Didn't quite make it before Reigisa week ended, but that's okay, it wasn't a prompt anyway. This is seriously one of my favorite chapters, so I really hope you like it too!

For this chapter, feel free to listen to this: watch?v=axZ6mG_ZqU because it definitely helps with the mood I think ;D

And then there's also this: watch?v=2NxCYGjTg84 so you're not left wondering what it sounds like.

Chapter 13

Nagisa hopped excitedly and clapped his hands; he wasn't sure he'd get Rei to agree, but he did and now they were walking away from the restaurant with Rei leading the way to the special place he wanted to show him.

"Hey," came the voice of Rei's brother, which caused them to stop suddenly and slowly turn their heads back around. "Where are you going? We're getting seated, come on."

Rei and Nagisa looked at each other and then back at Rei's brother. Nagisa liked Rei's brother usually, but he was very annoyed with him today and he knew that Rei was too. Nagisa looked to Rei again and took his hand; Rei glanced in his direction and nodded.

Nagisa grinned widely and tightened his grip on Rei's hand before the two of them turned again and started running away from the restaurant.

"H-HEY!" Rei's brother yelled. "What are you doing?! You can't just—get back here!"

"I'm sorry, Brother!" Rei called as he led Nagisa down the street. "Have fun with Lady Chikako!"

"Rei stop! I hope you know you're being extremely rude for just leaving us like this!" Rei ignored his brother and Nagisa heard him chuckle under his breath before he rounded the corner and tugged Nagisa in after him; he pulled Nagisa closer to the wall and quieted his breathing. Rei's brother passed right by and didn't see them.

Rei snuck a look around the corner and peered down the street to see if the coast was clear. He looked back to Nagisa, nodded his head, and the two of them quickly ran in the other direction to leave the village.

"I still can't believe we just did that!" Rei laughed out as he and Nagisa exited the main gate of the village. "I've never done something like that before, but…it was exciting!"

Nagisa threw Rei an "I told ya so" look and caught Rei's eyes. They were so full of happiness and excitement, and were probably the most animated his eyes have ever looked since Nagisa first saw them. Suddenly, Rei's eyes looked away shyly, and Nagisa realized that he must have been staring at him for too long.

Rei cleared his throat. "Well, now that we've successfully slipped away, we can go to the place I wanted to show you."

Nagisa raised his brows in wonderment as Rei took a hold of his hand again and led him down the path until they were about half way to the castle. Rei then turned off the path and onto a little road hidden beneath the trees; Nagisa was surprised he hadn't spotted it the last time they came to the village. It was silent most of the way down this hidden road, but Rei spoke up eventually.

"This is one of my favorite places. I used to come here to read all of the time because of how peaceful it was, but I haven't really made time for myself to come back here in a while."

Nagisa wasn't sure how far down the path they would go, but just as soon as he thought that, Rei turned and led Nagisa off the path and through a patch of thicker trees. Nagisa followed and ran face first into a tree branch that nearly knocked him over; luckily he was still holding on to Rei's hand so he didn't fall.

"Are you alright?!" Nagisa gave a toothy grin and nodded. It was really cute how Rei always worried about him so much. "Sorry about that! I just got a little bit excited." Rei rubbed the back of his neck nervously and looked ahead. "It's definitely been a way too long since I've been here. It shouldn't be too much farther now, though. So, watch your step."

They went just a little bit deeper into the trees, and just as Rei had said, it hadn't been too much farther because Rei stopped once they reached a different set of trees that Nagisa had never seen before. The leaves from them draped down into a beautiful canopy of vines that reached all the way down to the ground. Rei parted them and stepped through. "It's this way."

Nagisa followed him into the canopy and walked to the other side where Rei parted the leaves once again. Nagisa's mouth dropped and his eyes stared in amazement at the site. Hidden behind the canopy was a blue lagoon surrounded by the same trees and bright flowers Nagisa could only ever dream about before.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Rei smiled. "It still looks the same since the last time I was here. I loved sitting under this tree to read until it got dark. Sometimes it just go too cramped to read in the library, and I remember that my brother and I used to come here all of the time to play, and my grandmother used to read to us sometimes." Rei took a deep breath. "It's such a nice quiet place."

