A Little Fall of Rain

“I hope it doesn't rain.” Carly muttered. Gray clouds were forming together... creating a huge mass of blackness. It was the night of Carly's club opening and although rain wouldn't ruin her plans, rain would create a minor setback. She was on her way back from the dry cleaners and the hair dresser. After she had gotten her hair done she had had to pick up Michael's mini-tux and her dress. She sped along the road with a million things on her mind. The next track on her CD softly strummed into her ears and she quickly reached over to turn off the song. Memories flooded into her head and small tears trickled down her cheeks.

A couple months ago, when they were happy. They had gone to see the play, Les Miserables, after much begging from herself. Okay, so he hadn't liked it, but she had loved it. She had sang all the songs for weeks and weeks, but one song had always been stuck in her mind... A Little Fall of Rain.

But right now, her mind couldn't remember. She wanted to forget, but it hadn't worked well. She had so many things to look forward to.. she didn't need Sonny. That's what she needed to keep on telling herself.. over and over.

She finally pulled into the driveway of her home and killed the engine. Her hair bounced with every step she made as she slammed into her living room. At the hair dresser she had asked them to curl the ends of her hair so it bounced with every step. She left Michael's mini tux on the couch and trotted up the stairs. She slid into her black dress, and pulled her black sandals onto her feet.

After putting on some light makeup she grabbed her purse and looked in on Michael and Leticia. Leticia was bathing Michael and she was already half soaked. “Hey Leticia... his tux is on the couch. And remember, if you don't want to be there tonight you don't have to.”

Leticia looked up at the doorway and answered, “You know I wouldn't miss it for the world!” Her attention was quickly drawn away as Michael splashed her with soapy bubbles.

Carly laughed lightly and smiled. “Remember drop him off the club so you can get ready... I know you're gonna need to shower!” They both laughed and Carly pulled away from the doorway. She quickly got into her car and sped off again.

Minutes later, she pulled into the enormous parking lot and swiftly turned into her private garage. Jax was already waiting by the doorway. He wore a frown the size of China and looked towards her. “Looks like rain. You want me to put up the cover by the door?”

“I was just about to suggest that myself. Thanks Jax.”

“You look great by the way.” He walked off and she smiled. She was still nervous, but things were looking okay. A few minutes later, when the cover was up and ready... She and Jax allowed people to come on in. The bar was running smoothly, everything was in place, things were looking great.

She stood at the doorway, greeting people by couples. She hadn't seen anyone recognizable yet except Skye. Who, unfortunately, was in the corner having a heated argument with Jax. Then her eyes caught a familiar face and she smiled brightly.

“Hey Zander!” she called cheerfully.

“Hey yourself! You look excellent and so does the club.”

“So do you.. so do you! Come on have a drink with me!” She started to pull his hand, but he pulled away suddenly.

“You go ahead. I need to wait for my date.” He looked into her eyes as if trying to gauge her reaction. But she showed no resentment, but just smiled.

“Good for you Zander! I'll see you around!” She turned quickly and and sat at the bar. Her thoughts tumbled about as she swirled her feet around and around. She liked that Zander was dating and meeting people, but she felt a sense of longing for him to just sit with her without his date. Her feelings for him were developing as she tried and tried to push Sonny to the back of her heart. She still loved Sonny, but Zander was there and now Sonny wasn't. She felt lonely. In a moment a red fireball fell into her arms.

“Hi momma!” He was grinning ear to ear and looked brightly up at her.

“Well don't you look handsome!” Her thoughts drifted away and her mind kicked back into reality. Michael was looking adorable, with the flip hair style and his tux. “Where's Leticia?”

“She told me to tell you that she would be back later, she just needed to get changed and look all pretty and stuff. Is Unca Sonny here yet?”

“No, he may come later.” She said grimly. Truth was that she didn't even want him to come.. not if he was with Alexis. Anywhere else she could definitely handle, but not tonight where so many things could go wrong.

“Who's coming later?” Sonny's voice leaped into her ears and her heart skipped a beat. Butterflies leaped into her stomach and she had to hold back a gasp. She swiveled so that she could turn and face him.

“Hi Sonny... Alexis.” Her once bright smile faded and she jumped off her stool. “I'll see you guys around. Michael.. do you want to stay or do you want to come dance with mommy?”

“I wanna stay and tell Unca Sonny about the play!” She leaned over and kissed his head and then was hidden by the crowd.

