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'Twas a dark and stormy night...
No seriously. It was dark, stormy, and Jeremy wasn't having any of it.
He attempted to look at the bright side of things (even though there was literally no bright side in sight) by covering himself in blankets, focusing on a poster on the wall, and listening to the sound of Michael's breathing.
Unfortunately, none of that was working. Especially not Michael's breathing, which, as much as he loved him, had quickly turned to snores.
He tightened his grip on his blankets and his heart tightened in a similar way. Why was he like this, anyway? This was such a... childish fear. He was a junior, for Christ's sake, he needed to get over this.
★☆★☆★
'Oh, amazing, it got worse,' He sarcastically thought to himself, as another loud crack boomed through the room, leaving a blazing white streak across the night sky. He felt like such a loser, which, to be fair, wasn't a new feeling for him. However, this feeling wasn't like before. He would usually have Michael to laugh things off with but... he was knocked out. He felt the fear creep up his spine, and he cursed under his breath.
Another roar of thunder that was, of course, followed by the crackle across the sky caused Jeremy's fear to intensify. He felt the child-like urge to scream, to cry, to hide under the covers...
CRASH
"Motherfucker..!" Jeremy shouted, shaking like the leaves on the trees outside were. He quickly pulled the covers over himself, the muffling of the roars and booms as well as the comforting warmth from the thickness of the material were calming. But... he would be much more comfortable if—
"Jesus, that was loud," the familiar voice laughed, his voice still slightly hoarse from sleep. The humor in his tone quickly subsided, though, as he heard no answer from his boyfriend.
"... Jer?"
All the other boy could do was grip the blankets tighter, the shaking in his body making it hard to do so.
"Hey, Jeremy..." Michael mumbled with a furrowed brow, the concern obvious in his features as he pulled the blanket off of Jeremy.
He stared into his pale blue eyes and frowned, but, before he could ask what was wrong, Jeremy quickly embraced him, burying his head into his shoulder with a sniff.
Michael opened his mouth but Jeremy shook his head; already knowing what he was going to say.
"It's... stupid," Jeremy muttered shakily, gripping the boy's sweatshirt.
"... even if it's stupid, I still care, 'cause... it's about you, y'know?" Michael murmured, frowning when his boyfriend didn't respond. "Sorry, maybe that was stupid—"
"I'm afraid of thunderstorms."
"What?"
"I told you, it's so stupid—"
"No, Jer, that's not what I meant—" He sighed, pulling back so he could look into the other boy's eyes; which were now glassy, shining in the minimal moonlight that peeked through the clouds...
"I was just... confused as to why you would even be scared with me around, y'know, because I'm awesome," He joked, hoping to lighten the mood. When the only response was a stifled sob from Jeremy, he immediately pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"I'm so sorry, babe. I'm... not gonna make fun of you for being scared, okay? I may be enough of an idiot to make jokes at the wrong time, but not enough to insult how you feel," He mumbled against his forehead, pulling back to observe his reaction. 'Still nervous.' He thought.
Jeremy nodded. "I don't... mean to have a fear like this... it's dumb.. and childish—"
"Ssh. Jeremy, please." Michael pleaded quietly, carefully and comfortingly rubbing circles into his jaw with his thumb. "Don't worry... like— at all. Do you... want space or no? I really wanna help you as much as I can, mahal," Michael smiled.
"... I don't want space," the smaller one whispered, not before tensing at the low roll of thunder, he knew that the loud, crackling lightning would soon echo through the room... and cause a bright flash of white...
"Hey, hey, come here," Michael cooed quietly, pulling Jeremy close again, so close that he was practically laying on top of him. When the thunder crashed loudly, he hugged him as tight as he possibly could.
"Does that help? Is it.. like.. distracting at all?" He whispered, pulling the blanket over his boyfriend's shaking body.
"... don't let go," he whispered, glancing up at him.
Michael nodded, pressing a small kiss to his nose before holding him tight once more.
And he didn't dare let go.
★☆★☆★
'The more distractions the better,' Michael came to realize.
As the thunder began to quiet slowly and the thunder flashed a less blinding white, Michael started including more and more distractions so his lovely boyfriend wouldn't have to think about the storm outside or in his mind.
Bit by bit, he started whispering soft reassurances in his shoulder, neck, or wherever he found most comfortable... or playing quiet piano renditions of their favorite video game's soundtrack... until finally, as the last roar sounded and the last sparks of plasma broke across the sky, Jeremy kissed Michael adoringly.
"Thank you... so much," he whispered against his lips.
"... of course. Has... anybody ever comforted you through that before?" Michael mumbled, causing the boy sprawled on top of him to shake his head.
"And.. uh.. if I can ask, totally okay if not.. but.. uh.. why do you have such a fear of storms?" Michael spoke, not a single hint of malice in his question. It was... genuine. This caused Jeremy to soften a bit, but he knew he had to brace himself for what he was about to say.
"I.. uh.. the day my parents divorced was a thunderstorm. I headed up to my room and.. cried through it. Nobody was there to comfort me. I've always found them so... overwhelming. The loud bangs and crashes, the flashes of light, the unpredictability of it all... it's all too much. That, mixed with the memories, just makes for... basically my brain exploding," he laughed quietly, which brought a smile to Michael's face.
"Well... I'm glad I could help. I'm sorry I didn't wake up sooner,"
"Seriously, how did you sleep through that? It was so fucking loud..!"
"I have no clue. Now, c'mere. I'll be here just in case the storm comes back."
"... I don't think they do that—"
"Let me have an excuse to hold you close, Jer."