And I am the grey in the ghost

That hides with your clothes behind your closet door.

"Get off, Al!" Edward roughly shoved his younger sibling away only to have him grab onto him just as tightly. Why did Edward always have to be such a sucker for when he heard his younger brother was crying?

"But Brother! There's something in my closet!" Alphonse whined, looking up at his older sibling with watery golden eyes. Edward sighed angrily, a frown quite clear on his face despite the darkness of the room.

"There is nothing in your closet Al! It's just your stupid imagination!" And, with that, Edward roughly shoved Alphonse away and climbed out of the younger boy's bed. Besides the dark and thunder storms, Edward's younger brother also had the knack to be scared of anything that went bump in the night. Typical five year old fears in the eyes of anybody…but Edward. He just thought it was plain annoying. It was bad enough that they had to share a room, but it got even worse when he was woken up by his younger brother's whimpering on occasion. He'd intended on just sleeping through his brother's crying, but when it didn't stop and Edward couldn't go back to sleep, he had to do something about it.

"I swear I'm not joking Ed! There really is something in my closet!" Alphonse cried, grabbing onto his pillow as a weak replacement for his brother.

"I don't care, Al. Go back to sleep." Edward made sure to enunciate each word and look his younger sibling in the eye as he said it. He then turned and huffed angrily as he yanked back the sheets and crawled back into his own bed.

"Brother—!"

"Go back to sleep, Alphonse. If you wake me up again, you'll have something to be even more afraid of." Edward threatened his younger sibling with a tone that left no room for an argument. Edward rolled over in his cold bed, his back facing his younger brother.

Alphonse's eyes went wide and the tears spilled from the gold depths. He looked back down at his sheets, sniffing weakly. The younger boy gripped his pillow tightly and whined softly, weakly looking up at his brother. He couldn't just abandon him like this… Alphonse wasn't joking this time around! There was honestly something in his closet and he was terrified. Completely and utterly terrified.

Edward was always, always there for him when he got scared. Like, when the neighborhood bullies would pick on him, or when their mother would have to clean the newest scrape on his already scarred knees. Edward was always there. So, why did things suddenly have to change when they were alone and at home? Alphonse didn't understand.

Alphonse whined softly, more tears spilling down his cheeks. Was Edward embarrassed whenever he would cry? He did always make a certain face whenever the kids were picking on him and he started crying…

Did Edward…not love him anymore?

The thought of that sent Alphonse's face straight into his pillow—the tears turning him into a whimpering and sobbing mess. Edward couldn't hate him! That…that was impossible! That would mean that whenever he was scared…Edward wouldn't be around…

Alphonse heard a rustle of sheets from across the room followed by a soft sigh. There was a soft pitter patter of small feet across the wooden floor and Alphonse knew he was in it big time…

"Al…? Come on…Don't cry…" Alphonse sniffled, shaking his head at the familiar voice's request. Any minute now Edward wad gonna blow up and yell at him… "What do you want me to do? I'm tired and I wanna sleep…So, I got a little mad." Alphonse whined softly, just barely pulling away from the pillow to look up at Edward. "…I'm sorry I got mad at you, okay? Just, don't cry about it, okay?" Edward glanced at his younger brother, still seeing the tears sparkling in his large, bronze eyes. He sighed heavily, frowning a little. Alphonse whined again, obliviously not liking the face he was making…

"Do you hate me?" Alphonse asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. But, Edward caught every single word and the tone that betrayed Alphonse's emotions.

"Of course not, Al." Edward answered with a huff. "Where did you get a stupid idea like that from?" Edward folded his arms across his chest and looked to Alphonse for an explanation. Alphonse looked down at his lumpy pillow and squeezed it tighter.

"I…I just notice that when you…when I cry, you frown at me…a-and I thought it meant that you were mad at me and thought I was a stupid, little crybaby…" Alphonse's eyes filled with tears again and he hiccupped. Edward eyes softened and his lips turned up in small smile.

"You're not stupid, Al. Or a crybaby." Edward said quietly. Alphonse blinked away the tears, looking up at his older brother. He didn't expect that…He expected Edward to yell at him that it was the truth. That Alphonse was a big, stupid crybaby and he wished that he would never see him again in his entire life. It was a bit of an overreaction, but, half the time, Alphonse didn't know what to expect from Edward. "You're my little brother and I gotta protect you. It's my job to make sure that you're safe and, if you do get hurt, it's my job to make sure to be there with you." Edward explained to Alphonse, not really looking the younger boy in the eye. "So…don't you ever think that I hate or that I don't love you! Or I'll…I'll tell mom that you think I hate you!" Edward threatened weakly, trying to put on tough face to make the threat seem more…threatening. The threat just made Alphonse grin, cheering up a little. He was gonna hold Edward to those words…whether he liked it or not.

"Brother..?" Alphonse asked quietly, looking up at Edward with large, bronze eyes. "I still think there's something in my closet."