Prompt: Cal and Ethan childhood!au Ethan has a nightmare, older brother Cal comes to soothe him.

Ethan- 9

Cal- 12

Cal sighed quietly as he rolled onto his back, folding his arms behind his head and facing up to the ceiling, eyes still closed. He'd had a busy day at school, leaving the boy stressed and tired, not to mention the fact that his parents had been arguing almost constantly since him and Ethan had walked into the house. Not that it was anything both boys hadn't seen before, but oddly, it had had quite a profound effect on Ethan, whom seemed very quiet and not like his usual bubbly, cheeky self at all. But Cal figure that if there was something wrong he'd know.

Rubbing his temple, he looked at his alarm clock to check the time. 11:05 PM. He should really be asleep by now, but his mind was racing with everything that had been going on recently. But at just 12 years old his worries and problems were pitiful, so he just got on with it.

A quiet groan escaped his lips as he looked over to his brother's bed, seeing the sleeping figure of Ethan curled beneath his blue bedsheets, smiling softly to himself as he recalls fond memories of them pulling the duvet onto the floor and hiding beneath it as Ethan persuaded Cal to play Doctor Who with him, the blanket acting as their TARDIS as they travelled to the far corners of the universe, aka- Running around their bedroom wrapped in said bedsheets.

The age gap would've been enough to push any other siblings away but Ethan and Cal had always been close to each other. But more recently, as Cal had just began secondary school, they found themselves drifting away from each other, what with Ethan stuck by himself all day in his school and Cal loaded down with homework from his. Cal had tried talking with his little brother but all Ethan would reply with was a nod, a shake of the head, or maybe the occasional grunt of indifference.

Sniffling slightly, Cal rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, concluding that dwelling on it wouldn't do him any good. He'd sort it out later.

Ethan gasped as he woke, jolting to sit up and panting, his hands shaking as he fumbled about for his glasses. He picked them up and put them on, looking down at his lap before a quiet whimper escaped his lips, falling back against his pillow and sniffling, rubbing his eyes viciously as a tear ran down his cheek.

He'd just woken from another nightmare. They were getting worse and worse, but he had nobody to go to. His Mum and Dad did nothing but argue, and Cal seemed too grown up to care about him anymore, so he had no one to go to for things like this.

Head throbbing, he tried to lay back down but he was too scared about what would happen if he fell asleep again. He couldn't take anymore of these night terrors, he'd been near falling asleep in school because they kept him awake all night. He was getting desperate...

On the verge of tears, Ethan slipped out of his bed and stumbled over to Cal, whom seemed peacefully asleep, and shook his shoulder.

"C-Cal?" He whimpered, waiting for a response. All he got was a quiet snore as his older brother continued to sleep.

"Cal please..." Ethan whimpered, tears spilling over as he shook his brother's shoulder again, finally causing him to wake.

"Wha- Eth?" Cal mumbled, confused as he sat up. He looked to see his little brother shaking, the faint lines left behind by tears streaking his rosy cheeks, and he instantly tapped into his protective older brother mindset.

"Hey, what's up?" Cal asked, sitting up properly and switching his bedside lamp on, causing Ethan to wince and squint.

"B-bad dream, I-," Ethan was interrupted by the swelling lump in his throat as more tears fell from his eyes, trickling down his cheeks.

"Shhh, sh, it's okay," Cal said, pulling Ethan into his arms and onto his knee. "Shhh, shhh, I've got you, you're okay."

Ethan whimpered even more, head buried in his older brother's chest as he tried to calm down, breathing shaky and his chest tightening.

"You should probably have a puff or two, nightmares can't go well with asthma..." Cal said, reaching into his bedside drawer and pulling out a spare inhaler, handing it to Ethan and squeezing down to administer the medication, as he seemed too upset to do it himself.

Ethan sniffled and breathed in, feeling the muscles in his chest relax a little bit as he leant against Cal.

