Is Gordon finally going to get the help he needs?
Being the youngest brother of five, Alan was used to being treated with kid gloves. Of brothers tiptoeing around him and keeping secrets. It was annoying, and sometimes quite frustrating, to not be included or able to help his family with their problems.
Because despite what his brothers might have thought, Alan always worked out what they were hiding from him eventually.
Which was how he knew that there was definitely something up with Gordon.
It started when he began to see less and less of his immediate older brother. Always busy after school and at the weekend. Usually he and Gordon hung out together. Sure, there were often times that they were with their own friends or just wanted to be alone, but it was rare that Alan barely saw his brother at all.
He just grew more suspicious when he left school and found Gordon's group of friends leaving as well, without his brother. The same brother who said he would be hanging out with them. Gordon very well could have been telling the truth and he did mean his swim friends, who Alan didn't remember seeing that day, but it was still another concern that was added to the quickly growing pile.
When his brother fell asleep on the way home from school, Alan knew that there was something his brother wasn't telling him.
It wasn't like Gordon to be that tired. His brother was known for his endless amount of energy. Even if he had gone a whole night without sleep, he still appeared to be wide awake the next day. This must have been the result of something else. Several sleepless nights or overworking or something else that was bad. Alan just didn't know what.
So he had to find out. Gordon would continue to lie to him and skirt his questions, but he would have a hard time getting past Scott or Virgil. If Alan could confirm his suspicions, then he would have something to take to his older brothers. They wouldn't let it slide if they also knew something was wrong with Gordon.
On the way to school the morning after Gordon's impromptu nap on the bus, his older brother mentioned hanging out with some friends after school again. Alan accepted it with a nod and a smile, not letting Gordon onto the fact that he knew it was a lie.
Once they were at the school and they departed ways, Alan sent a text to Scott to tell him he was going to be staying a bit late to study with some friends for an upcoming test.
Alan didn't want to also lie to his brother, but he didn't want to concern Scott until he was sure that something was up with Gordon.
He was pretty sure he could remember Gordon's timetable for the day, which meant he knew what his brother's last class would be. When the bell rang at the end of the day, Alan made sure that he was the first one out of his classroom. Gordon's class was on the other side of the school, so he had to be quick to find his brother before he left.
That was if Gordon was even in his class. Alan still had no idea what was going on with his brother, so at this point it wasn't far-fetched to think Gordon was skipping his classes as well.
Although, that didn't seem to be the case, as Alan eventually spotted him amongst the swarm of students that were milling down the corridor, heading away from Gordon's classroom.
Alan ducked around a corner before his brother could see him. He watched as Gordon's classmates headed towards the exit of the school, and he fully expected his brother to do the same. So he was surprised to see Gordon turn and head further into the school.
Alan watched him go curiously, but quickly followed before he could lose sight of his brother. Hidden behind lockers and other students they passed along the hallway, Alan followed Gordon to wherever he was going without being seen.
It didn't take long for Alan to realise where it was that Gordon was going. The school's swimming pool.
The act of Gordon going swimming after school was far from peculiar. Most of the time, it was hard to get Gordon away from the water for five minutes before he wanted to head back. What was odd, was that he had felt the need to lie about this. Why did he not just tell them he wanted to go swimming?
Whatever the reason was, Alan was going to find out right now.
When Gordon disappeared behind the doors that led to the pool, Alan quickly followed a moment later. He waited until Gordon was out of sight in the locker room before he darted into the pool room and hid behind the stands. He could still see through the benches, but hopefully he was out of view so he wouldn't be caught.
He was only waiting for a few minutes before Gordon reappeared. He didn't seem to notice Alan, as he went straight over to the pool.
Gordon tossed his towel to the side and put his goggles over his eyes. He fiddled with something in his hand that Alan couldn't quite see at first, but then he recognised it as a stopwatch. Gordon placed it by the edge of the pool and dove into the water in the same second.
As Gordon started to swim, Alan carefully watched as his brother seemingly got faster and pushed himself harder with each lap. Alan witnessed it with a frown. He knew from what Gordon had told him that when swimming, pacing yourself was important. You couldn't waste all your energy on the first few laps or you would have nothing to go on.
But it seemed that Gordon wasn't heeding his own advice, and he just swam as fast as he could for several laps until eventually his head burst out of the water several minutes later.
