The rain was coming down hard, so if you didn’t have an umbrella or a really thick coat with some kind of resistance to water, so you’d get drenched if you had to walk home. School had ended an hour ago and Tord had managed to get through the short after school detention he had earned that day. The rest of his group had already left for home and other than the teachers he expected to be the only one there.His home was close enough to walk and lucky him, he had his trench coat and an umbrella someone left behind.

Finders keepers.

As he made his way out the front of the school, he started opening his umbrella when he noticed someone else was also under the covered area.

It was Annya Volko, the russian girl who moved to the UK not to long ago, and she was also the girl Tord had the biggest crush on. She had her back to him as she stared at the road, looking like she was waiting for someone. But it had been at least 3 hours since school ended.

Clearing his throat, the young Norwegian caught the attention of the Russian girl, as she turned around he could see she was shivering, which was no surprise. She was wearing a cardigan over the uniform she always wore, abd it was freezing outside.

"Hello Tord," she greeted still gripping the material of her sweater and smiling through her shivers. "Hello, Annya," Tord knew Annya liked the cold, but even he agreed that today's weather was getting to him. Plus it was apparent that the Russian girl had very little fat to protect her from the cold regardless.

"Why are you still here?" He asked simply as he stood next to her, "Waiting for weather stop," she answered,"Mama and Papa can not come." Annya didn't know a ton of english words, so whatever conversations he managed to start with her were limited and short. "Have to walk."

Tord opened up the umbrella and held it over her as he got closer, "I'll walk you." He told her and her pale blue eyes widened before her pail pink lips spread into a grateful smile, "Thank you."

As they walked down the sidewalk Tord and Annya's shoulders would every so often brush together. Even with the cold air around him and the rain slowly getting heavier and louder, Tord's face felt warm and his heart was drumming in his ears. He had always wanted to experience a shoujo manga moment with Annya.

It started as an infatuation because they were in similar situations. They were both teens who were moved to a new county, forced to learn a new language, and interact with people who couldn't understand them. Cheesey to say or not, Tord felt they were kindred spirits, so he enjoyed just being near her.

But soon, he started to realize her living situation was worse than his. Tord's parents could be strict, and nowadays they fought a lot too, but it had become obvious Annya's parents were different.

He noticed the thin limbs she tried to hide under her clothes, the constantly worn out look on her face, and the sadness that permanently shaped her eyes. Her health was awful and it showed.

But it made him want to keep her by his side all the more, misery loves company after all. So long as she was with him, he could keep her safe. At least that's what he wanted to believe.

And now here he was, walking her home while sharing an umbrella as the rain poured around them. When he went to sneak a glance at her, the fair skinned girl was rubbing her small hands together before she tried warming them with her breath.

"Here…" the young Norwegian shuffled around a bit to take off his trench coat without dropping the umbrella. "No no, it yours, I cannot,"the girl shook her head, but Tord ignored her and placed the coat around her. "Your finger tips are red…" he reasoned when she tried to refuse again.

The walk to her house was a long one. But Tord wouldn't have minded if it lasted forever.