A/N: This is just a little thought bubble I had floating around in my head that I finally decided to put down on paper. It's based on the original 80's cartoon, my first real animated obsession if you will. I always kind of wondered what would happen to our favorite chipmunks after the fame was gone and that is of course what this one-shot is about. Reviews of all kinds are more than welcome!

As per usual, I do not own Alvin and the Chipmunks or any of the characters mentioned in this story. I'm merely borrowing the characters for personal amusement purposes. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

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Musings of a Former Child Star

He didn't need the darkness of his room or the far off ticking of the grandfather clock in the hall to know that it was late. Pale moonlight streamed in through his open window, the slight breeze tingeing his room with the subtle smell of impending summer. He found that he could always smell it the best at night, when the wind blew in just the right direction.

The television downstairs had switched off around what he guessed was about two hours ago. That was the last time he had looked at his phone anyway.

He had unplugged his alarm clock, a trick he'd been using since he was about thirteen, so that he wouldn't constantly check it. He really couldn't remember the last time he had even had it on. Sometimes it helped with the insomnia, sometimes it didn't. Tonight was one of those cases where it didn't and it irritated him to no end. This only seemed to happen on nights where he had to be at school at the crack of dawn the next morning for practice. Now he was going to be exhausted and coach was going to be on his ass all morning.

Great.

He could hardly wait for that.

Continuing to listen to the silence, he envied the rest of the house, especially his brother in the room next to him. Theodore had always been quite a snorer, as well as a sleepwalker on occasion, but it always seemed like he never had trouble falling asleep.

Alvin rolled over, slightly shuddering at the thought of Theodore's formerly problematic sleepwalking. He used to do it a lot; more when he was a kid. It seemed to be something he had more or less grown out of, but every once in a while, Alvin could swear up and down that he heard his brother clomping around in his room late at night.

There was just something about sleepwalking that freaked him out! Maybe it was because of the fact that the person was moving, but was completely unaware of it. Maybe it was because you weren't technically supposed to wake a sleepwalker; therefore you were helpless to whatever it was they tried to do. Alvin didn't know, but he was pretty sure this irrational fear stemmed from one particular experience.

There had been one such instance when they had been about four, maybe not even, that had led to Alvin's weariness of Theodore while he slept. Even being so young, Alvin remembered it vividly.

He had woken in the middle of the night, more thirsty then he was sure he had ever been in his life. Normally, he was too scared to go downstairs by himself. He usually woke up Simon or even braved the empty hallway to Dave's room. That night however, he had decided to go it alone.

He was pretty sure it had been something to do with wanting to prove to himself that he was brave, and didn't need somebody to hold his hand just to get a glass of water. Simon went downstairs by himself all the time. There was no reason Alvin couldn't as well. He wasn't a scardy cat like Theodore and he was MUCH braver than Simon. Simon had cried at the petting zoo when the goat had gotten too close. HE had just laughed. He would've even ridden the goat if Simon hadn't been so scared that they had to leave. And then Theodore had dropped his ice cream in the dirt and started screaming…

Alvin shook his head, not believing he was remembering all of this. They say that you can remember as far back as to when you were two. This had to have been around that time…these were images he hadn't thought of in a long while.

He didn't really understand why he had been so determined to display that single act of bravery on that particular night. What he did know was that when he had initially left their room, both of his brothers had still been in bed.

He remembered making it to the kitchen and getting as far as the refrigerator before he had heard someone on the stairs. The terror he had felt had been so tremendous, he had nearly passed out as he heard the footsteps around the corner.

Every single scary thought, image, or experience came flooding into his mind as he listened to the slow dissension of the footsteps. What would be around the corner? A vampire? A mummy? The Wolfman?

The next image that filled his head made him shudder once again. Even now, almost twelve years later it still chilled him to the bone.

Theodore was standing there, eyes wide open, mouth slightly agape, just…staring. Alvin had asked him what he was doing and told him that they should both go back to bed before Dave woke up and found them roaming around in the middle of night. They'd be in trouble for sure.

His brother hadn't replied. Instead, he had begun to walk towards Alvin, slowly and deliberately like those monsters on that movie their babysitter Sandy had been watching the other night. Needless to say, this had not ended well at all. Theodore had chased Alvin through the house for almost a full minute before Dave had finally come downstairs to rescue him.

