Author's Note: Sequel to "Don't Get Me Wrong", please read that first! Set post-movie, treats Goof Troop as loosely canon (although I haven't seen all the episodes, and I probably took some liberties/mixed-and-matched elements from the two canons here and there to make them fit together better) and mostly ignores the second film (but that's not particularly relevant to this one anyway).

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Something in the Air
by Carrehz

PJ had never felt like this before.

He'd never dated anyone before - well, not really. When he was eleven he'd asked Rose Beckenbloom to be his girlfriend, and they'd spent a week reading poetry together and holding hands when no one was looking. But then she'd had to move away suddenly, and he hadn't seen her again.

Somehow he suspected that probably didn't count, though.

PJ hadn't ever put that much thought into dating, really. He'd always vaguely written it off as something that happened to other people, but probably not to him. It wasn't that he was uninterested in the idea, it was just... easier to push it to the back of his mind, not think about it too much, not set himself up for the disappointment that he knew would inevitably occur if he did try and confess to a girl. It probably wasn't all that great anyway, dating someone, or that's what he told himself. TV always made love out to be such a wonderful thing, but if his parents were anything to go by, it just meant lots of bickering and yelling. Then again, he was pretty sure his parents weren't a shining example of a typical relationship. He hoped that was the case, anyway. He didn't really have anything else to go off.

Or he hadn't, before now.

He'd been dating Bobby for a week now, and it felt... just amazing - so strange, so new, terrifying, dizzying... wonderful. Sure, they had to keep it a secret, but it was their secret, something for just the two of them. In a lot of ways, it wasn't that different from when they'd been just friends - they were still just hanging out every other day, Bobby still invading his personal space just the same way he'd always done, the same way he did to everyone. But then, even all of that was still fairly new and different; technically they'd met at the start of the school year, but they'd really only known each other for a few weeks, not quite a month. All of this was so new - like nothing PJ had ever felt before - something he'd never anticipated would happen... especially not with another boy.

But he liked it.

****************************************

They'd told Max about their relationship two days after it began.

They were hanging out in Bobby's room again, just the two of them (his mother was at work, like usual). It had been about an hour and PJ still didn't know what to say... or rather, he knew what he wanted to say, but actually broaching the subject was a different matter entirely. So far he'd been letting Bobby do most of the talking, his replies mostly monosyllabic.

Eventually, Bobby had looked over at him. "Dude, what's up? You're bein' really quiet... more than usual, I mean," he added, nudging him in the arm; PJ smiled weakly.
"Sorry," he mumbled, "It's just, I, uhh... ya see, I..." Bobby continued looking at him; it was hard to tell for sure through the dark glasses, but PJ thought the other boy was probably giving him an encouraging look. He took a deep breath.
"I- I wanna tell Max," he blurted out in a rush, screwing his eyes shut and bracing for the inevitable outburst. When it failed to happen, he raised his head slowly to look at Bobby, opening first one eye, then the other. Instead of angry, Bobby just looked confused. "...Is that okay?" he added, tentatively. "I mean, cause, uh, I know I said we shouldn't tell anyone, but-"
"Yeah, yeah, of course, it's cool, it's cool!" Bobby cut across him, putting his hands up reassuringly, "I just-" he shrugged, "I didn't think you'd come around so quickly, is all."
"Well I still don't want to tell anyone else," he added quickly, still flustered both by the thought of coming out to anyone, and the whole process of actually admitting it to Bobby... he probably should've expected that he'd be fine with it, he was so easygoing, but after spending the last two days agonizing over whether or not to say anything, it had felt like a bigger deal than it apparently was. "But Max... I dunno, man, he's like my brother... I don't like keeping secrets from him, y'know? Not something this big... He'd tell me, if it was him," he concluded. "Like how in the motel-" He stopped, not wanting to betray his best friend's confidence. After he got back from camping, Max had told PJ that he'd come clean to Roxanne about the whole Powerline thing, but PJ didn't know how much he'd told her, or if he wanted everyone to know it had been a fluke... he didn't want to just assume things. "-er- never mind."
"What?" Bobby grinned, "What motel, what happened?"
"It's nothing! Just... something he told me, that's all. It's nothing," he repeated, fully aware Bobby wasn't buying it.
"Should I be jeeealousss~?" the other boy trilled, sticking his tongue out playfully and poking PJ in the arm. PJ sputtered and coughed, thrown off by the question.
"Wha- NO! Ew, dude! That's gross!" he protested, pushing Bobby's hand away; Bobby just laughed. "Really, it's just-"
"I'm just teasin', dude," he reassured, over PJ's flustered babbling. "'S'alright. If you wanna tell him, we can tell him. Hell," he stood up, "Let's go tell him right now!"
"Wha-" Before PJ knew it, he was being pulled to his feet by his overenthusiastic boyfriend, who was now grinning widely.
"C'mon, bro, don't chicken out on me now!"
"...fine," PJ muttered, inwardly knowing that he probably would chicken out if they didn't get it over with as soon as possible. "But let me do the talking, okay...?"

