Thunder, Snuggles, and Lightning

You had invited Wally over to your house today to help with an arts and crafts project that involved painting. Knowing that Wally was a great painter, you called him up and he was more than happy to bring you his best paints!

The sky had been quite overcast that day and you thought it was going to rain pretty badly. You didn't do very well in storms, so you had a checklist of things you began to run through to prepare yourself for the oncoming storm. Wally noticed you rushing around your yard and closing your shutters, bringing in flower pots, and tying down your yard furniture so it would not blow away. Wally waltzed up to you with all of his paints in hand and a big ol smile on his face.

"Well, hello Y/N! What are you up to?" He placed his paints down on the ground and watched you dart around your yard.

You grabbed your last flower pot in a hurry and sighed with an exhausted smile. "Oh! Hi Wally! I didn't expect you do be here so soon! I'm just preparing for the incoming rain. I was about to call you and maybe cancel our project for today." You placed the last pot in your doorway, turning to Wally as he picks his paints back up and walks closer to you.

"Nonsense Neighbor!" He chuckles slightly. "The rain will be on the outside! We can just paint on the inside, silly!" He walked right past you and into your living room as you watched him, a bit worried. "See? There is so much space in here to be creative!"

You sigh and close the door behind you, closing the curtains to the front windows. "I-if you say so." You walk over to the middle of the room where Wally stood over the project with his hands on his hips.

"Seems like you have done a lot of work already! What wonderful sketches, Y/N!" Wally pats you on the back and looks up to you, so proud of the work you have accomplished without him.

"Th-thanks, Wally." In that moment, a burst of lightning flashed brightly through the house. You froze, preparing yourself for the loud boom that was about to follow. Wally stood there and looked up at you with slight worry on his face. Did he pat your back too hard? BOOM! The thunder sounded very close and the rain slowly began to fall. You fell to the ground at the sound, holding your hands over your ears and tucking your knees into your body.

"Y/N!? Are you okay?" Wally moved in front of you and crouched a bit, putting his hands on your arms. "It's okay, it's just a bit of thunder. We are safe inside." You sat silently and began to shake a bit, the fear of the storm overwhelmed you. Wally glanced at the project and then back to you. "Neighbor... is this why you wanted to cancel the project?" You nodded gently through the fear.

As the darkness took over the house, some automatic fairy lights turned on under the stairs to the second floor. They were bright enough to show a small nook filled with pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals, a curtain pulled back to cover the nook once inside. Wally stared at it and then sprung into action. A flash of lightning lit up the room again as he rushed to the nook, found some noise canceling headphones, and rushed back to you as fast as he could before the thunder struck. He moved your hands away from your ears and placed the headphones on and holding them on tightly to your head.

The thunder hit. You couldn't hear it. You looked at him with tears in your eyes as he moved his hands away from the headphones. Wally walked up to the only window that wasn't covered by the curtains and saw how bad the storm was. Trees were bending in the wind, shutters were banging against the surrounding houses, and rain puddles quickly formed on the ground. The sky was very dark. He closed the curtains and looked back at you, still kneeling on the floor in fear.

Wally walked up to you and held out his hand to you. You looked to him as he smiled and motioned over to the nook under the stairs. Taking his hand, he helped you to your feet and guided you to the nook, helping you get settled in and tucked under a weighted blanket. As he was about to close the curtain, a slight "Wait!" escaped your lips. He paused and pulled the curtain back again, looking to you curiously. "C-can you stay here with me...?" you nervously asked with desperation in your eyes.

Wally paused, chuckled slightly, and nodded, crawling into the nook next to you. As you sat next to each other for a few minutes in silence, you began to calm down, slowly leaning your head against Wally's shoulder. After a moment, he moved his hand to your head and began to pat your head slowly. For the rest of the storm, Wally held you close and petted your head, humming his favorite tunes and letting you rest away the fear.