Hey guys. Two brief things that I want to cover before I let you go on to read the chapter. First thing is, I'm sorry, I might have to update the next two chapters just a little slower than I want to. It's nothing personal at all guys, trust me. I just don't have my third batch of chapters back from being beta read yet, so after Chapter 11 I don't have anything to upload until I get them back. So my apologies, it's not my doing this time! D: I'll hopefully have the next batch of chapters back by the end of this week (today's Sunday.) My beta reader is out of town for the week for a cosplaying event.

Second thing that I have to bring up is that there's a risk that I might have to turn annonymous reviews off. I absolutely would hate to have to do it because then I'd lose valuable feedback (although if I remember correctly you do have a FFN account Northgalus2002) but I got a disturbing review from someone who attacked me personally about a completely unrelated issue. It's not fair for those who are reading the story to read it and it's not fair on me because it makes me look like an ass even if my actions were for a very good reason. (In fact, the issue had nothing to do with me but they kept attacking me about it so I put them on my ignore list.)

I'm working on trying to resolve the issue, but if I get another one of them from that person I might have to turn annonymous reviews off, because they'll keep posting about it. And if I do, I promise I'll give you guys fair warning. As for right now though, annonymous reviews are still on so I'm still looking forward to your wonderful reviews people. :)

Before you read, disclaimer: For those blindsided by the use of language, my apologies in advance. Remember what my character said in the third chapter. XD

Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Muahahaha!
-Narf

Chapter 9
Impending Meltdown

Right away the walk got off to a rough start. Simon and Theodore went out the door first, while Alvin was grumbling to himself. When I walked out the door after the two, Alvin must have gotten impatient or something because when he cut out the door behind me. Before I fully got out mind you, he ran out the door, missed the step and face planted into the grass.

Simon and Theodore both erupted into laughter, and even I couldn't help but laugh a little bit when he did that. I mean after all, that's what you get for being impatient. Still, I went over and helped Alvin up.

A little annoyed, Alvin clenched his fists and glared to shut both of them up before he brushed the dirt and grass blades off of his sweater and continuing down the sidewalk to the street. Theodore and I let it go, but Simon seemed to have other plans.

"Hey Alvin," Simon asked smugly, "you ever think of becoming a clown when you grow up? Because you have the comic timing down perfectly."

"That was a little uncalled for," I muttered to myself. Alvin didn't like the remark at all.

"Can it before I sock you one!" Alvin growled, raising both of his fists. He got ready to charge forward, but I came in and caught Alvin in an arm bar before he could.

"Chill out Alvin! Fighting with him isn't going to do anything but make it worse! I'm not the only one here with an impulse problem," I said, struggling to keep Alvin in place so he wouldn't charge at Simon.

"I can hit just as hard as you can, Alvin," Simon said with the same smugly satisfied grin on his face, while Theodore made himself comfortable on his crutches and began rubbing his temples.

"Stop it!" I scolded Simon.

Simon began laughing again, while Alvin started kicking violently at me yelling out "Let me at him!"

"Alvin calm down! Stop it, don't let him aggravate you!" I warned him, this time fully tackling him. While I was trying to confine him to the grass, I looked over my shoulder to yell at Simon. "And you stop it with the comments. You're smarter than that, why would you add gasoline to a fire? I mean, sure, it may be a liquid but it doesn't put the fire out."

"And you wonder why I want to hurt you!" Alvin said with some more struggling.

"Let it go!" I all but screamed into Alvin's ear. "Both of you stop it right now! I was ready to just go out for a walk by myself because of these constant immature and stupid fights but I decided to let all three of you come along so just stop it!" Alvin stopped struggling out from underneath me and I got up to point right at Simon.

"Besides, I don't think Theodore needs to put up with this crap either so neither of us needs to deal with any more, got it?" I said, poking Simon in the chest when I said 'got it.'

Theodore looked at me and shook his head. I couldn't tell if he shook his head out of dismay or like he was saying 'leave me out of this,' but either statement would have made sense by this point.

Simon sulked a little bit. I'd like to assume it would be out of guilt but that would probably be presumptuous. For all I know, he might be sulking because he missed the opportunity to fight with Alvin. At this point, anything could happen because the chemistry for this walk was already starting to get explosive.

"Fine, I get the message. Truce Alvin?" Simon asked, sticking his hand out.

Alvin picked himself off the ground and reluctantly brushed the grass off of him again, then rolled his eyes and stuck his hand out for a handshake, muttering 'truce' almost incomprehensibly. I was at the ready in case (and I know this is going to sound a little strange) Simon was going to pull some sort of trick. He didn't though, thankfully.

