The Rose

by HeroxPartnerfan96

It's amazing how a simple car song during a family vacation can cause feelings you never knew you held to surface. Brian finally realises his feelings for Stewie. Between the Griffin family struggling to find a way home once they realise that he's missing and Stewie believing he has lost his family, will those feelings ever be revealed? Brewie, set during episode 4X07

The Rose

It was safe to say that this was going to be a long driving trip as the red car slowly cruised down the road with the packed bags strapped on top of the roof, with Peter behind the steering wheel, Lois in the passenger seat beside him, and Chris, Meg and Brian all sitting in the back, with Brian reading a book he had brought along with him to pass the time; the Griffin family were taking a vacation to the Grand Canyon, and judging from the distance they had spanned so far, it was safe to say that they still had a long distance way to go before they arrived at their destination. As there seemed to be nothing but silence in the car, Lois turned her head to Brian as he had his glance down at his book, obviously invested in what he was reading. "Brian, could you do me a favour and check on Stewie for me?" she asked, with an expression of concern showing on her face; she was aware of how exhausted Stewie was when she went to wake him up and put him in the car, and she had promised him that he could sleep on the trip, so she just wanted to be certain that he was okay. Brian turned his glance to the booster seat just beside him and noticing the blanket covered on it, he lifted his head up to Lois.

"Don't worry, he's fine. The little guy's sound asleep." Brian stated, before turning his attention back to his book. Lois showed a smile of relief at this response, obviously glad to hear that the youngest of their children had been doing alright so far. In spite of the earlier punch up Peter had with Quagmire, it was safe to say that things had been going well during their drive so far. However, it seemed that it was starting to get a bit boring as well, since Chris was close to dozing off and Meg had resorted to looking out her window to see the world outside and watching everything passing by. Apparently taking notice of that, Peter showed a bright smile as he seemed to have an idea.

"Hey, everyone! What do you say we listen to some driving music?" Peter suggested. This seemed to catch everyone's attention, as they all turned their glances to him while he leaned over and pressed the on button on the front console and started to rotate the dial to find the right station, with the sound of crackling static and random sounds of various different stations echoing through the speakers.

"Peter, I don't know if we'll be able to get any reception. We are a fair distance away from Quahog, you know." Lois commented, showing an expression of uncertainty as she was wondering if they would be able to get any kind of music on the radio. Peter turned his head up to her upon noticing her uncertainty and simply showed a confident smile in response.

"Don't worry, Lois. When you're on the road, you're bound to get some great tunes no matter where you go." Peter replied. He then turned his attention back to the radio as he continued to rotate the dial for a few seconds… before the sound of a lovely piano tune started to play on the speakers, much to Peter's excitement as he could recognise the song almost immediately. "No way… I love this song!" Peter happily exclaimed. The rest of the family could only stare in surprise for a few moments before they paid close attention to the sound of the piano melody and they could recognise it as well: the music playing was the opening of 'The Rose'. As the singing begun, Peter started to sing along with it.

Some say love, it is a river

That drowns the tender reed

Some say love, it is a razor

That leaves your soul to bleed

As incredible as it seemed, his voice seemed to match that of the singer almost effortlessly; it was almost as if he had memorized the song so often that he seemed to now know it by heart. The rest of the family seemed to take notice as well, as they all turned their eyes to him with matching expressions of awe as he continued to sing, and it didn't take very long for the rest of the family to join in with him.

Some say love, it is a hunger,

An endless aching need.

I say love, it is a flower,

And you its only seed.

The melody of the piano echoed through the speakers of the car, almost matching perfectly in line with their voices, which seemed to resound like a harmonious choir all singing in unison. And among the group of five, the voice that seemed to sound the strongest… was Brian's. It was hard for him to describe, but it seemed as though the lyrics of the song were speaking to him; they were bringing up memories of his life that had come and gone. His early life in the puppy mill with his family before he was cruelly separated from them, and his eventual adoption into the Griffin family. The memories of those early days seemed to tear right through him, like the sound of paper being ripped in half right down the middle. It was safe to assume that those were days Brian could never bring himself to forget, no matter how hard he tried or how much he wanted to.

It's the heart afraid of breaking

That never learns to dance.

It's the dream afraid of waking

That never takes the chance.

But amidst the sadness of those early days, more memories started to surface and they all seemed to centre around one person in particular: Stewie. It seemed that from the day that baby came into his life, everything seemed to change forever. Brian could remember how they wouldn't get along initially, how they always seemed to be at each other's throats and it seemed that they would never last if they were placed in the same room together. But that was when he remembered the day things changed between them: it was during that fateful trip back to Rhode Island, when they had to work together to find their way home, when they paid a visit to that old puppy mill farm and learnt what had happened to Brian's mother, and he could not forget about that train ride home. That was the day he knew… he and Stewie were going to become friends. It all seemed so surreal to think that this baby he couldn't seem to get along with would end up becoming his closest and dearest friend just like that; it almost felt as though it was meant to happen, but they simply needed the right time and event to make the pieces fall into place, and their adventure towards home was exactly what they needed. And from there, their bond only seemed to grow stronger as they went on adventures together, got to know each other better than they ever imagined and generally enjoyed spending time together.

It's the one who won't be taken,

Who cannot seem to give,

And the soul afraid of dyin'

That never learns to live.

However, it was apparent to Brian that Stewie didn't see him as just that; he didn't see Brian as just a friend. He saw Brian as… someone more special to him, someone he couldn't imagine living without. Naturally, Brian never took any notice of it or seemed to be confused by the hints Stewie would throw his way, as any rational person would be in his situation, but as he listened closely to the song and the memories of the time he and Stewie had spent together were spiralling in his mind, that was when he realised that he couldn't bring himself to ignore it any longer: Stewie loved him. Brian had always assumed that it was a given, considering how close to each other they had become over the course of their adventures and the time they had spent together, but the love Stewie held for him was something completely different. In Stewie's eyes, Brian was the one. He was the one he knew that he was destined to be with, and the time they had spent together had only made that all the more apparent. Through the good times and the bad, no matter what challenges or obstacles came their way, no matter what faces they met, Stewie was always there by his side. He would always be there for him to bring him back up when he came crashing down, he would never lose faith in him regardless of any circumstances that came their way, and he would always be there waiting for him, waiting for the day to come that Brian would see him the same way that Stewie saw him. Stewie loved him for who he was, and never once cared about the fact that he was a dog.

When the night has been too lonely

And the road has been too long,

And you think that love is only

For the lucky and the strong

This whole discovery seemed to be nothing short of a wake-up call for Brian: he had met so many women and his relationships with them had fallen apart very quickly, and he could never figure out what happened to cause things to never work out the way he wanted. The rate that this was occurring almost caused Brian to lose hope of ever finding the one he wanted to be with, but he never stopped to realise that the one he had been looking for… was standing right in front of him this whole time, and was waiting for him to realise the truth, and now he had. It almost made Brian start to think about how very little he actually knew about love; all he cared about with every girl he had been with was their appearance, and he had never stopped to see them for who they were, which happened to be the cause of the downfall of those relationships. True love came from the person, not their appearance, and there was only one person he knew of that managed to match this, and that person was Stewie. Stewie was the one he was always meant to be with, but he was too blind and foolish to realise this… until now. As the rest of the family continued to sing, Brian's voice slowly trailed off before he fell into silence and turned his head towards the booster seat that Stewie always seemed to occupy, with a grateful smile slowly showing on his face and tears of gratitude building in his eyes. With the song reaching its final verse, Peter finished it off.

Just remember in the winter

Far beneath the bitter snows

Lies the seed that with the sun's love

In the spring becomes the rose.

As the last of the song's music played, Peter turned his head to the family with a big smile. "Okay, that was good. That was really good, everyone. Though, Chris, I think you were a little early at the start of bar four, but aside from that, I think it was good." Peter commented. The rest of the family seemed to agree with him, as they all had bright smiles on their faces.

"That was wonderful, Peter." Lois commented. "Yeah! We should do that more often." Meg agreed, immediately nodding in agreement as she was leaning forward in her seat; she seemed to enjoy the performance as much as Lois did. As she leaned back comfortably in her seat, she was about to resume her watching the world from outside her window, but her glance happened to shift elsewhere and she turned her head to the source: Brian. An expression of surprise came to her face as she spotted him having his glance down at Stewie's seat, with a smile of gratitude on his face and tears slowly streaming down his face and dropping onto the blanket, leaving small stains on the fabric. With Brian, he had to restrain himself from breaking down completely from the happiness that he was experiencing; he finally knew the truth about Stewie's feelings for him, and he had come to realise he felt the same way for the baby. As he reached up to brush his tears away, he suddenly heard Meg's voice from beside him.

"Brian? What's wrong?" Brian let out a yelp of surprise as he nearly jumped out of his seat before turning his head to Meg, and it didn't take long for him to notice her staring at him in concern. "Are you okay?" Meg then asked, showing an expression of concern as she wanted to know why Brian was looking so teary-eyed. Brian nearly jumped from shock upon realising that Meg had noticed the tears in his eyes, before he rapidly brushed them away and turned his head up to her while she was watching him.

"Uh… y-yeah, I-I'm fine. I guess… it was just the song that got to me." Brian nervously replied. Meg could only stare in confusion at this reply, since she could see that none of the other family members seemed to have gotten worked up like Brian did, but deciding that it would be best not to question him about it, she simply nodded in understanding before turning her attention back to looking out her window. Once he saw that he had managed to get her off his back, Brian let out a quiet sigh of relief before turning his head back to the booster seat, and it didn't take long for the smile to return to his face, as he could only imagine just what kind of feelings he was experiencing in the aftermath of his revelation. He now knew the truth, and he couldn't wait to share it with Stewie.

Back in Quahog, there seemed to be nothing but dead silence all around the house, and for Stewie, it made absolutely no sense; ever since he woke up this morning, he had searched the house from top to bottom and he couldn't find any signs of the rest of the family anywhere. As he made his way into the living room, carrying his plush teddy bear Rupert in his arms, his glance slowly trailed back and forth around the room and all he could see was himself, the couch and the TV placed on the end of the room. "I don't understand it, Rupert. There's no sign of them anywhere! Where in the world could they be?" Stewie asked, turning his glance down to the bear as he was trying to make sense of just what was going on. He bent down and placed Rupert on the floor, before turning around and cupping his hands around his mouth, figuring that maybe he should try one more time, just to be on the safe side.

