Kiss The Rain
	Dennis could still hear Sharon's sweet voice ringing ever so sadly in his ears. It was keeping him from sleeping, as it had from the very moment he had left her. Or rather, had had no other choice but to leave her - he was after all, going to be a dad. He was apparently going to be having a child with the most ridiculous woman ever impregnated, and damn it, every night Dennis knew it was the wrong one. He'd fantasised about Sharon enduring pregnancy, as weird and random as the past-time was, he would have loved to have a baby with her. 

	But no, Sharon had said her parting words, forcing Dennis to drink them in with a grace he simply didn't have to bestow. She had ended their love on Christmas Day with a tight embrace, only because she knew she must. Not for one second had Dennis ever believed that she would have gotten on a plane to America that night without him if they had only been battling against Den's disapproval. They had faced this before, and they were more certain than ever that, together, they were ready to beat it. But Zoe was pregnant. Nothing could have cut deeper for beautiful selfless Sharon.

	Only now, Dennis knew that he had never fathered a child, with the woman he loved or otherwise. In fact, it had all been the sickest plan of his own so deeply loved papa. Dennis already knew Zoe to be pathetic and weak, but so desperate to keep him in her life when he could make it no more obvious any more often that his heart already belonged to Sharon? She knew she was nothing more than a convenienet blip in the, and God, this was far more corny than Dennis had promised himself he would ever be, the path of true love.

	And beautiful wonderful Sharon had somehow, for some reason Dennis was sickeningly anxious to know, had taught herself not to be so goddamn selfless after all, because for the first time since Christmas Day, she had phoned him. The line had been awful it was true, it crackled and fizzed like anything and made it sound as if she was stood in the middle of a motorway, or maybe standing on a railway bridge, but Dennis was too in love with that voice to mistake it. It had been her.

	"Dennis?"

	The tone of her voice immediately made the hairs of the back of his neck stand up on end. She was practically yelling down the line, yet something was there that made him think that she was trying to hold back many tears.

	"Dennis! Are you there? Oh, darlin', don't do this to me, please tell me you're there!"

	"Sharon? It's alright, it's alright, I'm here, I am. Are you ok?"

	Crackly hellish silence answered him.

	"Sharon?!"

	Hello....
	Can you hear me?
	Am I getting through to you?
	Hello...

	"Dennis... oh Dennis, I hate it.... can't stand it-"

	"Sweetheart... ca- can't stand what? This line.... I can barely hear you-"

	"So sorry.... just needed to hear your voice.... the things they said- oh God, I wish you were here."

	"Where? Tell me where you are."

	"Oh.... I, I don't know... just got out of a cab.... raining.... using my mobile.... in a phone box.... there's a petrol station... I- oh God-"

	She simply dissolved into tears, each racking sob rushing down the line. Poor Dennis could not avoid hearing them, and each one was like he was being kicked in the stomach. He couldn't remember the last time he had not been there to hold her as she cried.

	"Sharon... what's happened? Please, don't- don't cry.... just tell me-" But with a sigh, Dennis suddenly realised he didn't need to probe her. "Den."

	She only offered another sob to answer.

	"Oh, baby, I'm so..."

	"Sorry? Yeah, me too. I've missed you so much. And for what?"

	"No, I mean D-"

	"Well I don't!" she hissed viciously, training herself to breathe deeply and get past her tears as she realised what he was about to say. Then she sighed again. "I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear from me, did you? This time of night.... you're with someone, I expect... sure I can hear voices, probably interrupted a party... sorry..."

	Is it late there?
	Is there laughter on the line?
	Are you sure you're there alone?

	Dennis instinctively scowled, knowing that she'd be automatically picturing him jumping some random girl she'll assume he'd have picked up off the street just to pass the time. "Don't be stupid."

	"But I am!"

	"Never!"

	"Well I'm not there am I.... where I should be, I'm stood in the middle of nowhere in the rain and it's so cold and I'm so angry and I- oh Dennis, it's hopeless!"

