The air was humid and stale and empty under the canopy of red he held up to protect him from the rain. All around him were personal tents of various shapes and sizes and colors. It was a zoo of pattern. A few steps ahead, he saw an empty space and wondered how it could fail to be populated with a nylon roof. His eyes fell to the spot again as he trudged on. Now though, there were sopping, blonde curls and shivering, hoodie covered shoulders. Without a second thought, he scooped the stranger under the umbrella with him and tucked her to his side.
"You'll catch a cold running around like that! I'm Jake." He beamed down at her with bright grey eyes and a crooked smile.
"Oh! My umbrella broke. Thanks." She stuttered, his sudden closeness unnerving her.
Earlier, before the wind had ripped her shelter apart, she had thought about how safe it was beneath the canopy. Safely sheltered away from danger with sound muffled and the wold narrowed down, she liked the solidarity of her umbrella. Her arm brushed his. Suddenly, even though there was less room, and both of them were getting a rained on a little more, the lightning seemed to have found it's way beneath the umbrella, crackling between them with every matched step.
"I'm Tess." She said.
The sound of her small, bright voice felt like a crack of electricity straight through his chest. He shot her another crooked smile and managed to inch a little closer to her inside their shelter. Soon, the only storm either of them felt was the intensity of silence, full of potential, underneath the umbrella.
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