After distancing herself from the other half of the room Carly began to loosen up. Without seeing Alexis looking pretty on Sonny's arm and Zander and his date she almost became relaxed. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. “Your that girl that fell in the gym, right?” He had dark hair, but light eyes. They shimmered when the lights from above hit him and she smiled. He had been one of the guys at the gym when she had declared herself a free woman.

“Hi... yeah that would definitely be me.” They laughed lightly and then she whispered, “You wanna dance?” He didn't answer, but led her to the dance floor. A fast paced song came on and she turned up her moves. She swirled around and lost herself to the music. She finally didn't care who was watching and who was talking about her, she just let go. The guy, who's name she didn't even know, was also turning up the heat also. They were twisting and turning and she was just having fun. She noticed people staring at her... Zander and Sonny standing in her head the most. They were just staring, but she didn't care. Not right now anyway! After a couple of songs they sat at the bar a place that Carly had distanced herself from before.

“I've had fun.. but I'm about to head out. Work begins early for me.” She smiled at him and he returned it. “Can I have your number?”

“Sure.” She wrote it on a nearby napkin and handed it to him. “Shouldn't I know your name first?”

“It's Eric. I'll call you tomorrow definitely.” He leaned in and she leaned in also. Their lips touched and they lost themselves. She grabbed the back of his neck and his hands went lower and lower... until they pulled apart. She smiled and waved as he walked off. She didn't know what to think yet, but she was thinking that Eric was just for fun. She needed fun in her life and he seemed like he could bring some. Besides, he was cute.

She was glad to see that everyone was here now. And the place was crawling with people. She was floating and smiled at everyone she saw. Until she saw him. They were dancing to a slow song and dancing pretty close. Her head was on his shoulder and he was smiling down at her. When Zander had been dancing with his date it had irritated her, but not this much. And she knew that she had just kissed a guy she barley knew, but she just couldn't help but feel.. lonely. Maybe if had been anyone besides Alexis, but it was her and she couldn't help, but hurt. His gaze turned however and saw Carly. He whispered something to Alexis and made his way towards her. Carly pushed away, a frown turning her face into a storm. She tried to distance herself.. tried to make her way outside. She finally reached the back and sat down on the curb. Someone roughly grabbed her arm and she leaned back. It was Sonny.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” Her face twisted in anger and she started to speak without thinking.

“What am I doing? What am I doing?”

“You just kissed that guy... just kissed him! How could you do that?! In a public place!!” He moved closer to her and she could see his face reddening.

“What do you mean Sonny?!”

“Who.. What are you.. trying to prove? You're becoming a slut again? I thought you were over that!” Her brain stopped churning, her heart stopped beating, and her lungs forgot how to inhale and exhale. She looked him in the eye, looked at him and searched his head; What was he thinking? Sobs racked her chest, her eyes became unclear, but she didn't cry. She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm. “Carly,” he whispered. She pulled roughly away and turned to look at him. He grabbed her arm again. She jerked her arm away and he kept on calling her, but she walked into the club. Her legs glided to the middle of the dance floor and she stood there.

Screams echoed into her head and tables clattered to the ground. She didn't comprehend what was happening... couldn't place the sounds into her head. Her body spasmed as bullets pounded into her flesh. No one saw though, but she could see them. Sonny was covering Alexis, Jax had Skye, Zander had his date. All over the room couples were down, women were crying as their mates hugged them to the ground. Carly stood in the middle of the room with two gaping holes in her stomach and chest. No one noticed her, until she heard a scream; “Momma!! Mommma!” Michael stood from the ground and ran to her. He was sobbing and shaking in her arms.

When she pushed him back a little, blood oozed onto his black tux. People swarmed around Michael and asked him over and over if he had been hit. Carly wandered over to the door and sat as it began to rain. Faintly, as if Michael was far away, she heard, “It wassan' me, MOMMA!” He ran over to Carly again, who was faintly aware of how quickly all attention had turned on her.

She stood up and whispered faintly, “I'm okay.. rea-.” She went to lean on the white door way, but her hands slipped and she fell to the ground. A small pool of blood formed on her dress and she was struggling for breath. The world was terribly white and the lights all smeared into one. She could hear Michael's sobs echoing off the walls and the shrill sound pounded in her ears. She thought they had to pull him off of her, but she wasn't sure. Nothing was clear anymore it was all one blur of color. She felt like she was far, far away. Faces appeared before her and she could almost make out one of them. Her head felt like a heavy weight and she couldn't lift it up. Her eyes closed and someone snapped them open.

