"Welcome to your second home!" he announces, sweeping his arm to showcase his dark ashy home. Rolling your eyes you enter the nostalgia tugging flat and head straight for the bathroom to change. Down the hall and through the first door on the right you lock the bathroom door behind you. ping your bag you dig through it and hope none of your extra clothes are drenched. Luckily none are and you change quickly, or as quickly as your dripping clothes allow, into a comfy pair of pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt (another one of Chen's—you really had an issue with taking his stuff).

Shaking out your hair you carry the wet clothes away from you, dumping them on the heating vent on the floor to dry out beside Chen's neat pile. Placing your bag down on the kitchen table you wander into the living room to find an impressive fort of blankets set up at the center of the room. Chen pokes his head out from the fort and beams proudly.

"Do you like it? I had some free time so I decided, why not build a fort? I have snacks too!" he calls ducking back inside.

Free time indeed…

The fort was made in a way that the blankets were hanging in the air. One central blanket was set up in the middle while others hung vertically to the floor on each of its sides, boxing you in. Save for the side facing the large window of his balcony, creating a clear view of the pounding rain. You can't help but smile at the immense effort he put into it, despite the opening to the storm. Just like when you were kids he still always went that extra mile to make whatever he did memorable and great.

"This is pretty awesome." you comment, eyeing his handiwork as you settle yourself beside him.

"Thank you, my fort appreciates that. It's amazing what fishing line, hooks in the ceiling, blankets, and some time can do." he replies popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth. You nod distractedly, grabbing a plain pocky from the large assorted bowl he put together. Nibbling at it you tried to keep your mind off the oncoming storm, wind kicking up a notch while rain persisted heavily.

It's not going to hurt you, you'll be fine. There's no reason for you to be afraid...

“Look, look, look!” Chen shouts excitedly, grabbing your arm and pointing out the window. You feel your heart sink; flashes of light were beginning to dance about the pitch black sky. Lightning was going to strike soon and thunder wasn’t far behind it.

Stay calm, don’t do anything stupid…

“This is going to be great! Why haven’t we thought of this sooner?” he chirps, springing up and pressing his nose against the glass.

Because I’m terrified of storms, you dork.

“I guess you’re not as smart as you think you are, storm chaser.” you mutter, focusing on the pattern of the blankets opposite of the window. Anything to keep you distracted without tipping off Chen about your anxiety.

“Says the one who thought it was Tuesday.” he retorts sticking his tongue out at you.

“That’s not fair! I was half-awake so that’s an invalid argument!” you retaliate, throwing a handful of popcorn at him.

“Hey! No need to get violent with small food pieces!” he shouts, holding his hands up in surrender. The two of you grin at each other, storm forgotten as you enjoy your shared nonsense. It was moments like this that reminded you just how much you cherished the friendship you had, that you were close enough to be content even after something so little and pointless. That’s why you agreed to help him; you couldn’t stand him silently carrying the burden of guilt he felt after each turned down confession. That is, after all, what best friends were for.

“Hey, Chen, I wanted to—”

He’d never know, and neither would you, a loud crack of lightning making you forget what you were even saying. Instantaneously Chen whips his head around to behold the ensuing storm as you clamp your mouth shut and bury your face in your hands. You can barely hear his excited calls over the increasing sounds of the commotion outside.

You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. It’s all you can do to try and keep yourself calm, not to mention sane, repeating the phrase until you believed it.

Why did you ever agree to this? This was a terrible idea. You should’ve seen this coming from the beginning. You should’ve come up with some excuse, even if it were a weak one, then stayed shut up in your room until-

“Hey, are you alright?” Chen asks, putting a gentle hand on your shoulder. You can’t bring yourself to look up, settling with nodding.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine...” you stutter, clearing your throat, “Fine.”

“You’re the worst liar ever. You can’t be shaking this bad and be fine. I’m not an idiot, I can tell that much. Are you cold? Do you need a blanket? Maybe even one of my world famous hugs?” he jokes halfheartedly, trying to lighten the situation. Cold, you could work with that.

“Yeah, I’m freezing. You should really consider raising the heat, snowman.” you manage with a small grin, looking up to see Chen’s concerned face in yours. He gives you a partially relieved smile and flits out of the fort, for what you weren’t sure. One thing you did know was that he’d left you alone in a dark room with a vicious storm going on like it wouldn’t stop until the building fell over outside.

Chen you idiot, get back here!

Thankfully you heard him coming back within the next minute, at which you had to restrain yourself from either hitting him or throwing yourself at him for comfort, or both. Keeping still you were startled when he appeared at the entrance of the fort and threw a large pile of blankets on you. Caught off guard you fell over onto your back and tangled into the layers of blankets covering you.

“There you go! Be warm and watch the storm in peace!” he declares, voice muffled through the mass of fluff on top of you.

“Chen you are such an idiot! Help me out of this!” you sputter, twisting to get out of the covers. You can hear him laughing-you couldn’t blame him, you had to look absolutely ridiculous-then a sudden weight fell across your legs.

“How about I just lay here and see how long it takes for you to get out on your own? You’re a big girl, you got this.” he suggests, settling himself more comfortably on your lower half.

“Chen when I get out of here I am going to throw you out off the balcony!” you threaten, growing feverish from your continued effort of trying to find your way out of the cage of blankets.

“Now that’s just mean and highly unrealistic. If you’re going to threaten me make it something you could actually accomplish in your existence, ever.” he criticizes disapprovingly. Letting out a noise of exasperation you concentrate your energy on worming out of the blankets instead of talking pointlessly with him. After a good five minutes you finally uncovered you face, inhaling fresher air. You wiggle out from under Chen and the rest of the blankets and immediately throw them onto him.

“Take that you no good—”

Crack. Boom. Crack.

A succession of lighting and thunder cuts you off, a loud yelp escaping your lips. The scuffle with the blankets had kept you distracted enough to completely forget about the horrific storm. Tossing off the blankets Chen pushes them aside and looks at you quizzically, head tilted slightly to the right in confusion.

“Did you make that sound? Or was that a—” Another chorus of crashes sounded drowning him out, the room flashing white. With a small squeak you curl into a ball and clutch the sides of your head.

You'll be fine. You'll be fine. You'll be... Fine... You'll... Be fine..?

Will you..?