	And Dennis had to admit that for a second he agreed, but he just couldn't listen to Sharon, his sole source of hope and belief in life say such things. "I won't hear this from you Sharon alright? It's going to be OK...."

	"Yeah?" she blasted in reply, almost challenging him to make her see differently. "Then come and find me, go on! Then you stand here, and say that again, and I bet you I'll feel exactly the same! I just know it."

	"No Sharon," he said softly, "no sweetheart, it's just not like that."

	She sighed knowingly down the line. "You mean you won't come? Figures. I finished us didn't I darlin'? But then.... oh, I never knew-"

	Coz I'm
	Trying to explain
	Something's wrong
	You just don't sound the same.

	Dennis tried to stop himself laughing. Never, had it even been what both of them wanted in all the world, could Dennis have been finished with Sharon. But somehow, he just couldn't say as much, like his voice wasn't within his throat anymore. Instead all he managed to say was;

	"Go stand outside Sharon."

	"What?" she spluttered along the ever crackling and fizzing line. "Dennis, are you mental; it's tipping it down."

	"Go stand outside."

	"Well... OK; if you want me to get hit by a truck-"

	Dennis chuckled softly and felt her own weak offering of laughter tingle in his ears. 

	Why don't you
	Why don't you
	Go outside
	Go outside?

	"Dennis, what's this about?"

	"Are you cold baby?"

	"Freezing."

	"Awww, I'm sorry. But... the rain.... can you feel it?"

	"By the gallon." Then she squealed. "It's all running down my neck! Dennis, what's this for?"

	"For, Sharon? It's for you."

	"Eh?"

	"The rain.... it's there with you right? Well, that's me."

	He heard a sound that could only be described as a smile. He could see it appearing on her beautiful face. He knew that she'd understand.

	"I wanna be there with you, Sharon.... I wanna be able to make it better...."

	And she laughed again, strained, like she hadn't laughed in weeks, which in some perverse way, Dennis prayed was true. "Are you meaning Zoe or the cold I'm catching for you?"

	"Anything. Just don't hide from the rain baby. It means I'm there."

	Kiss the rain
	Whenever you need me
	Kiss the rain
	Whenever I'm gone too long
	If your lips 
	Feel lonely and thirsty
	Kiss the rain
	And wait for the dawn.

	"I wish it did. I've missed you so much."

	"Me?"

	"No, the other boyfriend I have on the line. Yes Dennis, you. I've missed everything about you."

	It made Dennis so happy to hear her say so after the pain of their seperation and the numbness of the weeks slinking past. He needed to hear more, almost as if he needed to be reacquainted with his memories of Sharon. "Tell me."

	He heard a laughing smile again, but she didn't protest. Once again, she immediately understood the need behind his request. Dennis supposed she'd been suffering identically to himself. Well, of course she would have been.

	"Well, I haven't slept without you next to me, and I miss your laugh and- God, this hurts so much. Please darlin', please just be here." She couldn't stop the words rushing past her lips, however impossible her request was. Every bone in her body was screaming for him.

	"I am. I am."

	"No, no...." she whimpered, another sob apparently imminent. "I need you Dennis, where are you?"

	He moved his lips, ready to tell her exactly where he was, but she burst into tears and he immediately switched to making soothing noises as if by some instinct.

	"Sharon, oh please, sweetheart, I'm not worth this, I'm not!"

	"Shut up, you're everything and it's been so bloody long. I'm not even sure I remember what you look like and I'm so scared-"

	"Hey, shhh. You're in a state that's all, you haven't forgotten, you haven't."

	"I have!" she wailed. "I can't even remember your kiss, Dennis - help me."

	Dennis gave out a nostalgic chuckle. He could indeed help her. Remembering what it felt like to kiss Sharon had been all that kept him going ever since she had left him on Christmas Day.

	"Are you still stood outside?" He didn't need to voice the question however because he could hear the rain thundering away on the other end of the line. "That's what it feels like Sharon. Like the rain."

