The thunder cracked. Lightning flashed across the night sky. One, lone boy sit in his room, shaking from fear as the storm raged on outside.
Young Nate Gray was curled up in a ball and rocking back and forth at the corner of his bed, farthest away from the window. He had let a few stray tears escape his tightly shut eyes, but quickly wiped them away, not wanting someone to come in and see him crying over a thunderstorm.
He knew in his mind that he was safe inside the house, but something had always terrified him about thunderstorms. You could say he wasn't the person for loud, bangy noises.
CRACK
More thunder had come. Nate jumped and threw his blanket over his tightly crunched up body. His body was shaking, his heart was pounding, and he had broken out in a cold sweat. He was horrified.
Usually, he would just go to his brothers and they would say everything was alright, but not tonight. He was a whole 5 years old. He didn't need his brothers.
"I'm a big boy now, I don't need my brothers…" Nate silently chanted over and over, hoping it would help him get through the night.
Just as Nate had thought the storm was letting up, he began to lay down when…
BANG
Another clap of thunder had come down from the heavens. Nate let out a scream…
In the next room…
Jason and Shane Gray had awoke with a jolt when they heard something…and it sounded a lot like a scream…
They looked at each other as thunder boomed outside their window again. Their eyes shifted to the window, then back to each other.
"Do you think that's what woke us up?" Jason asked quietly.
"Yeah, I think so" Shane replied.
"I don't…it sounded a whole lot like a scream from Nate's room…I'm gonna go check on him" Jason said, uncovering himself. Then Shane came over and sat on his brother's bed and put his hands on his shoulders.
"Jase, relax. If he needs us, he'll come get us. Don't worry so much."
"I can't just stop worrying, he's my baby brother! I'm going to check on him whether you like it or not" Jason said, breaking free of Shane's grasp and going to the room next door. Shane sighed and followed him.
They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw their little brother, curled up in a ball, shaking and whimpering from fear.
Jason and Shane immediately rushed over to their terrified brother and attempted to calm him down.
"Nate…" Jason said quietly, putting a hand on Nate's shoulder.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Nate yelled, swatting Jason's hand away and turning away from his brothers. "YOU CAN'T HAVE ME!"
"Nate…NATE! WAKE UP!" Shane said sternly, shaking his brother out of his nightmare.
Nate had woken up instantly when he heard Shane's voice. His breathing was shaky, along with his body, his face was etched with fear, and his cheeks were stained with tears.
"Oh my God…" Nate said, then immediately fell onto Shane's chest, sobbing uncontrollably. "That was so scary…" he whispered.
Jason's and Shane's hearts went out to the younger boy. He was scared out of his mind.
Shane wrapped his arms around the frightened boy and lightly kissed his curly head.
"It's ok, Nate. You're big brothers are here. It's all gonna be okay" Shane comforted, rubbing his brother's back. He then felt Nate's arms wrap around his waist. Jason had moved closer to his younger brothers and began running his fingers through Nate's hair, working to soothe him.
It seemed to work because Nate had gotten into a seated position and his crying had ceased. "That was the scariest dream I've ever had in my life…" he said, his voice still shaking slightly. Jason and Shane looked with sympathy at him.
"You wanna talk about it?" Jason asked soothingly. Nate took a deep breath.
"In the dream…I was, um…running down a highway…and these scary slave-drivers were chasing me…and they had guns…and there was a thunderstorm going on…and every time there was thunder…they would shoot at me…" Nate trailed off at that sentence and had buried his face in Jason shoulder and started up the water works.
BOOM
Thunder boomed outside. Nate squealed and collapsed into Jason's chest, crying. Jason closed his eyes and rubbed Nate's back.
"Oh, Nate…it's alright. It was just a dream. We'd never let anything happen to you." Shane came and hugged him from behind.
"Yeah, Jason's right, Nate. We'll always protect you." Nate still hadn't looked him in the eyes. Shane put his fingers underneath Nate's chin and raised his face up to look at him. "And we love you." Nate looked down for a minute then looked back up at Shane.
"I love you, too" he said, hugging Shane. Shane hugged him back tightly.
When they pulled apart, Jason perked up.
"So do you love me too, or am I just an invisible Dr. Phil?" he asked, smiling. Nate laughed softly through his tear strained face and hugged Jason.
"Yes, I love you, Jason." They pulled apart. "And thank you…both of you" Nate said, looking from Jason to Shane, smiling. They smiled at him.
"No problem. You know we love to see that smile" Shane said, taking the side of Nate's head in his hand and fingering one of the loose ringlets with his thumb. Nate smiled and looked down, a little embarrassed, but still happy his brothers were there for him.
"Shane, I think we should get back to bed" Jason said, patting Shane's shoulder. Joe nodded.
"Just you remember that we're right next door if you need us" Shane told Nate, rubbing his back reassuringly. Nate nodded. His brothers got up and went to the door.
CRACK
Thunder had boomed again. Nate had screeched and covered himself with his comforter.
Jason and Shane turned around when they heard the thunder then looked at each other.
"Um…do you guys mind…maybe staying with me tonight?" Nate's small voice came from under the covers. Jason and Shane smiled at him and nodded.
"Sure buddy" Jason said, both him and Shane climbed into Nick's bed, Shane on Nate's left and Jason on his right. They both put their arms around him and held him close. Nate felt so safe and secure in his brothers' arms.
"Thanks guys…I love you so much…"
"We love you too" they said in unison, then both kissed Nate on the cheek. They all went to bed smiling that night…and Nate thinking that he had the best brothers in the world…