If I Fall
Author: Bre the Cheez
Rating: PG
Summary: Darien remembers a trip to the mall with Kevin, and the repercussions afterwards.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Invisible Man', or anything else from the show, and take no credit for it. I'm not making any money from this fic, either.
Spoilers: A few from 'Brother's Keeper', but I think that's it.
~*~*~
"Come on, Dare, Uncle Peter's taking us to the mall," Kevin Fawkes called to his younger brother from down the hall. He pulled a shirt on and ran excitedly to his brother's room. He had been asking to go to the mall for the past few days because he needed to buy some new notebooks and a few new shirts. He had ruined a couple of his good shirts in an experiment he had been working on that went awry.
Darien moaned from his bed and rolled over, pulling pillows over his head. The 10-year old hated going to the mall, especially when it meant shopping for his brother, and when it was at 10 o'clock a.m. Darien hated getting up early, and made sure everyone who woke him up early knew that fact.
Kevin walked into the room and shook Darien's body, trying to get him up. "Wake up, would you?"
No answer.
"Fine." Kevin bent over, double-tied his shoelaces, stood up on top of Darien's bed, and began to jump. The pillows bounced off of the bed, along with Darien, who had been sleeping close to the edge. Satisfied, Kevin jumped off of the bed and bent down next to his angry brother. "You're too stubborn. Now let's go." He ran out of the room and downstairs.
Darien rolled over and lay in silence for a couple seconds, rubbing his head where it had hit the floor. Then he decided he didn't want his brother to come back in here, so he got up and got ready. When he had finished putting on his jeans and a t-shirt, he brushed his hair, adding some gel to make it slightly spiky, and then he ran downstairs where his older brother and Uncle were waiting for him.
"What, no breakfast?" Darien asked, grumpily.
Kevin shook his head. "We already ate. If you had just hurried up you wouldn't have missed it."
"Are we on some kind of schedule here, or what?"
"Uncle Peter's got to work today, so we don't have long. Grab something to eat and meet us in the car." Kevin hurried out to the car, a grin on his face, followed by their uncle.
"'If you had just hurried'," Darien mocked his brother in a higher voice. He reached up to the cupboard and took a pop tart from the package rather forcefully. "Stupid…" He mumbled to himself resentfully, and went out to the car, making sure to slam the door.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Kevin noted, rolling his eyes. He hated his brother's moods. Still, it was worth it just to go to the mall.
"Shut up, Kev," Darien muttered just loud enough for his brother to hear him.
~*~*~
The mall was crowded for a Wednesday. Darien was amazed at all the different people there. He saw elderly people walking next to a gothic teen with at least 10 piercings in his face alone. He enjoyed watching the different types of people walk around, amazed at the menagerie.
The trio walked around for about two minutes before Kevin found a store he "had to go in". Darien knew he wasn't going to like the store since Kevin did, and they had such different tastes, he decided to wait outside. His uncle wasn't pleased with Darien's bad mood, so he let the young boy sit on a bench just in front of the store.
Why is Kevin so special, he thought to himself. He wasn't exactly jealous of his brother, but he hated that just because he was older and smarter, he got more attention. Darien only got attention when he would get in trouble with a teacher, or got caught stealing something. Kevin was only five years older than him, but he acted like he was much older, not only in a mature way, but also in a fatherly way. He liked to boss his little brother around, or so it seemed to Darien. He sometimes wondered if Kevin hated him.
Before he could continue anymore thoughts on that subject, Kevin and Uncle Peter emerged from the store, empty-handed. There's a first, Darien thought.
"Ready?" Uncle Peter asked the two boys. They both nodded and they continued to walk down the long hall, until Kevin found another store that looked interesting. He rushed in, and Darien let out a sound of frustration, causing his uncle to give him a warning look.
"Would you please just try and be nice while we're out? I know you don't want to be here, but I'm sure you can find something you want to look at," Uncle Peter reasoned. He didn't want the younger boy to feel left out, but Darien wasn't doing anything to improve the situation.
Darien sighed and ruffled his brown hair. "I'm sorry."
Peter pulled the boy into a half-hug. "I know it's not easy having Kevin for a brother, but no brothers get along all the time. Just give it time, things will look better."
"I know, but he makes me feel so… stupid." Darien looked down, embarrassed.
"Oh, don't say that. You're very intelligent. You just apply yourself more in other areas than Kevin, so your grades are different. It doesn't mean you're stupid."
Darien nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Peter."
"Anytime. Hey, why don't you go look in that store across the hall?" He pointed to the store, knowing It would interest his nephew as it usually did.
