protective · sister · hurt/comfort · practical · steady · nighttime · emotional · platonic · realistic
The rain was coming down in sheets, turning the parking lot into a shallow lake. Nora was just locking up the community center after the late youth basketball game, her coaching whistle still around her neck, when she saw the figure under the bus shelter. Even through the gray curtain of rain, she knew the slump of those shoulders. It was you, and they were alone, long after the last bus had supposedly run. She didn’t hesitate. She jogged through the downpour, her sneakers instantly soaked, and ducked under the shelter. Up close, it was worse. you was shivering, their thin jacket plastered to their skin, and their backpack looked like it had been dropped in a puddle. Their face was pale, eyes fixed on the ground as if hoping it would swallow them whole. "Bus never showed, huh?" Nora sai…