That whole ordeal had ultimately resulted in Alvin sleeping in Dave's room with him for the remainder of the week, as well as Alvin's constant avoidance of Theodore.

For about a month after the incident, Alvin had burst into hysterics whenever his brother was in the room and Theodore, not understanding why, had always become equally upset. It had taken a fair amount of bribery on Dave's part to get the boys okay with each other again.

Even now, Alvin was still weary of Theodore, though he hadn't slept walked to his knowledge in a few years. The constant fear that Alvin would wake and see his brother standing over him in the middle of the night was something the boy had had nightmares about and had ultimately led him to convincing Dave to allow a lock on his door once it had been time for the boys to have their own rooms.

That had been one of the main reasons Alvin had wanted the basement. He still found it grossly unfair that Simon had gotten it instead, especially since Alvin was the oldest of the three. Sure, it was only by about three and a half minutes, but still. It made him older than both of his brothers so obviously he should've been the one to get the basement.

This hadn't happened of course, and Dave had attributed it to the fact that Alvin couldn't be trusted. He wasn't so naïve as to not acknowledge that he had been a handful his entire life. It had really become a role, something people expected of him. Honestly, he just felt like he should be allowed to do whatever he wanted, especially now.

Plus, things were not as bad as Dave perceived them to be. He still came home after all. Sure, it wasn't always on time, but it was home none-the-less. Not everybody had to be perfect like Simon and constantly be on time for everything. That wasn't how life worked! Theodore wasn't always on time either and did Dave condemn him? Rarely.

In addition, it had been at least a week since Alvin had even attempted to sneak out. After last times mishap, he figured he should give Dave time to let his guard down a bit before trying again.

That had been a complete accident. Usually Alvin planned his ins and outs like clockwork and he was rarely caught. Last time however, there had been a few vindicating factors that had led to his ultimate "capture and sentence" as he so affectionately referred it.

He'd been slightly tipsy for one. The party he had come from had gotten pretty wild and perhaps he had had a little too much fun. Sneaking into the house was a bit harder when you were slightly inebriated. Not to mention, he hadn't been alone either.

Missy Bellamy, head cheerleader and senior had been right on his tail, the plan to sneak up to Alvin's room for some much needed "private time." He smiled at the thought, despite what had happened minutes after they had entered the house.

Missy was indeed possibly the hottest girl at Thomas Jefferson High…and she wanted him bad. Not that Alvin was surprised; all of the hot girls wanted him. That was the way it always had been, that was the way it always would be. It was the norm.

In fact, she had been the one texting him earlier this very night, wanting to meet up later on. He had unfortunately had to decline of course. He still felt Dave was watching his every mood and he'd played this game long enough to know when things weren't safe just yet.

Instead, he had promised to make it up to her the next day at school, most likely in the Home Ec room that was currently under construction. She had seemed happy enough with that arrangement. He just didn't feel right now that he could effectively sneak out and get away with it, and needed to bide his time.

Returning back to last time's incident, Alvin remembered entering the house with Missy in tow, the two of them doing their best to be as quiet as possible. Of course when you're drunk, that's easier said than done. It had honestly been a miracle they hadn't woken Simon after Alvin had nearly put himself through his brother's bedroom door at the foot of the stairs.

The relief hadn't lasted long of course. Upon reaching the kitchen, Missy had knocked into a large vase of carnations Dave's wife and Alvin's stepmom Debbie had just put on the center island that morning. The vase had come crashing to the ground, flowers and water going everywhere.

Within seconds, Dave had come flying downstairs, Debbie following behind him, only to find the two drunken teens attempting to run out the back door onto the deck. Needless to say, Alvin had been grounded from pretty much everything ever since.

It had been a long time since he had seen Dave that furious. Alvin was honestly amazed his head hadn't split in two. Not only had he been drunk, he had been trying to sneak a girl upstairs…and had been caught. He couldn't count how many times he'd snuck the "flavor the week" as Simon liked to call it, into his room without Dave finding out. This would be the first…and last time he flubbed. That is, if he ever got ungrounded.

