The next few days, and the next few weeks had been the most enduring days ever. The answer to his just because feeling was gradually emerging from the shadows like a nightmare. Strange things were happening. Alvin was more alert than ever. He was finding himself get so paranoid over every single thing! Well, every single thing that interacted with Brittany, that is... At first he wasn't sure…but now he was. He had cracked the code and was absolutely positive. And he didn't like the results. Not. One. Bit. It was final. He knew for sure.

1. He hated Brad.

2. Brad was in love with his woman.

3. And he wasn't sure if Brittany's feelings were countering.

It was absolutely driving him insane.

It was so irrational and abnormal for him. He felt like a demon had taken his place. Something was wrong with him. Was he sick? Did he have some sort of deadly virus? It certainly felt like it. Sure, maybe he wasn't feeling the normal symptoms of vomiting, headaches, dizziness, violent coughing, and many others...but he was feeling that he was on the verge of losing his mind. He needed to cure himself of this insanity creeping up his spine. He needed to find a way to fight this feeling off. But how? Well, normally to fight off a virus you need to go back to the beginning and figure out how the virus was even implanted into your system so then you can start a cure…

This was ridiculous. Now he was some sort of nerdy doctor? No way—as awesome as it would be if he were to figure out a cure that could save billions and billions of lives, this just wasn't something he was capable of—this was something for people like Simon. With all of the experiments and testing, Alvin would probably blow up the building he was in—not that he was dumb or anything… He just didn't expertise in that sort of….thing. His expertise ranged from sports, to singing, and then to ticking Brittany off. Wait…experimenting wasn't considered a sport, now was it?

At first, he tried to push away any arousing thoughts. He thought he probably misread the signs. But the following weeks that began to pass by like a rocket ship just proved his theory. He recognized that smile that Brad had flashed at Brittany the very first day he saw any interaction. It may have appeared to be a small "friendly" greeting of a simple "Hello," but it most definitely wasn't. Alvin knew the rules and ways of flirting. He knew the looks. He knew the signs. He knew everything. Heck, he was the one who practically invented the rules. Love was something he knew like the back of his hand! (Except, of course, when it came to his own love. He simply goes into denial with that…)

It all began with that just because feeling. That was where the virus had been implanted into him. As soon as that virus began to spread throughout his body, he finally began to see the invisible. And he wasn't hallucinating.

He noticed, and saw it all. Brad was definitely in love with his woman. It was as simple as that. But simplicity didn't mean it was any easier than spelling out his name. Alvin didn't like this—in fact, he hated it. He caught the very first sign without even trying to find it: the smile. When Brad smiled at Brittany, it wasn't a simple quick-and-run type of thing—no. It was so much more than that.

The next thing his gut feeling began to oddly expect was: Brad showing up more—and he was, not to his own surprise. The guy was practically over at the Seville's residence every single day! And he wasn't just hanging around at their home! Oh no, it was much, much more than that. He was literally, actually, physically, presently, purposefully hanging around with Brittany. Alvin knew that for sure. It was a sealed contract.

Alvin still remembered talking with Brittany in the sunroom, and the Twins came in, resentfully along with Brad, to tell them that they were going to go to some party at the beach that day. Brad passed a few words with Brittany, and before he left, he was totally eyeing Brittany up and down. It was as clear as daylight, and Alvin for sure wasn't hallucinating or misinterpreting. This was an actual, serious matter. He has been trying to somehow bring up this situation through his conversations, but he just hasn't been flowing with Brittany lately. Their conversations have become sketchy. They were like a scratched disk. Try playing it and it'll keep skipping and freezing up. That's just how they were at the moment. Their interactions have become unnatural—he feels almost shy around her, Brittany, of all women! It was excruciatingly strange for him, and he didn't like it. He was beginning to wonder if Brittany was noticing. But she didn't seem to care…meaning she probably hasn't even noticed a thing.

