A/N Hey everyone! Look, a new chapter! This one is for Rosey Malone, who mentioned a fight between the brothers. I know it's probably not exactly how you imagined it but I hope you like it nonetheless. Oh, I also want to thank you for your congratulations and reviews. I hope you all like this chapter too. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: It's with a heavy heart I must say that I do not own these lovely musketeers.

Ages: Athos is 16, Porthos is 14, Aramis is 12 and d'Artagnan is 6.

Chapter 11

Porthos smiled when d'Artagnan came running up to him and Athos, his bag hitting his side with every step. When he reached them, he was panting and his face was red.

'Did you see it? I made it to second base!'

Porthos pulled off the boy's cap and ruffled his hair.

'We sure did. You were awesome!'

D'Artagnan smiled and looked at Athos expectantly. His eldest brother always had a compliment for him. The boy's face fell when the teenager didn't acknowledge him, too busy with texting. Porthos noticed and nudged his older brother. When Athos looked up and glared at him, Porthos nodded towards d'Artagnan.

'Oh, yeah, you did great, d'Art.'

Porthos frowned at the absent tone in Athos' voice. His thoughts were clearly somewhere else. Luckily, d'Artagnan hadn't noticed it and he beamed happily at his eldest brother.

As they got in the car and drove home, Athos thought about his girlfriend, Kim. She was a cheerleader and they had met during one of Porthos' football practices. The girl had expressed her problems with Algebra II and since Athos was very good at Math, he had offered to help her study for the next test. When she got a B for her next test, she asked him out and he happily accepted. Now, they had been going steady for two weeks and she was coming to his place on Saturday. He couldn't wait to introduce her to his family.

When they got home, d'Artagnan pulled on Athos' sleeve. The teenager smiled down at him.

'What is it, d'Art?'

'There's going to be a game next week, on Saturday. It's gonna be very important. Porthos said he will come. Will you be there too?'

'Of course I will. I promise I will be there.'

'Good. Don't forget about it.'

D'Artagnan happily skipped inside, excited to tell his dad and Aramis all about the upcoming game.

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Athos woke up to the smell of bacon. He got up and noticed that d'Artagnan's bed was empty. The boy was probably already downstairs, watching cartoons with Aramis. He smiled when he realized Kim would be coming over later that day. After a quick shower, he threw on some clothes and made his way downstairs. Treville smiled at him as he entered the kitchen.

'Morning, Athos. Today is the big day, huh?'

'Sure is, dad. Please tell me Porthos hasn't stolen all the bacon yet.'

'He tried to,' d'Artagnan piped up from the doorway. 'But I saved you some.'

The little boy held out a plate, which was filled with fried eggs and bacon. Athos accepted it and ruffled his brother's hair.

'Thanks pup. I don't know what I would do without you.'

Around 1 p.m. the doorbell rang. Treville had to open the door, since Athos was busy wrestling with his brothers. He smiled at the girl, who was standing in the doorway.

'Hi there. You must be Kim. My name is Jean Treville, I'm Athos' father.'

'Where is Athos?'

Treville frowned slightly. He had expected the girl to be a bit more polite. Nevertheless, he stepped aside and let her in. She immediately walked to the living room, leaving Treville to choke on the perfume he smelled when she passed him.

Athos was just holding a squirming d'Artagnan upside down, when he heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. He looked up and smiled when he saw Kim. Throwing d'Artagnan over his shoulder, he walked over and kissed his girlfriend.

'Hey, Kim. You look beautiful.'

'Thanks. I like this outfit but I think a Prada bag would have matched better than the Gucci. Can we go to your room?'

'Not yet. I want to introduce you to my brothers first.'

He turned around and pointed at Porthos who was holding Aramis in a headlock.

'The one failing to get out of a headlock is Aramis, he's my second youngest brother. He's twelve years old, so he's in 7th grade.'

Aramis stopped his struggling for a minute, in order to wave at the girl.

'The one holding Aramis in a headlock is Porthos, he's my eldest younger brother. He's 14 years old and a freshman. He goes to our school and plays in the freshman team.'

Porthos simply smiled at them, not willing to lose his grip on Aramis. D'Artagnan, who had been still during the introductions, started to squirm again. Athos chuckled and lifted d'Artagnan off his shoulder, holding him up in front of Kim.

'And this squirming little monkey is my youngest brother, d'Artagnan. He's 6 years old and started 1st grade this year. Say hello to Kim, d'Artagnan.'

