thomas' least favorite thing about summer were nighttime thunderstorms. he didn't hate them, per say, (and he refused to ever admit to almost everyone) but he was scared of storms. it was a fear that dated back to his early childhood and he never quite outgrew it.
one night, he had newt over, as an attempt to get their friendship back to the way it was before. newt was staying the night and luckily, by bed time, things seemed as okay as they could get.
thomas knew things could never be the same again, but he intended to get as close as possible.
sometime in the middle of the night, thomas still lay awake. it was then that he saw a flash of lightning from outside his window. he became uneasy when he heard the boom of thunder.
he never really pinpointed the reason behind his fear of thunderstorms, and maybe he accepted that he never would, but to him thunderstorms brought thoughts of mistakes and failures.
he tried to be okay with the storm, he wanted to go back to sleep. his mind became restless and his heart was pounding when rain started plunging down onto his window. the lightning and thunder continued.
"hey, newt?" thomas half-whispered, his voice a little shaky.
"yeah?" he answered groggily.
"did i wake you?"
"no, i'm up." newt sat up on his sleeping bag, beside thomas' bed. "what's up?"
"is it ok if you sleep in my bed with me tonight? i just really hate thunderstorms." thomas hoped, and despite the darkness he swore he could see the bright smile on newt's face.
"more like, you're just really scared of storms." newt muttered mostly to himself, as he stood up with his pillow in hand. thomas wanted to counter newt's statement, but he was right, and he would tell newt anything if it made him smile.
"move over, you big baby." newt teased, hitting thomas with his pillow, but thomas laughed and obliged anyway. the storm didn't seem so bad then.
thomas had a twin-sized mattress, which wasn't super ideal for two boys to sleep in, but neither of them cared much for it.
at first they lay with their backs towards each other, due to their paranoia of creating an awkward situation, otherwise. then they heard a clap of thunder and thomas jumped a little, making newt roll over to face thomas' back.
"tommy, are you ok?" newt asked.
thomas also rolled over to face newt, creating a close proximity of their faces. "yeah... i guess."
"you shouldn't be so scared of a storm." newt said, impulsively placing his hand on thomas' cheek. thomas felt the warmth and security of his hand, and a foreign feeling coursed through his body.
"you shouldn't be so scared of sharks, then." thomas replied, hoping newt would keep his hand on his cheek.
"that's different. a storm isn't going to hurt you." newt remarked.
"well, neither is a shark."
"it could, actually."
"not on purpose." thomas argued.
"a storm wouldn't hurt you on purpose either. storms just happen, and then they're gone and over." newt smiled, and all thomas could do was stare at his lips in the dim light from outside his window. the storm was starting to subdue.
"whatever," thomas reluctantly rolled back over to have his back face newt.
"tell you what, i'll keep you safe. the storm won't hurt you." newt promised, wrapping his arms around thomas. his whole body warmed up.
what if you hurt me? thomas wanted to ask, but instead answered a quiet, "ok."
eventually, the storm was gone like newt had told thomas and the boys lay with skin touching skin in silence.
newt had nearly drifted off.
"maybe we should stop being so afraid." thomas said.
"maybe." newt repeated.