He quickly reached for the stopwatch and pressed a button. Barely a second passed as he looked at the screen, before he threw the stopwatch down so violently that Alan tried not to flinch in his hiding place.
Gordon panted heavily as he rested his arms on the edge of the pool and placed his head on them. Alan could see his shoulders heaving as he breathed quickly, an indication of just how hard he had been working.
Alan's concerns were confirmed, and now he finally had proof to go with them. He had suspected Gordon had been up to something, but he hadn't thought it was anything like this. It made sense why Gordon was so tired these days, and why he was barely around.
Why Gordon felt the need to push himself so hard, Alan couldn't guess that either. His brother was already an amazing swimmer, the best he knew. He didn't need to do this.
Not only that, for some reason Gordon had felt the need to lie to them about this. He lied about where he was going today, and Alan had no doubt that all the other times Gordon had said he was out with his friends, he was really here at the pool. It was no secret, Gordon's love of swimming, so none of them would have batted an eye if he said he wanted to get some extra pool time in.
There was definitely something bigger at play here. Alan was sure of it, although he still didn't know what. He had his proof, though, and so now he just needed to recruit the aid of his big brothers to get to the real bottom of this.
He stuck around for several more minutes as Gordon dove back beneath the water and did the same thing again and again. He set the stopwatch, and then each time he would go even faster as he tried to beat some ridiculous time. It seemed that he never did as well as he wanted, as he appeared to grow more frustrated each time he checked the stopwatch. He was clearly exhausted, as each break he took got increasingly longer, but he still kept on going.
Alan had seen all he needed to. When Gordon was busy pushing himself down the lane of the pool, he snuck back outside.
After he had made it back home, he immediately sought out his eldest brother. He found Scott in the kitchen, but he was already with their remaining brothers.
"Um, Scott?" Alan sheepishly said as he tried to get the brother in question's attention, and had to interrupt his conversation with John and Virgil in doing so.
All three brothers turned to look at him once they realised he was in the doorway, and Alan felt a little self-conscious at the attention. Scott smiled as he caught his attention.
"Can I talk to you about something?" Alan continued once his brother was listening.
"Yeah, sure." Scott was still smiling at him, but he didn't move from where he was leant against the counter.
Alan looked apprehensively at his other two brothers, as he had kind of expected to have this conversation alone. As much as he loved John and Virgil, this wasn't the kind of thing he wanted to share with his brothers all at once. Thankfully, Scott seemed to sense his hesitation and soon caught on to what he was thinking.
"Let's go to my room."
Scott led the way up stairs, and shut the door behind them when they entered the blue coloured bedroom.
"What did you want to talk about?" Scott asked as he sat on the edge of his bed. He left space for Alan to sit next to him, but Alan found himself still standing.
"It's about Gordon," Alan cut right to it as he didn't know how else to start.
Scott's reaction was pretty instantaneous, as his face softened in understanding and he nodded slightly.
"Yeah, I've noticed something is up with him too. He's barely around and even when he is here, I don't get the chance to speak to him to find out what's going on. It's like he's avoiding us, I just don't know why." Scott stared at the floor as he spoke, seeming a mix of thoughtful and concerned.
Alan nodded in agreement, glad that he hadn't been the only one that had noticed, and relaxed just slightly in relief.
"Something is most definitely up," he confirmed. "I noticed it too, how quiet and closed off he's gotten, and I'm sure he hasn't been eating or sleeping properly. He's been lying as well."
"Lying? About what?" Scott sat up and looked right at him, his brow creasing.
"When he says that he's out with friends after school," Alan explained. "I suspected he was lying because the other day I saw his friends leaving school, without him, but when I asked Gordon about it, he just came up with some excuse. I would have just dropped it, if it wasn't for the fact that he fell asleep on the way home yesterday." At that, Scott looked alarmed, but he allowed Alan to continue without jumping in with questions yet. "That was when I knew something was up with him. So today, when Gordon said he was going to be with his friends again, I decided to follow him without him realising. And I was right, he did lie."
Scott watched him expectantly, waiting for Alan to continue.
"He hasn't been hanging out with friends," Alan eventually explained. "He's been going to the pool."
