Thunder clapped for the umpteenth time as Jenna laid in bed trying to get to sleep. Oddly enough it wasn't the thunder that was keeping Jenna awake. Jenna was never one of those who got scared during thunderstorms. As a matter of fact, she normally slept pretty good in stormy weather, finding the white noise relaxing. No, it wasn't the storm that was keeping her awake. It was the constant loop of thoughts of her roommate Bret that wouldn't allow her to sleep.
Jenna had been living with Bret for about a year now. The two had been friends since they met in college and when Jenna had broken up with her boyfriend and needed a place to stay Bret didn't hesitate to give her a place to stay. Jenna swore it would only be for a few months until she could a place of her own.
Now it had been over a year and Jenna was still there. In the first few months she had worked diligently trying to find a good apartment she could afford and unfortunately not having much luck. At first Jenna felt bad for imposing on Bret's hospitality especially since he had let her use the second bedroom in his apartment that he originally used as his home office. The first few months he hadn't even asked her for any rent money. After three months of this though Jenna put her foot down and insisted he take at least a few hundred a month from her and he reluctantly accepted.
Living with Bret had allowed Jenna to get to know the man she had befriended years ago in a much more personal an intimate way than she had ever thought possible. Bret had always been a very private and moody person. It was clear he cared for Jenna and people in general and was quite sociable. But he could also be quite moody and could send Jenna running with his patented glare. In spite of his somewhat moody disposition Jenna found her feelings for him changing and growing over the time they lived together and found herself less and less wanting to move out. The thought of not having him there when she got home every day usually with a cold drink and dinner heating up and ready to hear about her day was not a comforting one.
Jenna let out a sigh as she rolled over yet again as she admitted to herself that she was in love with Bret. How he felt about her she had no idea. She knew he cared about her, the fact that he let her move in with no hesitation and no terms clearly showed that. The fact that he listened endlessly to her bitch about her job and the people in it until she felt better was evidence of that. The fact that he often fed her out of his own budget and didn't accept a lot in way of rent clearly showed that. The fact that the few times he did get upset with her, even if it was her fault, and send her away with either his patented glare or a few sharp words he didn't go more than a few hours usually before apologizing usually with her favorite desert or drink clearly showed he cared about her.
How much he cared was what Jenna wondered about. Would he have treated any woman living with him like this or was this something he reserved for a special woman? That was a question Jenna couldn't answer, because in all the time they knew each other Brett rarely dated anyone. Jenna knew of only two women he had dated in the five plus years they had known each other and neither seemed to last long. Jenna had the feeling that Bret was one who didn't always understand what he felt or could properly articulate it and that's why he often times, even when he was sociable, put on a mask to make himself hard to read.
Jenna rolled back onto her back again and sighed again. This was the third night this week she hadn't been able to sleep, and it was for the same reason. It had been a hard week at work and Jenna had done what she had gotten used to doing after a hard day and unloading on Bret. He took it in his usual stride listening and saying the right thing at the right time to make her feel better. At the end he had pulled her into a tight hug and Jenna couldn't hold back anymore and unloaded the tears she didn't know she had into his shoulder. Once she had finished sobbing, she realized that she had never felt safer and more comforted than in his arms. It was that feeling she was missing as she lay in bed alone unable to sleep.
Jenna threw the covers off of herself and slowly got up. Two hours of tossing and turning was enough and she decided a late-night snack was in order. She quietly made her way out into the kitchen seeing that the light under Bret's door was dark. She imagined him sleeping soundly and an image of her sleeping with him in his arms flashed through her mind as she opened the fridge. She tried to ignore the image and the throb of arousal it sent between her legs as she pulled out some bread, meat and cheese.
A flash of lightning sent a flash of light through the kitchen window briefly lighting up the dim room as Jenna finished making her sandwich. She sat down at the table with her sandwich and a glass of milk and was about to dig in when another flash of lightning and thunder lit the room up and she was shocked to see a figure in the light. Once the flash died down, she saw that it was only Bret. Jenna had to suppress another thrill of arousal seeing that he was only wearing a pair of sleep pants with no shirt and the waistband of his Calvin Klein undies was showing.
"He either doesn't have a clue what he's doing. or he knows exactly what he's doing." Jenna thought to herself as she looked at his semi nude body.
"Oh hi." Bret said awkwardly. "You couldn't sleep either?"
"Yeah, it's hard with all the noise." Jenna lied.
"Same here." Brett said as he sat down across from Jenna at the table. Jenna was suddenly aware of the fact that she was only wearing a baggy white t-shirt and panties. While the table hid her legs it couldn't hide the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra, and she hoped her nipples weren't giving her arousal away too much.
As Bret sat down, he tried to keep his eyes on Jenna's face and not the prominent nipple erections he could see poking through the t-shirt she was wearing.
Trying to be nice and trying to distract herself from Bret's upper body Jenna slid the plate with her sandwich slightly forward and said, "You hungry?