"That better?" Cal asked, rubbing Ethan's chest for him as his younger brother nodded piteously. Cal held the back of his hand to his cheek, wincing as he felt how hot he was.

"You're burning up, hold on, I'll be right back." Cal said, crawling out of bed and tip-toeing to the bathroom, returning with a bottle of liquid paracetamol and a little spoon.

"Here, it says you can have two of these every four hours, so hopefully this will bring your fever down and get rid of your headache." Cal said, pouring the medicine onto the spoon and gently administering it to Ethan.

"Th-thank you..." Ethan hiccuped, sniffling again and looking down to his lap.

Cal smiled at his baby brother. "No problem," he said, walking over to Ethan's bed and looking around for something. "Ah, I knew he was here somewhere," Cal said, giggling softly as he returned to the bed. Ethan looked, a quiet gasp leaving his lips as Cal handed him his bear. Ethan clutched him to his chest, burying his nose into his fur like he did when he was a toddler, closing his eyes.

Cal cooed fondly and crawled back into bed, pulling Ethan back onto his lap and ruffling his hair up, seeing his younger brother relax, but the tears still trickled down his cheeks. Whatever was worrying him must've really shook him up.

"C'mon, let's see a smile?" Cal said, giving him a huge grin to try and gauge a similar reaction from him. Ethan looked up but didn't smile, his eyes big and glassy with tears.

"Nibblessss~," Cal cooed, pulling a silly face at him. Ethan's lips twitched a little bit but other than that he remained seemingly unamused.

Cal raised his eyebrows. "Well then, it seems you've left me with no choice..." Cal smirked and dug his fingers up into his armpits, tickling him.

Ethan squealed and burst into loud, carefree giggles as he squirmed in Cal's lap, trying to escape his older brother. "Cal, stop!" He laughed.

"Not until you promise you'll cheer up!" Cal giggled, holding him close as he continued to tickle him. "Awww, bless, still as ticklish as you always were, hm?" He teased, causing Ethan to blush hard.

"Shut up!" He squealed, still giggling like mad. "Okay- okay! I'll cheer up!"

Cal grinned and stopped, pulling him closer and rubbing his back. "Good. Now, Nibbles, tell Cal what's wrong." He said, tucking his head under his chin and running his fingers through Ethan's golden curls.

Ethan looked down to his lap and swallowed, biting his lip. "Well, um... I had a dream that I'd just came home from school, b-but you weren't there and I went into the living room and..." Ethan stopped to sniffle and take a breath. Cal snuggled him closer and continued to run his fingers through his hair comfortingly.

"M-mum and Dad were there, and they were c-crying so I asked why and, and..." Ethan whimpered softly. "Y-you were dead, Cal..."

Cal pulled his younger brother to his chest even more and gently rocked him back and forth.

"Oh Eth, you silly goose, I'm not going anywhere for a very long time," he gently lifted his baby brother's chin up and gently wiped away his tears with his thumbs. "Trust me, I'm gonna make sure that I stick around forever, just to annoy you." He said, grinning as he fixed Ethan's glasses and booped his nose.

Ethan sniffled and giggled, rubbing his nose, cuddling into Cal's chest, still clutching his bear. "Thank you, Cal..."

"No problem, Nibbles." Cal said, running his fingers through his curls and checking his temperature, smiling softly as he felt him cooling down.

Ethan smiled and closed his eyes, making himself comfortable as he lay next to Caleb, snuggled into his side with his bear, his little thumb gently rubbing against Cal's arm as he began to drift off.

"So, you reckon you're okay to go to sleep now?" Cal asked, turning to see that Ethan had already fallen asleep. Cal awwed softly at the sight; Ethan always looked so peaceful and innocent when he slept. Cal couldn't bring himself to disturb him, and instead shuffled down and lay with him, holding him close.

"Sweet dreams, Nibbles." He whispered, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead as he drifted off himself.

Yayyy, my first oneshot! Let me know what you think of it in the reviews :3