He was up before the alarm.

Scott sighed. He was up before the alarm because he hadn't gone to bed yet. Again. For the fourth night in a row. The nightly round of nightmares had been worse tonight then it had been for quite a while. He wasn't surprised – it was coming up on the year since…

He sighed again and rubbed his tired eyes and contemplated the day ahead.

Soon Alan would be up. The three-year-old was always up with the dawn – which wasn't too far away now. He'd have enough time to bathe the youngest before Gordon would join them in the bathroom and soak them all. It would take him nearly an hour to get them washed, dried and dressed before he could get them downstairs to eat while John took his time getting ready.

Alan was his usual bubbly self, chatting nineteen-to-the-dozen as if he hadn't kept Scott up most of the night screaming about monsters under the bed. Gordon was also his exuberant self, and between the two of them they lifted Scott's spirits greatly.

Breakfast eaten and the two youngsters were sent to play while Scott made lunches for everyone. He was joined by John who helped him finish off while chatting about what he was looking forward to doing at school that day.

Once lunches were prepared and packed into backpacks Scott left John to eat his breakfast while he went upstairs for the most difficult job of the morning. He had Virgil to get up.

Getting Virgil up was the most difficult task Scott had to do every morning. It felt like the uphill battle was just getting more difficult, and he sighed. Again. John had offered him a small smile, knowing that his big brother would need all the support he could get. Of course, that support did not extend to actual physical help.

It took Scott the rest of the time he had spare to get his middle brother up, and by the time a very grumpy Virgil was washed, dressed and downstairs they were going to be late. Thankfully John had taken over and finished getting Gordon and Alan ready, so Scott scooped Alan up and John took Gordon firmly by the hand and they ran for the bus.

By the time Scott had dropped of Alan and John and Virgil had dropped of Gordon the three oldest were late and had to run the last part to even arrive only a little late.

School was its normal stressful day but it wasn't until his third lesson that it became the worst day he'd had for a very long time. He had forgotten his homework and his teacher was not the forgiving type. Scott couldn't afford a detention, he had to get Alan before the kindergarten closed, and then he had to get the meals going and the afternoon activities…

Detention. And not just a straight-forward half-hour one. No, this forgetting his homework added a third demerit and now he had a full one-and-a-half-hour detention today and one scheduled for tomorrow too. It would normally be the next week but Mr Hadley didn't trust Scott to be there. Scott didn't know why the teacher thought that…

It meant that Scott wouldn't be able to collect Alan and John would need to pick up both youngest, something that would stress the stargazer out. Virgil would help, but Alan would often only behave for himself after school, tired out from the day the baby of the family was always fractious until Scott got him home and put him down for a sleep. It would only be a short nap but it was enough to return Alan to the happy child he usually was.

John took the news of the detention in his stride and Scott sat at the desk in complete silence, unable to do anything until the detention was over. Scott fairly flew home, arriving home panting from running.

He was greeted with Alan and Gordon asleep on the couch, a video of Finding Nemo quietly playing. John and Virgil were sat at the table behind them, finishing off homework. The smell of pizza and coffee greeted him from the kitchen and Scott let out the breath he'd been holding.

As he did his head swam.

Scott didn't realise that John and Virgil had taken his arms and forced him to sit down. Not until Virgil snapped his fingers in front of his face and he flinched back. But he couldn't understand what either of his brothers were saying.

It was like he was underwater. Scott's eyes flickered to the screen in the corner of the room. Yeah…or like he was in a fishbowl. He could see John and Virgil's mouths moving, but sound was all distorted.

Scott giggled. Then he snorted. He was fifteen years old. He did not giggle. He tried to frown. He was the man of the house and he needed to act like it. Scott sat up straight and sniffed.

And giggled.

John and Virgil looked at each other then back at their brother, but Scott had already gone. Alarmed, John dashed for the kitchen and was even more alarmed to find his brother at their Dad's coffee. He watched, equal parts horrified and mesmerised as Scott added espresso after espresso to a large mug. He continued watching as his brother added sugar after sugar and more sugar.

But Scott didn't drink it. He left it on the side and began opening cupboards.

'Scott? Are you alright?'

'Can't stop and talk, John. I need to get the lunches done and then the housework done and Alan and Gordon bathed and put to bed and homework and…and…'

John's worry ramped up as Scott paced the kitchen jerkily. His eyes were all over the place. He knew that Scott had been finding the last couple of days hard, but he'd never seen his brother behave like this, even when he'd stolen a cup of their father's coffee before. He needed to get Scott to sit down and rest.

Knowing Scott needed to rest and getting him to rest were ideals at two opposite ends of the spectrum. John needed help if they were going to get through to Scott. Fortunately, Virgil also knew how to handle their big brother, and he placed the house phone on the table and pulled Scott down to sit with him.

