Vicky cracked her eyes open as another loud thunderclap sounded. The rain pelted at her window noisily, but after a few minutes without any flashes of lightning, or any more rumblings from the heavens, she closed her eyes and began to drift back to sleep.

Another crackling boom from all around her house.

"Damn it all..." the twenty-one year old threw the covers off herself, got out of bed and stretched, hearing her bones pop and crack as she did. Currently she wore a light pink tank-top and black panties; her usual sleeping attire. The tank-top had been white when she bought it... but a certain someone washing her clothes with his own caused the colors to run a bit. From the way her hair felt, it was likely a mess from her tossing and turning in a vain attempt to get to sleep. And her mouth was drier than a desert.

With a sigh, Vicky left her room and headed downstairs to her living room. Tootie was staying at Chester's hou- trailer, though she had no idea why. Just because Vicky was okay with Tootie dating the former braces-wearing teen, didn't mean she understood it. For one, he still lived in a trailer with his... eccentric father, said trailer didn't have any heating system, or a shower, and Chester seemed quite comfortable with the idea of staying the course.

As with any sister, Vicky wanted the best for Tootie, but her sister's boyfriend's current lack of a job and ambitions concerned her. What were they gonna do, live in that trailer for the rest of their lives? Raise kids in a trailer? Get old and fat in a trailer? Vicky took pause as she reached the refrigerator. "Ugh... Why am I even worried? They're only fifteen! Tootie and Chester have plenty of time to figure themselves out. They're not even through high school yet..."

Opening the fridge and looking around, Vicky found herself wondering about that party that Chester had mentioned. It was... "Shit. What was Baldy's name again? AJ? I think it was AJ... I don't have anything planned that day except bothering the Twerp..." Vicky grabbed the bottle of orange juice and took it out. It was more than half full... "I... should probably get a glass..."

Vicky looked to her left, then to her right, despite the fact that she was quite alone in the kitchen. "Eh." she unscrewed the cap and downed several gulps. "Ah... So much better." Her monster thirst at last sated, Vicky put the bottle of juice back in the fridge...

Just in time for another bolt of lightning to strike and knock out the power.

Now, although it wasn't common knowledge, seeing as how Vicky didn't have many friends and barely talked to anyone, the red-head was not afraid of the dark, on the contrary, she found herself to be quite comfortable in the dark, her eyes adapted fairly quickly to it as well. And as for the thunderstorm? Well, seeing as how she tended to cause them on occasion, it simply wouldn't make sense for her to be afraid of them.

Thud

"Ow! Son of a-! ...Wish the lights were back on..."

"And how often has that worked?"

"Gah! V-Vicky? That you...?"

Right, she had nearly forgotten that the Twerp was spending the night. "Who were you expecting, the Tooth Fairy?"

"...Maybe..."

She watched the faint outline of Timmy move through the kitchen and feel his way along the kitchen counter. "Looking for something?"

"Flashlight, candles, a hunk of plutonium... Something to provide me with some light!"

Vicky watched Timmy fumble around for several more seconds until he crashed into something else.

"So why are you up?"

"Thunder woke me up, and I was thirsty." Vicky yawned and stretched again. "You?"

"...Same as you, thunder woke me up, and the TV went out."

"So go back to sleep."

"I... sleep better with some kind of background noise."

Vicky heard the distinct sound of a drawer opening, then some of the drawer's contents hit the floor.

"Uh... sorry."

"Well I should probably tell you that we don't have any candles, and my parents keep forgetting to buy batteries, so the flashlight is quite dead."

"...And I assume you don't have any plutonium lying around?"

"Sorry, I didn't pick any up from the local nuclear power plant, I'll write it on my list for next time." she heard Timmy sigh as she finished, there was an odd shuddering quality to it. "You okay?"

Another flash of lightning, followed by a crackling boom as the rain pelted against the house even harder.

"...Define 'okay'..."

"Hm..." it didn't take Vicky long to put the pieces of the puzzle together. How odd it was that despite knowing Timmy for seven years(going on eight), she had never really discussed either of their fears with him. It made sense though, fear of the dark and of thunderstorms were fairly common. "So you're not."

"You should go back to bed." Timmy sighed as he fumbled back through the kitchen to the living room.

"Telling me what to do in my own house? What did I say about respect?"

"Okay, don't."

Thud

"Damn it!"

"Have I ever mentioned how annoying you are?" Vicky stepped forward and reached out for Timmy, wrapping her fingers around his wrist when she saw that he was close enough.

"Several times."

"Well allow me to re-iterate it. You're annoying."

"Okay...?" Timmy felt a light breeze as Vicky walked past him, then felt himself being yanked blindly through the dark. "Wh-where are we going?"

"To bed."

"Bed? Why?"

"Reasons."

Clearly there was little point in arguing with her if she was giving him such simple answers, so Timmy allowed himself to be pulled through the living room and followed her up the stairs to her room. Once inside, Vicky shut the door behind them.

"Bed. Now."

He assumed she was pointing toward her bed, though this action was quite pointless in the dark. "Ah... Alright..." again, Timmy found himself fumbling around in the dark like a blind man looking for a marble until he collided with something soft. "I think... your bed is bigger than mine..."

"It is."

Timmy jumped as Vicky's voice came from right behind him. "D-don't do that!"

"Then hurry up! I want to get back to sleep!" she roughly shoved him from behind, causing him to lurch forward and crash onto her bed with an 'Oof'. "Jeez, you'd think I slept on a bed of nails with snakes..." Vicky rolled her eyes and tiredly climbed into bed next to Timmy, then pulled her blanket back over herself and closed her eyes, hoping that she could finally get some sleep.

Again, there was a thunderclap from what sounded like right outside Vicky's window, causing her bedmate to jump and wrap his own blanket around himself.

"Afraid of the dark and thunderstorms? Who knew..." Vicky considered teasing him, but... She frowned, mostly at herself. "Tempting of a prospect as it is..." she turned over to look at Timmy, who was now completely covered by his blanket and in what looked like the fetal position. "He wouldn't make fun of me if he knew about-"

The red-head huffed in fake annoyance as she slid over next to Timmy and wrapped her arms around him from behind. She wasn't the best at comforting people, she knew that, Timmy knew that, and nearly anyone who knew what she was really like probably knew that, but that didn't mean she couldn't make an exception... "Hey, you still awake?"

She felt him nod from beneath the blanket.

"Would you-!" Vicky pulled the blanket down, exposing his head. "There. Gonna suffocate yourself doing that..."

"...Never liked storms... or the dark..." Timmy shuddered slightly in her arms.

She briefly wondered if it was her fault, if maybe all those freak lightning strikes that almost seemed to follow her had caused him to have some kind of innate fear towards them... and maybe even her at one point... "It's just outside. The storm's not gonna come in here." Vicky rested her chin in his hair. "And as for the dark... If there is something to be afraid of... It knows better than to mess with me. Or my Twerp."

Timmy chuckled at this and relaxed a bit. "Good point."

"Feel a bit better?"

"A lot, actually."

"Good. Get some sleep, Timmy."

"...Thanks..."

Vicky closed her eyes and listened as Timmy's breathing became more rhythmic, indicating that he had finally fallen asleep. "Still such an annoying little kid..."