AN: This is just a little one shot because it's valentine's day and Hamilton has consumed my soul. I DON'T OWN THE SONG JOHN SINGS! It's from the YouTuber doodleoodle(with a few words changed to make sense in the story). It's a really nice song and I recommend you listen to it here because it is beautiful: watch?v=qc3L7Uu2wVw Thank you so much for clicking on this story, and I hope you enjoy!
John woke up to a small touch on his shoulder and a quiet whisper. He shifted to his side, but the whisper came again, this time more clearly.
"Daddy," Philip's voice called out softly, "Daddy wake up." The mattress creaked as Philip climbed onto the bed, "Daddy."
Philip gently shook John, who sat up slowly, rubbing the crust from his eyes. What time is it? He turned on the lamp beside him, checking the clock.
It was one in the morning.
John groaned and started turning over, his limbs screaming at him to go back to sleep." What is it -"
As his eyes met Philip's he stopped. Philip's eyes were wide and wet, and John's annoyance was quickly replaced by fear, "Philip, are you okay?" He quickly sat up, throwing off the blankets.
Philip nodded slowly, then shook his head, bursting out in tears and clinging to John. He clutched at the fabric of John's shirt, gripping it like a lifeline. John held Philip tight, unsure of what to do other than whisper reassurances that everything was going to be okay. John turned to look at Alex, who was still asleep. Would Alex know what to do?
John kept squeezing Philip comfortingly, and slowly but surely Philip calmed down, his sobs quieting to small sniffles. John scooped Philip into his arms, carrying him to his room. What was he supposed to do? John sat down on Philip's bed, still holding him close to his chest.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly, trying to sound calm when his head was filling itself with worst-case scenarios.
What if he's sick? What if he hurt himself? What if-
"I'm scared," Philip finally whispered quietly, pulling away from John to look into his eyes.
"What are you scared of?" John asked, looking around the room for ominous shadows cast by coat hangers or a slightly open closet door. He didn't remember watching a scary movie that Philip might have overheard…
Philip looked back to the door, making sure nobody was there, then turned back to face John.
"Don't tell Papa… okay?" John nodded and Philip continued, "I was in Papa's room before and there was a letter on the floor that he dropped. He was looking for it earlier and he told me that if I found it I shouldn't read it. When I found it I thought maybe it was a secret treasure map or something, so I started reading it. But - i - it said really scary things,"
What the hell had Alex written? "What did it say?"
"It talked about a big, big storm. It was called a hurr- a hurr…."
"A hurricane?" John gasped, and Philip nodded. Oh Alex..
"It said there was this big hurricane and it took away Papa's home a long time ago and it said everything he loved was gone… and it started raining outside and it's dark and I don't want the hurricane to take away our home and everything we love," Philip cried, staring deep into John's eyes, gripping his hands tightly with his small fists.
Half of John wanted to storm into his room and yell at Alex for scaring Philip. To scream at him for taking that letter out of it's box and leaving it outside for their son to see.
The other half wanted to kiss Alex and tell him that he never needed to think about that hurricane ever again. To tell him that he was safe now, that nothing could ever tear his life apart again.
"Philip, we're far, far away from where hurricanes come. Nothing's going to take away our home," John assured Philip, "And if a hurricane does come, I'll tell it to go back home to the ocean for a time out, okay?"
Philip cracked a tiny, tentative smile, and John gently placed him down onto his bed.
"I'll be right back, okay?" John whispered, and Philip nodded, hugging his stuffed sunflower which had been abandoned on the bed when he ran to get John.
John slowly stepped out of the room, then ran down to the basement, digging through boxes of things from his old home.
"Come on- come on-" he hissed, sticking his hand deep into a small stack of toys. Suddenly his fingers curled around something familiar, and he tugged out what he had been looking for.
Just one more thing… As he ran back to Philip's room, he grabbed his guitar.
Alexander woke up to the soft sound of a guitar being played. It was calm, and he almost fell back to sleep, but his curiosity got the better of him. He slowly climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he walked down the hall. He turned the last corner and came to Philip's room.
John was sitting on a chair next to Philip's bed, a remote control on the table beside him and a guitar on his lap. Alexander smiled at the sound of John's warm loving voice as he strummed his guitar, the chords soft and gentle.
"The wind will blow hard tonight, and it might give you a fright, but stay close to friends and you'll be alright. There's a storm coming tonight," John sang, and Philip hugged his stuffed flower closer, bobbing his head from side to side with the melody.
