My mouth is dry, with words I cannot verbalize.

[Alex Harwood]

There were, frankly, very few things that Alex actually considered herself to be afraid of.

She could hold her own in a fight, stay home alone, sleep in the dark, and wasn't even slightly freaked out when people tried to tease her with supposed scary stories. She never had been, really, perhaps a sign of her cynical nature, even at a young age. However, when it came to thunder and lightning, she couldn't help herself. Just two claps of noise, and a flash of light, and she found herself reduced to a puddle of terror, unsure what to do with herself, except possibly cry until it stopped.

It wasn't something she exactly advertised, particularly at the ripe age of fifteen, and the time when she ought to be reaching a bit of maturity. Even as the family baby, she had been a bit more mature than most. But storms, really! How was she supposed to help herself? It was the making of a nightmare.

She curled further into her bed, pillow over her head, and blankets pulled over that, telling herself to go to sleep, that she had school the next morning. Mom wasn't going to let her stay home just because she was up all night fretting over nothing. She couldn't help her trembling, and at the thought of mom, considered making the mad dash down the hall, and climbing into bed with her. It wouldn't be the first time.

However, there was somewhere much closer, somewhere to get before another clap of thunder would shake the building. Swallowing hard, steeling herself against the fear that was shaking her whole body, the petite girl threw back the blankets in a rush, kicking them down to the foot of her bed, and swinging her legs over the side in one fluid motion. Without stopping to even think of it, she stood up on shaking legs, and crossed the short distance between her own bed, and her sister's bed.

Yanking back the side of Maxxie's blankets, she slipped in without hesitation, immediately ducking her herself back under them completely, head and all, and scooting closer to press her face into the older girl's back, trembling all the while. Apparently, thunder and lightning didn't phase Maxine; she was still fast asleep. Which wasn't a shock.

Really, Alex was glad to have someone beside her, whether she was awake or not.

[Jude Wainwright]

Maxxie had been fast asleep, dreaming of merry-go-rounds and mythica creatures, completely oblivious to her sisters plight or the thunder and lightening storm happening outside. She would have slept the entire night away, if not for Alex hopping into bed with her. It took a few moments for the body against her to register, and she turned, blinking large eyes at her youngest sibling in confusion.

"Alex? What's happening?"

[Alex Harwood]

Immediately feeling bad for waking up the older girl, Alex lifted her head just a bit to look up at Maxxie. She gave her a sheepish little smile, barely there, before ducking her head back down again quickly as another bit of lightning lit up their small bedroom. "Storm," she managed, knowing Maxxie would know what the problem was. For as dense as the blonde might have been, Alex's terror of storms was something they'd dealt with for years.

[Alex Harwood]

Maxxie frowned, turning to wrap her arms around her little sister and cuddling up to her. "Oh, wow, a storm? You know it's just the stars bowling, 'Lex. Just the stars bowling."

[Alex Harwood]

This didn't seem to calm Alex down any, as the brunette kept her eyes tightly closed, and her head tightly tucked down against her sister. Maybe she could at least avoid seeing the lightning, even if she had to hear the thunder. Which promptly burst into another loud roll, getting a squeak out of her, as she tensed herself further under the blankets. It was really starting to look like a sleepless night. "W-Well, I wish the stars would stop b-bowling, please," she muttered, voice cracking.

[Kenneth Harwood]

Maxine rubbed at her eyes, moving some to sit up a fraction. "Do you want to go see if Kenny's in his bed? We can all hide in his room, you can't hear the thunder as much there." She rubbed her sisters back, frowning.

[Alex Harwood]

Peering out from under the covers, just slightly, Alex frowned some up at her older sister. "But I don't wanna.. wake him up, we have school tomorrow," she murmured, whimpering again as another clap of thunder shook the building. "I didn't even mean to wake you up, I just.. I s-should of stayed in my own bed. I'm being stupid, aren't I?"

[Maxine Harwood]

Maxxie frowned. "Being scared isn't stupid, Al. It's natural. And I bet Ken's still up, being silly and Ken like. He's up all hours."

[Alex Harwood]

Alex frowned, but she couldn't argue with the weak-yet-solid reasoning. Kenneth usually was awake for most of the nights anyway, doing whatever it was their older brother did; usually a mixture of things, really, most of which presided in the realm of tidying their house, or helping out in some way. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she admitted finally, shifting some, and into a half sitting position of her own. "Think he'll be mad at me?"

[Maxine Harwood]

Maxxie smiled, moving to get up and pulling on her robe, reaching her hand out. "Is Kenny ever mad, Al? Of course not. He'd be sad if we didn't go tell him to go to bed, I bet."

[Alex Harwood]

Alex smiled a bit, nodding her head as she moved from under the covers, and allowed her legs to hang over the side of the bed. She watched her sister pulling on her robe, and rather than doing the same, reaching beside her to grab up the nearest blanket, wrapping it comfortably around her shoulders, before taking Maxxie's extended hand. "You're right," she replied softly, flinching some as thunder rumbled once again, making her sink rather firmly into her blanket shawl.

"He really should sleep, too, he has to graduate this year.."

[Kenneth Harwood]

"Exactly! We're doing him a favor, really." she smiled, then lead her sister out into the hall; spotting the light on in the kitchen, she changed their route and headed there instead.

Kenneth sat at the table, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose and bent over a pile of papers, a frown on his face as he tapped numbers into a calculator. He was trying to work out a new budget since their mother's hours had been cut down; and it was starting to give him a headache.

[Alex Harwood]

Seeing Kenneth like that, really, was a bit of a familiar sight for Alex. She knew that it was well after two, if not later, and the fact made her frown even further. The weather had put her in a bad enough mood, but seeing Ken up all hours of the night wasn't improving her mood any. Tightening her grip slightly on Maxxie's hand, she turned her head up, giving the blonde an expectant look, urging her to say something first.

[Kenneth Harwood]

Maxxie rolled her eyes, lading Alex into the kitchen and propping her shoulder on Ken's shoulder, eyes wandering idly over the papers. "Come to bed, Ken-ken. It is late and the stars are bowling."

Kenneth glanced up, frowning slightly. "Max. What are you two doing up? It's late."

[Alex Harwood]

Sticking close to her sister's side, Alex leaned over Ken's other shoulder, smiling a little shakily. It was easy to tell she was feeling off, even with a legitimate reasoning. "She's right, come to bed, it's way too late. And the stars are, uhm, definitely bowling," she murmured, only keeping up her smile as their brother frowned at them.

"It's m-my fault," she added quickly, as lightning lit up the small kitchen, and she quickly closed her eyes, but continued to speak. "I got s-scared, and I woke her up."