****************************************

It hadn't taken them that long to arrive at the Goof house. Max's dad was at work, thank God - PJ loved him, but he really, really didn't want to tell Mr. Goof about any of this - at least not right now. But Max was home, much to PJ's surprise; he hadn't actually called Max today, just assumed he'd be busy again... he felt a little guilty about blowing him off, even though it was unintentional. Max had been surprised but pleased to see them both, immediately inviting them in and offering them sodas.

As soon as they'd sat down inside, PJ had told him, stumbling over every other word and feeling horribly awkward about the whole thing. To his surprise, Bobby remained mostly silent throughout his confession, only adding in a couple of remarks here and there; it was weird seeing him this calm. When they'd finished, Max had just blinked.
"So you two are... dating?" he'd said eventually.
"Um, y-yeah."
"Totally!"
"Oh." An awkward pause had followed, in which PJ wished the ground would swallow him up. Then, "Hey, that's awesome, guys," Max said, grinning and slapping PJ on the shoulder. "Nice one, dude."
"Really? You're not weirded out by it?" PJ had asked, still worried.
"Well, it is kinda unexpected... but if it's what you want, then I'm all for it, man. And Bobby, uhhh..." He'd turned to face the other boy, running a hand through his hair quickly. "I didn't know you, ummm... that you were... that you liked guys," he settled on eventually, clearly as out of his depth with this sort of talk as PJ was.
"Oh, I like everyone!" Bobby had replied cheerfully, before taking a long drag of his soda. "....What?" he added after a few minutes, seeing the other two's expressions.
"You can do that?!" PJ yelped; Max had just looked even more puzzled than he had a minute ago.
"Well... yeah?" he'd shrugged, clearly confused by their reactions. While PJ tried to figure out how to reply to that, Bobby had gone back to chugging his soda, apparently considering the matter closed.

The three boys had spent the next few hours just hanging out; after a few false starts, the conversation moved onto more mundane topics - TV shows, video games, school, music - easier, more familiar territory. Sure, there were some awkward moments, times when either PJ or Max would bring up some inside joke or earlier event, and then remember Bobby had no idea what it meant... but it was a good time overall. Eventually Bobby had looked up at the clock, and gotten up to leave, saying he was pretty sure his mom would be home soon and he should probably head back. PJ hadn't known how to react - no way was he going to do anything too mushy in front of Max. "Um, bye," he'd said. "Er..."
"I'll call ya later," Bobby replied, darting forward quickly to kiss him on the cheek, before dashing away. "Later Max!"
"See ya!" Max had laughed good-naturedly, while PJ stood there rooted to the spot, acutely aware that he was probably blushing bright red right now, and that he was definitely never going to live this down.

****************************************

He'd spent most of the rest of that evening at Max's. The conversation had eventually turned back to the subject of him and Bobby, and the whole confusing matter of liking people... somehow it felt a bit less awkward talking about it when it was just the two of them. Max had agreed to keep their secret and reiterated that while he was surprised about it (to which PJ had replied "tell me about it, man"), he was happy for them ("you know I don't care if you like guys or whatever, right? You're my best friend, nothing's gonna change that!" "...thanks, man."), and all the while PJ tried to hide how relieved he was, to not let on how much this meant to him. Then they'd talked about him and Roxanne, with Max apologizing for not being around much lately - which PJ had just laughed off and said it was nothing. Alright, he had been feeling kind of left out ever since Roxanne had come into the picture, but he knew how much this meant to Max - besides, now they were actually talking about it, everything suddenly felt alright again, just like it always did when they were together.

