Milori groaned in his sleep. The couch wasn't entirely comfortable to sleep on, but it wasn't too bad that it would prevent him from getting at least some rest. It just caused him to be an unusually light sleeper. Then again, that might also have had to do with the fact that there was a woman sleeping his bed in the other room.

Around two o'clock in the morning, a bird screech let out from across the room. Milori awoke only for a moment before drifting back to sleep when the noise didn't continue. Maybe Phoebus was staring out the window again and scaring the squirrels. He usually did that when he was bored at night.

When Milori was nearly asleep once more, there was a giant crash of thunder from outside. He jolted upright and practically fell onto the floor. The sudden noise had scared the hell out of him and left his heart racing. It took a few moment for him to get himself to stop panting, and to recollect his thoughts. Even after his breathing was under control, his heart still felt like it was trying to leap from his chest.

After a moment, Milori got the distinct feeling he was being watched. He glanced over to Phoebus' perch and saw the owl staring at him intensely. Damn it was creepy! A sudden shiver went down Milori's spine. "Stop staring at me like that!"

The owl only continued to stare at him and seemed like he had no interest in looking anywhere else.

"I'm trying to sleep, Phoebus, and you're creeping me out!" Milori lied back down and tried to get comfortable.

Phoebus was apparently annoyed by this because he flew over and landed on the arm of the chair.

Milori glanced up at him and let out a groan. He stared at the owl as it pointed somewhere with its eyes. After a quick survey of the room, nothing seemed to be out of place or worthy of causing Phoebus to be so disturbed. Milori flopped his head back down on the pillow in annoyance. There was no way he would be able to sleep at this rate.

Then he heard it...

At first, Milori wasn't sure what he was actually hearing, but he soon realized that he was listening to someone sobbing. Clarion! Phoebus gave him a knowing glance before flying back over to his perch. Milori leaped off the couch and was about to run into the bedroom, but then thought better of himself. Running in there would probably scare her more than anything, and she was, most likely, already scared as it was.

Milori took a deep breath before lightly knocking on the door, "Clarion, is everything alright?" He pressed his ear to the door in an attempt to hear her reply. All was silent and it appeared that her sobbing had stopped almost instantly. What was she doing?

For a moment Milori considered whether or not her should go inside. Clarion might simply wish to be alone and it could upset her if he entered. Then again, she had been through a lot that night and she might just want someone to comfort and be near her. He took another deep breath, having finally made his decision, and slowly pushed open the door.

The room was dark and Milori could only see the faint outline of Clarion lying underneath the covers at the edge of the bed closest to him. She rolled over, making it so her back was facing towards him. He approached her with slow and cautious steps before kneeling down on the floor beside the bed.

Milori waited a moment before speaking, "Clarion?" He reached out and touched her shoulder.

Suddenly Clarion let out a sob and turned back over to face him. Tears were streaming from her eyes and her cheeks were red, meaning that she had been crying for a while now. Her trembling body was noticeable, despite the darkness of the room.

Milori brought his hand lightly to her cheek and wiped away her tears with his thumb. She mumbled something in reply, but he was unable to understand her. "What?"

Clarion leaned in closer and spoke in a tired voice, "Can you hold me?"

He instantly pulled back in shock. Had he heard her correctly? Was she really asking him to get in bed with her? There was no possible way she said that! The more Milori debated in his head, the redder his face got. In that moment, he was thankful that it was too dark for her to see. Otherwise his embarrassment would have been multiplied tenfold.

While these thoughts were racing through his mind, without realising it, Milori nodded to her. The small part of him that could still carry out coherent thoughts knew that this was the least he could do for her. Clarion backed away from the edge, allowing him the necessary space to crawl into the full sized bed.

Once under the covers, Milori turned to face Clarion's shaking body. For a moment they awkwardly stared at each other. Without warning though, there was a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning outside the window. Clarion jumped with a cry and instinctively Milori wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her close. At the same time, Clarion's hands gripped his shoulders tightly and her face buried into his chest.

Milori was caught off guard at first since, only a moment ago, they were too timid to move an inch, but now they were clinging to each other for dear life. What was going on! This woman, who barely knew and had no reason to trust him, given the circumstances, was throwing away all of their previous awkwardness and acting as if this were a normal occurrence between the two of them.

What was even harder to explain was why Milori was acting without even a second thought. It was almost as if he knew exactly what to do to comfort, like it wasmprogrammed into his brain. Milori continued to surprise himself when he placed his hand on the back of her head and pressed his forehead to hers. Slowly the two began to calm down. The warmth they created was comforting for both of them as they lay there in silence. Before he knew it, Clarion was dosing off in his arms to the sound of his heartbeat. A wave of relief came over him, knowing that she was safe and asleep once more. With this in mind, Milori was able to fall asleep as well.

Hey everyone! I'm really sorry about not updating! I've had a lot of crazy stuff happen ever since my last update of 'The Shadow Queen'. Like the day after I updated I was bit by a dog and had to have surgery on my eyelid. I have stitches in my eye and a stint. For a while I had to wear an eyepatch so I couldn't write and when I was finally able to write again I found out that one of my close friends from when I lived in Delaware had died. I ended up attending the funeral and I was emotional. Then things got worse when I got back home. My other friend got kicked out of her house and was living with me for a while. Now things are getting back to normal and I hope to start getting back to updating all of my stories more often.