a/n: hi! Just letting you know that I changed Summer's brother's name from Kristoff Jr to Kristian to make things a little easier haha. I did go back and change it in each chapter so there shouldn't be any confusion.

Anyway, thanks for reading, it means a lot!

Alex's eyebrows shot a mile high when Lacey's arms went around his middle. This was not something he had ever expected from her, and he wasn't exactly sure what to do. She had always seemed so tough, like she could handle anything, but now? Well, now she was soaking his shirt with her tears.

He didn't know much about what to do when girls were frightened and had forced themselves into your arms for protection, but if she was anything like the girls he knew—which were really just his sisters—she would want to be comforted right now. He placed one arm around her back, and the other across her shoulders with his hand resting on her head. He waited a moment to see what happened.

Thunder sounded again, but quieter this time. Lacey snuggled closer, a few tears still slipping out. The little whimpering sounds coming from her made him want to clasp her tightly to his chest, whisper over and over it would be alright, and then kiss her forehead until she felt safe again.

His lips were hovering just above her head when he realized his body had taken his thoughts as orders. He stopped instantly and pulled his head away. Lacey hadn't seemed to notice, she was still clutching him like her life depended on it.

"It'll be okay." His voice was soft as he smoothed her hair. "Alastair's a great captain, and he's sailed through more storms than I can count."

She lifted her head from his chest to look at him.

"Really?" Her tear filled eyes sent a jolt through his stomach. She looked so frightened, he wished he could do more.

"Really." His smile was full of reassurance. When she didn't say anything more, and simply settled back against his chest he decided to start up a conversation. "I don't mean to sound rude, because you can be scared of whatever you want I guess, but um..."

"Why thunderstorms?"

"Yeah." He grinned sheepishly, surprised she'd been able to guess the end of his sentence so quickly. She met his eyes then, with a look he couldn't quite interpret.

"You know, nobody's ever asked me that." Her eyes moved down to his chest, and she seemed to notice how close they were for the first time. She looked at his arms around her, and then saw her own around him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She pulled her arms away, and Alex watched, fascinated, as her cheeks turned pink. He dropped his arms too, and immediately missed the warmth and feel of her.

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

Wait, that sounds terrible! Now she'll think I hold tons of girls all the time.

"Not that it happens a lot, or like ever. It's just my sisters..."

What am I saying? I'm the baby of the family. I never hold my sisters like that.

"Well, not really my sisters, not really anyone, uh, at all." He could feel his own cheeks grow warm as Lacey looked at him, trying to decipher his words. "Um, how's your head?"

"My head?" Her nose scrunched up.

"Yeah, you bumped it pretty hard when I came in. Does it hurt?" He took a step closer to her, but not too close. He didn't want her to feel crowded.

Even though I just held her.

"No. It's fine." She touched it carefully, checking for a lump.

"Good." Alex scratched the back of his head and looked around. "So you were about to tell me about why you're afraid of thunderstorms."

"You really care to know?" Her brown eyes widened.

"Yeah, go ahead." He settled into a chair at the table. Lacey sat on the bed and fiddled with her skirt.

"Well, I've always been frightened of them for as long as I can remember. I can't pin-point an exact reason, but the thunder can get so loud sometimes. My mama hates thunderstorms too, but I don't think that fear is really a genetic thing, and she has an actual reason, which is sorta my reason too." She blinked, and Alex saw the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Hey, don't cry. You don't have to say it if you don't want to." He got up and sat next to her, taking her hand. "I shouldn't have pushed you."

"No, no it's fine." She wiped at the tears with her free hand and Alex noticed with pleasure, that she didn't pull her hand out of his.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She dashed the last tear from the corner of her eye, sat a little straighter, and took a deep breath. "I want to tell it. We don't talk about it much at home, since it hurts Mama so much. So I want to."

"If you really want to. I don't want you crying again." He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, hoping she couldn't tell how he almost wished she would cry again so he could hold her.

"Alex. I want to."

Hearing his name come from her lips did weird things to his insides.

Get a hold of yourself.

"Okay, well, I'm here to listen if you really want to talk about it."

She took another deep breath, and her hand tightened just a tiny bit over his. Alex forced himself to ignore that small, insignificant detail.

I am not going to prove my brothers right.

Lacey began telling the story behind her fear of thunderstorms. He listened as the words spilled from her lips, her voice softly lilting with each sentence. She told the story of her grandparents, and how they were lost at sea, and she squeezed his fingers when she mentioned the ship going down.

When she was done, she lifted a small hand and wiped the few tears that had slipped down her cheeks. Alex squeezed her fingers and then stood.

"I'll be right back." He shot a reassuring smile her way, then walked out the door, closing it on his way out.

He quickly darted to his room, avoiding the other crew members as much as he could.

When he reached his room, or rather his section of the room, he went straight to the small chest of delicately carved wooden drawers, a small piece from home, and opened the middle drawer. There nestled amongst other miscellaneous things was a wooden box. Alex had made the rough wooden box a year ago when Alastair had given him a quick lesson. It wasn't much, but he was proud nonetheless. He stashed the box in his pocket and made his way back to the captain's cabin.

He opened the door and saw Lacey sitting there bundled in the blankets and his heart sped up a little. "Uh, Lacey, I um, brought you something." Her eyes widened as she took in the small wooden box.

"For me?"

"Yeah, here." He gave her the rough box. "Open it."

It was then that he noticed her hands. Soft and smooth, unlike his own rough and calloused ones. Alex winced. She definitely wasn't from a poor family.

Oh, what has Allan gotten us into?

Summer gingerly lifted the lid of the box. It was rough, unlike the polished ones she was used to back home. Peering inside, she lifted out a small, tarnished locket. She looked up at Alex, a puzzled look playing across her face.

Why would he give me this?

"Do you like it?" Alex scratched his elbow.

"It's lovely. Is it yours?" She asked, fingering the small locket. It was gold with intricate swirls engraved all over and a tiny red heart in the center. It was old, she decided based off of the worn look.

"It was my grandmother's." He began and Summer gasped.

He gave me his grandmother's locket?

"She gave it to my mother when she was little. She used to be scared of monsters under her bed." Alex laughed a little, "my mother gave it to me when I was a lot younger, and now I'm giving it to you." A small smile curved his lips and uncertainty rested between his brows.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Summer couldn't believe he would give her something so special.

"You don't like it?" The crease between his brows deepened.

"Oh, no! That's not what I meant at all. I think it's beautiful, but why would you give it away?"

"I don't need it anymore. It helps with calming fears. It's like a reminder that everything will be okay."

"Don't you want to give it to your children?"

Alex shrugged and sat back down beside her. "You can give it to yours."

"Thank you." She hugged him again, unaware of the warmth that spread through him from her touch, then pulled away to clasp it around her neck. It hung gently above the collar of her dress and felt warm and safe. "Thank you." She whispered again, trailing her finger over it, her other hand resting on Alex's.

"Uh, ahem. Well, I should probably be going back, uh, back upstairs to see if they need me." He pulled his hand away and made for the door. "Will you be alright? His icy blue eyes met her brown ones.

"Yes, thank you."

He shut the door and Summer slipped into bed. She slept soundly through a thunderstorm for the first time in all the sixteen years she'd been living.