The skies are stormy, the sun is trying to break through the dense clouds, but the clouds are winning the fight. I should get home, but somehow storms always calm me. I look up at the sky as thunder claps, and the rain comes pouring down. I smile and sigh in contentment as the rain streams down my face. I stroll through town, and the few people I pass are running with umbrellas, or with their jackets pulled around them, trying to keep the rain off themselves. I laugh quietly to myself, why would anyone dislike the rain? It's refreshing. I continue walking.

As I walk a see a figure sitting, curled up, at the base of a large oak tree. As I walk closer, I see it's a girl, about 17 years old, and she's crying. I come a bit closer and ask, "Are you all right?" I know, that might seem a bit weird, but I can't stand it when someone cries. It makes me sad.

"Does it seem to you that I'm all right?" she asks, her voice cracking, with her head down. "I'm sitting all alone, crying, in the pouring rain. It doesn't get much less all right than that."I don't respond. What can I say to that, that doesn't sound completely sappy, and stalker-ish? I just stand there with my hands in my pockets, watching her with... concern, maybe. I'm not really sure what it is, but I know I shouldn't walk away. I need to do something, I'm just not sure what, exactly.

"Well?" she demands, but still, her voice is filled with sorrow. "What do you want? Other than to ask pointless questions? Or are you just going to stand there, doing nothing." She looks up at me. Her eyes are the colour of amethyst, but they're filled with tears, and I can see the hurt behind her steely gaze.

"I want to be your friend." I watch her, trying to see past the anger and the hurt. I've always been able to read people easily. To tell when they're angry or sad, confused, or hurt. And I'm compelled to help. Why would I not? I watch her as she stares back at me, wondering at what I'm saying. I can tell she's been let down, used, and hurt too often to trust anyone. Her soul is broken, but I'll fix it.

"No, you don't. Nobody does. I'm worthless. Don't even bother with me. Just go away, back to your life." She puts her head down on her knees again.

I sit down beside her to show her I'm not going anywhere. I won't give up on her. Those beautiful amethyst eyes, filled with tears, showing a wounded soul. She needs someone, and I'll be that someone. She needs a shoulder to cry on, and I'll be that shoulder. She needs an arm to comfort her, and I'll be that arm. And she needs a light to break the darkness, and I'll be that light. I'll be anything she needs, wants, and loves. Because I've known her for all of ten minutes, but my heart cries for her, yearns for her happiness.

Some time later, it could have been minutes, or it could've been hours -I lost track really- the rain stops, and the sun shines through the clouds. The birds start chirping, and the wet grass is glistening in the sunlight. Overall, it's quite an exquisite sight, but I do prefer the rain. And then the clouds drift back in front of the sun, and a cold wind picks up, and all of a sudden the world looks like a cold, empty place. I see the girl shiver.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here any longer," I say to her.

"What would that matter? If I got sick and died, it's not like anyone would care. It wouldn't matter. Besides, you're out here too, but it's not like I'm cold anyway." But she shivers again as she says that.

"It would matter to me."

"Would it?" she says. But it's not a hopeful question, it's full of doubt. "Would it really? I don't think it would. It wouldn't matter to anyone if I disappeared and never came back."

I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and stare into her eyes. "But it would. It would matter to me. I wouldn't, I couldn't handle it if I never saw you again."

"Why?" she asks. Her eyes searching my face, trying to find any hint of deceiving. Wondering if anyone would, or even could, care at all. And trying to figure out why anyone would care. Why I would care. Because why would some guy care about some girl, alone and crying? She can't seem to make up her mind. I can see hope in her gaze, but it's covered by layers of despair. She doesn't think anyone would actually care about her, because no one ever has.

"Because I love you." I gaze back at her with all the truth of what I'm saying, and all the love I feel for her, burning in my eyes. She needs to know I really care. That it really would hurt if I never saw her again.

"Ha," she laughs. A harsh and bitter sound. "I've heard that enough times to know it's not true. I'll just get hurt again if I try trusting anyone else. It's pointless to believe in love." But she sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than me. I don't say anything to that. I can't say anything more to try to push her into believing me. I have to let her come to that decision herself. I just stay where I am, shivering from the cold and wet.

I sit and watch the wind blowing the long grass. And I listen to the crickets and the birds chirping. And I think about the girl sitting next to me. Cold and all alone, broken on the inside, with no one to trust. How sad she is. And how it hurts me to see the tears of despair in her beautiful amethyst eyes.

I sit there long enough for the sun to sink below the horizon, and a few stars start to come out. It's getting rather cold out as it's late November, and it's even colder because my clothes and hair are still damp. I really should be getting home unless I want to get sick, but I can't give up on her. I don't even know her name. I ask her.

She doesn't answer at first, but after a moment she says, "Ashlyn."

"Ashlyn," I say. "I need to be going now. But I promise you, I'll come back. I won't give up on you. I'll never leave you, and I'll never hurt you. You are the most wonderful, beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I care about you, even if no one else does. So please, don't give up on me." I stand up and take a step away. Then I hear her say quietly, "Wait." I turn and look at her.

"Please, don't leave," she begs. "I don't want to be alone again. I want to trust you. I just don't know if I can. I've been hurt and abandoned too much before, and I couldn't bear it if it happened again."

"I know," I say, kneeling beside her. "And with me, you have nothing to worry about." I put my hand on her cheek.

"Really?" she asks.

"Really," I say. She gazes at me with some emotion I can't tell. "What are you thinking right now?" I ask.

"I'm thinking it would be wonderful to have someone who really cares about me. And that you might actually care about me, and if you do, that would be the most amazing thing in the world."

I smile at her. "Then you're in luck because I actually do care about you, in fact, I love you." She smiles back at me, and then I kiss her. She freezes for a second, but quickly relaxes and wraps her arms around my neck.

After a minute she pulls her head back and says to me, "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"Seth. My name is Seth," I reply.