#letitrain

Opening the front door, I took a peek outside, the sunshine bright and way too hot for the middle of November, even in the South. The air had a volatile sort of quality to it, that I could already feel and I sighed, twisting my engagement ring on my finger. Even from California, Chris had been keeping an eye on the weather reports, adorably keeping me updated when there was any change. I let him, not bothering to mention that I was keeping a better eye on it, possibly than even he was. Rain and wind, I could handle, but the talk of tornados, scared the life out of me. 

Raised up north, storms like these were definitely not a common thing for me. Chris had been filming in Atlanta long enough over the years, to barely bat an eye at the mention of severe storms, but this time, he even seemed worried. I’d just settled in a chair on our porch, watching the dried leaves whip through the lawn at a hurried pace, when my phone beeped from my pocket. I scooped it up, smiling to see a text from him. 

I’d tagged him in my contacts as “Captain”, forever snickering over it when I received a notification or phone call from him. Chris hadn’t noticed until he’d been looking in my phone for a picture he’d wanted one afternoon and realized what I’d done. He’d simply groaned and rolled his eyes, smirking good naturedly but I had a feeling that he liked it more than he let on. 

Ry, you’re watching this shit right? I’m starting to get worried about you, baby.

I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face before answering him. It was better to do it now, he’d worry if I took too long, getting back to him, especially on a day like today. 

I’m watching. Little bit scared. I admitted. It’s way too hot out for November, feels weird outside.

Fuck. His one word message came back and I knew he was frustratedly running his fingers through his hair. He’d let it grow again while filming and I was secretly hoping that he’d wait awhile to cut it again. You know I’d be there if I could.

I know. But you have work to do, babe. Being in LA is important right now. I imagine you don’t even have a break in your schedule, even if you wanted to.

No… Even his text messages sounded exhausted and with more than a week to go, I could tell that he was already done. As much as he loved the movie, the fans, his fellow cast mates, the press always made him tired. He was much happier at home, hanging out on the couch, with Dodger, watching sports and zoning out. I didn’t mind those times because they were far and few between and I knew he desperately needed them. 

It’ll be fine, Chris. I assured him. As worried as I was, he still had a job to do and he needed to focus on that.  I’ll be alright. Hopefully it just turns out to be a bunch of rain.

Just, keep in touch, okay? Be careful?

Whatever you say, Captain. I teased him gently because I knew it would make him smile.

Never gonna live this shit down, am I?

I knew he had rolled his eyes, but was still laughing. My phone beeped again, this time with a photo attached and it was a picture of him, with his hand over his face, shaking his head. One bright blue eye peeked between his fingers and it made me smile.

You’re cute, Evans. Go do your job. I’ll see you sometime next week, babe.

He’d typed out a quick I love you and I did the same, before shoving my phone back into the pocket of my shorts.  There was a whine at the screen door and I looked back to see Dodger watching me, pawing at the handle to be let outside. Normally, Chris would have taken him, but with the crazy hours of a press tour, he wouldn’t have the time to care for him and so he got to stay at home. Completely useless as a guard dog, he just wanted to be near anyone who would pet him for hours. 

“That was your dad…” I scratched behind his ears when I opened the door and he sped outside, down the front steps and into a pile of leaves I’d raked up the day before. “He misses you… too…”

Dodger just looked at me with a doggy grin, cocking his head and looking so much like his owner that I had to laugh. 

“Oh man, we’re a mess without him, aren’t we?” I giggled, sitting back in the chair. Soon enough, Dodger tired of the leaves and came to curl up at my feet. I ran over his fur with my bare toes and he relaxed enough to start snoring. It was cute and I took a video, sending the short clip off to Chris. I didn’t know when he’d get a chance to look at it, but it seemed to help him when he was away to have a little bit of home. 

His response was quicker than I’d expected and he was either sitting in the back row of an interview, not paying attention or he was on a break. 

God, I miss you two. 

Miss you. 

