I was the kind of guy who loved to attend parties, and alcohol was a selling point for me. Damn, I loved a good beer after a bad day or after an exhausting one. Especially while at high school. I'd drink the stuff as much as I could, which is why I loved parties. They supplied the stuff and you didn't have to lie about anything or sneak it out or even pay at all. It was free, which made it great.

I guess I should tell you shit about myself. I'm the oldest of three boys with a drastic age gap in between all three of us. The middle child, Wilhelm, is five years younger than me, and looks a lot like our younger brother, Ludwig, who brings the age gap up a bit because I was eight at the time of his birth. This story takes place when I'm 19, Wilhelm is 14, and Ludwig is 11.

Hold on to your seats.

So, the bulk of this story relies on one fact I haven't told you yet, but I'll get to that later, because it's kind of embarrassing. I accepted an invite to a party at the end of the school day and then I rushed home, because it was a Friday, and I approve of those (I'm sure everyone does). I rushed upstairs, music blasting into my ears, because shit is real when I have my music going.

"Why? You're the loudest thing in the world some days, I swear."

Wilhelm, just on time. He stayed home all the time instead of going out or to school because he was often really sickly. But he was still sarcastic as hell and wasn't too close to me anymore at that point. But as a little kid, I was the only thing he paid attention to, to the point where I would have to tell him what Mutti and Vati were saying because he wouldn't listen to them. And then Mutti died giving birth to Ludwig, and it was just him, me, Wilhelm, and Vati. And Vati's a drunkard, so he was rarely ever around.

But Wilhelm would still talk to me, just to insult me or complain and vent about his illness. And our story just starts at one of those points.

"Shut up, Wilhelm," I blurted out, too busy being selfish (I didn't realise it at the time, of course). "I have somewhere to be in a few hours."

"Yeah, yeah. One of your stupid parties, I know." He sighed, gasping and holding his hands over his nose as blood started to pour out. I gently wrapped an arm around him and brought him to the bathroom, wetting a rag and making it damp and handing it to him to put on his nose.

"There we go. That ought to help." I sat next to him on the rim of the bathtub and wrapped an arm around him. He gently leaned his head on my right shoulder, and I began to pet him softly. "It's going to be okay."

"I hate being this way. I stopped school soon after I got into Intermediate simply because of other kids at school. Called me Germ Boy and retarded. A few kids were scared that they were going to catch whatever I had. I was always alone at lunch aside from all the teasing. And... you're the only one who's ever there for me. I fainted while I was walking into the living room once, and I woke up in the floor still despite the fact that Ludwig hadn't really moved off the couch. He didn't even bother to pick me up..."

I growled. My arschloch brother had ignored his older brother just because he felt like doing something else! "I'll murder him..." I whispered, growling under my breath. I stopped the second I felt Wilhelm's tiny, scarred hand place itself on top of mine.

"Don't be that way, Gilbert. Just because he was an ass the other day doesn't mean you need to be one to him. Two wrongs don't make a right, now, do they?" He uses his other hand to reach onto his pocket and pop something into his mouth. His medication to relieve his muscle spasm pain. My poor baby brother.

"Wilhelm, if two wrongs don't make a right, a wrong and a right make each other. What I'm saying is, of course, it's not right to hurt him in return for ignoring you, but it's not wrong to hurt him in return for him doing some terrible shit to you."

Wilhelm sighed. "If you must, Big brother."