Disclaimer: Not mine -Yet!

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NOTES:

* Thank you for reading and reviewing, hope you enjoy this next part.

* This next section of stories are titled 'FALL OUT' and continue straight after 'A BROKEN HEART' (Previously titled: Jealousy)

* If there are any areas of the boys lives you would like to see covered in this fic then let me know

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UPDATED - For Spelling/Grammar issues.

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Chapter 25: Fallout, part 3: Ally.

Slipping into the sun lounger closest to John and Darcy, Scott grumpily huffed to himself. After discovering Virgil with an obvious tear stained face, he had not been given an opportunity to discover what was bothering him, and had instead been ordered by his grandma to return to the pool and enjoy himself… But how could he enjoy the warmth the early evening had to offer and the barbeque meal his father was preparing when his brother was so sad. Then there was his other younger brother to add to his list of worries, Gordon was obviously bothered by something, but he had denied it, and was now deliberately avoiding eye contact with him. 'No,' Scott inwardly mumbled, 'he wouldn't have this… None of his brothers would suffer on his watch, and he would get to the bottom of this!'

"Geez Scott, what's with the frown?"

"Ah?" Scott remarked, slipping out of the thoughts he had been in and glancing towards John.

"You're not still fretting over Gordon, are you?" John queried removing his arm from around Darcy, and sitting himself up.

"He's one of my many worries," Scott admitted with a deep sigh.

"Why," John asked, moving from his own sun lounger and budging Scott over so he could share his, "what else is bothering you?"

"Nothing I can't handle," Scott smiled at John's stern look, "I promise I'll divulge more when I can."

"Okay," John flashed a look towards Gordon and then focussed back on Scott, "as for Gords, yes he's been a bit twitchy this afternoon…"

"So, you also think something is up?"

"Maybe, but you know as well as I do, all of our little brothers have to be handled differently… And," John added with a look towards Gordon who currently had Penelope lovingly bundled in his arms, and was thankfully not paying any attention to them, "our little fish is no exception."

"Yes, I know… If we push him to open up he'll close himself off."

"Absolutely, it's best to leave him alone until he's ready to talk… But nine times out of ten he'll come and seek one of us out, usually Virg!"

Scott exhaled slowly, his frown slightly deepening. "What if Virgil has his own issues?"

"Why, what's wrong with Virgil?"

"Nothing," Scott unconvincingly answered.

"Really?" John queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine," Scott huffed, "there is something."

"So, he was your other worry then?"

"Yeah," Scott nodded, "but I'm more concerned because he hasn't done his usual thing and spoken to me"

"Damn," John exhaled, "that means if something is wrong, then he's bottling it up and trying to deal with it himself."

"Oh, there's definitely something wrong," Scott said leaning closer to John and speaking in a quieter tone, "I just found him in his room, he had been chatting to grandma."

"If he's talking then that's a good sign."

"But," Scott unhappily added, "he had obviously been crying."

John's face paled. "Shit!"

"Yes, I know."

"Well, whatever it is, I'll help you get him to open up to us both."

"You will?"

"Of course."

"I thought you might say the same thing you did with Gords, let him come to us and not force it."

"Nope, tears are a gamechanger, and I would have said the same if you'd spotted Gordon crying."

"So, I've got you as an ally?"

"Absolutely!"

"Thanks," Scott replied, placing a hand on his brothers back.

"No problem," John returned with a look towards Darcy who was now glancing towards him with a very seductive smile, "anyway, looks like I'm needed… But we'll discuss tactics later, okay?"

"Yes, okay," Scott replied, followed by a loud "YUCK," when his brother moved back on to the sun lounger he had been sharing with his girlfriend and began fervently kissing her, "will you two cut that out!"

Overhearing this, Gordon removed his attention from the door he had been religiously watching and grinned at his eldest brother. "Are you getting grossed out again Scott? Because me and Pen can make it ten times worse."

"Geez guys," Scott exclaimed when Gordon rolled on top of Penelope and also began passionately kissing her, "get a room!"

