Germany X Reader: Astraphobia

The lights of the entrance flicker as you enter the apartment building. There is a man out in the hall, sitting in an old chair in front of his apartment. He nods a hello at you, but he doesn't offer to help you with all your bags of groceries. In his defense, he's about sixty or so, and his back is humped, and his hands tremble a lot. Besides, you might manage to get up the stairs to your third-floor apartment.

Maybe.

"Hallo, Mr. Pickering," a familiar voice says as someone enters the apartment building just as you start up the stairs.

Mr. Pickering gives him the usual greeting.

You hear a rush of feet before Ludwig Beilschmidt shows up behind you. "Miss __________, do you need help?"

"I…yes, I'd be ever so grateful—"

He takes all the bags from your hand and heads up the steps to the third floor with absolute ease. You try to keep up, wondering how in the world he can go walk so quickly with nearly fifty pounds of food and supplies for the week.

Ludwig lives diagonally from you, in apartment V.  You're in U. He waits for you to open the door before heading in and placing it all in your kitchen table.

Your calico kitten comes out of your room, headed for Ludwig's legs. She purrs as she stands on his boots, pawing mercilessly at them. The little American Shorthair looks up at Ludwig expectantly, waiting for him to fall in love with her.

He rejects her advances, lightly pushing her off his boot.

She is relentless, pursuing him.

"Kat," you murmur as you pick her up. "Sorry, she's fond of people. She expected you to love her and want to spoil her." You laugh. "Again, I'm sorry. I know how much you don't like cats."

"Well," he blushes as he glances at his boots, "she is rather cute."

Your face goes red at that, and you poke at your kitten, telling her, "See, he likes you. He thinks you're cute!"

He clears his throat, still scarlet from before. "If that is all, I will be going now."

You hear thunder crack and jump a little inside, though you manage to keep a happy, serene façade for Ludwig. "Thank you for all your help. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ja. Tomorrow." He nods before he heads to the door, closing it behind himself.

You giggle to yourself at his insanely attractive accent before locking the door, putting your kitten on the floor. "Thank you, Katherine, for bringing such an adorableness out of my neighbor!" you squeal like a little girl.

You can't help it. Ludwig is just so cute, though he isn't aware of it at all

The sky rumbles, a presage to the oncoming storm.

***

You wake up with a scream as thunder cracks across the sky, shaking even your nightstand. You move to turn the light on, but the storm has blown the power out. Lovely.

You get up and head for your closet as lightening rips across the sky, making your room bright blue for a total of one second. Blindly, you look through your closet to find some candles and a flashlight. There's a lighter in the drawer on your nightstand, and you use that to light the three, scented candles you have. You place one in the center of your nightstand, moving everything else off from there so that a fire doesn't start. It gives your room a warm glow, instantly making you feel a bit better.

You move to the kitchen, placing two candles equidistant from each other and the edges of the kitchen table. You light them both, and you manage not to scream when the next bit of thunder hurts your eardrums.

With the flashlight, you go looking for Katherine. She should be in the living room, curled up on the couch or something, but she isn't in her usual spot. You search all throughout the living room, followed by the kitchen, your bedroom, the bathroom, and all the closets.

You can't find her.

You don't waste time on sobbing pitifully for yourself and your lost kitten. You take one more tour around your house to check for her before you grab a cardigan, throw on some ballet flats, and grab your keys.

You need to find her before the storm gets worse.

You jump as you open the door when the thunder sounds again, but you am surprised at how dark it is out on the hallway. With a lack of windows, save for the pathetic skylight, there is very little light here. Actually, the only reason you can see even the resemblance of anything is because you've opened your door.

You remind yourself to blow out the candles, placing the lighter in the middle of the kitchen table for when you return.

You lock your door when you leave, shinning your flashlight on the dark hallway.

"Kat? Katherine?" you whisper into the darkness. "Baby? It's me, ________. Where are you?"

You walk around, trying to be silent in case Kat makes a sound or something.

Then you hear a soft chain of meows, and you head in the direction of the sound. Just then, there is a loud crack of thunder, enough to shake you, and you let out a shriek before you slap your hand over your mouth, remembering that all the neighbors will wake. A second later, the door in front of you opens just as the lightening goes off, and the silhouetted figure makes you scream.

It feels like you're in a really bad, cliché horror movie.

"Miss __________?" the voice asks in a deep, German accent.

It's Ludwig.

Without even thinking, you throw yourself into his arms, burying your face into his shirt to keep from screaming when it thunders again. However, you do manage to jump, and you are still shaking.

"Oh. You're afraid of thunder," he whispers, his fingers lightly caressing your hair. He suddenly goes rigid and drops his hand. "Ah, come inside!"

You pull back as lightening brightens his apartment for a second. "No, I can't. I need to find Kat—Katherine—my kitten. I don't know how she got out, but I can't find her, and I've checked my place twice, and—"

You're cut off by a chuckle. "I know where she is."

"You do?"

"She's on my bed. I have no idea how she got into my room, but I left her there. I was going to return her to you in the morning."