****************************************

The days passed by pleasantly in much the same way the previous weeks had, with PJ spending most of his time with Bobby. Sometimes he hung out with Max instead, or all three of them would hang out together - but more often than not, it was just him and Bobby. Some days they went out to places together, introducing each other to their favourite haunts, always making sure not to seem too close to one another in case anyone figured them out. Other times, like now, they just stayed in, so far always at Bobby's house; it was quieter there than at PJ's house, no nosy parents or annoying little sisters to worry about walking in on them.

PJ lay on his stomach on the floor of Bobby's bedroom, idly turning the pages of a comic book, a bag of potato chips open next to his arm. Bobby was sprawled sideways across his back, alternating between talking about nothing and fiddling with the multiple empty spray cheese cans that littered the floor, rolling them back and forth, his elbows nudging against PJ's sides every so often. A boombox sat a few inches away from the two, blasting out an eclectic variety of music; PJ made a mental note to bring some of his own tapes next time. Alright, Bobby's taste in music wasn't all bad (especially his collection of rock, both classic and more modern stuff), but the rest of it... well, it wasn't what PJ would've picked - particularly not the song that was currently playing...
"I wake up every mornin' with a smile upon my face! My natural exuberance spills out all over the place~" Bobby sang along, his accent clashing wildly with the singer's British one. PJ glanced over his shoulder at the other boy, unable to hide a smile.
"Dude, what IS this? Don't you have any music from this decade?" he teased.
"Hey man, don't knock the classss~ics!" Bobby retorted, giving him a look.
PJ snorted. "Whatever you say, dude. Where'd you even get this?"
"Yard sale!"
"Ch'yeah, like that's a surprise..."
Bobby just laughed in response, before stretching and shifting his position, scooting around until he was lying entirely on top of PJ, his chin resting on top of PJ's head, hands on his shoulders, necklace tapping against his neck. "What'cha readin'?"
"D-dude, get off me," he said, trying not to get flustered at the close contact. It wasn't fair; every time he thought he'd gotten used to Bobby always being so close and clingy, the other boy would go and do something like this and he'd be back to square one, feeling foolish and not knowing how to respond.
"Make me!"
"Oh, it's on-"
PJ rolled onto his side, and the two started fighting playfully, laughing and pushing at one another until they suddenly stopped mid-scuffle, looking at one another, PJ's hand still grasping Bobby's upper arm. There was a beat, then they both leaned in close, Bobby's hand reaching up and brushing against the back of PJ's head as they started to kiss, his glasses bumping up his face slightly. Just before the other boy could deepen the kiss, PJ suddenly pulled away and looked at Bobby, a light blush starting to spread across his face. "Dude, I can't take it seriously with this goin' in the background," he said, gesturing to the boombox still playing inches away from the two.
There was a pause, followed by the two of them dissolving into laughter once again. "'s fair, that's fair," Bobby eventually managed, adjusting his teashades, still chuckling quietly as he leaned across PJ to turn off the music, before turning back to him. "Now... where were we?" He pulled his glasses down slightly, looking over them at PJ and grinning in what PJ thought was probably meant to be a seductive way; he felt his face growing warmer, and - not for the first time - wondered how it was that Bobby could look so attractive even when he was being completely ridiculous.

****************************************

"No way, dude!"
"Aw c'mooooon, it'd be fun!"