Alexander leaned on the doorframe as John continued to strum,
"I'm okay with thunder,"
John blew a raspberry, making Philip laugh.
"I'm okay with rain,"
John tapped his fingers along the wood of his guitar.
"And now I don't have to wonder if I'm safe from hurricanes,"
The word that usually made Alexander's heart skip a beat in fear sounded soothing with John's voice.
"Because you'll tell it to go away!" Philip replied, a proud smile crossing his face as he imagined his father telling the storm to go home.
The storm would swell to its full size, the wind and rain blasting past. Then Daddy would start to count down from three and the storm would sulk off into the distance.
"That's right," John laughed, ruffling Philip's hair before going back to his song.
"There's a storm coming tonight, but we'll put up a fight. Out come the candles and fairy lights-"
John stopped for a second, and reached for a button on the remote control. He pressed it and suddenly, a nightlight plugged into a nearby socket projected twinkling stars and swirling galaxies onto the ceiling.
Philip's mouth dropped open and he gasped as he stared up at the ceiling, awe shining in his eyes. He spun around to see every inch of the night sky above him, and giggled as he got dizzy and fell on the bed. Alexander would always remember that face ; a mixture of happiness and wonder and innocence that could get him though the worst of times.
"I'm okay with thunder and I'm okay with rain and now I don't have to wonder if I'm safe from hurricanes."
John pulled the blankets up to Philip's chin, and Philip slowly let his head sink into his pillow.
"There's a storm coming tonight, but we'll put up a fight. Out come the candles and fairy lights. There's a storm coming- There's a storm coming- There's a storm coming tonight," John finished, holding out the last note before leaning down to kiss Philip on the forehead.
John slowly backed away from Philip's bed, dragging the chair softly behind him. He paused as he saw Alex in the doorway.
Did Alex wake up because he had a nightmare? Had he taken out the letter because something John said reminded him of the hurricane?
Maybe Alex had been drowning for a long time but John hadn't seen it. Maybe he'd been trying to tell John but John hadn't noticed. Maybe-
Alex's words interrupted John's thoughts "Have I ever told you you're the best singer in the world?"
When John didn't react Alex's smile faded.
"Is everything okay, John?"
"Have you been looking at that old letter again? The one you wrote?"
"No-"
"Then how - why? - did Philip find it?" John replied, and Alex stiffened.
"He read the letter? I told him not to-" His eyes were wide with concern as he glanced at Philip, but John held him tight.
"Don't worry. I took care of it. He thinks that if a hurricane comes I can send it back to the ocean for a time out. It's you that I'm worried about," John stared deep into Alexander's eyes, searching for answers, "Why did you take out that letter? Have you been getting nightmares again?"
"No!" Alex exclaimed, "I haven't been having nightmares. I just- I took out the letter- I took out the letter because I was going to shred it."
"What?"
"I realized that I've been carrying this - this load with me for so long, and that I - I don't want to anymore. I don't want to have a reminder of how terrible I felt and how horrible it was. I'm - I'm trying to move on, because I have a life now. A better life with you and our little sunshine over there. This is who I am now"
For a second John stood, speechless.
"John? Are you okay? Was that too much- or -"
Alex's words were smothered by John's lips. Alex ran a hand through John's curly hair, leaning in deeper. John wrapped his arms around Alex, dropping his guitar and pulling Alex tighter as his fear melted into love.
Alex pulled away for a second, grinning, "Easy there soldier boy. You're going to wake Philip, and you just got him to sleep."
"Have I ever told you that I love you more than anything in this world?" John asked, and Alex chuckled.
"No. I think that was me talking to you," Alex teased, and John let himself relax.
Alex was okay. Philip was okay. He was okay.
"Should we do it then?" John asked, letting go of Alex, "I'll shred it if you want,"
"No. I have to do it," Alex responded, and John nodded as they walked towards the office.
"Sh**... We can't do it now. The noise will wake up Philip," John realized and Alex rolled his eyes.
"I can wait one more day," he sighed, and the two headed back to bed.
John sank back into his blankets, and was about to close his eyes when-
"Love you."
John smiled, turning over to curl an arm around Alexander.
"I love you too."
The next day they would destroy the letter, and Alex would take Philip outside to play in the puddles. When they came back in, soaked and cold, John would have two cups of steaming hot chocolate for them, and they would all sit on the couch under a blanket, comfortable and safe in each other's company.
AN: I'm sorry for the quick ending there… but I hope you enjoyed the story! Please leave a review and have a great day!