I groaned in exasperation. "Alright, now since that skirmish has been finally settled, let's try this walk again and get to the store in one piece? Everybody's already under enough stress right now I don't need to be peeling limbs off the concrete halfway down the street or hitting you guys."

"Got it," Alvin and Simon said monotonously. I reassuringly rubbed Theodore's head.

"Sorry, not mad at you, think you know that," I said wearily. Theodore sighed in exasperation as well and nodded.

Simon cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uh if you want to go on ahead, I'll walk with Theodore." In retrospect, this may have been the better idea, but I wasn't about ready to have that. Not with an instigating Simon.

"Uh, no? I'm keeping an eye on you two idiots," I said in exasperation, pointing for both Alvin and Simon to go in front of me while the two of them traded looks with each other uncomfortably. Then after a moment's pause, they headed out in front of me as we finally left the property.

Alvin sighed in aggravation. "Great, you got her pissed," Alvin muttered quietly.

Simon was about to yell back, but he bit his lip and kept walking.

"Why did you have to act like a prick about it?" Alvin grumbled quietly.

Simon's raised an eyebrow. "It's fun I tell you. Give you a taste of your own medicine," Simon said softly.

"You know I can hear you, right?" I said as calmly as I could. I could sense Theodore beginning to feel apathetic right next to me and I shook him lightly and made a goofy face. 'I'm starting to calm down a little, relax,' I whispered into his ear. This made Theodore make a very meek grin before going flat again.

Alvin and Simon then began to trade looks with each other, probably to argue in some kind of manner that I wouldn't understand. I could read some of them, but I didn't concentrate on them enough to really understand what they were trying to say to each other.

"Hey Fritz?" Theodore asked quietly, almost trying not to be heard by his brothers. I focused my attention on Theodore instead of trying to figure out why Simon and Alvin were glaring menacingly at each other. I raised an eyebrow motioning I'm listening. "Did you ever wonder what it's like having a brother or a sister?"

The question threw me through a loop. Aside from Tal and mom, I really didn't have much a family, so I didn't know how to take the question. I think what threw me the most about the question though was the timing. Unsure with what to say, I stuck with the route I knew best. "I have Tal, does that count?"

"No, I mean somebody your age," he added. Simon and Alvin must have heard the question, because both of them looked at Theodore with concerned looks.

My jaw dropped. "Uh..." I said hesitantly. I don't know how to answer that question! I have asked this to myself before, but at this point, I wouldn't want to! If having a sibling was anything like what's in front of me, hell no! Tal's enough, thank you very much. "...that's the last thing on my mind right now, Theodore." Theodore wasn't impressed with the comment, but he nodded signaling he understood what I was trying to say.

"I don't blame you," Theodore commented. I think Simon sobered up a little bit at that, because he gave Theodore a guilty look before pulling Alvin ahead with him like he wanted to conference.

"Uh, maybe we should limit our fights," Simon commented to Alvin, looking out towards the street and stopping before looking at Alvin with almost the same guilty look. "I didn't realize how much they were bothering Theodore and Fritzie."

Alvin was about ready to tap Simon on the side of the head and say 'duh,' but he realized it was a bad idea before the action began and instead stopped and folded his arms up. "No, you think? Do you think I want this?"

Simon's face cringed as he held back a sarcastic comment that probably would have started the next fight. Loosening his face up and biting his lip, he nodded.

"Besides, it's not just the fights that you've been starting with me that have been driving them-"

"Oh, so it's me that's been starting all the fights?" Simon retorted.

I gritted my teeth and slouched, growling as a warning to stop it.

"Would you let me finish?" Alvin snapped back at Simon, shocking his brother into silence. "Thank you," Alvin said sarcastically, licking the roof of my mouth like that was bad taste, "as I was saying it's not just the fights that are making them pissed, it's the fact that you spend absolutely no time with Theodore and instead just sit in front of that stupid computer like the world is going to blow up tomorrow."

Simon looked to me like he was trying to cue me to stop this fight, but I instead loosened up nodded. "Alvin speaks the truth."

Simon looked to Alvin like he was offended, like all three of us knew what he was researching in the first place. I might know, but I had to remain incognito, so I pretended I had no idea what he was talking about. "I'll have you know that what I've been researching has been totally worthwhile, thank you very much," Simon remarked informatively.

This is where I began to jump up and down in my mind yelling out 'Theodore now's your chance!!'

"Then what?!" Alvin yelled out impulsively.

I smacked my forehead. "Alvin, no!" I muttered.

