The wind swept the city at a furious pace, ripping branches from trees, snapping power cables as if they were mere strands of wool. Rain had been falling at a steady pace, driven hard by the gale, for the past two days. Thunder rolled across the darkened sky and lightning split the heavens apart.
Lightning forked the clouds and thunder shook the world below. In his bed, the young man startled awake instantly, stifling a cry of surprise. Sweat glistening on his toned, bare chest, he took a deep breath as he surveyed the empty hotel room. He tried to calm himself, he had never been able to weather severe storms alone, so to speak, as a child he had taken refuge in his parents presence each time the panic had set in. No one would have guessed, given his in-ring persona, that he suffered this particular weakness, were it known that he was irrationally afraid of such trivial things as thunderstorms, he would have been ridiculed mercilessly in the locker rooms.
He was a long way from home, and a long way from a child. Still, his nerves on edge, shaking uncontrollably, unnerved by the violence outside his window, he threw back the covers, grabbed the spare key-card and, barefoot made his way to the door and down the hotel corridor to the one place he knew comfort could be found.
*****
Lying to the one side of the king-sized bed, covered only by a t-shirt and boxer briefs he listened to the storm raging outside. He had always been calmed by this weather. Dark skies, thunder, rain… what better way to think, to clear your mind.
It had been like this for almost three days. The weather had not dampened the spirits of the thousands of fans, and the arena had been filled to capacity. They had been set to fly out to the next venue that same night, but the weather had intervened.
Lost in his own thoughts, listening to the wind driven rain hammering against the large hotel windows, he had not heard the quiet click of the front door to his suite being unlocked. This posed no danger however, as only one man, his favorite above all others, was ever allowed the spare card.
Moments later, from the corner of his eye, he saw the door to his bedroom open slowly, cautiously at first. As he turned to face the entrant, he encountered a sight he had not expected to see.
*****
He stood in the doorway, his bare chest and legs illuminated by the soft glow of the bedside lamp. Hugging himself, shaking violently, as if freezing, he looked at the older man, eyes glistening, filled with apprehension.
"Ra…Randy," he stammered, "ple…please…"
"Cody… fuck…"
Jolting from the bed, oblivious to his state of dress, Randy went straight to the young man, alarmed by his condition. Without thought, for such was their relationship, he took the younger man in his arms and led him to the edge of the bed.
"Shhhh…. Cody it's alright." He soothed, "just take deep breaths. You're not alone now."
Hunched over slightly, refusing to release Randy's hand, the young man tried his best to comply. He took deep, shaky breaths. Within a few minutes the violent shaking subsided to a tremble, his rabid breathing a little steadier.
Randy stroked the boy's ruffled hair, "That's it, Codes. Easy does it."
He tried to stand, intending to get the rattled man a glass of water, but, as he moved, Cody's grip on his hand tightened.
"Don't… don't go." Cody pleaded.
Without a thought, Randy sat back down and instinctively hugged Cody closer as the young man moved against him.
"What caused this?" he asked, trying to distract his friend.
"I dunno… was sleeping and then woke up, feeling it start. And.. the storm." Cody almost whispered.
Randy, stroking his hair, smiled to himself and relaxed inwardly, this was not as serious as he had thought. Even as a child, before the panic attacks had started, he remembered that Cody had never like thunderstorms. On their many sleepovers, Cody had sought refuge in Randy's bed whenever the thunder and rain had rolled in. Randy had strangely looked forward to these happenings, and had, he realized, missed them.
"Some things never change huh?" he said lightly. Cody shook his head.
Settling into a comfortable silence, Randy sat unmoving for near an hour, pleased each time he felt Cody's trembling subside a little more. Eventually, the grip panic seemed to have passed.
Leaning back, lifting Cody's head gently by the chin, Randy asked, "Ready for bed?"
Cody flinched internally, "I.. I don't wanna go b…"
"Don't be daft, Codes." Randy smiled, "This bed is fucking massive. You can spend the night here with me."
*****
The relief in the young man's eyes was clear to Randy when he had told Cody that he could spend the night in his bed.
He steered Cody around to the other side of the bed. After pulling back the covers, Cody eased himself beneath the sheets, which Randy then brought up to his chest.
From his vantage point Cody watched as Randy went around to his side of the bed and lay back down after turning off the bedside lamps.
They lay in silence a few moments until a light tremor drew Randy from his thoughts.
"You cold, Codes?" he asked the young man.
"Just… just a little." he admitted.
Shaking his head, a smile on his face, Randy replied, "Then move closer Dashing. I'm lying right over here."
Without a second thought Cody slid over and into Randy's embrace.
When they had been children, Randy, being slightly older, had always been fiercely protective of Cody.
Now Cody remembered the one occasion that the power had gone off in a particularly rough winter storm. With no heating, they had both been freezing. Randy had insisted that Cody take the extra blanket and had wrapped his arms around Cody to help keep him warm. Randy had suffered a severe cold for days afterward.
"Just like old times." Randy said, breaking into Cody's memory.
"You remember too?" Cody asked
"Of course I remember, Cody. You were the most important person in the world to me back then. You still are." Randy admitted.
In whispers they continued to speak to one another. As they spoke, and without even thinking about it, Randy gently began to run his fingers up and down Cody's warm, chiseled stomach. Cody let out a contented sigh and moved back closer to Randy.
The older man realized what he was doing and stopped, resting his hand only lightly on Cody's hip.
"Randy….?" came a whisper.
"Yea?"
"Why did you stop?"