"For god's sake," I complained once we got outside. It was freezing, I had just embarrassed myself once again and, to make matters even worse, it was raining. For now, we were protected by a thin metal roof covering the door, but to get back to the Orphan Shack and the supply closet we would have to face the elements.

Klaus sighed and glanced down, scuffing his feet on the concrete, "I'm sorry about what happened, Isadora."

"What're you sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong. Thanks for the jacket, by the way. You must be cold now."

He shook his head, "You're the one wearing a thin piece of plastic. I'm pretty sure you need it more."

I pulled the jacket around my waist tighter, "Thanks."

We fell silent but the same couldn't be said for the rain, which had slowly got heavier and heavier. Now the pitter patter echoed through the whole courtyard and it's density made everything more than a few metres away blur. Essentially, it seemed like we were in a bubble surrounded by fog and not much else, despite the impending darkness of the other school buildings in the distance. The auditorium was set away from the other buildings for the simple reason that Vice Principal Nero couldn't afford sound proofing. Having it far away meant that, in theory, he could practice the violin all day without disturbing anyone. Note how I say "in theory". In reality, Nero's violin could still be heard all the way inside the other school buildings, especially since he ended up just staying and playing in his office, complaining that the auditorium was too long a walk for a musical genius. The walk was only maybe five minutes but I guess that was equivalent to the amount of exercise the Vice Principal got in an entire week. After all, he wouldn't want to exert himself, would he? I'm honestly a little surprised he hasn't installed a stair lift yet.

"I guess we better go sooner or later," Klaus' voice cut through my thoughts and I realised I had zoned out.

I nodded even though he wasn't looking at me anymore, "I would say later but it's only going to get more cold isn't it?"

"I would say so," was his response and I nodded again, looking out at the terrible weather in front of us. It was only when Klaus was about to step out that I had an idea.

"Wait!"

Klaus paused and raised an eyebrow. Instead of explaining, I dashed inside again, telling him to stay there.

I ran to the room where Carmelita had been storing the costumes for the play and quickly began looking for something that would keep us dry. I considered stealing one of Carmelita's abundance of sparkly dresses but there was no way it would fit me and I figured it wouldn't be worth taking it in case I was caught. It's not that easy to hide something that catches every form of light and glows like a disco ball. Instead, I searched through the props to find an umbrella or something that would work as a makeshift one, but of course there was nothing. I even looked for rain coats, but this was Carmelita's first production and it seemed like she only prioritised pretty outfits. To be fair, what use was practical clothing to a fairy princess? Then I remembered my uniform. It wouldn't keep me dry but it was a lot more comfortable and warm than a broken rubbish bag, but as I looked around, it became apparent that it wasn't there. Carmelita must have got rid of it.

Just as I was deciding to give up my short search, something caught my eye by the door. It was a roll of black bin bags and I quickly ripped a couple off. I couldn't find the scissors that I had used earlier so instead I just pulled at the thin plastic until it tore in three places. Then, I slipped Klaus' jacket from around my waist and put the new bag over the old, split one. That way I could give Klaus his jacket back without flashing my underwear to everyone. Then I took a second bag and left the room, sneaking past the door to the main hall where everyone was still practising and Carmelita was still screaming and ordering people about.

Klaus was still waiting on the porch for me and the sound of the door made him turn around.

"Where did you go? It's cold out here you know," he said, a slight pout appearing on his lips.

It was adorable and I smiled, apologised and handed his jacket back to him, "Will this make things better?"

"I'd prefer you to wear it if you're cold,"

I gestured to my attire, "Well, Klaus, I have the luxury of wearing two bin bags now so I'm feeling pretty insulated."

It was a lie, I was still freezing, but I didn't want Klaus to feel bad for me. Luckily what I said made him laugh and he slipped the jacket on with a: "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

Klaus eyed the other bag in my hand and I quickly explained, "I was looking for an umbrella but I couldn't find one so I got this instead. It's like... a makeshift umbrella."

A slight dusting of pink rose to the surface of his cheeks, "You only got one?"

I looked at the black bag. It had seemed like a good idea at the time but now I was holding it out in front of me, it looked a lot smaller than it did upon first glance. I thought that Klaus and I would be able to fit under it easily but now I realised that we would probably struggle to both fit underneath. I should've got two.

"I can go back-" I started but Klaus cut me off.

"No, no, it's fine. Let's just get back before we both get hypothermia."

He took one end of the bag and held it above his head with his left hand, gesturing for me to do the same. I took my end in my right hand and the two of us shuffled closer so we could both fit under the canopy we had made. Our arms were pressed together tightly, to the point of being uncomfortable so, after a few seconds of trying to solve the issue, Klaus snaked his arm around me so we could both be protected by the rain without hassle. The whole situation had my face burning up and I tried not to think about how close we were and how his hand was resting on my shoulder so softly. At least a mixture of the embarrassment and the side hug had warmed me up a little.

We stepped out from under the porch without a word, both of us feeling awkward about the situation. Immediately, the rain hit us and we hurried along, our feet in sync as we crossed the concrete and squelched through the field of dying grass which the weather had softened up and turned extremely muddy. I tried not to think about how much of a pain it would be to have to clean those afterwards and instead focused on the situation at hand. Klaus had willingly got so close to me and even if I knew it was for the greater good, I couldn't help but flush at the idea that maybe he had done it purely because he wanted to. I smiled slightly before I could stop myself. It was then that I noticed that his hand was shaking. Maybe he was shivering or maybe he was... nervous? The thought made me blush more.

Soon, the Orphan Shack emerged from the fog and I felt a pang of disappointment go through me. Even though the weather was dreadful and I was cold and muddy, I couldn't help but want this moment to last a little longer.

We came to a stop outside the door and Klaus turned to me, making sure to keep the bin bag in place. It was then that it really dawned on me how close we were. Somehow, facing each other made the distance between us seem even smaller and I felt myself want to look away from him in embarrassment. Instead, I forced myself to look and I'm glad I did. Our canopy had been okay but it hadn't worked perfectly, which meant that Klaus looked overly dishevelled and drops of rain splattered across his glasses.

"Goodnight Isadora," He said so quietly that I almost missed it. Something I didn't have any trouble in noticing, though, was the way his dark eyes studied my face, his gaze dropping to my lips for a fraction of a second before his redness returned and he looked away.

I gave him a small smile before opening my mouth to say goodnight back. But, before the words could make their way out, the door of the shack swung open and there stood Violet. Klaus and I instinctively leapt back from each other and I dropped my end of the bag, which left him face to face with his sister with a black sack over his head.

"There you are Klaus!" She exclaimed, "I wondered where you were," she caught sight of me and fought a small smirk away from her lips, "Hey Isadora."

"Hey."

Her gaze fell back onto her brother and she gave him a concerned look, "I won't ask why you've got a bag on your head."

The awkwardness in the air was unbearable and so was the freezing cold rain that was now hitting me because of the lack of a canopy to stand under. A mixture of both of those factors was what made me say; "bye!" overly quickly and speed off, not bothering to look back and catch the Baudelaire's confused expressions.

I stayed at that pace until I burst through the door of the supply closet and threw my muddy shoes off. Duncan, who was sat on the floor, writing in his commonplace book, caught my eye and grinned.

"Fun evening with Klaus?"

"Shut up," I growled before chucking myself under my moth eaten blanket and slipping seamlessly into a dreamless sleep. What a hell of a day.