In the evening, Izabe was in the kitchen cooking spaghetti. After filling her stomach, she sat on the couch and continued going over some documents. The silence in the room was so overwhelming that it felt like the rustling of papers echoed. Unsettled by the quietness, she turned on the television and started watching a romantic movie. However, after about ten minutes, she found it unappealing and started reading her documents back instead. By nine, she was done with her paperwork, and the movie had ended as well.


    She texted Casey, asking him when he''d be home.


    After a while, she got a text notification. Assuming it was Casey, she opened the message only to be taken aback. The name on the screen wasn''t Casey''s. As she read the entirety of the message, her hand tightened around her phone, disbelief shing in her eyes.


    How could this be?


    Izabe sat on the couch, unsure of how much time had passed, until her feet started feeling cold. That''s when Casey called.


    "Be, there''s a storming tonight. Make sure you close the windows. I''ll be home soon."


    "Aren''t you workingte tonight?" Izabe asked, knowing that Casey usually slept at his office whenever he had to workte.Copyright N?v/el/Dra/ma.Org.


    "Not tonight."


    After hanging up, Izabe noticed the wind outside rustling the curtains. She got up and closed the windows.


    Izabe washed up and got into bed. Outside, the wind was howling louder. The sky was periodically lit up by lightning, followed by the rumbling thunder. Although she had spent her day busy and was feeling quite fatigued, she couldn''t fall asleep.


    The reason was simple. Izabe was scared of thunderstorms, especially those at night.


    Despite her bold exterior, Izabe was quite timid. She feared falling sick, taking medicines, bitterness, storms, thunders, and lightning. But what frightened her the most was being alone. If something were to happen to her when she was alone, she would die without anyone knowing.


    Once, she thought she could live with her own. But humans are social creatures, and extreme solitude can lead to social anxiety. Even as she imed to enjoy her solitude, she envied those who could run around freely with their friends.


    Now she had Casey, someone who cared for her. He had always been there with her during past storms.


    But he wasn''t there tonight, and the feeling of loneliness and helplessness was slowly taking root in her heart.


    However, as long as she had someone to stay with, she wasn''t afraid of any hardships that coulde her way.


    Izabe left the lights on. Tonight''s storm seemed more severe than usual. She wrapped herself in a nket. Suddenly, the lights flickered and went out with a snap, plunging the room into darkness.


    With the only sound being the


    thunder and wind outside, the room


    was eerily quiet. Izabe sat up, wrapping herself tightly in nket and blocking her ears to the sound of the thunder. It wasn''t as scary as she had thought.


    Meanwhile, Casey was checking the weather forecast. When he saw the storm warning for tonight, he immediately left his work and rushed home.


    Halfway through his journey, it started pouring. Despite the heavy rain, Casey drove fast. He wasn''t scared of the thunder. But he was worried about Izabe, who was terrified of thunderstorms.


    He didn''t hesitate to push the pedal and speed towards Spring Bay. As soon as he arrived, he parked the car and ran towards the building in the rain.


    The rain was so heavy that even an umbre was of no use. His clothes were soaked, and the heavy raindrops hitting his head were causing him to wince. Spring Bay was engulfed in darkness.


    The guard was trying to fix the power line, and people were anxiously talking. Outside, a fewmplights were still working. But inside, it was pitch ck. Casey turned on his phone''s shlight to find his way.


    "Be." He called out as soon as he entered. His voice was loud as he made his way to the second floor and into their bedroom. With the shlight on his phone, he saw


    Izabe curled up on the


    with


    her head covered by the nket.


    When people are scared, they lose control over their body, and their body goes into a protective mode. Izabe was no different. She was trembling, and her eyshes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes.


    A beam of light entered her eyes and she found herself in a familiar embrace. It wasn''t warm, but it was the safest ce she could be.


    She looked at Casey, who was panting heavily. His eyes were slightly red, his clothes were sticking to his wet body, and his hair was a mess.


    "How did you get back so soon?"


    Casey didn''t give an exnation. Instead, he said, "I''ll check the weather forecast every day from now on. I won''t let you wait for me alone at home like this again."