"We sit in the mud... and reach for the stars."

- Ivan Turgenev

By the time we finished filming, stormy grey clouds had settled over the entire premises of the area. Everyone hustled around, trying to cover everything up before things blew away or got destroyed.

It was being played all over the news. It was supposed to be a big storm, one of the biggest Georgia had ever seen. Just my luck some disgusting storm what hit us while I was still here. I was trying to arrange for some homeless individuals to have a place to stay during this weather. My heart ached for them.

"I'm just saying, wouldn't it be weird if some Wizards of Waverly Place stuff happened and you all blew away to a weird place and they called you Dorothy," Chloe says, and I clutch the phone closer to my ear, letting out a laugh.

Wind rattled to windows, causing the hotel lights to flicker momentarily before buzzing back on. The sound of the birds chirping only moments ago had suddenly disappeared, and was replaced with the sounds of the brewing storm.

The shadows from trees swayed underneath the tight pressure of the wind. If you listened closely, you could hear some of the branches snapping from all that weight.

"I think you mean The Wizard of Oz first of all," I laugh harder, she clearly didn't get the difference.

"Who cares what they were the wizards of? All I'm saying is what if something like that happened? And you and Ares flew there? Then you all had hot sex and the Tin Man and the lion decided they wanted to join."

My nose wrinkles up. Who even comes up with weird sex escapades like this? I bet Chloe would dress up as the tin man and do something like this, the little kinky freak. I loved her.

Hey, at least someone was getting some action in their lives.

"You watch too many weird porn videos," I say, shaking my head as I lay down on the bed.

I was pretty sure the sound of us laughing was louder than the wind that was whipping harshly at the world outside.

"Hey! Gotta keep the sex life interesting. I guess you don't know much about that, do you?" I could practically hear her smirk through the phone and I rolled my eyes.

This girl was going to drive me fucking crazy. Maybe she's never heard of a good, trusty vibrator. Not that I have one of those or anything...

"Oh shit, I think the service is messing up," I lied," C...I'll.... call.... back" I hung up quickly, smiling to myself.

I navigated to my social medias and immediately my smile wiped off. Apparently people were mad about Lucas, and wanted Ares and I together instead.

AresXcum- noooooo my Arexis heart
Alexis'seed- I refuse to accept this relationship in this economy
Arexislovechild- ewww not that bleached asshole, I refuse
Ares'tattoos- Ares better snap his spinal cord because I don't approve-

The comments littered all my recent pictures and I bit my lip harshly. It looked like Veronica's little plan backfired. She only angered the fan girls more and forced them to want Ares with me instead. What an idiotic lady. Now she was going to create an even bigger media circus. My life was a goddamn mess.

The entertainment websites were already posting their click bait articles and drama was staring to surround the relationships even more. This was a mess. A gigantic mess.

I lie back on my bed, hoping for a sleep that's not full of horrors. I wasn't stupid, though. I knew that kind of sleep only occurred when I was near him.

But my eyes closed anyways, and the tortures of the world rained down on me fiercely, causing heat to spread through my body and torment to take aim at my heart.

A hard knock on the door had me waking up from a horrible nightmare. The cold sweat on my body reassured me that I had actually had it, and I threw the covers off my body.

My hands felt against the wall as I searched for a light switch, but when I flicked it up, no light came on.

"The fucking power must've went out," I grumbled, tripping on what seemed to be a pair of shoes on the ground.

I really had to try and be more neater than this, especially with already knowing I was one of the clumsiest people on planet earth.

"I'm coming!" I screamed when the knocking at the door got louder.

My feet seemed to find anything that could possibly have me falling.

When I finally opened the door, I tripped over the weirdly bumped carpet and started falling. A pair of sturdy hands shot out instantly and steadied me, grasping hold of me by my waist.

I recognized the familiar scent of him as he pulled me closer to them, wrapping his arms more securely around me.

"I've got you," he whispers, moving us further into the hotel room while my fingers clutch onto the fabric of his shirt.

The hallway was even dark. I don't know how he even fumbled his way to my room.

His own body is shaking and it's then that I snap out of the daze I'm in. I don't dare move away from him, though. It's like he's metal and I'm the magnet that just can't let go.

With a click, light suddenly engulfs us. I realize he's using the flash light from his phone and mentally curse myself out when I realize I could've easily done the same.

Sometimes I worry about my cognitive skills.

"D-do you need something?" I stutter, slowly easing myself out of his grasp and on to the bed he led us too.

It seemed like through the Georgia heat, the iciness between us had already melted. Something was brewing in the pit of my stomach that resembled the storm thrashing on outside. I felt nauseous, but I felt alive.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. The storm seems like it's getting pretty bad." His eyes don't meet my face when he says this and I notice his body's still shaking.

I raise an eyebrow at his disheveled appearance.

"Ares?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" I question, my eyes scanning over his face once again to find his reaction.

Every single muscle in his body is tense as his frantic eyes still scan around the room. It's almost as if he didn't even hear me.

"Ares?"

"Oh, sorry," he laughs weirdly, "I'm fine."

My eyes remain in his face. His behavior was strange. Why was he acting like a crack head? And I didn't think he truly came in here because he was worried about me. Sure, maybe he was a little worried about me. But something else was clearly going on here. He was acting too bizarre.

"Ares?" I smirked finally, understanding settling over my features, "you're not scared, are you?"

He swallows again but shakes his head fiercely, "no, of course not. Why would I be-"

Thunder interrupts his sentence and shakes the entire hotel and his body lurches into

"Holy shit!" he cries out, wrapping his arms around me and pinning us underneath the sheets.

I'm at loss for words as his arms wrap even tighter around me. He pulls the sheets up to cover our entire body so that we're now underneath a makeshift cave.

It takes me everything in my power not to burst out laughing at him. The way his body is shaking above mine makes me realize it would be absolutely cruel of me to laugh at him right now. He was absolutely terrified. His fear of thunder replicated my fear of clowns. The poor boy was trembling through his skin. I could feel his heart beating in my very own chest.

Thunder rattled us again and he pulled me closer. His eyes were screwed shut while his head shook from side to side.

"It's just thunder, thunder can't hurt you. Who's ever died from thunder? We're safe," he whispers to himself, trying to convince himself that nothing will bring harm to us.

A lightning bolt cracks through the sky, momentarily lighting up his petrified face from underneath the sheets. He has his head resting on my chest, his hands gripping tightly onto my waist for security.

"Ares," I let out a breathy laugh, "Ares, look at me."

His eyes creak open hesitantly. His body still shook from fear but he was now staring me in the eyes. I was pinned underneath him, his body acting like protection from whatever was outside.

"It's okay. Nothing's going to hurt us, baby. I promise."

I let my fingers slide up to brush the curls out of his sweaty face. His eyes track the movement of my hands, and that's all he seems to focus on. It's distracting him from the storm raging on outside.

He lets his hand clutch onto mine, the one that's brushing his hair and trying to soothe it back.

His fingers interlace with mine as he lowers himself down, letting his head drop on my chest and his other arm wrap tightly around my waist.

He only takes those green eyes off me when he falls asleep, this time using my own heartbeat as his lullaby.
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awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww HOW FUCKING CUTE IS HE LIKE WHY MUST I PLAY MY OWNSELF WRITING THIS SHIT! I AM SO LONELY!! SUCKS TO FUCKING SUCK, BYE