"Meg! Chris! Brian?!" Stewie called, with an expression of worry showing on his face; he couldn't bear the thought of being in the house all by himself, and he usually felt the safest whenever Brian was with him. That was the feeling that Stewie always seemed to experience when he was with Brian; that Brian would always be there to protect him and keep him safe. Stewie always knew that Brian was so focused on finding the right woman for him, but that didn't stop him from waiting for the day that he would finally come to realise the feelings he held for the canine, and possibly even return them. 'I know that's impossible. I mean, there's not a chance in the world that he'd ever see me the way I see him. But what harm is there in hoping for it?' Stewie mentally wondered to himself, as he was eagerly awaiting the time that day would finally arrive; for him, it would be a dream come true. After a few moments passed, he was only met with silence as no answer came, and he sat down on the floor with an expression of worry showing on his face.

"Everyone's gone. I'm all alone in the house…" Stewie worriedly said. He lowered his head with an expression of worry etched on his face, as he was trying to figure out just what he was supposed to do now. After a few moments passed, it didn't take very long for his worry to fade away and for his excitement to start shooting skywards as he realised what this meant. "Wait a minute… if I'm by myself, then that means they must have left me in charge of the house. This is my first time staying at home by myself!" Stewie exclaimed, immediately jumping up on his feet with a smile of excitement crossing his face. So without a moment to spare, he walked over to Rupert who was still lying on the floor and bent down to pick him up.

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me here, Rupert. How do you feel about me making some lunch for us?" Stewie suggested. There was silence for a few moments as Stewie seemed to receive no response from the bear, but since Stewie seemed to happen to know what he had to say, he felt a bright smile cross his face at Rupert's silent answer. "I knew you'd say that. All right then, let's see what we have." Stewie replied. So with this, Stewie started to make his way over to the kitchen carrying Rupert in his arms, as he was looking forward to starting his time of being the one in charge of the house while everyone else was out on their vacation.

Back on the road, the rest of the family were continuing their drive towards the Grand Canyon. As the car was cruising down the road, Lois turned her head to Peter as she seemed to have an idea. "Peter, I've been thinking about how great it would be if we could go to New York City. Oh, I bet the kids would love it!" Lois happily explained, with a smile of excitement on her face while she was speaking. Peter turned his head to her with an expression of surprise at this suggestion, before he immediately showed a bright smile and it didn't take long for him to nod in agreement with her.

"Hey, yeah, that's a great idea!" Peter replied. He then turned his glance up to the rear-view mirror to spot Chris and Meg in the backseat so he could hear what they had to say about it. "Kids, how would you feel about us going to New York for our vacation?" he asked. This seemed to catch Chris and Meg's attention immediately, as they both showed matching expressions of surprise.

"Really?" Meg asked, quickly showing a smile of excitement. However, it seemed that Chris was a bit confused about the change in plans as he showed an expression of puzzlement. "Wait, I thought we were going to the Grand Canyon." Chris commented. As he was busy having resumed reading, Brian lifted his head up as he was wondering what was happening during this talk.

"Well, your mother and I had a talk about it, and we figured that maybe we should go somewhere fun and exciting. And what other place is more exciting than the Big Apple? Sounds like a great place to spend vacation to me." Peter explained, turning his head to the backseat. This response seemed to do just fine for Chris, as he immediately showed a big smile in response. So seeing how happy he seemed to be about it, Peter turned his attention back to the road before looking back up through the rear view mirror. "All right then, it's settled. We're going to New York City!" Peter cheered, raising one fist in the air in excitement. It didn't take very long for the rest of the family to cheer along with him, as they were all looking forward to arriving at their destination: this felt like it would be the best family vacation ever.

After about two hours of driving, the family had finally arrived at their destination: New York City. As the car was heading down the road while Peter was busy searching for a parking spot, Chris and Meg turned their heads to look out their windows with matching smiles of awe; the sight of the city was truly something amazing. There were buildings and sights as far as the eye could see, and the fact that there were a lot of people walking through the streets only seemed to make how lively the city was really clear. As the two were starting their eye-view sightseeing tour, the group soon arrived in a parking area that was just close to the main districts of the city. Once the car had been parked, the family started to make their way out to step out into the city. "Here we are, kids. New York City!" Peter stated, showing a bright smile as he closed the driver door behind him. As Chris and Meg were stepping out of their seats, Chris was quick to rush off towards the street while Meg watched in alarm.

"YAAAAY! I'm in New York City! This is going to be the best family vacation ever!" Chris cheered. As he started to dance to express his excitement, Meg simply rolled her eyes with a smile of amusement; she had a feeling that he was going to react this way.

Back near the car, Peter was busy getting to work with unstrapping the bags from the roof of the car while Lois made her way over to where he was. "Peter, when you're done getting the bags, could you go and get Chris and Meg? I'm going to go get Stewie out of the car." Lois said. As Brian was stepping out of the car as well, he turned his head in surprise as he happened to hear this, and as he turned his glance to notice the booster seat, that seemed to give him an idea. So with this in mind, he quickly rushed over to Lois as she was getting the keys for the car out of her bag.

"I can get Stewie, Lois. I already have something that I need to get out of the back anyway, so maybe I could take care of that for you." Brian offered. Lois was silent for a few moments before she showed a grateful smile and nodded in agreement.

"Oh, thank you, Brian. Remember to lock up when you're done." Lois replied before handing the keys down to Brian. Brian nodded in understanding at this request, so with this, he made his way over to the car while Lois got to work with helping Peter get the bags off the roof. As Brian made his way over to the car and opened the door to fetch Stewie out of the booster seat, he let out a quiet sigh with an expression of uncertainty showing on his face. Since it was just him and he now had the time since they stopped, he figured that now would be his opportunity: he planned to tell Stewie the truth he had realised about his feelings for him. He had a feeling that this wouldn't be easy, and he wasn't certain of how Stewie was going to react when he heard this, but he knew that it was something that had to be said. So with all this in mind, he took a deep breath before letting it out and then he climbed into the car before making his way over to the booster seat and sitting down just beside it.

"Hey, Stewie? There's something I need to tell you about. I don't think it'll be easy for you to hear, and it's harder for me to say, but I think you need to hear this from me now. You see…" Brian was about to continue before he realised that he wasn't hearing any response from Stewie; in fact, there seemed to be nothing but silence from the booster seat, something that started to leave Brian confused. "What the…? Hey, Stewie, can you hear me? Are you even listening?" he asked, showing an expression of confusion as he was starting to wonder why Stewie wasn't answering him. He reached over and pulled the blanket off the booster seat to check if Stewie was okay and he was met with a shock: the booster seat was empty, which meant that Stewie wasn't with them! Brian let out a gasp of shock upon seeing this. "Oh my God!" Without a moment to spare, Brian jumped out of the car and rushed over to where the rest of the family were meeting up.

With the rest of the family, they were meeting up near the entrance of the parking area and they all had their bags alongside them. As the group were looking out at the sights awaiting them, Lois turned around to face the others. "All right, everyone, the first thing we'll need to do is find a hotel that we can stay at. And once we're all checked in and moved into our room, we can do some sightseeing." Lois explained. This plan seemed to work well for the others, since they all had smiles of excitement as they were looking forward to their stay in the city, and Peter seemed to be the most excited of all.

"Yeah! This is going to be awesome!" Peter happily commented. He then turned his head to Chris and Meg as he had an idea in mind. "Hey, kids, when Brian gets here with Stewie, how about we take a trip down to Central Park? I hear the bird feeding is great at this time of the year. Oh, and make sure you have a lot of bread with you; they get very picky about how much they want." Peter explained. Just then, the group could hear someone running over towards where they were, and they turned around to see that it was Brian, looking very out of breath and worried about something. "Woah, Brian, what's gotten into you? You look like you just ran a marathon." Peter commented, showing an expression of surprise as he was wondering what had gotten into his friend to make him act like this. It seemed that he wasn't the only one to notice this, as Lois quickly showed an expression of concern upon seeing Brian looking so out of breath.

"Brian, is everything okay?" Lois asked. Brian rested his hands against his knees for a few seconds to catch his breath, and once he was certain that he was feeling alright, he turned his glance up to Peter and Lois with an expression of immense worry on his face.

"Peter, Lois, you've got to come quick! Stewie's not in the car!" Brian hurriedly replied. Lois let out a gasp of horror at this statement, while Peter could only stare in shock as he seemed to wonder whether or not he was hearing this right, just as Lois seemed to be.

"What?!" Peter blurted. "Brian, are you sure?" Lois then asked. Brian could only stare in alarm before he nodded in confirmation; there was not a chance in the world that he would lie about something this serious, especially if it involved Stewie.

"Yes! I went to get him out of his seat, but he wasn't there. Come see for yourselves!" Brian stated. With no hesitance on his part, Brian turned around and started to rush back towards the car with Peter and Lois following not far behind him. Once they arrived in the car, Brian opened the back door to reveal the booster seat sitting in the middle… which was empty! When Peter and Lois poked their heads in the car to notice this, they both showed matching expressions of alarm and gasped in horror, realising that Brian was right.

"Holy crap!" Peter exclaimed. "Oh my God! We must have left him at home!" Lois cried, turning her glance towards Peter with the thought of Stewie being at home on his own already starting to frighten her as she could only imagine just how terrified he must be feeling. As she and Peter raised their heads out of the car, Lois quickly placed her hands together in a mixture of worry and guilt over realising what situation they were dealing with: their youngest son was at home on his own and they hadn't even noticed that he was missing. "Oh, Peter, this is terrible! What kind of parents are we?! We've got to go home right now!" Lois cried. Taking notice of just how worried she seemed to be, Peter showed a soft expression before placing both of his hands on Lois's shoulders and holding her close to him.

"Hey, don't worry, Lois. Our kids are pretty smart; they know how to take care of themselves whenever we go out anywhere, just like when we went for our second honeymoon." Peter gently stated. Brian turned his glance up to Peter while he was talking before looking over to Lois and nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that's right. Besides, Stewie is actually really bright. I'm sure he's doing just fine; I tend to be the one taking care of him most often, so I'm pretty sure he's okay." Brian agreed. However, saying this didn't seem to do well with hiding just how worried Brian was really feeling about Stewie; since he was the one who was most often by Stewie's side, it made him wonder just what Stewie was thinking about with Brian not being there for him. It was a thought that almost seemed to frighten Brian, realising that Stewie didn't have the one person he loved above all else with him at home, and it made him start to wonder how Stewie was handling that and whether or not he was okay on his own. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard Lois speak up, feeling uncertain about what they were saying.

"Well… I guess that's true. But Stewie's only a baby! What if something bad happens to him?" Lois worriedly asked. Right after she said this, she, Peter and Brian turned around to see Chris and Meg running over to them as they were wondering what was wrong.

"Mum, Dad, what's going on? Is everything okay?" Meg asked, showing an expression of concern over the situation that was taking place. Before Brian could have a chance to explain what was happening, Lois was quick to take care of that for him.

"Kids, we're going home. Your baby brother is at home all alone!" Lois explained. Meg showed an expression of alarm at this while Chris let out a sigh of disappointment, prompting Meg to turn her head to him, since she was confused about why he was upset.

