Alexander and Hephaestion had quickly found a secluded place to live far away from the palace. Within two days they had built a crude hut to live in. The hut had four rooms: three bedrooms and a shared living space. The hut itself was situated near a river, where they could bathe, wash clothes and fetch clean water for cooking.

As of right now, several weeks later, everything in and around the hut was quiet. Hephaestion was cooking supper over an open fire and Alexander was patiently waiting to eat. When the food was almost ready, Hephaestion turned to his companion.

"Alexander, will you please fetch Arri? Supper's almost ready."

Silently, Alexander put his hands on his knees and stood. He went around the house looking from his brother. After the fourth round of checking for his brother, even Hephaestion was getting worried.

"Xander?"

As Hephaestion watched, he saw Alexander's body fill with a level of panic he had never seen before. Alexander's shoulders tensed, and his feet cocked as if to run. But his face was the most telling of all. He had gone extremely pale, and his pupils had blown themselves wide. Then came the scream.

"ARRI! WHERE ARE YOU, AGAPIMÉNOS! ANSWER ME, PLEASE!"

"Alexander! You will never find him that way! You take the house, I will look outside!" Hephaestion took charge. Alexander only gave an almost inperceptible nod before rushing off and tearing his own room apart.

Finally, after searching both his and Hephaestion's rooms, and having his panic rise with every moment, he came to Arrihidaeus' room again.

This time when he opened the door, he was silent, and stepped lightly.

"Arri? Are you in here, Agapiménos? It's Alexander."

At that, he heard a whimper. Lighting a candle, he followed the sound around the huge bed, only to find his brother curled in a dark corner, watching him with wide teal eyes.

Alexander immediately went quiet and got down on his hands and knees, listening to Arrihidaeus' unintelligible whispers and very quiet sobs to himself for a moment.

"Arri..." finally, he spoke, his voice low so as not to scare his brother, "It's Alexander... Whatever is the matter? Hm? Why are you hiding? Come out from there, Sweetheart. I promise not to hurt you, " Arrhidaeus shook his head rapidly, trying to scoot even further into his corner. The small movement wafted a very strong smell of urine and feces toward Alexander, and he understood, "Did you soil yourself, Arri? It's all right, you're not in any trouble. Is that what made you hide? Did you think I would be angry? We understand. Hephaestion and I understand. You don't have to hide. Come, let us clean you up and get you some food, come on," as Alexander stretched out his hands toward his cowering brother.

Just then, Hephaestion came running, "Xander, I can't find-" but Alexander put a finger to his own lips in a signal to be quiet.

"Where is the ointment you prepared for him?" Alexander mouthed.

Without another word, Hephaestion turned around in the doorway and went to go fetch the ointment they had prepared weeks prior for Arrihidaeus' wounds. When he came back, they both worked to coax him out of the corner and onto his bed, where Alexander laid him down, gave him a quick wash, put the ointment on him, and put a cloth on his bottom for the night. By the end of it, Arrihidaeus was mewling and rubbing his eyes quite often. Then came the telltale yawn.

"All right, let us get some food into that belly of yours and then you can sleep," hefting his older brother onto his hip and out to the hut's living area, Alexander set him down before the fire and then sat beside him.

"Would you like some wild pork, Arri?" Alexander watched his brother stare at the food before nodding, decidng he was hungry enough to want to eat, "There you go, Sweetheart. Careful, it's very-" but Arrihidaeus had already taken a bite, and so had burned his mouth. The unexpected pain caused him to rear back, grunting in anger and surprise, dropping the wooden plate and food all over the floor.

Arrihidaeus screeched in shock, throwing his hands up and covering his ears. Alexander stood up and cautiously walked over to his brother, stopping an arm's length away from him.

"Arri? It's all done. All done. See, Hephaestion is cleaning it up now. We aren't mad. Shh, you're safe. Relax. Just relax," Arrihidaeus' flustered pants had become more spaced out now, but his hands were still in his hair, tugging violently at the strands, "Let's get you into bed. It's been a tough day on all of us."

Alexander carefully carried Arrihidaeus to his room, setting him down gently on the bed with the wood frame that Alexander himself had made. He checked his cloth one last time and found it dry, before turning his back on his brother in order to leave the room.

Arrihidaeus grunted and then Alexander suddenly felt a tug on his hand, and so turned to face his elder brother once more. Arrihidaeus' eyes were wide and sad, and Alexander knew exactly what they were trying to say without words. His eyes were wet with unshed tears, large in his long face.

"All right, all right, hush now," Alexander gave in, climbing into the small bed beside his brother.

Arrihidaeus gave a happy mew in response and nuzzled up close to Alexander, literally purring in contentment for a moment. Then he pulled away suddenly, his expression one of absolute seriousness and concentration. Knowing there was something his brother was trying very hard to tell him, Alexander settled in, prepared to wait.

After almost an hour, in which time Arrihidaeus had started to get drowsy and Alexander had taken to carding his fingers through his beloved brother's soft, light brown curls, Arrihidaeus finally spoke, his speech slurred with both his illness and the promise of sleep.

"Wuv you, Xan'er..." and then he closed his eyes.

Even though these were the first words Arrihidaeus had ever truly spoken to him, and Alexander was elated to hear them, he did not let on how he felt.

"Shh..." he soothed instead, rocking his brother in his arms as he lay beside him, "Sleep, Sweetheart... just sleep..."

Then, with a soft kiss to his brother's smooth brow, and a short hummed lullaby, Alexander was asleep as well, holding his brother close even as he dreamed.

Translations: (Greek)

Agapiménos = Sweetheart

I used Google Translate, so I very sorry if the translations are wrong!