I remember when little Rob and I were just kids, maybe 8 and 12, and we went on our first hiking trip with Mom and Dad up in the mountain side. I remember it was in autumn...

It was a brisk september day and the sun was hiding behind the clouds, slivers of its rays would shine down on us while we trecked up the steep path to the sound of rushing water. I heard our father's bellowing voice over the sound of the waterfall;

"Hey kids, you can go ahead"- light snickered were exchanged between our parents before he continued -"Mom and I are going to go look for some drinking water down here". It didn't make sense, since we were heading towards a waterfall, but I let it go and moved forward.

"Almost there, little bro", I said as I patted Robert on the back. He panted and nodded with a diligent smile that graced his lips.

We had reached the summit and i watched as my brother sat on a mossy rock and take off his shoes and socks, letting his bare feet dangle off the side, skimming teh icy water's surface. The sun kissed his

pale face, so much like my own, except for his blues eyes, which held a mysterious aura of luring wisdom within them. I remember he started to hum, his chin resting on his crossed arms, propped up by one knee.

"What're you humming?" I asked, walking over to the rock and sitting beside him. Robert looked to me and bashfully smiled.

"I dunno, just kinda made it up. Reminds me of the water", his head turned back to the falls, the wind blew in our coal- black hair, the same color as my eyes.

"It's nice", I whispered, and enjoyed the peaceful stillness while my little brother continued his tune about the water. It really was nice. I gently laid an arm around his shoulders, and he leaned in next to me.

We both sighed in unison. It felt so wonderful to have that brotherly bond without any words needing to be said. We just lived in each others' presence, one feeding off of the other's warmth. I kissed the top of his head

before resting my chin on it, closing my eyes as I took another deep breath. And then it began to rain- thunder, lightning, the works.

In the distance the faint sound of our parents' calls to us where heard...along with their constant giggling. "Oh no! (hahaha!) Kids?"....

"Rain, rain, rain!" Robert cheerfully cried while dancing on the rock. I jumped off and looked to him with worried and impatient eyes.

"Robert, get down from there! You might hurt yourself!" That's when it happened- the fall. With a shrill scream, Rob slipped off and fell into the freezing water, his fingers the only grippage he had to land.

"Eddie! Help me Eddie!" His voice was terrified, his eyes were opened wide and brimming with tears. I quickly came to his aide, nearly slipping off the mossy rock as well when i climbed onto it. I extended my

arms out to him.

"I'm coming! Grab onto me, Rob."- He did as he was told, gripping to my elbows as i did to him. It was raining so hard, the droplets seemed to make it even harder to hold onto him, as Robert slipped out of

my grip. He screamed that spine shocking scream once again as he slammed against the side of the rock. I thought I heard something crack. I reached for him again in a struggling effort to save him. He reached for

my shirt this time, as I caught on to his sleeves and pulled him out. -"I gotcha Rob, mmph!" Robert landed smack dab on top of me, cold, soaked and shivering, much like myself, as he clung to my warmth. I

wrapped my arms around him, and pushed us both up into a sitting position, Robert on my lap.

"Eddie, my-my hip h-hurts", he sniffled into my shoulder. I slowly and carefully lifted up his drenched blue fleece jacket and saw the bloody slash above his right hip. I stifled a gasp with my free left hand and

held onto him tighter...that was the crack I had heard earlier.

"R-Robert, it's gonna be okay." He looked up to me with eyes strangely calm, yet still holding a slight hint of fear. I carried him in my arms, bridal style, and began to run towards the sound of my parents'

obnoxious laughing.

I grimaced at the scene infront of me. I felt Robert move his face deeper into my chest as he saw both of our parents, stark naked in the middle of the woods, drunk as hell.

"There you 4 are...we were lllooking allll over for you.." I looked for my dad's pants and found his wallet.

"We're going to the hospital.. Apparently you two can't drive in this condition so I'm calling a cab, okay?" Robert held tighter around my neck. My mother turned around and dry heaved a few times before

turning back to us and speaking in a slurred voice;

"Why'r you goiinnng tothehossible? It's Thanksgiving! Nobody goestothe hossible on Thanksgivving.." She threw up again and my dad just laughed. I felt my anger beginning to overflow in me.

"Because my brother has cracked a hip bone, got it?! And you two are a bunch of lousy drunks who would rather lay here naked in the middle of nowhere than spend time with your kids to notice."- my voice

was trembling with anger. They all looked at me, dumbfounded, even Robert. -"Happy Thanksgiving, we're leaving." And we were off to the hospital.

"E-Eddie?" I heard the faint whisper fall from my little brother's lips. His grip was loosening from around my neck. My arms wound tighter around his legs and shoulders while I answered him.

"What is it Rob? We're almost out of the woods..."- He kept breathlessly repeating my name, and then it stopped. I felt my eyebrows crease in worriement -"Rob? Can you hear me? Speak louder",- I stopped

by a tree and sat down, my back pressed against the moist red wood. I petted his slightly toussled hair and attempted to shake him awake. -"Rob, say something!" His eyelids fluttered open and looked up to me. His

arms weakly wrapped themselves around the back of my head, bringing me closer to his angelic face. We were mere centimeters apart, I could feel his shallow breaths blow onto my paling face. I shocked the both of

us with what i did next; without warning, I pulled him down further, my forcefull lips against his shaking ones. It was over just as suddenly as it had begun. We stared into each others eyes for an immeasurable

amount of time, until Robert brought himself to faintly press his lips to my cheek before his arms began to lose their grip around me. My breath hitched at the contact.

"Eddie, don't leave me", he breathed before falling into a fainting spell, his blood was quickly beginning to seep through the makeshift bandage I had wrapped around his hip with my own beige fleece jacket. I

gulped and finally got up, carefull to gently lift Robert with me. I couldn't understand what had just happened between us. I didn't know what came over me at that moment...why I did what I did.

"I-I'm here", I whispered to my fainting brother, and walked on to the end of the trail towards the parking lot.