Characters: Scott, Alan, John, Virgil, Gordon

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Blood, Accidental Impaling, Burns.

The next time that Scott experienced the improper use of a fork it was at Alan's hands. And for once all his brothers were present.

It was the last weekend before Scott was leaving for university, and the five of them had gone camping. For once the weather was good, and the lake which they were camping beside was crystal clear and icy cold.

Friday was gorgeous and they spent the afternoon setting up camp and exploring the woodland. Scott and Virgil set about making a fire up. That first night they sat around the fire toasting s'mores and drinking hot chocolate made over the fire.

Saturday found the five split between two row boats on the lake. Gordon and Alan were messing about and somehow they had persuaded Virgil to join them. Scott and John, in the other boat, watched in amusement while Scott lazed with a stick that had a string dangling in the water, a completely fake attempt at fishing.

No one was surprised when – somehow – Gordon's boat overturned and there were three very cold brothers huddled around the fire, which Scott had built up to burn ferociously. Virgil had been a little grumpy, but it didn't last after Scott brought out dry clothes for them. He chuckled at their faces, as if he didn't know that Gordon would persuade Alan and Virgil to get into the boat and then capsize them.

They made the oft-repeated mistake of allowing Gordon to tell ghost stories that night to hot dogs and campfire brownies. And Scott and John found themselves on either side of a 'not terrified' Alan later that night.

Sunday, their last full day, had been designated as a hiking day. After all, it was one of Scott's favourite past times, and it would be a few months before they would be able to get together again as a family. Through the wood and behind the lake the land rose into a steep hill, with a bluff overlooking the water.

The march up took a couple of hours, but the view from the bluff was amazing. They could see for miles, and there was plenty of space on the flat plateau for them all to spread out. No one was surprised when Virgil pulled out a pad and pencils, just like no one was shocked when Gordon sat on the very edge, legs dangling. John and Alan lay on their backs cloud spotting, and Scott just drank in the view of his brothers relaxing.

They stayed on the bluff until the light began to fade and the sky was painted with pinks, making their way down the well-used path with the torches they had remembered to pack and arriving back at the camp in the twilight.

John and Virgil got the fire going and it was Gordon's turn to rustle up some food. He duly threw some potatoes and corn wrapped in foil into the embers and when they were nearly ready they heated up the last of the hot dogs. Baked potatoes, corn on the cob and hotdogs, liberally smothered in butter and salt, made a satisfying last meal, and Gordon handed round the toasting forks for one last s'mores feast.

They were all tired but happy. As Gordon handed around the toasting forks – or as he called them 'food pitchforks' – and the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate squares, the chat was mainly reminiscing over the camping holidays they had all had before, everyone trying hard to not to mention the reason why they were having this trip together.

With the eldest three finished eating their s'mores consumed, Scott, John and Virgil sat back chatting and watching Gordon and Alan competing to see who could eat the most. The amount that the two youngest could consume wasn't too surprising to the eldest, but they all cheered when Alan stuffed the last s'more into his mouth, grinning a chocolate-marshmallow smile, and watched with indulgence as he pranced about the fire waving his arms around in victory, fork still in his hand being waved around like a wand.

No one was quite sure exactly how it happened, but it appeared that Alan tripped over John's foot, falling forward and landing between Scott and Virgil.

Scott's scream was sudden and shocking.

As Alan pushed himself up from the floor he realised that he had been holding the toasting fork while he was jumping around like an idiot. Said fork was now embedded in Scott's left hand, the long hot tines running straight through and pinning it to the floor.

The brothers sprang into action. Gordon pulling Alan out of the way so John and Virgil could help Scott. The tines were only just long enough to pin him, and Virgil eased his hand off the ground.

The fact that the tines were hot was both a blessing and a curse. John held Scott's hand out firmly while Virgil dumped all their bottled water over it in an effort to prevent too much damage. Gordon called an ambulance and then their dad.

Seeing Scott sitting there with the two-pronged fork sticking out of his hand caused Alan's fragile hold on his emotions to break, and it took John and Gordon to comfort him while they waited for the ambulance and Virgil held Scott's hand safely, wrapping a torn shirt around it.

The bus didn't take long to arrive and whisk Scott and Virgil off, and Jeff turned up not long after to collect the rest of his boys and take them to the hospital. By the time they arrived the fork had been removed from Scott's hand and it was tightly bandaged.

No lasting damage was done. Alan had by some miracle managed to miss skewering anything important, and the holes had been stitched and the burn seen to. There were instructions on changing the bandage and instructions for some physio to ensure no lasting effects of having his hand immobile for the short while it would take to heal.

Later that night Jeff mentioned to his mom that Scott might be grateful to get away from his brothers for a while. Three brothers now had injured him using very different forks, maybe Scott needed the break before Virgil completed the set…