This was supposed to be updated last night but I fell asleep on my keyboard while editing. When I woke up this morning, I found I wrote an entire new section in my sleep: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm

Definitely not my best work. XP

This chapter harkens back to Sybil's Kindness chapter (7). Jeez, that's a dead giveaway…

Reply time! Promise I'll be quick! XP

gothamgirl28: Yup! The terrible twosome ganging up on poor Tom! I always imagined that Niall and Sybil would get on really well from the start.

Katie Duggan's Niece: I think the most underrated aspects of everyone's personality on DA is their humor. It's so played down because DA is a drama, but there's always room for humor.

shana-rose: I'm glad you liked how Niall and Sybil met! XD

dustedoffanoldie: I may have something up my sleeve! =X

The Yankee Countess: Tom went through the same thing for her when he met her family, so naturally he would try and calm her down when she met his!

MelodyOfSong526: Maraming salamat! Glad you liked Niall and Sybil.

A/N: I'm glad to see that Niall is gaining a good reputation! Just as another disclaimer. That isn't actually Niall Horan in my fic. It's easier for me to write a completely new character based on someone real. I can imagine him in my head and I instantly have a reference to a certain appearance and a distinct voice. NH is just a physical template for a fictional character. It also helps that Allen and Niall look eerily similar. NIALLEN XP

ONWARDS!

o o o

Patience

Tom

"Hello Tommy. It's been a long time."

The smile on Tom's face faded away with the knowledge that his brother was standing before him. His heart stopped and it felt as if he was drenched in ice cold water. A fire started to scorch his insides. He felt it starting to grow and rage deep within. He felt that same hate and anger he thought he let go of so long ago. Time did not temper his rage. It never could.

"Kieran."

The eldest Branson saw his goddaughter for the first time since her Christening. He stared intently at her for a brief moment. She had Tommy's hair and eyes, but her nose and lips were all Sybil. She clung onto her father as she stared back at him, her gaze never backing down.

He was a bachelor, but he longed to settle down and have a family. He had been alone for so long. Seeing little Sybbie in her father's arms made him wish for a family of his own…or his own family.

Kieran bent down and smiled at his niece.

"Hello little one. I'm your Uncle Kieran."

Sybbie's eyes roamed the strangers features and squinted at his bushy mustache. He looked like her father, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't him. Confused and shy, hugged Tom's neck even tighter and buried her face into Tom's shoulder. The familiar smell of her father comforted Sybbie as she sighed into his neck.

Tom looked at his brother suspiciously. He furrowed his eyebrows and blocked Kieran's way in.

"What are you doing here?"

Kieran knew that Tom was unhappy. He was always unhappy when Kieran was around, but he couldn't let his sister-in-law down. She invited him to have dinner with them and he couldn't refuse, not after she came to him earlier that day.

"Sybil invited me."

Tom's tight lips curved downward into a scowl. He was about to open his mouth when he felt a gentle pressure on his back. Sybil gently pushed him aside to let Kieran in.

Sybil flashed Kieran a dazzling, warm, and welcoming smile, but it was offset by the clear look of malice on Tom's face.

"I'm glad you decided to have dinner with us tonight. Come in, I was just about to set the table. Sybbie, come on love. Let's leave your Da and Uncle Kieran alone."

Sybil reached for their daughter who willingly grasped on to her mother. Sybil carried Sybbie on her hip and started to rock her gently back and forth. Sybil stroked her daughter's back before pulling away to look at her.

"Sybbie, this is your Uncle Kieran." She pointed at Kieran and Sybbie studied him once again, much more curious than last time. "Can you say hello?"

Sybbie looked at her new found uncle. She turned her hand so her palm faced him. She opened and closed her hand quickly before stuffing her fist in her mouth and leaning her head back onto Sybil's shoulder, still shy after meeting her new uncle.

"Good job Sybbie." Sybil planted a soft kiss on Sybbie's cheek as Sybbie popped her hand out of her mouth. Sybil turned to Tom, gently giving him orders.

"Tom, take his coat."

