Chapter 7 – The Rain Knows Things
The sky was grey when I left the bookstore.
Not just cloudy. It felt like the sky wanted to cry.
I didn't mind.
I walked slow... holding the book close to my chest.
The book I found inside. The one with my old words in it.
Words I forgot I wrote.
It felt weird.
Like I was holding a part of the old me.
The me I didn't wanna look at yet.
But I still held on to it.
–––
Halfway home... the rain started.
Not heavy.
Just soft, quiet rain.
Like the sky was trying to say something.
Just to me.
I didn't run.
Didn't use my umbrella.
I just let the rain fall on me.
And this time...
I didn't feel cold.
It felt like the bookstore.
Gentle.
Still.
Full of memories.
And full of him.
Leo.
Leo with those quiet eyes.
Leo who didn't look away when I cried.
Leo who held my hand like I might vanish.
I don't know what was happening between us.
But I knew something had changed.
In him.
In me.
In the space between us.
–––
At home... I put the book on my desk.
And just stared at it.
I wanted to open it again.
But I couldn't.
Not yet.
So I made tea.
Changed into dry clothes.
Sat by the window.
The rain kept falling outside.
And I let myself think.
About stuff I usually push away.
My dad.
That letter I found.
The pain in Leo's eyes when he said he was waiting.
Everything felt like a puzzle.
And I was just starting to see the pieces.
–––
That night, I had a dream.
I was in the bookstore again...
but something was different.
The shelves were taller.
The air was cold.
Then I saw a door I never saw before.
I walked to it, heart beating fast.
Opened it.
There was a mirror inside.
But when I looked in it...
It wasn't me.
It was Leo.
Younger Leo.
He was crying.
Holding a book and a paper.
He looked right at me.
His lips moved.
But I couldn't hear the words.
I tried to speak.
Tried to reach out.
But the mirror fogged up.
And he disappeared.
–––
I woke up fast.
Heart pounding.
It was still dark.
The dream felt... real.
Like a memory.
Or maybe a message.
–––
The next morning, I went back to the bookstore.
Didn't even plan it.
My feet just took me there.
Leo looked surprised.
"Back already?" he asked.
"I couldn't stay away," I said.
He smiled... but only a little.
He looked tired.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
He nodded. "Didn't sleep much."
I looked at him.
Then said, "I had a dream about you."
That made him pause.
"What kind of dream?"
So I told him.
The mirror.
The younger him.
The fog.
When I finished, he looked at me for a long time.
Then he said,
"That room is real."
I blinked. "Wait—what?"
"The room in your dream," he said. "It's real."
He looked down.
"I haven't opened it in years," he said.
"Not since..."
He stopped.
"Not since what?" I asked.
He looked at me... and I saw it.
Fear.
"Not since the day I almost didn't come back."
I didn't speak.
He walked to the counter. Put his hands on it.
"I was sixteen," he said.
"Angry. Alone. Lost."
"The store found me. Like it found you."
I moved closer.
"I thought it was just a bookstore," he said.
"But it showed me parts of myself I didn't wanna see."
"And the mirror?" I whispered.
He nodded.
"It shows you who you're scared of becoming."
I felt a chill in my arms.
"What did you see?" I asked.
He was quiet for a while.
Then said softly,
"A boy who didn't wanna be here anymore."
My heart hurt.
I reached for his hand.
This time, he didn't pull away.
He looked down at our hands. Then back at me.
"Do you wanna see it?" he asked.
"The room?"
He nodded.
"I don't know," I said honestly.
"It's not easy," he said. "But maybe it helps."
I thought about the book.
My old self.
Maybe... he was right.
"Okay," I said. "Show me."
–––
He walked to the back. I followed.
Past the shelves.
Past the candle room.
Then we stopped.
There was a curtain.
Behind it—
A small, hidden door.
He opened it.
The room inside was quiet. Dark.
And in the middle...
was the mirror.
It was tall. Dusty.
Old.
I stepped closer.
Looked in.
My reflection looked back...
but it wasn't the me I knew.
She looked tired.
Scared.
But strong too.
Like she had been through something... and made it.
I looked at Leo.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
I didn't know.
But I nodded anyway.
He stood beside me.
We looked in together.
Our reflections side by side.
We both looked like people who had seen too much.
Felt too much.
He touched the glass.
It shimmered.
Then he looked at me.
"Your turn."
I took a breath.
Reached out.
Touched the mirror.
And then—
I remembered something.
A good moment.
Me and my dad.
Lying in the grass.
Looking at clouds.
He said they looked like stories.
And I believed him.
I was a little girl again.
Hopeful.
–––
When I opened my eyes...
I was crying.
Leo was too.
We didn't say anything.
But we didn't need to.
We had both faced something inside that room.
And it changed something.
Quietly.
–––
Later, standing in the bookstore's warm light,
I looked at him and whispered,
"Thank you."
He smiled. That soft smile I was starting to love.
"For what?" he asked.
"For waiting," I said.
He didn't answer.
He just reached for my hand again.
And this time...
I held on.