"Ughhhh, no it wouldn't..." PJ leaned back in the swivel chair, which creaked slightly as he did so. He was supposed to be going over to Bobby's house today, but that morning he'd woken up and come downstairs to find his mother frantically rushing around the house in her smartest business suit, muttering to herself and stuffing papers into her briefcase. As soon as she'd spotted PJ standing in the doorway, she'd rushed over to him and explained at top-speed that something had come up at work, some important client or- or something, she was talking so fast he didn't catch all of the details - but he did clearly hear her say he had to stay at home and watch Pistol. He'd protested, trying to explain he already had plans for the day, but to no avail. "You can just invite your friend over here instead! Come on, sweetie, this is really important for me, and your dad's at work all day..." she had said, pleadingly, and of course he'd sighed and nodded and trooped back over to the phone to call Bobby and tell him about the change of plans. Bobby had been fine with it and had shown up about half an hour ago... and had promptly spent the next thirty minutes pestering him. Somehow he'd gotten it into his head that the two of them should go camping, an idea that PJ was... less than enthused about, to put it mildly.

"Yes it would! C'mon man! Just you 'n' me, becomin' 'one with nat-u-uuuureee' and all that crap!"
PJ rolled his eyes and made an impatient noise, before straightening up and shifting around to face Bobby, his arms folding over the back of the chair. The other boy was stretched out on PJ's bed, one arm behind his head, the other busy shaking a can of spray cheese. "Bobby, if you get cheese in my bed, I swear-"
"Relaaaaaaxx, Peej~" he replied lazily, before squirting the can into his mouth. "You wan' some?" he added, mouth full.
"No. Look, Bobby, it really isn't exciting - I mean I dunno what you've got in mind, but I've only ever been camping with my dad, and his idea of camping is kinda the opposite of- of whatever you're thinking. It's boring, okay?"
Bobby lay back, staring straight up, the hand holding the can now resting on his stomach. "There's little stars on your ceiling," he commented. "Mondo adorable, dude."
He didn't really know what to say to that. Maybe he's given up, he thought hopefully. "So, uh, anyway-"
"PJJJJJJ!!" a distant call came from some other part of the house, interrupting him. He winced; it was the second time in about ten minutes that Pistol had yelled like that. "PJ, can you-"
"Not right now, Pistol!" he yelled back, still kind of annoyed that he was stuck at home with her. He loved her, sure, but that didn't mean he had to spend every minute of the day with her.
"Dude, you should play with your little sister," Bobby said mildly, looking over at him.
"...But I'm- I mean- y'know, uh- well, you're here, and I, um..." he trailed off, unsure of what he was trying to say. It wasn't like they could do anything here, after all, not when any of his family could walk in on them suddenly.
"I don't mind." He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "We can hang other times. Like if we went camping together..."
PJ groaned. "Where would we even go, man? There's nowhere 'round here, and I'm pretty sure my mom wouldn't let us just go off out of town somewhere."
"I dunno, we could just like... set up a tent in one of our yards, right?" Bobby replied, gesturing vaguely with one hand for emphasis. "Maybe this weekend?"
PJ leaned forward in the chair a little, resting his head against his arms. "Bobby, I-"
