I woke up, blinking rapidly as I succumbed to the realization that I dreamt about Bella. Damn, this girl is really getting in my head. Wasn't it enough that she was all I could think about when I'm conscious? I seriously just wanted to know her back story and it baffled me as to why she was so discrete about it.

She said that she'd be back today, but who really knows?

I rolled over to glance at my alarm clock. It was noon, and I had to get up. Today was Max's birthday; I couldn't believe that my little buddy was three! It only seemed like yesterday when I was cradling his small body in my arms.

When I finally decided to get out of bed, it was almost one. The party started at two, but I told Sam that I would be there sooner.

Yawning, I jumped out of bed. I dressed up, tried to make my hair look somewhat decent, then I grabbed the little four wheel car I had put together for Max. I drove off, heading to Sam's.

I know for a fact that Emily will have a cow with me when she finds out that I bought her son a four wheel. I mean, it can't even go that fast. It even has Spiderman stickers on it, for god's sake.

I pulled up in front of Sam's small house. He let Emily decorate it a bit, give the place a bit of flare. There were orange and yellow marigolds sitting beneath the window sill in one of the long, rectangular-shaped pots. As I put the car in park, I jumped out of the truck only to see Sam and Jared run out of the house.

Sam grinned once he saw what I had brought. "You know Emily's going to murder you, right?"

I chuckled. "Aww, how could anyone think of killing a pretty little face like mine?" I reached for the four wheeler and placed it on the ground.

"It's easier than you think, dude." Jared muttered, drinking beer.

"So where's the birthday boy?" I asked, carrying the four wheeler past them and into the house.

I walked into the kitchen and heard Max whining about cookies. Emily had a little frown on her face as she pulled the cookie sheet out of the oven.

"Max!" I yelled, putting the four wheeler down, hiding it behind the wall. "Where my birthday boy?"

"Uncle Paul!" Max squealed, running into my arms. I picked him up and threw him in the air, catching him effortlessly. The girls gasped at my actions and I rolled my eyes. I threw him back up, Max laughing in the entire time, and I swear to god Emily was going to smack me with the cookie sheet. I loved messing with them.

I set Max back on his feet. "Hey buddy, wanna see what I got you?"

Max nodded eagerly, looking behind me to see if it was there. I reached behind the wall, but Max was already running passed me. Once he saw what I brought him, he screamed and hopped right on it.

"Paul Lahote!" Emily shrieked, eyes big and wild. Max started driving off, out into the front yard where Jared and Sam had set the barbecue. Emily walked up to me. Despite her small frame, the anger in her eyes could make anyone's soul shudder. "I told you not to get him anything dangerous!"

I crossed my arms, sighing at the concerned mother. "Come on, Emily. Look at the thing! You can out walk it. It's just a toy - it's even designed for kids. Your little boy's growing up. You can't keep buying him bouncy balls and play doh."

Emily sighed, her tense expression relaxing as she watched her little boy driving in circles on their front lawn. "If he gets hurt, I will hurt you. You can bet on that." She promised.

I held my hands up in surrender. "I wouldn't doubt it."

She shook her head and walked back to her friends. I joined Jared and Sam out front. Sam was standing behind the grill.

"See, she said she would only hurt me, not kill. I told you no one could kill this face." I joked, grabbing a beer from the cooler.

"Man, could you get any cockier?" Sam asked, glancing over quickly at Max.

"I know that she can scare you half to death, Sammie boy." I teased. "You did pull some pretty awful shit."

"Paul does have a point. We really did pull some good ones back in the day." Jared interjected, finishing his beer.

Sam drew in a deep breath. "Well hopefully he'll make some good friends to help out in life like we did."

After a while of talking, reliving old memories, and greeting new guests, Sam finished cooking and Emily brought out the cake. Max opened up all his gifts, gasping and cheering with every present he opened. He was over the moon with everything.

Once the party was over, Emily took him in for a bath and called it a night. The rest of us sat in the back yard, downing beer bottle after beer bottle while rambling on about bullshit. I also had Seth open up the bar for me tonight. Bella wouldn't be here until eleven, so if I showed up there at ten, I should be fine.

"So Paul, what's all the talk about a rain girl?" Jacob asked, opening up another bottle of beer.

"You guys really need to stop calling her that." I said, irritated.

"Oh lighten up. The name fits her, don't you think? You know that story about the old man and his wife? I dunno, something like that..." Jacob slurred.

I shook my head. "No. That story is about how symbolic rain can be. To some, rain means pessimism and to others, it keeps them optimistic. Like a man who pretends to love a woman only to actually fall in love with her. Or a family who lost everything, only to unify and become more of a loving family because of that tragedy. Rain can be a downer, but it could be beautiful, too. One or the other. Depends how you look at it. How you look at life and how you treat the situation." I was beginning to wonder if that made any sense.

Everyone stared at me. "That's gotta be the deepest thing I've ever heard." Jared murmured.

"Since when did you become such a romantic? It couldn't be that long..." Embry muttered, mostly to himself.

"You must really like this girl." Sam stated, glancing at the others whom silently agreed. "After all these years, you finally found a girl you genuinely like."

I smirked at that. "You know why I might like her? She's not like any other I've ever seen."

