The wall of the storm had blown in. After the initial big gusts of wind, the sky had been blanketed in a dark gray-black. Outside, the frogs had begun to croak and the relentless and beating rain fell in a torrential flood. The wind blew against the screens in the window, occasionally blowing water in with it. The smell of stormy the countryside was intoxicating. You could hear the faint whistle of the wind as it snuck between the shutters slats. The rain had indeed set in. Before we had left downstairs, Freddie and Mary had gone to the rec room in the basement to watch the telly on the couch. Brian and Chrissie had gone to bed and John and Veronica? Well, I’m not sure where they were. That had been nearly a half hour ago at this point. I laid there in a nest of pillows with one arm wrapped around Roger’s shoulders. He was half asleep. The fabric of his baby-blue shirt was so soft and god what a turn on. His lips were locked on mine.  Our kisses were a combination of sweet and tender and hot and heavy. A loud clap of thunder reverberated across the farm, sending vibrations through the window seal. It’s sudden interruption caused me to slip another arm around him, pulling his body completely on top of mine and letting tawny blonde hair intertwine with my fingers.

 Next door, the violent clap awakened Chrissie and Brian. “Oh, sorry…I didn’t mean to jump like that.”

 “It’s okay.” He said sleepily as he looked at Chrissie with heavy eyes. “Do you like that?” Brian asked softly. Chrissie took a deep breath. She could feel Brian’s warm hand slowly and gently exploring her. The house was completely quiet amongst the gurgling storm outside. She shook her head against the pillow and didn’t take her eyes off Brian.

  “Don’t stop.” She answered him, barely audible as she closed her eyes again.  The late afternoon sky was growing darker and the lightning tore across the canvas of gray in a brilliant streak. Chrissie’s words made Brian weak.

 “I love hearing you say that.” He assured her. She smiled, her eyes remaining closed. “Mmmm…”Chrissie sighed as she felt Brian’s hand move over her soft skin.

 Downstairs, Freddie and Mary were lying in faint light, the windows in the back of the room barely filtering in what was left of the previously clear afternoon. Mary was lying in front of Freddie and he had an arm slung over her. They were far from sleep as they lay there and discussed their impending move in together. Freddie reached over and played with her fingers as they discussed the when’s and where’s and how’s. They were both completely infatuated with one another as they lay there in the dimly lit basement. The pool table was situated near the windows in the basement, the built in kitchenette and bar on one wall, and the couch placed in front of the telly. Norma had given Mary a handful of small tea light candles to take with them into the basement in the event of a power outage. It must have been something that occurred from time to time or Norma wouldn’t have prepared us for such an event.

 “I think I left my wallet in the barn. Actually, it may be in the van.” John said to Greg. Apparently, he wanted to cut Greg the check for the recording time thus far. Why John wanted to do such a thing at this very moment? Well, it was John…it was hard to tell what his logic was.

 “I’ll help you look. You check the van, I’ll check the barn.” Veronica said, sitting her glass of tea onto the kitchen table. There were two ponchos hanging on hooks near the door, one still dripping from where Greg had been outside securing a tarp over a woodpile that had blown loose. John wrapped himself up in the poncho and grabbed the keys to the van. The rain hadn’t let up and so Veronica knew they would both very likely get soaked if they were out in the rain long. John stared at the van through the screen door before opening it up quickly and making a run for it. Veronica watched him in the pouring rain, chunks of his long hair falling loose from the hood of the poncho. Veronica watched him fumble with the key in the rain. She pulled the poncho over her and as John, bolted out the door in a run toward the barn. The water splashed and the wind swept rainwater underneath the edge of the poncho, pulling it up on one side.

 Once Veronica made it to the concrete slab, she noticed immense amounts of water that had pooled in front of the concrete where it was coming down so hard. The gutters of the barn were overflowing. She wondered why the hell she agreed to do this for him. Couldn’t this have waited until the rains let up slightly? She took hold of the sliding door and pulled it open. She quickly stepped into the safety of the barn, breathing heavily from running out here from the house. The deafening sheets of rain had silenced the fluorescent lights that normally hummed overhead. Veronica turned around and looked around her, taken aback by what she saw. She stood there a moment on the concrete and looked around her, the poncho dripping water in tiny droplets at her feet. “Wow.” She said audibly as she slipped the poncho off over her head and left it in a pile at the entrance as to not track water inside and over the rugs. Veronica took a few steps forward.