His next words were cut off by the bedroom door slamming open, making him jump. "Pistol!" he yelled, flustered by the sudden interruption. "What'd I tell you about comin' into my room?!"
She wandered into the room happily, completely unfazed by his reaction, and began rambling at top speed. "Well I kept callin' you an' you weren't comin' out so I figured I'd come an' see what you were up to cuz it's boring downstairs and-" she cut off suddenly, stopping short when she spotted Bobby. "Oooooh, who's this?"
"Wh..." PJ blinked, then remembered the two hadn't met before - she'd been out in the garden doing something-or-other when Bobby had arrived, and they'd been upstairs since then. "Oh, right, yeah- uh, this is Bobby," he explained, feeling awkward. "He's, uh, M-Max and I met him at school."
"S'up?"
Pistol's eyes lit up, and she rushed up to Bobby, grabbing his hand and chattering away at him, her long ponytails bouncing up and down and punctuating each word, "Hi I'm Pistol wow I really like your hair hey can I try on your glasses hey hey you wanna play hairdressers or maybe sharks or-"
"Pistol, quit botherin' him!" PJ slid off the chair and went over to the two, looking over at Bobby, unsure of what his reaction would be. The other boy just looked confused, at least going off his slight frown and quirked eyebrows, but quickly shook his head in response.
"S'alright," he said, before turning to Pistol, "Uh- well you can't have my glasses, dude, I need 'em, but sure, you can play with my hair or whatever." He raised his spare hand and flicked the end of one of her ponytails with one finger, "Haha, hey, we kinda have the same hair colour."
Pistol beamed. "Yay! PJ never plays with me any more," she added, shooting her brother a dirty look, which he responded to by rolling his eyes again, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt creeping up on him. It wasn't that he wanted to ignore her, it was just that she was so much younger than him, and she always just wanted to do boring little kid stuff, or- or girl stuff, like now. He'd never been that good at playing her games, even when he did try.
"Aw, forget him. Listen, sweets, you go 'n' get everything set up and I'll be there in a secondo, a'ight?" She nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer, and dashed off out of the room again, giggling to herself. PJ watched her leave, then turned back to Bobby.
"...She's just gonna put ribbons in your hair, you know."
He just shrugged in response. PJ sighed and sat down next to him on the bed, feeling a weird, confusing mix of emotions - annoyed that Pistol was stealing his friend, annoyed with himself for ignoring her in the first place and for feeling jealous over such a stupid, petty thing... but at the same time, he was pleased that Bobby was being nice to his baby sister. Okay, he was nice to everyone, but still.
Bobby poked him in the arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. "So like, about what I said before..."
PJ sighed, burying his face in one hand; obviously he wasn't getting out of this one. "FINE, I'll do it, but we're doin' it at your place, okay?!"
"Alriiiiiight!" He tugged PJ's hand away from his face, interlacing their fingers together and squeezing briefly - eliciting a squeak from him - before getting up, still holding onto his hand. "C'mon, man, if I've gotta have ribbons in my hair then you do too," he said, grinning.
Yeah, probably shoulda seen that coming. "Okay, okay..." PJ replied, feigning annoyance despite the smile quickly spreading across his face, and allowed himself to be lead out of the room.

