Love is a Language

Tickly Butterflies

After the thunderstorm episode, it wasn't uncommon for Henry and Pierre to be found missing from their own beds and sleeping soundly in the other's. Just as Henry had discovered Pierre's fear of thunderstorms on accident, Pierre had discovered that Henry sometimes got terrifying nightmares that made him cry out in the night. To remedy his fear, and to say 'thank you' for comforting him during the thunderstorm, Pierre had crawled into his bed and snuggled him until Henry's sobs had disappeared altogether as he fell asleep. Peter and John didn't seem to care about finding them like this, and the few times that Miss Trelawny had to come wake them up herself hadn't lead to any sort of punishment.

Seeing the two boys holding hands became a common sight too. Whenever they had a chance to be next to each other, Henry would shyly hook their pinkies together and Pierre would finish the movement by clasping their hands together. If they weren't holding hands, some part of them was touching the other. Their ankles would bump together, they would lean on each other, or sometimes their arms would be touching. It was a silent way of reassuring themselves that the other person was still next to them, and a way to tell each other that they weren't going anywhere without them.

It could have been a subject for much spiteful teasing from the other children. But by some miracle, it wasn't. There were a few snide remarks here and there when they started noticing Pierre and Henry's constant connection, but there had always been at least one person around who would stand up for them. Most of the time it was either John or Peter, though sometimes it was both. John was the louder, more verbal one of the two, while Peter just kind of stood there and glared menacingly at whoever was giving them problems. That didn't stop the two of them from making loud comments about how adorable the two younger boys were and stuff like that. It was a friendly kind of teasing, but it still made Henry's cheeks go pinker. Pierre, who was still only learning little phrases, just brushed off what they said with a laugh. Henry couldn't help but think that it would be really nice not to understand what they were saying sometimes.

Before long, Henry began to notice that he felt kind of strange when he was around Pierre. He didn't think it was a bad kind of strange, but it was definitely a different strange. He didn't dare ask Peter or John about it. They already teased him and Pierre about how cute they were together, and he didn't think that telling them about the butterflies in his stomach would help much. The more he thought about it though, the more he realized that they were probably the only two that he could talk to the most about it. Miss Trelawny was too busy, and she didn't know Pierre as well as John and Peter. He didn't have much of a choice then-he was going to ask them about it.

But when to ask them was the biggest question. There weren't a lot of moments when he and Pierre weren't together. He found his chance one afternoon when Miss Trelawny took Pierre into her office to fill out his "How Are You?" sheet. It was something all the kids had to do every few months-it was just an interview with Miss Trelawny telling her how you were doing at the orphanage so she knew if you needed help with something. Henry wouldn't have his for another week. After Pierre walked away with Miss Trelawny (looking a little upset that Henry couldn't come with him), Henry hurried off to find the two boys.

After about five minutes of fruitless searching, he found them in their room. Peter was grumbling quietly as he put a Band-Aid on a cut on John's knee. "I told you not to jump off that rock, stupid," he heard Peter say as he quietly walked into the room. John just grunted back at him and flicked Peter's ear, which prompted his friend to tug on his ear. But before they could get into a full-out shoving match, Peter happened to spot Henry out of the corner of his eye. "Hi, Henry!" Peter said, a small grin appearing on his face. "Where's Pierre at?" He looked over Henry's shoulder, wondering if the French boy was hiding behind him.

"He's with Miss Trelawny," Henry explained, shutting the door behind him. Peter nodded, an understanding noise slipping past his lips. Henry shuffled his feet awkwardly, leaning against the door a little bit. "Um..." he mumbled, feeling his cheeks get warm, "c-can I talk to you two? I-it's kinda important..." He glanced up through his eyelashes at the two older boys, who were staring at him in confusion. "P-please? And promise you won't l-laugh or anything?" he asked, his voice slightly fearful and hesitant.