There wasn’t another reply and I sighed, checking my phone for the weather for the millionth time. The forecast hadn’t gotten any worse, but it hadn’t gotten any better either. 

I sat for awhile longer, feeling the wind pick up and start to whip the leaves around, tree branches outside the house starting to shake more than before. The sky was slowly getting darker, thick clouds moving in. Even Dodger knew something was happening as he picked his head up, anxiously, looking around and whining.

“Just a storm, buddy.” I tried to comfort him, but he stuck to me like glue as I went back inside, pacing and looking anxious. 

Making dinner for the both of us, kept my racing thoughts and Dodger’s whimpering to a minimum as we settled in. Usually an “everyone eats at the table” kind of person, I just didn’t manage it when Chris wasn’t home. I curled up on the couch with a bowl of pasta and chicken, throwing pieces of it to Dodger, to keep him busy. He seemed content to lay on the couch next to me, happily chowing down on his bone and the occasional treat. 

It was already dark when the rain began to pour and I flipped on the television, watching the weather closely. Our area was due for several threatening hits over the next few hours and I sighed when they reported that watches and warnings were already scattered all over the west side of the city. We were in for a long night.

Thankfully, with a reminder from Chris, I’d already charged my phone and my laptop, in case of a power loss. He was so much more used to this weather than I was. Earlier, he’d told me to put a pair of gym shoes, a jacket and Dodger’s leash somewhere I could easily grab them, in case of a real emergency. It was sweet that he was worried from across the country, but the fact that I’d had to make contingency plans did nothing for my nerves.

The rain came even harder and then the wind, so sharp I could hear it howling outside without even opening a door. A loud crack made me jump and Dodger whimpered, racing to hide under the dining room table. 

“Some help you are.” I muttered, rolling my eyes. The noise had come from the back of the house and I went to investigate, seeing that one of the giant willows in the backyard, was missing a few of its heavy branches. A bright burst of lightning showed me just how close it had been to taking out the double glass doors. At the same time I breathed a sigh of relief, a rumbling blast of thunder was loud enough to practically feel down to my toes. 

“Jesus Christ.” I muttered, swallowing hard. I was on my way back to the living room when the house was plunged into sudden darkness, with a pop and a sizzle as the power went out. Dodger was whimpering, probably still under the table and I worked my way back to the center of the house, with the flashlight on my phone. The dog nearly tripped me when he recognized someone familiar, instantly glued to my side, refusing to move. 

“Shhh, it’s okay…”I rubbed his fur, trying to soothe him, but I knew he could tell how on edge I was and it didn’t help him at all. “Oh where the hell is your dad when we need him, huh? Sunny freakin’ California, there’s no tornados there. Only earthquakes. I would so take an earthquake right now.” 

We’d just made it back to the couch, huddled in our own respective balls when a bang, with the volume of an explosion happened. I recognized the tinkle of glass hitting the wooden floor and bit back tears. Now the worry was real and all I wanted was Chris there to tell me everything was going to be okay. Dodger began barking madly, as if he was attempting to scare off whatever had broken the glass. “Fine time to be a guard dog now…” I hissed at him, knowing he wasn’t paying any attention. Glancing at my cell phone, I didn’t have any bars of service and really started to panic. 

“Ok, Dodge, come on buddy, let’s go get your leash. We gotta go downstairs.” I had never been so happy for Chris’ suggestion about the shoes and a small backpack of essential items. Grabbing all of it and shakily clipping Dodger’s leash to his collar, we worked our way down to a small closet, hidden at the bottom level of the house. Chris and I hadn’t even known it was there until about a month after we’d moved, finding it one day when we’d been goofily exploring every nook and cranny of the place. 

Dodger continued to whine and pace in the small space, giving me very little room to do much else but sit on the floor and try to calm down. It was hard to do, when the only noise was the pounding rain and wind, strong enough to take out every tree on the property. I tried to send a message to Chris, my hands shakily punching in letters, but when I tried to send it, it failed every time. 

