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The thunder woke you slowly, it slipped into your consciousness as part of a dream. A distant rumble that your sleeping mind struggled to place. Another crack penetrated further and for a moment you remained suspended between sleeping and waking. You were cocooned beneath the light blanket with a now familiar weight pressed in close to your side.
Another crack of thunder rolled across the city, screaming its outrage louder than before and this time your eyes opened. The bedroom was dark but the occasional flash of white illuminated it enough for you to see. A storm had settled over Barcelona, the kind of storm that transformed the city, the kind that made the sea restless and bent palm trees. It wasn’t often storms like this hit Barcelona and usually they would vanish as quickly as they arrived.
You lay still for a moment, listening to the rain thrash against the windows in relentless waves with the screech of thunder echoing outside. Besides you, Alexia shifted closer in her sleep. This was a new habit she had developed. Despite the warmth of the room, she sought you out. Her arm, that was thrown across your waist, tightened as she pulled herself closer and buried her face more firmly against your shoulder.
You glanced down at the wild mess of brown hair and couldn’t help but smile. For a person who had spent most of their adult like projecting confidence and certainty, Alexia was always affectionate when she slept; she couldn’t find peace if she wasn’t touching you. Her breathing remained slow and even, completely unbothered by the storm outside.
Another flash of light illuminated the room for half a second and this time, Alexia stirred. You felt her blink awake against your shoulder, quickly followed by a groan of protest. She attempted to burrow further beneath the blanket and you couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped
“Morning.” There was a teasing to your tone that earned you an unamused glare from the beautiful Spaniard at your side.
“It is not morning,” she huffed. You absolutely adored her sleepy voice, her accent heavier than usual. A glance towards the beside clock told you she was right. The bright lights glared back at you.
03:27
“I suppose that’s a fair point,” You agreed
Alexia made a noise that sounded suspiciously like victory before settling again. The peace lasted a few moments before another crack of lightening lit up the room. You felt the tremor that went through the body besides you and glanced down as a flash of fear swept across her face
“You don’t like storms?” You ask. You expect her to put on her captain’s face and deny your words but she doesn’t. She nuzzles closer to you and shakes her head. Years together and there were still new things to learn, the type of thing you discovered by being in the same place for long enough. This was that new thing for today, Alexia Putellas was scared of storms.
“What are you thinking about?” Her sleepy voice broke through your thoughts and you smiled
“I thought you were sleeping?”
“I am.” She replied
“You sound asleep.” You agreed placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. One hazel eye opened glaring
“I am capable of doing two things at the same time because I am a woman of many talents.” The teasing smile that shifted the corners of her mouth made your heart thud inside your chest. You hoped that you would always have that reaction, that she would always make your heart stutter.
Another flash of lightening illuminated the room, casting the room in a halo of white for the briefest second before darkness reclaimed it. Besides you, you felt Alexia tense. It wasn’t a dramatic movement and something most people would miss. A slight tightening of her shoulders while her fingers curled more tightly on your top. It was something easily missed, except when you were so attuned to a person, when you had spent hours memorising every detail. To you, her reaction was obvious.
“You really are afraid of storms?” You asked gently the teasing from earlier disappearing
Alexia didn’t answer immediately and the silence told you that she was deciding if she was going to tell you at all. Outside, the thunder continued to roll across the city with a low, angry rumble
“There was a storm like this when I was little” Alexia began and you glanced down. She wasn’t looking at you; her attention focused on the fabric she was worrying between her fingers. Alexia didn’t often share stories about herself so you waited and listened
“I was eight years old and it was the first storm that I was fully aware of” she continued “I woke up and the whole world seemed to have lost it’s light” she explained “When the next wave of thunder hit, I thought the building was going to fall down.”
“What happened?” Your hand traced gentle patterns on her back. An offer of comfort and an encouragement to continue.
“The power went out.” She giggled as though adult Alexia found her younger fear ridiculous. “It was just so loud and I couldn’t find my Mama, I checked every room.”
The thunder outside seemed quieter now in comparison to the memory she was sharing.
“She had gone downstairs to help a neighbour. She was only gone for a few minutes but it felt like hours.”
“For children, minutes can seem like hours.” You whispered placing a gentle kiss against her forehead. While you had no doubt you would feel this tomorrow, these moments together, cocooned in your bed while you shared stories was something precious.
“When she came back, I was sitting in the hallway crying.” A small embarrassed smile appeared on her face “I was convinced the building was about to collapse; then I cried because I had left Alba inside and she would have been crushed by the building.”
“That all sounds perfectly reasonable to me” You shrugged kissing her again
The storm continued to rage beyond the apartment walls. Rain battered the windows relentlessly while the wind howled through the gaps. The two of you stayed close, neither feeling the need to fill the silence, content to just exist together. Your fingers trailed through her hair, untangling the sleep-matted strands. Every now and again, you would let your fingers scratch against her scalp. Alexia melted beneath the attention, allowing herself to absorb the comfort.
Another roll of thunder rolled across the sky and her gaze immediately flickered towards the window. The reaction lasted less than a second but you caught it and Alexia noticed you catching it.
“Don’t.” she whispered. “Don’t look at me like that, like I am something fragile”
“Baby” You nudged her, forcing her to look at you “I would never see you as fragile
You took a moment to look at her, the fierce leader, the determined captain, the person who always had it together and always had the answers. What so many people didn’t realise about Alexia, she hated the spotlight, the interviews, the media but she knew it was part of the job. Alexia was the biggest introvert that loved nothing more than being at home with the people she loved.
“Alexia, you are the bravest person I know.” You insisted “But bravery doesn’t mean that you never feel fear.” She looked at you, curious as to where you were going with this “It means you do it anyway despite the fear.
“Why do you always know what to say?” she asked pushing herself up slightly so that she could look at you properly
“Because I am a woman of many talents.” You smiled and echoed her words back to her
Alexia stared at you for several seconds before shaking her head. She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss beneath your jaw.
“The way you can see through me makes me nervous sometimes” She admitted “It makes me want to retreat behind my walls, until I realise that having someone who knows me so well because they take the time to pay attention – It’s kind of nice”
“Kind of nice?” You gasped mock offended before your fingers found her ribs and you began to tickle. She shrieked loudly and tried to squirm away from you but you pulled her back in, her hands landing against your chest to steady herself
“Really nice” she corrected herself.
Alexia’s eyes were heavy with sleep and you guided her back to where she had been sleeping. There, beneath the gentle touch of your fingers, Alexia’s breathing evened out once more. The storm still raged beyond the apartment walls but this time, she didn’t flinch when the thunder rolled.