Rain flowed down the windowpanes of the bedroom-the shadows of them flashed into existence when a stroke of lightning appeared. They stretched across sleeping faces, goosebumped skin, the shiny surface of sleeping bags. But there was one face that woke with a start at the flash. His blue eyes skittered across the stormy sky outside as he lifted his head, eyes unfocused. An inner alarm was immediately set off. Anxiety switched on. He had just gotten to sleep-the last thing he needed was this.
His sharp intake of breath woke another sleeping figure beside him, curly hair obscuring some of his vision. The figure glanced around with slitted brown eyes, still and confused, curious as to who woke him. The first to awake shut his eyes tight, brow tense, and then sighed. His head drifted back onto the pillow. Both listened to the rain falling on the roof and the deck outside.
Ryan Evans' eyes drifted closed again. Then, another bolt of lightning came-he jumped, eyes snapping back open. He shut them tight again when muffled thunder hit his ears. With another, shaky, sigh, he quickly glanced up at the only clock by the only bed in the room, occupied by the token couple: Troy and Gabriella. They were sleeping soundly while he, at 1:23am, laid wide awake in a sleeping bag on an uncomfortable, hardwood floor.
He slowly rolled over, trying to make as little noise as possible; the only other person awake, Chad Danforth, feigned being asleep, shifting slightly and closing his eyes. Ryan, seeing slight movement, snapped his gaze to the dark-skinned teen, freezing. When he saw nothing, he told himself it was probably the shadows of the raindrops playing tricks on him. He continued removing himself from his sleeping bag.
First, his arms slowly snaked out. With his sleeping bag already unzipped to allow one leg to cool off while the other stayed warm, his exit would be easy. He then, slowly, propped himself up with his hands, paying special attention to not press down on any of Chad's unruly curls. Ryan was also the one closest to the window, which saved him the trouble of squeezing himself out from a people sandwich.
Chad, deciding to mess with Ryan, suddenly turned more towards the blond and, as sleep-ridden as possible, slung an arm over his torso. He felt Ryan tense; felt him gasp and hold his breath. He had to keep himself from laughing out loud, and paused his breathing to recuperate before breathing slowly in and out.
Waiting a reasonable amount of time, one of Ryan's arms slowly lifted up, and his hand hovered over the hand of the arm across his chest. He slowly breathed out and in again, and then stopped, holding in the air. He slowly, gently, grabbed the hand. His blue eyes were watching Chad's closed ones, hoping for the love of all holy that he wouldn't wake.
It was a long and slow process, but then the arm was beside Chad, and just before another flash of lightning and growl of thunder made Ryan jump, which would've no doubt awoken Chad, Ryan scooted sideways, out of the confines of the sleeping bag. He did so quickly, lest the arm try and capture him again. He tiptoed out of the room in the direction of the kitchen, his sharp shadow passing over everyone else as he maneuvered around the still-sleeping bodies.
After he heard the small creaks signaling the bedroom door opening, Chad opened his eyes. He didn't see Ryan next to him, only seeing the incessant rain move in streams down the glass door to the deck just outside the room. Barely over the sound of rainfall was the light tapping of Ryan's footsteps trailing down the hallway. Chad slowly removed himself from his sleeping bag by wiggling out the top as delicately as he could, and then following the boy in curiosity.
After tiptoeing down the hallway and half-descending the stairs, he saw Ryan in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of milk. The white light from the fridge illuminated his droopy eyes and knotted eyebrows, frustration and tiredness evident on his face.
Chad entered the kitchen carefully, about to whisper the other's name, who was closing the fridge, when a cluster of lightning strikes illuminated him from behind and caused Ryan to jump again. His eyes landed on Chad's shadow, and he whipped his head in his direction, jumping again in surprise when he saw that someone was there. He took a startled step back, hand on his chest, as if his heart would escape from surprise.
