Oneshots

Thunderstruck//Joshler

*Josh*
If there was one thing that Tyler could never know about, it was my fear of storms. I was wary of the dark clouds outside, threatening to bring torrents of rain and thunder. I was even more wary of the radar on the TV, warning of flash floods and power outages already consuming half of the town.

Tyler was somewhere, that was about all I knew. He was somewhere not with me, and that was a problem.

I whimpered as thunder rumbled.

"-Cellular towers for nearly all of the city are down. This may be one of the biggest storms of the year, folks. Over half of the town is without power and officials say that number will only grow as the storm passes. We advise all of our viewers to stay where they are and avoid driving on low roads." I listened intently as the weatherman paced back and forth in front of the map of Columbus.

I pushed myself back into the couch and brought my knees up to my chest. Where was Tyler? Why didn't he call before the towers went down? Surely he must have known they would go out, it's not like Columbus gets monsoons like this every week.

I felt my breathing quicken as the rain started pouring onto the roof. I turned up the TV again, anything to block out the sound of the storm.

The room lit up as lightning struck, and I pressed my hands to my ears. It didn't do much, if anything it made the thunder seem louder.

More lightning, and the room went black.

"Tyler..." I squeaked. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my hands harder to my ears. The thunder didn't stop. From what I had seen on the radar, the storm was supposed to last three hours, and there was maybe half an hour until the worst of it was directly over me.

I was scared. What if Tyler was trying to get home and got caught in a flash flood? What if there was no way for Tyler to get back and he had to wait hours, maybe even a day until all the roads were clear and he could get home? What if the house started flooding? Did we have flood insurance? What would I do if the water got in?

Another loud burst of thunder sent me into panic.

"Tyler!" I yelled, as if he could hear. "Tyler, please..."

Tears started flowing down my cheeks as the room lit up again, only to be thrown back into darkness and roaring thunder. It felt like the house shook, as if I wasn't shaking enough.

From outside came a new sound, just barley audible over the sound of the rain.

Keys.

I pried my eyes open further and watched as the door flew open to reveal a dripping wet Tyler. He slammed the door shut, ran over to the couch and kneeled in front of me.

"Josh! Baby what's wrong? Are you okay? I'm so sorry, the lines were long and I needed gas or I wouldn't have made it home, the storm moved so fast I'm so sorry!" I couldn't talk, I could only nod my head an lean forward into him.

"Shh, baby, it's alright. You're fine, I'm fine, we'll be okay, I promise. Look at me." He gently placed his hand on my cheek and turned me to face him. I pulled away as more thunder rumbled outside.

"Tyler," I whimpered.

"I'm right here, it's okay." He said, sitting up on the couch, never taking his hand off my arm. He pulled me to him and rubbed circles in my back. Slowly, I took my arms from around my legs and wrapped them around Tyler.

"I love you." I mumbled into his chest.

"I love you, too, Josh. Everything will be alright."

"Ty?"

"Yeah?"

"Never leave before storm hits ever again." Tyler kissed my forehead.

"I promise."

"And Ty?"

"Mhm?"

"You're fucking soaked, go change, I can wait."

"Are you sure?" He asked, taking his hands away from my back. More thunder rumbled outside.

"No."

"Let's just go to our room, I really do need to change. Do you want to do that?" Tyler asked, brushing his hand along my arm. I nodded.

Slowly, Tyler stood up, I didn't let go of him. I felt my legs go numb as we walked, Tyler's arm around me the whole way.

Finally we made it into the pitch black bedroom. I felt his body leave mine as I sat on the bed.

"Shit," Tyler whispered, "I left my phone in the car." The room was bathed in light again, giving me a chance to see Tyler's face. "I'm not getting it back any time soon."

"I don't like this." I finally said.

"I really don't either, but I'm keeping you calm, dammit." He said the last part so quietly, I could barely hear him over the rain. "Do you remember the day we met?" Tyler asked as I felt his hand leave my arm.

"Yeah, how could I forget? We were both at the mall, and you were lost, so I helped you. You said you were new to town and I offered to show you around, but you said you already had some friends that were doing that. Then you asked me to stay with you because you were nervous about the crowds. I ended up staying with you and your friends all day, and I bought you Taco Bell for lunch. It was kinda like our first date, but all your friends were there right next to us."

"Do you remember who was with us?" Tyler asked. I could hear rustling from his direction as the rain continued its assault on the roof.

"Um, it was you, me, Pete, Mikey, and Ash. They were all so cool for just meeting me, it was like we all had known each other for years. It's actually kind of weird that we all never met before then."

"I've actually never known, why were you at the mall that day?"

"I was supposed to meet a girl, but she stood me up. I'm glad she did, though. When I saw you, I was just wondering around because I didn't want to go home yet." The bad sank next to me as Tyler sat down. He tugged my hand back and laid down. I followed and put my head on his chest as the room lit up again.

"When is this storm over?" I asked.

"A few more hours, I think, why?"

"Because this is nice. It's scary, but it's nice. I like just being with you, Tyler, just knowing that you're here. I love you so much."

"I love you, too."