There have been an insane amount of thunderstorms this spring in Lima, and according to the weather reports there was going to be another big one tonight. Sam sighed as he read that and put his phone in his pocket, looking through his living room window at the cloudy morning sky.

He and Blaine had been together a month. Sam still didn't know why Blaine was scared of thunder, and it was driving him nuts. He had asked him once, the Saturday after they got together, and after seeing his reaction Sam decided he would never ask again.

"I don't talk about that," Blaine had said shortly, not taking his eyes of the plate he was washing. Sam immediately regretted asking- he didn't think he would get that upset. Sam walked up behind him and went to put his arms around him, but his skin had hardly made contact when Blaine flinched horribly, dropping the plate in the sink with a loud gasp.

"Whoa, Blaine-" Sam exclaimed, startled. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Blaine took a couple breaths before saying, "No, I'm sorry. That was stupid." He shook his head, looking embarrassed. He went back to washing the dishes without looking back at Sam, his body tense. Not a full three seconds passed before a loud crack of thunder made Blaine jump again. He cursed under his breath and fiercely threw the washcloth down, splashing soapy water all over the place.

Sam was at a loss at what to do, wanting so badly to ask again: Why was he this scared? What was wrong?! Blaine turned around and finally looked at him. Sam gave him a quizzical look and slowly raised his hand, not wanting to scare him again, to wipe a single tear off of his cheek. Blaine gave just the slightest shake of his head, and Sam knew he wasn't going to talk. He shut his eyes and leaned into Sam's hand, holding it against his face with his own.

After a few moments Blaine opened his eyes, his beautiful eyes that seemed to be pleading him not to talk about it. Sam nodded in understanding and slowly leaned in to kiss Blaine's forehead.

Since then Sam hadn't dared to bring it up again, but he was still dying to know. Especially since Blaine had recently started having such bad nightmares when it's thundering out that he would sometimes wake up kicking and punching. It made Sam sad to see him suffer like that and he was growing more worried. There was something more than a silly childhood fear of thunder at play here, and he wanted desperately to know what it was. Obviously something terrible had happened, but what? What else did he have to go through? How much could one person take? It angered Sam to no end when he thought about how unfair life had been to Blaine. The saying was true: bad things happen to good people, and as Blaine was the epitamy goodness, it was like the universe automatically wanted to ruin that. The amazing thing is that Blaine never let life ruin him- he was still the nicest and most selfless person Sam had ever met, even though he had so many reasons to be bitter.

The sight of Blaine's car brought Sam back to the here and now, and a grin broke out on Sam's face as his favorite person pulled up to his house to take him to school. He hurriedly shut the curtains and practically jogged to Blaine's car, got in, and leaned in to give him his usual good-morning kiss. Blaine's hand immediately went up Sam's shoulder and into his hair, pulling at it when Sam deepened the kiss. Oh, he loved when he pulled his hair like that…

They broke apart slowly, Sam smiling at the dazed look on Blaine's face as he said, "Good morning, Sammy" in a dreamy voice (hence why Sam called it his "Good-morning kiss").

"Good morning," he answered as he put his seat belt on. His heart was still pounding hard in his ears. He loved when he first saw Blaine in the morning, not just because of the kissing, but because of the look on his face when Sam would walk out the door. His favorite smile- Sam's smile- would spread across Blaine's face, making Sam's insides flip knowing he was just as excited to see Sam as Sam was him.

"I'm so glad it's Friday," Blaine said. He started driving with one hand and grabbed Sam's hand with the other.

"Yeah, this week sucked," Sam said bitterly. He had gotten a D on his chemistry test and turned his history essay in late, automatically cutting ten points off the grade.

Blaine squeezed his hand. "It's ok, Sam. We still have three months to bring your grades up, and its not like you're failing."

"I don't want C's man," Sam pouted sheepishly, knowing he sounded like a whiny kid.

Blaine gave him a sympathetic smile. "Grades aren't that important, Sam. They only measure a specific kind of ability. You're amazing and smart in other ways- more important ways, in my opinion. Your brain works a little differently, and there's nothing wrong with that."

Sam disagreed but, not wanting to get into this argument again, he just smiled and looked out the window. It had started raining.

"Can I come over tonight?" Sam asked, remembering the weather forecast. He never said 'do you want me to come over,' knowing it would make Blaine feel like a child, but he always knew why Sam asked, anyway. Which is why he would always give Sam a warm, knowing smile and say, "Yes you can, Mr. Evans."

