Holy Crap, its a Torrential Downpour!

It was a good thing Prism Sunrise's dormitory was on the ground floor, because by the time Chuck's thunderbird pulled up to it, it had gone from 'raining' to 'holy crap, its a torrential downpour'! "Stay here, for a minute, I'll go unlock the door." He instructed and headed out into the rain, running over and unlocking the door. He returned shortly, grabbed his gig bag, books and Emma and they made a break for the dry shelter of the dorm. Unfortunately, they were completely soaked through by the time they made it.

Chuck took off his gig bag, unzipping it and immediately pulling his bass out. He disappeared into the bathroom momentarily, then returned with two towels. He passed one to Emma and used the other to dry off his bass guitar, wanting to avoid any damage to it. It was more important to take care of Emma and his equipment first, then worry about himself later. After all, if you take care of what's important to you, it'll take care of you too. Once his bass was dry, he used the same towel on himself, drying his skin and hair as best as he could. His clothing was heavy with how waterlogged it was and he pulled the shirt off and carried the dripping fabric into the bathroom to throw it in the sink for now. Then he disappeared into his room. After a few moments, he came out and grabbed Emma's hand in one of his and his bass with the other. "C'mon, follow me." Chuck said, leading her towards his room, "I've got some dry clothes you can wear until yours dry."

How Chuck could possibly see through this sudden monsoon well enough to drive was beyond Emma. Sure her eyesight was pretty bad, but even with the rain pounding viciously on the windshield she had just enough visibility to realize that they had not pulled up in front of the girl’s dormitories. That’s sneaky Wilder was smart enough to pull one over on me… She had to admit she was sort of impressed, but now she had to face this torrential downpour…in a skirt no less.

Soaked to the bone, clothes sticking to the slight curves of her body, and now barefooted –her waterlogged flats dangling from her left hand- Emma stood in the boy’s deserted dorm, relieved she wouldn’t have to meet any of his roommates looking like this. Pulling her hair loose from her pigtails, she began drying it to the best of the ability the towel Chuck had given her would allow. By the time she finished with her hair, there wasn’t a dry spot left on the towel. Thankfully Chuck seemed to have dry clothes that he believed would fit her, leading her by the hand into his bedroom… leaving a trail of water behind them.

Once the two of them were in his room, he shut the door and pulled open a drawer, pulling out a couple pairs of jeans and tossing them on the bed. Another drawer opened and a white t-shirt joined the jeans shortly. Chuck grabbed one of the pairs of jeans, the one with more holes, and unbuckled his belt, sliding it off himself and unbuttoning his jeans. He turned to Emma momentarily and motioned to the clothes still on his bed. "Go ahead and put those on. I'll turn around until you're done changing." He instructed, turning away and dropping his own jeans, changing into the dry ones, "I won't look, I promise. Unless you want me to."

It took Emma a few moments to register that Chuck was in fact planning to change right there in the same room as her. Her deep brown gaze lingering on him from a moment traveling over his many tattoos, along his broad muscular shoulder and down until they reached his the top of his boxers….BOXERS? Emma’s hands immediately flew up over her glasses. Obstructing her view. Her cheeks were feeling extremely warm due to her excessive amount of blushing although the rest of her petite body was shivering cold -- her clothing still dripping wet.

“Oh no, I would prefer you to focus on getting dressed yourself.” Emma said shyly, managing to make her way over to his bed dropping her hands to pick up the clothes he took out for her. Fighting the urge to peek over her shoulder, Emma removed her drenched top and although she was hoping to leave it on…her bra was far too wet that it would embarrassingly soak through the dry shirt. The shirt Chuck chose barely passed the bottom of her panties –the driest piece of clothing she allowed to stay on- completely covered as long as she didn’t bend over as she pulled on the dry pants. Length wise Chuck’s clothes fit her rather well, however being much smaller in the hips letting go of them would result in the piece of clothing falling to the floor. Clearing her throat Emma looked over her shoulder at Chuck, “Umm…do you have something that would help keep these up?” She asked clutching at the pants.

