Chapter 11: To protect you

3:23 Friday morning

Aidan was woken up by the sound of something breaking so he got up and left his room. Before going downstairs he stopped by Ethan's room and saw that he was still asleep. He smiled, Ethan could always sleep through anything. Closing the door he went downstairs and found his dad sweeping up glass in the kitchen. "Dad, what are you doing it's three in the morning."

"Couldn't sleep." Nathan replied throwing the glass in the trashcan. "Sorry of I woke you up, he's still sleep."

Aidan nodded. "Are you kidding, he could sleep through a hurricane if he wanted too." He sat at the counter and played with his fingers.

Nathan put the broom back in the corner along with the dustpan and sat across from him. "So how's everything going with you and your brother in school?"

Aidan sighed. "Dad will you stop being so paranoid all the time. Danny's a decent guy and I don't think he would hurt Ethan. Why can't you just be happy, I mean the other day you said you loved how happy he made Ethan and now you doing a complete one-eighty."

"I just don't want him to end up in the hospital again." Nathan says. "It started out with lacrosse, then Sage and ended with you getting arrested, expelled and your brother in the hospital."

"So what are you saying?" Aidan says sitting back in the chair. "You'd rather have him moping around and locked up in his room for the rest of his life. He's not a kid anymore dad, he can take care of himself."

"Then how did he end up in the hospital!" Nathan yelled. "Where the hell were you when he-" He stopped talking when he saw Ethan standing a few feet behind Aidan.

"So you're blaming him getting bashed on me." Aidan says. "You want to know why I wasn't there that day after school because I got a call from the police station and had to come bail your ass out of jail. I knew about him going to meet Sage and I was going to stop him so don't blame him getting bashed on me. All this is your fault because you can't hold your fucking liquor!"

"Watch your mouth!" Nathan yelled getting to his feet.

"Dad stop." Ethan yelled walking over to them. "What the hell is going on?"

Aidan looked back at Ethan before looking back at his dad. "Dad lied when he told you he stopped drinking. All those weekends he went away on business he's been drinking himself unconscious and I'm always the one who has to carry his ass back to whatever hotel he was that night. He was drinking that day you got attacked and that's why I left the school, I had to bail him out of jail." He started to walk off but stopped. "By the way he wants you to stop seeing Danny, he just wants you miserable for the rest of your life." He walked off.

"Aidan!" He yelled. He looked back at his father before following Aidan to his bedroom, he found him getting dressed. "What are you doing?"

Aidan stopped and looked over at his brother. "I need to get out of here for a while."

"You're not going anywhere alone." Ethan says. "Just wait for me and I'll come with you, okay?"

"Fine." Aidan replied. "Hurry up."

One hour later

Ethan and Aidan were leaning against a tree next to their mothers grave. They had been sitting in silence for about fifteen minutes just staring at it. Aidan had just got finish telling Ethan everything that they kept from him.

"I don't understand why you didn't tell me Aidan." Ethan says.

"You already been through hell Ethan and we didn't want to put you through anything else." Aidan says. "After you got attacked he started going to AA for his drinking and promised me not to tell you any of it."

Ethan sighed. "You know I don't blame you foe what happened right. I chose not to listen to you so it wasn't your fault or dad's. I just hate it when you guys keep stuff from me. I'm not a kid anymore Aidan."

Aidan smiled. "Don't tell that to me tell it to dad because he's the one who won't let it go."

Ethan looks over at Aidan. "I don't want to stop seeing Danny, I like him and I trust him."

"I might not hang out with him a lot but I trust him too." Aidan says. "He makes you happy and that's all I've wanted for you."

"But what about dad?" Asked Ethan.

"He's just going to have to get over it.' Aidan says. "But no matter what happens it's always going to be me and you."

"I know." Ethan looked at his watched and stood up. 'We better head back before school starts."

Aidan got up and started to walk off but Ethan stopped him. "What?"

"Make up with dad." Ethan says. "He's just acting like this to protect me right, so let's just put this whole thing behind us and move on."

"Alright I'll talk to dad." Aidan says. "Come on let's go."

Ethan ran his hand across the top of his mother's tombstone before following his brother out of the cemetery. When they got home their dad's car wasn't in the driveway and since it was almost seven o'clock they decided to get ready for school. Ethan being always the fearful one ended up leaving their dad a message before they left for school.

When Ethan got to school he immediately went looking for Danny and when he finally spotted him hanging out with Stiles and Jackson he walked over to them. "Hey guys."

