Storm Warning

America x Reader


The lights suddenly flickered and died. A moment later, the air conditioner hummed to a halt. Nothing was blocking out the sound of the driving storm outside.

Lots of kids from school were having 'hurricane parties,' but your parents had made you stay home. So here you were, alone and in the dark.

You'd be lying if you said that you weren't a little frightened.

The last hurricane that you could remember had been years ago, and you'd wound up driving north to stay with family for three weeks while the power was out, because the house was basically uninhabitable without working A/C and a refrigerator.

You were fairly miserable.

Your phone buzzed. You grabbed it, hoping it was one of your friends. You were in luck.

Hey, do you have power?

Alfred. He lived down the street. Naturally, he would have lost power at the same time as you.

Nope, you responded. Is it ruining the party?

What party? Everyone stayed in. No one was willing to drive in this crap.

That sounded about right. The wind was enough to blow an eighteen wheeler off the road.

That sucks. Sorry.

It's alright, dudette. Can I come over? There's no one here.

You were thrilled that he asked, and sent back a hasty affirmation. It was boring and lonely here, and you swore that you felt the house swaying in the gale.

k

You went to the window, but couldn't see much of anything. The streetlamps were out, so the world was basically pitch-black. But two minutes later, you saw a dark shape darting across the road. Alfred. He was hunched over against the wind and rain, holding something in his arms. You unlocked the door and pulled it open right as he reached it, so that he dashed right inside, skidding to a halt on your doormat. He shook his head, scattering water all over the place.

"Dude, it's really coming down!" he exclaimed with a laugh. The power was still out, but his presence seemed to light up the whole house.

"Hey, Al," you greeted him, pushing the door closed with some difficulty against the wind. "What've you got there?"

He held out his arms to show you a giant plastic bag filled with comic books. Old issues of Captain America and Superman.

"I figured we could chill and read these, since the TV's out," he said. You smiled. You were rather fond of Alfred. He'd been your neighbor as long as you could remember, and despite having no tact whatsoever, he always knew exactly how to make you smile. You took his jacket to toss it in the dryer, then returned to the living room just in time to hear a dull thump and Alfred's colorful swearing. He recovered after a minute, then said, "I found your coffee table!"

You brought a flashlight and curled up beside him on the couch. He grabbed Captain America volume one and you both starting reading. He was a bit faster than you, having read it a million times before.

"BAM! Aw, man! That's my favorite part!" He started to turn the page.

"Hey! I'm not finished yet!" You grabbed his hand to stop him, and he sort of tensed up. You did too, when you realized that you were holding his hand. The house was already abnormally warm, but suddenly the temperature seemed to spike. You were sure that your face was flushed, and you were suddenly very glad that the lights were out so that Alfred couldn't see.

CRASH!

You both jumped, and Al gave a yell. The moment was broken, and you stood shakily as he dashed to the window.

"Dude! That tree back there is gone!"

You joined him. Sure enough, the old oak that had stood in your backyard pretty much forever had been yanked up by the roots. It hadn't landed on anything important, luckily, but it was still going to be a massive pain to clean up.

You realized that your legs were trembling, and you dropped to the floor at once. You weren't really scared, per se, but the adrenaline of the event was a bit much for you. Alfred noticed.

"Hang on, dudette!" he told you, then disappeared. He reemerged a second later with an armful of blankets and pillows.

"Sorry," he said. "But I took them from your bed. I wasn't sure where you keep the spares."

He tossed the blankets to the floor, then walked over to you and pulled you up by the elbow, saying that you needed to help him set up. You arranged the pillows into a sort of nest while he went to the kitchen to get some chairs, easily carrying two at a time. In a few minutes, you had a very simple fort. Al held up the blanket, allowing you to crawl inside.

It was still hot as hell, but especially now that you were both curled up in a small space with poor ventilation. Even so, it was wonderfully cozy. You resumed reading the comics, squished together due to the lack of room.

It was hours later that your eyelids began to droop and Alfred yawned loudly, stretching his arms out so that he pushed the cloth ceiling up. The storm had lulled for the time being, and was now just a dull growl, like a cat's purr. It was really quite soothing. Before you could help yourself, you curled up on the pillows and closed your eyes.

Al was quiet for a bit. You felt his leg shift against yours, then his hot breath was at your neck.

"Hey," he whispered, tickling your ear. "You mind if I stay here tonight? I'm comfortable."

You hummed your consent, too tired to speak. He chuckled a little, then stretched out beside you and placed his hand gently on your hip. If you had been fully conscious, you probably would have freaked out. As you were, however, you were only vaguely aware of the intimacy of your position. Even so, you smiled, perfectly content.

You couldn't think of a better way to ride out the storm.