Chuck had just pulled his jeans up onto his hips when she had asked him for something to keep the jeans from falling off of her petite body. He grabbed the belt that he had been wearing and slid it through the belt loops for her, reaching around Emma from behind and pulling the belt until it fit her comfortably. Slipping the knife from his pocket, he worked a new hole into it so that it would fit her properly. "Don't lose this belt, Emma," his voice was right next to her ear as he belted it, "This is the only one I have."

His distinctive blue eyes roamed over her, taking in the sight of her wearing his clothing. "You look great in my clothes." He wasn't too shy to admit with a shameless, appreciative smile. The shirt fit her fairly nicely, though it was a bit loose. His pants were baggy on her, but she looked comfortable at least. Chuck blinked at her for a moment, noticing something was a little off as he was zipping his jeans up. A few seconds passed, then he realized something important. A huge grin broke out over his face. "You're not wearing a bra!"

The heat radiating from Chuck’s body was comforting and silently welcomed by Emma as he snaked his arms around her, looping his belt around her hips while adjusting it to fit her size. His voice at her ear caused a small shiver to run through her body, hopefully unnoticed. Hearing that she was now in possession in his one and only belt brought a small mischievous grin to her face. Keeping his belt and giving him one of her own –preferably a pink one- had crossed her mind. She wasn’t innocent all the time...she did have a few playful thoughts every now and again. Lately more often than not, as she began to let her guard down around Chuck.

Emma’s thoughts were quickly snatched from her scheming back to her clothing as Chuck bluntly pointed out the fact she had removed her bra. Letting go of the jeans –thankful that Chuck had properly tightened the belt- she crossed her arms shyly over her chest, “You didn’t expect me to leave it on did you? It was soaking wet…” She informed him, kicking her bra under into the pile of wet clothes with her barefoot. Brushing away the wet hair that clung to her face she looked at Chuck, his wide grin bringing a small smile to her to her lips... Why was he so darn cute?

"Go ahead and get comfortable," Chuck smiled at her, motioning for her to sit on his bed, "I doubt this storm's going to let up any time soon. Here, I'll play some music for you if you like. Do you like Elvis?" Walking over to his closet, he swung the door open, revealing nothing but his musical equipment. Gingerly picking up a black gig bag, he unzipped it and pulled out an acoustic flat-top guitar and took a seat across from Emma on his bed. "I'll play something fun." He tuned it by ear, then once he was satisfied, he began to play and sing.



"You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But I got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise

You fooled me with your kisses
You cheated and you schemed
Heaven knows how you lied to me
You're not the way you seemed

You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel
But I got wise

You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise

I thought that I was in heaven
But I was sure surprised
Heaven help me, I didn't see
The devil in your eyes

You look like an angel
Walk like an angel
Talk like an angel

But I got wise
You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise

You're the devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise
Oh, yes, you are
The devil in disguise"

Crawling onto Chuck’s bed leaning back against the headboard, Emma pulled her knees in toward her chest in order to comfortably rest her chin on them; her deep brown eyes locked on Chuck as he began playing a catchy tune on his guitar. She watched silently as her head began to bob a little to the music, a warm smile appearing on her lips. Granted he was no Elvis, but his uniquely charming voice and obvious passion for music captivated her. He captivated her. She could easily lose herself in his music, and probably would have if the song hadn’t come to an end. Dropping her knees so that her legs were tucked to her side Emma flashed him her pearly whites. Leaning forward just a tad bit, her palms sinking into the soft mattress, she found herself even more intrigued by his playing. "That was amazing. You’re very talented Chuck.” Brushing her damp hair from her face Emma’s voice softened as she sat back a little, “I would love to move people the way your music does, but books are more my thing…I'm not very musically inclined.”