'Hello, Kim,' d'Artagnan said with an endearing smile.

'Can we go to your room now?' Kim asked.

'Sure,' Athos said and put d'Artagnan on the ground.

When the couple had disappeared upstairs, Aramis broke free of Porthos' hold and made his way over to d'Artagnan, who was still staring after Athos and his girlfriend.

'Did I do something wrong?'

Aramis frowned.

'What makes you say that?'

'When I said hello, she looked at me the way dad looked at you when you started a fire in the kitchen. Did I make her angry?'

'Of course you didn't. I bet she was just jealous Athos has such a cute little brother as you. Don't worry about it. Do you want to play hide and seek? Porthos can be it.'

'Yay! Count to twenty?'

Porthos nodded, closed his eyes and started to count. As soon as d'Artagnan had left the room, he stopped and turned to Aramis.

'I don't like Athos' girlfriend very much. How about you?'

'I don't like her either. She didn't greet us and did you see her roll her eyes when Athos introduced the pup? How can you not smile when d'Art smiles at you?'

'It's impossible, unless you don't have a heart. I don't get what Athos sees in her. Anyways, let's continue this game, otherwise we'll have an angry pup to deal with.'

Aramis chuckled at that and left the room when Porthos started to count again.

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Kim sighed and threw her blonde hair over her shoulder. Athos had gone downstairs a few minutes ago to get them something to drink, leaving her by herself in his room. She really didn't like his room. It was boring and it wasn't even his own. No, he shared it with his youngest brother, whom he wouldn't shut up about. Sighing again, Kim grabbed her phone and started texting.

Suddenly, the door opened and Athos' youngest brother stormed inside. The boy clearly hadn't noticed her, since he closed the door behind him and sprinted to the closet.

'What are you doing here?' Kim snapped at him.

The boy stopped and turned around. When he saw her, he gave her a beaming smile and put a finger to his lips.

'I'm playing hide and seek. Porthos is it and he never looks in the closet. Don't tell him where I'm hiding, please.'

Kim glared at him and he recoiled slightly, his smile disappearing.

'Go hide somewhere else! It's annoying enough that Athos won't shut up about you, I don't need you bugging me. Get out!'

The boy clenched his fists and stared up at her stubbornly.

'No. It's my room, you can't tell me what to do. I can hide here if I want to.'

Kim stood up and stalked over. She grabbed the boy's wrist and dragged him to the door, pushing him into the hallway and throwing the door in his face. She sat down on the bed and a few minutes later Athos came back, two drinks in his hand.

'Hey, sorry it took so long. You said you didn't want water from the tap so I had to look for water bottles in the garage.'

She smiled at him.

'Thanks. Hey, I saw there's going to be a new movie playing in the cinema, next week. I thought we could go that Saturday.'

'Sure, sounds like fun. Do you want me to pick you up or do we meet at the cinema?'

'We can meet at the cinema. The movie plays at 3 p.m. so we could meet up around half past two.'

'It's a date.'

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It was quiet during dinner, which was very unusual. What really amazed Treville was that he always wished for some quiet time, but when it occurred, he didn't enjoy it at all. He decided to break the silence.

'So, Athos, your girlfriend is really something. Did you have a good time with her?'

Athos smiled at him.

'Sure did. I really like her. What did you think of her?'

Treville forced a smile. He didn't want to hurt his son's feelings by criticising his girlfriend, though he found the girl rather rude.

'She seems nice enough. I'm glad you like her so much.'

While Athos asked Aramis and Porthos about their opinion, d'Artagnan stared at his food. He thought Kim was really mean, but he didn't want to upset Athos. He hadn't told anyone what had happened during hide and seek and he wasn't going to. Athos seemed happy with his girlfriend and d'Artagnan didn't want to ruin things for his big brother.

For a while it was silent again, but then Athos remembered something.

'Dad, can I borrow the car next week? Kim and I are going to see a movie on Saturday.'

'Sure son. What time does the movie play?'

'At three o' clock.'

Porthos gasped. Surely, Athos couldn't be serious. He looked over at d'Artagnan and saw the boy's wide eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but d'Artagnan shook his head at him. Fine, he would talk to Athos after dinner.

When dinner ended, Porthos cornered his older brother in the living room.

'You're not serious, are you?'

Athos frowned at him.

'What do you mean?'

'That date! You can't go next Saturday.'

'And why not?'

'Because that's the day of d'Artagnan's baseball game! His game starts at two o' clock!'