Tom opened his mouth to refuse her request. Sybil didn't let that happen.

"Tom. Take his coat."

"Syb-"

She looked sternly at her husband. Tom met her gaze. He could tell she was in no mood to fight tonight.

"Don't make me tell you again Tom."

Tom gritted his teeth. As much as he hated Kieran, he couldn't disobey Sybil now without getting into a massive argument. He clenched his jaw and his nostrils flared. He hated this. Tom wanted to push him out the door and yell at him to never come back. Instead, Tom grumbled and stepped aside, letting Kieran into the small room to take his hat and coat off.

. . .

Dinner was unbearable.

A massive argument halfway through dinner between Tom and Kieran caused Sybbie to start crying and Kieran to leave.

As Kieran was fuming down the street away from the inn, he could hear Tom's voice yelling at him from the top of his lungs.

"That's right Kieran! Do what you do best! Abandon your family and leave them in tears! Go find a bottle of whiskey and drown yourself in it!"

It echoed down the empty streets of Liverpool.

. . .

"Why did you invite him here?"

Sybil pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve some of the pressure from the headache from today. She had rocked Sybbie to sleep and laid her in her crib after she cried for what seemed like hours. It had been a trying day. She sat in front of the vanity in her nightgown and dressing gown rubbing lotion into her hands and arms while responding to Tom.

"I want Sybbie to know her family. Is that so wrong."

Tom hung his dressing gown in the wardrobe and turned to face his wife, who was now looking across the room at him.

"Sybil, do you have any idea what he's done?"

Tom's palpable hatred for his brother at dinner at Downton was proof enough. Tom never mentioned Kieran. She only found out that Tom had an older brother when she saw an old picture of the Bransons, before Niall was born. She recognized Tom's mother and father, Tom's sisters, Máirín and Orlaith, and Tom, only because he looked like a younger Niall. But there was one face she did not recognize. No one talked about him. When she asked Niall about him, he shrugged his shoulders and told her that he and Tom were no longer speaking. She asked his sisters, but they only pursed their lips and averted their gaze, never breathing a word about him. Sybil finally worked up the courage to ask Tom's mother about the mystery man. She sighed and told her that was her oldest son and that he had left Ireland for Liverpool many years ago. Intrigued, Sybil asked why he left, but Mrs. Branson changed the topic.

"Is my boy good to you?"

"He is."

"He hasn't laid a finger on you, has he?"

"No, he hasn't. Tom's a good man."

"I figured…"

When she had struck him so many years ago, it took him months to forgive her completely. They would argue and they would immediately forgive each other, but after she had hit him, she saw a side of Tom she had never seen before: cold, withdrawn, angry, but most of all, deeply hurt.

Kieran may have confessed it to her that morning, but deep down, she already knew.

Sybil sighed.

"Yes I have."

Tom spit his words out. He had no kind words for his brother, just venom.

"Then you should know how I feel about that drunken lout."

She had enough of this side of Tom. She slapped the top of the vanity which made him jump in surprise. Sybil had his full attention now and was looking at him incredulously. How could Tom not see the mistake he was making?

"Tom Branson! How dare you! The things you said to him tonight were so cruel. I can't believe you could be so heartless to your own brother. Have you no empathy? He's trying to stay sober now and what did you do? You told him to drown himself in whiskey. He needs support of his family to stay sober. It's the kindest thing we can do for him. He's having a hard time Tom. He's going through a lot and-"

It was Tom's turn to look shocked and appalled. His eyebrows raised on his forehead, ran a hand though his hair and shook his head in disbelief.

"What he's going through?! Are you on his side now Sybil? You have no idea what he put me through. He-"

Sybil shot up from her seat, determined to make him understand.

"Yes, you're right! I don't know! But I know and understands how he feels. I know how long it took you to forgive me after I hit you. I'm still sorry and I know he is too. He came here to make amends tonight and you wouldn't let him. Can't you be a little forgiving? Can't you give him a chance?"

"No! I'm sorry Sybil. I can't."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Oh, that's just rich coming from you."

