A/N: Short chapter is short, but I'm proud that I managed to update at all :D
Chapter-Title: Comfort
Warning: Slash, Tons of Fluff
3 Weeks later - One week after Christmas
A loud, threatening thud close to the house, bright light letting the sky shine but only for a second, Cody's shivering form pressing itself closer into his lover's body.
"You're not scared of storms, are you?" The low, rumbling voice was clearly filled with amusement, one arm protectively slung around an outrageously gasping Cody's shoulder.
"Hell-fucking-no!"
Another thunderous rumble, feeling as if it shook the house to its core, followed by lightning –a little closer now than before. And Cody almost crawled into his lover's skin. "Okay… maybe… just a little."
His voice was trembling more than his body, eyes tightly screwed shut as he pulled the covers up further over his head.
The lights had gone out fifteen minutes ago, Randy's Ipad the only piece of electronic in the house that was still working without energy. Nothing that had bothered them as it had already been past 10 in the evening anyways, and they had simply decided to head to bed early, watching a movie on the little electronic device.
Until a minute ago, the storm had barely been raging, dark clouds hiding the stars from their view and a harsh wind the only signs of it in that part of town.
"Are you serious?" The certainly amused chuckle the older man was giving him was definitely nothing to help his mood, and his fist connected with the strong biceps of his lover, hard.
"Yes… and it's NOT funny!"
Another loud thud, the light outside brightening the bedroom showing them how dangerously close the storm had now gotten.
"Fuck."
It truly scared him, as funny as it sounded, as ridiculous and pathetic as it sounded for a grown man to be afraid of storms. It had been like this ever since his childhood and he had never gotten rid of the fear, not even been able to soothe it somewhat.
Crawling further underneath the sheets, pressing his body flat against that of his lover, he could feel the cold sweat trickling down his forehead, muscles tensing up as another thud shook the house.
You could not imagine his surprise, when Randy suddenly pulled away from him and sat up straight. In an attempt to find comfort and safety again, he Cody tried pulling him back down, but even with all his strength he wasn't able to move his older lover from his spot. Instead, it seemed as if Randy slipped away further with each frustrated huff leaving his pouting lips.
"Come with me!"
The low, warm rumble made it to his ears just before another thud struck and his whole body tensed.
"Come on, Codes… I wanna show you something."
The gentle caress of long, slender fingers against his neck made the young brunette look out from under the sheets he had pulled over his head, blinking in surprise and curiosity as his lover moved to leave his bed.
"Where are you going?"
He was met with a smile that could have warmed a suicide-bombers heart, else so icy-blue eyes sparkling with pure sympathy and sincerity.
"Somewhere… Come on. Come with me."
Even his voice was so full of warmth and calm that it soothed Cody's nerves in a matter of seconds, the younger man finding himself nodding despite insecurity and fear radiating through his body and mind.
He followed the older man through the house, down the stairs, across the living room, one strong arm protectively slung around him as he tensed with each loud thud from outside. Shivers cursed through him despite being warm, the few hairs on his arms visibly standing up as he pressed his body as far into Randy's as possible on their way to wherever Randy led him.
They passed the rooms in silence, the candle Randy had lit upstairs the only light being provided to them as the older male held it in front of their bodies to keep them from tripping.
They stopped in front of a door he had often seen before, but had never opened so far, one he knew belonged to the basement, his brows furrowing in confusion as he mumbled something that sounded harsher than intended. "The fucking basement?"
However, Randy ignored it, just staring straight ahead; as he opened the door to be met by a breeze of cold air, grateful that they had chosen to take a blanket with them to cover their half-naked frames. Maybe it had not been such a good idea to go down there in only a pair of gym-shorts or a pair of tiny boxers on Cody's side, especially since he remembered now why he had not been to that 'special' place in such a long time already. The heater down there had not been used in almost a year.
The candle in his hand started to flicker, Randy's arm quickly slipping from Cody's body to cover their only light with his palm. He ignored the shaky sigh of displeasure from his younger lover and instead took a step forwards, carefully, the creaking underneath his foot telling him that he should probably finally repair those damn stairs. A task he had often planned but never really seen any sense in.