Xxxxxxx

As night grew closer Blaine grew more tense. He hated thunder enough, but he hated it more at night. It just triggered bad memories- or rather, one bad memory. He had trained himself not to think about it, burying it deep in the recesses of his brain and leaving it there to rot. He preferred to think about the Sadie Hawkins incident over this one any day. With all of these storms, however, it's gotten harder for Blaine to repress it lately.

He looked over at Sam for a distraction. He was engrossed in the laptop, his bangs falling forward and covering his eyes from view. He was unknowingly biting his bottom lip, which Blaine always found extremely cute.

He smiled to himself. What would he do without Sam? He couldn't imagine being with anyone else, and just then the depressing realization hit him that he also couldn't imagine anyone else wanting to be with him. He wasn't exactly a catch. He was a paranoid mess with post traumatic stress issues. He knew that, and he knew he acted like a baby because of it, like flinching every time there's thunder or being too scared to hold Sam's hand at school. Blaine just thanked whatever greater being that's out there that the extraordinary person sitting across from him came into his life at all.

Sometimes, however, Blaine felt like there was an invisible clock ticking until the time Sam realized how crazy Blaine really was. Endless, loud ticking that was always in his head, telling him that soon this dream will be over, that Sam will see how weak he was, how wrecked…

"Hey, what's going on in that gelled head of yours?" Sam joked, but Blaine could tell he was concerned.

"I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you," Blaine said quietly. He couldn't shake the sad feeling in his stomach. He wished he could be a normal boyfriend, not this broken person.

"Then why do you look so upset?" Sam asked, closing the laptop and coming to sit next to him. Blaine was debating if he should tell him what he was really thinking when a loud crack of thunder caught him off guard. His mind flashed to a dark place, a tiny, pitch black space that felt like it was closing in on him. He quickly came to and cursed at himself for looking like a wimp, again, in front of Sam. Jeez, why don't I just put on a straight jacket and chase him out the door?! He thought bitterly.

"Sam, I'm going to lay down," Blaine said. He felt like he was about to lose it, and he would really prefer doing that alone.

"Blaine-" Sam started to get up.

"No, its ok. You keep working," Blaine interrupted, his voice thick as he was holding back tears.

Another rumble of thunder struck, and suddenly Blaine was enveloped into the darkness, calling for help but no one would come. The thunder drowned him out when he screamed. He felt frantically along the wall for the door knob. He heard a loud voice, an angry voice directed at him, but he couldn't make out what the man was yelling.

"Just keep working," he said again as he ran upstairs. He was losing control, remembering what he didn't want to. Blaine threw himself on his bed, panting. He tried to take deeper breaths, but it ended up sounding liket he was choking.

"Think about what you did!"

"I'm sorry, dad! Please, its dark in here!"

"And you can stay in there. Maybe then you'll remember to act right!"

Blaine found the doorknob and threw the door open, running for his life. The thunder cracked. It scared him and made him fall. He started to cry. He wished mom was here. She would tell daddy to stop.

A pair of big, beefy arms wrapped around him, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe, until it hurt.

"Do as I say, young man! Stay in your time-out!" his dad roared, pulling a kicking and screaming Blaine back to the hall closet. Before setting him back in there his dad squeezed him again. Blaine's whole body was covered in big arms and he struggled to move breath in and out. His dad's head was suddenly by his shoulder, whispering, "Don't ever disobey me again." His voice sent chills down Blaine's tiny spine. "Now get in there and think about what you've done. Earlier and just now."

Blaine plopped to the ground and was shut in. He sniffled quietly, not wanting to upset daddy by being loud, but then the thunder boomed again and he jumped up and started hitting the door.

"Let me out! Please, I'm sorry!"

More thunder and Blaine started shaking. He found the door knob and pushed, but something heavy was blocking the door this time.

"Dad, please!" He yelled. He was having trouble breathing. He sank back to the ground, his hopeless hands flat against the door.

More thunder and he started balling. It was so loud. He wanted to run away from the noise, but he was trapped, trapped in the dark and his eyes wouldn't adjust. He banged on the door again. "Daddy, please!" he balled. His father yelled something he couldn't understand and then Blaine heard him stomping up the stairs.

More thunder, this one so powerful that it shook his body. He started screaming hysterically, "Come back, dad! Come back come baaack! Come back!"

He doesn't know exactly how long he was in there screaming. He fell asleep from exhaustion eventually and when he woke up the next day the door was open. Cooper and his mom came back later that night, but Blaine had already decided he wasn't going to tell Mom what happened. It might make her and Dad fight, and he didn't like seeing Mom cry. From the moment he decided this he started burying the memory deep inside himself, not letting the feelings of that night pierce him again. If he did think about it, it was as an objective third-party observer, carefully dissociated from his emotions.

Until tonight, that is...

Blaine was laying face down in his bed, shaking, his father's angry voice still ringing in his ears.