Their Grandmother's voice rang out, warm and soothing. Without even realising it Scott was doing exactly what he was told. John placed a huge glass of water in front of him and Virgil gave him the biggest piece of pizza he could cut whilst still leaving them enough to eat themselves. Sally promised her grandkids she was on her way.

It only took Sally an hour to reach the farmhouse. She was worried what condition her eldest grandson would be in.

Not long before that fateful Christmas trip last year they finally received a diagnosis regarding Scott's insomnia. He'd never managed to sleep more than two to three hours a night, and sometimes not even that much. Yet he rarely suffered any ill effects. It had taken several polysomnography's as well as an actigraphy once a year to get that diagnosis.

Short Sleeper Syndrome. The sleep specialist they had been seeing had been bowled over by how early Scott's condition had started, saying he was the youngest ever documented, but most people with the condition started in childhood. There was talk of Scott becoming part of a case study, but with the accident that had gone out the window.

Scott was the one who opened the door to her, and while his face broke into a genuine smile his eyes were everywhere but on her. She could feel the tremors as she held him and after a brief hug she held Scott at arms' length so that she could examine him better.

'Scotty, dear. Are you alright?'

'Sure am, Grandma. Just got a lot to do.'

He tried to get away from her, but Sally held on tighter. She needed to know what was wrong from him, although she had a good idea. Beating around the bush wouldn't help, Scott was a big brother and he knew how to avoid saying what he didn't want to, but he wouldn't outrightly lie, so Sally knew she needed to be blunt.

'When was the last time you slept?'

'Um…I dunno…three…four nights ago?'

It was unusual for Scott to be so honest immediately, while he'd never lie he'd usually try delaying tactic after delaying tactic to prevent anyone knowing when something was wrong with him. Finally she let him go and followed him into the kitchen after checking on the still-sleeping youngest. That was a different problem for later.

She sat at the table and watched Scott preparing sandwiches for tomorrow, sipping on the tea John had so thoughtfully provided. Her eldest was running on empty and he wouldn't survive much longer like this.

'Scott, where's your father?'

'Work.'

John had snorted at the question, and Sally turned to him with eyebrows raised, waiting for an explanation.

'Dad's at work, that much is true…'

'John!'

'No, Scott. Grandma needs to know. You deserve better.'

'Scott? What does John mean?'

It hadn't escaped her notice that Virgil had disappeared and closed the kitchen door behind him. Nor had she failed to see John throwing away what looked like a full cup of coffee. Scott stood with his back to her, knife clenched tight, but the sudden dropping of his shoulders told her he was going to talk, no matter how much he didn't want to.

'Dad's in New York finalising a big deal. He was only supposed to be gone one night, but the deal hit a snag and he needed to stay longer to sort it out.'

'How long has he been gone?'

Scott sighed and put the knife down. He folded his arms across his chest, almost hugging himself as he turned to face his Grandmother. She smiled at him and spoke softly.

'How long, Scotty?'

'Four days.'

Four days tallied up with the amount of no sleep Scott had, and she sighed. Jeff had said he was going to be away for the night Sunday, and she had stayed over, but of course no one had called and told her that Jeff would be staying longer so that she could come and look after her boys. Scott was just as stubborn as his father in that regard, had been ever since Lucy had passed. His need to be the one who cared for his brothers sometimes worried her greatly.

Four days also meant her eldest was dangerously close to the dangerous stage of sleep deprivation and she was mildly surprised that Scott wasn't actively hallucinating. He probably would be soon if she didn't put her foot down.

'Ok Scott. You've done really well looking after your brothers for so long but now I'm here it's time to look after yourself.'

'But Grandma…'

'But nothing, Scotty. John, go run the bath for your youngest brothers. Scott, I am going to make you some hot tea that you are going to drink and then you are going to bed.'

'Ok, Grandma.'

'But Grandma…I'm not even tired! And I have too much to do!'

'You have nothing to do but to drink this and sleep.'

Sally placed a cup of chamomile tea sweetened slightly with honey into his hands and before he knew it Scott had drunk it and was being marched upstairs to his room. He knew there was never a point arguing with his Grandmother and he had often wondered why she always got her way.

He looked guiltily around at the mess that had accumulated in four days, but his Grandmother didn't say anything. Sally could see by the neatness of his bed compared to the rest of the room that Scott hadn't even attempted to sleep in his own bed. She wasn't surprised in the slightest. The youngest two were still prone to nightmares and even Virgil was not immune. Having their Father away would only fuel that. She resolved to have words with her son at the earliest opportunity.

Scott didn't even bother undressing. He sat on the bed and then swivelled his legs up and lay back, determined that it was too early and he wasn't going to sleep just yet. Sally took one look at him and smiled to herself.

'Night, Scotty. Sleep well.'

The words were whispered and accompanied by a blanket being gently placed over him and before his door was closed Scott was asleep.