Waiting for Cody to follow, he turned his head for a second to see the younger man still on the top of the stairs, arms protectively wrapped around his shivering body as he hugged the blanket wrapped around his frame. He was just about to ask the younger brunette what stopped him from following when a cracking noise rumbled through the house, followed by another loud thud and a light strong enough to brighten the whole house for a nano-second again. And it was enough to make Cody almost stumble into place, following him quickly down the steps, running almost.
Until he came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, eyes trying to adjust to the very small light provided to them still only by one candle, one that was hidden by Randy's hand.
"Stay here."
The whispered request startled him a little, a shiver cursing through him as he found himself nodding again as if on autopilot, watching Randy's retreating form as long as the candle let him until being met by complete darkness again. The only signs of Randy still being in the room with him were the sound of someone rummaging through something accompanied by some silent curses and frustrated huffs.
A minute later, the room was awakening in a faint light, Cody's eyes widening as his brows shot up in pleasant surprise, seeing how his lover lighted one candle after another.
One by one, the items in the room became clear to his eyes as they adjusted to the new surroundings. A pool table was standing to the far left, a big black couch next to it. In the other left corner stood what looked like a mini-bar surrounded by two drawers that seemed to have their prime times far behind.
In the middle of the room, there was empty space, nothing but a squared carpet, wool obviously. On his right, next to where Randy stood now, he could make out a sideboard and another couch, this one smaller and in white, leather, as he seemed to register immediately.
Still hugging the blanket close to his shivering frame, he cast his eyes back to his older lover, brow arched as he watched Randy pulling another blanket out of the sideboard. "Why are we here?"
Instead of looking at him, Randy stayed with his back turned towards him, broad shoulders moving up in a nonchalant shrug before he shook the blanket and laid it out in front of him, onto the carpet. "It's the safest place when a storm's outside. I always take Al down here with me when she's scared." He finally met Cody's eyes, a small smile tucking on his lips as he took in the frowning features of the younger man, still partly amused but a lot more understanding now of what Cody was going through.
He had thought about just leading the younger man outside, into the storm, in some kind of shock therapy, but had voted against it when he had felt the goosebumps on Cody's skin while walking downstairs. If this here did not work, they could still try it, but for now, he just wanted him to feel safe.
"Come on; lay down, on your back." He kept his voice just slightly above a whisper, making it sound more like a plea than an order, motioning for Cody to lie down on the blanket.
And again, the younger man just obeyed. He did not know why, still curious on what Randy was planning, but he trusted him enough to follow his plea, slowly moving over to where his lover was standing before sitting down on the blanket.
Randy followed suit, waiting only until Cody's back was hitting the soft material he always kept down in the basement for when Al wanted to snuggle. A minute later, he was straddling the younger mans lap, tongue involuntarily wetting his lips as he smiled down at the puzzled expression of his lover.
Before placing his hands on the heaving chest, he leaned down to brush a soft kiss upon the slightly trembling lips, smiling on his way up as he shifted into a more comfortable position, never once taking his eyes off the beautiful specimen underneath him.
Though they were practically far away from the storm now, they could still hear it raging outside, thundering, the wind blowing with a frightening pace.
However, letting his eyes lock with Randy's, Cody was able to momentarily forget.
"Why didn't I know that you're afraid of storms?"
The way Cody's brow arched up, he knew he would have to explain his question a bit better, unconsciously starting to rub small circles into the tense muscles of the younger man's torso as he did so. "I mean… I'm pretty sure your fear of storms didn't just occur a week ago. How did you manage to hide it so well?"
Cody's teeth scraped over his bottom lip, tucking it in, chewing on it as he shrugged his shoulders, casting his eyes down. "I dunno… I just… on tour I'm often rooming alone, so that's never been a big problem. When we're out or in an arena, I just try to hide somewhere until it's time for my match, usually the showers or bathroom, somewhere safe and quiet." His tongue snuck out to wet his lips as he moved his gaze back up to meet Randy's eyes again, a bright pink gracing his cheeks. "When I've to share a room, it's not as if I share a bed, too. No one sees me shivering under my blanket or me tensing up."
Randy just listened to him, nodding his head every once in a while as he smiled down at him, warm, understanding, hands still gently rubbing Cody's heaving chest.
