A/N: Welcome back! I told you that I'd have a new installment here soon. Please forgive me for any spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, etc. As always, it hasn't been beta'd and I fix as much as I can. Also, if any of the time gaps with age, etc, are wrong then please ignore it for the sake of the story. It's not going to be perfect. I am very rusty with this fandom.

On we go!

Title: Break-Ins and Brotherly Bonding

Seventeen year old Jamie rode in the car with his mom to the airport. Danny was coming home on leave from the military. It had been months since he had seen or heard from his older brother and it made him nervous to be picking him up. Danny and Jamie hadn't had the best relationship, mainly due to the age gap between the two of them. Growing up Jamie and Danny would always fight over the smallest things. Jamie never knew what to do to earn his brother's respect so after awhile, he stopped trying. Him and Joe became close, they always had been. Joe would protect Jamie every chance that he could. Danny on the other hand wouldn't. Instead he would pick fights with him so most of the time when Joe was protecting him it was from Danny.

Jamie grew used to being tormented by his oldest brother. He remembered the last time Danny was home. Jamie and Danny were asked to go pick up a few groceries for their Sunday dinner. On the way there they got into an argument and Danny made him feel like an idiot and like he wasn't wanted by his brother, which was normal during one of their fights. Jamie wouldn't let the hurtful words bug him because he knew after a while Danny would calm down and be happy again, but it never happened. Danny continued being angry with Jamie and when Jamie tried to say goodbye to him when he had to return to base, Danny ignored him.

Now, all Jamie could think about was how angry Danny was going to be that he was going to be there with their mom to pick him up. Jamie had tried getting out of it, tried getting Joe to go, maybe even Erin, but both of his siblings were busy with other things such as college or work. Jamie could feel his hands getting sweaty from his nerves and he could feel how his stomach was being weighed down with nausea. As his mom pulled into the parking lot he felt like his breakfast from earlier in the day was going to come out the way it went in. His mom looked at him and smiled.

"Jamie, everything is going to be okay. Danny will be happy to see you." Her voice was soothing but she hadn't convinced him otherwise. Jamie nodded his head and the two of them exited the car. Walking towards the entrance of the airport Jamie kept thinking that he should have just waited in the car. Once he and his mom were inside the building he knew that it was too late to turn back. Instead he stood with his mom waiting for Danny's arrival, which made his nerves sky rocket.

It felt as if hours had passed when the flight arrived, but it had only been thirty minutes. Jamie kept his gaze on the floor not wanting to see the look on his brother's face when he saw that he had come along. He kept shifting his weight from one leg to another and before he knew it Fanny was walking up to them. He heard him say something about how scrawny he looked as Danny ruffled his hair roughly with his hand. Jamie remained silent as Danny and their mom hugged and started talking. Jamie walked behind his mom and brother as they made their way out to the car.

Jamie carried his brother's luggage carefully so he wouldn't get in trouble for messing anything up. He kept to himself as the three of them rode in the vehicle. Danny and his mom talked the entire way home. Jamie stared out the window anxiously waiting for them to arrive so he could hide in his room. He already had an excuse in mind, he had homework to do, which wasn't a lie because he did. He had a book report he had to work on and calculus homework to do. Granted it was Friday and nothing that had been assigned was due until Tuesday but he knew getting a head start on the report and math homework was a good idea, especially if he was planning on getting into Harvard.

That was the other thing that was worrying him. All of the men in his family joined the police academy. Danny had made it through the academy and served five years with the NYPD he had decided to join the Marines. Jamie on the other hand was going to be a lawyer. His mom had made comments on how relieving it would be to not have all of her son's in the line of duty.

Since Jamie had made his decision he had been working his hardest in school to make sure his GPA was the best it could be. Now that Danny was home he'd be hearing that Jamie wasn't joining the family business and he knew that would only make Danny dislike him even more. The odd one out. Jamie was hoping that Danny wouldn't have to find out, not yet anyway. He didn't like arguing, especially with Danny. Sure he and Erin argue but they'd be over it before their conversation would even end. Joe would sometimes have a little squabble with Jamie but they were best friends so even after their so called argument they'd be joking around and acting like brothers. When it comes to Danny, Jamie would always try to apologize or try to get past their fight, but Danny being stubborn and never wanting to admit that he was wrong, especially when it came to Jamie, would continue to sulk and be angry with him.

If Danny found out that Jamie was trying to go to Harvard for law school, Jamie would never hear the end of it. To top it off Danny would make him feel worthless and like he wasn't a true Reagan.

Jamie kept thinking about all of the possible scenarios that could happen. Danny yelling at him, berating him, laughing at him, mocking him, saying how like Jamie it was for him to dishonor his family. Jamie felt the heat flushing his cheeks and how his nerves were starting to sky rocket. Remaining calm and collected was becoming difficult, but Jamie knew that if he showed any signs of anxiety that Danny would interrogate him or tease him for it. Instead Jamie inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth in order to take control of his emotions that were trying to escape his control. Luckily, Jamie was able to get his nerves at bay and act as if nothing were wrong.

Arriving at the house, he grabbed Danny's luggage and went inside, still not saying a word. Walking into the house he took Danny's belongings and put them in his old room. He then made his escape to his room, shut his door, and fell back onto his bed. He let out a heavy sigh as he covered his face with his hands massaging his forehead with his fingertips.

Jamie had been laying there for only a couple of minutes when he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. He rolled over and grabbed his back pack quickly grabbing out a book for his writing project and opened to the page he had left off from reading yesterday. A knock on his door followed by a voice slightly startled the young Reagan.

"Come in." Jamie said before Danny walked in.