"Oh, man… and I was ready to do some bird feeding!" Chris groaned, crossing his arms and turning his head down in disappointment that they had to end their vacation early. Meg simply showed an expression of puzzlement as soon as she heard this before she spoke up. "Don't you usually feed the birds when we visit the park, anyway? Why does it make any difference in New York?" she asked. Chris rapidly turned his head to Meg with an expression of irritation at this question.

"The park we visit isn't as big as Central Park!" Chris snapped, with Meg nearly stepping back from alarm at his outburst. Little did the two realise that there were a few people still in the parking lot, and they all turned their heads to the two in confusion as they were wondering what was going on. Chris and Meg both turned their heads to notice the onlookers and quickly felt embarrassment set to set in as they realised that they were making fools out of themselves. "Oops…" Chris nervously said, covering his mouth with both hands.

However, it seemed that all of this talking wasn't helping matters at all, since Brian was the one to get everyone's attention. "All right, look. The more time we spend just standing here doing nothing, the more time Stewie's gonna be in the house on his own. So let's get moving already!" Brian stated. The rest of the family seemed to agree with this, so without a moment to spare, they promptly climbed into the car in their respective seats before Peter reversed out of the parking lot and onto the road towards Quahog. As the car drove down the road, Peter was quick to grab out his phone, which Lois turned her head to take notice of.

"Peter, what are you doing?" she asked, while Peter was busy dialling a number on his phone before placing it against his ear, and then turning his glance to Lois. "I'm going to see if Cleveland and Quagmire can go to our house to check on Stewie. I'll bet maybe they can take care of him until we get home, so that way he won't be on his own." Peter explained. While he was talking, the phone was ringing before he could suddenly hear an answer on the other end of the line, so he quickly turned his attention back to the phone. "Hello? Oh, hey, Quagmire. Listen, I got something to ask you: do you think you and Cleveland could go over to our house? Stewie's there by himself and we want to make sure that he's okay." Peter explained. There was silence for a few moments as he listened to the response before a grateful smile crossed his face. "Oh, that's great. Thanks, buddy. I'll see you when we get home." So with this, he hung up and placed the phone back in his pocket before turning his glance to Lois.

"See? All taken care of. Now there's nothing to do but drive until we arrive back in Quahog." Peter stated. As he turned his attention back to the road, Lois showed a smile of relief that everything seemed to be under control. Just then, the sound of beeping could be heard and Peter turned his glance down to spot the source: the fuel gauge, which was also flashing bright red. "Oh, that's not good. We're running low on gas." Peter commented, showing an expression of worry upon noticing that the little arrow on the fuel gauge was close to empty. Lois turned her head down to notice this as well, before she looked back up at Peter.

"Well, there should be a gas station just a few miles ahead, so we can stop and refuel." Lois replied. Peter then seemed to have an idea as he looked up to the rear-view mirror to see the others sitting in the back. "Hey, how do you guys feel about grabbing a snack for the ride? It's probably gonna be a while before we arrive back in Quahog." Peter suggested. This idea seemed to go over well with the passengers sitting in the back as they were quick to give their thoughts on that idea.

"Really? Yay!" Chris cheered, raising his arms up in the air in excitement. "Thanks, Dad!" Meg happily replied, showing a bright smile as she was looking forward to that. "No thanks, Peter. I'm okay for now." Brian added, shaking his head. Seeing that nearly everyone else seemed to agree with him, Peter nodded in satisfaction before turning his attention back to the road.

"All right, then. Once we stop at the gas station and refuel, we'll see what they've got." Peter replied. As the family continued to drive down the road to find where the gas station could be, Brian turned his head over to the empty booster seat beside him with an expression of concern showing on his face; he didn't want to imagine just how worried Stewie was feeling about being at home on his own, and just having that thought in his head was enough to start making him worry at the same time.

"Don't worry, Stewie. We'll be home soon…" Brian quietly stated, reaching over and placing a paw on the side of the empty seat. He knew now that he had to wait until they got home to tell Stewie the truth, but that didn't seem to bother him; he only felt that it would give him plenty of time to think over how he was going to tell Stewie. However, his moment of privacy was interrupted when a voice suddenly spoke up from beside him.

"What was that, Brian?" Brian nearly jumped from shock upon hearing that voice, before turning his head to see Meg staring at him in confusion; she happened to hear him, but not what he was saying. "Did you say something?" Meg then asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as she was starting to wonder what had gotten into Brian today. Brian could only stare in alarm upon realising that Meg had heard him, and he quickly stared to dart his eyes back and forth as he was trying to figure out how to answer her.

"Uh… n-nothing, nothing. I was just… talking to myself." Brian nervously replied. Meg could only stare at him in confusion, as she was starting to wonder why he was acting so strangely, but she soon figured that it would be best not to ask him about it for now, so she turned her attention back to the road in front of her. Once he was certain that she was leaving him alone, Brian let out a sigh to himself. "Keeping this a secret isn't as easy as I thought…" Brian murmured; he had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy for him to hold onto this to himself until they got home, but he felt that he didn't have a choice. Now he was really starting to wonder how Stewie was handling himself at home.

Back at the Griffins' home, Stewie had just finished up with lunch and he was wandering around the kitchen looking for something to do. "Hmmm… since it's just me in the home, it means I can do whatever I want. But where should I start…?" Stewie wondered, scratching his chin as he was trying to decide what he should do first with his newly discovered freedom in the house. As he looked around the room, he turned his head up to look at the kitchen table… to discover Brian's laptop sitting at the place on the table where he usually sat. "Isn't that Brian's laptop? Why would he leave it on the table unguarded?" Stewie asked, mostly to himself as he tilted his head in puzzlement. Deciding to find out for himself, he walked over to the seat and climbed up on top of it before making his way up onto the table and lifted the lid up of the laptop to discover that it was already on.

"It's already on, and it still has a lot of power charged on it! I've got to say, Bri, you really know how to be efficient with this thing." Stewie commented, showing an impressed smile as he looked at the laptop screen to discover the amount of power still left on it. As he went to make himself comfortable in his high chair with the laptop in hand, he placed it down in front of him and had a look on the screen to find there was a Word Document open on it. "Hmmm… looks like Brian's been busy at work with writing that novel he's been talking about. In all honesty, I've always wondered how much he's done with this." Stewie commented, moving his finger down on the sensor on the centre of the laptop to scroll down through the document to see how much Brian had written. As he scrolled through the pages, he turned his glance up to think for a few moments before a lightbulb suddenly seemed to light up in his mind.

"Hmmm… I know! Looking at Brian's writing is giving me an itch to write something of my own. I'll just make sure to save his work first so he doesn't lose anything." Stewie said. Once he was certain that he had saved Brian's work, he closed it before opening up a new document for himself. "All right, let's think… What would be something good for me to write about? Oh, it's always so tough starting one of these." Stewie sighed, turning his glance up to think as he was trying to decide what he should write about. However, his thinking time was rudely interrupted when he suddenly heard a knock on the front door, causing him to let out a gasp of shock. "Intruders?! Well, we'll just see about that!" Stewie stated, showing a determined expression as he wasn't going to allow burglars to rob their house. So without a moment to spare, he closed the laptop and leapt out of his high chair to grab a few supplies from his room.

Outside standing at the front door were Cleveland and Quagmire, with Cleveland being the one to do the knocking; they had arrived to check on Stewie and see if they were okay. "Stewie? You in there?" Cleveland asked. After he knocked a few more times, the door suddenly slowly opened on its own much to the pair's surprise. Figuring that maybe they should, the two slowly stepped inside the house into the TV room and started to look around the room to find that it was empty, and that there was no sign of Stewie.

"Do you think he's here?" Quagmire asked, turning his head to Cleveland as they were starting to wonder where the baby could be. Little did the two realise that Stewie was not too far away, as he slowly slid down on a rope from behind them, with a gas mask over his face and holding a can of noxious gas in his hand. Once he got close enough, Stewie sprayed the two, prompting them to drop on the floor unconscious almost immediately. Once he was certain that they were knocked out, Stewie dropped down on the floor and removed his mask only to be met with the sight of two familiar faces.

"Oh, God, it's Cleveland and Bob Hope." Stewie groaned; he didn't even recognize their faces until now. "Oh well, the damage is done. Better get them out of here." He turned his head upwards to think about what he could do with them, before a cheeky smile came to his face as he had an idea. "I think I know just what to do…"

There seemed to be nothing but darkness around Cleveland and Quagmire's view, but after a few moments, the two slowly managed to open their eyes to find that they were now down in the basement and they had both shackles around their arms and were being hung up each by a hook on the wall. "Uh… what the hell? Where are we?" Quagmire groggily asked, looking around the room as he was trying to make sense of where they were now. However, the two were soon met with a sound and turned their heads to spot a TV sitting on the small table: the Direct TV Help Channel had been turned on.

"Getting to know your remote is easier than you might think." It seemed that the segment on the Help Channel was concerning how to use the remote, something that was made clear on the screen. "These buttons at the top control Channel, Volume and the power on your receiver. To see what else is playing, just press Guide and then scroll through the on-screen menu by pushing the arrow button, or to scroll even faster, use the Channel Up or Channel Down button. Now you're on your way to experiencing all that Direct TV has to offer." The man explained. As the channel continued to play, Quagmire turned his head to Cleveland.

"This may be kind of messed up, but… am I the only one getting a boner right now?" Quagmire asked. Cleveland simply stared at his friend in blank silence for a few moments before he could speak.

"Is there anything that doesn't give you a boner, Glen?" Cleveland asked; he always knew that Quagmire was that kind of guy that was often attracted by a lot of things, but sometimes Cleveland couldn't help but wonder if Quagmire took it a few steps too far.

"People who use the word 'rubbish' when they mean 'garbage'." Quagmire replied. "Really?" Cleveland asked, showing an expression of surprise at this reply, to which Quagmire nodded in confirmation.

"Yep; not even a wiggle down there." Quagmire replied. So with this, the two turned their attention to the TV, figuring that maybe it wouldn't be too long before the rest of the family got home, so then they could be out of here right away.

Back on the road, the Griffin family had stopped at a gas station to refuel before they set off again; Lois was standing outside the car with the gas pump in hand, Brian was sitting inside the car as he was waiting for everyone else, while Peter had gone into the convenience store with Chris and Meg to buy a few snacks and drinks for the road. With Lois, as she was refuelling the car, she had her phone pressed against her ear in her free hand and she let out a sigh as she could only hear dialling on her end of the line before she hung up. "Oh, it's no use… I can't get a hold of either of them." Lois sighed; she had been trying to call Cleveland and Quagmire to see if everything was okay, but she couldn't hear anything from them. Upon hearing her, Brian turned and poked his head out of the window, since he had the window open to let some fresh air in the car.

