“come on, let’s go inside.” you pushed away from her, but not before pecking her lips once more.

you wanted to quickly hop back inside, but patri held you by your hips, pouting. “but we didn’t do it.”

your girlfriend looked like she couldn’t wait to finally be out of the rain. still, she insisted for you. it was very sweet, but completely unnecessary.

“no, but i’m cold and you don’t like it.”, you said, patting her cheek. “i think it’s really not what everyone always makes it out to be anyway.”