****************************************

It wasn't until after Bobby had gone home that PJ realized what he'd agreed to. Camping meant sleeping, as in sleeping over, as in just the two of them, alone, in a tent. He might not have dated anyone before, but he wasn't naive - he knew it meant something when you invited your boyfriend over to spend the night. At least, it definitely did with a guy and a girl... was it the same if it was two guys? Was he just overthinking it? It was all so confusing.

He told his parents about it over dinner that night, half-hoping they'd find some reason to forbid him from going, but his mom was delighted at the prospect of him spending time with a new friend, and his dad was delighted by the thought of having one less kid in the house overnight, even offering to lend him a tent. PJ supposed he could still lie and say they had refused, but he'd never been very good at lying. He didn't want to lie to Bobby, anyway. At one point he almost considered asking Max to tag along - it definitely wouldn't mean anything if he was there too - but then he thought about how he'd feel if Max asked him to play third wheel to him and Roxanne, and discarded the idea immediately. Besides, he didn't need to ask anyone for help, he could do this... whatever "this" turned out to be.

****************************************

The rest of the week passed by in a blur, and before PJ could blink, it was Saturday. He arrived at Bobby's late in the afternoon, feeling an odd mix of excitement and trepidation as he pressed the doorbell. Not even a minute later, the door swung open and Bobby was there, chattering excitedly and snatching the duffle bag he'd brought with him out of his hands and dumping it on the floor inside - PJ couldn't help but smile, in spite of how nervous he was. "I see someone's excited."
"Yeah, man, I've been waitin' for this all week! 'Kay, so, I was thinkin'-"
A loud BRRRIIIIIIINNNGGG interrupted him; he looked over at the phone hanging a few inches away, his ears pricked slightly at the noise. "One sec, lemme answer this."
PJ nodded in response, following Bobby and hovering nearby as he picked up the landline, unsure of what else to do.
"'Sup? Oh- hey Mom! Yeah, I'm fine- yeah, he just showed up," Bobby answered, resting the phone between his ear and shoulder. "So- oh- oh, uh, okay," he continued, and PJ couldn't help but look over curiously; his tone had suddenly changed completely, going from upbeat to quiet in a few seconds. He picked up the phone and switched to holding it in the other hand, his shoulders slumping as he did so. "No- no, it's totally cool, I get it, don't w- s'okay. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Uh, bye. You too," he added quickly, before returning the phone to its cradle.
"Dude?" He had only heard one half of the conversation, but he could guess at what had been said. "Um.. you okay?" he asked tentatively, feeling uncomfortable, like he was intruding on something. After a few seconds, Bobby looked over, slowly, as if he hadn't fully heard him.
"Oh- yeah, uh, that was my mom. She's-" he shrugged, his voice slightly too casual, "Just her work again- they're keepin' her in 'til really late, so.. y'know. Guess we got the whole place to ourselves tonight, haha!"
"O-oh." PJ wasn't sure how else to respond. He could tell Bobby was bothered by his mother's frequent absences, but he didn't want to force him to talk about it or anything... it wasn't like either of them could do anything about it, after all. He paused, then reached over and took Bobby's hand, figuring that was better than nothing. The other boy just looked at him for a second, then smiled, rubbing his thumb along the back of PJ's hand as a silent 'thank you' as he turned to face him fully.
"Alriiiiight, so!" he started again, his voice still slightly too loud, but more natural sounding than it had been a second ago, "Since it's just us, that means we gotta make our own plans for food, so like, I could cook, or-"
"You can cook?" PJ cut across him, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I can make mac 'n' cheese."
"Of course."
Bobby ignored him. "And waffles- kinda. But I figured we could get a pizz~aaaaa~~!" he sang the last part, pointing triumphantly in the air with his free hand for emphasis.
PJ laughed. "Sounds good to me, dude."

****************************************

By the time the pizza arrived, PJ had just about finished setting up the tent in the back yard - not too difficult since it was a pop-up one, just requiring a minute or two to unfold - it had taken longer to unpack and set out the sleeping bags, and change into the t-shirt and shorts he'd packed for sleepwear. He sat down in the opening of the tent, watching the sky as the day turned from afternoon to evening, only looking away when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Pizza's here, dude," Bobby said, his head poking around the two boxes he was carrying, resting them under his chin. He flopped down next to PJ, tossing the boxes on the grass in front of them and pulling out a slice.
"Pff, you sure you got enough?"
He tore a strip of cheese off with his teeth before answering, "Dude, 's pizza. 's no such thing as 'too much'."
"I dunno, man..."
He held the half-eaten slice away from PJ, pretending to cover its nonexistent ears. "Don't listen to him, dude, he didn't mean that," he said to it.
PJ snickered and elbowed him in the chest; Bobby just laughed and leaned against him, his head resting on PJ's shoulders, making his breath hitch at the sudden physical contact. "D-dude..." he muttered, pulling away.
"What?"
"Someone could see..." he muttered, glancing around nervously.
"But there's no one... oh, right, yeah." Bobby scooted away from him, coughing awkwardly and staring at the grass. "Uh, sorry," he mumbled, as he tugged at one sleeve; the nightshirt he was wearing was slightly oversized, enough so that it kept sliding down on one side, exposing his shoulder.
The two sat in silence for a minute, PJ internally chastising himself for making things weird again. Eventually he cleared his throat and said, "Um- it's getting dark pretty early tonight, huh?"
"Wh- oh, yeah, you're right," Bobby replied, glancing up at the rapidly-darkening sky before turning back to PJ. "Hey, Peej, you wanna move this inside, dude?" he asked, gesturing behind them into the tent, his sleeve sliding down his shoulder again with the motion; PJ stared at it for a second before he realized what he was doing, his gaze quickly snapping back up to meet Bobby's - well, not eyes, glasses - as a blush spread across his face.
"Uh- s-sure, just don't drop any. My dad'll kill me if I get anything on his tent."

****************************************

It all happened so suddenly.

A few hours later, the two were sitting close together, joking around and swapping stories, the pizza boxes long since discarded in the corner of the tent. PJ was laughing at something Bobby had said, when out of the blue-

KRAKBOOM!!!

