Under Age

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Summary: Don Eppes is 21 and visits his 16 year old brother Charlie at Princeton. A night out gets both of them in trouble. Warning: spanking of a teenager / young adult, no slash

Supergirl, this story is for you. I am sorry I could not make it adult Don and Larry. I tried but that just didn't work. I hope you like this anyway and maybe I get an idea for a follow up later.

Chapter 2 will be up Saturday at the latest.

I don't own CBS, Numb3rs or any of the characters.

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Princeton's Professor Larry Fleinhardt critically eyed his favorite student. 16 year old Charles Eppes was the youngest and brightest he had ever taught but during today's seminar the kid was uncharacteristically distracted. He had been fidgeting; playing with his pager and twice when called upon failed to provide an answer of any sort.

"What do you say, Mr. Eppes?" the professor tried for a third time to engage the young man.

Charlie Eppes gave him a 'deer in the headlights' look. "Uhm, sorry Professor, what was the question?"

"I asked you to give your opinion to the last 20 minutes of discussion you have obviously not paid attention to." The Professor gave him a disapproving look and continued sternly, "I'd like to see you after class, Mr. Eppes."

Charlie blushed bright red while the other students snickered. It was very uncommon for the wunderkind they all had come to like and respect over the years to be reprimanded like that. However, an unusually grim glare from their normally so jovial professor sobered the whole group quickly.

Luckily the seminar was over a few minutes later and everybody trickled out. Charlie approached his mentor and friend who had sat down behind his desk a bit apprehensively. He knew he was in trouble but hoped it wasn't enough to warrant more than a lecture from Larry. None of his fellow students knew but the outwardly often chaotic professor had taken on a fatherly role for the young genius and provided what any teenager needed regardless of their intellect – support, guidance and occasionally correction.

Larry looked at his charge and neutrally asked, "What is going on, Charles?"

Expecting a lecture Charlie Eppes was thrown of a bit by the question, "Well, uhm … you know about parent's weekend starting tomorrow?" he asked needlessly. The professor had a hard time not to roll his eyes but limited himself to a nod and a kind, "Yes, I was looking forward to meeting your Mom and Dad again. We made plans for lunch on Sunday after the public lecture you are helping me with, remember?"

Charlie blushed a bit before continuing, "Uh, yeah … well they can't make it. My Dad hurt his foot yesterday. It's not serious but he isn't allowed to walk so he needs my Mom to stay with him. Don is coming instead."

Larry tried to gauge his student's mood. He had never met the elder Eppes son but from the stories he had been told over the years he surmised that Charlie idolized his older brother but was unsure if Don actually wanted to be around him. So he just carefully responded, "I see. Do you not want your brother to come?"

"Oh, yeah, I do. It'll be fun to hang out with him." Charlie said and then somewhat hesitantly continued, "I just don't know if he sees it the same way."

With a warm smile on his face the professor answered, "I am sure he is looking forward to spending time with you. You two haven't lived together for a long time and you aren't the kid brother that graduated High School the same year anymore. Maybe this is an opportunity for the two of you to reconnect again on a different level? And if he gives you a hard time, you come to me, ok?"

At that Charlie really looked him in the eyes for the first time and smiled. As always Larry made him feel so much better when he was insecure about how people viewed him.

"Now, as for today …" the professor continued his tone becoming sterner.

"Yeah, I am really sorry about that. I should have paid better attention." Charlie hurried to apologize.

"I understand. Nonetheless, I want you to go through chapter 7 and give me a 5 page summary plus answers to all questions at the end of the chapter. You can turn that in on Sunday when we do the Exhibit."

"But Larry, please …" Charlie started to whine.

"Oh no, no discussion or I might change my mind about punishing you." The professor gave his student a pointed look.

Charlie turned to the door to storm of and petulantly grumbled under his breath, "Sounds already like a punishment to me."

"Young man, stop right there." Larry thundered and quickly walked up behind him. His hand connected solidly with Charlie's backside twice before he started to scold, "This is the chapter we covered in class today. If you don't review it, you will not be able to follow next week either. I am making you do this, so you don't fall behind – not as a punishment."