Nagisa had a hard time deciding if he wanted to gaze at the lovely scenery, or the look of complete contentment on Rei's face, he just looked so relaxed and happy to be here. Nagisa could stare at Rei all day, but a blush quickly creeped across his cheeks and he looked away. His eyes then fell on a small dock around the bend that had a little row boat attached to it. His eyes perked up and he started to wander in that general direction to take a closer look.

"Oh, right! I had almost forgotten about that boat. Grandmother used to take my brother and me on rides sometimes, that way we could go underneath the weeping willow canopy that's in the water. There were a lot of lovely water lilies over there."

Nagisa looked further out into the lagoon and spotted the tree that Rei was walking about. It was quite far, but he could still tell how beautiful the light shined on the leaves.

Rei walked over and leaned down to check out the row boat. "Wow, it looks like it still floats!"

Nagisa turned his head away from the lagoon and back to Rei quickly; his eyes lit up and he took a closer look, intrigued with the small boat.

"Did you…want to go for a ride?"

Nagisa grinned widely and nodded his head so fast it might have come off. He'd never been in a row boat before…he hadn't even been in a normal sized boat before, so this was extremely exciting.

"Well, all right. Let me just check if it's okay to still use." Rei balanced himself and slowly stepped off of the dock and into the boat. He only wobbled a little, but was perfectly fine once he was all the way in. He took a look around the floor of the boat and checked for any holes or other dangers before he spoke. "Seems to be fine."

Nagisa lit up again and nearly jumped into the boat right away, but Rei caught on to what he was going to do and stopped him.

"Nagisa, slowly. You don't want to tip us over, do you?" Nagisa gave a devious look as if that had been his intention all along. "Now don't you even think about it. I know this water isn't really that deep, but I would rather not need any saving today if that's what it came to."

Nagisa gave a soundless laugh and proceeded to slowly get into the boat, using Rei's extended hand to help as a balance. Nagisa settled in nicely and Rei untied the rope from the post and took the oars in hand to start rowing.

"I remember my brother and I used to fight over who would get to row, so we always had to compromise by sitting next to each other and rowing it together or else we would never get anywhere. So, I must say it's kind of nice to row it by myself for once."

Rei's arms moved back and forth, rowing at a steady pace, and Nagisa couldn't help but notice that Rei seemed to be leaning in closer with every push and pull of the oars; and each time Nagisa locked eyes with him and started feeling the blush creep over his face again, so he tried to avert his gaze to the scenery instead. It was such a lovely place and he'd love to come here to swim sometime; which, now that he thought about it, he hadn't done once since he'd been a human. He wasn't even sure if he knew how to swim as a human. It couldn't be that different, right? You would just…kick your legs around…right? Maybe he should have asked Haru how, but the thought just never crossed his mind.

Nagisa shook off the thought, he shouldn't worry about it now. It's not like he'd have to do much swimming in this shallow water anyway. They were now nearing the willow tree Rei had mentioned and Nagisa saw there was a small opening in the canopy of leaves that was the perfect size for the boat to fit through.

"Ah, looks like we're here." Rei turned around somewhat and continued to row until they were underneath the tree.

Rei's face softened at Nagisa's reaction to all of the scenery; he seemed genuinely amazed at everything. Nagisa looked down at the water and saw lily pads floating about with pretty pink and white flowers on top of some of them; there was even a few frogs sitting on them, and Nagisa looked at them in wonder and tried to reach out to touch one of them before they quickly hopped off the pad and into the water.

Nagisa looked a little disappointed that it hopped away, but he still gave a bright smile and a laugh. Well, it wasn't exactly a laugh since Nagisa had no voice to carry into a laugh, but he made the motion to do it quite often; he did it so often, in fact, that it actually made Rei think of something he had been meaning to ask.