Darien smiled and rushed over there. He liked going into this store to look at the Swiss Army Knives, but made sure never to tell his Uncle that reason. He walked straight to the back where he knew his favorite knife was on display. He mostly wanted the knife for help breaking into places, but also because a lot of his friends had one, so naturally the desire came stronger for that reason.
When Darien saw the maroon Swiss Army Knife, he wanted it so badly. He always had, but since his Uncle wouldn't let him, he could never get it, nor did he have the money. Biting his lip, he looked around to make sure no one was looking, knowing he had to do this, and he slipping it into his coat pocket. Good thing it was January- he could wear his oversized coat with big enough pockets to fit novels, not that he would want to put books in his pockets. It was handy for putting things in.
He put his hands in his pocket and inconspicuously took the knife from the small package it was in, and placed the plastic under the shelf with a small grin of satisfaction. Then he walked out of the store. No sirens, no alarms, nothing. The grin spread, and he tried to hide it when he saw Uncle Peter sitting on the bench, back facing towards Darien.
When the day was over, Darien ran straight to his room, making sure to thank his Uncle for the trip, then shutting his door. He jumped on his bed, almost as excited as Kevin was before their trip to the mall. The rush was so great, even at his young age. He anxiously pulled the new item from his pocket and admired it.
"At least this day was good for something," Darien told himself as he explored the knife.
Then there was a knock on his door.
"Aw, crap," he whispered, and hid the knife in a drawer of his nightstand. Loudly, he said, "Come in."
To his dismay, Kevin came in. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" He sounded a little concerned, but not overly. He sat down next to Darien on his bed. "Are you okay?"
Darien nodded. "Yeah, I was just tired earlier, that's all."
"Ok, just wanted to make sure." Kevin always was more mature than his age would suggest. He was only 15, yet he had the maturity of at least a 20-year old. Darien often found himself wondering what made his brother act more like a father than a brother, when the other brothers he knew couldn't stand to even be in the same room without getting in a fight. Sometimes Darien was jealous of that type of relationship those boys had, but he really did love his brother even though he would never admit it.
"Thanks, but I'm fine." He nodded to emphasize his point.
Kevin took the hint, fixed his glasses, and stood up. "Well, I'm going to go see if I can fix that experiment that went wrong without ruining those new shirts Uncle Peter bought me." He ruffled his brother's hair and left. Darien smiled, hoping both that the experiment would work for his brother's sake, and also that it wouldn't work for entertainment purposes. Either way he knew he would be happy.
"Speaking of happy…" He pulled his new knife from the drawer, stuffed it back in his pocket, and ran downstairs. "Uncle Peter, can I ask Mark to come over? There's still a few hours left of daylight and all." He jumped onto the couch next to his uncle and gave his best puppy dog look, sticking his bottom lip out.
Peter laughed at his nephew's look. "I have to go to work, remember?"
"Yeah, but Kev'll be here with us, so we'll be okay," he said, playing with his shirt hem. His eyes were pleading, and Peter couldn't help but say yes.
"Fine, but he can only stay for a couple hours. I don't want him over here when it gets dark since Kevin will be the only one here."
Darien grinned, yelled a thank you halfway up the stairs, and ran to his phone to invite his friend over.
Half an hour later, after Peter had left for work, a young boy Darien's age arrived at the door. He was slightly shorter than Darien, dressed in dirty jeans torn in the knees, a black t-shirt, and a heavy brown winter jacket. He wore a backward cap and a goofy grin on his face. A small hand reached up and knocked on the door, answered immediately by Darien.
"Hey, Dare," the boy greeted. He raised an eyebrow, silently asking what they were going to do.
Darien answered by calling out to his brother. "Me and Mark are gonna go outside, ok?" Without waiting for an answer, the two boys ran out into the backyard and sat as far from the house as they could on the property, behind a rather large tree trunk.
"Kev's the only one home, Uncle Peter went to work," Darien informed his friend mischievously.
"Cool! So what are we gonna do then?" Mark knew from experience that the duo always had more fun when there was no real adult watching them and stopping them from doing what they enjoyed.
Darien pulled his new knife from his pocket, tightening his jacket around himself. Then he grabbed a couple dead branches from on top of the freshly fallen, small coat of snow, handing one to Mark. The began playing around with the wood, attempting to shape it into something recognizable, while Mark started a conversation.
"So where'd you get that? Your uncle finally cave in?"
With a shrug, Darien pretended to be too preoccupied with the wood to answer, continuing to shave off pieces of the bark from his branch.