'So, I'll go to his next one. What's the problem?'

Porthos gaped at him in anger. How could Athos be so stupid?

'You promised him you would come to this one! You can't go back on your word!'

'Look, I'm sure d'Artagnan won't mind! He's just a kid, he probably already forgot that I promised. Besides, it's not always about him! I really like Kim and I want to go on this date with her. I always do everything for d'Artagnan and it's really annoying! I just want to do something for myself for once!'

Neither of the fighting teenagers noticed d'Artagnan in the doorway. Aramis, who was standing behind d'Artagnan, did. He watched as his little brother held back a sob and ran upstairs. The hurt in the little boy's eyes nearly floored Aramis and anger boiled up inside him. He stormed into the living room, to his fighting brothers.

'How could you possibly say that?!'

Athos and Porthos turned their heads towards Aramis, who was vibrating with anger.

'It's his first game and it matters to him. He needs us to be there, all of us! You can't abandon your brother like that!'

'Shut up!'

At the same time that he shouted that, Athos shoved Aramis. Before he realised what he did, Porthos pounced on him, as did Aramis. For the first time, they fought to actually hurt the other.

Suddenly, they were pulled apart and facing a very angry Treville. Athos and Porthos were both starting to sport bruises, while Aramis sported a split lip.

'Explain, now.'

'Athos shoved Aramis and then I hit him.'

'Athos, why did you shove Aramis?'

'Because I told him to shut up.'

'Aramis, why did Athos tell you to shut up?'

'Because I told him he can't abandon a brother.'

Treville sighed. He understood where Porthos and Aramis were coming from, since he didn't agree with Athos' decision either. But he knew that forcing Athos to go to the game wouldn't work. It would be better if the boy would realise for himself what the consequences of his actions were.

'Alright, I want you three to apologize to each other. And I mean now.'

The boys reluctantly apologized to each other. Treville took Aramis to the bathroom to tend to his split lip. Porthos stormed to his room, while Athos stayed in the living room and turned on the television.

Later that evening, Athos entered his room to go to bed. D'Artagnan was sitting in bed, staring at him expectantly. Athos ignored him, got ready for bed and turned off the light. Just when he had closed his eyes, he felt a small hand pulling on his arm.

'Will you please read a poem to me, 'Thos? I want to hear the Poison Tree again.'

Athos pushed his brother away.

'Leave me alone, I want to sleep.'

D'Artagnan was crestfallen. Silently, he went to Porthos' and Aramis' room, hoping to find some comfort there. He was disappointed again when it turned out both of them were asleep already. D'Artagnan didn't dare to wake them, afraid they would be angry with him too. He slipped into the hallway and looked around. There was still light coming from his daddy's room. Maybe he could sleep with daddy tonight?

Treville looked up when he heard a soft knock on his door. He opened the door and wasn't surprised to see d'Artagnan standing on the other side.

'Hey buddy, what's the matter?'

'Can I sleep with you tonight, daddy? Athos is angry with me and Porthos and Aramis were already asleep and I didn't want them to be angry with me too.'

Treville smiled comfortingly at his youngest and lifted the boy in his arms.

'Of course you can.'

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Athos sighed as he drove to the cinema. This whole week had been horrible. He, Porthos and Aramis had been ignoring each other since last Saturday, while d'Artagnan had been avoiding all three of them. He couldn't wait to just be with Kim for a while.

When he had arrived, he didn't see Kim anywhere. He shrugged, he was a bit early after all. Oh well, it gave him the time to buy the tickets. While he did so, his mind kept bothering him with images of d'Artagnan's disappointed face when Athos announced he wasn't coming to the game.

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Porthos and Aramis were scowling as they joined their dad on the stands. They were still angry with Athos and worried about d'Artagnan. The kid's mind wasn't with the game at all, it was with the brother who had broken his promise.

The game started. When it was d'Artagnan's turn, the crowd got excited. D'Artagnan's teammates were covering first, second and third base, so if d'Artagnan made a good hit, they could score a point.

D'Artagnan walked up to the home plate. Before he took his place, he searched the crowd, in hope of seeing Athos. When he didn't see his oldest brother, he bit his lip and took his place, getting ready to hit the ball.

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Athos checked his watch again. This was becoming annoying. It was almost three o' clock and Kim was still nowhere in sight. They were going to miss the movie if she didn't show up soon. After a few more minutes, Athos decided to go looking for Kim. Maybe she was waiting for him in the parking lot.

