Hold Me? - Patley One Shot

        Outside a fierce blizzard raged on. The wind blew against the house, sounding like a wolf howling in the distance. Outside the windows, Hayley could see nothing but white, the combination of night quickly falling and the snow wildly blowing completely eliminating any semblance of sight she might have past the panes of glass. It had been snowing all day but had just recently gotten this bad.

        Storms had always scared Hayley and the only thing that made her feel better was the warm embrace of a loved one, Patrick especially. They'd been married 3 years now and he always seemed to make things better. Storms were no exception.

        She waited, sitting Indian style on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa in her hands, for him to get back from the studio. Quite frankly, Hayley was pretty worried. This morning he'd said he'd be back by 5:00 and it was quickly approaching 5:30 now.

        The roads are probably pretty bad, though, if I had to guess. He's probably just being careful she thought to herself, trying not to worry too much. She couldn't help it though. Patrick meant more to her than anybody and being out in a storm like this was dangerous. Oh my god what if he's in a ditch somewhere. She'd been playing mind games with herself like that for a while now, going back and forth between he's just being careful and I think something happened to him.

        That's when he walked through the door, covered in snow. Hayley quickly set her cup on the coffee table and jumped up, barely giving him time to shut the door before she enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug.

        "Oh Pat, I was so worried," she said, her words muffled as she pressed her face into his coat. Snow from him fell into her hair and stuck there, flecking the orange with white.

        He chuckled slightly, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm here now, that's what matters," he told her softly, squeezing her tight before letting her go and shrugging his coat off hanging it up.

        Hayley took a step back and just looked at him, smiling to herself.

        "What?" he asked, seeing her smile and shooting her a funny look, grinning himself now as he untied his scarf and hung it on the coat rack.

        She shook her head, stepping forward again. "You've got snow in your hair," she told him with an amused smile, reaching up and ruffling his hair.

        He laughed, pulling his gloves off and dropping them onto the table. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her close and lent his head in so their foreheads were touching. "I don't think I tell you often enough how adorable you are," he said, rocking them back and forth slightly.

        She moved her hands up to rest on his shoulders, almost like they were dancing without music. Blushing a little at the compliment, she looked down, a goofy smile plastered on her face. Hayley opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of a tree branch breaking, hitting the ground with a thunderous noise. Scared, she jumped, jerking away from him involuntarily.

        She had momentarily forgotten about the storm, a near miracle, when Patrick walked in the door but with that noise, she could do nothing but remember. Fear shone in her green eyes and he saw it. He gently guided her by her hips to the couch, sitting down at one end with his legs spread out towards the other, and pulling her down onto his lap. Hayley relaxed, leaning back into his chest as he grabbed her cocoa from the table, handed it to her, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

        "You're safe, don't worry," he told her comfortingly, "I'm right here, Hayls." Moving a hand up to her arm, he rubbed it slowly, whispering an occasional "Sshhh."

        There was another loud crash outside and the power flickered a couple times before going out completely, plunging them into darkness. Telling Hayley to stay put, Patrick stood up, grabbing a blanket and giving it to her. As she wrapped herself up in the fabric, he felt his way to the kitchen for candles and a lighter. The hardest part would be getting there for he knew exactly which drawer they were in but managed to bump into what felt like every object they owned on his way there.

        A few bruises and several minutes later, he had made it to where the candles were located. Grabbing several and a lighter, he set out on his way back to the living room, realizing there was a flashlight on his phone. He shook his head, laughing a little at himself and pulled it out. The new found light made navigating back to the living room much easier.

        Hayley stood up to help him arrange the candles around the room, lighting them before sitting back down in the same position they'd been in earlier.

        "It's so childish to be afraid of storms. I'm sorry," Hayley said, breaking the silence that had set in after lighting the candles. It hadn't been a bad silence, though.

        "Hey, it's okay. We've all got quirks," he said, reassuring her. "I mean, I'm a weirdo about my hat."

        She smiled like she was up to something, shaking her head and saying, "Yeah, but that's fedorable."

        Patrick let out a small laugh at the commonly cracked joke. "Okay, how about when I used to pull my hat down over my eyes so I couldn't see the crowd because I got too nervous?" he suggested, shooting her a look that playfully said "Ha, I win."

        "Pattycakes, that's cute too. You were just a kid back then," she said I returning the victorious look.

        "Well what if I told you that I thought it was cute that you were afraid of storms?" he asked, smiling wide.

        "Then I just might have to accuse you of lying," she said, smiling through her words.

        "Now that was cute," he told her, leaning down to kiss her, soft and quick.

        They sat there in comfortable silence after that, the storm raging on outside for a good two hours more. Hayley even fell asleep in his arms at one point, drifting off with the thought that the right person holding you can make all the difference in a situation.