The Hidden (G/T)

Chapter Thirteen - Nightfall

The sun fell before anyone could take notice of it. The tar black that was night crept over the sky, slowly eloping the rest of light. The best Leo could describe the sensation of nighttime nearing was ink spilling over the painting that was sunset, a dark blanket falling over the beauty of day. The phosphorescent fire of sun put out, leaving the world in the eerie shadow of darkness.

Leo and Natalie had babbled to eachother for a little while, spilling useless information that nonetheless drove each other fascinated. It warmed Natalie's heart to see Leo talking to her like this, acting comfortable with her. She kept him awake while color slowly returned to his cheeks, mumbling something about this strange sweet called ice cream— the concept seemed to baffle him, frozen flavored cream?— when his face went abruptly grave.

He had a faraway look to his face. There physically, but his soul was wandering elsewhere. His gaze was focuses on the window, the sky a dark violet. "Leo?" He jumped at the thunderous voice, but calmed his rapidly beating heart. "Y-yeah?" His eyes kept retiring to the sky. She leaned to the side, observing his bundled frame from her nightshade, trying to catch his eyes.
"Are you okay?" He had to process the words. "Yeah- yes. I'm fine. Just..." his gaze drifted helplessly back to the night sky. Natalie looked to, but her look didn't bare the same weight his did.

His face had gone pale again. "What's wrong?"
Leo opened his mouth to answer, then seemed to puzzle over a response, and shut it again. As embarrassing as it was, he was anxious about the upcoming night. He was away from his hideaway, no blanket he had so carefully stitched together to comfort him, no match to keep on to scare away the monsters of night. Even though he was with this human girl— who was most likely scarier than anything he'd find creeping along the shadows— he was still at ease. He was hesitant to tell the human girl, scared she'd think
him silly.

"I..." she leaned a bit closer. Unbeknown to her, this only scared Leo more. But this is Natalie, he'd tell himself, I can trust her... "What was that?" She asked when she couldn't hear him the first time. He swallowed back his fear. "It's the dark." He gestured vaguely to the outside. Natalie looked behind her absently, not understanding-

Oh.

"Are you..." it seemed to fall upon her so suddenly. "Scared of the dark?" She turned back to him. Her suspicions were confirmed, as he looked at the darkness with such fear it made her uneasy. Fear twisted in his gut, an uneasiness that lingered for longer that he'd like and made him nauseous. He looked warily up to Natalie, expecting a smirk failing to be help back or a chuckle at the silly fear, but all he saw was concern.

"Hey, it's okay." But that didn't seem to put him at ease. She pouted, pondering a solution for her new tiny friend. "If you'd like, I can try to find a night light for you." He looked up to her with confusion visible on his face. "A... night light?" He'd never heard of such a thing, but he was curious as to what the strange human contraption was capable of. "Yeah, a night light." She said, as if that'd help him understand.

"It's this little lantern you put in your room, so you can see in the dark." Leo couldn't believe it. "R-really? You have that?" She grinned down at him. "Yeah, I used to use one all the time. I'm not sure where it is now, but we can definetley go try and find it." Leo visibly brightened. "Yes please."
She nodded, happy to be of assistance.

With that, she ventured out into the dark hallways of the Di Russo household, nothing in her mind but a tiny boy and an unstoppable need to keep him comfortable and safe. She checked closets and drawers, basements and attics, but found nothing. Maybe her mom threw it out?..
She sometimes threw out things if she thought they no longer served a purpose. Usually she would ask her momma, but she didn't want her to ask the use of it, and draw attention to Leo.

She entered the room sheepishly a good few minutes later. Leo lay bundled in her scarf, snuggling into the soft material. Large blue eyes blinked at her, a childhood innocence shining through them. "I can find it, Leo. I'm sorry."
His face fell, stomach dropping at the realization he'd be in darkness once again. With a human. As docile as she seemed, he couldn't imagine the feeling of being in the dark with a creature of her size. It gave him a deep feeling in his gut that he'd pushed deep down, but it was rising once again.

"T-that's okay. Thank you anyway."
"Will you be okay?" Natalie assured. It hurt her to imagine him feeling so scared again.
He nodded painfully. "I'll be alright."
Natalie sighed, looking out at the window again. She tried to imagine his fear— it seemed he was deeply unsettled by darkness, and away from home, in pain, with a person one hundred times bigger than him...

"It'll be okay. I'll keep the light on so you won't be in the dark." Leo stared dumbstruck at her. "Wh-what? Natalie, why..." he seemed puzzled she would do such an action for him. "Will you be okay? Can you sleep like that?" She scoffed. "Dude, I can sleep anywhere, any condition." He smiled at that. "I love my sleep." She shrugged as she said, returning his smile.
"But... are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course. What are friends for, right?"

He let the words settle in. Friends. It gave his heart a warm sensation. "T-thank you."
"Don't mention it." She assured.
"Now, I'm gonna go get my pj's on. Be right back, okay?" He nodded, sinking back into his little nest. If really was kind of her to do that. But why? He supposed it was the friendly thing to do... And friends— were they friends now? He wasn't sure before, but now that she confirmed it, it made Leo smile.

"Leo, I'm back." She walked into the room, bare feet padding across the hardwood floor. Her t-shirt was so big it almost swallowed her whole, pajama pants hung down in a baggy style. She plopped down onto her bed, Leo could feel the movement all the way over to where he lay. A yawn escaped the boy before he could think better of it. "You tired?" She asked. He nodded wordlessly, eyes suddenly gaining a drooping weight.

"Here, we can go to bed now if you'd like." He nodded again, feeling grateful for the chance to rest. The past few days had been sprung upon him so heavily, weight crashing down. "Natalie." He burst out before he thought better of it when he saw her reaching for the covers. Just say it. "Could I... sleep with you tonight?" She seemed suprised at first, but nodded softly at his request.

She trodded over to him, hands already outstretched. Leo was hesitant at first when the pillar-like fingers came to him, but instantly his fear was forgotten when she gently scooped him up, bringing him to her chest. What little fear he had left of Natalie was permanently evaporated. Her movements were slow and gentle, her touch warm and kind.

She very gently sat onto the bed, legs crossed, with Leo half delirious in hand. When she looked down at him, he was already asleep, nestled into her hands, safe and warm. She smiled down at him, rubbing her thumb along his back. He snuggled into her hand, curling up along with the ridges.

Natalie suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness hit over her, and she got the abrupt urge to rest. When her mother came into her room to alert her dinner was ready, she found she was sound asleep when it was barely eight, she decided to let her sleep. The two slept through the night without problem, slumber a break from the weight of the world. All they needed was each others company.

Natalie never once turned off the lights.