Sunflowers and Tulips

James' POV

It was raining out. Wait…that’s an understatement. Let’s restart.

It was fucking pouring outside. Now I don’t know about you, but I am terrified of storms. Lightening storms are okay, but thunderstorms are the worst. It’s like there’s these rolling drums that are pounding in your head at all times, basically yelling at you that you will die. That’s what thunderstorms are. They are terrifying, horrible, hideous things that have such…raw beauty. I don’t know whether I’m scared that I could die from lightening strikes or from the awe of watching this power hurl through the night sky.

The one thing that sucks, though, is that Braedon isn’t with me. Well, technically he is right beside me, but he’s dead asleep. I don’t understand how that little fucker can sleep through a storm like this. It’s absolutely terrifying!

Suddenly, a large clap of thunder erupted, shaking me from my thoughts. I yelped loudly and jumped (not literally), making an even louder noise than the thunder itself. My hands gripped the blankets that were on my bed and I threw the covers over my head, curling up into a tight ball as much as I could and hyperventilating. In order to calm myself down, I started to scratch my leg and rock back and forth. Doing that always seemed to calm me down when I was stressed and this time…it wasn’t working.

More fear sprang into my chest as I realized that my best two coping methods were shot, dead, gone. But then, I felt a warmth surround me. It was as if a light turned on in my chest and was heating me up from the inside. I immediately felt safe, even though I was terrified. A soft hand gripped my large shoulder and I peeked out from my fortress of solitude to only see a pair of bright blue eyes staring straight at me.

“C’mere,” he whispered, a sense of urgency in his voice.

I obeyed instantly, awkwardly clambering out of my bed and into his. My limbs were basically frozen; I didn’t know what to do. Should I hold him or keep my hands to myself like Mama taught me? Maybe I could just drape one arm over him…what does he want? Instead of me asking him, my arms acted of their own accord and wrapped themselves around his waist, pulling him tight against my chest. But not tight enough to cause him any more harm.

“Thank you, Brae,” I murmured in his ear, nuzzling my head into his neck.

He chuckled a little bit, and then replied, “No problem, Girasole. Now go to sleep. We both need our rest and I’m here for you now. There’s no need to be afraid.”

“Alright,” I agreed. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he replied yet again, the truth evident in his voice.

It was times like these that I appreciated Braedon. Even though he was smaller than me in both stature and height (barely), he still was the man out of the two of us and knew how to calm me down. I truly loved him and there was no possible way I was going to let him go just yet.