When he got outside, his eyes widened in surprise. There was Kim, kissing another boy. At first, Athos felt hurt, but then anger took over. He stalked towards the couple angrily. Kim turned around just as he reached her.

'Athos,' she said.

'What the hell are you doing?! Why are you kissing him?!'

She smiled mockingly.

'Because he's my boyfriend. You didn't think I'd actually wanted to date you, did you? I just needed your math skills, so I could stay on the cheerleading squad. But since my grades are good enough now, I don't need you anymore. So, it's over. Can you give me the movie tickets now?'

Athos felt really hurt by her speech. He had really liked her and now it turned out she had just been using him. But when her demand for the tickets registered, he got angry.

'No,' he snarled. 'I paid for those tickets, I won't give them to you. Your boyfriend can buy your tickets.'

With that, he stalked to his car and drove off. As he was driving, he began to wonder what he had actually seen in that girl. She was horrible, only concerned with herself and incredibly shallow. She wore too much make-up and so much perfume that you chocked on it.

Suddenly, he realised what he had done. He had broken his promise to d'Artagnan, to go on a date with an awful girl.

'Oh god. I'm a horrible brother.'

He checked his watch. If he drove fast enough, he could be there for the last 30 minutes of the game.

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D'Artagnan tried his hardest not to cry. His teammates hated him, as did the crowd. So far, he had missed every single ball, as a batter and as a fielder. Soon, it was his turn as batter again. He wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand but it didn't help. Everyone was glaring at him.

'Your turn, d'Artagnan!' The coach called.

As d'Artagnan walked up to the home plate, he could hear the crowd and his teammates groan. His coach jogged towards him and crouched down in front of him.

'Okay, d'Artagnan, this is a very important ball. We have boys on the first, second and third base. If you make a good hit, we can win this. You have to focus. Can you do that?'

'I'll try, coach.'

The coach nodded, but d'Artagnan could see that the man didn't believe him. Filled with nerves, the boy reached the home plate and got ready to hit.

The first ball came and he missed. Everyone around him groaned. The pitcher threw the second ball. D'Artagnan swung but he missed again. His teammates started to yell at him. D'Artagnan bit his lip. He knew everything depended on the third ball. If he missed that one, they would lose the games.

The pitcher got ready to throw the final ball. D'Artagnan could feel the glares from his teammates and the crowd. He could feel the sympathetic looks from his family. Then, he suddenly heard a voice shout:

'You can do it, d'Art! I believe in you!'

D'Artagnan's eyes widened. He knew that voice. It was Athos! His brother came! A grin spread on his face and he gripped the bat tighter. As the pitcher threw the final ball, d'Artagnan took a deep breath. Everything slowed down as the ball came closer. Then, with an almighty swing, he hit the ball so hard it flew out of the field. He dropped the bat and started running as fast as he could. He hit first base, second base, third base and finally, home base. He hit a home run!

Cheering exploded from the stands as he reached home base. His teammates came running up to him and hugged him. The coach congratulated and praised him. D'Artagnan smiled shyly.

'D'Artagnan!'

The boy turned around and saw Porthos and Aramis running towards him. They hugged him and lifted him in the air.

'That was awesome!' Aramis shouted.

'You hit a home run, pup! You're the best!'

Athos hung back as he watched his younger brothers. He didn't have the right to hug d'Artagnan. He had let his little brother down. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his father smiling at him.

'Why aren't you congratulating your brother?'

'How can I? I broke my promise to him, I let him down. And for what? Some stupid shallow girl who was using me. D'Artagnan has the right to hate me for all eternity. I'm a horrible brother.'

'But you came, didn't you?'

'Yes, but way too late. I should have been here the whole game. I'm so sorry, dad. I shouldn't have broken my promise.'

'I'm not angry with you, Athos. You learned that there are consequences to your actions, which is enough for me. As long as you learn your lesson, I'm not angry. But it's not me you should be apologizing to.'

Athos nodded and slowly made his way over to his brothers. He knew that Porthos and Aramis were still angry with him, but he had no idea what to expect from d'Artagnan. The kid would have every right to be angry. Finally, he reached his brothers.

Porthos was the first to notice him.

'Look who showed up. What, did the movie end early?'

Athos sighed and hung his head in shame.

'No, I didn't go to the movie. I found out Kim was just using me to get a good grade in math, so she could stay on the cheerleading squad.'

'And then your family was suddenly good enough again? If you hadn't found out, you wouldn't have come at all, would you?'