"Does anyone know? Any of your ex-lovers?"
It was not really a topic he liked to talk about, but Randy could not quite grasp how no one had ever noticed. He not only wanted to know Cody's tricks, he –most importantly- wanted to distract the younger male, and by the way Cody's body started to relax, slowly but surely, it obviously seemed to work.
"Well… Ted knows… but… he only laughed about it. Told me to man up. Then again… he was never with me long enough to really understand… And Evan knows."
Now that raised Randy's interest. As far as he knew, Cody had never been with Evan in an intimate way, hell; Evan was as straight as a guy could be.
Cody seemed to realize his confusion almost instantly, sheepish grin appearing on his lips as his hands moved from his sides to Randy's thighs, squeezing them tightly. "He walked in on me hiding in the showerstalls one day, completely freaked out and hunched together in a corner. I must have looked a pathetic mess then, but he didn't mind at all. He stayed there with me until the show was over and then even came back to the hotel with me. He never mentioned it again since then."
Randy's frown soon disappeared, smile taking its place again as he nodded his head and let his hands travel down to were Cody's lay –prone on his thighs- to intertwine their fingers. "Yeah, that's Evan. Always understanding, always there."
It was Cody's time to nod, smile widening, eyes slowly getting back that sparkle of joy and happiness the older man had missed so much for the past hour and a half.
"How comes that you're afraid? I mean…"
"You mean 'How comes that a guy who beats up others for a living, doesn't fear injuries, pain or death, is afraid of storms'?"
Randy could not help but chuckle at that, hands gently squeezing those of the younger man as he raised a brow. "Well… yeah."
"I dunno… I've feared storms since forever. My uncle's house once was hit pretty badly by a storm when I was still young and I was there to visit. It was destroyed almost completely and if it had not been for my uncle to shield me, who knows what would've happened to me."
Cody's voice trailed off into a shaky sigh as he turned his head to the side and chewed his lips, thoughts far away, back to that day, that place, that situation, and Randy could instantly feel him tensing up again.
He leaned down again, hands leaving Cody's to pull them up and place them on the flushed cheeks of the younger man, turning his head to face him, his eyes speaking volumes, more than the words that left his lips. "I would've never met you…"
Before Cody could even nod his head, Randy's lips found his, slowly and tenderly, capturing them in a kiss full of love and warmth as he kept that beautiful face in place.
"I would have never found love…" He knew it might have been a bit over the top, but he could also feel Cody's muscles relaxing again and the tension leaving the younger's body as he got lost into the kiss, letting Randy do all the work for once.
They carried on like this for what seemed like an eternity, Randy only pulling away now and again to catch his breathe, eyes never leaving eachothers, lips drawn up in a proud, affectionate smile as his hands caressed the heated cheeks of the younger man.
"You know… we still haven't decided when to move together… which house… how we'll do it and all…"
The sudden, sheer grotesque change of topic brought a laugh out of the young man, one so full of energy and carefree mentality that it warmed Randy's heart and soul.
"You really wanna talk about that now?" He was still slightly breathless, from the kisses more than from the laughter, as his voice filled with amusement, baby-blue eyes shining in a new light as he stared incredulously at the man writhing above him.
"Yeah… The longer we wait till talking about it, the longer we wait till actually doing it."
"Well… I, for once, would like to live either at my house or here. I don't want the whole stress of finding a completely new house, moving both our things and stuff… St. Louis is a nice town and you've your family here, Alana, Sam… though I might miss my own family…"
As Cody trailed off, his voice raising in excitement, in enthusiasm, eyes closing as he seemed to get lost in his own ramblings, Randy could not help but to smirk at him in pride, in sheer affection. His hands started to travel towards the heaving chest again, feeling that all the tension had left his lovers body, no shivers, no goosebumps, no sudden twitches whenever the storm outside picked up. He had seemed to have forgotten his fear for now, and Randy could only hope that Cody would do the same for him one day.
For those of you who wonder, yes I didn't write about their Christmas. I'm not a big fan of those specific holiday, that's why I left it out. I doubt, however, that it hurts the story :)
I hope the next update won't take me so long!