"Blaine!" Oh god, it's him! Blaine tensed as fear ripped through him.

"Blaine!" he yelled again. Blaine felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked wildly, not wanting to go back in the dark, anything but go back in there with that terrible noise!

"I'm sorry, dad! Please don't!" he begged.

"Blaine, it's me!" Sam said as he tried holding down Blaine's flailing arms and legs. "Calm down, it's me!" he said again.

He finally refocused his vision and comprehended that it was Sam above him, not his father. He stopped kicking immediately.

"Sam!" he panted. He tried sitting up but was shaking too much. Sam helped him up with a panic-stricken face.

"Sam," Blaine breathed again.

"I'm right here, Blaine," Sam said quietly, pulling him into his chest. Blaine grabbed tightly onto Sam's arms, still spooked by his flashback, afraid Sam would disappear and be replaced by his father. He tried desperately to stop shaking, but it was like he didn't have control of his body. Sam made soothing circles on his back and, by focusing on the light, repetitive pressure of this, Blaine was at least able to slow his breathing down.

"Blaine, please talk to me," Sam whispered. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut. No. If Sam found out how much of a mess he really was, how pathetic he really was… It was so embarrassing. But he did owe Sam an explanation for scaring him like this, so he opened his mouth to explain but no words came out. He had never told anyone this, not even his mom. It made it more real, like it definitely, tangibly, without-a-doubt happened, and that was terrifying.

Sam grabbed Blaine's hand. "Its ok," he said.

Another moment passed before Blaine could form words.

"When I was 8," he started, but didn't know how to keep going. Sam just waited patiently, rubbing his hand.

Blaine cleared his throat. "I was waiting for my dad to pick me up from school. I was playing with this boy that I thought was really cute. Without thinking, I kissed him on the cheek when I was saying bye, and then he kissed me quick on the lips, just a peck. My dad saw." Blaine gulped before continuing.

"There was a thunderstorm that night. Mom and Cooper were out of town. He yelled at me all the way home, and when we got there he… Locked me in the closet, and it was so loud and I just wanted out, but he blocked the door," he hesitated, feeling so exposed and uncomfortable that he wanted to crawl inside himself. He couldn't do this. He shook his head fiercely. "No, no, I don't want to talk about this anymore!" He started crying harder.

"That's ok. Just breathe. Shhhh," Sam soothed as he stroked Blaine's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," he sobbed.

"Sorry for what?!" Sam asked incredulously, grabbing Blaine's chin with his free hand and forcing him to look up at him.

"For being a crazy mess," Blaine mumbled, trying to turn his head but Sam held on. He reluctantly looked him in the eyes, feeling nothing but shame. Sam looked at him with fiery intensity, shaking his head slightly at Blaine's words.

"Don't ever, ever, apologize for this," he said in a low and determined voice, holding Blaine's gaze with those blazing eyes. It felt like he looked into those green flames forever when suddenly Sam's lips crashed into his own, catching him off-guard. Soon Blaine found himself channeling all of his fear and sadness into kissing Sam, harder and harder, tightly wrapping his arms around Sam's torso and exploring his muscular back. Blaine groaned as Sam reached under his shirt and his hand glided softly across his chest. He gently pushed Blaine down and maneuvered so that he was on top of him, never breaking the kiss. Blaine greedily pulled Sam against him, enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed together. Sam finally pulled his head back so they could both breathe, but kept that same intense stare. It was like Blaine was caught in a trance, and then he felt Sam's warm hand caress his cheek before he leaned back down for a slower, sweeter kiss that made Blaine's head spin. They finally parted and Sam rolled onto his side, keeping hold of Blaine's hand.

"What was that for?" Blaine asked breathlessly with a goofy smile on his face, his body on fire and tingling everywhere.

Sam looked at him and laughed at his loopy grin. "Because you're amazing," he said casually, but after a minute his expression grew serious when he added, "And to let you know you never have to apologize to me for crying."

It felt like Blaine's heart was caught in his throat. How could someone as perfect as Sam Evans even exist? He's broken down like a baby in front of him twice now, and Sam's reaction was to call him amazing? Maybe Sam was the one that was crazy, he mused. He scooted closer and relaxed his head on Sam's chest. "I love you," he said, though it didn't feel like that phrase covered the immensity of what he was feeling. Not even close.

Sam started rubbing his back again. "I love you, too. Try and sleep," he said. Blaine moaned contently in agreement. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally drained, but also extremely giddy and excited since his body refused to calm down.

Thunder boomed, but Blaine was so comfortable and happy where he was at that moment that, for the first time in years, the thunder went unnoticed.