"Yeah, but you're so smart." Chuck said, looking at her, "You could pick up music in no time. If I had your smarts, I wouldn't be struggling in school all the time." He strummed a little more on the acoustic guitar, then set it aside. Holding her gaze with his, Chuck smiled at her compliment. Sure, he had gotten countless compliments from friends, family and strangers for his ability with a guitar, but they had never meant as much as Emma's. The bassist couldn't quite put his finger on why she had captivated him so suddenly, but it was a very welcome feeling. Whenever Emma was around, his heart beat louder than a big bass drum. It was hard for him to think of much else aside from the pretty little minx. And still she seemed to shyly wonder why he was so interested in her. For the love of God, he felt like the big bad wolf going after sweet little red riding hood - all he wanted to do was gobble her right up.

“Well smarts aren’t everything Chuck…” Emma replied, anything following being drowned out by the sound of thunder rolling over the dorms. The windows shook in their frames as the rain beat violently against them… looks like she wasn’t going anywhere soon. Not pushing the subject any further Emma’s gaze fell on the guitar he had set aside. Leaning over the edge of the bed Emma’s fingers trailed along the strings of the guitar. Looking up at Chuck she asked “May I?”

Although he was a little surprised, he nodded, passing the guitar to Emma. "Of course you can play it, Emma." He said, watching her take the acoustic guitar and sit with it. It was already tuned, so she would only have to start playing it. Chuck leaned back on his bed and watched her intently, eager to see how she would do.

Straightening up sitting with her legs crisscrossed on the bed, Emma set the guitar in her lap mimicking the way Chuck had been holding it. It was surprisingly light for its size but seeing as Emma had never tried her hand at playing an instrument before, it felt a little awkward in her arms. Delicate -- not do anything that would accidently break Chuck guitar, Emma ran her finger’s over the strings. Well ought to give it a shot! A loud sloppy tone filled the air as Emma plucked one of the cords, “Ohh…That didn’t sound very appealing.” She laughed, looking towards Chuck. She didn’t expect to be able to pick it up and play as well as Chuck did. Then again she didn’t expect to sound so lousy either. “Well, I guess I’m not as smart as you thought.” She said scrunching her nose a little unsure what she had done wrong.

It had been a long time since such a thing occurred, but the noise that came out of his guitar was enough to make an involuntary shudder shoot up his spine. He shook his head as if to clear it from an unexpected shock and sat back up, leaning over towards her. "You're still a smart girl, Emma," Chuck murmured, placing her fingers on the neck to form a C chord, "You just don't have any practice yet. Here, this is a C chord. Now press down hard and try again."

Nodding her head Emma gave it another shot, pressing her fingers down this time where Chuck advised her to she plucked at the string. The sound was much clearer this time although nowhere near as nice as his. That didn’t stop the wide smile that appeared on Emma’s thrilled face, seeing as she couldn’t even play the triangle this was small victory for her. “Well, with a little more practice I may become even better than you!” Emma joked resting her hand against the front of the guitar her gaze resting on him.

At her excitement, he couldn't help but smile at Emma. She was so cute when she played the C chord correctly. "Who knows, maybe you will be better than me someday. You wanna join the band?" Chuck asked slyly, "Then you could stay right here with me all the time and we can study and learn new songs together." Chuck rearranged her fingers on the neck again, this time to form a G chord and waiting patiently for her to play that one too. When she did, he added, "Then you can come over and play with me." Though he was referring to music, the tone of his voice held a more intimate meaning. Chuck leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, "I think I'd like to play with you, Emma."

The comment about joining the band -although playfully as it was- made Emma laugh shaking her head. He had obviously forgotten her statement about lacking talent in the musical department. The only instrument that Emma could use and not sound absolutely terrible at was her voice, but she wasn’t about to let that little fact slip. She enjoyed singing for the fun of it normally saving all her performances for the shower where no one would overhear her.