 She admired the barn in which the boys had been recording. She looked above her at the high rafters as she slowly walked across the oriental rugs that were placed over the floor, some of them overlapping each other. The sound of the pouring rain on the tin roof was like the roar of a train. No wonder they couldn’t record when it rained like this. The gutters were spitting and splattering water onto the muddy concrete pad. The sheets of rain fell in a torrent as the drops exploded on the cement and into the soft earth. Veronica was transfixed as she took this sight in. She walked over to Brian’s guitar sitting on its stand. She traced the tuning pegs with her fingers, sliding her hand down the side of the fret board and around the corner of the red colored wood. She admired it for a moment before walking over the thick, oriental rugs to the mike that was hanging from a constructed boom that ran into the ceiling. She tapped the padded and resilient surface gently, gazing at the foam coating. Veronica smiled to herself and walked over to the drum set in the corner. She looked it over carefully, tentatively rubbing her hand over the worn floor tom head; it’s indentions rippling under her fingers. She traced the silver rim, her fingers bumping over the tuning knobs.

 Veronica ran her hand over the rim of the ride cymbal, the sound of thin metal making a soft swoosh under her fingers.  She walked over to John’s bass. There were stacks of monitors and amplifiers miscellaneously arranged between Brian’s guitar, the set, and John’s bass. Veronica touched the thick strings running two fingers down the thick metal as the coils vibrated against her fingertips causing a zinging sound. She caught sight of something that looked like a project on the back table. Veronica walked over to the table and gasped. “Ooooh.” She said out loud, looking at the burst of colors, so many clear overlay samples and a solid white piece of semi-glossy paper. It appeared to be different prototypes for the record’s cover. Veronica smiled. This was really happening. These were the pieces of a record that were coming into form. She looked at the various types of text that were being considered. To her, this was an amazing piece of what was to come.

 “Hey, did you find it?” John asked as he came sloshing through the gravel and to the cement pad. The winds that had blown the rains in were rushing sideways toward the house and colliding with the side of the barn and into the front of John’s pants.

 “I’m sorry. I haven’t actually looked yet. I got sidetracked. Is this…is this gonna’ be the record cover?” Veronica smiled and turned around to face John. He laughed slightly.

 “I see you been lookin’ at that, huh? What do ya’ think?” He asked as he too pulled off his soaking wet poncho. His long hair had gotten wet where it fell out of the hood of the poncho.

 “I think it’s…it’s beautiful. All the hard work you four have put in. It’s becoming a reality.” Veronica answered. John smiled all over.

 “Yeah. Yeah, it is.” He walked over toward Veronica and sat down on top of one of the large amplifiers situated beside his bass.

 “I understand now why it’s impossible to record in here during a heavy rain.” Veronica said shifting her focus out the open doors of the barn as the rain continued to pour. John shook his head. They were both quiet for a moment.

 “Come ‘ere.” John patted the spot beside him on top the amplifier. Veronica sat beside him as he slipped his arm around her, kissing her cheek. He looked at her for a moment. “I’m sorry I asked you to come out here in this.” He pushed her hair behind her ear.

 “It’s fine. Oh! We really need to look for…” Veronica prepared to stand up and look around the recording area for John’s wallet but he gave her a tug pulling her back down beside him again. The gentle country thunder rolled in the distance. They were silent again, listening to the relentless patter on the tin above them. John interlaced his fingers with Veronica’s and squeezed her hand a bit, shifting his eyes toward her hand and examining it. He then shifted his gaze toward her, making eye contact. John breathed heavily and Veronica looked concerned.

 “You okay?” she asked. John rolled his lower lip inwards and shook his head. The wet ends of his hair stuck to his shirt. He squeezed her hand again.

 “Veronica…” he began. He blinked several times and sighed.

 “Hey…what’s goin’ on? Did something happen?” Veronica turned toward John, rubbing her free hand up and down his arm. Her voice was so soothing. John took a deep breath and looked at her. He just stared at her, neither of them saying anything. “John?” she encouraged him to talk to her. He took a deep nervous breath.