"Hey kid what you doing? We've been home a total of five minutes and you're already hiding in your room?" Questioned Danny as he stood in the door way.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I have a book report I need to work on." Jamie answered as he lifted his eyes from his book. Danny walked over and picked up the book and smirked at the title.

"The Last of the Mohicans?" Danny asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"It was the book I was assigned to read. It's part of The Great American Authors project we have to do in English class. We had to draw a name out of a hat and I got James Fenimore Cooper." Jamie explained.

"I remember that project. I drew Nathaniel Hawthorne. I had to read The Scarlet Letter. It was torture." Danny's face scrunched up as he relived the memory.

"Oh, come on Danny, it's not that bad. I read that book last year." Jamie defended the book.

"Kid, there is something wrong with you." Danny sighed as he took a seat on his brother's bed. Jamie rolled onto his back and sat up.

"I'm glad you're home Danny." Jamie said as he looked at his hands.

A few hours later the family, excluding Joe and Erin, sat at the table. They had begun eating their meals and were having casual conversations. All was going well, that was until the subject of college was brought up. Everyone could feel the elephant in the room and Jamie wanted to flee but knew it was best to just remain where he sat.

He could feel the tension coming from Danny as he sat across from him. Jamie kept his eyes down out of fear of making eye contact with his oldest brother. Danny on the other hand felt the need to make his aggravation known. He would make sure every movement he made had more than enough force and made his movements louder than what they needed to be. Danny cleared his throat and lifted his head, his eyes glued on Jamie.

"So, which collages do you have in mind?" Danny's voice was gruff.

"I haven't decided." Jamie said quietly.

"He is the top student in his class," Their mom started. "I've been trying to convince him to apply at Harvard." The one thing Jamie was hoping wouldn't come up did.

"Harvard." Danny let out a breath of air, a small smile forming, but not a smile of happiness. "What do you want to do at Harvard?" Danny asked.

"Law school." Jamie answered proudly. Before Danny could say anything else Jamie excised himself and took his dishes into the kitchen. After rinsing his dishes and placing them in the dish washer, Jamie, made his way up the stairs. He knew that it was going to be a long night. His parents had some sort of party to go to and he knew that he'd be left at home with Danny. Luckily for him, he still had a few hours before his parents left, and he was hoping Danny would have calmed down before then. Jamie didn't feel like arguing.

Luck wasn't on his side though. It was about an hour after his parents had left when he heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. He hoped that Danny would keep walking, his destination being his own room, but Jamie felt the nervousness plummet into his stomach when the footsteps stopped in front of his door. A knock on his door caused Jamie to let out a sigh that was laced with hesitation. He thought about pretending that he had fallen asleep but he knew Danny would wake him anyway.

"Come in." Jamie said as he tried to keep his nerves at bay.

Danny opened the door menacingly and walked in. Leaning against Jamie's door frame, Danny folded his arms. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were slightly puckered. It was a normal look for Danny when he was thinking about what he should say. Jamie didn't know if he should remain silent or not but he decided to speak up before Danny could throw anything at him that would render him speechless.

"Look, Danny, I know what you are thinking…" Jamie stopped mid sentence as Danny interrupted him.

"Is that right?" Danny asked, his voice already showing signs of what was going to come.

"You're upset; I knew you would be, but Danny…" Jamie was cut off again.

"You think I'm upset?" The question was rhetorical because Danny wasn't finished talking but Jamie answered anyway.

"I know you're upset. From the moment I decided to go to college instead of joining the academy. I knew that you were going to be upset." Jamie started. "I have been pondering the decision to either joining the academy or go to college for awhile now. College seems to be the best option."

"The best option? You really think that breaking the bank for mom and dad is the best option? If you want to get into Harvard you need to be smarter than that!" Danny's voice was starting to grow louder.

"I don't want mom and dad to pay for it!" Jamie said annoyed. "I want to make my family happy. I want my parents to be proud of me and what I decide to do with my life. I've talked to dad, asked for his advice, asked for moms. Not all of us can follow in the family footsteps." Jamie fell silent.

"Grandpa was a cop! Dad was a cop! I was a cop! Joe is a cop! Grandpa was commissioner! Dad is commissioner! We have all put our lives on the line for this city! We sacrificed our safety to protect this city, but you! You are too good for that. Perfect grades, perfect GPA, why would you become a cop? Instead, you're going to go to law school. Let me guess, you want to be a defense attorney. Defend the men and women who we have worked hard to put in prison." Danny's voice was thunderous and booming. Jamie could feel his emotions getting the best of him. Every word that his brother was saying tearing him apart, causing his heart to ache.

"Danny, get out of my room." Jamie's voice squeaked.

"Leave it to baby Reagan to go emotional on me. Kid you need to grow up." Danny said as he unfolded his arms. Danny turned to leave but stopped and faced Jamie.

"You were wrong, Jamie. I'm not upset, I'm disappointed. My baby brother, you're…" Danny was cut off.

"I'm what, Danny? A disgrace?" Jamie was now standing.

"I didn't say it. You did." Danny said, his voice venomous. He turned and left Jamie's room.

Jamie didn't hesitate. He walked over to his door and slammed it shut, his frustration coming out. Putting his back against the door, Jamie slid down until he was sitting on the floor. His knees were against his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees. Jamie couldn't hold back the heartache any longer. Before he could react, his tears made an appearance, and within seconds were streaming down his face.

A/N: I was hoping to make this a one shot, but I think that is a phenomenal place to end it. I will be working on the next chapter and should have it posted within the next couple of days. I will have it posted this weekend. That is a guarantee. Please let me know what you thought and leave me a review!

Until Next Time,

ElmerFudFry