(Wednesday upload pog?)

"Jimmy?" A knock on the door paired with his name being called told him that Joel was outside.

He whimpered, pulling his knees to his chest.

"I know you are in there!" His sing-song voice chimed in the room. "Lizzie said you didn't know how to turn on the computer so if you want, I can turn it on for you." Jimmy perked up a little bit at that. He wanted to talk to his brother desperately.

But, he deflated.

His parents were upset with Grian and they were mad at each other. What if Jimmy makes them more mad by talking to Grian?

The door creaked open, Joel laughing.

"Jeez, with everything being replaced in your palace yearly, you would have thought that they would replace these loud hinges." He partially spoke to himself, closing the door again. Jimmy could hear Joel make his way across the room. "Jimmy?" He called, looking into his pillow fort. The five year old could see the instant that Joel saw his tears.

Quietly, he crawled into the fort as well, a small smile on his face.

"What wrong, Jim?" He spoke softly, taking one of his small hands. "Did something happen?"

Jimmy tried to forget the yelling he heard. He tried to forget how his mother called Grian an idiotic commoner. He tried to forget how desperate his dad was to keep them together.

He sniffled, wiping his sleeves against his face. "L-Lizzie was watching a scary movie yesterday... it scared me." He whispered quietly. He wasn't lying completely, Lizzie had watched a scary movie the night before. He caught a scene when he walked in to ask for a snack but it was nothing that scared him. The only reason he cried after seeing it was because he wanted to watch one of his cartoons on the TV. Lizzie thought it had scared him though.

Joel didn't laugh or taunt him. He just gave him a reassured smile and squeezed his hand. "Oh, Jim." Jimmy found himself crawling towards the teen, curling up against him. Joel wrapped him in a comforting hug. "No need to be scared, the palace is the most safe place you can be." Jimmy didn't feel that way. "Your sister probably didn't mean to scare you and if she did, let me know next time and I will beat her in Mario Kart." Jimmy giggled at that, knowing that Lizzie was an awful Mario Kart player so Joel often just let her win. The tightness in his chest evened out. "Alright, do you still want to speak to Grian?" Jimmy nodded his head, standing up and running out of the fort.

"Come on! Come on!" He urged, pulling on Joel's arm.

"Slow down! I'm a bit too big for your fort!" Joel laughed, crawling out as best as he could without knocking it down. As soon as he got out, he was immediately pulled by Jimmy out the creaking door.

---

Jimmy's feet swung as he waited for Joel to open it up for him.

"And... there! It's ready!" Joel gave the mouse to Jimmy, letting him move it around. "Would you like me to stay in here with you?"

Jimmy turned to him with a big smile. "Nope! Brother conversation is personal!" He joked, pushing Joel towards the door. The teen laughed.

"Alright, yell if you need anything! I will be just outside with Lizzie." Joel left and closed the door behind him, this one silent.

Jimmy turned back to the monitor, the light hurting his eyes. He didn't care as he blissfully pulled up the messaging app they used. He found the picture of Grian smiling brightly in the gardens with his friends.

Clicking on it, he opened the conversation to talk to Grian.

<Lizzie> Are you ready?

Jimmy typed in the phrase he had always seen his sister type before Grian would enter the lobby. He had no clue what it says when reading but he can copy it into a text-to-speech app he had found the other day. He saw that Grian responded!

He quickly copied and pasted it into the text-to-speech, pressing play when it was finished.

"Grian. Lizzie, I can't talk to him right now, I'm busy."

Jimmy puffed his cheeks in annoyance. He wanted to talk to his brother now!

"Why are you busy?" He talked into the computer, it typing the words he said.

<Lizzie> Why are you busy?

And he did this process again.

"Grian. I don't want to talk about it right now. Just not today."

<Lizzie> You have barely talked in the past couple of weeks! Surely you could give a little bit of time!

"Grian. Fine, I'm with Taurtis in the hospital, Sam stabbed him and he crashed a bus. I had to drag him all the way here, are you happy?"

Jimmy was silent. He had known Taurtis and Sam for his whole life. They were his brother's best friends. It was a horrifying scene to picture.

"Grian. Don't tell Jimmy. Just make up an excuse why I can't talk today. He's too young and naive to know."

