IMAGINES ▹ ROSS BUTLER

↳ thunders

( THUNDERS )
by liamrabnud

Zach was driving you home when the storm broke.

One minute the two of you were joking around as his music blasted from the speakers and wind blew messing up your hairstyles. Then, quick drops of water began falling from the sky, causing Zach to immediately put the convertible's hardtop on.

You grew quiet as you took in the sight of the darkened sky and the raindrops hitting the windshield.

Zach took notice of your sudden mood change and turned the music volume down. "Everything okay?" He asked, shifting his gaze from the road for a few seconds to look at you.

You nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm just," you looked out the window as some people ran through the rain, coats over their heads "not good with storms."

It sounded dumb and it made you feel weird to admit that you were scared of storms –more specifically, thunders. However, lying to Zach wasn't something that could cross your mind; the boy was sweet and caring and you knew he wouldn't be an ass about it.

Zach took one hand off the wheel and immediately placed it on your left thigh in a comforting manner. "I'll take you to my house, it's closer." He spoke.

"You don't have to; I really don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense." He swerved right, going into his street and further away from yours. Taking you home would've meant about ten more minutes in the car and Zach didn't want that for you. The storm was getting worse and being stuck in a small, tight, metal object would've heightened your fear.

Zach parked in his driveway. "We'll hang out until this thing passes, then I'll drive you home." He turned to you. His hand was still on your thigh and yours on top of his.

"Zach,"

"It's getting bad and truthfully, I'm low-key scared of driving in these conditions." He wasn't. He really wasn't but he also didn't want you to feel bad about the situation. So he made it about him, made it seem like the change of plans happened because of his fear rather than yours.

The sky rippled and thunder hit and you got startled. "Okay, let's go in." A sudden urgency took over your words and Zach jumped into action.

He ran outside while taking of his letterman jacket, opened your side door and held the item of clothing over your head so you wouldn't get soaked. You were in such hurry that you didn't even look at your steps and you hit a puddle at one point, causing water to rush into your shoes. You squealed at that and Zach laughed.

A wave of warmth completely embraced you as you stepped into the Dempsey household. However, no one seemed to be at home.

With shaky hands, you took off your damp shoes and placed them really close to the door, not wanting to make a mess. "I take no one's home?" You tried to ignore the storm growing more violent and you tried to ignore your semi-wet dress.

"Mom's at work for another hour or two and my sister has piano lessons at school." He took your hand and led you upstairs. His clothes were absolutely drenched and he was leaving a trail of water behind him. "I say we change and then watch a movie or something."

Another thunder made your heart skip a beat. You hands started shaking even harder, your breaths became irregular.

"Sounds good." You whispered.

Zach hurried around his room, looking for the most comfortable clothes he owned. You told him you were okay with just a t-shirt, since the boy was incredibly tall and anything he owned reached your knees. He just nodded and gave you a pink shirt. "It has dolphins on it." He told you upon noticing your smile.

"It's really cute."

He then showed you where the bathroom was and left you to change in there while he did so in his bedroom.

You changed quickly because frankly, you didn't want to be alone for too long during a storm like that. And Zach took about two minutes to slip in his dry, comfortable clothes because he knew leaving you alone for too long wouldn't be best.

Zach knocked on the bathroom door when you were tying your hair up in the mirror. "You okay?" He asked and you opened the door, smiling.

"I was promised a movie?"

He took your hand, interlocking your fingers together and walked with you to his room. "Get comfortable while I arrange everything." He then sprung into action. The first thing he did was close the curtains, then he grabbed his laptop and a pair of earphones off the desk.

You just got under the covers and watched as the boy ran around his room, determination on his face. And you could hear the rain and thunders and your heart was pounding, your palms were sweating but it wasn't as bad as it used to be.

Zach joined you in bed. The laptop was on his lap and the first thing he opened was Spotify. "I'll put on one of your playlists, is that okay?" He went to his friends list, opened your profile and put on your first playlist at an unusually high volume.

"What are you doing?" You asked, having to raise your voice a bit to be heard over the loud music.

"Putting on music."

You leaned forward and dimmed the volume. "What are you doing?" You repeated.

Zach sighed. "My sister has the same thing, she's terrified of thunder." He turned off the music completely. "I don't want you to go through that. I know closing the curtains and covering up the sound works with my sister I thought I could help you too."

Strands of black hair were falling in his face, and you leaned in closer to gently push them back.

He looked at you.

"You don't have to blast music and run around the house for me, Zach." With a small smile of adoration, your hand slowly moved from his hair to the side of his face, cupping his left cheek. "Just being here with you helps, honestly."

"I just wanna do more because I see how you tremble and how you jump at every thunder, how,"

"Can you just hold me? Maybe put on something calmer?" You interrupted him.

He nodded "Yeah, if that helps," he put an arm around you and brought you closer to his chest "anything you say". He smelled of rain and lavender. His fingertips traced small patterns –flowers you believed- on your left shoulder. You tangled your legs with his under the covers, the fabric of his sweatpants gently brushing against your bare flesh.

Zach thought about appropriate music and he eventually settled for Keaton Henson's Romantic Works, then placed the laptop aside.

You two sat there afterwards, tangled on Zach's bed. With each thunder, Zach's arms tightened around you and brought you closer to his chest and your hands clenched the fabric of his shirt. He felt your heartbeat quicken each time, and each time he placed a kiss on your forehead, his lips lingering on for longer than usual.

Eventually you both fell asleep as the song "" softly blended in with the rain and his room became your safe space from that moment forward.