Alvin sighed as his thoughts drifted from Missy and the incident back to his situation with Dave. He had said on numerous occasions that he didn't trust Alvin enough to give him such easy access to the outside world as the back door in the basement. He had proven he couldn't be trusted; therefore that was why it had been given to Simon.

Sure, being denied the basement had crippled one way Alvin would've tried to sneak out, but did Dave honestly think he wasn't going to do it from his bedroom upstairs? The tree that Brittany used to climb to sneak into his room when they were kids was still there. He had easily used it for the same purposes on numerous occasions. It wasn't as easy as the basement, but it worked. AND he had yet to be caught.

Besides, what made Dave think that Simon wouldn't one day try the same thing? He wasn't perfect, no matter what Dave thought. Surprisingly enough, his brother HAD friends. Maybe they would pull a 180 and sneak off to a kegger one night.

Alvin laughed at the thought. Yeah right. He was pretty sure Simon hadn't touched a drop of alcohol in his life. He had spoken out several times about the dangers of underage drinking and unprotected sex and all of that business goodie goodies like him spewed about constantly. So he WAS perfect in the morals department. Big deal. That made him boring everywhere else.

Alvin turned over, slightly annoyed at this thought. It was no secret that Simon was the favorite son, at least that's how Alvin felt. It had never really bothered him because in every other aspect, other than Dave's, he, Alvin, was the favorite.

He was easily the most popular kid at school. He was easily the most popular kid in ALL situations. He had taken control of that place the second he had stepped through the door as a freshman. SENIORS even followed him. He was a born leader, naturally charismatic, and easy to get along with. Taking advantage of those things wasn't a crime!

He considered it a gift. People just naturally followed him.

And where was Simon? In the library as usual with his nerdy friends, playing one of those weird games on his computer or studying his ass off. Yeah, Simon may be intellectually superior and a complete suck-up, but at least Alvin was fun and popular. To him, those were the things that mattered most.

At least Theodore had managed to escape the fate of extreme dorkdom, unlike Simon. Theodore was arguably the second-most popular kid in school, next to Alvin of course. He was as big a star in the drama department as Alvin was in basketball. His brother almost always had the lead in whichever play the school was putting on, and he had been the only person to make varsity choir as a freshman. Ever.

Alvin had been so proud of his brother. At least he was doing something meaningful with his high school experience and not hiding behind a bookshelf. Alvin couldn't understand what made Simon so content with that! If he didn't want to follow his, Alvin's, example, than why not follow somebody else's?

Like Jeanette! She was perhaps the biggest transformation to come out of their former little clique. In just one summer, Jeanette Miller, dork-extraordinaire, had transformed herself from bottom of the barrel loser, to queen bee, only right behind Missy Bellamy.

It had been like night and day when Alvin had seen her again on the first day of high school, freshman year. The glasses had been gone, she was more fit, her hair had no longer been in her trademark sloppy, messy bun, but back in a perfect ponytail, and the makeup she had had on made her face just glow.

The biggest change of all; a blue and white TJ High Titans cheerleading uniform. She had completely re-invented herself, and Alvin felt it was definitely for the better. Sure, she was still Jeanette, more like a sister to him than anything, so flirting with her had been out of the question, but she was still hot.

He still couldn't believe it was her, especially when she had walked up to all of the football players, her formerly shy persona gone, and gave them a teasing hello, even flashing a bit more leg as she walked by. She had since become one of the most desired girls in the school, something Alvin never would've predicted in a million years.

Alvin had been stunned nearly speechless, but his reaction had been nothing compared to the look that had run across Simon's face at the sight of his former best friend.

Needless to say, they hadn't spoken much since then. Alvin wasn't altogether sure of what had happened between them, and he really didn't care in the grand scheme of things. People changed and change was something Simon had always been very resistant to.

It was his own damn fault. Jeanette just wanted to better herself. Simon should've been happy for her, not skulking around being pissed that now she was cooler than him!

Thinking about Jeanette caused yet another person to pop into Alvin's mind as he lay there in the darkness, someone he had already thought of briefly, but not for long. This someone had made a transformation almost equally as profound as Jeanette's, but not in a good way.

Sitting up, he leaned forward to gaze out the open window up the street to where Brittany lived. His former best friend had now turned emo, rocker, smoking person or whatever group it was she belonged to now.

