Meg Griffin could not sleep. The day's events kept swimming around in her head making it all but impossible to settle down for the night. Besides, how could she possibly sleep after such a traumatic evening? Seeing her family say good bye to Brian was almost more than she could bear; the heartbreak, the tears, not to mention his final words to her before she went to bed.
Meg, you are so beautiful on the inside.
The teenager blinked back tears. It has been so long since someone had said something so kind to her. Why, Brian was practically her only support in this household. What would she do without him? He was practically the only thing that kept her sane. She knew just as well as anyone else that he was considered the glue that held the household together. What will become of the family when Brian is gone?
The very thought of it was enough to make Meg sick. She jumped out of bed and hurried to the restroom but to her frustration it was occupied. She put her ear to the door and heard the shower going. "Oh, come on. Who takes a shower at 2am?" she ranted quietly to herself.
With impatient sigh she waited by the door swallowing nausea. After a while she let out a low yawn as a wave of fatigue came over her. "Maybe I should just go back to bed and lay back down. I just need to calm down and stop thinking about it…" her lip quivered slightly knowing she was asking herself the impossible. With a defeated look she turned around to head back to her room.
She had barely taken a step when the shower finally turned off. She turned around just in time to see Brian stepping out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. The dog stood there in silence obviously not expecting anyone to be up so late. "Uh…hi, Meg." He looked a little uneasy.
The very sight of him made her heart leap into her throat and her eyes brimmed with tears. "Oh, Brian!" she burst out. Without thinking she threw herself toward him with open arms. But, to her surprise and horror, Brian jumped out of her way and she found herself face planted on the ground.
She lifted her head and stared at the dog in confusion and hurt. "Brian…?"
"No. Not now, Meg. I'm sorry, but I am all out of Kleenex and I can't handle any more people crying over me." The dog looked frantic. "It took me forever to wash it off and I just can't bring myself to risk getting dog napped again! Good night!"
Before Meg could say anything else Brian hurried out of the bathroom and headed straight into her parent's room shutting the door behind him. She sat up slowly while rubbing her aching head. What was that about? "Did Brian say he was dog napped?" she wondered out loud.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a strange muffled sound coming from the living room. She managed to get herself in a kneeling position as she listened closely. She could make out soft footsteps making their way up the flight of stairs. Meg quickly reached up to turn off the bathroom light and stayed where she was not making a sound. She listened closely until she was finally able to recognize the sound of her youngest brother's small shoes as he reached the top.
Meg rolled her eyes. "What is he doing up at this hour?" she stood up to greet him as he made his way across the hall. "Isn't it a little late to be getting a midnight snack, kiddo?" She teased.
She waited for Stewie to glare up at her and to attempt to put up a fight as he usually did, but this time he did no such thing. Instead he stopped in his tracks and stared at the rug looking subdued. Right away, Meg knew something was wrong. "Stewie?" She knelt down in front of him so she could get a clear look at his face. "Stewie, what's going on-?" her voice died in her throat as she retreated away from him stifling a muffled squeal.
Green, sticky, gewy, thick, and very wet mucus was dripping off the end of Stewie's nose. No, not just his nose, Meg realized with disgust. It was all over his face, his hands, his clothing, some of it even managed to get stuck in his hair! "Stewie!" she gasped. "What the hell?!"
Stewie continued to stare at the floor as she began questioning him. "Do you have a cold or something? What are you doing out of bed? Stewie, do you even realize how late it is?" She picked him up taking extra care to not hold him too close to her. "Well, let's get you into some clean PJs and I'll put you right back to bed."
Meg held him at arm's length as she made her way to his room. She was about to set him down on the changing table when the one year old finally lifted his head looking her straight in the eyes and Meg's look of repulsion immediately changed to a look of deep concern. She took in Stewie's red rimmed, watery swollen eyes and that was all it took for her to finally understand.
"Oh, Stewie…" she said softly. "You know exactly what's going on, don't you?" Stewie's lower lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears causing more snot to drip from his nose. That was all Meg needed to see.
Grabbing a box of Kleenex from the table, she calmly made herself comfortable on the floor. She gathered a big wad of tissues and placed them over Stewie's nose. "Here, blow." She urged gently and Stewie wasted no time. When he was done she threw the used tissues away and proceeded to use the rest to wipe his face. Of course he'd find out for himself. Meg thought as she worked. It was wrong of us to keep something like this from him. He's too smart for that. Brian is his best friend, after all….
"I'm so sorry Stewie." Meg whispered as she wiped away the last bit off his face. "You deserved to know about this sooner. I still can't believe he's going through with it."
On her lap Stewie nodded slightly and Meg felt her heart break all over again. Even though Stewie was just a baby he was never much of a crier. Even on the few occasions where he did cry, he would hide his tears and never turned to anyone for comfort. He was far too independent and proud for that.
Unable to help herself, Meg pulled the toddler in her arms and held him close to her. She fully expected him to pull away from her at once, but the moment his head made contact with her shirt, he burst into tears instead. Turning his face so it was hidden in her night shirt he began sobbing away into her shoulder.
As Meg watched her baby brother weep, she was able to put the remaining pieces together. It was Stewie who had dog napped Brian. She could see it clearly in her mind. He was just trying to protect him, and when it failed, Stewie had cried just like this, only much harder. He cried so much that his nose started running and in his grief, he must have embraced Brian while getting baby snot all over his fur, which would also explain the random shower in the middle of the night.
Meg's eyes flooded with tears and suddenly her grief was left abandoned as she focused on the suffering child. "Oh, Stewie…" she sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry…" she hugged her baby brother closer to her.
They sat in the playroom unmoving for a good while until Meg felt a hand clasp her shoulder making her jump. She looked up and saw her other brother standing above them looking uneasy. "Sorry." He mumbled. "I thought I heard voices. I thought maybe it was Brian so I got out of bed."
"Oh." Meg murmured softly.
"I was just really hoping Brian would still be up. I didn't really have a chance to say good night. It's his last one after all…" Chris's voice broke and he looked away. "I still can't believe it…" he whispered as his shoulders started to shake.
Meg stared at him in stunned silence. "Chris…" she finally choked out. She wanted to reach out to him, but her arms were full with Stewie who continued to weep against her.
She watched helplessly as tears started to trickle down Chris' face. "Come here, Chris." She finally said and Chris obediently sank to the floor.
Draping a large arm around her he pulled her close to him. Leaning into his embrace Meg laid her head against his shoulder and she felt Chris's large face bury itself into her hair. Even Stewie shifted slightly and reached out just enough to clutch Chris's free hand before burying his face back into his hiding place in Meg's nightgown. Together as siblings, they shared each others grief.