Thunder

I sit on the couch in the bus doodling in my sketchbook and minding my own business, it's raining pretty heavily out and the others have all gone to bed. I tuck my hair behind my ear and focus on the details of the hand of the guy I'm drawing. We don't have a show tomorrow so I can afford to stay up and work on this. I hear the low rumbling of thunder and cuddle further into my seat. I fucking hate thunder.

I try to refocus but a loud crack of thunder makes me jump. I toss my sketchbook and pencil and book it to my bunk. I curl up in the corner and pull my blanket over my head, muttering "Fuck this." repeatedly under my breath. I curl up as small as I can get and put my hands over my ears as another crack of thunder echoes outside.

I must have made noise because I hear movement and the curtain of my bunk suddenly gets yanked open. Someone climbs in and wraps their arms around me. I protest and try to squirm away, elbowing them in the chest.

"Ow, fuck, really Gee!" Frank's voice whispers beside my ear. I freeze. It's just Frank. "I couldn't sleep with you whining and whimpering over here. What's the matter?" He asks and I instinctively snuggle into him.

"Hate thunder, don't know why it just freaks me out." I say quietly. “Does it not bother you?”

“No, I love thunderstorms, watching the lightning flashes. It’s cool.” Frank says and you can hear the stupid smile in his voice. Another crack of thunder goes off and I curl into Frank even further. “It’s not gonna hurt you Gee, it’s ok.” He says softly and hugs me tight.

“Still don’t like it.” I mutter. I’m trying not to cry, I don’t know why storms freak me out this bad, they just always have. It’s a stupid fear I guess, to be afraid of a thunderstorm, but there’s nothing I can really do about it. Frank holds me while the storm continues and I just lay there with my head on his chest. The rise and fall of his chest as he breathes evenly is calming. He starts humming and it sounds funny to hear it along with his heartbeat but I like it. He plays with my hair in between his fingers absentmindedly and I smile. This is nice.

“Feel better?” he asks.

“Yeah, thanks Frankie.” I say softly.

“The storm hasn’t stopped, eh.” he chuckles. I listen and realize he’s right, I can still hear thunder but I totally lost any notice of it laying here with him. I look up at him.

“You made it go away kind of though, I didn’t notice it till you said something.” I say and snuggle my face against the side of his. He laughs quietly and turns his head to kiss my forehead.

~~~~~
I sit in my bunk quietly trying to go to sleep when I hear the faint rumble of a storm coming in.

“Oh hell no!” I squeak and open my curtain. I open Frank’s curtain and crawl in beside him. He stirs and notices it’s me, rather than telling me to get he stops and listens for a second. He hears the thunder and reaches over to close the curtain on his bunk. He rolls onto his side and pulls me closer to him. “Thanks Frankie.” I mutter.

“No worries, Gee.” He kisses my forehead. That’s the second time he’s done that. I wiggle backwards a bit and look at him. “What?” he asks looking back at me.

“Why do you keep doing that?” I ask.

“Doing what?” He furrows his brows together.

“Kissing my forehead, you dork.” I ask and his face falls. He hadn’t realized he’d been doing it.

“Sorry, I…” if I could clearly see his face I’m sure it’d be as bright red as my hair.

“Frankie...it’s ok, I just wasn’t sure why you started doing it all of a sudden.” I shush him. He buries his face in my hair and I can feel how warm his face is. He’s definitely blushing. “Frank,” I reach up and touch his face with my hand. “Are you blushing?” I call him out on it and hear a distressed squeak come from him. “Why are you blushing?”

“I...I’m not…” he stammers and stutters.

“I’m calling bullshit right there buddy, what is the matter with you?” I watch him the best I can in the dark bunk. He grumbles and groans for a second. Then I feel him move and his lips are pressed against mine. I freeze more a second and I feel him tense up and realize what he did. Before he can pull away I bring my hands up to card through his hair and kiss him back. He moans a little as I melt into the kiss. When he does finally pull away I smile and kiss his cheek.

“You’re not mad?” he asks and I shake my head.

“No, I am most definitely not.” I say and snuggle into him. “I love you Frankie, I was just too scared to say it.”

“As scared as you are of thunder?” he asks and I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Yes, as bad as that.” I giggle. “But you took both of those away and made it better.”

“That’s because I love you too Gee.” He says and kisses my forehead again. I hear a crack of thunder and cuddle up against him, listening to his laugh and feeling it shake his chest. I poke him and he stops, hugging me tight. “Good night Gee.” he whispers.

Notes