Since I Fell For You

Tuesday, February 9, 1988 - Before sunrise

David stood in the rain. A single tear slid down his cheek. He knew it was there but didn’t bother wiping it away because of the rain.

Tonight was supposed to be for him, just him and him alone. And now as he stood here in the rain, she was up there... well, she wasn’t knitting. That was for sure. He looked at the flowers in his hand, now soaked and wilting in the rain, and threw them down onto the ground, resisting the urge to stomp on them, as well. Glancing back over his shoulder, he thought of the guy who had answered the door.

Maddie wasn’t stupid. David didn’t think she would invite a total stranger into her home, but it worried him that she had made good her word to find a ‘strange man’, and it made him cringe to think of her doing anything ‘nasty’ with anyone but him. Three years. It had taken him almost years to admit he had feelings for her, and God knew how long it would take him to get up the nerve to come to her house and do this again.

“Dammit! I am not going to forget this,” he muttered as he picked a fresh flower from the flower bed and walked over to the trellis. He put the flower in his mouth and lifted himself onto the trellis' first triangle, his foot slipping because of the wetness. It took him five minutes to get to the top, another five to open to the window from the outside, and another two to hoist himself inside. As he stood in Maddie’s bathroom, dripping wet, he questioned his sanity one more time. There was very likely a man sleeping in the same bed as Maddie. What was David going to do when the guy saw him again? He shrugged and eased open the bathroom door, peeking into Maddie’s bedroom.

What he saw made his heart lurch. There was only one person in the bed, and unless the man from before had undergone miraculous changes in the last twenty minutes, David didn’t think it was him. David walked over to the bedroom door, locking it quietly, and came back to stand by Maddie’s bed. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, unsure of how to proceed and share his recent findings.

Suddenly, Maddie shifted in her sleep.  In a moment that recalled another rain-soaked, trellis-climbing night from years ago, David slowly eased a hand over her mouth, startling her awake and causing her to emit a muffled scream. Her eyes widened and then glared at him as she tugged his hand away from her mouth. “What are you doing?”

“I’m the tooth fairy. Isn’t this the right house?” David looked around the room, noticing that there were no scattered clothes or anything that would lead him to believe anything ‘nasty’ had gone on in this bedroom on this night. He grinned suddenly.

“What are you talking about, and why are you grinning?” Maddie said in exasperation as she sat up and leaned back against the pillows.

David sobered and sat down on the side of the bed, his thigh touching her leg, “Nothing, never mind. It was stupid, anyway.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, scattering raindrops all over the comforter. Maddie stared at him thoughtfully and took in the cut on his forehead, the dirt on his face, and the bruise that was starting to show on his cheek. He was wringing his hands in his lap and smiling like an infatuated schoolboy.

Maddie sighed impatiently. “David, why are you here? Do you want something in particular?” She watched the smile fall from his face and was a bit saddened to see it go. She touched his hand, and he yanked it away as if burned. “David?” she asked, a little hurt by his actions.

“This was a mistake. A really big mistake.” He looked at her low-cut night gown and licked his lips involuntarily. “I’m sorry, I have no right to be here. I was just worried about you. You said some pretty big stuff tonight at the office. I was just worried. That’s all.” He took a breath, realizing he was rambling. “I’m going to go now.” He stood and started back to the bathroom when Maddie’s voice stopped him.

“David. Wait.” He turned and saw she had gotten out of bed and had an expression of confusion on her face. “What’s going on?”

David blinked at her. “I was worr--”

“You don’t crawl in through someone’s seconds-story window on a rainy night like this if you’re worried, David. You knock on the door.” She looked at him more closely.

“Look, this was a really bad idea, my coming here. I’d better go now,” he said, not moving at all.

Suddenly, he reached out and drew her to him, holding her for a moment before pulling her in the rest of the way and kissing her hard. When she drew back, they were both breathing hard and David saw the confusion build in her eyes. “David... what--”

“Nothing. It was nothing. I am just so glad you’re okay. That’s all, Maddie.” He pulled her to him again, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back through the silk of her night gown, “I’m just so glad you’re okay.” He kissed her again, more lightly this time, but just as intensely, and before she recovered her breath, he was out the window and down the trellis.

Maddie rushed to the window and saw him gazing back upon her from the ground. He mouthed something, and she strained to hear the words. She leaned out the window, and he spoke again, “I love you, Madolyn Hayes.” And with that, he was gone.

Dazed by his words and still light-headed from his kiss, Maddie walked back to the bed and sat onto its edge, putting on hand on either side of her head and propping her elbows on her knees. She caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye, and she looked toward her pillow. On it lay a single red rose.

Maddie picked up the rose and brought it to her nose, smelling it. She then lay back down on the bed and held the rose to her chest. David’s words echoing in her head.

THE END