Distance Between Here and Home
They stood on the porch and watched the tempest ravage the landscape. Over the rain, he heard her sigh and rest her chin on her hands already folded on the railing. “It’s not the same as home,” she said. He knew she hadn’t been “home” in years, and her home had never been his, but he still knew what she meant.
He turns his back to the yard and leans against the railing, glancing at her standing beside him. “What was it like?”
She smiled faintly and said, “Louder, bigger, brighter, violent…er.” She laughed and said, “It was just more intense and in your face, you know?” They let a long roll of thunder fill their silence, and then she said, “What about you?”
“Cold,” he said simply, and laughed when she wrinkled her nose. He laughed harder when a sudden gust of wind sent the rain directly into her face. She spluttered, and while she was distracted, he tried to control his mirth, he knew that if, by the time she recovered, he didn’t present her with the most sympathetic face she’d ever seen, he was in trouble.
He couldn’t quite pull it off, and she glowered at him. An evil thought struck him, and he grabbed her arm, hauling her towards the steps. As soon as she realized his intentions she dug her heels in and he had to struggle to get her to move an inch.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She tried to pry his hand off her arm, but he strengthened his grip the harder she fought. Switching tactics, she let herself go limp and sat on the floor of the porch.
Looking back in surprise when he felt his arm tugged downwards, he blinked at her. He shrugged and let go of her arm. When she abruptly scrambled to her feet and tried to make a break for it, he grabbed her around the middle and carried her down the steps and into the rain. She kicked and screamed, and for a few interesting moments even tried to bite him.
He set her on the ground, and she immediately tried to run again, so he pulled her closer to himself and held on tight. She stopped struggling after a minute and said, “You know, this could be awkward.”
He smirked and said, “Could be, but it isn’t.”
She let herself relax against him and said, “Yeah.”