"Hun, is everything alright in here?" Alex asked as he poked his head into the kitchen where his girlfriend, Scarlett, was washing dishes.
"Uh yeah. I'm fine," she replied, not at all convincing as she began to pick up the pieces of a plate that had shattered as soon as it hit the ground.
"Are you sure?" he asked, bending down next to her and grabbing a hold of her hands, shaking them free of the plate fragments first.
Scarlett tilted her head to the side. "I'm fine, Alex. I promise."
"If you say so," he said, shrugging unconvinced as he stood up and went about his business in their apartment.
"Crap," Scarlett hissed under her breath as the glasses in the cabinet rattled from the loud crashing of thunder outside.
"I knew it!" Alex announced jumping back into the kitchen and wagging his finger at Scarlett.
"You knew what?" she asked, turning back to the sink to wash the rest of the dishes like nothing was wrong.
"You're afraid of the storm!" Alex accused.
Scarlett shook her head and forced a laugh. "You're not serious. I'm twenty years old. I am not afraid of-"
Before she could complete her sentence another, much louder, crash of thunder was heard and Scarlett jumped about five feet off the ground.
"Yeah. What was it that you were going to say?" Alex asked, coming to his girlfriend's side.
"Fine," she huffed. "I'm a little jumpy, okay?" she admitted, more to the kitchen tile than to Alex's face.
"Scar," Alex said, lifting her chin with his finger so she'd look at him. "You're more than just a little jumpy. You are totally and completely scared shitless."
Scarlett pouted a little, squeezing her eyes shut at the flash of the lightening outside. "Okay, I'm terrified," she admitted, smiling only slightly when Alex's arms slid comfortingly around her waist.
"Thank you for admitting it," he laughed, kissing the side of her head. "What can I do to fix it?"
Scarlett shrugged, leaning her forehead against his. "Keep my mind off it?" she suggested, her body shuddering at another bang of thunder.
He smiled, kissing her forehead. "I got it!" he said, with a look in his eye that usually meant he was up to something.
"What?" Scarlett asked. "I know that look."
"What look?" he asked, playing innocent.
"That look where I know you're up to something. You don't date a guy for 2 and a half years and not know his looks."
"Scar, go sit in the living room. And don't get up until I come back for you, okay?" he instructed, leading her over to the couch.
"Come back for me? Where are you going?" she asked nervously.
"Right upstairs," he assured her with a quick kiss. "It will only be a few minutes. I promise. But please stay here, okay?"
She nodded. "Okay. But you disappearing defeats the purpose of you being here to distract me from the storm."
"I promise if you give me five minutes, you'll be plenty distracted," he said, kissing her again before bounding up the stairs and to their bedroom.
From where she sat in the living room, Scarlett tried her best to concentrate on the sounds of Alex's foot steps running back and forth across their bedroom upstairs and then what seemed like the rest of the house.
But all she could do was hear the rain slamming against the windows from the high winds, the crashing of thunder and the crack of lightening.
"What the heck is he doing up there?" Scarlett mumbled to herself.
Knowing Alex, it could be anything.
A few more minutes and one more loud crash of thunder, and the next thing Scarlett knew, she was sitting in the living room in pitch black darkness. If there was one thing she hated more than thunder and lightening, it was the dark.
"Ugh," she yelped. "Alex!" she called out. "You're five minutes are way up!"
"I'm right here, Scar," Alex said, coming down the stairs, already holding a lit candle.
"What the heck were you doing?"
"You'll see," he smiled coming to her side, helping her up from the couch.
"Alexander," she warned, linking her arm through his. "No funny business."
"Hey," he looked at her. "Trust me."
Scarlett nodded. "I do. And somehow I know that'll bite me in the ass later."
Alex leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, the kind of kiss that could only come from the boy who never remembered to put the seat down, and even though it was Scarlett's biggest pet peeve, she never got mad at him.
"How about now?" he asked when he pulled away.
"Okay," she smiled, sliding a little closer to him as the entire room filled with light from a flash of lightening outside.
Alex smiled contently and led Scarlett up the stairs. He was careful to hold the candle out enough so they could both see where they were going.
"Close your eyes," Alex told her once they reached the top of the steps.
"Baby, I love you. And I swear I trust you. But why would I close my eyes? It's already dark!"
Alex laughed a little and kissed her quick. "You said you trust me right?" She nodded. "Then just do it."
"Okay," she sighed and close her eyes as Alex led her into their bedroom.
"Open them," he instructed once he had Scarlett standing in the middle of the room.
"Alex," she gasped looking around the room, that was completely outlined by every candle that was in the house.
He smiled, touching the side of her face. "I told you I'd find a way to distract you," he said before pressing a kiss to the side of her neck.
"Aww baby," Scarlett gushed. "It's beautiful. Thank you."
Alex smiled against her skin, trailing kisses across her throat as the storm raged on outside.
"Alex," she sighed, leaning back just enough to give him more access to her neck.