#run2u

“I'll cross the line over and over. It's okay if I get hurt, I'll run to you~”

You look at yourself in the mirror one more time, examining your features, checking for any mistakes in your makeup or any flyaways in your hair.

For some context, It was Valentine’s day and you agreed to go on a date with a boy, Jake from one of your semenars in school.

He was a sweet boy really. He was nice, funny and always gave you the homework answers when you needed them, but he wasn’t the one person you had intended on spending Valentine’s day with.

But your bestfriend and roommate, Shifty, always caught your eye instead.

Even as little kids you were head over hills for the sweet boy. Whether it’d be playing in the forest, or telling off bullies in school ~ You were still smitten with Shifty.

He never noticed though, despite your best efforts of flirting over the years. You never minded though, just getting to be best friends with him was enough for you.

As kids, you guys continued to hangout almost everyday, spending any free time you had together, but once fall rolled around and it was time for you and Shifty to begin high school, everything had changed.

Shifty always showed his southern hospitality to everyone at your school. regularly saying hello to people in the halls, helping teachers with their bags, and was one of the star athletes on the football field. He, of course, quickly became popular with many new friends and often smitten by the popular girls.

You on the other, not so much. You stuck to a couple of your other friends and art, But your eccentric and rebellious style often led to the occasional teasing and harsh rumors against you.

Adjusting into different friend groups, getting into relationships, hobbies, and sports made it hard to see your best friend anymore.

And with overtime, You had thought that maybe your feelings for Shifty had subsided. Finally coming to terms with the thought that he probably wasn’t interested in you the way you were interested in him.

Until, he asked you to be his roommate for college, when he found out you guys were both accepted into the same uni, only a month before graduating.

You agreed and you both started hanging out more and more just like old times.

Eventually all of those feelings that you had for Darrell in the past had started coming back to you, for good this time.

Now living with him and seeing him everyday, It made it ten times harder for you to hide your feelings around him.

~

You finally walk out of the bathroom door into your room. making way towards your bed, which laid your beautiful black dress you’d picked out for tonight.

You put your dress on and took a spin in the mirror. Somehow you wished that it was Shifty you were spending Valentine’s day with, and not Jake.

When you two were in the kitchen earlier this morning, Darrell had brought up Valentines plans and you thought it would be the perfect time to bring up Jake.

“So Shifty guess what?” You said sitting in the dining room table, eating a bowl of cereal.

“what’s on your mind y/n?” He said with a bright smile looking up from the orange he was peeling.

“I got asked out today, I’m finally going to have a Valentine’s date after all these years!” you said walking towards the boy. “isn’t that great!?”

Shifty stopped peeling his orange, looking up at you.

“Really y/n? well that’s great, really” He looking at you, with almost a bittersweet smile. Then quickly going back to his orange.

You looked at him confused. Something had changed in his demeanor when you brought up your new date.

He continued peeling his orange with a blank expression on his face.

“well what about you shift, what are your plans for valentines?”

“oh nothin really, i’ll just be here y’know, maybe go out with some friends.” He said not taking his eyes from the orange.

“Oh okay, well when I get back we can watch plenty of movies! it’ll be your pick tonight!”

“Of course y/n. Good luck on your date tonight. I’m really happy for you.” He looked up at you with a sullen look on his face. Before taking his orange and walking off to his room.

It was definitely an odd encounter between you two but you didn’t question it. You just assumed that he isn’t used to you going out on dates and that was the reason behind his off behavior.

You go into your closet, looking for the perfect pair of heels that would go with your pretty dress.

You find some simple black heels, that aren’t too high and would go perfect with your dress.

You look in the mirror one last time before you grab your phone and purse and start to walk out of the bedroom door.

As you’re walking out you hear a text notification coming from your phone.

“I’ll be there in 5, be ready”You text back an okay and shut your door.

You walk out in the living room to see a concentrated Shifty playing his game.

“How do I look Shift?”

He quickly pauses his game on the tv and sits up from his spot on the couch.

“Wow, Y/n. y-you look amazing” He says, Looking you up and down respectfully.

“Thanks shift, you always know how to make me blush”

He smiled at your comment then looked back down again, as if he was trying to find the words he wanted to say. “Jake is one lucky man”

“Thanks Shifty, I’ll be back before you know it!” You smiled back to him.

Right then you hear the doorbell ring.

“I will, be safe y/n and if you need me just call.” He said walking you up towards the door.

“ I will, bye shifty!” You open the door, to see a nervous Jake, scratching the back of his neck and looking towards the drive way.

“Hiya y/n. You ready?” He quickly puts his hand down from his neck and moves it towards you, waiting for you to grab his hand.

you gladly accept and head out the door on the way to his car.

~

It was almost towards the end of the date with Jake. He took you to a nice restaurant downtown.

It was okay so far, He didn’t ask really any first date questions, or any questions at all.