“Dammit, dammit…” I whispered, swallowing hard. “Okay, buddy. We’re gonna be alright, it’ll be over soon.” The dog didn’t seem comforted and I think I’d said the words more to reassure myself than him, but he put his paws on my knees, nosing insistently at me as if to check if I was in one piece. For being quite a bit bigger than a lap dog, he always seemed to end up there anyway and I put my arms around his neck, hanging on. His leash was still wrapped around my hand, so that I could hold onto him if needed. If there was one thing I knew would break Chris’ heart more than anything else, it would be to lose his dog. 

We sat in silence for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, the dog’s tail swishing forlornly against my side. Another explosion like noise and slam from upstairs nearly brought tears to my eyes, I was really beginning to hate how loud this storm was, wondering how much damage was being done to the house. The noises continued though and I suddenly was on high alert, unsure if I’d locked the doors. Being outside of the city and rather secluded, I’d never given much thought to being bothered. If the massive amount of foliage didn’t fend off any unwanted visitors, the mile long winding driveway down to the house would have. Dodger often sat outside, guarding it and waiting, especially when Chris was gone, as if he refused to move until he saw his owner come back. 

 What sounded like footsteps, and quick ones, creaked across the floorboards above us and Dodger yelped quietly, trying to lunge out of my grasp. “Hey! Stay here!” I murmured, pulling him close. He only whined and wriggled more, desperate to see what was going on. Another slam and more footsteps thundered down the stairs, closer to our hiding spot. There was a voice and it took me a long moment to process that somehow, the voice knew my name. 

“Ry? Dodge? Rylee!” It was full of panic and worry, but Dodger’s answering bark drowned out the next words. The door to our hiding spot flew open and the dog darted away before I could grab at his collar. Thankfully, he hadn’t gone far, joyfully pawing at the person standing there. 

“Rylee? Baby, holy fuck, are you okay?” 

Chris. Oh my God. I didn’t know why he was there or how he’d even managed to get to us, with the storm going on outside, but I’d never been happier to see him. 

“Hi…” I stood up, tears finally falling, more out of relief than anything else as he pulled me in tightly against his chest. “How...why…?”

“Shhh. shhhh…” he murmured,  brushing his hand over my hair. He was soaking wet, flannel and t-shirt clinging to him. “It’s okay.”

“Chris, you’re soaked.” I immediately worried, when I realized he was drenched, brushing my hands over his arms. “Honey, what happened?”

“Can’t get down the driveway…” he shook his head. “Like three trees down, I walked.” 

“Are you insane?” I breathed. “How did you even get here?” 

“Airport wasn’t grounded when my flight came in. Made it right before the storms hit. I’ve been trying for almost two hours to get to you. Traffic is a nightmare, the interstate is a parking lot, I about got out and walked from there. Thank God, you’re alright.” He cupped my face as he spoke, earnestly looking me over as well as he could in the dim light.

“We’re fine, we’re fine.” I assured him. “Scared out of my mind...but Chris, the house…”

“Is a mess.” he frowned. “There’s glass everywhere, I’m guessing a tree came down in the back.”

“It sounded like a bomb went off.” I admitted, putting my arms around his waist, just hanging on.

“We’ll deal with it tomorrow, when we can see what the damage is. God, do you know how scared I was? Opening the door and stepping on glass, with you and Dodge nowhere in sight?” His thumbs gently wiped the last of my tears from my cheeks.

“I tried to text you, but the service was out. When the glass broke, I grabbed his leash and my shoes and came down here.” 

The corners of his mouth turned up in a relieved smile. “You really did that?” He seemed surprised, as if he didn’t think I’d listen to him, about making a small pile of essentials. 

“Chris, you asked me to. Of course. You know I love Dodge as much as you do, there’s no way I’d let him get hurt.” 