"It's not just you, Lois. I'm not having any luck on my phone, either." Brian replied, holding his phone up to show her. As he sat back down in his place in the back seat, he showed an expression of annoyance. "Why does Stewie not have his phone on when I need him to?" Brian quietly asked; he had been trying to call Stewie to see if he was alright, and possibly even be able to tell him everything while they had stopped, but he hadn't been getting any response from the baby. Seeing that he wasn't having much success, Brian let out a sigh of dismay to himself as he was starting to wonder when he would even be allowed to have an opportunity to tell Stewie the truth about his feelings. Just then, he suddenly heard someone coming their way and looked up to see that it was Peter, Chris and Meg arriving back from the convenience store, with Chris having a few bags of potato chips, Meg holding a chocolate bar for herself and Peter carrying a full pack of beer cans.

"Hey, Lois, we're back!" Peter called. Lois turned her head to see that everyone was here and she quickly showed an expression of worry as she held her phone up to show them. "Peter, I've been trying to call Cleveland and Quagmire to see if everything was okay, but I haven't heard back from either of them! Oh, I hope nothing's happened…" Lois worriedly explained, turning her glance down to her phone as she was starting to wonder what could be going on back at their place. Peter was basically silent as he was listening to this, before he showed a reassuring smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Lois. I'll bet Stewie's just keeping them busy. Besides, I'm sure everything's okay at home." Peter replied. "Yeah, Mum. You really need to calm down and focus on us getting home." Chris agreed, nodding while Meg turned her head to him. Lois simply showed an expression of uncertainty after hearing this, since it didn't seem to make her feel any better about the situation.

A little later, the family were now back on the road and they had passed by a sign that said 'Rhode Island: 150 miles' showing that at the rate they were going, they were be there in another two hours. As the car was cruising down the road, Chris and Meg were helping themselves to their snacks while Peter had grabbed a can of beer and was busily drinking it. "Ah… now that's some good beer." Peter sighed, showing a content smile as he stopped for a break. He then turned his head to Brian, who had resumed reading his book, since he seemed to notice that he didn't have anything with him. "Hey, Brian, would you like one of these?" Peter asked.

Brian turned his glance up from his book before he nodded. "Yeah, I could use a drink." he replied. So with this, Peter removed a beer can from the pack before tossing it to the back seat towards Brian, who caught it. As Brian started to open his can, Lois showed an expression of concern as she was watching the two.

"Peter, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to drink while you're driving. We could have an accident." Lois uncertainly commented. Peter turned his head to Lois upon hearing this, and he turned his head up to think since he had a feeling that she was right, before he looked back at her with a confident smile as he had an idea.

"No, it's fine, Lois. I'll tell you what: if I get too carried away with these, we'll pull over and swap seats. So that way, you can drive the rest of the way home." Peter suggested. Lois turned her glance to think it over for a few moments; she really didn't want the family to get into trouble thanks to Peter's nonsense, but at the same time, as long as they had a sensible person behind the wheel, everything would turn out well. After taking a few more moments to think it over, Lois turned her glance back to him and nodded in agreement.

"Well… I guess that's okay. Just as long as you know when we need to pull over." Lois replied. Peter quickly showed a bright smile, thrilled to hear that Lois trusted that he knew what he was doing.

"Yep, you got it!" Peter agreed, before turning his attention back to the road as he resumed his drink; he figured that he and Brian could share the pack between them, so there would be less to worry about. So with this, Lois turned her attention back to the road as well; it seemed as though everything was under control for now.

Unfortunately, later down the road, this was proving to no longer be the case: the beer pack was now completely empty, since Peter and Brian had been sharing it during the drive, and now the two were looking more than a little out of it, especially Peter, since he was swaying from side to side a little and his hair was completely ruffled. As the rest of the group in the car were watching him in worry, Meg was finally the one to speak up.

"Uh, Dad? I think now might be a good time to pull over; maybe Mum should drive now." Meg suggested. Brian didn't look too much worse for wear, though he looked as though he were close to dozing off. Peter simply showed a big smile before groggily turning his head to look at the back seat.

"N-now, don't worry, kidsh… you-your father hash… everything under control… Hey, weren't justh three of you?" Peter slurred, showing an expression of confusion as his vision seemed to be spinning and he was seeing more than he usually did. While that was happening, Brian let out a yawn and turned his head to Lois.

"Hey, Lois? I think I'm gonna sleep the rest of the way back. I could use some shut-eye." Brian commented. Lois turned her head to him and nodded in understanding. "Okay, Brian. You do that. I'll let you know when we're close to home." she replied. Brian showed a grateful smile at this reply.

"Thanks." So with this, Brian crawled up onto the seat to lie down and made himself comfortable, resting his head against Stewie's empty booster seat. As Meg was busy watching Peter to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid, she turned her head to notice that Brian was now sound asleep. She then looked up at the empty booster seat to notice that the blanket was still on top on it, so she grabbed it off the seat and placed it over Brian, smoothing out the creases as she did so. This only seemed to make Brian feel more comfortable, as he snuggled up against the seat with a big smile, while Meg couldn't help but smile back seeing how content he looked. While she was doing that, Chris happened to spot this.

"Why are you doing that? Isn't that Stewie's blanket?" Chris asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as he was wondering what was going on. Meg quickly turned her head up to Chris since she was watching Brian. "I know. I just thought Brian could use something to keep himself warm." Meg replied. She then looked back down at Brian as he was out like a light, and the smile quickly returned to her face. "Look at him… he's sleeping like a baby. I wonder what he's dreaming about…" Meg commented, gently patting Brian as she was starting to wonder what was going through his head.

If the big smile on Brian's face was any indicator, his thoughts were solely focused on Stewie. He couldn't help himself dreaming about how great it was going to be when they got home, getting to see Stewie's face and just how happy he would be that everyone was home, and that he had Brian back. He was also thinking about what would happen when he would finally be able to tell Stewie everything about his feelings, and just how thrilled the baby would be to learn that the one he loved for so long felt the same way for him. Needless to say, it was the one thing Brian was looking forward to the most about coming home from this long drive.

While that was happening, Peter was trying to keep his focus on the road, but it wasn't proving to be the easiest thing in the world with his vision constantly blurring and making everything look not completely clear. Because of this, Peter started to squint his eyes to see if that would make things any better. While he was busy with that, Lois turned her head to him in frustration. "Peter! Remember how we talked about this? Pull over and let me drive!" she snapped. Peter quickly turned his head to her in annoyance at her yelling.

"Lois, don't bother me when I'm trying to concentrate! How am I supposed to pay attention to the road with you shouting in my ear? This is why I don't like having passengers; it messes with my head." Peter retorted. While he was talking, he didn't notice that the car had been moving sideways and it was about to come off the road.

From the passenger seat, though, Meg was quick to notice this and she let out a gasp of alarm realising what was about to happen. "Dad, look out!" she quickly warned, pointing to look through the front windscreen. Peter turned his head back to the road to find out what was wrong, and he and the others started to scream in panic as the car tumbled off the road, flew off the small cliff the road was on and flipped over onto its roof before hitting the ground, leaving various bumps and tents all over the car and all the windows were shattered, with glass shards scattered all over the ground. As the family were trying to recover from that crash, they opened all the doors and started to crawl out, with various scratches on their bodies from the shards of glass that were still in the car. Once everyone was out of the car, Lois turned her head to the group in concern.

"Is everyone okay?" Lois asked, as she slowly managed to stand up and start brushing off any remaining glass shards that were still on her. The rest of the group were quick to answer, as they were walking over to where she was standing.

"Yeah, Mum…" Chris replied. "I think so." Meg added, as she had just finished brushing off a few glass shards that had stuck onto her beanie. "I'm fine." Brian agreed. As Lois showed a smile of relief to see that everyone was mostly unharmed, the same couldn't be said for the state of the car: there were several bumps and dents around the sides, the front looked as though it had been ripped open with a crowbar and all the windows had been completely smashed in. Looking at the state of the vehicle, Lois let out a sigh of dismay; now it looked as though it was going to be a lot trickier getting home.

"Well, that's just perfect. Thanks to your father, now we don't have any way to get home, it's getting late and Stewie will be left on his own at night!" Lois sighed, crossing her arms in annoyance over Peter's latest bout of idiocy getting them stuck in this mess. As Brian was listening to this, something happened to catch his attention.

"Hey, look! There's a sign just over there!" Brian said, pointing just a bit further ahead before running over to where he spotted the sign, with Meg running over to have a look as well. The two then stopped to have a look at the sign, which said 'Hartford: 5 miles at exit'. Meg quickly showed a bright smile before turning her head to Lois.

"Mum, look at this! There's a town just a few miles from where we are. Maybe they'll have somewhere we can stay for the night." Meg suggested. Lois walked over to where Brian and Meg were standing, and when she looked up at the sign to see that they were right, a smile of joy quickly showed on her face.

"You're right! Come on, everyone! We better get going if we want to be there by nightfall." Lois commented. As Chris walked over to the rest of the group, it didn't take long for him to realise that there was someone who still hadn't joined up with them.

"Wait, where's Dad?" Chris asked. It didn't take long for him to get an answer, as a voice suddenly responded from the wreck of the car.

"Right here!" The rest of the family turned around to where the car was lying on its floor, and they were met with Peter finally standing up from the wreckage, since he had been knocked out for a bit after the crash, and he stumbled over to where the others were standing while they watched him, with him showing a big smile seemingly unaware of their situation and that they were all glaring at him. "Hey, everyone. Where're we going now?"

Back at the Griffin house, evening was quickly approaching as the sun was starting to set over the horizon, and inside, Stewie was walking into the TV room and climbed up onto the couch, with Rupert in hand as he placed the bear down on the couch beside him. "Oh, what a long day it's been. I didn't think that staying at home on my own would be as lonely as it is." Stewie sighed, lying down on the couch to relax; the day had gone much slower than it usually did for him, which had been saying a lot for him. He then turned his head to Rupert upon hearing his silent comment and shook his head.

"No, I don't know why. It's just that… having everyone else here made the day feel more exciting. I know that if Brian were here with me, we'd have everything under control. We'd probably do something fun together or even go somewhere; after all, that's what ends up happening more often than not when we're together." Stewie replied. He then let out a sigh along with a bright smile crossing his face at the mention of Brian's name along with memories of all the time they had spent together racing through his head, before turning his glance to Rupert. "I know; it is strange to catch me thinking about Brian. It's been happening a lot recently, too." Stewie commented. As he watched Rupert, he had a feeling that he would be asking about why that was, and he let out a quiet sigh before grasping his hands together; he knew that he was going to have to tell someone about his secret, and if there was anyone he could trust it with, it was Rupert. After all, he always told the plush bear everything he hid from others.