He seemed more interested in talking about himself and what he was up to, but you were alright with it, never being much of a talker yourself.

“So again, That’s how me and my friends Didn’t get caught stealing that stop sign” He boasted on about yet another story of his.

He noticed you looking in the distance, watching the rain start to pick up from outside.

“Are you even listening to me?” He put put down his fork and grabbed onto his glass of champagne.

“Yea, yes I am” You said looking back towards him with a grin.

“Alright well, are you almost ready to leave, maybe go somewhere quieter than here” He said looking at you with a charming smirk.

You gave him a timid “sure” before you guys headed on your way.

Once you guys were finally on the road, He finally starts asking basic ‘get to know you’ questions, As you start to tell him about your hometown, you feel jakes free hand slowly creep up your thigh.

“Jake, What are you doing?” You gave an unsure look his way.

“Oh nothing doll, Can I not touch a darling like you?” He asks with a chuckle. Squeezing your thigh before going up further under your dress to your panty line.

You start feeling uncomfortable by his gesture, wishing for him to stop, “Jake quit.”

“quit what, darling?” You try to pull his hand off of your inner thigh but he doesn’t budge.

“Get you hands off me!” You raise your voice slightly, You push his hand as hard as you can.

You get a scoff return from Jake as he pushes his hand back to the steering wheel, shaking his head, almost as if he was embarrassed that he was turned down.

“Take me home, now.” You say facing the passenger window, refusing to look at him.

“Whatever” He replies, keeping his eyes on the road.

“bitch” you hear him mutter under his breath.

“What did you just say?” You grit your teeth in anger.

“Nothing, y/n, I said nothing” He said clenching his jaw and continuing his eyes on the road.

You could feel tears in your eyes starting to form. Why, out of all nights this had to happen?

The rest of the car ride was silent, except for the heavy rain that starting coming down onto the car.

Finally, in what you thought took forever, You could see him slowly pulling up to the front of your house.

“Get out” He spat out at you. You could hear the irritation in his voice but just ignored it.

“Trust me, I am” You replied, rolling your eyes.

You gathered all of your belongings in the car before heading out of the car into the rain.

“Thanks a lot for wasting my night, bitch” Jake yelled out to you before driving off recklessly.

You start to feel your throat close up and your eyes cloud with those familiar tears from earlier.

You let out all of your emotions right there in the drive way of your house. How could you be so stupid to go out with him?

Why did he feel the need to call you a bitch and what were his intentions with you anyway? Your head starts to load with these unwanted thoughts.

“Y/n?” you hear a voice come from the porch, pulling you out of your thoughts.

You turn your head to see a concerned looking shifty standing in the door way of your shared home. Only being able to make out little parts of his features in the darkness and rain.

You see him close the door for a second, only for him to turn the porch light on and get what looks to be a rain coat from the rack by the door.

“C‘mon let’s get inside y/n, you’re gonna get sick.” He says stepping out of the house and towards you.

He examines the features on your face, noticing your runny mascara, red eyes, and tear stained cheeks.

You quickly look down, trying to hide your face from the sweet boy, not wanting him to see you like this.

“Are you alright, darlin?” He said, lifting your chin up with his calloused but soft fingers.

You look up at him, meeting his eyes.

You felt his hand move up to your cheek, caressing it lightly. “Tell me what happened, honey”

“He was a douchebag, and It was just horrible Darrell.” You started to cry again.

“Hey, hey it’s okay” He said wrapping you in his arms. Holding you tight from all of the pain you endured this evening.

“Here take this” He grabbed the coat and started to wrap it around you. You noticed his soft but focused features. You couldn’t help but notice how good he looks in the rain.

“What?” He grinned, looking back at you once he wrapped you up the in coat. He caught you staring.

“Nothing, Shift.” You said still staring at him dreamily, and once again, he really did look nice in the rain.

He observed the way you looked at him. You could see his body shift, noticing his cheeks and ears go blood red.

“y-y/n let’s go inside where it’s warm. We can talk more about it if you want to inside.”

He gently grabbed your arm and led you up the porch and into the house.

Once you to got inside he took the coat off of you and replaced it with a nice blanket.

“Go sit down and warm up, i’ll go make some hot chocolate for you, a-alright?” He hurried to the kitchen to fix you up a nice drink.

When he came back into the living room he sat down and handed you your hot chocolate and a water bottle just in case you needed something else to drink with the warm beverage.

“Tell me what happened darlin. I m-mean only if you want to, no pressure” He started to explain himself.

“It’s alright Shifty. I’ll tell you what happened.”

You started onto the story of what happened from the beginning to the end as he listened to your words carefully.

As you started to tell him what happened in the car you could see his face harden and his jaw clench at your words. It was rare to see Darrell angry, but when he was, it was almost scary.

You could feel yourself choke up on your words, tears ready to spill again at any moment.

“So that’s what happened shift. That’s why i’m crying. ” You tried slowing down your tears. Holding the blanket closer to you, searching for comfort in the warmth.