His young student blushed and mumbled, "Sorry sir. I know."

"Alright," Larry put an arm around his shoulders and walked him out of the room, "I hope you'll enjoy the time with your brother and stop by my office some time so I can meet him if you like. And if there is anything you need you know where to find me, ok?"

"Ok." Charlie Eppes found his smile again and duck out from under his mentor's arm. He was now truly looking forward to spending the weekend with Don.

The next day – Friday – found a very restless Charlie Eppes who had trouble sitting through his only lecture of the day. All afternoon classes were cancelled since families would be arriving for Parent's Weekend. After class Charlie finished his homework and started on the extra assignment Larry had given him but decided to take a break just when his cell phone rang.

"Hey Don, I thought you were still in the air?" he answered eagerly.

"Hey Chuck," Don laughed a little at his baby brothers excitement; "I was lucky and got an earlier connection from JFK to Philadelphia. I already picked up the rental car and should be there in 40 minutes."

"Cool, are you hungry?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, starving."

"Alright, why don't I meet you right on Lincoln in front of the Starbucks then? We can go to dinner and you don't need to try and find my dorm room." Charlie proposed.

"Sounds good. I'll call you when I am about 10 minutes away."

The brothers hung up. Don was still smiling about Charlie being so obviously happy to see him. They had not seen each other much apart from Christmas breaks in the last few years. Granted when they were still in school together it had been tough sometimes. Occasionally he had resented Charlie for all the attention he was getting and hadn't always been nice to him. But now – three years later – he wished he had enjoyed his little brother's company a bit more. So maybe this trip was a new beginning.

Charlie on the other hand bounced around in his dorm room – all school work completely forgotten – desperately trying to find something "cool" to wear. But then something clicked and he just put on the first thing he saw. Being around his popular brother had always made him feel like a geek but this time he was determined to just enjoy his company and stop thinking about what Don thought of him. Back when he was a freshman Larry had taught him to win the respect and affection of his classmates by being himself instead of trying to please others. It had worked then so why wouldn't it work now? Besides it had been so long since they spend any time together and by now he could understand why his brother was sometimes annoyed by having him around. It was time to turn a new leaf.

When Don arrived in Princeton the brothers spend a nice evening together. They had dinner and then ran into a few of Charlie's friends who were all about Don's age. Despite being a bit apprehensive about hanging out with the "smart kids" Don found he enjoyed their company. Charlie and his friends kept the math talk to a minimum and before they knew it, it was almost midnight and everyone said their good buys.

The brothers had decided to ditch the hotel room their parents had booked and just spend the night at Charlie's dorm room.

The next day Charlie dragged Don all around campus to show him everything – taking extra time for the athletics facilities – and check out various "Parent Weekend" activities. Don good naturedly led his brother take the lead appreciating that Charlie tried to stick to things he knew Don liked. In the late afternoon Charlie made his way to Larry Fleinhardt's office with Don in tow.

Don had already heard a lot about Professor Fleinhardt and felt a bit out of his element speaking to a Princeton professor. So he turned to teasing his brother, "I am not going to hear any complaints about you, am I?" he asked with mock strictness.

Charlie blushed. Obviously his brother could not know about his relationship with Larry but the question left him a bit flustered. "Ha, ha, I am not you." was his lame comeback as he opened the door.

Larry smiled at the two boys coming in trying to read their mood which seemed fine to him.

"Professor Fleinhardt, I'd like you to meet my brother Donald Eppes." Charlie introduced. Larry tried unsuccessfully to hide a chuckle at the unusual formality. He held out his hand to the elder Eppes, "It is very nice to meet you. I hope you had a good trip and your father is doing ok with his injury."

Don shook his hand, "Thank you professor. My dad is fine, just a bit immobile. Both of my parents are sorry they could not be here and I am supposed to tell you that they are looking forward to having lunch with you next time."

"Oh, that is quite alright. Maybe you and Charles want to join me for lunch tomorrow. It'd be my pleasure to take you out." Larry offered.

Don looked a bit unsure at his brother. The prospect of spending so much time with a professor was not necessarily something he was looking forward to – even though this one seemed nice. But at the hopeful expression in his brother's face he just said, "It'd be our pleasure, Professor Fleinhardt."