Athos shook his head, burning with guilt. God, he had really failed his brothers. When he looked up, Aramis was standing next to Porthos. The glare he received from the twelve-year old was the angriest one he had ever seen.

'Do you have any idea how hard this was for d'Artagnan? You promised him you would be here and then you go and break that promise, breaking his heart in the process. He has not only been avoiding you this whole week, but me and Porthos as well. And during the game, he missed every single ball because he was distracted with you not being here! Everyone was yelling and glaring at him, I even saw one of his teammates push him!

'Do you have any idea what would have happened if he hadn't hit that final ball? His team would have blamed him for the loss and he would have been bullied for weeks! And all of that would have been your fault! But that's not even the worst!'

Athos and Porthos stared at him in surprise. What could possibly have been worse than that?

'No, the worst is that he would have forgiven you! He wouldn't hate you, wouldn't even have blamed you. He would've kept quiet so you could be happy with that awful girlfriend of yours! You don't deserve his forgiveness!'

Aramis' words hurt so bad that Athos couldn't breathe for a moment. In that moment, he truly realised how bad he had messed up. His cheeks burned with shame.

'I'm so, so sorry. I should have listened to you. I should never have hit you. Can you ever forgive me?'

Before either could answer, d'Artagnan poked his head out from behind Porthos' legs.

'Athos?' he asked in a small voice.

Athos swallowed and looked at his little brother. For the first time, he saw the hurt in the boy's eyes. The hurt he had caused. Unable to look at those eyes, he looked down. He inhaled sharply when he saw an angry dark bruise on d'Artagnan's wrist.

'Where did you get that bruise, d'Art?'

D'Artagnan looked at his wrist and fingered the bruise.

'Kim gave me that when she threw me out of my room during hide and seek.'

Athos didn't have to look at Porthos and Aramis to know that they were even more angry with him. He sighed and looked at d'Artagnan's eyes again.

'D'Artagnan, I'm so sorry. I-I should have never broken my promise. I will do anything to make it up to you. I will read the Poison Tree to you five times every night, if you want me to.'

D'Artagnan frowned at him.

'Why? I know you don't like to do things for me, so why would I want you too? It's not always about me, you want to do things for you.'

Athos' heart broke when he heard d'Artagnan repeat the words he had said in anger. One look at those brown eyes told him exactly how much those words had hurt his brother. D'Artagnan didn't have to say anything else for Athos to know the boy had thought himself a burden to his brothers after hearing those words.

Athos knelt down in front of d'Artagnan, tears burning his eyes.

'D'Artagnan, listen to me. I never meant any of those things. I wasn't thinking when I said that, I was just frustrated. I know those words made you think you're a burden, which was probably the reason you avoided all of us. But you could never, ever, be a burden to any of us. You're our little brother, the boy who is way too forgiving. I should have said no to Kim, should have come to your game. I know I don't have the right to ask this from you, but could you ever forgive me for what I did?'

For a long time, d'Artagnan didn't say anything. He looked at Porthos and Aramis, who seemed to lose their anger towards Athos, now that he was literally on his knees begging for forgiveness. Aramis whispered something to Porthos, who nodded and stepped forward.

'Athos, we really hate what you did. You broke your promise, you shoved Aramis and you made d'Art think he's a burden to us.'

Athos winced. They were never going to forgive him, he didn't deserve it. His brothers were going to hate him forever. Tears slowly started to stream down his face.

'But,' Porthos continued. 'In the end, you did show up. You gave the pup the encouragement he needed to hit that home run. And we know you're really sorry, seeing as you are begging on your knees. So, if the pup forgives you, we forgive you too.'

They all turned to d'Artagnan, who had been looking at Porthos. When Porthos finished his little speech, the six-year old looked at Athos. He took in the tears, the hanging head and the shame radiating off his oldest brother. Tears started to pool in his brown eyes. Suddenly, he jumped forward and hugged Athos fiercely.

'Promise you'll never forget it again and I'll forgive you.'

Athos was so shocked that it took him a moment to react. But once he got over the surprise, he hugged his little brother back.

'I promise. Your games will always be more important than a date with some girl.'

'Then we forgive you too.' Aramis said.

Porthos and Aramis then joined the hug. Athos thanked the lord above for having such forgiving little brothers. He then swore to himself that he would never break a promise to his brothers again.

A/N My apologies if the things I said about baseball aren't correct. I know very little of the game, most of my information comes from the internet. If I made any mistakes with the rules or something, please let me know.