“Don't you go to sleep Caroline... don't go!” It sounded like Sonny, and almost looked like Sonny. She could see him at her head and he was holding it; stroking her cheek. She could recognize Zander by her stomach and chest yelling at her to stay awake also. She lifted her arm and stroked Sonny's cheek and then tried to close her eyes once more. Sonny shook her head and the lights seemed to flash like lightning. The unshed tears shimmered down her cheek and fell into his palm. A small drizzle of rain stabbed at her body. It felt like ice was clawing at her chest and uncovered skin. She felt like she was an iceberg floating among an ice cold ocean.

“I love you.. Sonny. Zander, thanks for being h-hee-here.” She couldn't take the wave of fresh pain that over took her body and she tried to let go. She gasped in pain and cried out as another roll pulled at her. It seemed like someone was tugging her body.. pulling her away from what was happening.

“Carly come one! DAMNIT! Stay awake... come on.. do anything to stay awake. Sing for God's sake!” She nodded her head softly and started to sing what she wouldn't allow the radio to play before.

So she sang;
“Don't you fret, M'sieur Marius
I don't feel any pain.
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now.
You're here, that's all I need to know.
And you will keep me safe,
And you will keep me close,
And rain... will make the flowers grow.”

She could see Sonny nod and she clawed her hand into his face as the pain resurfaced. His mind recollected the song and he sang back to her.

“But you will live, 'Ponine- dear God above...
If I could heal your wounds with words of love.”

His eyes shone down on her as Zander pushed a rolled up shirt onto her wounds, trying to lessen the bleeding. She started to cry again and it seemed to rain harder. Someone before had said something about moving her, but somebody said that it wasn't safe. She just wanted something warm.

“Just hold me now, and let it be.
Shelter me, comfort me...”

Her lips were turning blue and her eyes were fluttering open and shut more than they should've been. He removed his jacket and carefully placed it over her body.

“You would live
A hundred years
If I could show you how.
I won't desert you now...”

She leaned gratefully into his jacket and tried to keep her eyes open for longer intervals. A single tear slide down his face and she tried to wipe it away.

“The rain can't hurt me now
This rain... will wash away what's past.
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close.
I'll sleep in your embrace at last!
The rain that brings you here
Is Heaven blessed!
The skies begin to clear
And I'm at rest.
A breath away from where you are
I've come home from so far.”

She gasped when the last note projected from her mouth. More tears flew down her face as the pain increased for what seemed the hundredth time that night. The last notes she sang took all her strength from her system. And she weakly dropped her hand from Sonny's face. He kept on whispering encouragement for her to stay with him and Michael. The rain stopped and the cold seemed to melt away. The last notes were meant for unison and that's what they did. Her voice was weak, but his was strong as ever.

“So don't you fret, M'sieur Marius “Hush-a-bye, dear Eponine”
I don't feel any pain You won't feel any pain
A little fall of rain A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now Can hardly hurt you now, I'm here
That's all I need to know
And you will keep me safe 'Til you are sleeping
And you will keep me close I'm here
And rain And rain
Will make the flowers...” Will make the flowers...”

Her breath caught in her throat and all the pain came into one and she finally drifted into unconsciousness. The ambulance came speeding to the door and the piled her onto a stretcher. Sonny climbed into the ambulance and whispered the last word to Carly,

“Grow.”

A year later

Sunlight streamed into Sonny's eyes as his mind collided back into reality. The sleeping figure beside him was quietly sleeping and he didn't want to awake her. He quickly trotted down the steps of his new home and swept into the kitchen. In moments, breakfast was being cooked. While the food was getting ready, he thought back to that night where everything had gone wrong. Michael and him had moved on though... and things were better than better with the present time.

Carly had survived the two bullet wounds even though it had been quite critical for a while. Even after everything was almost back to normal they still had had to be very careful. After months of physical therapy and learning to cope with her injuries for the months of recovery they had remarried. Everything had been okay... and they had gone back to see Les Miserables four times since the accident. He had to admit... it was definitely growing on him.

“Mm... Do I smell bacon?” Carly entered the kitchen in her pink terry cloth robe, her belly protruding out into the open.

“Of course, Mrs. Corinthos.” He pulled her into a sweet kiss as Michael entered the room.

“Come on guys, not in front of the kids!” He pointed to Carly's stomach and they all laughed. Yea, things were definitely going great...

The End

- Okay guys.. this was my first GH fic... so what did you think? That song, A Little fall of Rain, belongs to Les Miserables, as does that play that I mentioned within the story. Oh yeah and I don't own Carly and Sonny or any other GH characters that made appearances during this story. (Even though I wish I did! Hehe!) -