When It Rains (Grethan)

8 Years

"Eefan?", Grayson whispered softly, standing in the large doorway of Ethan's bedroom at the end of the hall. His buzz-light year night light was the only source of visibility for the young boy. Ethan's digital clock read 12:32am. Graysons speech therapist was working hard to get Grayson to work on his "TH" sounds, and it was working, but on a night like tonight, when Grayson was scared out of his mind, all of his speech workings went straight out the window. Grayson shifted from his left foot to his right in his footie pajamas, squinting to see his brother asleep in his bed.
"EEFan?", he whisper-yelled this time, hoping he wasn't waking his parents. He knew they had work in the morning and didn't want to disturb them. Grayson was trying to be brave, but the next clap of thunder and bolt of lighting sent his small feet pitter-pattering very quickly to Ethan's bed. He thought about it only for a second before climbing into it with him, using his forearms to maneuver himself up and underneath the warm covers. Ethan stirred slowly, sensing his twin beside him.
"Gray?", he asked, voice high pitched, "whaf's da matter?", he turned his head towards Grayson, who was nearly trembling in fear. He moved closer to him immediately, noticing how shook up Grayson looked.
"It's da lightning huh?", he asked Grayson.
He nodded.
"C'mere", Ethan complied, holding his arms out toward his brother, shifting onto his side so that they could see each other better. He scooted their shoulders together before embracing his younger counterpart, tucking his arms over and around Graysons shoulders. Grayson was grateful for the invitation, and grabbed a handful of Ethan's shirt before tucking his other hand around his waist. Ethan could tell that Grayson relaxed at an incredibly fast rate, and soon they were breathing at the same pace, hearts close together.
"Betta?", Ethan asked
"Much betta", Grayson responded, yawning.
"Sleep Gray", Ethan said, patting Grayson's full head of hair.
"Night night Eefan", he mumbled.
Together they lay, sleeping soundly through the rest of the storm that night.