	Keep in mind
	We're under the same sky
	And the night's
	As empty for me as for you.

	"Hmmm?"

	"Remember telling me that falling in love with me had scared you.... because of, y'know, who I am?" Dennis hoped he wouldn't have to give the details, because he sure as hell remembered that exchange, and it still cut pretty deep, even though he was assured of how Sharon felt now.

	He thought he heard her wince in response. "Yeah. Yeah, I remember darlin'."

	"Well, that's why it's like the rain. Cos you're sure it feels wrong, and you wanna get away, but it's paralyzing, and pretty soon it's the most incredible feeling ever and it's like... you wanna dance around and tell everyone how alive you feel-"

	Sharon sighed. "I miss your kisses darlin'."

	"Then use the rain."

	"You're mad."

	"Course I am. I'm missing you."

	"Missing kissing you." she shot back softly.

	If you feel
	You can't wait til morning
	Kiss the rain
	Kiss the rain
	
	"Kiss the rain."

	And for a second or two, the line fell silent, but Dennis was somehow sure that he'd picked up Sharon gasping a little against the heavy rain fall.

	Hello?
	Do you miss me?
	I hear you say you do
	But not the way I'm missing you.
	What's new? How's the weather?
	Is it stormy where you are?
	You sound so close, but it feels like you're so far.

	He could almost hear the shiver of cold translate into her voice as Sharon came onto the line again, with a heavy and sad sigh.

	"No good baby. I need to be with you."

	"Why?"

	A weak whimper of disbelief followed. "What do you mean "why"? Why do you think? Because I love you."

	Dennis didn't know why he continued to question her, as if it was not his voice he heard, but they were indeed his words. He could not seem to stop them. "Did you love me even when you thought I was going to be having a baby with Zoe?"

	"You know I did, But none of that matters now."

	"Well, it obviously does Sharon. You've just come from Walford, you've found out everything you thought you knew was a lie, you're stood in the middle of a downpour, fuck knows where, and you phoned me in a right state-"

	"And ask yourself why I phoned you eh?"

	"Because you thought I'd understand."

	"I don't need you to understand Dennis. I just need you. I need you because I love you... because I've never stopped loving you. End of."

	Dennis couldn't seem to find the words to tell her that it broke his heart to imagine what she had been like as all the lies had been revealed to her, her beloved father disgraced beyond redemption even in her own ever-forgiving eyes. How he couldn't bear to think how she had felt, what she had been thinking.

	Oh, would it mean anything
	If you knew
	What I'm left imagining
	In my mind
	(In my mind)
	Would you go
	Would you go
	Kiss the rain?

	"I need you too darlin'.... I need you so badly-"

	As she heard the threat of tears creep into her lover's voice, Sharon breathed an empathetic "Oh sweetheart...."

	He'd laughed pathetically at himself as he pushed the tears roughly from his eyes. "God, these were your tears, not mine!"

	"Where are you baby, tell me where you are-"

	"T- Tony's.... Chapel Street.... left of the Esso garage.... y'know?"

	"G-Garage? You mean petrol station?"

	"Well.... yeah-"

	"By the roundabout?"

	"Yes.... Sharon, where's all this...."

	"Shit! Yes... darlin', that's where I am, that's where I am.... please just go outside!"

	She'd spoken so fast, most of it, to Dennis anyway had only turned into gabble. He didn't understand. "Wha-"

	"Go- out- side-!" she answered breathlessly. And before he could protest his confusion anymore, she'd apparently hung up. He knew he could do nothing else than follow her instruction; for one thing, he had nothing else to do. So with a sigh, he swung his legs to the floor, pulled himself up and padded downstairs, slipping out into the night. 

	The rain was still pouring down, bounding the pavements like an angry fist. It showed no remorse on sinking straight through Dennis' skin and clothes, and was so loud Dennis could barely get his flurry of thoughts into a decipherable order. Hunching his shoulders to retain what little warmth he had left to himself, Dennis pushed his hands into the soaked pockets of his jeans, his left hand instinctively curling around his phone, which seemed to instantly vibrate at his touch. It took him a few seconds above the volume of the rain to pick out his tone - his phone was ringing.