"The pool?" Scott raised an eyebrow in confusion, the worry ebbing slightly in his voice. "Alan, this is Gordon we're talking about. The pool isn't that out of the ordinary."
"No! You don't understand!" His voice unintentionally rose higher as he felt Scott's concern start to slip. His brother needed to see how dire this was so he could do something about it. "You didn't see him how I saw him. You weren't there. I've never seen him push himself so hard." Images of Gordon growing more and more frustrated at himself as he finished each lap flashed before his eyes.
"Push himself? Alan, what are you talking about?" Scott eventually got up from the bed to stand in front of Alan. His hands rested reassuringly on Alan's shoulders before Alan had even realised worry-fuelled tears were beginning to form in his eyes. "Alan, what was Gordon doing?"
Alan took a deep breath to calm his growing panic, before he spoke again.
"I watched as he worked himself harder than I have ever seen him. He was timing himself. I don't know what for, but he didn't seem happy that he wasn't meeting whatever goal he had set. He would get angry, and then push himself even faster, if that was possible."
"That doesn't sound like Gordon at all." Scott frowned as he took the information in. "He knows that pushing himself will just lead to burning out. But what makes the least sense is that he felt the need to lie about this. Why didn't he just tell us he wanted to do more swim training?"
"Not only that," Alan decided to add another concerning factor. "I'm pretty sure he lied about swim practice being cancelled. I could be wrong, because on Friday I did see his team leaving school early as well, but I think I'm right. So why is he spending all his time at the pool, but during the times he should be there, he's avoiding it?"
It was a question neither of them could answer, yet, but hopefully they could soon.
"As soon as I can, I will talk to Gordon and get to the bottom of this. Thank you for coming to me, Alan. Your information will surely aid us in helping Gordon." His hands were still on Alan's shoulders, and he gave them a squeeze before he dropped his arms back to his sides. "But whilst we wait for our wayward brother to return, shall we go and see what Virgil and John have gotten up to in our absence? I think they're starting dinner."
Alan nodded and as Scott's hands left his shoulders, so did the tension he had been carrying. This wasn't all up to him anymore. He had Scott to help him now, he didn't have to do this alone. Gordon would finally get the help he needs, and he would no longer be able to hide this from them.
"Hey, Scott?" Alan caught his brother's attention as he suddenly thought of something.
"Yeah, Al?" Scott stopped where he had stepped past Alan and was about to open the door.
"Are you going to tell them about this? John and Virgil, I mean."
Scott seemed to think about that for a moment, before he replied. "I will, but I don't think I should right now. Gordon doesn't need all of us badgering him at once, otherwise he may just grow even more withdrawn. I'll wait until I hopefully get some answers out of him."
Alan nodded, pleased with the answer. He didn't want this hidden from anyone else anymore, but he did understand Scott's reasoning in waiting. It was better for Gordon to be able to explain himself before the rest of the family found out.
That evening, Alan waited for when Scott would find time to approach Gordon. However, it was as if Gordon somehow knew they were trying to get him alone, as he did a perfect job at trying to avoid them.
He didn't get back until dinner was almost done, so Scott didn't get a chance to speak to him before they were all sitting around the table. Neither he nor Alan wanted to bring up the issue in front of the whole family, so instead Alan just watched Gordon as he pushed his food around his plate and barely ate any of it.
He seemed tired, sitting with his head in one hand and staring down at his plate. There were bags under his eyes and he looked thinner than before. He didn't speak to any of them unless they spoke to him first, and his answers were short. Scott asked him about his time with his friends that afternoon, possibly trying to catch him out, but Gordon was prepared and with practiced ease he told them who he was with and what they had done with their few hours together. If Alan didn't know better, he possibly would have believed him.
After dinner, Gordon disappeared to somewhere else in the house. Alan knew that Scott tried to look for him, but whenever he did find him, he was conveniently never on his own. He would be in the living room with the rest of the family, or helping their Grandma with something.
Alan knew his brother and how Scott would prefer to find a moment when Gordon was alone and willing to open up. Gordon wouldn't do so if he felt pressured, so it was just about finding a time to have the much needed chat.
Unfortunately, the evening passed with no such time occurring, and without them noticing, Gordon slipped off to bed early. Scott sighed in defeat upon realising, knowing that the opportunity was gone for now. Hopefully he could get through to Gordon soon.