Title: Sons of a Dreamer
Summary: The Lynch brothers have absolutely nothing in common at all. Except that they continually manage to surprise each other in the best ways.
Declan was, of course, the oldest of the Lynch brothers.
He was not thought highly of by his brothers, and especially not by his father, though Matthew, his youngest brother, tried.
Declan was not reckless, but he was not particularly careful either.
He was not cruel, but he certainly wasn't kind.
He loved many things and hated many more, but neither with all his heart.
Despite being the oldest, Declan was the in-between.
Neither a dream or a dreamer, he was the outcasted brother.
He tried to be kind. He tried to be careful.
...
"Hey Matthew." He sat beside his youngest brother in the church pew.
Matthew smiled at him, and if the service hadn't started, Declan was sure he would've started chatting away.
Ronan was a few minutes late, looking like he'd been in a fight.
Declan didn't speak to him.
"Where were you?" Matthew whispered, unable to contain his curiosity.
"I tripped." Ronan said.
Declan was surprised that Ronan hadn't made some scathing remark, before remembering that Ronan loved Matthew.
Matthew was literally his dream.
Declan and Ronan were each other's nightmares.
Ronan was the middle son.
He was loved by Matthew, and despised by Declan. He didn't mind that his older brother hated him.
Plenty of others did too.
Ronan was reckless. He drag raced and fought and got in more scrapes a week than you could count on both hands.
He was the cruelest of the brothers, although he could be kind when he chose.
He rarely chose to.
He loved very few things, but hate he could do. He was good at hate.
Ronan was a dreamer, a greywaren, like his father.
He did not truly fit in with either of his brothers.
He did not care about kindness. He did not try to be careful.
...
"You need to stop getting into fights." Declan scowled at him as they left church.
"Why?" Ronan scowled.
"Because you'll get hurt." Matthew said.
"Whatever." Ronan scowled at Declan. It took all of the little self control he had not to punch his older brother.
"Just… be careful, Ronan."
He was surprised to look up into his brother's eyes, and see honest worry.
He shook it off. He must have misunderstood.
"We should get lunch."
"I have a long drive." Declan said.
"I've got to go help Gansey with something." Ronan said.
But the look in Matthew's eyes won Ronan over quickly.
Even Declan gave in.
Matthew was the youngest of the Lynch's, and the most loved by everyone who knew him.
Both his brothers, despite their differences, loved him more than anything.
Matthew was the most normal of the brothers.
He was usually careful, but he would occasionally take a risk. And he was always kind. He didn't know how to be cruel.
He hardly ever hated anything, except exams and mint gum. He was good at love in a way his brothers couldn't comprehend.
Matthew was a dream, both literally and metaphorically. He was what any person would want to be.
He was careful. He was kind.
...
The Lynch brothers hadn't all eaten together in a long time before that day.
Matthew was the only one happy to have his brothers there.
"I'm glad both of you came." He said.
The waitress was a friend of Ronan's, although she seemed to understand how easy it would be to set off Matthew's brothers, so she didn't say too much to them except to say hello.
Despite what Matthew had worried would happen, his older brothers didn't blow up at each other.
In fact, they were as close to civil as Matthew had ever seen them.
He knew, looking at them, that they weren't just doing it for his sake.
He was surprised to find that he truly thought they could make up.
He was glad.
