a box of rain {RHYS}

Lena traced the outline of the plant with her finger as she sat on the ground. She knew she was directly in front of the doors and students are going to rush out of it soon like darts in the air, but she didn't care. She tilted her head to the side and frowned as she examined it, trying to look for anything unusual.

She then looked at the sky, which was somehow blue. It was February, and if she were back at home with Patricia and Alex and her parents, they would all have a barbecue in the garden, barely caring if they had stains on their dresses or not. After all, February was a bitter month, and a sunny day in it was always a cause for celebration.

She shut her eyes.

Rhys was walking along, enjoying the day. He avoided all the familiar flagstones out of practice. Even a klutz could learn to keep himself from tripping, some of the time. Hadn't helped much earlier that year when he skidded down the stairs and dragged Lena with him.

Speaking of Lena...

The redhead's face brightened upon seeing the girl, changing his course to go up next to her.

"Hey, Le," he said softly, then teased, "Aren't you afraid of getting hit by the doors?"

Lena's eyes flashed open and her head immediately turned towards the voice, her mouth ready to scream a bunch of hurtful verbal insults. "I'm sure I can take care of myself if that happens, thank you very much," she snapped. She then looked up and blushed furiously at once when she saw it was Rhys. "Sorry about that. I-I... no, I'm not. I don't mind getting h-hit by the doors," she replied shyly. "They don't hurt me much anyway."

She then took a deep breath and asked, "What brings you out here, hmm?"

The redhead raised a brow at her retort, ducking a head to hide a small smile when she blushed a bright red. He took a seat beside her, resting his arm casually about her shoulder.

"Well, I do," Rhys stated, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I don't like the idea of you getting hurt."

Rhys shrugged a shoulder. "Just wandering, really," he replied. "What're you doing here?"

Lena snuggled comfortably into Rhys's arms. She shut her eyes for a moment when Rhys pecked her cheek and she gave him a peck on the cheek back. A couple of passing fifth years raised their eyebrows at her before she glared at them and they left her alone. "Well, I suppose you don't... but anyways, at least it gives you an excuse to skip class to see me! Uh, I think..." she mumbled. Rhys... he had this calming effect on her. She became a lot less suspicious around him, for some reason. She always thought it was because he was her boyfriend, but perhaps... she had been thinking it was something more than that lately. Merlin knows what.

"Just wandering?" she asked in disbelief. "It's February, and it's sunny! It should be cause for celebration!" She then giggled and pointed towards the sky. "Look at it! It's sunny in February! We should be laughing!" She then started laughing herself, sounding a bit maniacal. "Anyway, I'm obviously embracing the February sun, and this!" Lena replied enthusiastically, poking her hair. "It's a really dark blonde lately! And I didn't even dye it!"

Rhys held her close, contentedly resting his chin atop her head as she snuggled in his arms. He could sit like this forever, he decided - and not for the first time. The whole would could pass him by and he would be alright, so long as he had Lena.

He gave a soft laugh. "It is sunny. It's a very beautiful day," he agreed with a grin. Rhys kissed her on the forehead. "Your hair always looks pretty, no matter how light or dark it is."

Lena grinned. "If this keeps up, my hair will be brown by the summer, and my parents will be absolutely mad!" she enthusiastically replied. Man, she loved rebelling against her parents; it gave her some sense of achievement, somehow. Or maybe it was because it was because she hated her parents enough to write the infinite amount flaws that they have.

"Hey, Rhys," she mumbled quietly, putting an arm around the redhead's waist. "Do you know what that feeling is called when you get butterflies all the time and you can't explain why? And you think of a certain person more than you already do - which is all the time - and you can't imagine a life without that person?" Mentally, Lena cursed herself. Why on earth would she reveal things like that to him?

Rhys flushed crimson. How did she know exactly how he felt about her? His hand came up to scratch a bit nervously at his head, mussing his hair in the process.

"Well..." he said slowly, "I'm not sure what other people call it, but I think... I think... i-it's love."

Lena shuddered at the thought. "But I've been feeling this for nearly three years! I mean, I've been feeling them since -" she cut herself off there. Yes, she trusted him with more than her life, but she didn't want to tell him everything. Not to mention that the prospect of her being in love, even with the love of her life, freaked the hell out of her. "Anyway, I prefer calling them butterflies in the stomach. Yeah! Let's call this feeling butterflies in the stomach!"

Lena then wriggled herself gently off Rhys's grasp and tilted her head to one side. "You're like my psychiatrist, you know that?"

Rhys briefly felt stung, rejected, even though he knew Lena hadn't meant it that way. "Fine," he agreed. He always agreed with her. Always. "Butterflies in the stomach it is.

"Oh, am I?" The redhead reached out a hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Then, who's my psychiatrist, then?" he teased. "Don't I get one?"

"I'm your psychiatrist!" Lena exclaimed enthusiastically. "Well - who else would be your psychiatrist? I'm gonna be your crazy, cool as fuck psychiatrist!" She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. "Anyway, I wanna eat. I was fighting, and this annoying First Year thinks he's a cool as anything. Urgh. Don't you hate cocky First Years?"

Lena had entirely forgotten she too was a cocky first year in the distant past.

"Oh," Rhys said, as though greatly relieved. "That's good, then." His lips twitched with humor. He leaned forward and stole a kiss, then smoothed her hair fondly.

"Depends on the cocky first year," the boy teased, well-remembering how Lena had been during their own first year.

Lena responded to the kiss with enthusiasm. Even though they'd been together for three years, his kisses still brought butterflies in her stomach and gave her the chills. She broke away after some time and covered her face, trying to sort all of her emotions out.

"He tried to kill me!" she wailed, flailing her arms about. "With a sword! And he called my arms... twigs!"

"He didn't!" Rhys responded with an incredulous laugh. He hugged her close with one arm, resting his chin atop her head.

"Don't worry, Le," he said. "I'll protect you. Even from cocky first years wielding swords."

"Oh... I'm not going to let you die!" she laughed. "I can die 'cause... eh, I can." She shrugged her shoulders and wriggled herself free out of his arm. "Daang. I have to go!" she exclaimed without a second thought. She pecked Rhys very quickly on the cheek before running off to her next class - Battle Strategies. Well, that was going to be fun.