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You shuffled inside the base alongside several other soldiers as thunder boomed, your brown skin starting to get wet from the light drizzle that was no doubt about to get heavier. It was the start of one of the rainiest days of the spring in the UK, and you hated it.
The base was abuzz as other soldiers meandered in the hallways, talking with their friends as they contemplated whether or not this thunderstorm would be bad enough that the higher-ups would cancel any upcoming missions until the rain died down. It was all everyone could think about: whether or not their new missions would still continue.
Well, everyone except you.
You couldn’t think about missions or how long you all were practically forced to be inside for. Your thoughts were on the thunderstorm and how you’d have to get to your quarters quickly so you could hunker down in preparation.
It came to no surprise that soldiers had an aversion to thunderstorms, the thunder reminding them of battle. But you? You always had an aversion to it, even before your enlistment in the SAS. You hated the rain with a passion, thunder even more so.
You were always more sensitive to loud noises than your peers, more sensitive to smells and textures too. It was unexplainable, the way some smells made you gag and the way some textures made you recoil with disgust. It took until your enlistment for you to finally be diagnosed with autism, explaining much of your… quirks, as your mother liked to call them.
So yeah, you weren’t very excited at the prospect of the rain and the thunder, you knew yourself well enough to know the sounds of thunder was going to be hellish to weather through.
An extremely loud crack of thunder echoed throughout the base and shook the building, sending you stumbling almost blindingly to the first room you could get to, your intention of heading to your quarters being shattered among your sudden panic and need to hide. You hit your side against the wall as your hands shakily turned the doorknob, opening the door to what you hoped would be salvation.
You were hoping to stumble into a supply closet, somewhere empty and not currently in use. Instead, you embarrassingly stumbled into your captain’s office where Captain John Price of the Task Force 141 was currently sitting at his desk, working.
“Sergeant? What’s going on?” Price’s gruff, but gentle voice soared through the air and into your ears, very briefly soothing your panic until yet another thunder boomed throughout the base.
You whimpered, the panic that came with the thunder and the fact that you’ve secretly had a crush on your captain for quite a few months now, sending you shuffling further into the office. “I’m sorry, Captain. It’s the thunder… I was hoping to go to my quarters, but—” Your words were cut off by another bout of thunder, this one closer now.
Price stood up from his desk and opened his arms when you scrambled towards him, his strong arms wrapping gently around you, cradling your trembling form. “Shh, sweetheart. I’m here, you’re safe,” he murmured, pressing the softest and gentlest kiss to your forehead, the scruff of his beard against your skin a feeling you’ve been longing for, for months now.
“I’m sorry,” you repeated, your heart racing as you grew so flustered from the way you were trembling in his arms and from how much you had yearned to be held by him just like you were being held right now. “I know you didn’t sign up for helping me through this right now.”
“Don’t apologize, darling.” Price’s large, calloused and warm hand reached up to gently card his fingers through your black, curly hair. He leaned down, nuzzling his cheek against the crown of your head. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here, making sure you feel safe. We’re a team, we look out for one another.”
Ah, yes. He was just doing this out of the goodness of his heart, because he thought of you as just a member of his team. It was almost comical how easily you had fallen down the line of thinking he might actually reciprocate your romantic affections.
You nodded your head, burying it into his broad chest. “Right,” you said, your voice slightly muffled. “We’re a team.”
Price frowned and even though you couldn’t see it, you could feel it in the way he tilted his head down at you. “Hey now, what’s up with that tone of voice, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Captain.”
“You sounded dejected, just now,” Price insisted gently but firmly, his blue eyes full of concern as his eyebrows furrowed. He thought for a while before it finally dawned on him. “Oh, darling, I didn’t mean it like that.”
He tilted your head up gently so your brown eyes were now looking into his blue ones. “When I said we’re a team, I didn’t mean to say all we are is just team members.”
Just as you were processing his words, another boom of thunder resounded, making you squeeze against him further. He tightened his hold on you, a soothing rumble emitting from him in an effort to calm you back down.
“I’ve seen the way you look at me, Sergeant. The way your eyes can’t seem to look away from me, the way you hang onto my every word.” He leaned in close, his breath hitting your cheek. He was somehow soothing and alluring all at the same time. “I feel the same way, sweetheart. I can’t get you out of my head and I want to take care of you, love you.”
Price visibly gulped, his Adam’s apple moving up and down as his warm hand rubbed your back in a calming manner. “I’m sorry, this isn’t the appropriate time to confess my feelings, you’re flustered by the thunder. But I couldn’t let you continue thinking I don’t feel the same way.” He pressed another gentle kiss to your forehead.
You were speechless, unable to form a coherent sentence between the sound of the thunder and his confession. But you found yourself clinging onto Price, not wanting to let this shift in the relationship fade away like some dream.
You took a deep breath before saying, “When this thunderstorm is over and we have some free time… Perhaps we should go on a date.”
Price chuckled, his own nervousness melting away. With his arms still wrapped around you, he nodded and moved towards the couch in his office. “Deal, darling.”
He settled onto the couch with you in between in his legs, his warmth seeping into you and making you almost forget the thunderstorm raging outside. “For now, though, let’s just get you through this storm. Don’t worry, I’ll be here beside you the entire time. I’m not leaving.”