Impenetrable Heart | The Oneshot Collection

I, of the Hurricane

     A/N- In which Alex doesn't take his medication and has a PTSD episode, but John is there to comfort him. Requested by Archive's @cherry_cheesecake_uwu. Thank you so much!

     Most of this was written in accordance with a real-time storm, so details like the birds and the sky... yeah that was all happening irl as this was written. This was a request as well, so I decided this would be a perfect time! I hope you enjoy this angsty little drabble.

     ...

     Alex glanced back out the window, aghast at how violently the sky had darkened. Only minutes earlier the sky was a feeble shade of light grey, the color of a sprinkle or light rain. Now? It was dark, foreboding, darkening whatever was left of the evening daylight. There were distant rumbles of thunder.

     "Damn birds," he whispered, nervously tapping his pen.

     From his place at his desk he could hear the birds going wild, each song being strung together in a frantic tune which sent chills down his spine. A cool breeze shot through the open window, the wind was beginning to pick up dramatically from earlier.

     "John, what did the forecast call for?" Alex called again to his boyfriend, who was standing on the far side of the room, watching the storm.

     "Severe thunderstorms, possibly a tornado," he replied, craning his head out the front window.

     He envied John. John wasn't afraid of storms whatsoever, in fact, he liked them. He liked to sit out on the front porch and watch the sky darken, or perch himself in their bedroom window and look at the rain and thunder. Alex, however, used the time to get work done- anything to distract himself. His chest tightened, hearing the rain begin to fall heavily. Then, the first flash of lightning.

     "Do you think we'll have one?" He asked rigidly.

     "Hard to say, I doubt it."

     The rain beaded down the window silently. Alex could see the beauty of storms, what John saw, but his overwhelming anxieties always overpowered whatever good lied within them. He took a deep breath and went back to his typing. He had a research essay due by Friday, and by god, he wouldn't let a storm put him behind schedule.

     "How long will it last?"

     The rain was evening out now, falling in even sheets. At some points it would die down, or stop completely, which was almost scarier, considering the birds had stopped chirping. The only thing piercing the silence was the occasional distant rumble of thunder over the horizon.

     "Few hours as of now," John said, walking over to where Alex sat.

     "You should come outside and watch the sky with me," John coaxed, putting his hands on Alex's shoulders.

     "I really need to work, Jack," Alex said, feeling John as he began to knead his fingers gently into Alex's probably stiff muscles.

     "Come onnn, you're always working- and Jesus christ, Alexander! Loosen up, you're like a brick!"

     "No time for relaxation," he murmured, savoring the feeling of the massage. "Paper is due Friday."

     "Lex, it's only Tuesday."

     "It's a long paper."

     John sighed, retracting his hands, to which Alex nearly audibly whined.

     "I'll get you out there one of these days," he chuckled.

     When Alex heard the click of the door shut behind John, he groaned and put his head into his hands. John had no idea about it. Anytime it stormed, he would usually barricade himself in between the bedroom or the bathroom, anywhere John and the others couldn't see him. Usually, his medications kept his PTSD related symptoms at bay, but he had the habit of falling off the medications, or not taking them regularly- a bad idea come time for storm season. The last time it got bad, John was with Herc and Laf shopping for clothing materials for his court outfit. He had a pretty severe panic episode and was reduced to a sobbing mess on the bathroom floor, the shower turned all the way up to drown out the noises of the storm. Not his finest moment, by far.