"You know, Rupert… there's something that I've never told anyone else about me and Brian. You won't say anything to anyone about this if I tell you, will you?" Stewie asked, showing an expression of uncertainty over whether or not Rupert would be able to keep this secret safe with him. However, after a few seconds of silence, Stewie showed a smile of relief upon hearing Rupert's reply. "Oh, thank you. You don't know how much of a relief that is to hear. Okay then, I'll tell you. You see, Rupert, I…" Stewie fell silent for a few moments before he was able to continue. "I'm in love with Brian."

There was silence for a few moments in the room as Stewie simply watched Rupert, awaiting his response; in spite of the silence he was receiving, he could imagine that Rupert was staring in shock, trying to make sense of what he had just heard Stewie say. Apparently taking notice, Stewie simply turned his glance down as he continued. "I know, I know. It is crazy to hear something like that from me. I mean, there are so many people out there in the world. So why would he ever catch my eye? Well, to be honest… I could never figure out myself at first. But the more I thought about it…" Stewie felt a bright smile cross his face as everything about his feelings that he couldn't understand at first suddenly started to make sense. "I guess it just seemed to happen on its own, without me or Brian realising it. We've both been through so much together, and somehow we always came out closer than ever by the end of it. I know he might not ever see me the same way I see him, but there's just so much I admire about him. I just wish I could manage to tell him that…" As Stewie turned his glance down to think about if there was a way for him to let out his feelings for Brian, a bright smile slowly came to his face as he suddenly realised… the answer was sitting right in front of him. "Of course! If I can't manage to tell him out loud, I could always type it down. Don't go anywhere, Rupert. I need to go find something." Stewie stated, turning his head to Rupert sitting on the couch beside him. So without a moment to spare, Stewie started to run over to the kitchen to fetch Brian's laptop before arriving back and making himself comfortable on the couch, opening the laptop up and starting to type away; he had so much to say and little time to go about with this.

Back out on the road, the rest of the Griffin family were continuing their trek beside the road to get to the nearest town and needless to say, it was beginning to wear the group out, especially Chris, since he was starting to complain. "Mum, I'm tired! Couldn't we just camp out for the night?" Chris whined.

"Yeah, Lois. Isn't there a way that we could hitchhike?" Peter then asked, apparently agreeing with his son on the matter. Lois turned her head to him, with an evident glare showing on her face since she wasn't thrilled about this either, but for different reasons.

"It's your fault we're in this mess in the first place! If you had just pulled over when I told you to, we would be home right now!" Lois snapped, while Peter nearly jumped from shock at this outburst. Brian and Meg were the only ones who had been ignoring what was going on behind them, instead choosing to pay attention to the road in front of them and see if they could spot any more signs. Sure enough, something caught Brian's eye as he stopped in his tracks.

"Hey, everyone, look!" Brian said, pointing up ahead to try and get everyone's attention. Sure enough, the rest of the group turned their heads to see what he had found, and they could see that just in front of them was a sign that said 'Hartford: 1 mile'. Once this caught everyone's attention, they all showed big smiles of delight.

"All right! We're almost there!" Meg cheered. So without a moment to spare, the group started to rush off down the path to make their way to the town and find somewhere to stay for the night.

Sometime later, the family had arrived at Hartford and found a small motel to stay called the Travel Inn. As the group were in their room and had turned in for the night, the only one who was still awake was Brian; he was finding it difficult to get to sleep, as he had so many thoughts spiralling around in his head. He remembered just how certain he was at first about telling Stewie about his feelings for him, but now he didn't feel that same certainty anymore. There were so many worries running through his mind: how would he know what to say? How would Stewie react to learning about the truth? What would happen if the rest of the family found out? Brian let out a sigh as these thoughts were continuing to spin through his head, so he climbed out of his bed and made his way over to the glass door to open it up and step outside. While he was busy with that, he didn't notice that there was someone who had noticed that; as Meg was asleep in her bed, she could suddenly hear the sound of a door opening, so she slowly opened her eyes and raised her head to see Brian stepping out onto the small balcony area.

"Brian?" Meg quietly asked, showing an expression of puzzlement as she was starting to wonder what he could still be doing up. Figuring that maybe she should find out for herself, she climbed out of her bed and made her way over to follow him. She slowly stepped out onto the balcony area to spot Brian staring out at the view of the city around them, with an expression of uncertainty on his face as he seemed to have something on his mind, and then she walked over before she was standing just beside him. "Brian?" she asked.

"Aah!" Brian nearly jumped from shock before he turned his head to see Meg standing right beside him, and he let out a sigh upon seeing that it was her. "Oh, Meg… you nearly gave a scare there." Brian nervously commented, since he didn't notice that she was there. After having a few moments to calm down from that fright, Brian turned his attention back to her. "What are you doing out here?"

"I noticed that you were still awake and I wanted to come see if you were feeling alright. Is something wrong?" Meg explained. As Brian turned his head down, he turned his attention back to the view of the city before resting his arms against the guard rail.

"I'm just… I'm really worried about Stewie. I hope he's been doing okay being at home by himself, especially since it's night-time now. I'm just wondering about how he's dealing with all of that." Brian replied. Meg turned her glance down to think it over; she had a feeling that there was a different reason for Brian's restlessness. While the rest of the family might not have taken notice, she definitely saw it. Between Brian's getting teary eyed during the car song, his behaviour during the drive home before the crash and now here, Meg had a feeling that there was something else going on that was the cause of Brian's behaviour, and she had to find out what it was. So with this, she turned her glance back to Brian.

"I don't think that's the only reason." Meg stated. Brian turned his head to her with an expression of concern at this statement.

"What? Wh-what do you mean?" Brian rapidly asked, darting his eyes back and forth as he was trying to pretend he had no idea what Meg was talking about. However, it seemed that his act wasn't fooling her, especially when she had that look of certainty in her eyes.

"Brian… I don't know if you've noticed, but… you've been acting really strangely today. And it's because of everything that's been going on after we found out Stewie was missing. You've been acting… well, differently. It's almost like something about Stewie being left behind has caused you to act this way, and… well, if I'm being honest, I want to know why." Meg explained. Brian could only stare in alarm, the realisation that Meg had taken notice of his behaviour today starting to sink in. If there was anyone in the family who would notice, it had to be her. His grip on the guard rail seemed to tighten without him knowing it, and he turned his head away with an expression of worry showing on his face.

"I… I can't tell you why, Meg. I don't think you'll be too happy to hear about it. I don't think any of the family would want to hear it." Brian said, keeping his glance away from Meg as he didn't feel all that enthusiastic about sharing the reason from her; he didn't want to imagine how she would react if he told her about his secret. He already knew that it wouldn't end well if it had to come to that. Meg could only stare in surprise hearing just how much of a big deal this was to Brian, before she reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey… it's okay, Brian. If you want, you can tell just me, and I won't say a word to anyone about it." Meg suggested, showing a reassuring smile to show just how sincere she was about what she was saying. Brian slowly turned his head to her in uncertainty to see the gentle smile she was showing him; if there was anyone he could trust with this secret of his, she was letting him know that it could be her. Taking notice of this, Brian let out a sigh as he knew she was right.

"All right then, Meg. I'll tell you." Brian stated. Meg felt her smile grow brighter at this, knowing that Brian could trust her to keep his secret safe. So with this, Brian quietly took a deep breath and let it out while Meg waited patiently for him to tell her what all this was about. After a few seconds of silence filled the air, Brian was finally able to find his voice. "I… I'm in love with Stewie."

There was dead silence for a few moments after this was said, and Meg could only stare in stunned silence as she was struggling to register whether or not she really heard Brian say that. Once she had enough time to understand that her ears weren't playing tricks on her, she let out a quiet gasp of shock before pressing her hands against her face, with an expression of alarm showing on her face. "Oh my God… I can't believe this. Brian, are you serious?" Meg was only able to ask. Brian turned his glance down to the floor and clasped his hands tightly together, afraid to respond to Meg's question, before he simply gave a slow nod. Once this simple response was seen, Meg nearly felt as though her mouth would drop wide open from a combination of shock and disbelief from what she was hearing: Brian was in love with Stewie, her baby brother. "Oh my God… I can't believe what I'm hearing… I can't believe I just heard you say that!" Meg gasped, staring down at Brian in alarm. Brian could only let out a sigh; he was afraid that Meg would react this way.

"Okay, okay, I know it's a huge shock coming from me. But can you please let me explain before you freak out?" Brian worriedly asked. Meg turned her glance down in uncertainty for a few moments; she really didn't like the idea of what she had just learnt, but at the same time, she could see that Brian really wanted to explain himself and there was no way that she was going to deny him that. After a few seconds, she turned her glance back to him and nodded, which proved to him to be her sign that he could explain everything. Seeing this, Brian showed a smile of relief before he was able to begin.

"Well… you know how I've dated a lot of girls, and none of those relationships ever lasted long, right?" Brian asked. Meg turned her glance up to think for a few moments before she nodded.

"I'm pretty sure that everyone in Quahog knows about that." Meg replied. Brian could only roll his eyes since that wasn't helping his case much, but regardless, he was ready to confess all of this to Meg and he didn't intend of holding back with anything. She had to know everything if he wanted to have a chance of her understanding what he was saying.

"Well, I could never figure out what the problem was, why all these relationships never lasted long. But listening to the song in the car made me realise that… I was the problem. I focused so much on a woman's appearance without getting to know the real person behind her. It made me realise how very little I actually know about love. But with Stewie… I never have any of those problems. Everything feels completely different when I'm with him." Brian explained. As Meg stared at him in puzzlement, wondering what he was talking about, Brian turned his glance down before he continued. "I don't really know how to describe it, but… Stewie and I know more about each other than anyone else does. We know about each other's favourite hobbies, our dreams, our internal fears and so much more, and it's all because we spend so much time together. We know things about each other that no one else does. We're always there for each other when we need someone to turn to. We know just how to bring each other back up when we come crashing down. And most of all… no matter what times we go through, whether they be good or bad, we never leave each other's side. I've made plenty of stupid mistakes that I'm not proud of, but while any woman would have walked out on me, Stewie's stayed with me through it all. Even when I treat him like complete crap, he'll still be there for me when I need him most. I was even wasted out in the gutters at one point, and he was still there for me! If any of that has helped me realise something, it's that I shouldn't been trying so hard to look… because the one I've been looking for this whole time was standing right in front of me since day one, but I was too blind and foolish to realise it. But now I'm not anymore; I know how who the one I'm meant to be with is, and that person… is Stewie. He loves me for who I am, and to me, nothing else matters more."

As silence filled the air, Meg could only stare in amazement as she was struggling to make sense of everything she had just heard; she had never heard Brian express his feelings about anything this sincerely, or this passionately. It was clear for her to see that the feelings Brian held for Stewie were something true, and he hadn't been afraid to confess everything he held in his heart for the baby to her, even when he must have felt afraid of what she would say. After a few moments passed, with Brian anxiously waiting to hear what she had to say, Meg was finally able to find her voice. "Wow… Brian… I had no idea you really felt that way about Stewie."