"Yeah, that looks good." he said and picked up half of it. Jenna watched as he took a greedy bite out of it and savored it. As he swallowed, he saw Jenna's glass of milk and said, "That's not a bad idea either." and started to get up.
Jenna was too quick for him though. "You sit and eat, I'll get you a drink." She then stood up and moved to the refrigerator and poured a glass of milk. As she closed the fridge Jenna again remembered her state of undress and suddenly hoped her t-shirt was long enough to cover her panties as she turned to give Bret his milk. It wasn't long enough to cover her thighs though and as she set his glass of milk down, she noticed him staring at them for a few seconds. Jenna backed up and slid down into her chair again not wanting to risk showing him anymore.
Bret shook himself from eyeing Jenna's legs as he took a long swallow of the milk she had just given him. "Wow this is good, thanks."
"Sure thing." Jenna said awkwardly as she nibbled on her own half of the sandwich.
The two of them ate in companiable silence for a few minutes until another flash of thunder and lightning interrupted the silence. Once the flash had ended Jenna looked up to see Bret with a look of terror on his face. Jenna was shocked at what she saw. She never would have thought of Bret as one who would be scared of thunderstorms.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." he said catching his breath. Another clap of thunder and Jenna could see a blood vessel in Bret's neck pounding away showing he was anything but fine. He stood up clearly agitated. Without even thinking about it, Jenna got up and walked over to Brett and put her arms around him.
"What are you...?" Bret asked clearly still shaken.
"Shh." Jenna said as she held him tight. "It's ok Brett." she said as she used her hands to rub circles in his back. Luckily Jenna was only a couple of inches shorter than Bret so it wasn't too awkward from a size standpoint. As she continued to comfort Bret she felt his arms snake around her and his head drop on her shoulder. Another clap of thunder sent a pulse of fear through Bret and a sob escaped his throat.
"You're ok Bret." Jenna said in a soothing voice as Bret trembled in her arms. After a few minutes the thunder subsided, and it was just the sound of the rain filling the room. Little by little she felt Bret's breathing return to normal. Then she felt his arms uncoil from around her and his head lift from her shoulder. She looked up at him as he stepped back and saw a sad look on his face.
"I'm sorry." he said timidly as he turned away from her.
She walked around in front of him and said, "Bret it's ok. You're not the first person to be scared of storms." Jenna then was suddenly hit with a realization that would have come to her much quicker if she had been a detective. The few times he had been irritable with her had been right after storm systems had blown through. Now it all made sense. He couldn't' sleep during the storms and therefore was in a bad mood.
When he didn't say anything right away Jenna reached out and took his hands. "Come on let's go sit down." Bret almost mindlessly followed her as she led him to the sofa. As they sat down Bret said,
"I should be stronger than this."
"That's not true." Jenna said as she again put her arm around him. When he didn't say anything right away, she asked, "Am I the first person you've told this too?"
He looked over at her and said softly, "No but you're the first person who hasn't looked at me like I've got two heads when they found out." Jeanna was hit with another realization. This is why he never dated much. He was afraid to share this with them.
"If they're not willing to accept you for who you are then they're not worth your time." Jenna said. Bret was sort of leaning on Jenna's shoulder and she guided his head down to her lap. He was still a bit numb, so it was easy to guide him where she wanted him. Once his head was on her lap he shifted to where he was laying flat on his back. He was comfortable despite the fact that his legs were hanging over the other arm.
"That's it Bret just relax." Jenna said soothingly. Once again Jenna was self-conscious of her state of undress now that Brett was using her bare thighs as a pillow and had a great view of her protruding nipples but she was bound and determined to comfort him. She grabbed a blanket and pulled it over him, and he snuggled it tight around himself. She noticed his breathing start to slow and knew he was getting more relaxed.
"I..." Bret started to say but Jenna put a finger on his lips.
"Shh. Don't say anything, just relax. I'm here for you." she said and started rubbing his hair.
The worst of the storm seemed to pass, and it was now just a steady downpour. Bret relaxed more and more as Jenna continued to comfort him. As she stroked his hair, he slowly shut his eyes and within a few minutes she knew he was asleep. She stopped rubbing his head once she knew he was asleep. Jenna felt good knowing that she had succeeded in comforting the man she now knew she loved.
As time moved on though Jenna soon found herself in a quandary. While Bret was sleeping soundly on her lap she was sitting up and therefore unable to move. She thought about trying to move him or waking him up, but he looked so at ease that she didn't want to disturb him. In the end she ended up grabbing the side cushion and leaning over the arm and was halfway comfortable and ended up dosing off.
Several hours later Bret slowly stirred awake wondering where he was as he took stock of his surroundings. As he lifted his head and looked around a bit the events of the prior night came back to him, and he realized he was still laying on Jenna's lap. As he sat up and pulled the blanket off of himself Jenna stirred beside him. He looked over and saw her awkwardly leaning over the sofa arm with her head resting on the throw pillow. A pang a guilt flooded through Bret.
Jenna slowly sat up and gave him a weary look. "Oh, you're awake."