The five year old could feel the tears come back. He gets told that people he looked up to get hurt and now he is being called a child? Did his brother and sister both think he was useless?

He sighed, the tears going down his cheeks as he spoke and copied the last message:

<Lizzie> Don't worry, he can't even read.

---

Jimmy turned off the computer before quietly exiting the room.

Instead of being met with an empty hallway, Joel was sitting on one of the red velvet cushioned benches, tapping away on his phone. He looked up from it, putting it away when noticing Jimmy staring.

"Where is Lizzie?" He asked Joel quietly.

"She is talking with your parents. She told me I should just go home but I told her I wanted to hang out with my favorite little man." Joel got up and held his hand out. Jimmy took it gingerly and they swung like they had always done.

Their feet echoed across the empty halls. There were barely any guard up and about. No need to when most of the royal family didn't walk through these halls at this time.

"Was the talk with Grian bad?" Joel asked to break the silence. Jimmy looked away. "No need to look so down, how about I put you to bed tonight?" The Mezalea prince said, giving him a smile. Jimmy nodded his head sheepishly. Usually it was his dad or siblings would would tuck him in but all of them were busy...

"If it's no problem..."

"Like I said, I want to hang out with my favorite little man." Joel opened the squeaking door, allowing Jimmy to walk inside.

They went through Jimmy's night time routines, Joel not being too unfamiliar with it since he had asked to help Lizzie awhile back. A new routine was added though; Joel turned on the jukebox, putting in some calming music.

"Music?" Jimmy asked as Joel picked out his night wear.

"Yeah, thought it might be fun to try." He closed the drawer and walked back to Jimmy, holding out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with fish patterns.

Joel made an absolute show out of the night routine.

Jimmy was swung around while Joel 'helped' change his clothes. Giggles escaped him as the Mezalea prince attemped to put his arm through the arm hole of the night shirt. Every time he 'failed,' he groaned or rolled his eyes in exaggeration. He did the same with the shorts and Jimmy was all dressed.

But the show wasn't over.

Joel put him so he was standing on his feet, dancing in a tango with Joel even though the teen was way taller than him. The room was filled with laughter and joy. Jimmy even forgot what had happened earlier as he was twirled and thrown into the air. And when the music stopped, Jimmy was giggling in Joel's arms, the teen huffing with exhaustion.

"Alright, Jimmy." He tried to catch his breath with a quick inhale and exhale but it was an ultimate failure. "Bedtime," he placed him on the bed, Jimmy continuing to laugh at the expense of Joel.

"Again!" He shouted, sitting back up. Joel rolled his eyes but a adoring smile sat on his face.

"Maybe when I put you to bed next time, alright?" He promised, pushing Jimmy back into the bed. He then wrapped the blanket around him tight before ruffling his messy, blond hair. "Goodnight, Jim."

Jimmy felt panic rise.

He had always felt secure in his bed, knowing the daily routine of the next day but the insecurity he felt from today was unmatched. He didn't know how his parent's relationship was going to be in the morning, if Lizzie was going to stay unlile Grian, if Taurtis and Grian were going to be okay in Japan. Was Joel going to leave him?

"Hey, shhh, don't cry." Jimmy's eyes snapped back up to Joel who had a sad smile on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm scared of the monsters." The monsters that took Grian away, the monsters that corrupted Sam, the monsters that broke apart his parents, the monster that makes Lizzie so sad. The monsters that made Jimmy's life a living hell in a span of a few months.

"No need to worry, your prince in casual clothing is here to protect you." Joel joked warmly, casually pulling out his sword. Jimmy had always admired it since he first knew what a sword was. It was one of the nicest swords he had ever seen.

"Casual clothing?" He asked, light hearted. Joel never wore anything less than regal. If anything, Jimmy was always the one underdressed with his button down and formal shorts (his father never believed in fancy clothes, his mother did which is why Lizzie always looked like a princess and Grian always looked like a hobo. Jimmy was a peace treaty between the two. Not quite fancy but not quite hobo.)

"Fine, fine, not casual but I'm still here to protect you nevertheless!" Joel triumphs, holding his sword up again.

"Are you telling the truth?" Joel looked back down at Jimmy. The kid couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Are you going to protect me?" His whispered.

Joel's smile warmed. "Always."