"It's none of your business!" Simon said accusingly, pointing right at Alvin's chest.

"Argh, that's it!" a voice yelled out from behind me before I could open my mouth. My jaw clamped shut with an audible snap, then I turned around behind me to see Theodore absolutely red in the face- something I did not want to happen. He stood on his feet and had both his crutches in his left hand.

Alvin and Simon both quickly dropped whatever they were arguing about and suddenly looked scared to death, and I felt my emotions begin to drain from me. "Theodore?" Alvin asked stupidly. Theodore took three steps forward, breathing heavily like an enraged bull as he did so.

"I've had enough of all of this crap!" Theodore yelled out, pointing at Simon. "I've had enough of you guys fighting, and I've had enough of you being a stuck up brat about that goddamn computer!"

Alvin had the biggest look of disbelief on his face. "Theodore knows how to swear?" He didn't quite catch it when Theodore said 'damn' the night before.

"You know what, it's been driving me nuts for the last three weeks wondering what you've been doing that's so frickin' important about whatever stupid research you're doing so that you only 'check on me' if you have the time or 'say hi to me' whenever you go get a snack or something," Theodore yelled, sounding sarcastic when he said 'check on me' and 'say hi to me' in the process. "Hello!? Do I exist outside of that?! How hard is it to let me say what's wrong my own way without jumping to conclusions?"

Simon winced. "But you know what?!" Theodore continued, "I don't care anymore! I have Fritzie and Alvin to listen to me and you can just...argh!"

With that, Theodore threw his crutches in the bushes next to him and began to storm off back home.

"Alvin you idiot! You should have let him ask that question!" I yelled at Alvin before groaning and picking up Theodore's crutches. "I'm going to go make sure that he doesn't destroy anything on the way home, and you two can take you're god damn walk far away from me. Maybe now you two can have that fist fight that you two wanted so badly five minutes ago."

Simon's face tightened. "I'm sorry!" he called out, but Theodore didn't hear and I ignored. I was muttering to myself in aggravation trying to keep my distance from Theodore at least for the second. He turned to Alvin for some sort of consolation, but Alvin already had his back to him as he sat down on the curb and threw his head in his lap.

"Alvin, I'm sorry, I don't-"

"Just go away!" Alvin choked out. The pressure was enough to make him reach his breaking point, and he sat down on the curb unwilling to move from that spot.

Simon sighed and moved a few feet further down the street before sitting on the curb and throwing his head in his lap himself. It was then where he realized how he was acting around his brothers finally sank in and it made a pit form in his stomach. He didn't understand why it was so hard for Theodore to ask the question about what he was researching in the first place but he began to get that feeling that he shouldn't have been so secretive either. The next time that Theodore came around he was going to tell him the truth about it.

Very uncomfortable, he picked his legs up and hugged his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top of his knees. After clearing the knot in his throat, he managed to mumble "Alvin, go after Fritzie and Theodore."

Alvin looked up, his eyes badly glazed over and the fur on top of his nose a little wet. Simon was trying real hard not to look over at Alvin as his eyes began to glaze over as well.

Unfortunately, that didn't quite work and the both of them traded upset looks with each other. "They're more mad at me than they are with you, go. Theodore's probably going to tell Dave about what happened and I bet won't get in trouble for it. Trust me."

Alvin didn't budge. He put his head back in his lap and didn't say a word.

Simon sighed and stopped trying to resist the urge to start silently crying to himself. If he only didn't stay on the computer so much, if he only knew what was going on around him and wasn't mad at anything and everything that was different. A feeling also began to sink in that he'd picked up Alvin's bad habits. The selfishness, the addiction to electronics...the uncanny knack of being oblivious that everything that went on in his surroundings except for himself. After several criticisms and even the occasional wonderment of sharing the same gene pool, he found himself in the exact place he criticized, while Alvin acted exactly the way he would in that situation- at everyone's expense.

He opened his mouth to speak, to try to apologize, but the knot in his throat was too big, so he sat on the curb for a little while to try to clear up his emotions in order to be able to speak again.

Argh! I had to stop here didn't I?! Sorry, this whole thing would have been too long and probably too much to handle in just one chapter, so I guess you'll have to see how things pan out in the next chapter in a few days! Reviews!

[Slaps forehead.] OH! And before I forget again. I made one slight change to the flashback all the way in Chapter 2, the chapter that introduces who Cody is. Don't worry, it's not a major change, and I'm not expecting a review for it. It makes things make a little more sense for earlier and future chapters if you do. I've had it changed for about two weeks now I just kept forgetting to say so. Sorry about that!