"Well no shit." Embry rolled his eyes.

"That's not what I meant." I snapped. "I meant she's mysterious, down to earth, and...and there's just something about her that I can't put my finger on...maybe she is rain."

No one commented on that.

"Okay, we'll back off with the rain girl jokes. We didn't know you actually had strong feelings for her. We just thought it was, you know, just some fling." Jared explained.

"Yeah." I said, gratefully. I took a swig of beer.

I know what he meant. I've never had a girlfriend or felt anything like this since I was with Rachel. Then Bella came along, literally, and now my world doesn't make any sense. I'm just praying that I'm not being played, or misinterpreting anything. I need to know her story.

A few moments of silence passed before everything was back to normal. The guys started talking about nonsense while getting drunk. I sat quietly, finishing the one beer bottle I had been holding since I got here. No one seemed to notice my silence.

At around nine, I said my goodbyes and soberly drove to the bar. I pulled in the parking lot, noting that it was nearly full. It was a particularly nice night out, so I suppose I should have guessed that it would be packed. I got out of my truck and went to the back office of the bar, bringing along some cake that I stole from the party.

I walked into the dingy office where Seth was hitting on some girls. The usual. I saw Alex, one of the employees, busting some tables. I sauntered into the little room, slinging an arm around Seth whom seemed a bit startled at the contact.

"Don't I pay you to work? Or have I absentmindedly given you the memo to hit on girls who are way out of your league?" I smirked.

The girls laughed at Seth, and he shot me a dirty look. I shrugged and observed him as he grabbed a wet washcloth to wipe down the bar.

I glanced at the clock; it was a little after ten. I still had around an hour before Bella was supposed to arrive. So I did what I would usually do to pass the time - I made small talk.

It still astonishes me with how many people come into the restaurant. I'm not saying that the restaurant is bad, but rather that people are intriguing. All of them are so different, have gone through different experiences, have different stories to tell. Sometimes I can't help but to ask people, genuinely, how they are or if they're doing all right.

Tonight, I spoke to this one girl. She was young, maybe mid twenties. She had bright red hair, stunning green eyes, and freckles that decorated her cheekbones. She was telling me about her father and how she lost him due to a fire. She didn't seem too upset about it. Then again, maybe she had time to mourn. She told me that he loved his job; he loved being a fire fighter. She was glad that he died doing something that not only helped people, but that he loved as well.

Stories like these, ones where the story could be sad but is instead happy, makes me connect with people on an emotional level. I've never really told anyone about this sensitive side of me. Surely they do know that I have morals and am in touch with my humanity, but none of them know that I willingly listen to people talk about everything and anything.

It was nearing eleven o'clock when I decided to head back to the office. I had to start going through the mail. I'm pretty sure I had a ton of bills to pay.

A few minutes passed when I looked back up at the clock; five minutes to eleven. I had already gone through the mail and checked my e-mail. I stared up at my wall, my eyes darting to a letter that an old fool gave to me. I took the letter down and my mind wandered off...it was just me and the old man. It was a slow night, the air was warm and a cluster of dark, grey clouds hovered above the little town. It was going to rain.

The old man was washing glasses as he glanced out the window. "The rain's coming."

I was sitting on the floor, my back against the wall. I crossed my arms. "I'm getting sick of all this fucking rain!"

He stopped to stare at me, divert. "Do you know the best thing one can do when it's raining?"

I frowned, wondering. I shook my head.

"Just let it rain." He said.

I sat up in my chair, my eyes still fixed on the letter. My old man was crazy sometimes, but incredibly wise and smart. He believed in nature. He loved the rain, said it was one of those things that made him stop and think. I never quite understood what he meant. But I do believe that everything happens for a reason.

Maybe I'm going insane. All I know was that the stormy weather that one night brought her into this restaurant, and I intend to figure out why.

I left my office. I went into the dining area and took a seat on a bar stool, waiting for Bella to walk in. My employees had the doors open, allowing fresh air to cleanse the restaurant. Seth was fooling around with music. Alex was shouting at him to leave it alone. It was a busier than it would usually be on a night like this, but most of these faces I've seen before.

The same old guy playing pool, Mary sat at her usual spot with her usual glass of wine, and the rest lingering around.

I walked to the door, breathing in the slightly cold air into my oxygen deprived lungs. I felt a little nervous, to say the least. The air smelt clean, no sign of rain, which made me feel a little disappointed. But that feeling went away when I notice an old pickup truck pull in and park. I smiled widely as I saw a small, brown haired girl hop out of the car.

I felt relieved. She really did keep her word. She approached the entrance, her head was down as she hummed to herself. She looked up when she went up the stairs, her eyes meeting mine instantly.

Her neutral face broke in a beautiful smile, the one I kept describing as 'broken'. It was, it wasn't a smile that illustrated love and happiness. It showed a rare, undistinguishable uniqueness.

Her eyes lit up as she realized I was smiling back.

Hey my little readers,

I know it been a while and I know I keep saying this but I been busy. Yall know how life can be and with summer coming around its getting more crazy.

So what do you think? Let me know what on your mind.

I hope everyone have a good weeknd.

Love

allie

Edited and Beta'd by: Moriarty's Diary