Plucking at the new chord Chuck had arranged her hands over -- the noted sounded out softer and clearer than one before, bringing a new light of excitement to Emma’s eyes. However her attention was quickly diverted from her success at playing the note correctly as Chuck leaned in closer his voice at her ear as he whispered.

"I think I'd like to play with you, Emma."

The blush that the tone in his voice had prompted to appear on her cheeks was a light shade of pink. Surely when Chuck said “play” he was referring to the instruments, however Emma had quickly changed the subject not wanting to let slip what his comment had actually brought to her mind. Instead she focused on the storm which didn’t sound like it would be letting up anytime soon. Handing back his guitar the only thing separating the two of them, Emma reached behind her retrieving the one other thing in her reach…his pillow. Leaning back she rested against the headboard hugging the pillow close, a way to hide her blushing face. She could feel sleep creeping up on her seeing as it had gotten very late. Being caught in Boy’s Dormitories at this time of night would have landed Emma in all sorts of trouble, but she REALLY didn’t want to leave. It couldn’t hurt to wait out the storm….a little longer. Waiting until he had taken care of his guitar Emma inquired about something that had been lingering in the back of her mind, since the night he come knocking at her window. “You know, I don’t remember telling you what dorm I was in...so how did you know?”

Once Emma's innocent question reached his ears, Chuck froze. He had completely forgotten about the fact that she'd never told him what dorm she was in. Oops. Well...

He looked rather embarrassed all of a sudden, considering how he'd actually gone about finding Emma's dorm. Chuck took a deep breath, but nothing could really prepare him for this. "Well...I wanted to find you and give you your student ID back before you ended up buying another, so I kind of...well..." Better to just tell her the truth and get it over with, "I took Chepe and broke into the school records to find out where your dorm was. I'm sorry. I couldn't see you wasting money buying a new one when I could just bring yours to you."

Emma perked up surprised at his answer. He broke into the administration office just to figure out what dorm she was in? He was out of his mind! If they would have been caught...oh the trouble they would have been in. She actually really appreciated the fact that he went through such lengths to get her Student Id, back to her seeing as she really couldn’t afford to waste any money on a new one. But the thought of him getting thrown out of Valevay because of that...she didn't even want think about it. Laying her head back down on his pillow, she smiled finding him rather adorable with that look on his face, “Well I’m glad you didn’t get caught.”

She's not mad? A feeling of relief washed over him at the realization and Chuck walked back over, rejoining her on his bed. He stretched out out his side next to her, propping his head up on one of his hands. Emma looked so good laying down next to him on his bed, he noticed, like she belonged there with him. He smiled warmly at her, totally comfortable, even though they'd known each other for really only two days now. For some reason, to him it felt like they had met before or had known each other for a long time.

Considering there was only one grade school and one middle school, they had obviously gone to school together, but hadn't really interacted much. Had he known Emma better when he was younger, he probably would have insisted she be his girlfriend. Hell, he'd probably be asking her soon anyway. She was quite irresistible.

Laying there curled up on her side Emma chatted with Chuck late into the night. It was easy to talk to him since he was completely honest with his responses whether they were embarrassing or not…mostly leaving her hiding her face in the pillow every time he made her blush, which was more often than not. Unable to take her eyes off him Emma held back the urge to reach out and run her fingers through his head full of wild curls. They bounced with the slightest movement he made tempting her to touch them.

Emma hadn’t realized just how large Chuck’s family was until she asked about them. By then her eyes were getting heavy. Maybe she could rest them for a just moment... With her eyes closed her glasses sliding a little down her nose, Emma slipped in and out catching a few of his words here and there. Chuck sounded so distant now and somewhere between Keith and Bobby Wilder sleep had overtaken her; leaving the small petite brunette in the Chuck’s clothing, curled up in his bed, laying just a few inches away him.

