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Rain hammered against the cottage windows with the kind of determination only British storms seemed capable of. Wind shoved at the old timber walls until they groaned in protest.
The four of them had laughed about it at first.
"Very atmospheric," Tom had declared, dramatically holding his mug of tea.
"Very damp," AJ had corrected.
Luke had disappeared upstairs to shower after the show, still smelling faintly of stage lights and sweat. And without a second thought, the house clicked.
Everything went black. Not dim. Not flickering. Just... gone.
For a heartbeat nobody moved. Outside, thunder rolled across the hills.
"...AJ?", Sam's voice came quietly from somewhere in the darkness.
"...Yeah?"
"I can't..."
Tom heard it immediately that Sam wasn't- no- couldn't finishing sentences. He was breathing too quickly which made Tom's stomach tighten.
He hated absolutely storms, always had. His own pulse had already begun drumming in his ears. But Sam... darkness was something else entirely.
Tom forced himself to stand with creaking floorboards beneath careful placed steps.
"Sam?"
"I'm here."
"Can I come over?"
A tiny pause.
"...Please."
Tom shuffled carefully until his shin hit the sofa, "there you are."
A hand immediately found his sleeve, cold and shaking, slightly clammy.
Tom wrapped both hands around Sam's, "it's alright, bud"
"I know the power's gone," Sam whispered. "I know logically it's just the storm. I know that."
"I know."
"I still hate it."
"I know."
Tom didn't tell him to calm down, definitely didn't tell him it was irrational.
Just stayed there. The silence between thunderclaps stretched. Tom squeezed Sam's hands once.
"You're not by yourself. We're here with you. Take some deep breaths for me, Sam."
Sam nodded somewhere in the darkness.
AJ's phone screen suddenly illuminated the room in an eerie blue glow.
"Okay...", he squinted toward what he hoped was the fuse cupboard, "I'll go see if we've tripped the breaker."
"Be careful," Tom called.
"I always am."
"You absolutely are not."
"...Fair."
AJ disappeared into the hallway, the little square of phone light bobbing like a lantern, and yet, moment later, "...why does every Airbnb hide the fuse box behind seventeen decorative baskets?"
Another crash of thunder. Rain intensified. Sam flinched and Tom could actively feel it through their joined hands.
"Talk to me."
"...About what?"
"Anything."
Sam sniffed, "...Remember that service station where Luke accidentally bought twelve sausage rolls because he thought they were sold individually?"
Tom smiled despite himself, "he looked so confident."
"He really did."
"He tried convincing us he'd done it on purpose."
"He absolutely did not."
Tiny laugh, barely audible, still a laugh. Good.
Upstairs and to the right, down the hall that everyone thought felt like a maze from Hell, Luke had stood frozen. The shower had stopped humming, water still dripped from his hair.
"...Hello?"
Silence. He reached cautiously into the darkness.
"...Lads?"
Nothing. He stepped out.
Immediately stubbed his toe on something, he screams in agony, "...fuckin' hell!"
Somewhere downstairs, Tom blinked, "...was that Luke?"
"...Sounded expensive," AJ shouted from another room.
Luke wrapped a towel around himself, "...I have absolutely no idea where my clothes are."
Another clap of thunder.
"...Brilliant."
He took one cautious step and another.
"...If anyone's down there..."
Pause.
"...I'm... sort of... naked."
Tom immediately started laughing. Sam laughed too, even through the anxiety.
AJ's voice echoed through the house, "...DON'T COME DOWN YET!"
"WHY?"
"I DON'T NEED THAT SURPRISE!"
"I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!"
"EXACTLY!"
AJ finally found the fuse box, "...Aha."
Click. Nothing.
"...Huh?"
Another click, still nothing.
"...That's... less encouraging."
Back downstairs, to the elders of the group, Tom kept talking to keep Sam anchored.
Keeping himself anchored too. Truthfully... He hated the darkness almost as much. Every loud crack of thunder made his shoulders jump. Every strange noise made his imagination race. But if Sam could hear Tom breathing steadily... maybe eventually Tom would believe himself.
Then... light. The kitchen flickered first. Then the hallway. Then the sitting room. Warm yellow light spilled across three exhausted faces.
AJ stood triumphantly in the doorway,"...it was the outside breaker. Also, it is very wet outside. This is a plus I suppose to being bald."
Tom grinned, "you fixed it."
"I fixed it."
Upstairs came Luke's triumphant yell,"I CAN FIND MY TROUSERS!"
AJ pinched the bridge of his nose, "...please put those on before you celebrate."
Tom finally looked at Sam, the panic had faded from his eyes.
"You alright?"
Sam let out one long breath, "...yeah."
He looked around the now brightly lit room before smiling sheepishly, "...thanks."
Tom shrugged,"what are best mates for?"
Just then Luke wandered downstairs, hair dripping, shirt half-buttoned, holding one sock, "...does anyone know where my other sock went?"
AJ stared, Tom burst out laughing, Sam laughed harder.
"I found my trousers!" he announced proudly.
"Congratulations," AJ replied. "That's a sentence I didn't expect to hear tonight."
"I've had a difficult evening."
"You've had a wet evening."
"I've had a difficult and wet evening."
Tom snorted. Sam, now wrapped in a blanket with a mug of reheated tea, was finally beginning to relax.
Luke looked around the room,"the lights are back!"
"They are," AJ said.
"I survived!"
"You did."
Luke threw both hands into the air in celebration, "YES!"
There was a tiny pause, Tom's eyes widened as he gasped,"...Luke."
The towel he'd casually slung around his waist while pulling his trousers on had been tucked in... poorly.
Gravity, as always, remained undefeated. The towel slipped completely and immediately straight to the floor. Luke stood there for approximately half a second before his brain caught up with the situation.
"..."
"..."
"...Oh."
Sam stared for exactly one beat before dissolving into helpless laughter. He pointed.
"You...", another laugh interrupted him, "...your..."
He couldn't get the sentence out and Luke looked down. Saw the towel. Saw everyone else. His face became the exact colour of an overripe tomato.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
Tom had already doubled over, laughing so hard he had one hand on the kitchen counter for support, "I warned you!"
"You warned me about coming downstairs!"
"I didn't think I'd have to warn you about gravity!"
AJ pinched the bridge of his nose so hard it looked painful, "I leave you people alone for thirty seconds..."
Luke dove for the towel with surprising athleticism, wrapping it around himself like it was state secrets, "this never happened."
Sam was still giggling, "I'm..."
Snort.
"...I'm sorry..."
"You are absolutely not sorry."
"I'm...", another laugh escaped, "...trying to be..."
"No, you're not."
Tom wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, "mate..."
Luke buried his face in his hands, "I celebrated too enthusiastically."
"You certainly did," AJ said.
"There was a full victory pose."
"There was."
"And then there wasn't."
Sam laughed so hard he had to set his mug on the coffee table before he dropped it, "I needed that."
Luke peeked through his fingers, "...You're laughing."
Sam nodded, still smiling, "I am."
"...Good."
Luke sighed dramatically, "if my dignity had to die tonight..."
He looked at Sam, "...at least it was for a good cause."
Sam's grin softened, "It definitely helped."
Tom nudged Luke's shoulder, "you accidentally flashed your mates into emotional recovery."
"Please never phrase it like that again."
"I'll try."
AJ shook his head, "you four are impossible."
"There are only four of us," Luke replied.
"Exactly."
For the first time since the power had gone out, the storm outside wasn't the loudest thing in the cottage. The laughter was.