Thunderstorm
Request (from anon): Could you maybe do an imagine (one shot) where the reader is a teenage girl that is a Winchester and is terrified of thunderstorms and has anxiety attacks when they happen, and one night there is a bad thunderstorm and Sam and Dean are on a hunt, and while having a anxiety attack, the reader prays for Cas to come and help or stay with her, and he comes and comforts her and waits until Sam and Dean come back?
(Y/N) = your name Warnings: mild language, panic attacks (please remember that everyone has different experiences with these, and this is only based off of my experiences, not everyone’s)
* * *
Considering the fact that you were still young, only 16 years old, your brothers seldom let you come on hunts with them. And if they did, it was only for something they were absolutely sure you could “handle”, such as a small vampire’s nest.
Usually, while Sam and Dean are gone, you keep yourself occupied mostly by reading and listening to music. Once in a while, if you ever got really bored, you would pray to Cas to keep you company, but you didn’t like to do that too much because you were worried that he would start to get annoyed.
On this particular night, you were sitting at the table in the bunker reading a random book you picked off of the shelves, while drinking a cup of tea and listening to the music you had playing in the background. You had just flipped the page when you heard it. Hoping that it was just your overactive imagination playing tricks on you, you pause your music and sit still, listening to see if you can hear it again. Sure enough, about 30 seconds later, the sound of thunder comes back with full force.
“Shit,” you mutter to yourself, slapping your book shut and squeezing your eyes shut. All of a sudden, your chest felt really light, like someone had grabbed your heart and just started squeezing it. It got harder and harder to breathe, so you tried taking deep breaths in and out, like your brothers told you to do, but that just made your chest hurt even worse.
Getting an idea, you open your eyes and start saying a desperate (and somewhat awkward) prayer to Cas. “Hey, uh, Cas,” you think, unable to talk out loud. “I’m not really sure if you can hear me right now, but if you can, I would really appreciate it if you could find your way here. I’m kinda, ah, freaked out by this storm and need your help calming down.”
Almost immediately after you got done praying, you heard the sound of fluttering wings, and looked up to see Cas looking down at you with a concerned expression on his face.
“(Y/N), are you alright?” he asks, but you still can’t talk because you’re too busy trying to get that tight feeling in your chest to go away, and get your breathing back to normal. Sensing that you were having a hard time breathing, Cas knelt down in front of you and pulled your chin up lightly so that you could look at him. “Okay, (Y/N), breathe with me, can you do that?” Cas breathes slowly in and out, never breaking eye contact with you. Seeing that it wasn’t helping as much as he would’ve liked, he gently pushes your head down in between your legs, telling you, “Keep breathing in and out, just like you were doing.”
This helps you calm down more, and eventually, after what feels like an hour, your heart no longer feels like it’s going to beat out of your chest, and you can breathe easy again. “Thank you, Cas,” you sigh, looking up at him.
“It was no problem,” he replies. “I didn’t know you were that afraid of thunderstorms.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s stupid,” you groan. “I’m not afraid of vampires or demons or werewolves, but I let a dumb thunderstorm get the best of me.”
“It’s not stupid, (Y/N),” Cas frowns and shakes his head. “Everyone has things that they’re afraid of.”
You just nod in response.
It’s quiet for a moment, and then Cas asks, “Would you like me to stay here with you until Sam and Dean return? Or at least until the storm is over?”
“Yeah, that would be great,” you smile, and he smiles back. Then the two of you put a movie on while you try to keep your mind off of the thunder outside. But even when you do get a little jumpy, Cas is always quick to calm you right back down to make sure you don’t have another panic attack.