Even though he'd noticed her eyelids getting heavy, he kept talking. Chuck didn't mind if Emma fell asleep on his bed. In fact, he'd been intent on keeping her from going out into the storm, which was still droning on outside. When it was certain that Emma had indeed fallen asleep, as indicated by the steady rising and falling of her chest, Chuck got up and slowly pulled the sheet and blanket out from under her, careful not to wake her. He watched her sleeping peacefully for a few moments before quietly sliding the drawer of the night stand open, pulling out a bottle of contact lens solution and his lens holder.

Quickly removing his contacts, he put them away, closing the drawer back up. He could hardly see until he was back to the bed, crawling in next to Emma and pulling the sheet up over the both of them. He pulled off her glasses carefully, folding them up and placing them on the night stand. Satisfied, Chuck laid back down and watched Emma sleep peacefully, only a few inches away. It was a surprise that she was already comfortable enough to fall asleep with him, but there would be no complaints from him. Reaching up, he shut the light off and wrapped an arm around Emma, holding her as he drifted off to sleep.

Warmth of the early morning sun peeking in through the curtains stirred Emma from her dreams. She laid there for a few moments on her back, pillowed on something warm and firm, Chuck’s arm… In a drowsy haze the events of the night before flooded back to her. Last thing she remembered was talking to Chuck, while waiting out the relentless storm that was keeping her from returning to her dorm. She felt her lips curve in a small involuntary smile, which was gone just as quickly as it appeared. What was she thinking? No, she wasn’t thinking…staying overnight in a boy’s dorm?! She should have been focusing on her studies, something she actually understood, that made any kind of sense. But this boy, he had completely captivated her. How and why escaped her clever little mind, but there was one thing she was certain of: She wanted to be with Chuck Wilder…

Still heavy from sleep her eyes fluttered open taking in what little of her surroundings her vision allowed without the aid of her glasses. Chuck’s fuzzy sleeping figure was curled around her as he lay on his side, the rest of the room a blurry mess to her. He held her in a loose embrace, his free arm a soft welcoming weight stretching across her stomach, his hand resting on the curve of her right hip. She could have laid there all morning, but in just a few hours classes would be starting and she needed to get back to her room and change into her own clothing. Lifting herself carefully not to wake him, an uneasy feeling of vulnerability overwhelmed her as she slid away from the secure warmth of his embrace. Taking an astounding amount of self-control to keep from immediately crawling back into his arms, Emma blindly searched the bedside table for her glasses.

Able to properly see she slipped on her shoes picking up her clothes in the process. Leaving like this didn’t sit well with her, but she’d have to get back soon since she still had homework to complete before class. Digging through her bag, Emma pulled out a loose sheet of paper leaving a small note for Chuck, to show her appreciation. Leaving the note where she had been lying minutes early, Emma took one last look at his peaceful sleeping face, before slipping out of his room. Thankfully everyone was still asleep (including the tiny presence of a child curled up on the couch). Although it was an innocent night Emma didn’t want to face the awkward explanation that would ensue had she run into a roommate upon sneaking out of Chuck’s room -- in his clothing, missing the presence of a certain supportive undergarment. Emma made it back with just enough time to finish her assignments, shower, and dress adding a newly acquired tattered old accessory around her hip.

Chuck was currently having the most amazing dream about a certain petite bookworm. Unfortunately, it cannot be described in detail in polite conversation, so we'll all just have to imagine what it could be. Either way, he moved to snuggle with Emma and found only a piece of paper where she had been. It was a note thanking him. When he got his contacts in, he sighed. Indeed, Emma was nowhere in sight. A good thing actually, had she been around to notice how tight his pants were this morning, they wouldn't get to class at all today. It was too bad she wasn't here...

He was showered in record time, dressed, done with his homework and even got in a little practice before heading off to class, noting a little girl had been asleep on the couch in the main room. He'd have to ask Chepe or Aaron about it later. Right now, it was time for class...