"Nagisa, can I ask you another question?" Nagisa leaned back into the boat and nodded. "Well, this might sound a bit odd, but um…have you…always not been able to talk?"

Nagisa seemed a little shocked by the question, but then his eyes lowered sadly and he shook his head.

"So does that mean that you lost the ability to speak?" Nagisa didn't look up and nodded solemnly. "O-oh, I see. That's really unfortunate. I always wonder about what your voice would sound like if you were able to talk, and I imagine that your laugh is very lovely."

Nagisa looked up and his eyes weren't sad anymore, but full of surprise; they even shined a little bit.

"N-not that there's anything wrong with you not being able to speak now! I think you're perfect just the way you are. It just…seems unfair, y'know? You…" Rei looked away from Nagisa's eyes and rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "You're a very beautiful person, Nagisa. So I imagine that your voice would have been too."

Nagisa's face turned a brilliant red and he gaped at Rei for a moment before Rei realized what he had just let himself blurt out. How could he have said something so utterly embarrassing without even a second thought?

"Aahaha, an-anyway, I—" Rei stammered out quickly to try and change the subject and took a hold of the oars to row a few more times, not to go anywhere, but to get rid of all of this nervous energy. Once he looked back at Nagisa's face, however, he made direct contact with his eyes once again and he nearly melted at the site. Just mere seconds ago, they were rounded with surprise, but now they were lidded and dazed; and Nagisa's expression had changed from bewildered to…what was it…admiration? Contentment? Whatever it was, it was the softest smile Rei had ever seen on Nagisa's face before, and it made his stomach flip over and he was suddenly having a hard time breathing.

It was that feeling again so he cleared his throat and looked away for a second to compose himself, but once he looked back, Nagisa was still staring at him with that same expression…he even almost seemed lost in his gaze; and the funny thing was, Rei couldn't help but stare back with, what he could only imagine, the same expression.

They sat there in complete silence, the only sound around them being the soft sound of crickets chirping and frogs ribbitting, and they just sat there staring at each other with nothing weird about it. In fact, it almost felt like it was one of the most comfortable things in the world.

Rei felt a sudden warmth in his chest; his mouth was dry, his breath was shaky, and he wasn't sure if his heart would survive at the rate it was suddenly traveling. At some point, Rei had reached a hand out and laid it on top of Nagisa's and he hadn't even realized it. He wasn't even sure if Nagisa realized it until Nagisa slowly turned his hand around and held onto Rei's.

Somehow the two of them had managed to lean closer to one another. So close, it should have been weird, but it wasn't. Their faces were on the verge of touching and Nagisa's eyes fluttered shut. Rei gulped and followed suit, letting his eyes fall closed as he leaned dangerously close to Nagisa. This was it, he…he was going to do it and he wasn't going to back out now. He kept leaning, closer and closer until—

BAM! A sound erupted through the air and it was so loud that it made him jump far to the end of the boat and made Nagisa jump so far back that he fell off.

"N-Nagisa?!" Rei leaned over the boat in a frantic worry, but Nagisa surfaced the water nearly just as soon as he had hit it. Rei reached out a hand. "Are you all right?!"

Nagisa looked up at Rei and gave that soundless laugh once again before he nodded his head and took Rei's hand. Rei easily pulled him back into the boat. "No injuries anywhere?"

Nagisa smiled and shook his head as he settled back into his seat.

"I think that was thunder…" Nagisa looked at Rei in confusion. "The sound, I mean. I didn't think it was going to rain, the weather's been nice all day." The thunder sounded again and startled him, and Nagisa nearly jumped off the boat again, but Rei caught his arm. "Ah, careful there!" Rei took a hold of the oars and started to row out from under the canopy. "Maybe we should head back before—"

A drop of water landed on his nose and he looked up at the sky to receive another few on his glass lenses before it started to pour down almost instantly.