"Hey." Danny immediately knew something was wrong. "Is everything okay?"

Ethan shook his head. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Danny looked back and waved Jackson and Stiles off before walking off with Ethan.

Jackson waited until they were a good distance away before he leans over to Stiles. "He looked pissed about something, what do you thinks going on?"

"How are we suppose to know that and I thought I was the nosy one." Stiles says walking off.

"You are the nosy one!" Jackson yelled running after him. "So what are you doing after school?"

"I have practice and you have detention remember." Stiles says smiling up at him.

"I know that I meant after all that." Jackson reached over and grabbed Stiles hand. "Because I was thinking we could hang out at my place since I'll have it all to myself." When he felt Stiles stop he looked back at him. "What is it?"

"What exactly would we be doing?" Stiles asked.

"Just hanging out." Replied Jackson. 'I already talked to Danny and he said that he was going to see if Ethan can tag along and a few of the guys from the team will be there."

Stiles smiled. "So you're having a party?"

"Well I wouldn't call it a party." Jackson says. "We're just going to hang out, go swimming and maybe even have a drink or two."

"Are you crazy." Stiles says. "My dad would kill me if I came home smelling like alcohol."

"We don't have to drink Stiles." Jackson says. "It's Friday we don't have a game and I need to blow off some steam after being stuck for hours all week with that jackass Jeremy. So will you be there or will I have to find another way to entertain myself?"

Stiles thought a minute before nodding. "Yeah I'll be there."

Jackson smiled. "Cool."

...

"Wow, are you okay?" Danny asked. They were leaning next to each other against a row of lockers.

"Yeah, I just wish they would stop treating me like a little kid." Ethan says looking down. "I mean there suppose to be my family and family doesn't keep stiff like this from each other." He shook his head. "I just wish that I go forget about the whole thing."

Danny suddenly smiled. "I have an idea." He says. "My friend Jackson's parents are going to be out all night he'll have the the house to himself just for tonight. A few of the guys on the team will be there too, you should come and hang out for a while."

Ethan immediately frowned and thought about Sage. "Um I don't think I can tonight." He looked down and started biting his lip.

Danny saw the change in his posture and frowned as well. "Aidan's welcome to come along to if that will make you more comfortable."

Ethan smiled. "No that's okay, who knows maybe it will get me out of this funk." Just then the bell rang and he pushed himself off the lockers. "Come on I'll walk you to class."

After school in the locker room

Ethan was getting changed into his pads when Aidan walked up to him. "Hey, you finally joining the team."

"No, lacrosse isn't really my thing." Aidan sat next to him on the bench. "So are you going to that party or whatever after school?"

Ethan paused and looked over at his brother. "How the hell do you keep finding this stuff?"

Aidan smiled. "I have eyes everywhere, so are you going to go?"

Ethan shrugged. "I want to go but I can't stop thinking about Sage."

"Ethan nothing like that is going to happen." Aidan says. "I think you should go and if it will make you more comfortable I'll come with you. Danny already gave me an invite but I told him that I wanted to talk to you first."

Ethan nodded. "It's alright if you come Aidan besides I really do want to hang out with Danny."

"Alright then." Aidan says getting to his feet. "I'll meet you after practice."

"Later." Ethan watched him then walked over to where Danny and Stiles were getting dressed. "Hey, looks like I'll be able to come tonight."

"Great." Danny replied looking over at him. "I promise that you'll have a good time."

"Yeah." He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "I'll see you out there." He headed back to his own locker. He was nervous about giving to Jackson's house but with Aidan there with him nothing should go wrong.

...

Nathan sat at the surprisingly clean counter staring down at the glass of liquor that sat in front of him. After Ethan's accident and all his AA classes he was seriously temped to down the glass, not caring about the consequences. Suddenly his phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was a text from Aidan saying that they were going to hang out with a few friends and would be back before curfew. Shoving it back in his pocket he looked around and found the bartender stating at him. "What?

"How long has it been since your last one?" He asked.

"Months." Nathan said running his fingers around the top of the cup.

"What made toy stop?" He asked walking over to him.

"My son in the hospital." Nathan sat back on the stool and pulled out his phone when it vibrated again. He glanced at before sighing and pushing the cup away. "How much do I owe you for that?" He starts to pull out his wallet.

"Don't worry about it." The bartender said taking the cup from him. "Hope everything works out with your kid."

Nathan smiled. "Yeah me too, both of them." Turning he left the bar and headed home.

A/N Hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I'll have the next one posted soon, reviews are loved. :-)