The rain beat down hard on the pavement as Chloe huddled under the vegetable store awning. Thankfully, all the stores were closed this late at night and they were able to find shelter. Chloe loved watching the rain, but being stuck out in it for countless hours had given her a new perspective.

Derek stood under the other end of the awning; "standing watch", he had said, "just in case". 'Just in case what?' Chloe wondered.

Tori was with Simon, headed to find his family friend, and ever since Chloe and Derek had split from them at the bus stop, they'd run across nothing but bad luck. Everywhere they went, people eyed them suspiciously. Chloe understood why – less than a year ago, she would have done the same thing. Now, however, Chloe would probably look them straight in the eyes and ask if they wanted to split the bill at the corner café.

Thinking of food made her stomach grumble loudly and she blushed, embarrassed, turning her head away from Derek in case he looked over at her. After she felt less humiliated, she looked back in his direction, only to find that the tall young man had sat down beside her silently while she was preoccupied. She jumped a bit, but regained her composure and looked quickly down to her sneakers.

"You hungry?" Derek's voice sounded cool and collected.

"…Yeah."

"Well, we can look for a twenty-four hour restaurant if you want, but it has to be a cheap place because we barely have enough money to get us where we need to go. Maybe we should take a break and look for really small part-time jobs? It couldn't hurt right?"

"They're hot on our trail, Derek. We can't just stop and get jobs – Christ, you wouldn't even let me stop to pee yesterday…" said Chloe, completely disheartened and totally dejected. Nothing was worth stopping and facing the scientists again. Granted, they had Rae, but Rae had betrayed her.

Chloe understood Rae's need to belong and feel special, but they were all running now, fighting for their lives in the cold, harsh world that existed beyond parents and Lyle House. Hopefully, they would be able to get away and plot to get Rae back; if not, Rae was in it alone…

Derek stood again, jarring Chloe back to reality. He turned to look at her and lowered one large hand in a gesture of helpfulness. Chloe thought about dismissing the hand but decided against it, leaning forward just enough to grasp Derek's hand and be hoisted quickly up. A little too quickly for her taste…

Derek had forgotten how small and light Chloe was, pulling her up with the same force he would use when he helped Simon up, and the extra force propelled her forward, toward the pavement again. Derek's arms wrapped around her waist, tightened, then released again when he knew she was steady on her feet again. He mumbled an apology and she nodded dejectedly. The odd look that flashed through her eyes at his apology confused him greatly. He couldn't imagine why Chloe would be upset that he had let her go… usually people preferred that he not touch them at all…

The two headed down the sidewalk, trying to stay as well-hidden in the shadows as they could, but found it unbeneficial, since the rain had already forced everyone inside. After trying for a while, they gave up, deciding that they really didn't care all that much whether someone saw them walking in the rain after midnight.

A loud boom and a flash of pure white light lit the sky and although the same thing had been going on for hours, being out in the weather worried Chloe far more than being under the awning had. She bit her tongue to keep from letting out a surprised shriek and instead reached out to Derek.

A warmth seemed to wrap around Derek's hand that he couldn't recognize; something that calmed him immensely and abated all of his fears. Upon inspection, Derek found that the enjoyable warmth was Chloe's own hand, tied loosely to his own by a jumble of fingers.

One side of his mouth twisted upwards in a tiny, hidden smile while he pretended not to notice, and Chloe continued that same way as well. Unable to stay silent any longer, Chloe said "You're really warm," just loud enough for Derek to hear.

"Comes with the territory."

"Oh… Uhm… Has it always been like that?"

"No. Not until recently. About the same time..." Derek trailed off, realizing that he had almost told her that the heat only started after she came to Lyle House.

"About the same time as what?"

Chloe tugged on his arm and forced him to stop, face her, and look her straight in the eyes.

"About the same time as what?" she asked again.

Derek shuffled his feet and glanced down to the cement sidewalk, eager to look anywhere but at Chloe. "I don't know," he mumbled, "I was just rambling."

"You can't ramble about when something started, Derek." Chloe's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed, glaring suspiciously.

Derek sighed and looked her in the eye. "About the same time I met you," he declared, leaning against the wall behind him and staring at her for longer than ever before. She met his eyes confidently, grabbing his free hand with her own and holding both his hands out between them.

"You're sure that's when it started? You're sure it's normal? You promised to tell me if anything weird happened, remember?"

"That's not what I promised, and I hadn't promised that back then anyways," he retorted, still holding her hands and staring down at her.

Chloe leaned in and pressed her face into the front of his sweatshirt, feeling like letting go of all her emotions, only to propel herself backwards again, dragging Derek along to the diner across the street.

Over pancakes and French toast, the two left one hand laced together, and after the meal, headed out again on their way.

THE END!!!

Haha. I just wrote a fanfiction for something other than a manga! I'm so incredibly proud of myself! :D

Tell me if you want this to become a two-shot or not, because I just planned a one-shot, but I'm open to a two-shot. I really wanted to put a kiss in but didn't feel like the timing was right…?

Anyways, thanks so much for reading and please please please review and tell me what you think! I just started writing again, so all feedback is appreciated… 