"I'm sorry-" Chad whispered hurriedly, stuck in mid-step. "It's Chad-um-"
He was interrupted by a cluster of claps of thunder, and saw Ryan jump once again, shuddering afterwards with the hand on his chest clutching his shirt. The other was clutching the kitchen counter's edge, knuckles straining to hold on. Chad immediately started moving again, then, resting a hand on the arm that was on Ryan's chest; Ryan immediately mirrored the action, heartbeat racing. His fingers were chilly as they pressed into dark skin. In the near-blackness, both were silent, holding their breath.
They stood like that for a tense moment. "Are you okay?" The curly-haired jock queried, breaking the silence. He searched for an answer in the dim face in front of him, but wasn't able to decipher any distinct emotion. Confused, he mused for a few secnds before deciding to sit Ryan down somewhere, immediately. He warily took the glass of milk from beside the fridge and removed his hand from Ryan's arm to put behind his back. He was stopped when the hand gripped tighter his arm-another bolt of lightning cracked in the sky.
There was another pause. "You're afraid," Chad whispered afterwards. He took the silence that followed and the evident, suppressed fear on Ryan's face as a yes. Calmly, he shuffled in the direction of the stairwell with Ryan in tow, who trailed along with downcast eyes like a lost child, fingertips digging almost harshly into Chad's arm.
Guiding the blonde to sit, the two sat side by side on the staircase. Chad pried his arm from Ryan's grip, and it reached behind Ryan's back, hand landing tenderly on his shoulder. Hesitant on how to comfort the slouched, occasionally trembling frame beside him, Chad offered Ryan the glass of milk. A quick shake of Ryan's head provided sufficient enough of an answer, and the glass was set on the step below their feet.
"Are you okay?" was asked once again, and again, there was emptiness for an answer. Chad's lips pursed and he scooted closer to Ryan.
Ryan's body was consumed in a cold sweat, and his stomach churned with dread. His body anticipated something happening to him, yet he knew nothing could hurt him. He was inside, not near any windows, and had a jock at his side-yet his body felt everything could go wrong. Chad's hand on his shoulder was unfamiliar, but Ryan tried welcoming it.
With a large cluster of lightning came a large churn of his stomach, a gasp, and the snapping of eyes shut. He leaned forwards, clutching his knees. Then he decided against that and ran his hands through his hair and weaved his fingers behind his neck. He trembled slightly.
His hair stood on end, body suddenly alert of Chad's presence when it was absent, when Chad removed his hand from his shoulder. Afraid he'll leave, he quickly looked up, making sure the curly-haired individual didn't abandon him. Then again, he was used to being alone at times like these. He found that Chad had stood up, and he opened his mouth to inquire.
He was interrupted when Chad spoke yet again, hands in the space between them. "It's okay," He assured. Ryan watched him run to the living room, and he swallowed nervously.
After Chad was out of his sight, a new fear appeared: something might happened to Chad instead of himself. The dread returned, climbing his spine and making him shiver once again.
But when Chad returned, Ryan was relieved of that fear at the sight and sighed inwardly. Chad held a blanket, bequeathing it to Ryan, draping it over his shoulders and bringing both ends in front of him, where he took it from Chad's hands. The offer soothed him for a moment, until the rain became heavy and fell in loud sheets, bringing the dread back to crawling up his spine. Chad, again, sat quietly beside Ryan.
"What do you usually do when this happens?" Chad asked, brow furrowed, hands clasped in front of him. He leaned forwards, elbows digging into the space above his knees. He stared down at the stairs in front of him.
With a shrug and a nervous theatre (fake) smile, Ryan opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come out. He considered closing his mouth again and let Chad infer for himself, but decided against it, remembering that he wasn't good with that kind of thing. He squeezed the words out from his lungs. "I usually... sit and wait for it to be over."
Chad's eyebrows pointed down more with worry and he asked in a low voice, "Doesn't anyone know?"
Then came another shrug and another forcing of nervous air into words. "No-they think I've outgrown it," he admitted quickly, flashing another smile, hoping it would be evident in his voice. His gaze was also fixed on the steps in front of him.