"Before it rains…" Rei muttered, very unamused at the water dripping down his face. Nagisa covered his mouth to hide his smile. "We should head back then. It's getting dark too! I hadn't noticed since we were…" Rei suddenly remembered what they had almost done before the thunder hit and his face heated up instantly in embarrassment. "Since-since we were underneath the canopy! I hadn't noticed the light change!" Rei started rowing the boat faster. "Yes, we should definitely head back!"

Rei rowed as fast as he could and tied up the boat the moment they reached the dock. He jumped out and took Nagisa's hand to help him out as well; Nagisa held onto it tightly as the two of them ran into the trees to try and find the path. Rei found the path quicker than he expected and lead Nagisa out of the wood and didn't let go of his hand until they were finally on the main road again.

Nagisa was relieved once the two of them were finally on the road again because he wasn't very good at running with a ton of rocks and trees all over the place, and it was quite tiring.

"That carriage would be very helpful right about now." Rei huffed as he looked off in the direction of the castle. "It's quite far on foot, but I doubt that Brother is still in the village if it's this late."

Nagisa wondered if maybe they could get a ride from someone in the village since that was much closer than the castle. Nagisa tugged on Rei's shirt and to get his attention and pulled out his notepad only to discover that it was now a soaking mop of paper.

"Oh no, that must have been when you fell into the water back there."

Hurt spread across Nagisa's face as he held the ruined notepad in his hand. It was just a regular pad of paper, but he still felt horrible because it was something Rei gave to him, after all. Not to mention, how was he going to tell Rei his suggestion now?

"Hey," Rei placed a hand onto Nagisa's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I have plenty more back in the library that you can use."

Nagisa sadly put the destroyed notepad back into his pocket, though that was probably a bad idea since it might be a hassle later, but he didn't want to just throw it on the ground.

"Though I suppose that means you can't tell me your idea now."

Nagisa looked to Rei with surprise. How…how did he..?

"Just a guess." Rei said, seemingly reading Nagisa's mind. "We could go back to the village and maybe wait till the rain stops, but it's already dark and who knows how long the storm will last. I don't really want to worry anyone."

Nagisa nodded in agreement and they both started making their way toward the castle. About ten minutes into their walk, Nagisa finally realized how cold he was since he was soaking wet already and then the rain and wind was just making it all worse. He started shivering and wrapped his arms around his chest to try to warm himself when he felt an arm wrap itself around his shoulder and pull him in close.

"I'd offer you my coat, but I didn't bring one." Rei laughed. "Though it probably wouldn't help much since I didn't bring an umbrella either. So I hope this will be okay until we get back." Nagisa looked up to Rei and hoped that it was too dark for him to notice how red his face probably was. He gave a small nod and Rei clenched his arm a little bit tighter in response. Nagisa couldn't help but smile and lean into Rei's side as they walked; he felt really safe with Rei's arm around him like this, and wished that it would happen more often from now on.

Which, now that Nagisa thought about it, might actually happen. A mere moment before the rain started, they were about to kiss, weren't they? And it wasn't like the one time on the beach either! This time Rei held onto his hand and leaned in so close that there was no way it wasn't going to happen. Not to mention all the wonderful things Rei had said to him before that. Nagisa wanted to be angry at the rain for interrupting them, but he just felt too happy that they even got that far in the first place.

If they could get that far today, then imagine the party tomorrow while they were dancing and holding each other close! Nagisa sighed happily at the thought and felt so much worry drift away from him. He wasn't quite sure that he'd make the deadline before, but after today he knew. It may have sounded a little selfish to think, but he just knew that Rei shared his feelings; he just knew it!

After a long walk, though it seemed more like a battle, they finally reached the castle gates and hurried to the front door to get inside and shut it with a slam that was probably loud enough to be heard throughout at least the surrounding rooms. They scuffled across the foyer as they dripped all over the tiled floor and Nagisa couldn't help but feel bad for making such a big mess, but it really couldn't be helped with how hard it was pouring outside. They were almost to the stairs when the sound of a door creaking open made them stop.

"Do you two have any idea what time it is?"