"If you like you can call me Larry. Your brother does too usually when we are not in class and he isn't trying to make an impression." Larry could not help laughing a bit.

"I'd like that." Don said finally relaxing and laughing as well at Charlie's sheepish expression.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Larry asked.

Now it was Charlie's turn to chime in, "Well there is a baseball game in half an hour I though we'd go to and then I guess have some dinner in town."

"That sounds nice. And I see you at 10 tomorrow then?"

Charlie nodded as Don inquired, "What is at ten?"

"Oh sorry, I thought Mom and Dad told you. Larry is giving a public lecture for Parents Weekend on basic physics laws tomorrow and I am helping with the experiments. It's only an hour and you don't have to come if you don't want … " Charlie trailed of a bit insecure. He just wanted his brother to enjoy this weekend and was afraid the prospect of a lecture would bore him.

"Why wouldn't I come, Chuck? I like experiments and I want to see you on stage." Don asked with a grin. He knew his brother was trying his hardest to be accommodating and hoped he'd relax a bit more around him.

Larry observed the exchange and thought to himself, 'Whatever happened in the past with these two. They are going to be fine.' Out loud he said, "Great. I see both of you tomorrow at the lecture then and later we'll go to lunch."

Don and Charlie said their good buys and headed out. At the Baseball game Don could tell that Charlie got a bit bored about half way through as he tried not to ramble on about the math involved. He promised himself that he'd make sure that his kid brother had a good time that night after making it through the whole game without a complaint just to please him.

So afterwards they called their parents to say Hello, changed in Charlie's dorm room and went into the town for dinner which was spent with amicable chatter. Later Don proposed to go to another bar for a few rounds of pool or air hockey which Charlie happily agreed to.

During their third game Don caught Charlie eyeing a group of four girls. They looked a bit younger than himself – maybe Freshmen or Sophomores - and one might have been a younger sister of one of the girls about Charlie's age. He grinned at his brother, "So you like what you are seeing."

Charlie blushed and didn't really say anything.

"Do you want to go over and talk to them?" Don proposed.

"Nooooo!" Charlie blushed a bit more.

"Why not?" Don asked.

The younger Eppes shrugged, "I don't know. I just don't want to. Let's finish this and go back."

Don really wanted Charlie to enjoy himself so he continued to push, "Oh come on, it'll be fun. We are just saying hello."

"Leave me alone, Don. I don't want to but you can go. I'll just go home by myself." Charlie replied his tone tense.

Don put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "You don't have to and I am not leaving you alone. I am here to spend time with you and not to pick up girls. I just thought you'd have fun but if you don't then let's just continue playing."

"Oh, ok." Charlie felt a bit stupid for reacting so strongly. The truth was that he would have liked to talk to the girls – especially the younger one – but he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his brother.

"Hey, you want some of this?" Don held out his beer to him grinning.

Charlie grinned back and took the peace offering, discovering to his surprise that he actually liked the taste.

"So you are an Eppes after all." Don laughed. Of course he knew that giving his 16 year old brother beer wasn't the smartest idea but he just wanted the kid to relax.

As they went on playing pool Don noticed that Charlie "secretly" continued to take sips of his beer here and there. He smiled to himself and decided to let it go.

A little later Charlie all of the sudden looked at him and said, "You know I actually did want to talk to them. I was just chicken I guess."

Don tried not to laugh – apparently the alcohol had washed away some of his brothers shyness – and just said kindly, "You know that's normal, right? The trick is to not go into it with too many expectations. You are just smiling, saying hello and introducing yourself. If you don't get a good reaction you can move away and no harm done."

Charlie seemed to think his words over and nodded.

"They are still here. Do you want to give it a try?" Don asked neutrally.

"Yeah but I bet it'll be weird if they realize I go to school here and …" Charlie trailed of not wanting to reveal too many insecurities to his brother.

"Well there is no reason to say so right away. They'll probably just assume that I go to school here and you are my brother visiting? Come on, let's do this. It'll be fun." Don flashed him a quick smile and without giving Charlie any more time to think put a hand on his back and guided him over to the bar table the girls were occupying.

