Lovino sat straight up suddenly from his peaceful slumber. Something loud had scared him in his dream, but what? Was there a monster? The six year old glanced around the dark room and hugged his teddy bear tightly to his chest. He was too afraid to even notice the pitter patter of rain. A scratching noise was coming from the window. He gasped when he saw the monster's claws scratching against the window. Close your eyes and count to ten, his mother's words reminded him.

With eyes shut tight, face buried in his bear, he counted. "One, two, three-"

A loud roar of thunder shook the house. The child immediately burst into tears and jumped off the bed, ripping the door open and running into the darkness. He stopped suddenly and hugged his teddy closer to him now with both arms as his tiny body trembled. He couldn't see Feliciano's room through the suffocating veil of night, but he knew it was straight down the hall. If he got there, he'd be safe.

He took a deep breath and took a step. Something touched his foot. He jumped back with a whimper. The only bad thing about Nonno's house was that it was old and creaky. Monsters and ghosts loved creaky, old houses. Arthur had told him so and Arthur knew all about that sort of thing. Once more he closed his eyes and counted to ten.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

This time he counted through the thunder. He had to be brave. He had to get past the monsters and get to Feli's room. He opened his eyes, hugged his teddy and ran as fast as he could to the end of the hallway. He fumbled with the door handle, sure the monsters were right behind him, ready to pull him into their lair and eat him. The door opened and Feliciano sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Huh?" he asked as Lovino jumped on the bed as another roll of thunder followed by lightning consumed the house.

"I-i-it's sc-scary!" Lovino whimpered.

"It's okay, it's just rain. 'Member what Nonno telled us?" Feliciano smiled, pulling back the blankets for his brother to cuddle under.

"I ran so fast the monsters couldn't catch me. It's so scary!" Lovino whimpered before letting himself breakdown from fear.

Feliciano thought for a moment before crawling out of bed and going to the bookshelf. Lovino watched, terrified that a monster was going to snatch his baby brother. Feliciano took a book off the shelf and went over to his toy chest before coming back to the bed. The five year old placed them on the bed and crawled up.

"We have to go in the blanket fort, okay? It's safe there."

Lovino nodded and followed his little brother under the blankets. Feliciano switched on a flashlight and handed the book to Lovino. The stared at the book before he jumped and whimpered again at another roll of thunder.

"Read me a story?" Feliciano smiled as he snuggled against the older boy.

"O-Okay."

Lovino began to read the book, stumbling over the words. He loved practicing reading. He was so focused on sounding out the words that he forgot all about the scary monsters hiding in the shadows beyond the safety of the blanket and light. The claps of thunder did cause him to pause and shiver.

"It's okay, Lovi. It's only the rain. Nonno telled us it helps the pretty flowers grow."

"Yeah…" Lovino said unsure before going back to reading.

Each time the thunder shook the room, Lovino would whimper. He finished the book and hugged his knees, as he trembled from the dark and thunder. He was so happy that Feliciano had a flashlight to keep them away, but what if it turned off? What if the monsters still got to them?

"If you want, we could play a game," Feliciano suggested.

"What?" Lovino whispered, his eyes shifting as he held fast to the teddy bear.

"We tell a story, but I say and word and you say a word until we maked a whole story!"

"That sounds fun," Lovino giggled.

The boys went back and forth making the most silly story possible. Lovino wasn't so scared anymore. He didn't even mind the thunder. He couldn't stop laughing, neither could Feliciano. The boys curled up together still laughing as they fell asleep. The rain would stop and the sun would come up, but until then Feliciano would keep his big brother safe, cuddling in their safe, warm cocoon.

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