Brian quickly showed an expression of surprise as he was starting to wonder if this meant what he hoped it would. "So… you're not going to say a word about any of this? You won't tell the rest of the family about what you just learnt from me?" Brian asked. Meg showed a bright smile before slowly shaking her head in response.

"Don't worry, Brian. I won't say a word about this to anyone. Your secret will be safe with me." Meg simply replied. Brian could only stare in amazement upon hearing this before he felt a grateful smile cross his face; he had told Meg so much, things that he was afraid she would be horrified by, and yet even with everything she had just heard, she was not only okay with it, but she was also agreeing to keep silent about it, for both his sake and for Stewie's. Feeling as though as he was close to having tears building in his eyes, Brian stepped over to her before wrapping his arms around Meg while she looked down at him in surprise.

"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, Meg. I know I'll never forget this." Brian sincerely stated, turning his glance up to her to show his smile of relief, so she would be able to see just how grateful he was to her. Meg stared in surprise for a few moments before she showed a bright smile in response and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"No problem, Brian." Meg modestly replied. So with this, she turned and started to make her way back inside the room, while Brian watched her in silence. Once Meg was back inside with the door shut behind her, Brian turned back around to look out at the city view with uncertainty returning; he was able to tell Meg everything, but how would he manage when the time came to tell Stewie? As he let out a sigh at his dilemma, he grabbed out his phone and opened it up to find the option for video message; he hadn't really used it before, but it seemed like now was a good time for it. So with this, he clicked on the option and turned his phone around so the screen faced him.

"Hey, Stewie? It's Brian." From inside the room, Meg could hear everything that was going on and she simply showed a bright smile; it seemed as though Brian had figured out a way as to how he was going to tell Stewie the truth, and share it with him when they got home. She then turned her head down to think; she had a feeling that it wouldn't be easy to keep her mouth shut about everything, but as long as she was doing it for the two of them, it would be worth it. She then let out a yawn before lying back down in her bed to get some sleep, since she knew that it would be a long way before they arrived back in Quahog. At the same time, Brian had just finished with his message. "I'll see you when we get home." Once he said this, Brian pressed the button to stop the recording and turned his phone off before making his way to head back inside the room.

Back at the Griffin house, Stewie was lying on the couch and still busily typing away on the laptop. After a few seconds, he leaned back and let out a sigh as he was watching the screen. "Ah, finally! I've got everything down, Rupert. Want to see for yourself? Here, I'll let you look." Stewie suggested, turning his head to Rupert before turning the laptop screen to the bear so he could see everything he had typed down. After a few seconds, Stewie showed a bright smile upon hearing Rupert's silent response. "You like it? I'm so glad you do. I can only imagine how Brian will react when he sees all of this." Stewie commented, turning his glance down in uncertainty as he was starting to wonder about how Brian would respond to seeing everything he had typed up, and on his laptop, no less. "Do you think he'll like it?" Stewie then asked, turning his head to Rupert. There was silence for a few moments as Rupert seemed to give his reply, while Stewie showed a small smile.

"Well, I hope you're right. After all, I did spend quite a while on it and everything I said is true, so I'm sure he'll want to look at it." Stewie said, looking down at the laptop before saving his work, shutting off the laptop for the night and closing the lid. Once all of that was taken care of, Stewie turned around to face Rupert. "Since that's all taken care of, how about we see if there's anything good on TV before figuring what to do for dinner?" Stewie suggested. He then reached over and grabbed the remote to turn the TV on to see what was playing on the channels, and it happened to be on the news with Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons.

"Good evening, Quahog. I'm Tom Tucker." Tom announced. "And I'm Diane Simmons. There have been reports of a car crash that took place just outside of Hartford." Diane added. Stewie felt an expression of surprise show on his face, as he was starting to wonder what could have happened out there.

"Did you hear that, Rupert? There was a car crash! Whoever it was, I hope they're okay." Stewie commented, showing an expression of worry as he was starting to wonder who it could have been. His questions about the matters were quickly answered as Tom continued.

"Yes, Diane. The car has been identified to be a red LTD Station Wagon at the sight of the crash. So far, none of the bodies have been located at the scene." Tom explained. As he said this, a photo of the wrecked car was shown on the screen behind him, showing that the car was lying on its roof with several bumps and dents, and all the windows had been shattered into glass pieces. Stewie let out a gasp of horror at the sight before turning his head to Rupert.

"Oh my God… that's… that's our car! Rupert, our family's been in an accident! What if something happened to them? The car looked really bad on the screen, but they had to have gotten out before they crashed. Unless…" Stewie was silent for a few moments before the realisation started to sink in; it was something he didn't want to believe was true, yet at the same time, it couldn't be ignored. "Oh God… no… No, it can't be!" Stewie cried, feeling tears starting to build in his eyes upon discovering that one of his worst fears had come to life: he had lost his entire family. He turned his head to see that the TV was still on, so he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, before placing the remote down on the couch beside him and reaching up to start wiping the tears away from his eyes, even though it seemed they wouldn't go away.

"This… this can't be happening… They're all gone… for good. I've lost everyone. How can this be happening?!" Stewie cried, feeling the tears start to stream down his face. Grabbing Rupert in his arms, he jumped off the couch and ran over to the staircase before making his way up them as fast as possible and running into his room before slamming the door behind him. Once he was inside, Stewie ran over to his crib before climbing inside and buried his face into his pillow, finally letting out his sobs as he held Rupert close to him. This was a nightmare he never thought would come true, and yet now it had. "I-I can't believe… this is happening… I've lost my whole family. And… and worst of all… I've lost Brian! And I never got to tell him the truth. I never got to tell him I love him!" Stewie sobbed, slowly raising his head as he spoke. He quickly stood up and, with Rupert in his hands, tossed the bear across the room, leaving him to slam against the wall and drop onto the floor. After this little outburst, Stewie collapsed back into his bed with tear stains on his face as he started to drift into a restless sleep, the thoughts of him being alone and without his family haunting him throughout the night.

The next morning out in Hartford, the rest of the family were up and they were getting ready to make their way back to Quahog, with Lois checking a map in the brochure to see if there was any nearby transportation they could take. After a few moments of searching, a smile of excitement came to her face as she spotted something. "Everyone, I've found a way for us to get home!" At these words, the rest of the group came over to see what she found, and she pointed down at the map. "We can take the train from Union Station, and it's only five minutes away from where we are if we catch a taxi. Peter, do you know if we still have money with us?" Lois asked, turning her head up to him as she was asking this. Peter quickly showed a bright smile and nodded before grabbing his wallet.

"Sure do, Lois! There's plenty for both the taxi ride and the tickets. We'll be home in no time!" Peter replied, showing a confident smile that everything was now under control. Lois showed a smile of relief upon hearing this before turning her head to Chris, Meg and Brian.

"Don't worry, kids. We'll be back home to Stewie soon! He'll be so happy to see us!" Lois happily commented. Brian quickly showed a smile of excitement as he was looking forward to arriving home, while Chris and Meg turned their heads to each other.

"I wonder what Stewie's been doing the whole time while we were gone. Do you think he's okay?" Chris asked. Meg turned her head up to think for a few moments before she shrugged in response. "I think so. Mr. Quagmire and Cleveland have been taking care of him, so I'm sure he's probably fine." Meg replied.

A little later, the family had taken the taxi and arrived at the Union Station. As the group of five stepped inside, Peter was having a look around and spotted the counter to buy tickets, and then he turned his head to the group. "Lois and I are going to go get the tickets. Wait for us at the seats." Peter stated. As he and Lois made their way over to the front counter, Chris, Meg and Brian went to sit down at the seats. As the man behind the counter was busy checking something on his computer, he turned his glance up to see Peter and Lois.

"Ah, how I can help you this morning?" he asked. As the two stopped in front of the counter, Lois was the first to speak up. "We'd like five train tickets to Quahog. Our son is at home by himself and we need to get home as soon as possible." Lois explained. The man started to type up the details on his computer and after a few seconds of searching, he looked back up at the two.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. We don't have any routes available for Quahog." The man replied. Peter and Lois both showed matching expressions of alarm at this statement; now they didn't have any way to get home fast, and Stewie was probably still waiting for them.

"What?!" Lois gasped, trying to make sure she was hearing this right. Peter quickly showed a glare and placed his closed fists against his hips. "You can't be serious! How can you not have any trains that go directly to Quahog?" Peter snapped, while Lois turned her head to him while he was talking.

"I understand it's an inconvenience. But we just don't have any train lines that lead directly there. However, you can catch the train that leads to the border of Rhode Island." The man suggested. Peter quickly showed a big smile at this idea before turning to Lois.

"Hey, that's great! You hear that, Lois? We could make our way back to Quahog on foot once we get off. It would take about a day's walk, but it'd be worth it." Peter stated. Unfortunately, hearing this happened to be Lois's breaking point; she had had to deal with so much over the last day that having to deal with this kind of delay was where she drew the line. With a glare showing on her face, she marched over towards the front counter while Peter watched in surprise. "Woah, Lois, you okay?" he asked. His question went unheard by her, however, as she slammed a fist against the counter while the man watched in shock at this outburst.

"That's it! You listen to me, Sir! Ever since we started this trip home, everything's been a living hell! Our car was crashed and wrecked, we had to walk five miles to get to this town and we even had to stay at a cheap motel! And now you're telling us that we don't have a way to get home?! Our little baby is at home by himself and he's probably worried sick and scared! And I don't care if we have to follow those train tracks on foot, we're getting home one way or another!" Lois snapped. There was silence for a few moments as both Peter and the man simply stared at her in shock, before she let out a quiet sigh and turned around and started to walk away before Peter followed after her while the man was left in silence before turning his attention to the next person in line. As Chris and Meg were still waiting at the seats, they looked up to see Peter and Lois walking back over.

"So… how did everything turn out?" Chris asked. "Were you able to find a train to get home?" Meg added. Lois let out a sigh of dismay before turning her head up to the two with an expression of sadness.

"I'm sorry, kids. But it turns out this train station doesn't have any routes that get to Quahog. Now how are we ever going to get home?" Lois worriedly asked, looking down with an expression of worry as she was starting to wonder how they were ever going to find a way home at this rate. As Peter turned his head to her in concern and wrapped an arm around her, that was when he realised that there was someone missing.

"Hey, where's Brian?" Peter wondered, staring in confusion as he noticed that Brian was nowhere to be seen. His question was answered a few seconds later as Brian was running back over to the group before stopping in his tracks, and his eyes seemed to be wide open as he had spotted a way to get them home.