They stood there frozen in place until Rei reluctantly turned around.

"Um...good evening, Brother!" Rei laughed awkwardly, and then gulped once he noticed the serious look on his brother's face.

"What you did was extremely rude, you know? Lady Chikako was looking forward to talking with you, but instead you just…" He moved his arms around dramatically. "You just left me alone with her and I had to deal with all of her—wow, you two are soaking wet…"

"That would be due to the rain."

"Yes, yes, the rain!" He waved his hand around. "It started raining and then it got dark and you weren't back yet! I was worried about you, you know?"

A look of guilt spread across Rei's face. "I'm really sorry, Brother. You two were just so preoccupied, I didn't think it mattered…"

"It's fine really, just…at least let me know you want to leave next time! It would have been completely fine if you just said something." Rei gave his brother a somewhat shy nod. "Thank you." Rei's brother walked past them and headed down the hall. "We just finished dinner, so go dry off and eat before it gets cold!"

Nagisa watched as Rei's brother disappeared down the hall and looked back to Rei who had a look of relief on his face.

Rei started to laugh. "That was close, I thought he was going to be really angry with us." He looked at Nagisa with a soft smile and lidded eyes. "But even if he was angry, it was definitely worth it to show you the lagoon; it's really special to me, so I'm happy I got to share it with you."

Nagisa gave a toothy smile and silently agreed before his stomach growled very loudly.

"Ah, we should probably go change so we can eat. Ice cream by itself was not a very filling nor a very healthy lunch."

Nagisa nodded and took Rei's hand to lead him up the stairs so they could dry off. If only they could have eaten before they ran off, because Nagisa was starving, but he had to agree that the outing was definitely worth it anyway.

The two boys went to the nearest bathroom to get some towels and wring out their soaking clothes in the sink so they wouldn't keep dripping all over the floor while they walked. They quickly stripped to their underwear and Nagisa noticed that Rei blushed every time Nagisa looked in his direction or squeezed by him to drape a shirt or something over the tub to dry.

When Nagisa first learned about humans, he always thought it was a little odd how they seemed to be ashamed of nudity and always covered themselves up with clothes because the merfolk never did anything like that. Though Nagisa didn't mind, he really enjoyed clothes because they there was so much variety and he loved to dress up and look nice in them.

Once they were finished wringing out their clothes, Nagisa thought it would probably be a good idea to take a hot bath so he wouldn't get sick or something, but he was just too hungry and didn't want to take the time, so he turned to leave the bathroom.

"Ah, Nagisa wait! Your towel!" Rei rushed over and draped the towel over Nagisa's head. "And don't forget to dry off your hair, you could catch a cold." Rei lightly shook the towel over Nagisa's hair to aid in drying it. Nagisa smiled softly at the gesture; Rei could be so nurturing sometimes, and it was really sweet to feel like he was being cared for.

Nagisa looked up at Rei once he removed his hands from Nagisa's head and the towel lightly fell onto his shoulders. Rei snorted and put a hand to his mouth before looking away; a laugh then escaped Rei's lips and Nagisa cocked his brow in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Nagisa, but…your hair." Nagisa reached his hands up and ran them through what was now a giant fluff ball of hair. "Aha, I'm sorry. Considering how your bed hair is, I should have realized that toweling your hair dry wasn't a good idea."

Nagisa huffed and then attempted to reach up and mess up Rei's hair with the towel, but he kept losing his balance because he wasn't used to standing on his tip toes.

"Haha, nice try!" Rei chuckled.

Nagisa crossed his arms in defeat, but he wasn't giving up completely. He'd have to try again at a different time when Rei wasn't expecting it and when he could actually reach Rei's head with no problems.

After Rei's laughter died down, they finally headed back to their rooms to change into some dry clothes and Nagisa decided to just change into his pajamas since they'd be going to bed after dinner anyways. When Nagisa was ready, he left the room to wait for Rei and it seemed he thought the same thing because he was also in his pajamas.