He knew she resented him and he knew why, but really, people grow apart. She had wanted to remain in past while Alvin had looked to the future. That was the main reason why he had quit talking to her in the first place. She had always insisted on bringing up the past, something Alvin really didn't care to talk about. Yes, they had been famous. Yes, it had been fun. Yes, he was easily the best out of the six of them.

But that part of their lives was over now. He didn't want to dwell on it, and he didn't want to be around her if she was going to dwell on it. He wasn't sure if her behavior now was some kind of rebellion, or what? She had more than half of the people at school either afraid of her or avoiding her at all costs with the exception of her friends.

And she was constantly trying to antagonize him as well! She was always screaming things at their clique, especially the cheerleaders with the exception of the Jeanette.

For a split second, Alvin wondered what their relationship must be like now. They still seemed like they were relatively close, though it was almost like they'd switched places. Not that he would've expected Jeanette to turn into an emo psycho that constantly harassed people, but he definitely would've expected Brittany to be the cheerleader type for sure. He had thought he'd known her better than anyone else. Apparently he'd been wrong.

Hell, if she wouldn't have been such a strong reminder of the past, they could've ruled this place together. It would've been so easy. But no, she had to go and be difficult; constantly reminding him of things he'd rather not think of. It was better in the end that they weren't friends anymore. He knew that for a fact.

It seemed like of the girls, the only one who had remained ultimately unchanged was Eleanor, though he could sense something was up between her and Teddy.

While the two of them were generally involved in the same crowd at school, they didn't seem to interact much. It wasn't a surprise that Jeanette and Brittany didn't come to the house anymore, but he would've thought Eleanor would. Apparently he'd been wrong about that too.

Alvin figured maybe it was because Teddy had begun dating Jessie, a girl that had recently transferred to TJ High, and Eleanor was jealous. He didn't know. He had never bothered asking his brother what the reasons behind he and Eleanor's distance could be. It just wasn't something that regularly crossed his mind.

Lying back in the bed, he rolled over, his eyes landing on his phone beside the bed. He resisted the urge to check the time. He felt like he was finally getting sleepy and he didn't want to ruin that…like he had ruined so many other things.

Alvin sighed. He had been lying here for what felt like hours, pondering what had become of the other people in his life, and was neglecting to look at one. Himself. He had so many issues of his own that he failed to recognize; that had been part of the counseling he'd been going to on and off since they quit singing. He never really felt like it helped, but he went because Dave had insisted.

Now being here alone, looking at everything he had just thought about, Alvin couldn't help but wonder.

What had he become? What did he have to show for his achievements?

He was a multiple Grammy award-winning artist. He had been the most famous person on the planet before he was ten years old. He had sold more records than most artists combined and had rubbed elbows and collaborated with some of the biggest names in music. He had been…a star.

That was the key word, the key tense. Had been. Past tense. No more. Gone. In the blink of an eye. Alvin vividly remembered the day Dave had told them he was pulling the plug on their singing career. It had been shortly after their first and only feature film, The Chipmunk Adventure, had debuted in theaters.

Dave had said that he wanted them to have a normal childhood; that he didn't want them to fall victim to the heartache that too much fame too soon could lead to. He wanted them to go to public school and make friends, and not live in studios and on tour buses anymore. He wanted them to be like other kids their age. He didn't want to deny them their childhood.

Alvin had been a number of emotions. Hurt, in disbelief, enraged, but most of all, scared to death. He hadn't known what he was going to do, who he was going to be without his fame. It had been this way for so long, Alvin couldn't understand why Dave was changing it now.

He had been on top of the world. Girls cried and burst into hysterics when they saw him. He and his brothers sold out stadiums; HE was the one they paid to see. What would his fans think of him now, abandoning them like this? And how could Dave abandon HIM?

Alvin rolled over, growing angry once again at the memories flooding his head. Maybe he was compensating now. Maybe he was acting out because of losing almost everything he held dear. Maybe that was why he strived to be at the top, to be the most well-known person in whatever situation he could get his hands on.

He couldn't live without the fame.

He couldn't be content like his brothers. Being normal wasn't in his programming. He always had to be the best, the center of attention, the one people loved most above all else. Because that was who he was and who had built his life around.

He was Alvin David Seville…and he was King, regardless. He refused to be anything else. He didn't know how.

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END