But that was a good thing. It's best if she didn't know anything at all…

For a while now, he hasn't had any fun with her. It's felt like a millennium since he ever made some hilarious snarky comment that would bring fire to her eyes. He hasn't had anything to tease about…nothing to make fun of her for... And the moment he does find something, he shies away! Ridiculous, right? It was horrid, and wretched, and absolutely miserable! He needed to fix this. But the problem was he didn't know how to. Brad was practically all over the scene. He was in every picture. How was he supposed to cut the guy out? Who knows when he's going to make his next move… It absolutely was sick. How old was Brad anyway? Right, he was seventeen, same age as the Twins… Weren't there a thousand other girls at his high school? Why was he choosing Brittany? Of all the women in the world he chooses Brittany. Didn't the maniac know she was a lunatic with an extremely bad temper? And not to mention already taken? Obviously not—but, not that she was his possession or anything…

The worst thing about this was that it opened Alvin's eyes to a much broader perspective. He was catching every single thing he normally didn't care about. But he didn't pay any attention to these things because he wasn't vexed—frustrated. Great, now he's probably worrying about something he really didn't need to have any concern about. And for a bonus, his insanity and paranoia wasn't just happening around Brad either…

As Alvin stared at Brittany, the thick smell of barbeque lingering in the air, he heaved out a sigh as he folded his arms and leaned against the large tree behind him. The warm evening air gently wrestled with the leaves of the trees and everybody's voices could be heard dancing through the breeze. The neighborhood was having a little "get-together-dinner" (barbeque), like they always do every year in the summer. Brittany was currently picking out a small plate of light food under the old, rusting pavilion, and that's when it all started.

One of the neighbors began to approach Brittany. And now he was talking with her. And they were laughing. And he was—what was he doing? Was he—he was flirting with her! Alvin nearly flipped, but kept his cool, glued his feet in place, and watched with hard sky blue eyes. Shaking his head lightly, he sent evil vibes out of his eyes to the man talking with his wife. He recognized the way the beady-eyed man was looking at her. It was very…ugh…seductive. He shuddered. That man was always such a creep…no wonder he always asked if he could mow their lawn or do some sort of repair for their sprinkler system (which their sprinkler system was just fine). He just needed an excuse to get close to Brittany! No, but seriously: He always was presenting the idea like he was some sort of salesman advertising for this great, amazing product.

By the time the creeper man left, to Alvin's own relief, another man, nothing but skin and bones, approached Brittany. He was even worse. He was also hitting on Brittany. He grabbed both of Brittany's arms when he greeted her with his stupid, pathetic smile (Alvin's smile was so much more charming.). Why was this guy even trying to flirt with her? Soon, though, another man, short and stubby, approached from behind Brittany, and oh boy… He used the oldest trick in the book: He crept his hand over to where Brittany had set down her plate of food and threw her fork off onto the ground. What was this world coming to? Alvin watched with a grim smirk on his face as he watched the man behind Brittany bend down and pick up the fork, presenting what he had just done for her by "noticing her fork had fallen on the ground and he just so happened to be near to help save the day!"

"This is so ridiculous!" Alvin sneered under his breath as he continued to watch in amusement, yet also with a bit of fire burning in his eyes.

As the show played on, eventually the boney man talking to Brittany first, walked off, realizing that the other guy was pushing him out to the back of the line. He'd probably be back with flowers or something, Alvin could only assume sarcastically through his own darkness. He heaved out a sigh as his face drooped. This was a great way to spend some summer dinner with your neighborhood—watching your wife getting hit on by a bunch of other men was just what he needed to boost his self-esteem.

When the man Brittany was now currently having a conversation with ended, Alvin continued to watch as she turned back to the table and her plate, now facing his direction, stared disgustedly at her "dropped" fork, quickly glanced side to side and behind her, and tossed the fork into a nearby garbage can, grabbing another new fork. He looked after her almost as if he was a secret agent secretly on guard—the job was to keep his target safe—keep her safe—making sure that nothing happened to her. His face faded to a solemn stance. But a small trace of humor edged on the ends of his lips, weakly pulling them up into a smile. She was still a clean freak.

Soon, though, ANOTHER man came approaching Brittany. What was going on?! How many guys were going up to her? How did Alvin not notice this ever before? Were this many men always approaching her? No. They weren't always approaching her like an obsessive crazy paparazzi clan because he's normally always by her side (almost like a guard dog when you put him in the situation). He knew Brittany was one to make a conversation with, but he didn't know she was practically a mark. The whole entire neighborhood was flirting with his wife! His woman! He had to hand it to her: Brittany was the most attractive female out of all the other women, but he didn't know she was practically every man's crush…

"Hey, Alvin!" a voice suddenly chirped off to the side. Alvin glanced to the voice and immediately the glare that was masking his face got torn off.