They headed down to the dining hall and sat in their usual spots right next to each other at the table even though no one else there. It was really unusual for dinner to be so quiet, and it was even more unusual to be eating in there alone; but it was really nice, Nagisa decided. Just the two of them eating together with no noise except for the rain pattering on the windows.

Nagisa stole a few items from Rei's plate, and Rei retaliated by scooching down a spot on the table with a look of triumph. Nagisa pouted and followed suit by also scooching down a seat, and kept doing so until Rei finally gave in and let Nagisa take whatever he wanted.

Rei gave a somewhat annoyed and a somewhat content sigh. "We're eating the same thing, Nagisa. Why do you need to take it from my plate?"

Nagisa shrugged and just thought, "Just because it's your food, Rei." And continued to take from Rei's plate. Rei playfully shook his head and continued to eat his dinner as best as he could with this this greedy blond stealing from his plate. Eventually he just started taking from Nagisa's plate too and then it became a battle of who could steal the most food from each other until eventually they were both full and ready to go to bed.

Rei walked Nagisa to his room like always and told him how much fun he had today before he bid him goodnight and went off to his own room. Nagisa immediately jumped into his bed, glad he was already dressed for it, and snuggled into the blankets as he sighed happily. The day was just so wonderful, and Nagisa couldn't wait to tell Makoto about it.

He looked over to the window and heard the rain still falling outside and felt guilty that Makoto was out there. Sure, the rain couldn't really hurt him since he was probably underneath the water, but he was still all alone out there and he hoped that he was doing okay. Nagisa hadn't been able to go visit in a while and hoped that Makoto didn't get too lonely.

What would happen if Nagisa made the deadline? Would Makoto just stay out there forever and not go home? Nagisa hoped not, that wouldn't be fair to him at all. He'd have to make that perfectly clear next time they talked, because Nagisa didn't want him to stay there only for his sake.

Nagisa yawned and was suddenly very sleepy, so he rolled over and clenched his pillows tightly. It really was such an amazing day, other than Rei's brother, of course, but he still got to have a lot of alone time with Rei regardless; running off was probably one of Nagisa's greater ideas.

He took a deep breath and thought back to the boat and to the kiss he knew would have happened if it weren't for the interruption; his heart flipped just thinking about all of Rei's kind words and how Rei held his hand before he started to lean in closer. Nagisa rolled over again and blushed at the thought; not to mention the party was tomorrow! So he would get even more time with Rei plus he had an even better chance at getting that kiss. He smiled into his pillow and wriggled his legs around excitedly before he finally settled down and started to fall asleep.

Once Rei closed the doors to his room, he nearly skipped over to his bed before falling onto it ungracefully, but he didn't really mind tonight because he was just so giddy and a little embarrassed. He covered himself in the blankets and brought them up over his head to hide the blush on his face even though there was no one around to see it.

The date…well, it wasn't exactly a date, but it felt like a date so, he was just going to call it that; the date with Nagisa went really well and not even the rain could ruin the mood because the walk home should have been completely miserable, but it was actually quite fun and it gave them an excuse to be closer to each other.

The only thing that the rain really ruined was…Rei's eyes widened and he rolled over to hide his face in his pillow and scream internally. He was going to do it too, he wasn't going to back away or come up with some excuse; he was literally going to kiss Nagisa. Then the rain started and they just went on like nothing happened.

Did that mean that Nagisa didn't want to? He had looked like he did…his eyes were closed and everything. Though that didn't necessarily mean he wanted to kiss too, did it? Rei rolled back over and took his glasses off and placed them on the bed side table; rolling around with them wasn't a good idea, nor was it comfortable.

He hid his face in his pillows again and tried not to think about it, but that was easier said than done because he just couldn't stop thinking about the way Nagisa was looking at him. His expression was so gentle and it made Rei's heart twinge with happiness; maybe he really did have feelings for him.