He jumped as the loud crack of thunder cut sharply through the air, followed swiftly by the sound of rain beating down on the canvas sides of the tent with rapidly increasing intensity. "Geez!" PJ patted the fur on his arms, trying to flatten it again, the sudden noise having caused it to stand on end. "Ugh, I hate it when this happens... wow, it's really raining out there, huh?" No reply; he looked up. "Bobby?" The other boy was sitting there, frozen to the spot. "...Dude? You okay?" PJ reached over and tapped his arm. "Dude, you're shivering."
"Huh?" He sounded vague, distracted. "Oh, no, uh- no, 's nothing dude." He sat up straighter, stretching his arms out behind him. "Really, I just-"
The next clap of thunder was even louder than the last; Bobby shot forward, clinging onto PJ, his fingers digging in hard. He was shaking badly...
Realization washed over PJ. "Dude, you're scared of thunder?"
"N-no," Bobby managed, his voice cracking, just before yet another wave of thunder boomed over them, causing him to bury his face in PJ's chest.
"You are..." PJ said quietly, without thinking about it.

For a moment, the two just stayed like that, while PJ tried frantically to think of what to do. He hadn't even anticipated the storm, let alone this. He wasn't even sure that he could move right now - Bobby was clamped onto him so tightly that it was actually starting to be painful - but he had to do something to fix the situation; it was obvious the storm wasn't going to clear up any time soon, given how fast the rain was coming down now. "Um- uh, maybe we should go in," he suggested eventually. "I-I mean, it'd prolly be at least a little better in there than out here, right?"
The other boy looked up at this. His glasses were half hanging off, his eyes wide with fear. He nodded slowly, relaxing his grip a little, enough to allow PJ to move his arms at least. PJ raised a hand and gently pushed the dark teashades back into place - it seemed pointless, given how dark it was likely to be outside, but he figured it was easiest - one less thing to worry about, this way. "Okay, okay, umm... hang on," he said, aware he was rambling slightly, his mind working rapidly. Can't stay in here- gotta go back inside- where should I sleep? The couch? No- can't leave him alone like this- prolly freak out his Mom too when she gets back- his room?
"Okay," PJ repeated, more to himself than anything. "Okay, lemme just..." He pulled away completely and turned, rolling up one of the sleeping bags as quickly as possible, his hands fumbling, then stood up, tucking it under one arm and holding the other out to Bobby. "C'mon."
"...'kay." Still shaking, he got to his feet, taking the offered hand and allowing PJ to lead him out of the tent (PJ worrying briefly about how his dad would react if anything happened to it, but pushing the thought away as much as he could - no, that doesn't matter now, shut up brain, this is more important), across the yard and back into the house. The sky was indeed pitch black, or near enough - dark for a summer night - with flashes of lightning here and there. They had only been in the rain for seconds, probably not even a full minute, and yet they were still both fairly wet - not soaked, but enough to be uncomfortable. PJ let go and leaned against the kitchen counter, catching his breath.
"We should dry off," Bobby said suddenly, his voice still shaking a little. "Uh- I'll meet you upstairs, 'kay?" He didn't wait for a reply, walking quickly out of the room.

PJ waited a few minutes, figuring he might want some time to compose himself or whatever, then went up after him. He checked inside the bathroom and found it to be empty; guessing Bobby had already moved to the bedroom, he grabbed a towel and quickly dried himself off, then clicked the light off and made his way to the bedroom himself, going right in since the door had been left ajar.
"I'm here," he said unnecessarily, then immediately felt stupid. "Uh- obviously, I guess." He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the light, or lack thereof; the room was dark, save for a small portion of dim light filtering through a crack in the curtains, which (from what he could see) looked as though they'd been wrenched shut quickly and carelessly. He could just about make out Bobby's silhouette - he was sitting on the bed with his knees drawn to his chest, watching him silently. PJ frowned, his ears drooping slightly at the sight. It was so weird seeing Bobby like this - usually he barely ever shut up, but now... PJ looked down at the floor, feeling uncomfortable again.
"I- I think we should just try 'n' sleep," he mumbled, crossing the room and stopping a few inches away from the bed. He pulled the sleeping bag from under his arm and shook it out quickly, before setting it down on the floor and getting in; a rustling noise from the direction of the bed suggested Bobby was following suit. PJ lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. "'Night."
"Oh, uh- 'night."