"Guys! I found us a ride to Quahog on the back of a truck. Let's hurry!" Brian stated. Without a moment to spare, he started to rush off out of the station while the rest of the family followed after them, and they soon came to a truck that had pulled over near the station. As the truck was getting ready to drive off, the group ran over and climbed into the back, making themselves comfortable sitting on the floor as the truck started to drive off down the street, on the road towards Quahog. As the group looked out the back to watch the station disappear from view, Lois let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God you found this, Brian. Now we'll be back home before we know it." Lois commented. "Yeah, you're telling me. And plus, this'll beat having to walk home." Peter agreed, nodding with a big smile. So with this, the group started to make themselves comfortable for the ride home, eagerly looking forward to getting back to Stewie at last.

Back at the Griffin house, Stewie was slowly walking down the staircase; he was still feeling upset over hearing the news report last night and it was clear to see that the news was still weighing down on him, if the few tears still built in his eyes were much to go by. As he slowly walked into the kitchen, he turned his head to Rupert as he was dragging the bear just behind him. "Well, Rupert… it looks like it's just you and me now. We're the only ones living in this house, and we have to start taking charge around here." Stewie stated, as he started to brush the tears out of his eyes. There was silence as the bear seemed to give a question, to which Stewie was silent for a few moments before he nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's right. It means I'll have to get a job. I just need to figure out where a good place would be. Do you have any ideas?" Stewie asked.

There was silence for a few moments as Stewie turned his head up to think about it, before the first smile he had shown all morning started to cross his face before he looked back down to Rupert. "I say… that's a great idea! Well then, I'm off. Make sure no one breaks in!" Stewie cheered, before making his way out of the house and jumping up on his toddler tricycle to head out into the city.

Sometime later, Stewie had arrived at McBurgertown and he was busy working behind the counter taking customers' orders as well as helping behind the deep fryer and cleaning the bathrooms. At one point during the day, Stewie was busy frying chips in the deep fryer and he let out a sigh before showing an expression of annoyance. "Ugh… I didn't know that this job was going to be so stressful. But as long as it gets me some reasonable money, I guess it works. After all, what could be better than working in a place like this?" Stewie asked, with a small smile showing on his face at the fact that he had a job that gave him a lot of tasks, which meant he had so much to do and the day would never get boring. While he was busy with that, the manager, Eric, walked over to where he was standing.

"Stewie, can I see you in my office for a bit?" Eric asked. Stewie turned his head to him in surprise before hopping off the small stool ladder he was using to reach the deep fryer and following Eric towards his office. Once the two were in their seats, that was when Eric was ready to address what he had to say. "Stewie, Shuana says that you've been eating food; she told me that she saw you in the back of the kitchen sneaking a Fish Sandwich." Eric explained. Stewie could only stare in disbelief, like he was trying to pretend that he had no idea what Eric was talking about, but with little success.

"What? Oh, come on!" Stewie snapped. After a few moments, he showed an expression of dismay as he knew he couldn't find it. "Well… okay, yes. But the thing was quite a few minutes past the throw out time! That's not a huge problem, is it?" Stewie asked.

"Well, be that as it may, Shuana also took these pictures on her cellphone." Eric replied, holding up a cell phone and flicking through several pictures of Stewie stuffing his face with burgers; as far as Mcburgertown was concerned, it was against work protocol to be eating on the job, and Stewie could only stare in alarm at the photos at the realisation that he was in big trouble. However, he wasn't prepared for what Eric had to say next. "You're fired."

Later that night, Stewie was lying on the couch in dismay with Rupert beside him and he was starting up at the ceiling over his situation. "Oh, what are we going to do now, Rupert? We're doomed! I just got fired from by job, so now we don't have any way to earn money. My life was considerably better with my family around, and I didn't realise it until it was too late…" Stewie sighed, lowering his head in despair, before he turned his glance to spot the small table beside the couch and noticed the photos of the family, especially the one of him and Brian together. Stewie then crawled over to where the table was, and grabbed the photo of him and Brian to have a look at it before holding it close. "And it was especially good when you were here with me. But now you're gone…" As he held the photo close, he suddenly heard the sound of a horn from outside. "Hm? What's that?" Placing the photo back on the table, he hopped off the couch and walked over to the window to have a look outside and he was met with a miraculous sight: the rest of the family were sitting in the back of a pick-up truck that had just stopped in front of the house, and they were hopping out of the back. Upon seeing the family, a big smile of joy started to cross Stewie's face.

"Mummy! Daddy! Chris! Meg! And… and Brian! They're home! They made it back after all!" Stewie exclaimed, feeling excitement that they were home and relief that they survived the crash when he had assumed that his worst fear had come to life.

Back outside, the rest of the family were waving to the truck as it was driving away. "Thanks for the lift!" Peter called. "Yeah! Hope we can do it again sometime!" Chris added, showing an eager smile as he had enjoyed this trip in spite of the initial disappointment of having to cancel their vacation. As the group turned around to face the house, that was when Meg caught sight of something through the window.

"Hey, look who's waiting for us!" Meg commented, pointing to the window. The rest of the family turned their heads to see Stewie looking through the window to see them with a big smile of joy that they were home on his face, following by tears of happiness slowly building in his eyes. Upon seeing him, both Lois and Brian quickly started to show matching smiles of relief.

"Stewie! My little baby's okay!" Lois exclaimed. "Oh, thank God!" Brian added, placing a hand over his heart from relief that Stewie was safe through all the time that they had been gone. Peter then walked over to Lois and wrapped an arm around her with a smile.

"See, Lois? Told you he'd be fine." Peter stated. Without a moment to spare, the family started to walk over to the front door while Stewie rushed over there to greet them. As Lois was the first to open the door, Stewie rushed over to her with a huge smile while Lois bent down to open her arms as he ran over to her.

"Oh, Mummy! Thank God you're home!" Stewie cheered, throwing his arms around Lois tightly as he was so thrilled to see her while the rest of the family stepped inside with matching smiles of joy to see him and Lois stood up as she held Stewie tightly, clearly noticing just how relieved he was to see everyone finally back home.

"Stewie! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!" Lois exclaimed. She then turned her head to see Peter walking over with a big smile upon seeing Stewie. "Hey, little buddy! I hope you haven't been too scared while we were gone; it took us a while to find our way home." Peter explained, showing no hesitance in giving the baby a hug as well, while Chris and Meg walked over at the same time.

"Hey there, little man! We didn't keep you waiting too long, right?" Chris asked, rubbing a hand against Stewie's hair. As Lois watched, she turned her head to see Meg grab Stewie out of her arms to give him a hug as well, and she showed a smile seeing how relieved Meg was that her baby brother was alright. "Stewie, we're so glad you're okay. We were all worried sick about you!" Meg commented, showing Stewie a big smile of relief. She then turned her head down to see Brian watching with a bright smile as well, and it didn't take Stewie long to smile back upon seeing the canine.

"And I know Brian was waiting for us to come back home, because he was worried about you the most out of all of us." Meg added, bending down to place Stewie on the floor so he could talk to Brian. Once that was done, Stewie turned his attention to Brian as he walked over to him.

"Brian… I can't believe it. When I watched that news report about the car crash, I thought you and everyone else had been killed in the accident. But… you're here. You made it back home…" Stewie explained, feeling tears returning to his eyes as he remembered his devastation over having watched the news report and assuming the worst, when in reality the family had been trying to find their way back home even with the hurdle of not having their car anymore. Showing no hesitance on his part, Stewie ran over to Brian and threw his arms around him tightly, closing his eyes to allow the tears to fall freely down his face. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you! I thought I'd lost you for good!" Stewie cried, filled with relief that the one he loved the most was finally back by his side. He was soon with a surprise as Brian placed his arms around him and lifted him up to hold him close.

"It's okay, Stewie. I never stopped worrying about you the whole time we were trying to get home. I'm just glad that you're okay." Brian commented, showing a smile of relief to see that Stewie had been alright this whole time. Stewie felt his smile growing bigger upon hearing that Brian was always thinking about him, before the two wrapped their arms around each other in a tight embrace, never wanting to let each other go again. However, the two's private moment was rudely interrupted as Peter suddenly spoke up.

"That's weird. I don't see Cleveland or Quagmire anywhere. Wonder what happened to them?" Peter wondered, looking around in puzzlement as he was starting to wonder where the two were. Just then, he could hear the sound of two voices from a different room and from the sound of it, it seemed like it was coming from the basement. "What the…?" Deciding to find out for himself, Peter walked over to the basement room and opened it up only to be met with an alarming sight: Cleveland and Quagmire were both being held up by two hooks and they both had shackles around their arms along with a TV turned on in the room.

"And now you're ready to enjoy the full range of exciting direct TV programming options. And remember…" From the sound of the TV, it sounded as though it had been placed on the Direct TV Help channel with Quagmire and Cleveland now repeating what the person was saying since they had been watching it for so long. Peter let out a gasp of shock at the sight before he rushed down the stairs, grabbed the remote to the TV and turned it off before turning to face the two. "What the hell happened to you guys?! What are you doing down here?" Peter asked. Quagmire and Cleveland were both in shock for a few moments upon realising that the channel had stopped, before they looked down to see Peter staring at them in alarm as he was wondering what had been going on.

"Oh, Peter, thank God! We just came to check on Stewie and the next thing we knew, we were knocked out and found ourselves being shackled down here and forced that channel for hours." Quagmire explained, showing an expression of relief that someone had finally arrived to get them out of here. "It's been driving both of us crazy! Get us down from here!" Cleveland added; he had a feeling that if he would have to listen to any more of that channel, both he and Quagmire would completely lose their minds. That seemed to be all Peter needed to know as he simply nodded in understanding.

"All right, don't move, guys. I'll be back with the blowtorch." Peter replied, before he ran over to the staircase to go grab the blowtorch from the garage. As Quagmire and Cleveland watched him leave, the two then turned their heads to each other in puzzlement.

"Where does he think we'll go, exactly?" Quagmire asked. Cleveland could only shrug his arms in response, since he had no answer to that.

A little later, things were starting to settle down after the family reunion: Stewie had gone back up to his room, Chris and Meg were relaxing on the couch and watching the TV, Peter and Lois had just finished up with Quagmire and Cleveland, and Brian was making his way over to the kitchen table with his laptop in hand. "Ah… I think it's time to finally starting getting back to work on my novel." Brian commented, opening up the laptop lid and turning it on. As he looked through the options, he showed a bright smile once he spotted the word document he was looking for. "Just the way I left it." But as he was about to open it, he noticed that there was another document right beside it, much to his surprise.

"What's this?" Brian wondered, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement. He hovered the cursor over the document to read the title: Stewie Griffin's work. Spotting the baby's name, Brian showed a bright smile of interest. "Oh, Stewie wrote something himself? I guess there's no harm in checking it out." Brian commented, figuring that there was no harm. So with this, he clicked on the document to open it up and he was met with an amazing sight. The document Stewie had typed up was something completely different, and it was made all the more apparent when Brian started to read it to himself:

A CONFESSION FROM THE HEART

Hey, it's Stewie. I know I don't usually do something like this, but this is for something important: there's a few things I really want to get off my chest. And they concern someone close and special to me.

