This Story's Going Somewhere [Para]

It was weekend, and Adelene didn't have anything important to do, and that was why she was there with Lochlann. She wanted to try out the amusement park, mainly because... she hasn't. Ever. She was absolutely ignorant when it came to that place.

But they've been roaming around and doing stuff long enough for Adelene to feel the atmosphere, and to see how people have fun in this place. Tried out games, ate some food, and more food. But they haven't gone to the rides yet.

She pulled on Lochlann's sleeve often, if not on his wrist. While the male wore stuff that felt a bit suffocating to her, she was in her usual clothes, a simple t-shirt and denim shorts halfway down her thighs, and her favorite high-cut sneakers. The goggles that Leon gave her was around her neck, she always wore them, but not on her eyes if not necessary. She'd take him to even more games, and eventually to the rides.

"The Ferris wheel doesn't look so exciting, people just sit inside, right?" she asked. She was all smiles, and one could easily tell from her eyes how happy she was that Lochlann took her here. Clueless of his headache and his worries about the water. "If you don't wanna go to high places... what rides should we try? Oh, how about the pirate ship thing? Is that still too high for you?"

Curiously, Adelene looked at Lochlann's bruise. She felt like patting him somehow after that, but she also knew bruises weren't really a big deal. She had lots of those in the past. But unlike Lochlann, she became used to falling from high places.

She was motionless for a moment. She thought she was going to fall off being pulled by a belt loop, though she managed. She picked up her pace to keep up with Lochlann (and this tall person's long strides).

...

The fun lasted for a while, but to Adelene it felt so short. It was her first time with extreme rides, and she didn't really expect herself to feel terrified at first, but all in all she had fun.

They were walking around the amusement park a good while later, Adelene drinking some milkshake she decided she already loved. There was a moment of silence between her and Lochlann, when they were just walking around aimlessly. Adelene looked around and up, noticing the heavy gray clouds approaching. They took up a wide range, and they seemed to be really heavy and low in the sky, like they were going to give up soon.

"No, I didn't being an umbrella!" Adelene whined, before tugging on Lochlann's sleeve. "Loch, you think it's going to rain soon? Those clouds are bad news... I think we should go back now..?"

"You know, we can just grab a taxi-- whoa!"

Adelene was a little worried about Lochlann's reaction. Sure, they were doomed to be caught in some heavy rain but... his panicking wasn't normal. And it was rubbing off on her, and she was starting to panic too. Did he have some kind of trauma with the rain? He was walking a bit too fast, though she had no trouble keeping up even though Lochlann was practically dragging her away from the park.

"Lochlann..?" her voice was tinged with worry, as she tried to stay beside him and look up at his face. She could hear his mumbles, she heard his whimper, and she can't help but feel a little nervous about it.

What's up with the rain?

"Lochlann, calm down." She steadied her feet on the ground, so Lochlann can't drag her around any further. She needed to snap him out of that panicked state. "I dunno what's wrong, but we can always just wait for a taxi somewhere. I'm sure we can find some shelter, or if we're lucky we might even get back before the rain pours. It's not the end of the world, okay?"

What..?

She watched him, confused, and her eyes wanted to search for and find an explanation. What is he saying..? If anything happened..?

She stood still, like a doll. Her mind was not catching up. She was really worried, and she wanted to say something to make Lochlann feel better but...

...but there he was, running away from her.

Why?

The rain poured down almost immediately after that. No warning drizzle or anything, just a surprising gush of water, as if a giant shower head with no heater was turned on really suddenly to a maximum above her. She stared into the direction where Lochlann disappeared.

Why? she asked herself. Suddenly, her chest was beginning to feel heavy and painful, just in time as the rain started to steal away her body heat. She couldn't recognize what it was, but she guessed, she was upset.

Squinting, she briefly looked up at the sky, muttering her own curse. She slowly and dejectedly moved from her spot, walking to some kind of shelter from the rain. Anything would do. Fortunately, there was a shed nearby, and she decided to let the rain pass from there. She was still too confused to grasp what just happened. All she knew was that Lochlann left her in the rain, and that she felt bad about it.

Adelene also did the same, after moments of waiting for the rain to pass, and realizing that it wasn't going to stop soon. Something told her Lochlann wasn't going to take a taxi, and so, with her mind cleared up, she decided to search for him.

The rain wasn't getting any weaker either. She shivered as she moved, not bothering to stay under some shade for too long if Lochlann wasn't there anyway. She was still worried that something must be horribly wrong, which made it all the more important for her to find him sooner.

Not really caring much about herself, her clothes, her health, she tried to track him down.

She figured it wouldn't be so difficult. There was no way anyone could last long under this rain, especially if it were someone who panicked just like Lochlann. Finally she caught his figure, there, under a shed. She cannot help but heave a heavy sigh, as part of her worry was finally gone.

For the other part though, it only got even worse.

She ran towards him, but made sure to be careful when she was already near. He looked like he was in pain or something. It wasn't so difficult to see that he was in some kind of suffering. But again, Adelene didn't know why.

She kneeled beside him, carefully putting her hand on his forearm, calling him gently, "Loch?" Her eyes widened when she heard his breaths. His gasps.

What was wrong?

"Lochlann!" she called him again. "Get up, into the shed, come on!" They could still get wet in this spot, they had to move into the shed and not just at the side. She was starting to feel a little too cold, she needed something warm soon or it would end bad. But despite her shivering, she tried her best to help him up.