The clouds rolled in slowly that afternoon, but no one seemed to notice.
Not until the final bell rang, and the sky broke open like a secret spilling too fast.
Students screamed and scattered, covering their heads with backpacks and notebooks as they ran.
Jayden grabbed Amira's hand and pulled her toward the old music room—the one with the broken light and soft piano dust in the air. It wasn't locked. It never was.
They slipped inside, laughing and soaked. Amira's hair clung to her cheeks, her hoodie dripping water onto the tiled floor.
Jayden ran a hand through his wet curls. "Well," he grinned, "we survived."
She looked at him, cheeks flushed, water trailing down her jaw.
"You dragged me through a flood."
"And I'd do it again," he said, stepping closer. "Because now I get to be stuck here with you."
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "You're unbelievably cheesy."
He reached for the edge of her hood and gently pulled it back, revealing her face completely. "You love it."
She didn't deny it.
---
The room was quiet except for their breathing and the soft patter of rain against the windows.
Jayden sat on the bench by the old piano and patted the space beside him.
Amira joined him.
Neither played.
But his knee brushed hers.
And neither of them moved away.
He glanced at her. "Remember when I didn't know your name?"
She nodded.
"I kept wondering if you were someone loud or shy. Someone with bright-colored shoes or glasses. I kept imagining… but I never got it right."
"And now that you know me?" she asked.
Jayden turned to her fully. "Now, I don't want to imagine anyone else."
Her heart thumped so hard she swore he could hear it.
"I didn't think someone like you would ever… choose someone like me," she said.
He leaned in then—slow, sure—and whispered:
"But I did."
Their lips met, soft and unhurried. Rain poured outside, but inside it was warm, still, and full of quiet thunder.
---
They stayed like that for a while—just leaning into each other, wrapped in the hush of something beautiful.
Neither wanted to leave.
Because in that tiny, forgotten music room…
The storm didn't matter.
They were safe.
Together.