After he and Rose confronted Jack Noir in the castle and came to find Mom and Dad dead, John has had this intense fear of rain and thunder in general because he thinks it will turn black any second like way back then. Even now, at age seventeen he gets super uncomfortable. Visibly curls in on himself and he goes stark white and quivers.

   And Dave had no idea until they were hanging out one night watching some Disney classics “for irony” (no, screw that Dave. Disney classics are the best) and all the sudden a low rumble tolls through the neighborhood, deep and low. And Dave is just all “Oh, cool. A storm.”

   But John just freezes where he is and he feels his stomach turn to a hunk of ice and oh my god his heartbeat is almost as loud as the thunder outside. And he just gets all silent and Dave feels him go ridged against his side. He looks over and sees that John has lost all color and his eyes are HUGE. He’s clutching at the front of his shirt and Dave gets real concerned.

   ”John, baby what’s the matter?” he’d ask. And John won’t be able to answer.

   Then a really loud clap of thunder shakes through the neighborhood and John just SCREAMS. He falls from the couch covering his ears and he’s starting to hyperventilate.

   Dave crouches beside him and grabs his shoulders and shakes him a bit, saying “John John oh my god, what’s going on? What’s happening John?”

   And John will just sort of cling to Dave, hiding his face in the crook of Dave’s neck and oh shit Dave can feel the tears that are forming begin to cool his skin. And god, he doesn’t know what to do so all he can do is hold this shaking mass that was once a smiling boy. He eventually coaxes John back onto the couch and wraps him up in the biggest, puffiest quilt he can find and refuses to let go until the storm has fucked off.

   And they DO stay like that until it’s over; John flinching every time he sees a flash of light outside his window and Dave pulls him even tighter to his chest and oh my god, Dave can feel him shivering through a QUILT.

   John finally looks up into Dave’s eyes and just asks him to check if the rain is still there and of course Dave complies. Seeing John cry is about the most horrible thing he’s ever witnessed and he just wants to fix it. So he checks and when he gives John the all clear the other boy visibly relaxes. His blue eyes lose all fear and his form goes from rigid to relaxed.

   Dave walks over to him and curls his arms around John and asks him if he’s alright.

   And John says “I am now, yeah. Thank you for being here, Dave. I always get so scared when I have to listen to… to that alone.”

   And Dave makes a promise to never let John be alone through something like that again.