Rei blushed furiously again and had to remove the top blanket from himself because he was started to feel too hot. He looked to the window in his room and took a deep breath to cool himself down. The calmness of the rainfall relaxed him and he started drifting off to sleep; Nagisa's sweet face still imbedded in his mind.

CRASH!

Nagisa shot up from bed at the loud sound with a gasp; heart pounding, he looked around the room to see if he could find the cause, but there was nothing. Only the sound of the storm, which had gotten noticeably worse as he slept because of how hard it was hitting his window. After another quick scan around his room, Nagisa took a few deep breaths and then he laid down to go back to sleep.

Another crash came that made Nagisa nearly jump out of bed, but he stopped himself and scooched over to the center of his bed. He looked around the room again unsteadily, but then he realized that the sound was familiar. Wasn't that the same loud booming noise that interrupted his and Rei's kiss on the boat? What had Rei called it again…thunder? Yeah, that was it! He also remembered hearing it that night he saved Rei, but he was too preoccupied with getting Rei to safety than with what was going on around him.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed through his window and another loud boom came not too long afterwards; this time Nagisa hid underneath his blankets to try to block out the noise, but that didn't help at all and the booms only kept coming. He wasn't used to these noises, where were they even coming from? Did they only happen during storms? What was that flash of light beforehand? He didn't understand it and he did not like it…not one bit.

Rei was accustomed to the storms that hit; living so near the ocean, they were a very common occurrence and he usually slept through them soundly. So he was surprised when he was woken up by just the light sound of knocking on his door. He wasn't even sure he really heard it at first and only got up from bed once he heard the knocking a second time. He reached for his glasses and staggered sleepily through the dark to open the door.

"What…" he yawned…"What is it?" His eyes finally adjusted and he saw Nagisa standing in the doorway with his blanket draped over his head like a hood.

"Na…Nagisa? What's wrong?" A crack of thunder crashed, causing Nagisa to jump at the sound and clench tighter to his blanket. "Are…are you afraid of the thunder?" Another one hit and Nagisa jumped and slowly nodded his head. Rei had a sudden rush of nostalgia and he smiled softly before speaking again. "Would you like to come in?"

Nagisa nodded again and walked into Rei's room. Rei closed the door behind him just as another boom of thunder came and Rei turned around to Nagisa clenching onto his sleeves. Normally Rei's heart would explode due to Nagisa's closeness, but all he could think about was calming him down and making sure he was comfortable.

"It's kind of funny…" Rei led him to his bed. "My brother used to be afraid of the thunder when he was younger." Nagisa looked up at him. "He would always come running into my room when there was a storm and I'd let him sleep in my bed until the storm passed." He chuckled. "It always seemed strange, him being the older sibling and all, and he always made me swear to never tell our parents because he was so embarrassed about it. They found out about it quite easily, though, since they'd wake me up and found him sleeping in my bed. So, if you want to," Rei threw back the covers of his bed, crawled into them, and patted the empty space next to him. "You can join me until you feel better."

Nagisa hesitated for a moment, surprised at the gesture, but walked over and crawled into the bed next to Rei. He had just snuggled in when another crack of thunder sounded; Nagisa clung to Rei and hid his face in the pillow.

"It's okay, Nagisa." Rei comforted. "All thunder is, is the sound of lightning striking through the air, it's actually really fascinating. The only reason we see the lightning first is because light travels faster than sound; so, the longer the gap between the lightning and the thunder, the farther away the thunder is." Nagisa looked to Rei with a small smile, almost like a silent giggle. "I told that to my brother once to calm him, but he just ended up laughing at me and calling me a bookworm. Then I suggested he try to ignore it, but it's hard to ignore something that loud, y'know?" Nagisa nodded in agreement as he flinched at another loud boom.

"So in the end, he would end up just singing or humming to himself to help drown out the noise. It worked too, because he would fall asleep while doing that and then I had to deal with him taking up most of the room on my bed that night." Nagisa grinned again and lightly nuzzled him. "I wonder if that would work for you." Rei pondered, but then he remembered. "Ah, but…right. You probably can't even hum, huh?" Nagisa shook his head softly and twerked his mouth sideways.