You suddenly go red, thankful for the lack of light so that he can't see your face. You made a big deal over nothing.

Thunder. You jump, sucking in air quickly. "Can I get her back? It's hard to sleep without her, at least when it's so…stormy."

"You should come in," he says quietly, moving aside. You turn off your flashlight as you enter.

There are candles on. His apartment is impeccably neat and clean. His three dogs, which he usually has outside on the balcony, are sleeping inside in the living room. Ludwig closes the door after you, leading you to his bedroom. You find your heart beating quickly in your chest; besides your younger brother (who is nearly seven years younger), you've never been inside the room of a guy before. His room is so perfect and clean, but it's kind of what you expected.

Sure enough, Kat is on his bed, purring and meowing and making herself comfy.

"I guess she really likes you," you marvel as you lightly caress her soft back. "She did the same thing to me when my parents first got her. She left the house after me." You laugh. "My parents were freaking out so bad, but she made it all the way over here. It was decided then that she would be mine."

"I understand why," Ludwig says shyly as he looks at the floor. "You're a very sweet, happy person."

You look up at him with a smile. "Thank you."

There is more thunder, and Katherine becomes alert, softly pawing at your hand. It is her way of telling you it's going to be okay, that she's here for you.

"That is why she'd been doing that all night," Ludwig suddenly states. "Every time the thunder sounds, she starts meowing and pawing at me."

"She's quite aware of my astraphobia," you laugh softly as the lightening comes again. You're not quite scared of lightening, just thunder.

"Who else knows?" he asks quietly as he sits down next to your cat. That's when you notice he is simply in boxers and a white T-shirt.

You sit on the other side of Katherine. "Both my parents, my brother, and my best friend. But they all live all the way on the other side of town. Oh, and you." Your hands touch when you both reach for Kat. He pulls back instantly, and you're left feeling a bit…weird inside. "Hey, I thought you didn't like cats. Yet you still stayed with her."

He looks away. "I don't…but she's different. She reminds me of you, in some ways." He tenses again after saying that.

"So, I am like a cat?" you ask, giggling at his words. "What are their names? Your dogs, I mean."

"Well, the Doberman is Berlitz, the German Shepherd is Blackie, and the Hovawart is Aster."

"Hmm, they're so friendly, at least to me."

"Well, they like you."

"I'm honored." There is more thunder, and Katherine starts her reassuring routine again. "I should probably get back now. Thanks for taking care of her, and thanks for chatting with me. It was really pleasant. We should do it again sometime." You pick Katherine up, holding her towards your chest. You stand. "Thank you again, Ludwig," you whisper before you (impulsively) lean down and kiss his cheek. You go scarlet, realizing what you've done. "Tomorrow, then."

He watches you as you head out, but after a quick, brazen thought, he stands up and catches your hand in his. You turn back to him, watching as he steps towards you, closing down on the distance between both of your bodies.

You can feel his heat radiating from his body, right through his clothing.

"Y-you know…I like you too."

You glance up at him, wishing desperately that you could see his face—at least, see it well. The flickering flame of the candle on his dresser isn't bright enough to make out his expression.

"O-oh? I…like you back."

He is tense; you can feel it through his hand. He moves forward, his lips brushing your cheek, and you realize how uncomfortable and awkward he feels.

"I…I mean, m-more than a…a friend," he stutters.

You lean your head back as your eyes meet, your lips only inches apart. "Oh," you murmur as you stand on the tips of your toes, letting your lips touch his. "Like this?"

And he lets go of your hand so he can cup your face, kissing you more forcefully. "A bit more like this."

You wonder if he can feel your heart as it hammers away inside your chest, trying to break through.

For a year, you've known Ludwig. He's only ever been your neighbor, the closest person to a friend that you have here. He'd always help you carry things, and when your car broke down about three months ago, he fixed it for you (and it worked better than before). You often told your best friend, over the phone or when you met up with her on the weekends, about the handsome German living diagonally from you who was always helping you out one way or another.

"Oh, he must have a crush on you!" she had exclaimed the day after he fixed your car, poking your side lightly. "And why wouldn't he? You're the sweetest person I know! And so cute!"

But you had been uncertain of it. I mean, why would he like you?

"Maybe…you can stay the night," he says, his accent thickening. He still sounds nervous.

He's not good with relationship stuff. He told you so about five months ago when you broke down after your boyfriend left you for a much prettier, much smarter, much more talented girl.

"That way," he continued, "you don't have to be as scared of the thunder. Because…because I can hold you, kind of how Katherine paws at you. Kind of how you held me when I opened my door."

"I…I would like that," you say with a smile.

"Really?"

You nod before you kiss him once more.

Kat is desperate to get out of your hold. Ludwig and you have invaded all her personal space and squished her between your chests.

You let her go before Ludwig and you get into his bed after placing your flashlight on his dresser. As promised, he simply holds you. And this is so much better than before; when the thunder sounds, he's there to make it all better. Katherine is on your other side, comforting you as well.

These are two who love you, reassuring you that it's okay, that they're here.

And you fall into a gentle sleep, your first night in years that you've managed to get blissful sleep during a thunderstorm.