I'm still alive :D There's a little A/N at the end explaining myself, so please read that after the story if you can be arsed :)

Still Brothers

Over the past week in the Seville house, the 2 eldest brothers had been, again, arguing. The conflict between the siblings had escalated during the course of the week from the petty to the more serious topics. It was affecting the whole house but no one more so, than Simon.

It was a new day in the usually close family household, and of course that meant a new conflict for Simon and Alvin. After coming home from school their separate ways, the boys met again, unwillingly, at the dinner table. The two sat as far away from each other as possible, occasionally giving each other a frosty look as they patiently waited for their evening meal. Meanwhile Theodore was basically on his own. Dave was always busy and Simon and Alvin were always in too bad of a mood to deal with their youngest brother's innocent yet sometimes tedious topics of conversation.

After the silent meal, Dave tried to make conversation with his sons in an attempt to brighten the mood. "So fellas, how's your day at school been?" he asked with a smile, trying to engage one of his sons.

Theodore was the first to answer. "Great, Dave. We've been learning about lots of stuff like-"

"We get it, Theo. You had a good day". Alvin groaned, cutting off his youngest brother.

Theodore looked down at the table, disheartened by the rude interruption. "Oh... Okay".

Dave looked sternly at Alvin who glanced back. "Alvin, what's gotten into you lately. You've been in a foul mood for the past week. What's wrong?"

"Nothing". He bluntly answered.

Dave wasn't entirely sure Alvin's answer was true but didn't want the hassle of trying to get the truth out of him, so he moved onto the blue-clad chipmunk. "Well, how's your day been, Simon?"

"Fine". He shot back.

Dave looked at the middle child, inquisitively. He also seemed in a bad mood.

"Are you two okay? Have you had a fight?"

"Simon, started it". Alvin got in first.

"I didn't start anything! I tried to give him advice and tell him to concentrate in class but he just carries on being an idiot!"

"I'm not being an idiot, I'm having fun!" Alvin retorted, his anger almost getting the better of him.

"School isn't for fun, it's for learning!"

"Well it isn't fun for you because you don't have friends! The only thing you do is go up to the library because you've got no one to hang out with".

"YOU SHUT UP!" Simon screamed, slamming his hands on the table and jumping out of his seat. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR ME TO MAKE FRIENDS!?"

His eyes started to tear up as he stood glaring at his red-clad brother. Alvin didn't seem fazed by Simon's outburst and the next thing he said really hit home hard for Simon.

"It isn't hard to make friends. It's just that no one wants to be yours!".

He didn't seem to care about how much he'd hurt Simon. He only thought about winning the conflict.

Simon stood with his mouth slightly open, just staring at Alvin. He couldn't believe he would say something so evil and hurtful. He couldn't hold it back. Simon burst into tears and ran from the table. His rapid footsteps were heard travelling up the stairs shortly followed by the boys bedroom door slamming.

Dave looked at Alvin in disgust. "Alvin, how dare you say something so mean and hurtful to your brother. You know he has a hard time making friends and you used it against him. That's what a bully does, Alvin. Are you a bully?".

Alvin looked down at the dining table and a pang of guilt hit him. He wandered away from the table and sat down on the couch in the living room. Dave and Theo stayed in the kitchen so Alvin was left alone with his own thoughts and Dave's words running through his mind. "Are you a bully?"

That night, Alvin led in his bed tossing and turning. He was unable to sleep. It never usually bothered Alvin when he and Simon had arguments, but the past week had been rough even by their standards. Not 3 days ago, Simon got that angry that he threw a plate at Alvin. That's the thing that bothered the eldest 'munk. Simon got angry. It didn't bother him when he was angry, but he's very hard to upset and it's near impossible to make him sob. But Simon bursting into tears and running away was unheard of.

It got to around 2am when Alvin heard something coming from Simon's bed. He listened harder and heard small sobs and whimpers coming from his brother. Alvin grew hot with guilt and he couldn't just allow himself to sit there and listen to Simon's emotional pain. He stood up quietly and tiptoed over to his blue-clad brother's bed. He softly sat himself down next to him. He put a hand tenderly on Simon's shoulder

"Simon, what's wrong?"

He took a few seconds to reply. "I hate this, Alvin. I hate arguing with you all the time. It feels like I'm just there for you to fight with. And I try and hold my own and stand up to you but deep down it's killing me. It's like we hate each other. It feels like we're drifting apart".

Alvin sat there nearly heartbroken that he'd caused Simon all this pain. And now he was spilling his emotions to him.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, Simon. I've felt horrible after every little fight we've had this week. I don't want us to argue. We're still brothers and we always will be. Truth is... You're my best friend. I know I said hurtful things to you but I didn't mean any of them. I only said it in the heat of the moment. It was a horrible thing to say and I'm so sorry. You're my brother, Si and I love you, I always will".

Simon turned over to meet his brothers teary gaze as Alvin picked his legs up off the floor and led next to Simon who was wrapped up in his duvet. He dropped an arm around his younger brothers shoulders and squeezed him lovingly.

"I'm sorry, Alvin. I can't stop you from having fun but I wish you concentrated a little more". Simon said quietly as he closed his eyes to sleep.

Alvin looked his brother with a slight smile. "Si, are we really gonna start this again". He chuckled.

Simon laughed.

"Yeah you're right. Night Alvin".

"G'night little bro". Alvin yawned.

The pair drifted quietly off, each in their own mind, happy that they'd settle their war and the emotional and sometimes violent week was through.

The end.

Yeah, I know it's not my best work but I just threw it together to show that I haven't forgot about the site. If you've read my other stories then you'll know this is a little soft for me, so if it's too soppy for you, check out my other stuff ;D. From now though, I will rarely put a new story up. As dreadful as it is, this could be my last one, who knows. Anyways I'll still be doing the odd review but that'll probably be it :) As always please review and I guess you'll see me around :)

Adios