Simon has never been scared of the dark, especially not since he found out he can manipulate it. That doesn’t stop him from fighting back a nervous sweat that nobody would even be able to see through the heavy rain cascading in waterfalls onto the heads of you, his brother Milo, and himself. The haze of unruly weather obscures vision any more than a few feet ahead despite your flashlights fighting to provide some sort of visibility into the dark forest.

Simon glances over at you, fondness softening his squinted gaze as his eyes work to make out your every feature through the storm of swaying trees. “Maybe we should head back?” he shouts to both you and his brother on your other side.

“No shit! I figured that’s the way we were heading!” Milo shouts from beside you, pushing his curly hair off of his glasses in a futile effort. He may be your best friend, but even you have to admit coming out in glasses and a terrible storm weren’t the best mix.

“C’mon, let’s go. I don’t want to get lost out here.” Simon takes your arm in his hand, firm but not rough, as he leads the pack toward what he hopes is the exit. Everyone trusts him with directions, but this time he’s going off pure instinct.

“How do you know which—“ Milo starts to yell out over the cacophony of noise, before a loud crunching sound emits from over your shoulder and everyone’s heads whip around for a look.

You grab both of their hands, trusting in your headlamp to guide you, and start loudly saying a prayer to a God you can only hope will answer. Your eyes squeeze shut for the duration of your furtive speech before racing footsteps cross in front of you and Milo starts to shake with nerves.

“Holy shit we’re going to die!” Milo screams, and Simon holds your hand tighter.

“You saw that, right? What the hell was that?” Simon’s eyes are fixed on you again, fear alight in those bright blue eyes. He's never looked this terrified before, but he can feel his heart pounding in his chest as panic sets in. That can’t have been an animal.