	Rain splattered the display. but still the name stared clearly up at him. Sharon.

	"Hello?"

	She returned no greeting. Instead, she said: "Falling in love with you was hard. But I did it. And now I'm doing it all over again. You're so beautiful. Even when you have rain dripping off the end of your nose, you're still the most beautiful person I've ever seen-"

	As you fall over me
	Think of me
	Think of me
	Think of me
	Only me
	Kiss the rain.

	He moved to wipe his nose, but his sleeve was so drenched that it made no difference anyway. Sharon giggled softly at him, and this sent tingles down his back. He back to search the street. She was making him nervous.

	"Sharon, where are you?"

	"Close enough."

	"Well, where-?"

	But she cut him off. "What are you thinking Dennis?"

	"That I can't feel my toes-" And to prove his point (and wondering whether he was in fact being watched) he began to hop from one foot to the other, hoping to kick-start a reaction - from Sharon too, which he duly got as she giggled again, stronger this time. "What about you?"

	"I'm thinking about you'll do when I step up this kerb.... what you'll do when I turn left.... left into Chapel Street.... I'm up the kerb now, did you hear? And now I'm thinking about seeing your smile again.... because I've missed your smile so much - you will smile when you see me again won't you?"

	"Course I will. Will... will you let me hold you?"

	 He kept staring at the corner of the street, knowing that if he could bring himself to believe what he was hearing Sharon say to him, she would be appearing there any moment. He stared for what felt like hours, when suddenly, he heard a scraping sound against the pavement. He saw a black Stiletto shoe, then a slender leg, then another. His eyes travelled hungrily over the beautiful body he had memorised and adored before he was met by the deep emerald eyes that he was mezmerized by. And the soft bare lips continued to move, the corners telling of a smile waiting to break out across her face.

	"Well that depends. Will you tell me that you love me?"

	As he dropped down into the road, he bounced a little on the balls of his feet. As she came closer too, he felt dazed, like this had to be a dream, that she could possibly be here. But she is, her eyes glinting, her makeup fantastically ruined by the rain. And still, to him, she was perfect. He looked to the floor bashfully as he smiled, scared he was going to cry. But he composed himself and met those eyes again, his mobile still pressed to his ear, desperately awaiting  her next words as she was with him. So he willingly complied.

	"I love you."

	The gurgle that jumped from her mouth as she smiled presented itself to be an elated sob as she reached up towards his phone and, her hand pressed over his own, pull it down away from his ear. Paralyzed as he always had been by her touch, his fingers locked and she took the phone away from him, clicking it shut and dropping it into the pocket of her coat, after her own.

	"Then will you kiss me?"

	Dennis wrapped his hands around her elbows and drew her in closer, resting his forehead against hers. "Not the rain?" he murmured softly.

	"No. Not the rain. I don't need the rain if I have you."

	"Oh, you've got me."

	Gently, he lowered his lips against hers. Her hands wandered to around his jaw, framing his damp and cold face, her thumbs pressing into the slippery surface of his cheeks, the raindrops still falling off them like tears. The rain was loud and chilling, but neither could bring themselves to care. There was something deeply romantic to be addressed in the scene as they clung together, scared to break their contact for even a moment, because it was in this moment that they rediscovered one another. If one should stumble, the other would laugh beneath their kiss and bring their lover back to their feet. Their hands would flirt, their tongues would caress and their lips would reassure. They wouldn't need to use the rain again.

	Kiss the rain
	Whenever you need me
	Kiss the rain
	Whenever I'm gone too long
	If your lips 
	Feel hungry and tempted
	Kiss the rain
	And wait for the dawn.
	Keep in mind
	We're under the same sky
	And the night
	Was as empty for me as for you.
	If you feel you can't wait til morning
	Kiss the rain
	Kiss the rain
	Kiss the rain.

The End