"Theodore!" he grinned. "Simon!" he hollered, finding his other brother trailing right behind the youngest out of the three. "You're here!"

"What'cha lookin' at?" Theodore walked over to Alvin's other side, trying to match his gaze to his brother's.

"He's watching Brittany," Simon stated matter-of-factly just as Alvin opened his mouth. This caused his heart to skip a beat.

"What?" Alvin turned to Simon, acting confused. How did he know? Did he have some sort of video camera recording his every move? Instantly his eyes began to fly all over the place, focusing everywhere except for on a pair of serene blue eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about—I've been watching you myself for some time." Yup. There definitely was a video spy camera somewhere. Where was it? "It's actually been quite entertaining. It's almost like I'm watching a cartoon." Proof, right there. Simon had just given away the biggest clue that he was videotaping him. The evil mastermind plan was to turn Alvin into some sort of little kiddie, comedy TV show. That's exactly what—that's what was up.

"Wait—you mean to tell me you've been stalking me?!" Alvin exclaimed, looking at Simon in distress. Where would the hidden camera be? Oh!—it was hidden on his shirt!—wait, no!—it was installed in the Brainiac's glasses! That's what! Nerd thought that he was just oh-so-clever, eh?

"Well, more like studying you. Jeanette pointed you out to me because she noticed you were…looking strange. She asked if something was wrong with you…and," he trailed his gaze over to Brittany who now was looking awfully bored out of her mind with the conversation going on, staring down at her nails, "evidently you are troubled."

Alvin's jaw gaped open. Okay…maybe there wasn't a camera…but he was still being watched! "Wha…wha…what in the world was she doing looking at me for?Do you have Jeanette programmed to spy on me or something? Does she really hate me that much?" Or, maybe Jeanette had the camera! Instantly his gaze averted to find the missus to Mr. Evil-brain-o-maniac.

Simon groaned, grabbing a hold of Alvin's shoulders, also catching his pair of sky blue eyes to hold still, "No, Alvin…Jeanette just happened to look your way when you must've been doing some odd-looking face like you always do."

"Ouch. Rude." Alvin spat, rolling Simon's hands off of his shoulders, emphasizing the crossing of his arms, since they were already crossed.

"You're welcome," Simon sarcastically muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Wait, I'm lost—I don't get it—what are you guys talking about? Is something wrong with Brittany?" Theodore chimed in, glancing over to where Brittany was.

"No, nothing's wrong with Brittany," Alvin grudgingly muttered, his eyes faltering over to her, lingering there longer than he anticipated.

"It appears that you are doubtful with her, though," Simon inserted. "Do you not trust her, Alvin?" He crossed his arms, pursing his lips curiously.

"I don't know, Si," Alvin sarcastically proclaimed, "is she one to trust?"

"Why don't you trust Brittany?" Theodore frowned, keeping his stare glued to her like a strong magnet.

Alvin's jaw gaped open. "I never said I didn't trust her!" he flailed his arms up. They didn't know the whole picture!—why were they jumping to assumptions so fast?

"Then why are you acting like this?" Simon pressed, folding his arms. Alvin blinked, clamping his open mouth shut. "Alvin, you know Brittany would never do anything like that to you, right?"

"Like what, 'cheat' on me? Sleep with another man?" Alvin muttered under his breath as he glared straight ahead, placing his hands in his pockets. "You know, we're not kids anymore, Simon. You can say what you need to say. You don't need to censor it or anything."

Theodore then placed his hand on his oldest brother's shoulder. "Alvin, Brittany's not like that. I don't think she'd ever do such a thing."

Such a thing. Thing. Thing.

"I side with Theodore on this: Brittany isn't the type to do something like that to you Alvin. You know that, don't you?" Simon too, placed his hand on Alvin's other shoulder.

Do something like that. Something. Something.

Why weren't any of them saying it? It's not like it was illegal to say…yet that's just how they were treating it. He wasn't sensitive to those words—so why weren't his brothers just saying it? Wouldn't it be much easier to say those few simple words, other than come up with a whole story just to avoid using those words? But then again…wasn't he avoiding those words too?