“I don’t want you hurt either…” he breathed, pulling me close again. I suddenly didn’t mind that he was completely drenched and that being against him was slowly soaking my clothes as well. He fiercely kissed my forehead, lingering for a moment, before pulling back. We both listened for a moment, the wind and rain not sounding nearly as powerful as it had before. 

“Do you think it’s over?” 

“I hope that was the worst of it.” he sighed, tugging his fingers through his hair, turning around in the dim light to call for Dodger. “Come here, buddy.” 

The dog had been impatiently sniffing around the bottom level, somewhere he rarely went, but was next to Chris the second he called him. “Stay here with him for a second, I’m going to check things out…”

“My very own, real life superhero.” I teased him and he chuckled, squeezing my hand before disappearing back up the stairs. 

For awhile, I listened for his footsteps, slowly moving around on the floor above. It had been a good twenty minutes before he returned, the outline of his frame, glowing dimly in the light of his phone screen. 

“How bad is it?” 

He frowned and I realized just how exhausted he really was. Hoping for a good night of sleep and to wrestle with the dog and a few decent meals, he’d come home to the storm of the century and a torn up house. 

His arm came around me, pulling me against his side. It wasn’t until then that I realized he’d found some dry clothes, but his skin was still cold. “The window is gone.” 

“What? Oh no…”

My heart was broken a little bit. The giant stained glass window in the bedroom was what had sold me on the house. Chris had taken pictures of it and then shown me on a FaceTime conversation. The brightly colored, delicate pieces of glass, had been put there with such care, an intricate garden of flowers. There’d been more than one morning that I’d woken up before Chris, watching the sunshine come in, flashing pale bursts of color across his skin as he slept. 

“I’m sorry, babe. I know how much you loved it.” He murmured, pressing a kiss to my hair. “Maybe there’s a way to get it redone.”

“We only have another month here.” I said. “I can’t imagine that it could get done that quickly. The owners would probably just replace it with regular glass.” 

“I’ll talk to them.” He assured me, brushing a quick hand over my hair, tugging playfully at my ponytail, something he’d done since the day we’d met. 

I nodded, breathing in the comforting smell of the detergent I’d washed his tee in and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his chest. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“It’s only for three days.” He said, quietly. “I gotta go back. They rearranged the press schedule to add more overseas interviews. But I told them I’d be back and got on a plane. They know me well enough now to know that I’ll be there when they need me.” 

“I’m glad you’re here.” 

“Me too…” he took in a deep breath. “Why don’t we try going back upstairs. If we keep Dodger in the living room and the kitchen, he’ll stay out of the glass. The hallway got hit too, those doors got punched out.”

“Oh my God.” The amount of damage in such a short time, scared me. We’d been walking that hallway only moments before the glass had come down and the fact that I’d seen the first round of branches outside was even scarier,. 

“It’s okay, Ry.” He put me behind him as we climbed the stairs back to the top level, still holding onto my hand. “It can all be fixed. I’m just glad you and Dodger are alright.” 

The wind and the rain still pounded the house, but not nearly as loud as earlier. I jumped when the lightning flashed, causing Chris to chuckle softly. “If we had somewhere to sleep, I’d make you forget all about this ridiculous storm.” 

Pulling back, I blinked up at him, confused, until I realized that the stained glass wall had probably exploded inward, shattering all over the master bedroom. 

“Oh no, really?” 

“Really.” He sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair. “We’re gonna be picking up glass in there for awhile.” 

“Way to spend your days off. I’m sure that’s exactly what you wanted.” I groaned. “That’s okay, you’re going to relax. I’ll get everything taken care of and cleaned up.” 

“Look at you, taking charge.” He smiled, tucking a strand of hair back from my cheek. “Kinda hot.”

I blushed, but even in the dark I knew he could tell. 

“Look Ry, was cleaning up from a storm what I planned to do while I was back home? Not even on the top ten of my list, but I’ll be damned if I just hang around, while you fix things. That’s not how this goes.” 

