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Compared to Jules, Rue was a rock. They were alike in many ways, but when it came to the energy they carried themselves with, the two were like yin and yang. When Jules told a funny story her whole body got into it, her unrelenting laughter would constantly be cutting herself off, and her eyes would be darting all over the place as she relived the story just as much as Rue was. And in turn Rue would just sit there in her baggy clothes, nodding and just smiling the smile that she always wore when she was looking at Jules. That didn’t mean she wasn’t enjoying it though.
In the early days of their friendship there had been a time when Jules worried about that; she’d been enthusiastically telling Rue a story Kat had told her when she’d suddenly stopped mid sentence. Her face fell, she’d glanced away, and then she’d asked in a voice that chilled Rue. “Sorry. Guess it wasn’t that funny.” Now THAT had gotten some energy out of Rue as she practically leapt over the lunch table to assure Jules that she was paying attention, and soon enough the storyteller was right back on track. They were long past little misunderstandings like that now, falling into their own comfortable groove that they both understood completely.
The point is, between them, Jules was the energetic one. She was the one who was loud and squealy. She was the one who, in one of those animes Rue had begun to sit through with her, would absolutely be the one shrieking and flailing about at the mere presence of the thunderstorm.
Evidently, that was not the case.
“FUCK!” Rue went from peacefully sleeping to practically launching herself into the ceiling as a clap of thunder crashed outside, the fear of what was outside only being compounded as another bolt sent a flash of bright light through the bedroom window just behind where the two of them slept. She turned around on the spot, hand thrusting up into the inky blackness to try and feel for the pull-down curtain at the top, but yet another thunderclap sent her reeling back into the safety and comfort of her blanket.
There was just enough light in the room from alarm clocks and phone notifications to tell that rain was pelting against the window, and even if there wasn’t the sound of it was practically deafening. Rue’s entire body shook like a leaf, the memory of every terrifying night like this coming back to her like a flood. It had been a constant since she was little; she hated thunderstorms. She’d like to think her hatred was brave and wrathful, like she wanted to do battle with Thor himself, but in reality the hatred was born out of a storm’s ability to reduce her to a whimpering wreck. It wasn’t exactly the personality quirk she was most proud of.
“Uhhh… Rue?” Jules was awake now. She’d actually been awake since Rue had first leapt into the air and unwittingly slapped her arm over Jules’ face, something she’d done in such a panic that she hadn’t even noticed it. Jules sure had though, it had just taken her a moment to fully come to her senses.
“Hi.” Rue said, trying her hardest not to make her voice waiver. It’s just a storm, she told herself, even though that kind of thinking had never managed to calm her before.
“What time is it?” Jules pulled herself out from under the covers a bit, propping herself up on her elbows as something else caught her attention. She twisted herself around to look at the window, hearing the same torrential downpour that Rue did… But having nowhere near the same reaction. “Oh, wow… It’s bucketing out there.” Rue had to stifle the urge to feel a little jealous. That’s how she should be reacting, and yet…
Jules leaned over towards the bedside table on her side, picking up her phone and clicking it off standby. Finally some light filled the room that lasted more than a moment, the brightness of her Madoka Magica lock screen lighting up her face. Not that Rue could actually see her face. She wished she could. Jules’ smile always made things better.
“2 AM…” Jules sleepily concluded, shutting off her phone and putting it back down but remaining propped up on her elbows. “What’s up?” Rue and Jules may have shared quite a lot with each other since they had started becoming close, but in her rattled state the dark haired girl couldn’t think of anything she’d like to do less than admit she was still scared of thunderstorms.
“Uh… Nothing.” She insisted, maybe a little too confidently. “Just woke up. Randomly. Come on, let’s just go back to slEEEP!” The room flashed and the walls rumbled as lightning struck outside her window once again, and Rue wasn’t able to contain the shriek of horror that escaped out of her. Fear was quickly replaced with shame, however, as even though pitch darkness she knew Jules was looking at her. She knew what was going on.
“Was it… The storm?” Jules looked out the window again before turning back to her bedmate, sliding down under the covers with her. “Are you scared of thunderstorms? You never told me that!” Her voice didn’t sound mocking or condescending even the slightest, Jules obviously just happy to be learning more about her friend, but still Rue felt embarrassed.
“No! It’s just…” Rue was finding it harder and harder to deny. Partly because she knew Jules knew, and partly just because she didn’t want to lie to her. “It’s just been a thing for me since I was a kid, alright? I know it’s stupid but it just gets to me. I don’t even have, like, traumatic childhood storm experiences. Just been like that. Long as I can remember, anyway. Every night that there’s a storm, I just get real freaked out.” Jules was silent for a moment after Rue spoke, the two of them just staring at each other in the dark. It was something they spent a lot of time doing lately, and Rue usually loved it, but right now she really wanted her to say something, to giggle at her or to empathize or something.
“I get it.” Jules said. It wasn’t a lot, but still Rue felt an abnormal amount of relief hearing it. “Not all fears have to be rational! Just know it’s not gonna hurt you.”
Rue chuckled. “I know that! It just… Fuck, I don’t know.” She sighed, and once again, the two of them were silent. However whereas Rue was just weary Jules was deep in thought, and soon enough she was reaching out and pushing Rue’s shoulder.
“Come on. Roll over.”
“Huh?”
“Roll over!”
“Why?”
“Do iiiiiiit.” Jules just kept pushing Rue a little bit harder each time, finally coaxing her into giving up and rolling onto her back. “No, further.” Jules just kept insisting, and with a slight groan Rue rolled onto her side facing away from Jules.
“You wanna explain to me what we’re…” Rue’s quest for knowledge was immediately shut up by the feeling of Jules pressing her front against her friend’s back and wrapping her arms over her. She felt her snuggle her face into the back of her neck, the girl letting out a content sigh that let hot breath wash over Rue’s back. After her brain had finished recovering from turning to mush, she realized what she was doing. They were spooning. Something they’d done a bit of before, sure… But she’d always been the big spoon. This was new and strange feeling territory. “Jules…?”
“Just relax, okay?” Jules told her, her long, lithe leg lifting up a little and brushing against her bedmate. “You didn’t have me all those times you were freaked out. Having someone else really helps, trust me.” The arm that lay over Rue’s body lifted up, reaching to gently stroke the top of her head. “I’ve got you.”
Rue wanted to remind her again that she didn’t actually think the storm was out to get her, and that what they were doing was also cheesy as fuck… Yet something stopped her. A feeling inside her that she couldn’t quite pin down, yet made her want to curl into a ball and snuggle up with Jules as much as she could. Which was exactly what she did, tucking her feet against her bum and resting her hands underneath her chin, right above her heart. All the while she could feel Jules warmth wrap around her like another blanket. It made her feel… Safe.
The room lit up again. A deep, low rumbling followed. Rue didn’t so much as shiver.