Alvin glanced between his two brothers, allowing his shoulders to sag down like a deflated balloon of helium. Yes, he knew Brittany wasn't the type to do anything like that to him. Yes, he trusted her. But then…what if she wasn't all that he thought she was? What if she had been secretly planning to make him fall for her and at the very end all she was going to do was take his heart away with her, and give nothing in return, leaving him empty? Maybe that was her big plan of revenge for all of the things he's ever done to her… She did have reason—there was justice to this. But she honestly couldn't seriously still be mad about the time he "spilled" cold water all over her when she was tanning out in the sun, right? She was in proper clothing to get wet—yet she didn't want to get wet—why dress in something meant to get wet in, but not want to get wet? He had to justify that—plus he wanted to make her mad. And she couldn't still be mad about when he changed the water pipes in the shower so that when she turned it to warm, cold water would come spurting out, right? These were simple, hilarious pranks! She really couldn't still be mad about those kinds of things…

It wasn't like Brittany's love for him was running out or anything—he was the lady's man! He is reliable for her. He's there when she needs him. Plus, he's ruggedly attractive—who wouldn't want to be his love? It may not seem like it at all, and it may seem like he's just there to be some jerk to her…but he's more than simply just there for her. She's not a ghost to him, she's not his possession, and she's not a statue or work of art to just stare at for days on end. What he is for her is everything she wants and needs him to be.

Picking his sky blue gaze up off of the ground, Alvin looked to Brittany. Pursing his lips, he gritted his teeth and turned around, punching the tree, before walking off. His brothers could hear him grumbling bitterly under his breath about some guy named Brad and how he was going to personally wring the guy's neck off if he didn't stay away…wait, what? Simon and Theodore looked to each other, then looked over to Brittany. She was talking to a new guy. He seemed fairly younger than the other men that's approached her…he seemed to be about the age of eighteen? Seventeen…?

Simon widened his storm blue eyes and beckoned for Theodore to follow as he walked around the tree and towards Alvin. Theodore, blinking, nodded and did as his brother motioned for him to do. By the time Simon and Theodore caught up to Alvin, Simon spoke, almost in amusement, "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Alvin halted in his steps. "Jealous?" He raised his eyebrows. He knew Simon was tagged as the oh-so-smart-one, but he didn't know there was any irony that came along with the titling. "Are you seriously accusing me of being jealous?" he scoffed. "As if!" he marched on.

Simon sighed, and rolled his eyes as he matched his stride with Alvin. "Well, maybe not as much that, as you are concerned."

"'Concerned'?" Alvin rolled his eyes. "Now, why would I ever be concerned?" he snorted stubbornly.

"Well, because you're afraid some high schooler will be the one who will attract Brittany in a physical and mental way that you would never want to have happen. Face it, Alvin, you're too prideful for that to ever happen to you, and not only that, but you're just being protective over her. It's fine for you to feel this way. I mean, I would likewise, feel the same if I were ever put in that sort of situation."

"But you won't ever get put into this sort of situation, Simon," Alvin spat bitterly. "I highly doubt the whole neighborhood would ever clamor over Jeanette! No offense to her, she's great, sure, but let's face it: she's not exactly, let's say, the-whole-neighborhood-wants-to-sleep-with-her material." Alvin grimly smiled, continuing his march onward.

Simon glared at Alvin, but let it slide. Sighing, he stopped in his tracks and softly spoke, "I'm only telling you the things that you're too blind to see all because of your pride. Your pride's like a mountain Alvin; you won't always be able to see or climb over it. I hope you understand that one day."

Alvin, having heard Simon's final remarks, snickered and waved it off, muttering a simple "Whatever."

As Simon watched Alvin, he shook his head. "Sometimes I wish I could dropkick that mind of yours, Alvin…" He muttered grimly, placing his hands in his pockets.

"What was that?" Theodore suddenly came jogging next to Simon.

Simon readjusted his glasses and shook his head with a half-smile. "It's nothing, Theo, it's nothing." He followed his gaze after Alvin, his smile faltering to the depressant. "Alvin's just being…Alvin."