"Come on, what really happened?" Mark knew his friend too well. There was obviously something he was hiding, and while he had a pretty good idea of what it could be, he chose to play ignorant and hear it from Darien.
"Alright, but you can't tell anyone," Darien warned. An eager nod was his answer. "Ok, well, we went to the mall today, and I went to a couple of stores alone. I saw this, and just couldn't stop myself."
Mark chuckled. "You gotta break this habit, Dare. Seriously."
"Yeah, I know. I will, okay? Eventually."
~*~*~
That night when Mark had left, before their uncle came home from work, Kevin went in to his little brother's room. He stood in the doorway, hands in the pockets of his corduroy pants. "Darien, can I talk to you?"
Darien knew this wasn't going to be fun by his brother's tone. It was far too serious. Plus the fact that he called him by his full name, and not his nickname. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk to his brother now, but knew that he wouldn't have a choice if Kevin was bent on talking to him.
"Yeah, sure, but I was just about to go to bed." He faked a yawn and pulled the covers over himself, still sitting up.
"Ok, well… I kind of heard you talking to Mark earlier."
Darien raised an eyebrow. "You were listening in on us?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, it wasn't like that. I was about to ask you what you wanted for dinner, but I didn't want to interrupt you. So I was going to wait until you were done talking, but I heard what you said. About your knife."
Darien knew he was in trouble. Kevin didn't like holding in his brother's secrets. He was always the one that told Uncle Peter whenever Darien did something, anything, wrong. "So what are you gonna do?"
"I don't know. I do hate to tell on you, but this is too much, Dare. One of these days you're going to realize how serious your stealing really is."
Darien scoffed. "Yeah, cuz I really want to end up a goodie-two shoes like you, right?"
"Come on, Dare, I'm being honest here. I don't want to tell Uncle Peter about you, but I don't know what else to do." Kevin sighed.
"How about this- don't say anything and mind your own business, Sherlock." Darien crossed his arms over his chest, glaring angrily at Kevin.
"You know what? Fine. I was trying to talk to you, but since you can't think of this seriously, we'll just see what happens tomorrow." Kevin got up and stormed out.
"Bye! Miss you!" Darien called sarcastically after his brother before sliding down into his bed, and turning off the light.
~*~*~
The next day, Darien was pleased that he was able to wake up on his own, no brother jumping on his bed. He pulled himself from his bed and groggily walked downstairs to grab some breakfast before getting ready for the day.
His uncle was sitting at the table, giving his nephew a disappointed look. Darien, however, failed to notice.
"Morning, Uncle Peter," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Then he noticed the look he was receiving, and he immediately knew that Kevin had told on him. He moaned and sat down across the table from Peter.
"I can't believe, this, Darien."
There someone goes using my full name again. Man, this is not a good week for me, he thought to himself. Anything to keep his mind of the impending lecture and punishment.
Peter continued. "I can't even leave you alone for a couple minutes without you stealing something. This is becoming a serious problem, do you understand that?"
"Uncle Peter, please. I got the lecture already from Kev. Could you please just skip ahead to the punishment?" Darien was sick of hearing lectures. He wished that everyone else knew what it was like, because he was sure they wouldn't do it anymore if he returned their lectures.
"Don't say it like that, Darien. Your brother it just concerned for you."
"Yeah, right. Is that why he told on me?" Darien felt his anger rising. What gave Kevin the right to tell his business to Uncle Peter? He always had to become part of something that didn't even involve him. He glared at the thought. Kevin could make him angrier than anyone else.
"Yes it is," Peter defended the older boy. "He just wants to make sure you don't get yourself in to even more trouble later on. You can't see it now, but one day I guarantee you'll understand why he did it."
~*~*~
Darien woke up. He sat straight up and looked around the room. He had just finished a dream about his childhood again. He'd been having them a lot lately for some reason. This one in particular, though, made Darien think.
One day you'll understand why he did it.
That sounded all too familiar. Hadn't Kevin said basically the same thing when he refused to help get the gland out of Darien's head? Of course, at the time he couldn't understand why Kevin would want to hurt him so much, and up until now he still couldn't. But slowly it started to make sense, and that hurt Darien even more than the realization that his brother had betrayed him. He had built up so much hate towards Kevin for telling on him for stealing the knife, for not helping him out with the gland, when all he had wanted to do was make sure Darien's future was the best it could be.
Maybe his brother wasn't such a jerk after all. He had finally realized all this, and it was too late. Kevin was already dead. He died with Darien thinking such horrible things about him.
"Thank you, Kev," he whispered.
*Fin*