A loud rumble awoke from a peaceful slumber. Startled and confused, she picked up her phone, pressing a button on the side of it to light up the screen and see what time it was: 3:32am. She blinked a few times. She could hear the sounds of rain battering against her window. She got out of bed to close it after having it open all night to air out her stuffy room and to combat the claustrophobic feeling of the humidity it had brought. It had been overwhelmingly – and usually hot – for Australia- even in the middle of summer. No sooner had she shut it than a flash of light shot down from the sky, catching her off-guard and causing her to jump back away from the window. As she did so her foot got caught on a fallen bed sheet and sent her crashing to the ground with a thud that could give the thunder outside a run for its money. Whimpering, she used her hands to push herself backwards towards the wall that her bed’s headboard stood flush against. She had been terrified of thunderstorms ever since she could remember. Something about the roar of the thunder and the brightness of the lightning really unsettled her. Although they were a rarity in her part of the world, she could remember every single one of them vividly. The sheer terror alone would send her running to her closet to nestle in a lump of cushions and hide under a pile of blankets as she rocked back and forth with her hands over her ears. Lightning flashed illuminating her room. The door to her room flew open, banging against the wall and bouncing back off it, returning it. It stopped mid-way. Her room lit up for a second time. A darkened shadow appeared on the wall in front of her. A hand curled its fingers around the edge of the door forcefully pushing it fully open. She screamed. A figure sprung towards her. She clamped her arms over her head, sheltering herself. This was it. This was how she was going to die; at the hands of some crazed murderer.

“?”

Oh, and it was someone she knew. Just great.

“?”

Wait. She recognised that voice. She knew that voice. She uncovered her face and looked up. Relief washed over her face when she realised who it was;

“Ash?”

“Yeah; it’s me,” he crouched down in front of her, putting his hands on her knees.

Her face crumpled in confusion; she was so scared that she couldn’t make sense of anything. Ashton reached out to touch her face and she slightly flinched. She was shaking rather violently as she grabbed onto his forearms. Thunder rumbled overhead.

“Are you OK?”

Her voice trembled, “I…I…”

Ashton rubbed her left knee with his right hand. He stood up, still keeping his hands connected to her. The terror in her eyes broke his heart. It may have seemed like a childish and irrational fear to most people but he knew the extent to which her distress ran.

“Let’s get you up.”

Her hands were still clasped around his forearms. He turned his arms so that his palms were facing upwards, gripping under her elbows and pulling her upwards. He pulled her closer to him, guiding her to her bed. sat down before bringing her legs up under the duvet and lying down. She curled up on her side, reminding Ashton a little of a shrimp on a barbeque. He turned to leave but she grabbed onto his hand. He looked down at her; she was still shaking even under the warmth and security of the duvet. Her eyes seemed to be pleading with him. Leaving was not an option. He sat down next to her and she moved back to allow him some space. With a shaking hand she patted the bed beside her, implying that she wanted him to lie down. Ashton gave her a small nod, honouring her request. She shuffled towards him to close the gap between them. He held her hand under the cover as she sniffled into his chest. Time seemed to pass all too slowly for them as they awaited the storm to calm.

A couple of hours later the rain had subsided and was now just a tiny patter against the glass. The thunder had long rolled out and there wasn’t a streak of lightning to be seen across the night’s sky. Kayleigh had calmed down somewhat and was no longer shaking – something which was also partially due to the fact that Ashton’s free arm was now slung across her. The pair had yet to fall asleep, sleepy sighs fluttering between them.

“Ash?” ’s voice was barely audible as she whispered into the dark.

“Mhmm?” he was broken out of his thoughts. He suddenly realised he had been rubbing small circles on the back of her hand.

“How did you get in?”

“Well,” he cleared his throat before whispering back, “I was at ’s and noticed the storm so I thought I’d come over and see how you were coping. I knocked a few times but you must’ve been asleep because you didn’t hear me so I used my emergency key to let myself in. I didn’t want to just leave you in case you needed me so I just lay on the couch for a while. Then there was this loud bang from upstairs so I came up and I found you on the floor.”

“And why aren’t you soaked?” she had a point; he was unusually dry for someone who had supposedly come over in the midst of a thunderstorm.

“I had a bag packed in the car from being at ’s so I brought it in with me and got changed downstairs.”

“Oh, OK”

“You should try to sleep,” he took his arm that was placed over her and lifted his hand to her face. He pushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.

“What about you?”

He gave a half shrug; “I’m gonna stay up a little while longer. I don’t want to fall asleep in case the storm starts up again and you get scared.”

He felt her nod her head against his chest where she had placed it sometime between getting into bed and the storm rolling out.

They fell quiet for a while.

“Ash?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being here,” she mumbled, tiredness taking over.

“Anytime.”