“Chris, you need time to decompress for a few days. You’re always exhausted after a press tour.” 

“Fine. I’ll relax.” He finally gave in, but not before the edges of a smile turned his lips. “As long as you do it with me.” 

“You’re sly, Evans.” I shook my head, trying not to laugh. “Why don’t we pick up this discussion tomorrow once we can check out the damage. ” 

He nodded, his hand coming up to brush fingertips over my cheek. “You know what?”

“What?”

His voice had lowered a couple of notches as he stepped in closer. “I haven’t even gotten to kiss you yet. That’s even more of a problem than broken windows.” 

I realized that he was right and smiled a little, wrapping my arms around his neck to bring him down closer to me. “I missed you, Chris.”

“Mmm, me too babydoll.” he sighed, before taking a quick nip at my bottom lip, then fusing his mouth to mine. Fingers tangled in my ponytail and I finally relaxed into him, forgetting all about the weather raging on around us. He didn’t pull away until Dodger whined, pawing at us impatiently for some attention. 

“Hey buddy, I missed you too…” he crouched down with a grin, ruffling his fur, the two getting into a wrestling match in the living room, even with the barest of lighting. I let them go, knowing they both had a little extra adrenaline to work off. As always, the wrestling match ended up with the dog sitting on Chris, as he practically cackled with infectious laughter. 

“My boys.” I snickered, just enjoying the feeling of having my little family in one place.

“He’s a goof.” Chris chuckled, finally shoving him off and joining me on the couch. The rain was down to a harsh drizzle and I flicked through the weather app on my phone, looking for an updated forecast. In an attempt to save the battery while the power was still out, I shut it down rather quickly. “I think the worst of it is over. The rain isn’t going to stop anytime soon.” 

“God, I didn’t realize how tired I was until I sat down.” He pressed his lips to my shoulder, sighing against the fabric of my sweater. “We can sleep?”

“I’ve just got blankets in the guest room.” I bit down on my lip. “All the pillows are in ours.”

“Mmm, don’t care.” he nuzzled again, clearly exhausted. “We’ll figure it out. I’ve spent three weeks in hotel beds without you, no way in hell am I doing it again until I have to.” 

“Sounds fair.” I reached up, running my fingers through his hair. “Come on, before you fall asleep right here.” 

‘Here is nice too.” he mumbled, breathing in deeply. “I’m not gonna make it in there if you keep doing that.” 

“God knows I’m not strong enough to get you off this couch.” I giggled, shifting out from under him, as he immediately slumped into the space I vacated. “Christopher, come on, five more minutes.” 

He groaned and sighed, but finally managed to get up, following along behind me. Dodger trailed after us both, seemingly confused as to why we’d settled in the guest bedroom, but he parked himself and his stuffed lion on the floor anyway. 

Chris stretched, then flopped onto the bed with a thud that shook the mattress, not even bothering to kick his shoes off. I tried to hide my giggles but he heard me anyway and suddenly there was a balled up t-shirt flying at my head. I batted it away, still snickering and he only made a face, barely visible in the dim light.

“Stop laughing.” he mumbled, before rolling onto his stomach, head pillowed on his arms. For a moment, I couldn’t help admire, watching the way his large frame was stretched out, taking up more than half of the bed. He was always in shape, but extra muscle rippled after a movie shoot and the shadows only seemed to highlight it more. 

My daydreaming was interrupted by his soft snore and I had to stop myself from giggling again. God, he was cute. Somehow, I managed to pull his sneakers off his feet without waking him and took a blanket from the closet, tucking it around his body so he wouldn’t get cold. I grabbed another for myself, before laying down next to him and he mumbled, sleepily, before throwing an arm over my waist to pull me in closer. He was always warm, something I never was and it was nice to have him there. Rest didn’t come easy without him, even though we were used to being apart. 

Sweetly, he nuzzled even closer, brushing his lips against my hair. “Love you, Ry…”