Astraphobia - England x Reader

England x Reader: Astraphobia

You walked down the street to the apartment you shared with your boyfriend, Arthur. You had been working hard all day. You had been working trying to get a raise so the two of you could buy a house. Unfortunately, there were a lot of other people at your workplace who were also looking for a raise. That meant that you had to work long hours every day, trying to impress your boss. It was working so far, but you came home every day exhausted. You couldn't wait to just get home and go to sleep. You glanced upwards. "Oh no," you thought. Not many people knew that you had astraphobia. You hoped to keep it that way. It looked as if not only your secret fear was in jeopardy, it seemed that you might not be able to get that good nights sleep that you had been hoping for.

You had reached your apartment. You rifled through your purse, searching for your keys. You took them out. At that moment, there was a boom of thunder. You dropped your keys and stood stock-still. The boom slowly faded away. You quickly grabbed your keys off of the ground and let yourself into the small apartment. You ran in and dropped your purse on the table. You threw off your coat and sat down at the kitchen table. You sat there for a few minutes, trying to calm yourself. You looked around, noticing that your British boyfriend was nowhere to be found. 'He must be working late again,' you shrugged. Arthur had been working extra hours lately because his workplace had been having some budget cuts and he had to work longer to fill in for the missing employees. Luckily, he was a shareholder of the business that he worked at and it was very unlikely that he would be laid off. Unfortunately, that also meant that he would not be here to provide comfort for you. Lightning flashed, reminding you of the storm outside. You needed to find something to do in order to take your mind off of your fear. Cards, you hadn't played solitaire in a while.

You searched through some cabinets before you finally found a pack of cards. You sat down at the table and set up the cards. You had been playing for about two minutes and you were doing fairly well. There was a clap of thunder and suddenly your cards were scattered all over the table. It you were hyperventilating. You calmed down and quickly gathered the cards together and put them away. It looked as if you needed to find something else to do. Your turned to the small living room and switched on the TV. All that showed up on the screen was some static. You sighed and turned the TV off. There was a flash of lightning and you tripped over the coffee table in your fright. You stood up and limped back to the kitchen, flares of pain shooting up your leg at every step. Maybe cooking yourself some dinner would help you get your mind off of the storm raging outside until Arthur got home.

You pulled out a pot and set it on the stove. You were very good at cooking. Your multitude of cooking skills more than covered for Arthur's lack in such skills. You filled the pot with water and turn on the stove on. You grabbed the box of dry spaghetti out of the pantry and placed it on the counter. You sat down in a nearby chair and read a book while you waited for the water to boil. The thunder boomed and you jumped in surprise. You stared out the window in fear. You took a couple of deep breaths and turned your attention back to the book in your hands.

The water was finally boiling. You stood up and threw the spaghetti into the pot. A few minutes later, the spaghetti was ready. You turned off the stove and grabbed some potholders before picking up the heavy pot. You walked over towards the sink. At that moment, there was an enormous boom of thunder. You dropped the pot, pouring scalding water all over your legs and bruising your toes with the heavy pot. You slowly slid down the wall and sat on the floor. You bit your lip to hold in a scream. Tears streamed down your face as you silently cried in pain. This had gone on long enough. You needed Arthur to get home soon and help you, you couldn't deal with pain and fear at the same time. You shakily stood up and grabbed the phone. You sat back down on the floor and dialed your boyfriend's number. He picked up on the third ring. "Hello," he said in his British accent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Onward to see what our glorious Brit is doing!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur was dead on his feet he was so tired. His boss had him working late again. He just wanted to get home and be with his beautiful (Name). Oh, how he loved his girlfriend. no matter how many times he came home very tired and overworked, she was always there to greet him with a hug and a kiss. He smiled unconsciously as he thought of his gorgeous girlfriend. He was almost back to the apartment when his cellphone rang. He took it out of his pocket and held it up to his ear. "Hello," he said. "H-H-Hello," was the feeble reply. "(Name), what's wrong!" he said urgently. "Arthur, please come home quickly, I need you!" you said. "I'm almost to the apartment," he said. "I'll be right there!" With that, he sped down the road. His (Name) needed him and he was going to get to her as fast as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to you my lovely reader!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Please hurry," you said before hanging up. You leaned back against the wall. There was yet another clap of thunder that brought fresh tears to your eyes. Your legs hurt so much, it pained you to even move them. Then the lights flickered and then went out. You blinked, adjusting your eyes to the sudden darkness. There was another boom, but this one didn't come from the sky. Arthur was home.

Your boyfriend came rushing into the kitchen and took one look at you sitting on the floor before running to your side. "(Name)! Are you okay?!" he asked frantically as he kneeled next to you. You simply threw your arms around his neck and cried into his chest. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer to his side. "Oh (Name). Are you afraid of the storm?" he asked you. You nodded and continued to sob. He pulled you into his lap and rubbed soothing circles on your back. He rested his head on yours and whispered comforting words into your ear. Thunder boomed outside and you jumped. Arthur pulled you even closer to him and comforted you as you trembled in his arms. "Shhh. You're safe (Name)," he whispered to you. The two of you sat there in the darkness. Arthur continued to comfort and soothe you whenever the thunder caused you to yelp and tremble even more. Finally, the storm began to subside.

You pulled back from Arthur and wiped the tears off of your face. He smiled at you in the darkness. "It's been a long day, let's go to bed now," Arthur said. You nodded and sniffled. You both sat there. "Um, (Name), you have to get off of my lap so I can stand up," he said. Your face flushed in embarrassment. "I, ah, was making spaghetti and I sort of dropped the hot water on my legs when the thunder scared me." Arthur stared at you in shock. He gently picked you up and went to set you on your shared bedroom. He went and grabbed the first aid kit before running back to you. He ever-so-gently rolled up your pant legs and spread some burn cream all over your calves. You flinched when the cool cream came into contact with your inflamed skin. Arthur finished putting the cream on and started to wrap your legs up in some gauze. He looked up at you while he worked on your leg. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" he inquired of you. You shrugged, "I forgot about it." Arthur stared at you incredulously. "How do you forget about something as serious as this?!" he asked. "I just did," you replied. "You really are one of a kind, (Name)," Arthur chuckled as he finished up wrapping up your legs. He put the first aid kit back before coming back into the bedroom and pulling the covers over you. He then climbed into bed beside you. He turned to face you in the darkness and wrapped his arms around you. Arthur pulled you to him and buried his face into your hair. You nuzzled your face into his chest and sighed in happiness. You snuggled into your British boyfriend's warmth and knew that you were safe. Just before you fell asleep, you heard Arthur whisper something into your ear. "I love you, (Name)." You fell asleep feeling safe and happy.