Another stormy spring day in North America. Matthew loved this kind of day because no one would bother him (if they remembered who lived in this house) and it was the perfect excuse to do nothing. He grabbed his favorite book that he had read at least 10 times, gathered some candles, and prepared to wait out the storm.
Across the street, his neighbor, Alfred, was a different story.
So used to being around crowds of people, Alfred hated being alone almost as much as he hated storms. When he was with a group, it usually drowned out the thunder and lightning and he could act like the hero. When he was all alone, he felt like curling up under the table with a teddy bear until the storm passed. He didn't quite feel like sinking to that quite yet since the storm hadn't started getting bad until…
BOOM
The entire house shook with the sound of the thunder and Alfred started panicking. He needed to find some sort of company. No one lived particularly close except that quiet guy across the street whose name he couldn't remember. He figured he would remember his name once he got over there and could play the hero trying to save him from the storm. But first he had to brave the storm…
Back across the street, Matthew was well into his book. He lit a few of the candles because the power had been flickering a bit and he didn't want to pause in his book if it went out completely. He was in the middle of an intense scene when he heard frantic knocking on the door. He groaned while he got up to answer it, hoping it was important, but most likely it was someone who got lost or went to the wrong house. Instead, he found Alfred standing on the porch, out of breath and still knocking on the door that had been opened already.
"Hey," wheeze, "It's…Matthew? Right?" Alfred asked, still trying to catch his breath.
Matthew was confused as to why Alfred would run over here in a storm and surprised he remember his name, "Um…yeah…I didn't think you remembered who I was."
"How could I not remember my best neighbor-friend," Alfred stuck on a fake smile, "I just thought you might need a hero to save u from the-" BOOM "-storm.." he squeaked the last word, while still trying to sound brave. Matthew saw through his act, though, and invited him inside, and Alfred scurried past him in time to avoid the next clap of thunder. Before Matthew even had time to lock the door, Alfred had managed to turn all the lights on in the living room and turn on the news with the volume all the way up.
"Um…Alfred? You know the power's probably gonna go out soon so there's no reason to keep the TV on," Matthew calmly stated.
"THE POWER'S GOING OUT?" Alfred frantically went to find more candles. After about five minutes, Alfred found enough candles to form a circle around the whole couch and curled up in a ball next to Matthew, giving up the "hero" pretense. With every clap of thunder, Alfred nudged closer to Matthew, until another house-shaking BOOM and the power flashing out sent him flying into Matthew's lap.
"Alfred…you're sitting on my book," Matthew said struggling to breathe, since the other man had his arms wrapped tightly around Matthew's neck.
"Um…s-s-sorry but…could…could you just…hold me for a while?" Alfred turned red asking such a thing but couldn't feel safe unless he did. Matthew sighed, found his book, wrapped his arms around Alfred, and went back to his book. After awhile, Alfred had fallen asleep, still in Matthew's lap and Matthew, who didn't have the heart to wake him up, just fell asleep as well.
The next morning, Arthur went to check on Alfred, knowing how much he hated storms but not caring enough to go out in one to check on him. When he didn't find him at home, he followed the muddy footprints across the street to…someone's house…although he could remember who until he saw the name on the mailbox. He knocked at first and, not getting an answer, found his key and unlocked the door. Upon walking in, he saw Alfred sleeping on top of Matthew with a bunch of burnt out candles scattered on the floor and all the lights off. He froze in shock until Matthew and Alfred woke up, hearing the door open, saw Arthur's face, realized the situation, and jumped off the couch screaming, "IT ISNT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"
Arthur stood frozen in shock a few more seconds until he blinked a few times and, looking at the men in front of him, said,
"Why the bloody hell wasn't I invited?"