Sybil went over to the bed and violently pulled the covers back. This was escalating to a full blown argument and she didn't have the patience or the energy to keep going. She laid down and propped herself up on the pillows.

"What?!"

"If I recall correctly, you were the one who started the argument, so don't stand there act like a saint Tom Branson. Don't forget you've done terrible things as well. You know damn well that we've had our share of arguments which we've thrown our words, but we still forgave each other in the end. How can you accept my apology over and over while you won't forgive Kieran?"

Tom went to the other side of the bed and pulled back the covers to get in.

"That's completely different Sybil."

Sybil scooted herself down and laid down, making sure to face away from Tom. She fluffed her pillow and threw her head down on the soft material.

"Trust me Tom. It's not."

Tom ran his hands up and down his face in frustration. He felt her shifting beside her and when he looked up from his hands, she was already laying down. Most nights, when they weren't angry with each other, Sybil would sleep in his arms and use his shoulder as a pillow. Not tonight.

"Now you're just going to go to sleep? Really Sybil?"

Sybil sighed and closed her eyes. She had done all the work and Tom destroyed it all. She was done trying to play peacemaker between her brother-in-law and her stubborn husband. Kieran was trying to better himself. If Tom couldn't see that, it was their loss.

"I'm done arguing with you. There's no point in trying to help you if you refuse to see what's in front of you."

"So we're going to bed angry at each other."

She crossed her arms and shut her eyes, wishing he would just let her go to sleep.

"I'm not angry. You're just stubborn."

Tom rolled his eyes. He was a stubborn man and he knew it. He took her little dig at him as a sign that their current fight was now over. He kissed her on the cheek and put his arm around her, a gesture signaling temporary peace until the morning.

"Sybil…"

She pulled away.

"I'm worn out."

Tom, angry with himself settled back into his side of the bed and closed his eyes. This was far from over.

"I'm sorry Sybil. I can't."

"That's your loss. Goodnight."

. . .

Tom laid in bed in the darkness.

He remembered Kieran's rampages…all the times he had been beaten…the smell of alcohol on his clothes…the hate he felt for Kieran for so long…

Out of nowhere, he remembered their Da's funeral. He had locked it away in his memory but it came flooding back to him. Kieran sat in their shared bedroom, refusing to come down and say goodbye to their father. "I won't see him! I won't! Don't make me see him Mam! PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME!" Tom remembered his Mam dragging Kieran downstairs by the ear to pay his last respects. He sat in the corner, hot angry tears streamed down his face. Tom remembered Keiran's quiet sobs every night for years following the day they buried him. When Kieran thought that Tommy was asleep, he always brought out a bottle of whiskey. Tom remembered the first time he heard a pop and the smell of alcohol that permeated the room. He remembered hearing gulps and swallows followed by sounds of disgust, self loathing, and sorrow. He remembered always falling asleep after Kieran passed out.

He remembered the time before their Da died. While their sisters played inside, the two brothers would run around outside with the other neighborhood boys. Running, laughing, joking. He remembered he was teased because he was a heavier child than most. Kieran would punch the boys who would taunt Tom. He would protect him and stand up for him.

It finally dawned on Tom.

. . .

A pile of empty bottles were outside the door.

Three short knocks.

A minute later, a disheveled and freshly awoken Kieran opened the door. He squinted his eyes, still adjusting to the morning light.

"Tommy?"

Tom took the cap off his head and held it in his hands. He looked directly into his brother's eyes, realizing they were the same ones from his childhood.

"I'm sorry for last night."

Kieran didn't move.

"I know you want to stay sober and I want to help."

Still nothing.

Tom sighed and looked down at his shoes. The road to this moment was long and tiring. It was time to take a new path, but they both knew the journey ahead would be much harder. In the end, Tom and Kieran knew the end would be worth it.

"It's going to take me some time…"

Tom looked back up at his brother, whose eyes were filling with tears.

"Tommy…I'm sorry."

Tom didn't know it during the time he was angry at Kieran, but he waited 19 years for his brother to utter those words to him…

It was freeing.

"I know."

The healing could finally begin.