The Problem With Rain

Mara made it halfway across campus before realizing two deeply unfortunate things. First, it started raining harder. Secondly, Alaric’s voice had apparently decided to haunt her neurologically. "I would follow you anywhere." Who said things like that with a straight face? Worse… Why had it sounded sincere?

Mara shoved her hands deeper into the pockets of her jacket while crossing the dimly lit pathway between the library and the residence halls. Rain drummed steadily against the stone walkways and ivy-covered buildings surrounding the quad. Most students had already retreated indoors. Good.

Larkin became significantly easier to tolerate when fewer people occupied it. Unfortunately, her thoughts remained crowded. Dave’s strange tension. The threatening text. Alaric behaving like a man trying very hard not to say something catastrophic every five minutes.

And beneath all of it… That feeling. The constant awareness she had around him now. It was becoming harder to ignore. Like her body had quietly switched allegiances without consulting her first. Rude. A sharp gust of wind shoved rain sideways across the path. Mara muttered something hostile toward the weather and hurried beneath the stone archway connecting two academic buildings.

The moment she stepped underneath it, she stopped. Someone stood there already. Tall, with a dark coat and motionless beneath the dim amber lights. Mara closed her eyes briefly. “Of course it’s you.” Alaric leaned one shoulder against the stone wall watching the rain beyond the archway. “I’m beginning to think you summon yourself through psychological warfare.”

His gaze shifted toward her slowly. “You left angry.” “I left confused. Anger came as a side dish.” Something faint flickered in his eyes. Not amusement exactly, but close enough now that Mara recognized it. That alone felt dangerous.

Rain thundered harder outside, trapping them beneath the archway together while distant lightning flickered somewhere over the city skyline. Very cinematic and Mara resented it immediately. “You followed me anyway,” she accused. “Yes.” No shame or hesitation. Just calm honesty.

Mara stared at him flatly. “You make it extremely difficult to win arguments.” “I wasn’t aware we were competing.” “That sentence somehow made things worse.” Silence settled briefly between them. Again with the comfortable silence. Mara deeply distrusted comfortable silence.

She shifted her bag higher on her shoulder and looked out toward the rain. “You know,” she muttered, “most people at least pretend to behave normally.” Alaric studied her quietly. “You dislike me.” The question caught her off guard. Not because he asked it. Because of the careful way he asked it. Like the answer mattered more than he wanted it to.

Mara frowned slightly. “That depends.” “On what?” “Whether you’re doing all this intentionally.” “All what?” She gestured vaguely between them. “This.” The word bounced softly against stone and rain. “This weird intensity thing. The staring. The showing up everywhere. The emotionally devastating eye contact.”

For the first time in several minutes…Alaric looked genuinely surprised. “Emotionally devastating?” Mara pointed sharply. “Don’t focus on the wrong part of that sentence.” Something subtle and dangerously soft flickered in his eyes then. “I unsettle you.” It was not arrogance. Just observation. Which somehow made it harder to deny.

Mara looked away first. Annoying. “Yes,” she admitted finally. “But not in a serial killer way.” “That’s reassuring.” “No, it isn’t. Because I can usually understand people when they make me uncomfortable.” Her voice quieted slightly. “With you, I don’t.” The rain filled the silence afterward. Steady enough to isolate the world beyond the archway into blurred lights and distant movement.

Alaric took one slow step closer. Not enough to trap her but enough that Mara became immediately aware of his warmth again. God, this man radiated heat like a structural problem. “You want honesty?” he asked quietly. “That depends entirely on how alarming the honesty is.” His gaze held hers steadily. “I’m trying very hard around you, Mara.”

The words landed somewhere beneath her ribs with dangerous precision. Her heartbeat stumbled once. “Trying hard to do what?” Another step closer. Now she could smell rain and cedar and something colder beneath it. Winter air and...Wildness. The strange sharp scent that always clung to him no matter where he went. “To behave the way you deserve.”

Mara forgot how conversations worked for a full two seconds. Which was unacceptable. She recovered quickly through irritation. “That was an incredibly suspicious sentence.” “It wasn’t meant to be.” “See? That right there.” She pointed at him again. “You keep saying concerning things gently enough that I almost don’t notice until afterward.”

Lightning flashed faintly outside. For one brief instant, silver light cut sharply across Alaric’s face. And Mara saw it again. The constant restraint. Like something enormous lived beneath his skin and he spent every second forcing it to stay quiet. The realization sent a strange shiver through her. Before she could examine why, voices echoed faintly nearby.

There were other students approaching through the corridor beyond the archway. Alaric heard them first and his expression shifted instantly back toward composure. The softer edges vanished. Mara noticed that too and unexpectedly…The disappearance disappointed her slightly. Well...That was concerning.

A group of students rounded the corner laughing loudly before immediately going silent upon seeing Alaric. The reaction happened so automatically it almost looked rehearsed. Postures straightened and voices lowered. One boy nodded respectfully before hurrying the others along. Mara watched the interaction carefully. Then slowly looked back toward Alaric. “You really do rule this place like a vampire landlord.”

A startled laugh escaped him before he could stop it. Not the controlled almost-laughs from before. An actual laugh. Low, brief but very real. And Mara’s stomach betrayed her instantly with a violent rush of warmth. Absolutely not. She stared at him accusingly. “You should not sound like that.” His brows lowered slightly. “Like what?” “Appealing.”

The word slipped out accidentally and silence crashed down immediately afterward. Mara felt her own soul leave her body briefly.

Wonderful. Fantastic. Perfect. She internally cursed herself Alaric had gone completely still and intensely focused. Mara wanted to launch herself directly into traffic but she recovered through aggression. “Forget I said that.” “I can’t.” “That sounds like a personal problem.” “It is.”

Her pulse somehow became even more dysfunctional. This man was impossible. No wonder everyone at Larkin acted psychologically damaged around him. Mara stepped backward abruptly. “I’m leaving now before this conversation develops consequences.” “Mara.” “Nope.” She pointed at him one final time while retreating toward the rain. “You are extremely confusing.”

Then she turned and disappeared into the storm before her nervous system could embarrass her further. Behind her, beneath the stone archway, Alaric watched her leave with the expression of a man losing a battle slowly and willingly.