"Ryder?" I gape at him not believing my eyes.

He turns his head to look at me and his eyes wide. "Holy shit! What are you doing here Allie?"

You know what? I take it back. I'll take a headless zombie any day to my pounding heart as he calls me Allie.

No one calls me Allie!

I shrug away the thoughts and grin at him sheepishly, "Taking a shelter from the rain?"

His eyes widen as he takes in my soaked appearance, "Yes, I can see that. But- Wait, let me rephrase that. I mean what the hell happened to you?"

I scowl thinking about today's events. "Long story. Just know that from today, I hate Nicholas Sparks for making such a damn good movie."

Looking at me puzzled, he moves closer to inspect me. He frowns as he takes in my form. "Shit. You're shivering for God's sake! Are you okay?"

I nod sightly, "I'm fine."

But it doesn't come out as convincing as I had intended it to because of my chattering teeth. A clear sign that I'm freezing my ass off. Ryder rolls his eyes at my blatant lie and shrugs off his jacket, "Sure you are."

Then before I can even comprehend what's happening he drapes his jacket around me.

I blush and thank my luck for the first time today because it's not enough light for him to see my face clearly.

It's then he notices the small thing cuddled around my chest. He jumps away and squeaks like a five year old girl, "Oh God! What the hell is that?"

The cat turns in my arms snuggling closer into the jacket and purrs.

I burst out laughing, "Did you just...?" I gasp for breath, "You just shrieked like a 5 year old girl! Jesus Ryder! Have you never seen a cat before?"

He relaxes slightly and moves closer to inspect it, "A cat?"

"Yeah, you know a cat?" I shake my head at him smiling slightly, "Didn't you ever write paragraphs on cats when you were in elementary school?"

Ryder glares at me, "I know what a cat is. Thank you very much!"

He moves closer to inspect her. His face breaks in amazement as he gently strokes her fur. He looks like a little kid who's opening his first present on Christmas morning.

I grin at him, "Do you want to hold her?"

He looks at me surprised, "Hold her? B-but I-"

I can tell he badly wants to but is hesitating out of nervousness. So I take the lead and gently pass her out to him, "Here."

She struggles slightly but obliges nonetheless.

He looks awestruck as he stares at the little creature in his arms. She realises that he's no real danger--not to her anyway but it's totally different for my racing heart--and snuggles closer into him.

"Is she yours?" He asks me gently patting her head.

"No," I shook my head moving even closer to stroke her back, "When I was running in the rain searching for a shelter, I saw her huddled in a cardboard box by the road. Poor thing was this close to death! How can anyone be so cruel to leave someone as cute as her out on the street?" I say patting at her soft white fur.

But this time Ryder isn't looking at her. He is looking at me with a strange look in his eyes that I couldn't quite decipher.

"What?" My voice comes out softer than I intended it to.

"You stopped to help a cat in this weather? Because you couldn't bear to see it shivering?" He asks a small smile tugging at his lips.

I shrug and grin at him, "Stupid, I know."

He shakes his head, "No. Not stupid. Incredibly kind and unlike any other girl I've ever met."

Suddenly I become extremely aware of how close we are standing. Clearing my throat I step away, "Oh! Uh..um. Thanks, I guess."

He also shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts, "Uh. You're welcome."

"So...what are we gonna name the cat?" I ask trying to break the awkward silence that has settled.

He shrugs, "I don't know. You found her. So you should be the one to name her?"

I bite my lip in deep thought, "Hmm..."

"How about Catzilla?" He asks, his eyes shining with amusement.

"Oh hell no!" My jaw drops, "We're not going to name the cat after a dinosaur! That's just stupid and plain weird."

He mutters pouting, "Its not that weird..."

I want to pinch his cheeks because he looks so cute.

"I got it!" I snap my fingers and grin, "Pixie!"

He stares at me blankly, "Pixie? You want to name the cat Pixie?"

"Hey!" I cross my arms over my chest defensively, "I found her, I'm going to name her."

He chuckles, "Okay, okay. Just saying. Anyway, where are you going to keep her?"

Now that I think about it, "Oh shit!"

"What?" He cocks an eyebrow.

I smile sheepishly, "Well...I didn't really think that far. You see, my parents are both allergic to animals. So..."

His eyes widen, "Then where are you going to keep her?"

I shrug nonchalantly, "Eh. It'll figure out on its own."

He shakes his head in bewilderment, "What does that even mean? Don't act so carefree! How will it figure itself out?"

Again I shrug unfazed, "I don't know."

He runs a hand through his hair frustratingly, his other one still holding Pixie gently.

"Chill, relax-"

"I'll keep her."

"What?" I gape at him.

He nods more surely this time, "I'll keep Pixie."

"Really?" My eyes widen in excitement.

"Yeah," he does a one shoulder shrug, "My mom loves animals. Though we don't have a that big of an house, it's not that bad. I can keep her."

I jump in excitement and rush to hug him, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! I can see her right? Right? Right?"