“That guy, i-imma get him. No man should treat a little lady like that. Especially you, y/n.” He got up, ready to set out and look for the boy that made his y/n cry.

“Darrell wait, please just stay with me. He ain’t worth it. ” You looked up at him with your glassy doe eyes. His expression softening after your eyes met his.

“I’m so sorry, y/n. That guy’s a real jerk, he doesn’t deserve a pretty girl like you” He sat back down and rubbed your back lightly.

You think your heart skipped a couple beats when he said that. He called you pretty?

“Thank you shift. I don’t think he deserved me either” You said pausing, before taking a leap of faith. “But I could think of someone who does”

“Who y/n? He must be somethin” Shifty replied, leaning forwards to grab his hot chocolate.

“Would you like to know who it is Shifty?” You grabbed his arm, making him set his mug down and lean back into the couch.

“Who is it y-you like y/n? Tab? Chuck? Just tell me.” He looked at you with curious eyes. It seemed as if he needed to know you answer more than you did.

“But if I tell you nothing will change, right?” You ask him.

“Just spit it out y/n/n”

You thought about the words you were about to say. You might not ever get the chance to tell him how you feel, so now would be the best time to live in the moment.

“I like you Darrell.. Ever since we were kids i’ve liked you. It’s always been you who I run to.” You finish. Looking for any expressions on his face, Looking for any signs that he might just want you back.

You waited for a response. Shifty sat there with a blank expression, in shock. He didn’t know what to say to you.

“Shifty, say something please” You plead in a soft whisper, feeling your voice go weak and your throat close up.

This was one of your worst fears

That the relationship between you and shifty was unrequited and that he had never liked you.

You look at him one last time before standing up and walking fast out of the front door, slamming the it shut.

As you hear the door close, you slowly sink to the porch floor, feeling your knees go out as you finally let out all of your held in emotions.

Today has been so draining for you, and the last thing you needed was this.

Shifty had always been such a big part in your life. Your first crush, your first friend. Losing him would almost be like losing a part of yourself, and you couldn’t let that happen.

“Y/n?” You hear a soft voice open the door.

Knowing the familiar voice and scared to hear what he might have to say, you get up and start to walk away from him into the rain.

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t- I didn’t mean to leave you hanging in there. I j-just didn’t know what to say. I’m just sorry y/n” You see him shutting the door and following after you into the rain.

“It’s okay, Shift. I get it” You stare at your feet blankly. You could feel your heart breaking by the second.

You could now notice how much closer he had gotten to you. You examine his soft eyes, it almost looked as if he had tears in his eyes, In this moment, whatever he said could make or break your relationship between him forever.

He takes a step closer towards you, if that was even possible, and puts a few wet strands of hair behind your ear. Looking at you with those same dreamy eyes. You start to feel your mind and heart calm down to its original, peaceful state.

He grabs you softly pulling you into his warm embrace. He holds you tightly, almost as if he could lose you at any second.

You sink into to his chest, hearing his heartbeat in your ear and smelling his woodsy cologne on his shirt.

You take your head away from his chest and look back up at him, before feeling his soft lips melt into yours. In that moment you could feel a hundred thoughts at once, all landing back to him.

You never thought a kiss could have so much emotion and love before until tonight. His kiss was so loving, soft, but passionate all at the same time, something you could definitely get used to.

As the kiss continued, you could feel him sigh into your mouth as a sign of relief, before coming back up for air.

You both stepped back to look at each other. From your previous position before he hugged you.

“I always thought you were just joking, no way did I ever think you actually liked me y/n. If so, I would’ve asked you out in a heartbeat” You hear him speak his feelings to you , in a whisper like voice.

You couldn’t believe your ears, all of this just seemed too perfect. You would have never believed, in a million years that the Shifty Powers had liked you all along and never once told you.

“So, I’m sorry y/n, ” He starts back up to his confession.

“b-but It’s always been you” He takes his hand and pets your cheek softly.

You were so happy, you could almost cry. You scold yourself for never thinking you had a chance with him in the first place.

“so Shifty… Now that I know you feel the same. Will you be my Valentines?” You tilt your head at him curiously.

“Of course” He replies back to you with a soft smile, before going back to kiss your cheek.

You smirk to yourself then look at him, “It’s crazy.”

Kissing Shifty in the rain would be nothing little of a dream come true for you, but here you are.

“What is?” He questions, noticing the smirk on your face.

“us, you and me in the rain confessing our feelings for one another.” You start to laugh again.

“You’re right, I thought they only saved this stuff for the movies.” You hear him chuckle.

“Good thing you’re wrong” You say, admiring his wet features in the rain.

“Let’s go inside, then we can start are Valentines evening, Darling” He takes your hand and leads you back to the house.

Tonight was definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions but in the end it was all worth it, and this Valentine’s day was definitely one for the books.

*********************************************************************