The two lay there in awkward, uncomfortable silence - that is, if you didn't count the rain continuing to pour down outside, thunder still crashing every now and then, only slightly quieter than when the storm had first broke. PJ wasn't sure how much time passed before he heard the rustle of bedsheets again.
"Hey, uh, dude? You okay down there?" the other boy asked, his voice barely higher than a whisper, although somehow it didn't seem quite as odd as before. It was still a sleepover, after all - it wasn't so unusual to stay up all night whispering back and forth.
"Um, yeah?" PJ whispered back, not entirely understanding what he was getting at.
"Oh." A pause. "Um, cause, I was just thinkin', y'know- I-I mean, if you wanted to, you could, uh, come up here?"
He frowned into the darkness, still not getting it. "What?"
"Y'know- get in bed. Uh, with me. We- we could share it, haha, I don't mind," Bobby said, his voice raising slightly, again that too-casual tone, his laughter high and unnatural. PJ blinked, then his eyes widened as the penny dropped.
"Wha-" He felt his face burn, his head exploding with thoughts, each of them screaming at him all at once. He rolled onto his side, trying not to freak out and just focus on one thing. "Dude," he managed, almost hissing it he was so nervous, "We can't- I'm too- y- we wouldn't both fit." His face flushed even more at this admission.
"No- no, it'd be okay, I'm sure, we- we could just-" He cut off abruptly, his voice cracking on the last word. "...please?"
It was just one syllable, but something about the way he said it made PJ sit up, properly looking over at the bed. Bobby was sitting up, still half under the covers, the thin, distant strip of light coming through the window from the streetlights below enough to read his expression by - he was still terrified, shaking, his eyes no longer covered at all by the usual dark glasses. Somehow the sight was enough to drown out the thoughts still crowding his mind and fighting for his attention. He should've realized it before - he's scared, you idiot, of course he doesn't want to be alone.

"...Okay." PJ crawled out of the sleeping bag and moved over to the bed, standing next to it, unsure of how to proceed from here. Bobby looked up at him briefly, gratefully, then pushed the covers aside and scooted over to the foot of the bed, leaving as much space as possible for him to get in - which wasn't much, given it was a small, old, somewhat rickety single bed, but it wasn't like they really had any other option. PJ climbed and pulled the blanket over himself carefully, so he didn't pull it out from under Bobby. The other boy looked over then, checking he was done, before carefully picking his way back to the top of the bed on all fours - and then stumbling, his legs tangling up with each other or something, and landed on top of PJ, his face hitting his chest with a soft fwump. Bobby quickly raised his head - enough for them to make eye contact, at least. He was still shaking. "Peej," he started - before yet another bolt of thunder sounded from above, the room lighting up briefly as lightning flashed outside the window. Whatever else Bobby was going to say was lost in a frightened squeak, his hands tensing and clinging onto PJ's shirt again, hair falling into his eyes as he buried his face into the other boy's chest once more.
PJ paused, then - deciding to trust his instincts, for once - slowly, gently lifted a hand up and threaded it into Bobby's hair, pushing it back and pressing a kiss to his forehead, his other arm curling protectively around him. He wasn't sure if this was helping, but it felt right. "I'm here," PJ murmured again, wrapping his other arm around him, "it's alright, Bobby, okay? It's alright."
"...thanks, Peej." The reply was soft, muffled against his shirt, but that didn't matter. For a few seconds they lay there like that, neither saying a word, before PJ moved one arm and drew the covers back.
"C'mon, dude, get in here."
He did so, both boys moving and rearranging themselves to try and both fit in, until they reached something that worked - Bobby lying halfway across PJ, their legs tangling together, both holding onto each other as the storm continued to howl outside. It wasn't perfect and it wasn't really that comfortable, but neither cared that much.

Once in a while
Two people meet
Seemingly for no reason, they just pass on the street
Suddenly thunder, showers everywhere
Who can explain the thunder and rain
But there's something in the air
- The Pretenders

Author's Note: The song Bobby listens to is "I'm the Urban Spaceman" by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.