He chuckles slightly, "Of course you can. Now can you let me go ? You're kinda soaking wet and you're choking me." He makes a fake choking sound at the back of his throat.

I step away and slap his arm, "Shut up. But see? I told you it'll figure itself out."

Shaking his head at me he looks at the sky, "Looks like the weather's finally calming down."

My eyes drift towards the sky which looks slightly clearer, "Yeah."

"How are you going to get home?" He glances at me from the corner of his eyes.

I shrug, "I guess I don't have a choice but to walk."

His eyes widen, "In this weather?"

"Yup," I say popping the 'P', "Luck really hates me."

"Where do you live again?" He asks thinking about something deeply.

I gave him a flat look, "You sure have a crappy memory. Stains Street, remember? You dropped me off?"

"Oh. Right."

Idiot.

"But that's like 30 blocks away!" Realization hits him as he looks as me as if I'm crazy to even consider this.

"Like I said, luck really hates me," I say unfazed.

I don't understand why it matters to him. Yes, I know that letting someone wander around in this weather is equal to making them sign their own 'death by pneumonia' sheet. But didn't he say he didn't care about people?

Stopping people I barely know from going to their deaths, is normally a job for someone like me. The warm and funny chubby girl. Not the hot and badass guy who could make any girl fall on their knees with a smirk.

And yes, I did call him hot. Because let's not pretend people. We all know that I have a crush on him.

But as I glance at him from the corner of my eyes to see him stroking Pixie's fur slowly...

I'm not sure I can judge him anymore.

I've read tons of books. The male characters in those are always dreamy and perfect. Ranging from the sweet and funny Prince charming types to protective and possessive Prince of hell type. From the playboys to the bad boys. From the shy nerds to the rich jerks. You name it and I've read about them.

But I can't place him in any category. He acts all rude and jerk-like the first time, then he's talking about books and stories with me, then he's smiling like a child while seeing a cat, then he literally tells me he has never met a girl like me!

He seems like a never ending mystery. Someone with so many sides, I can't place him in even one category.

But I guess that's real life.

"You can come to my house."

I snap my head towards him unsure if I heard him right.

"What?"

"You can come to my house?" He offers looking away from me, "It's right around the corner. You can dry off your clothes too. I'm sure my mom will have something for you to wear."

I'm flabbergasted. I don't know what the hell to say. Should I? But I've only known him for two days! This is crazy!

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," he glances at me, "I just I'd let you know. Besides in this weather..." He pointedly looks around us.

I gulp and follow his eyes. It seems to rain even heavier than a minute ago. No more than two feet can be seen. It's freezing cold and the wind whips strongly in my face.

This is even crazier.

"Okay! Let's go!"

He smirks realising that he got me.

"But you better not be a serial killer!" I hug his jacket tighter around me, "I swear I know karate."

"Sure," he rolls his eyes and hands me Pixie, "Here. Tuck her into the jacket. It'll keep her warm since we're going to dash through the rain. Follow me!"

Without even a warning he runs off. I curse that idiot and quickly follow him .

He wasn't lying when he said it was just around the corner. In about two minutes, we are standing before a small house. Ryder jerks his head towards the front door and we go to stand in it's shade.

It's a one story house with brick walls. The glass windows are tattered and stained. There's moss growing on one side and the walls are dark with water marks. But these are not what catch my eyes.

There are beautiful and intricate flower patches surrounding the house. Roses, Lillis, Violets and some flowers I've never seen but are mesmerizing, are planted beautifully around the small lawn that surrounds the house.

"I know it's not great but..." Ryder bites his lip, seeming nervous for the first time.

"It's beautiful," I breath out meaning every letter.

He snaps his head towards me, surprised at my honest tone and follows my gaze smiling widely, "My mom planted those flowers. It's her hobby you know? Gardening. After our dad left us five years ago to be with his sluts, it's all she does to cover up her sorrow."

There's a flicker of pain in his eyes but it's gone so soon and replaced with an emotionless face that I doubt if it was even there.

"Do you think you're mom will get mad?" I ask quietly realising how much he loves his mother with the way he talks about her.

He looks at me weirdly. "Why would she be mad?"

I tuck a hair behind my hair and look at my shoes, "I don't know. Because I popped out of nowhere without any further notice?"

He smiles slightly; shaking his head be places both of his hands on my shoulder, forcing me to look up.

"Hey," he smiles at me softly, "My mom will love you. Specially since you seem to be so taken with her flowers," he chuckles lightly and jokes, "She gets on cloud nine whenever someone just as much looks at her flowers. And you complemented them! So don't worry okay?"

I just nod my head, unable to form words. My heart's beating loudly from our bodies close proximity so it doesn't really help either.

Important tip guys - Never stand this close to your crush unless you want to have a heart attack.

"Good," he smirks and steps away, "Come on. Let's go inside. Or do you want to stand here freezing your ass off?"

He holds the door open for me and I step inside.

And a newspaper smacks right into my face.