To Charlie's amazement it went really smooth. The girls were really nice and easy to talk to. The brothers were surprised to discover that the younger girl – Alicia – was indeed the sister of one of the older girls as they had assumed but also a Princeton Freshmen herself.

Charlie caught snippets of Don's conversation with her older sister Marie and heard her laugh, "Yeah it's weird to be in the same grade as your 16 year old sister but if she continues going the speed she is she'll probably be ahead of me next year."

It surprised him that there was no resentment in her voice and he was even more surprised when he heard Don's answer, "Yeah I know how that feels. This one here surpassed me long ago in school but after I realized that he still needs me as his big brother it stopped bothering me and I was actually pretty proud of the little 'genius'."

With a smile Charlie turned his attention back to Alicia and they continued chatting about classes and teachers and what it was like to be so much younger than your classmates. Charlie really liked this girl and wondered what it would be like to kiss her. This was a great evening and when the girls mentioned a party they had been invited to he was eager to agree to come along.

However before he could say anything Don leaned over to him and asked him so the girls couldn't hear, "Are you up for this? You have had some beer. Maybe we should call it a night?"

"No, Don. Please let's go. I didn't have that much." Charlie almost begged not wanting the night to end.

"Alright. Just do me a favor and stay close to me." Don agreed.

So they went to the party which seemed both fun and safe as far as college parties go. Unbeknownst to Don Charlie actually managed to get his hands on some mixed drinks which he shared with Alicia – his promise to stay close to his brother long forgotten. He hoped he could work up the courage for a good night kiss this way. But before he had the chance Marie noticed both of them getting pretty drunk and decided it was better to leave. She gave them enough room to exchange phone numbers but a kiss was out of the question. After saying good night to Don and whispering something in his ear she put an arm around Alicia's shoulders and led her out.

After they left Don turned to Charlie and just said, "I am glad you had fun but I think we better go too."

Not really seeing a reason to stay after they girls were gone Charlie just nodded and allowed Don to usher him back to his dorm room where he fell onto his bed in clothes utterly exhausted. Don had to smile to himself at how young his brother looked just then. He took of his shoes and helped him out of the jeans before waking him up just enough to have him drink a glass of water and take an aspirin as a precaution. But he did feel a tinge of guilt about his brother's drinking and planned to have chat with him the next day.

The next morning Don woke up to the sounds of Charlie throwing up in the bathroom. He rushed to his side but there wasn't much he could do but put a cold towel on his brother's neck and rub his back until it was over. He felt even worse for starting this by giving Charlie beer the night before. After helping Charlie stand to brush his teeth he got out more water and aspirin and offered both to his younger brother who gratefully accepted.

After they settled back in the room Charlie asked coarsely, "What time is it?"

"About ten thirty or ten forty five I think." Don answered.

Charlie looked at his watch to confirm the exact time and groaned, "I am so dead."

Don looked at him confused and then remembered, "Oh buddy, I am so sorry. Your lecture with Larry."

"I need to go talk to him." Charlie jumped up and frantically dashed around the room trying to find some clothes.

Don got up and stilled him for a moment, "Hey, do you want me to come with you? This is my fault. I shouldn't have given you beer and should have made sure we came back at a decent time."

"No, no it'll be alright." Charlie sent him a fake smile.

"You sure?" Don asked worried.

"Yeah and it's not your fault. I got more to drink at the party from someone I know." Charlie admitted

"No kidding, Sherlock. I worked that one out for myself." Don grinned at him to lighten the mood, "You think you'll be in a lot of trouble?"

"I don't know." Charlie replied honestly, "This was just a favor, not for credit or anything, but Larry will be disappointed I let him down." Charlie did not intend on letting his brother know how he feared Larry would show his disappointment – but on the other hand maybe he'd get off lightly this time. After all Larry only needed to know that he had overslept and that can happen to anyone, right?

"I am sorry, buddy." Don said with a sympathetic grimace, "and you are sure I shouldn't come with you?"

"No, I'll be fine. But I better get going."

"Alright, I'll take a shower and see you later."