 “You…you make me live.” He said, swallowing hard. She tilted her head and looked at him a bit strangely. “Whatever this world can give to me.” She smiled. He squeezed her hand a little tighter, she could feel the clamminess of his palm. “You’re all I see.” John’s breath trembled as he looked up to the high, lofty rafters swallowing hard again and feeling his mouth go very dry. “You’re my best friend…that I’ve ever had. I’ve…been with you such a long time. You’re my sunshine. And…” John stopped for a moment.  “…I want you to know…that my feelings are true. I really love you.” John locked his eyes on Veronica’s and let go of her hand, moving his hand toward his pocket to wipe it off.

 “John…” Veronica said softly, moving her hand to his back. It comforted him instantly. He looked at her with desperate eyes, he could feel his skin both cold and hot at the same time and he longed for the warmth of her arms.

 “Will you marry me?” He choked out, presenting the ring to Veronica he had had tucked away in his pocket. His fingers shook as he showed the gold band to her with its 1.17 karat diamond. Veronica gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. Now it was her turn to react. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes; which in turn made tears well up in John’s eyes. Veronica did her very best to hold it back.

 “John! Oh my god, John!” She uttered into her hands. She felt herself paralyzed for a moment as she just stared at the ring John held between his thumb, pointer and index finger. Veronica was trying her best to get words to come out of her mouth. She looked at him and moved her shaky hands from her face and shook her head frantically.

 “Yes…yes, John….yes, I will marry you.” She finally said in her choked up voice. Sweet tears rolled from her eyes like the rain as John laughed and took her hand, shoving the ring onto her left ring finger. He wiped his eyes as he admired her hand.

 “Oh god…look at that.” He sniffed, he was shaking all over. Veronica leaned over and kissed him as he took her in his arms nearly falling over with her from the amplifier. John squeezed her against him, burying his face in her neck. Veronica moved his long, brunette hair to one side of his face so she wouldn’t pull it in her grip around him. “I love you, John.” She said. He laughed.

 “Yeah…you must…’cause you said yes.” He had broken his embrace with her and was looking at her, streaks down his cheeks. “Don’t tell anyone I cried, okay?” he laughed again as he dried off her face with his finger. Veronica smiled and shook her head.

 “I won’t.” she answered and looked down at her hand. “It’s such a beautiful ring. Just so beautiful.” She paused and sniffed. “I can’t believe it!” She thought she was done crying but the tears of joy kept coming.

 “I took your mum with me to pick it out. She cried and then she hugged me and…said I’d done a good job. She thought this ring looked like you.” John couldn’t stop smiling. He reluctantly released her to wipe his eyes again.

 “She’s right. It does look like me. Oooh, John. God…you got me all speechless.” She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him again. It was a deep and tender kiss, the wet streaks on their cheeks merging into one wet smear. John’s hair fell forward into Veronica’s. They broke their kiss for a moment.

 “I have somethin’ to tell you. My wallet is right here.” He reached around and patted the back pocket of his jeans. “I just wanted someplace for us to be alone. I knew our room in the house wasn’t the place for somethin’ like this.” John explained. Veronica laughed at him and put her arms around him. She pushed her forehead into his and played with his hair between her fingers.

 “It wouldn’t have mattered where...but damn…you did a good job.” She said smiling until the corners of her mouth hurt. Their combined laughter was overzealous.

 “You didn’t suspect anythin’ did you?” He asked sniffing again and wiping his eyes once more. Veronica shook her head.

 “I didn’t expect a thing. We talked about getting married like…what? Eight months ago? I figured that’s all it was just a nice talk about what we wanted.” She paused. “Am I really your best friend? I thought Roger was?” Veronica laughed.

 “You know what? It’s a song I wrote for you. And yes, you are my best friend. Come ‘ere. Look…it’s gonna’ be on the record and everythin’.” John beamed and stood up, taking Veronica’s hands in his and pulling her back over to the table where the potential record layout was being constructed. He held on to her and pointed out the set of songs for the record. She swooned over his explanations and leaned over against him. They were completely lost in this moment as the country rain refused to let up in the world around them.