"Should 'a Known" || A Dream x Fem OC || By - TheBenchSimp

- Chapter VXII - Thunderstorm -

(Trigger Warning: Panic Attack, Abuse, and Blood)

- Chapter XVII - Thunderstorm -

"You stupid useless child!" My dad yelled. "You're the reason she left." My dad relentlessly beat me. So much so that I was barely able to stand.

"Why should I care that you're my sister, I don't even love you..." My brother turned around after I begged him to help me hide from my dad.

As the memories bounced through my mind I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was shaking and finding it hard to move my body. Tears were running down my face and I could barely hear anything around me. The ringing in my ears grew loud. The voices were so loud. The sentences hurt so much. I felt so alone. That was until I felt two huge arms wrap around me.

Clay had picked me up. He carried me to a family bathroom and sat me on the counter. He put one hand on my waist and the other cupped my cheek, wiping away the tears that fell down the right side of my face.

"Hey it's okay, I'm right here. You're okay. Everything's fine." He rubbed my cheek and then pulled me into a hug. "Are you okay?" I shook my head since I was still crying and didn't really want to talk. I did grabby arms at him and he rolled his eyes, but he did end up giving me a piggy back ride until we got back to the waiting room we were in just a couple hours before.

Clay sat me down, but before I could do anything, he sat himself down and sat me in his lap. I berried my head in his hoodie to hide the small, light pink blush that spread across my face. Clay laughed just a bit and held me close which only made me pull my hood up and burry my head further into his hoodie, but I wasn't going to just get up, I mean I liked him so...

Wait, don't tell me I was falling for him. I mean that's not a bad thing it's just he was one of my only friends, he didn't like me that way either, but then why is he so affectionate with me all the time? Maybe he did like me and I just couldn't see it, but I wasn't going to do anything, because there was one thing I was terrified of, I was terrified of losing his friendship all together.

Although, I shouldn't be worrying about that right now, we were stuck in an airport and-

My thoughts were interrupted by the lights going off.

"What just happened?" I asked Clay in hopes that he would know.

"My best guess the storm knocked out the power." I just berried my head back into Clay's hoodie. "We're gonna want to save any phone battery we have so that we can keep an eye on the weather." I sighed and laid my head on Clay's chest. I still had my hood on, but that didn't last for long because Clay pulled it down. I pouted and pulled it back up. Clay laughed. "Come on, I want to see your pretty face." That was the final straw. I pulled my hood over my face to cover the bright red blush which had formed on my face.

'H-he called me pretty' it was all I could think about. The guy that I liked called me pretty. I had to have been dreaming, but when I checked I wasn't.

"I-I'm n-not pretty." I said, trying to stay calm.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds before saying, "No you're right."

Hearing that from him broke my heart just a tinge and I lifted my hood to look at him. He looked at, before smiling and saying, "You're beautiful." He smiled even wider. After that I pouted at him before going back to my initial position on his chest. He laughed at my childish actions and I felt my heart tingle hearing him laugh. Seeing him smile just made me so happy.

Together we sat there, Clay in a chair, and me in his lap, just talking about anything that came to mind, well, until we heard thunder that is. I jumped at the loud sound, grabbed tightly onto Clay's hoodie sleeve, and buried my head into his hoodie again. Clay didn't know about my fear of thunder, barely anyone did, because I was too embarrassed to tell. The only person who knew was Ann, because she used to help calm me down. Now, though, I didn't have anyone to help me, I had no one except Clay. He would understand surely, right?

"Gal, what's wrong?" He asked when he noticed how tight my grip on his sleeve had gotten.

"S-sc-scared..." I managed to mumble out.

"Scared of what?" He laid a hand on my arm, rubbing it to try and comfort me. "The rain?" I shook my head. "The hurricane?" I once again shook my head, then another big boom came, and I couldn't help but react. "It's the thunder, isn't it?" I nodded my head quickly. I tried to hold back the tears, but I couldn't not when the thunder reminded me so much of...Jared.

Clay quickly grabbed me and held me. He did his best to comfort me, but it just wasn't enough. I just sat there, in his lap, crying over thunder and bad memories with someone I used to love. I remembered so much, but the one thing that kept coming back was the blood. The blood on his fists, the floor, and myself. I could even smell it, and all of these memories came from thunder. How pathetic of me. I thought I was stronger now, apparently not.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled quietly.

"For what?" Clay was confused by my random apology, but I would be too if he had just randomly apologized to me.

"For being pathetic and being afraid of something that can't even hurt me. It' just that..." I paused thinking about what I was going to tell him. "It reminds me about... bad times and... Jared." He looked at me with a small, comforting smile.

"There is no need for you to apologize for something out of your control. Everyone is afraid of something." He held me closer and rested his head on mine. We sat there for a while like that, in a comfortable silence until I spoke up again.

"What's yours?" I asked. He hummed, unsure of what I was talking about. "Your fear? You said everyone had one, so what's yours?"

He mumbled something I couldn't understand. "What did you say?"

"Losing you..."

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(1055 words)

Oooooo! Things are picking up?! What do you guys think is going to happen next? I'm honestly curious. Tell me what y'all think is going to happen next! I want to know what y'all are thinking! Please! Also if you have any ideas about this story that you wanna share feel free. I always love hearing back from you guys! It makes my day when y'all comment or follow!

Anyway, I know at the time of writing this I am not that popular on this platform. I tend to be slightly inactive and don't really have an upload schedule for any of my books.

I sometimes lack motivation and I just sometimes lose any will power to write a book that I am no longer connected to. I also tend to delete some books and chapters that I don't like so that sometimes effects what others think about me as an author. So to those who have read this thank you for your understanding and for being so patient, I really appreciate it.

Anyway, enough rambling. Thank you all for reading and if you enjoyed please consider following. It lets us know that you enjoy the content that I write.

I love all of you to bits and I will see ya when I see ya! Have a good day/night/afternoon! BUH BYE!!!

- TheBenchSimp (I don't simp for the trio, I simp for the bench)