Brian… there's something I've really wanted to say to you. But I wasn't sure of whether or not I'd have the right words, so I thought I'd do this. From the day I met you, you've become someone I can never imagine living without. Even when we had days where we wouldn't get along so well or get at each other's throats, we've always had each other's back through everything and we were always there for each other through everything we've done. And all of that has caused me to realise something I never thought possible.

And that something… concern my feelings for you. For the longest time, I'd grown a liking to you, but I never thought it would be anything deeper than that. Oh, if only I knew just how wrong I would be. You're truly someone special to me, and I could never imagine spending the rest of my life without you. I know you don't hold yourself in high regard deep down, but there's so much I admire about you that would otherwise go unnoticed; your passion for the things you do, your determination to finish what you start no matter how long it takes you, and the soft heart you show underneath that deadpan demeanour you show around others, especially with me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that…

Brian… I love you.

That one simple statement was enough to cause Brian to let out a silent gasp of amazement; he had been so afraid of whether or not Stewie would feel the same way about him, but reading all of this was enough to show him that couldn't be further from the truth. However, he wasn't done yet as he continued reading.

I know it sounds crazy coming from me, and I know you possibly won't feel the same for me, but I can't bring myself to hide it any longer. I love you more than anyone else in the world.

You're the one person that makes my world complete, you're the reason I became who I am now. Because of all the time we've spent together, I've become a completely different… and better baby. You helped me see sides of myself that I never knew existed before; a side that wants to love and care for the people who matters most to him, a side that was once overshadowed by his own selfish desires. You brought out that side of me, and I could never thank you enough for it. I can never stop thinking about you no matter how hard I try, and I always dream about what a life of us being together would be like, no matter how far away or out of reach it seems.

If I kept going on about all of this, I'll probably be here forever. But I'll just finish off by saying this: Brian, if there was ever a slight chance that you'd love me too, the same way that I do for you, all of my dreams would become a reality.

Stewie Griffin

Brian could only stare at the document in awestruck silence, feeling tears slowly building in his eyes as they slowly trailed through the sentences over and over again, taking in all the words that were being shown to him. After a few seconds passed, a big smile slowly crossed Brian's face and he started to wipe his tears away before looking back up at the document. "Oh my God… this is incredible… How could I have not noticed it for this long?" Brian whispered. He now knew the whole truth, how much Stewie truly loved him. He then turned his head to see his phone lying on the table beside his laptop, so he reached over to grab it and opened it up to find the video message he recorded. "It looks like there's something I need to do." After finding the video message, he pressed Send and searched the name before finding the one he was looking for: Stewie.

Up in his room, Stewie was taking some time to relax after all the nonsense that had occurred over the last day. As he let out a content sigh, he could suddenly the sound of buzzing from his pocket. "What the…? What is that?" Stewie asked, showing an expression of surprise as he felt the vibration. He then reached into his pocket to discover the cause: he had received a message on his phone. However, he was met with a surprise when he had a look at who it was from and what it was. "A video message… from Brian? What could he have possibly sent this to me for?" Stewie asked, staring at the message in puzzlement as he was trying to figure out what it was. After a few moments to think it over, he gave a shrug. "Well, I guess there's no harm in finding out." So with this, he clicked on the message to view it. The video then started to reveal Brian standing on a balcony area, possibly from the place he and the rest of the family were staying at for the night.

"Hey, Stewie? It's Brian. There's something I feel that I need to tell you. I know it probably won't be easy for you to hear, and I really wanted to wait on this until we get home, but I don't know if I'll have the right words to say then. So I'm telling you this now." Stewie showed an expression of surprise as he was starting to wonder what this could be about, while he didn't notice that Brian was standing just outside the doorway of his room, listening in to see how Stewie would react to the message he sent him.

"You see… I know we never really got along well at first. But… as time went on, I started to see just how amazing you actually are. I had no idea that we'd become close friends so fast, but I'm so glad we did. But recently something's happened that I can't ignore, and it's also the reason I'm sending you this message.

You see, Stewie… I've only now realised how much I actually mean to you, and that the same thing goes for me. But the amount of care and devotion you show for me is something I've never truly thought about. During the car ride, I got a massive wake-up call; I realised… how deep my feelings for you actually go, and how much I actually mean to you. It made me realise how very little I actually know about love, and that person I've been looking for this whole time… has actually been standing right in front of me and I never even knew about it."

Stewie let out a silent gasp of amazement as soon as he heard this, while Brian showed a big smile as he continued to watch from the doorway as his message continued.

"You're the one person I actually really know so much about, and it's because we spend so much time together, going on adventures and getting to know each other better than anyone else. And it's only now that I've realised just how valuable your company is, and now my life would be empty without you. You're the only one who's willing to see me for who I am, and not try to pass me off as arrogant or selfish. You're always there for me when I need someone to turn to, you're there to bring me back up when I come crashing down, and no matter what happens to us, you always stay by my side. That's something I know I'll never forget for the rest of my life. And it's because of all of this that I'm finally able to tell you this. Stewie… I love you. I know I've said that to so many women I've met, but now, it couldn't be any truer. I always assumed the amount of love you have for me was just a passing thing, but it's only now that I know just how wrong I was. Your love for me is something completely different and the same goes for how I feel for you; you're someone I could never imagine spending my days without, and you're the one I truly want to be with. I know it sounds crazy, but… this is us we're talking about. We've managed to make all kinds of things work, right?"

Stewie could only watch the message in stunned silence, listening to everything Brian was saying; he was hearing Brian confess everything he held in his heart for him, feelings he had thought Brian would never reciprocate, but this message was showing him just how wrong he really was. "B-Brian…" Stewie softly whispered, feeling a big smile slowly crossing his face.

"It is getting late, so I might as well close this off. I know I said it before, but I'll say it again so you know I mean it. I love you, Stewie. I'll see you when we get home." After this was said, the message turned off and Stewie was simply left staring with an expression of amazement on his face. However, the silence was quickly broken when he heard a voice from behind him.

"So… do you like it?" Stewie nearly jumped from surprise at that voice, before he slowly stood up and turned around to see Brian walking into the room, with his hands clasped together and an expression of uncertainty showing on his face as he was awaiting Stewie's reaction to everything he had to say. There was silence for a few moments before Stewie was finally able to speak. "Brian… did you really mean everything you said in your message?"

Brian slowly showed a smile before he nodded in confirmation. "Of course I did, Stewie. I told you everything I truly felt for you. I really wanted to wait until we got home to tell you, but I didn't know if I'd have the right words to properly describe my feelings. I'm sure the same goes for that document you typed up." Brian replied. Stewie nearly jumped from alarm upon hearing that Brian read the document he typed up.

"What? You actually read that? That was supposed to be a private thing!" Stewie snapped in response. Brian's smile didn't seem to fade, though, as he slowly walked over to Stewie before picking him up and holding him in his arms while the latter watched in surprise.

"Maybe… but I thought it was beautiful. I can't believe I didn't notice the signs from day one; I was just so blind and foolish and believed I knew everything about love, but you showed me just how wrong I was. There's still so much I don't actually know, and that was the cause of the failure of every relationship I ever had." Brian explained, lowering his head in shame at his own shortcomings. Stewie simply showed a comforting smile in response before he reached up to start rubbing Brian's head.

"Well, maybe this time could be different. This could be your chance to start doing things right where everything else went wrong." Stewie suggested. Brian turned his glance down in uncertainty before bending down to place Stewie back on the floor and started to walk towards the door, crossing his arms while Stewie watched in concern as he was starting to wondering what was wrong.

"I don't know, Stewie… What if I screw this up? Every relationship I had up till now went right downhill because of my mistakes. What if I do the same thing to you? I don't want to have to put you through any of that… not when you're too important for me to lose…" Brian replied, before leaning against the doorway and lowering his head, closing his eyes in uncertainty as he was starting to wonder whether or not he would be able to make this between him and Stewie work. Stewie was silent for a few moments as he looked down to think it over, before he showed a comforting smile and walked over to Brian.

"Hey, Bri? Can I tell you something?" Stewie asked. Brian slowly turned his head over to Stewie to see the gentle smile he was showing him. "There's no doubt you make a lot of mistakes; that's what we all do. And it's no different when it comes to being in a relationship. We're most likely both going to make mistakes at some point or another." Stewie explained. Brian showed an expression of uncertainty as he was wondering how that was supposed to help him feel better about this, but he was met with a surprise as Stewie reached up to take Brian's hands in his before he continued. "But if there's one thing to keep in mind, it's that we should support each other no matter how many mistakes we make. Any time one of us stumbles, the other will be there to catch them and bring them back up. If we have something to say, we'll be honest with each other about it no matter how hard it might be. If one of us is feeling down or uncertain, we'll be there to support each other and remind each other how much we mean to each other. I know it might not be an easy road for us, but we'll make it work together. After all, we are a team and that's what we do. We'll both make it through this together, just like we've always done before."

Brian could only stare in amazement upon hearing all of this, before he slowly showed a bright smile as he started to realise that Stewie was right. It most likely wasn't going to be easy, but as long as they were always there for each other, then neither of the mistakes they would make would matter. They would always support each other, just like they had always done. After a few moments of silence passed, Brian nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Stewie. You're right. I guess that's something I have to keep in mind. This relationship isn't about just one of us, it's about both of us. I know I'm not perfect, but that won't stop me from trying. I'll do the best I can, and become someone you can be proud to be with. I promise." Brian sincerely replied.

"Thank you, Brian. I'll do the same for you too." Stewie agreed. There was complete silence in the room as the two simply smiled at each other before Brian bent down to pick Stewie up again and hold him in his arms. Once the two were certain that they were both at a reasonable height with each other, they started to lean forward towards each other… before their lips finally met. This was something they never imagined would become a reality, but now it was. The long-time friendship the two had shared was finally becoming a stronger bond, one that would never be broken by any adversity or animosity they came across. This was something they had always secretly desired, and now it was finally coming true. After what seemed like forever passed, the two finally parted and looked up at each other with matching big smiles, before Stewie let out a yawn before he started to snuggle up against Brian while the latter watched him on. "Brian… could you keep me company for the night?" Stewie asked, turning his head up to the canine, his new boyfriend.

"Sure." Brian simply replied, nodding in agreement. So with this, he turned to head back inside Stewie's room, making sure to close the door behind him once he was inside. For the two of them, this was the start of a new relationship for them. While not an easy road, the love between them would continue to bloom and becoming stronger, just like a seed in the sun growing into a beautiful rose.