Valentine's Courage

Sybil sat next to the window in the common room, listening to music. It was raining heavily and she watched the raindrops hit the glass, tracking them as she did when she was little. One raindrop was targeted, then another. Which one would get to the bottom of the window first? It was always a guessing game to which Sybil never knew the answer. She liked the uncertainty and the fun of spying two drops of water as they raced down the glass. However, on any normal day she wouldn't be doing this with her morning. She'd usually be working – studying to become a nurse, and if she wasn't educating herself, she was usually having conversations with her friends. The problem was that none of her close friends were around. It was Valentine's Day and nobody was where they usually were. All of her friends had partners. Some of them were with someone who was also at the same university, and were either hanging together in one of their rooms or out on a date, and the rest of her friends had partners at different universities and were visiting them half way across the country. Sybil wasn't in the mood to work, and wasn't in the mood to try and actively make new friends. She would manage for a day in solitude. She was paying attention to nothing but the sounds of the songs she was listening to and the raindrops on the other side of the window. Unexpectedly, she saw out of her peripheral vision a young man come and sit opposite her. She knew that he was in his second year at university – he was older than her. She was only in her first year. She smiled and took her headphones out of her ears. "Are you alright?" he asked politely. "You look a bit upset."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sybil replied, noticing his Irish accent. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"I know the feeling!" he joked. "You're Sybil, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, and you're… Tom?" she asked, unsure whether she'd got the name right.

"Yeah, that's me! What are you listening to?" he asked to start a conversation.

"Scarborough fair," she replied.

"Oh, by Simon and… oh, what's his name?" Tom said, trying to dig into the corners of his memory to find the name of the other half of Simon's duo.

"Garfunkel?" Sybil asked, ever so slightly condescendingly. "Simon and Garfunkel. Yeah," she finished, more kindly.

"I'm surprised that you're listening to such melancholy stuff. I've seen you really getting into rock music before now."

"Yeah, well, when I'm this tired and when the weather's as bad as this, I tend to listen to calmer stuff. It's usually more depressing stuff, but I like it, so why not?" She paused before saying anything else. "Surely you have better things to do with your time than ask me about what music I'm listening to?"

"No, not really. I would be with my mates, but they're all out on dates today, so I'm stuck being the single one in the group with nothing to do other than work. To be honest, I'm surprised you're not out with your boyfriend," he said, trying his luck. He had liked the look of Sybil for a while, but had never had the courage to do anything about it. He always thought that all his friends would shoot him down if he said that he liked a first year. But now they weren't around, so maybe he could try now in peace. If it didn't work, then the guys never had to know. He just hoped that she didn't have any significant other to be spending the day with.

"I haven't got a boyfriend. I'm in the same situation as you. I'm the only single one in my friendship group, but it means that I've been left to my own devices today." Tom took a breath in and filled his lungs with courage.

"This might sound odd, but would you like to go out sometime? Not today, preferably. Valentine's Day probably isn't the best time to go on a first date. But, later this week, maybe?" he said, hoping from the bottom of his heart that she would say yes. She thought for a moment. He had the gorgeous accent and the charm to match. He dressed well and obviously cared for his looks. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, showing off his muscular arms – one of the things Sybil loved in a man, and she assumed that he had some degree of abdominal muscles as well.

"It doesn't sound odd at all. It sounds rather lovely, actually. I can't do this weekend. I'm visiting my parents in Yorkshire and coming back on Monday evening, but Tuesday or Wednesday suits – if you're free, that is."

"Sounds great. Here's my number," Tom said as he wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to Sybil. "I suggest that you text me when you know which day is best for you. As far as I know I'm not doing anything on those days apart from a couple of lectures, but I can't remember what time those lectures are."

"I'll text you later then. Do you want my number, or will you just get it when I fire you a text."

"I'll get when you text me. It's easier that way, and besides, my phone is currently dead and is going in to be fixed tomorrow. So, umm, it's probably best if you text me after tomorrow," Tom said with a light laugh.

"Okay then," Sybil said as she looked down at the piece of paper with Tom's name and number on it. She smiled softly. Just then, someone called Tom's name from the opposite side of the room. Sybil looked at Tom and Tom looked in the direction of the voice.

"I apparently need to go," Tom said to Sybil, looking back at her. "I have no idea where or why, but it appears I'm needed." Sybil laughed quietly at his way of phrasing 'I'd better be off'. "I look forward to getting that text from you," he said with a small smile and a gentle laugh. As he began to walk off Sybil turned her head and called,

"I look forward to sending it!"

This is my story for this month's Rock the AU (organised by the ever-wonderful The Yankee Countess). I know it's a bit late for Valentine's Day, but on the 14th I was in Paris on a school trip and I actually only came up with this idea on the 15th. I know it's short, but I was determined to get this Rock the AU done so that I wouldn't miss out on the theme for this month. Please review and favourite if you have the time. It means a lot to me when I get an e-mail telling me someone has done any of those things.