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Huey felt, rather than saw, someone crawl into his bed. The bed had dipped down, and the covers had moved. Huey panics for a second, thinking it's some intruder, but before he can sit up, he hears a sob.
Louie often came to Huey's bed at night when he was upset. Often, Louie felt he couldn't come to people during the day, said it made him feel vulnerable. Louie had told him this, once, while he had nuzzled into his chest, crying about...something that had happened that day. Huey really couldn't remember it, just how Louie had nuzzled against his chest, and sighed as Huey rubbed circles into his back.
Huey has a love/hate relationship with these moments. Love, as he's glad that Louie comes to him for comfort, which only leads back to why he hates it. Louie's pretty perceptive, so Huey fears that one time, while they're like this, he's going to look up and see the adoration in his eyes and realize that the feelings Huey has for him aren't all familial.
Because he can be mature and admit he has feelings for Louie. Admit sometimes he looks at his brother and thinks he's the cutest thing in the world. Really. He's also a good enough brother to resist his non-brotherly urges. Like when he feels the itch in his hand to hold Louie's hand. He ignores it. And then he banishes that thought from his mind. Really. He does.
Right now, though, those thoughts are hard to ignore when Louie is right there. When he's touching Huey and letting out his feelings like this. More than anything, Huey wants to pull him closer and let him rest his on his chest. But Huey knows if he tries that, he might scare Louie away. So he just listens to Louie sobbing beside, clinging to him slightly.
"W-why would she...? I-I said I was sorry...I didn't mean to..." Huey knows what he's talking about. How could he not? Huey had been there while Della had disciplined Louie. And Huey would be lying if he said the way she handled it was okay. Yelling had always shut Louie down. Made him defensive. That's why Uncle Donald had stopped doing it. It never worked. Grounding him was fine, but taking away Louie Inc.? The most important thing in Louie's life right now? Huey had wanted to say something, but going against his mom always seemed like a bad idea. She was their mom after all, and he knew how important it was to her to be some sort of figure in their life. But still...
Huey wraps his arms around Louie, pulling him closer. He waits to see if he'll try to squirm, but he doesn't. Louie actually tries to get closer, putting his head against Huey's neck. Huey glances down at him, to see that Louie's eyes are red and puffy. Like he's been crying a lot longer than he's been here. He probably has, probably contemplated if he should bother Huey while he was sleeping. Huey just felt more sympathetic than, wants to pull him closer, if he could. Instead, he just lets Louie cry into his shoulder, let him let everything out.
"Does she hate me? Is that why-"
"Louie, that's not why she grounded you. I promise." Huey moves back a bit, so he can look Louie in the face. "She was just really upset." Louie doesn't look convinced, but he doesn't argue with Huey. He's looking at him in a...weird way. Searching his face. Huey could feel himself blush at the attention, and he began internally freaking out. He was going to figure it out, and he was never going to talk to Huey again-
Louie didn't do any of that, just makes a move to get closer to Huey. Huey feels like his face is burning, like he could die of embarrassment. Instead, Huey closes his eyes and leans over and kisses Louie on the forehead because it's the only thing he can think of to do. Louie makes a noise of surprise, and Huey thinks it's really, really adorable. When Huey opens his eyes again and looks at Louie, his brother's face is dusted pink, like he's embarrassed as well. Huey's kinda glad he's not the only one awkward in this situation, as Louie can't seem to look him in the face.
"Can I...sleep here tonight? If you don't mind?" Huey smiles, and pulls Louie close.
"Of course." And the next thing Huey knows, Louie is snuggling against his chest, and already halfway to sleep, it seems. Huey just laughs softly, and pulls the blanket over the two of them to sleep.