"Okay, that's enough," their father called out while chuckling under his breath at his son's antics, "foods up… Ah, mother, Virgil there you are!"

Freezing in mid kiss, Gordon gazed towards the door. His grandma was stood in the doorway, a hand placed protectively on Virgil's shoulder. His brother was currently trying his hardest to look unbothered by the situation, but the expression in his eyes gave away the pain he was obviously in.

… …

A few hours later:

Finishing of his burger, Virgil gazed unhappily at Gordon. Ever since his presence had been known his brother had stopped being overly affectionate around Penelope. Yes, they had been sitting next to each other, but the hand holding, the loving arms he had openly placed around her, and the kissing had all ceased… And from observing Penelope's reaction to this he could see that she already knew something was wrong. If Gordon kept this up, then he could definitely see this affecting their relationship. He would have to tell her, or agree to Gordon filling her in. Plus, even though he knew it would hurt, he had to make Gordon and Penelope agree not to downplay their relationship when he was nearby, it just wasn't fair to them. Removing his attention from his younger brother, Virgil's eyes fell towards his eldest. Thankfully, for reasons unknown, Scott had not sought him out after catching him with a tear-stained face earlier, and was instead in a deep conversation with John. Which was good, as he didn't feel that he quite had the energy to deal with the smothering that he knew would come... 'Oh no," he inwardly sighed, noting Scott finishing his talk and begin looking determinedly in is direction with… 'Crap,' when he noticed John was also sharing the same expression as Scott... That meant Scott had shared this with John and they were banding together… He didn't stand a chance… Especially as Scott was now making a beeline straight for him… Thankfully, an ally had his back and was now blocking his brother's route.

"Could you please pass me one of those napkins behind you?"

"Grandma, I know what you are doing!"

"I really don't know what you are talking about dear," Sally replied, gesturing to the table, "napkins please."

Sighing, Scott turned and picked up a few napkins. "Here you are grandma."

"Thank you," she returned, accepting the napkins when he faced her again.

"May I get past please," he asked when she was still blocking his way.

"Yes," she responded with a somewhat sly smile as she stepped to the side, "you may."

"Thank you," he said striding towards where Virgil had been only to stop short when he realised his brother was no longer there.

"He's over by dad," John informed him as he came to join his brother, "would have stopped him, but I think he's figured out I know something is up, so he snuck around the other way.

"He's really trying to get out of talking to us, isn't he?"

"Yeah," John sighed, "but he should know the rules by now… Tears equals opening up, no matter how difficult it may be!"

"Absolutely," Scott replied, observing his grandma was once again prepared to block their path, "it's going to be difficult to get to him."

"Not if you distract grandma, and I sneak past."

"Great idea," Scott grinned, turning to make his way towards Virgil.

John smiled when as predicted their grandma stopped Scott's progress, happy that she was distracted, John slipped past them both and made his way towards his brother… He had him, he was firmly in his sights, and even though he could see Virgil trying to find a way to escape he knew he couldn't until… Both Alan and Tin-Tin stepped out of nowhere and blocked his way with a loud cough which gained everybody's attention.

"So, we have an announcement," Tin-Tin explained with a nervous glance towards her father and Jeff.

Alan gripped her hand. "Myself and Tin-Tin discovered something earlier today… We would have ideally liked to let you know at a later date, but Gordon kind of knows so we figured we'd tell everyone before he did.

"Hey," Gordon protested, "I can so keep a secret."

"He really can," Virgil acknowledged with a half-smile towards his brother.

"so, what's this news then?" Jeff questioned standing up, a slight look of worry on his face.

Alan grinned at his father. "Nothing to fret about, we think it's good, and we are both hoping that you do too."

"Well, what is it then?" Scott anxiously asked.

Alan removed his hand from Tin-Tin's and placed it lovingly around her waist. His other hand automatically going to her stomach while she beamed at the group staring back at them. "I'm pregnant!"

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TBC