Another sound of thunder crashed, and it was so loud that the window even shook; Nagisa proceeded to jump over Rei, away from the window, to hide behind him and cling to the back of his night shirt.

Rei frowned. Nagisa was even more afraid than his brother ever was, and it worried him. He turned over to face him and Nagisa proceeded to bury his face in Rei's chest. Rei froze in his place and a blush tinted his cheeks; he swallowed loudly and tried to ignore how fast his heart was pounding so he could focus on helping Nagisa.

The poor boy was trembling against Rei's chest and Rei had to think fast. He slowly lifted a hand and placed it on Nagisa's shoulder before taking a deep breath.

"Hush, the waves are rolling in,

White with foam, white with foam!

Father toils amid the storm,

But baby sleeps at home."

Nagisa gradually stopped trembling and slowly removed his face from Rei's shirt; Rei continued to sing softly.

"Hush, the winds roar wild and deep,

How they moan, how they moan!

Brother seeks the wandering sheep,

But baby sleeps at home."

Nagisa looked up at Rei and his face softened, nearly mimicking the expression that he wore earlier while they were in the boat. He rested his cheek on Rei's chest and gazed up at him while he sang. Rei's heart nearly melted at the site and his voiced cracked slightly while singing, but he still continued.

"Hush, the rain sweeps o'er the knowes,

Where they roam, where they roam!

Sister goes to seek the cows,

And the baby sleeps at home."

The song was over, but Rei repeated it once more and noticed that Nagisa's eyes were starting to shut until he finally fell asleep. Rei faded out his singing and the only thing left to hear was the storm and the soft sound of Nagisa's breathing. A few more cracks of thunder came minutes later, but they didn't wake Nagisa, and for that Rei was thankful.

Rei thought he should probably carry Nagisa back to his room, but he didn't want to accidentally wake him, nor did he want Nagisa to wake up by himself in case he became scared again. So instead, he carefully reached for the blanket to cover the both of them properly and somehow managed to place his glasses back on the bed side table without moving too much.

He settled back nicely into the bed and he remembered how fast his heart was pounding because, well, Nagisa was right there! He was holding onto him and sleeping soundly right next to him, even partially laying on him! This was probably the closest they had been to each other since the time they fell on top each other when they were on the beach, but this time Rei was three times as embarrassed, which was ridiculous because he was the only one awake.

Rei heard a soft snore coming from Nagisa's direction and it broke him out of his thoughts. He looked to his sleeping face and he smiled; at least Nagisa was able to fall asleep. Rei's eyes gazed upon Nagisa's sleeping form, and even though it was dark and even without his glasses, Rei was close enough to see a few small details on Nagisa's face.

He truly was one of the most beautiful people Rei has ever known, and he considered himself very lucky to know him. Nagisa moved slightly and a few strands of hair fell into his face; Rei shakily brought his hand over and softly moved the hair out of his face and behind his ear. Rei's fingers kept moving and he lightly caressed Nagisa's cheek; his skin was very soft and warm, and Rei couldn't tear his eyes away from Nagisa's lips.

The longer he stared at them, the more he wanted to just…kiss him right there, but Rei couldn't do that! Nagisa wasn't even awake; how rude would that be? So Rei removed his hand from Nagisa's face and was content with just watching him as he started to feel himself get drowsy again. As his eyes started to close, he let his mind drift off.

This is him, Grandmother. He is really bright and charismatic, the kind of person I never thought I'd be friends with. I think you would have liked him. He…brings out a part of myself that I think I abandoned a long time ago, and that's something I really admire about him. He seems to bring out the good in a lot of people; even Haruka.

He truly is such a wonderful person and we've become so close in such a short time of knowing each other. He just, he makes me so happy and I think…I think that I'm in love with him.

Rei's eyes suddenly opened from his thoughts and he looked straight to Nagisa as his heart was racing from the sudden realization.

Oh my god, I'm in love with him!