With a small, joking smile, Chad mumbled, "You mean I've known you all this time, yet I haven't been around you long enough to know about this?"
Again, a theatre smile, another shrug. Then a shaky, "I guess so."
A roaring crash of thunder caused both parties to jump after lightning flashed, the windows illuminating the rooms around them in electric light. Ryan's fear was resurrected again, triggered by the event, and after jumping in surprise he retreated back into a ball, covering his head with his hands, hunched over. When he felt hands pull at his, he panicked and swatted them away, shooting straight up and bringing a hand up in defence, even though he cowered.
Seeing Chad, his panic wasn't lessened, and he attempted to drag himself backwards up the stairs. Chad snatched him by his shoulders instead, and, almost begging, asked, "Where do you usually go when this happens?"
Interrupted from replying by more thunder and lightning, Ryan shut his eyes tight and reciprocated Chad's grip on him. He could feel his heart pounding, breath quick. "Bathtub."
"Bathtub?" Chad hissed in a loud whisper over thunder.
He nodded frantically and, eyes still shut, tried to stand. He stepped on the blanket and nearly slipped backwards on the stairs, but Chad pulled him back up and helped him gather the long blanket that trailed behind him like a cape. After it was collected, he dropped it in his arms. Again, Chad lead Ryan like a lost child, this time to the bathroom next to the staircase.
Closing the door behind him, Ryan's storm instinct was awakened, and he climbed hastily and without order into the bathtub. He covered himself with the blanket, curling up into a ball on the floor of the bathtub.
Chad stooped to his knees by the tub, pity and confusion in his eyes. He clutched the rim with both hands and waited expectantly-for what, he wasn't sure.
As he waited he thought back to the baseball game at Lava Springs-they'd become so close in one afternoon, and from there, they'd started spending more time together. Soon, the rest of his close circle of friends welcomed Ryan with open arms. Thanks to him, they no longer saw him as his sister's shadow. It's because he isn't, thought Chad, and stopped, contemplating his inner remark. He sought something in Ryan that Ryan himself wasn't used to talking about, or even acknowledging: the parts of himself that he kept secret; the parts of himself he didn't put on display; the parts of him that weren't part of the cheery, Fiery Ryan mask he always kept on. He wanted to take the mask off, see what was behind it, and then help Ryan see that he didn't need to keep those parts of him hidden.
He stared down at the figure of Ryan, ignoring the flashes and booms coming from the turbulent storm outside. He had come to think very fondly of him, and was obviously very shocked about the lack of the Ryan mask. But he liked it. Even though he was worried about Ryan and his fear of thunderstorms, and how he had to cope with it on his own, he knew that this was the first time he'd been able to keep a secret of Ryan Evan's. It was a rare thing, and he promised himself to keep it hidden until Ryan was ready to deal with it.
Gingerly, Chad reached down and slowly pulled the blanket off of Ryan's head. Ryan's gaze snapped to him with a look of questioning and fear. Chad returned it with a comforting look, and Ryan's dulled.
Chad took his hand away, setting it back on the rim of the tub. "Are you okay?"
He recoiled at more lightning and thunder before answering. "I dunno," he confessed, shakily. "At least, not yet." He paused, then added, "I guess,"
A smile flickered on Chad's lips and Ryan forced one as well. When Ryan established eye contact, he allowed his eyes to linger, to attempt a peek into Chad's.
Ryan suddenly broke their connected gazes and sat up, flinging the blanket to once side. He quickly wrapped his arms around Chad in a tight squeeze of a hug. "Thank you," he mumbled into Chad's ear.
Before Chad could reciprocate the action, Ryan pulled away, and curled up once again, dragging the blanket back over his head.
Chad, after a silent moment of staring at Ryan, turned around and rested himself against the outside of the tub. Hands together in his lap, he stared at the bathroom wall across from him, unsure what to think about the blonde in the bathtub. He decided to stay, just in case.