darkness

It all started with a game of Sardines (which is basically reverse hide-n-seek)...I was the next one to hide, but the boy wanted to hide too. So, we hid together. In the pantry. Mind you, all of the lights in the house are off, and everyone else is outside on the porch waiting for us to be hidden. Here we are, sitting on the floor of the, in total darkness.
He asks, "Is your heart pounding?"

I respond, "Yeah!", and tell him to hold up his hand, which I take, and place on my corottid artery (the vein in your neck) so that he could feel my heartbeat, which by this point is pounding. Out of not liking the dark and the anticipation of being found, among other things.
He says, "Holy cow, yeah, me too."

I don't like the dark. So what does he do? He takes my left hand, and holds it tight for the rest of that"hide out" and doesn't let go.