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Boom! A loud crack of thunder ripped across the night sky, shortly followed by a flaming white streak illuminating Frank and his boyfriend Gerard’s shared apartment. The entire room was whitewashed, lit up with terrifying figures, each one a different demon. There was only so much a thin curtain could do during a storm like this and there wasn’t much, Gerard had learned, that Frank’s anxiety couldn’t do.
Fuck, where was Gerard, anyways? Frank was huddled under four or five giant blankets, shaking with fear. He wanted, no he needed Gerard to wake up, but no matter how many times he had tried to pick himself up, terror paralyzed his body and the tremors would begin again.
The only reason he was in the living room instead of the two’s bedroom was because the storms had woken him up and he needed fresh air, albeit from another room, but now he regretted it, seeing his current predicament.
Each time Frank heard thunder rolling off clouds in the distance was like a gunshot, and each not-too-far-off flash of lightning was someone breaking into the apartment.
Some time later, maybe minutes, maybe seconds, a bolt of lightning erupted. But no, this wasn’t lightning, it couldn’t be. It stayed in for far too long, and was lighting the wrong side of the house. Besides, he hadn’t even heard the thunder.
Then, Frank realized with a start: It was finally happening. His greatest fear. Someone was robbing the house, coming for Gerard, coming for him, coming for who-knows-what.
He had imagined this scenario millions of times, what he would do, how he would- where was Gerard? He needed Gerard. Why couldn’t he move? He was trapped. Stuck. No, no, no, if all the times, it had to happen now?
Then he felt a warm, soft hand on his shoulder. Before he had time to react, whip around, do something, he heard, “Frankie, I’m here. Don’t worry, I’m here now.”
And he collapsed.
It was Gerard, of course it was. It was always him. Always.
At just the slightest touch of Gerard’s hand, Frank immediately stopped shaking. The human cannon he had rolled himself into completely unfurled, and yanked Gerard by the wrist to the couch with him, pulling him under the blanket.
“‘M sorry.” Frank mumbled into Gerard’s shoulder, where he had made himself at home, cuddles into Gerard’s side.
“Shhh, it’s okay, Frankie. You don’t need to be sorry. I’m glad to spend time with you, no matter what hour of the day. And I’m with you now, I promise. I’ll stay awake as long as you need, okay?”
Frank grunted a soft response, already coming down from the panic that thunderstorms always caused him.
Within minutes, Gerard felt Frank shift beside him, going limp and asleep.
He smiled to himself in the dark, knowing how much he had helped Frank. He also shifted his weight to a more comfortable sleeping position, tracing lazy circles into Frank’s fleecy mop of hair until he fell asleep to the gentle tapping of the rain on the window.
Even though the storm outside was still going strong, the real one had passed.