Charlie's POV

Don loves you.

I wrote faster.

You know he wouldn't hurt you on purpose.

He was going to hit me! He admitted it.

But he was just upset. He couldn't help it.

I turned up the volume on my ipod and continued to write furiously, trying to block out my own thoughts.

Maybe he did mean to hurt you.

I stopped suddenly.

Maybe he was hoping you'd get hurt worse. Maybe if he had hit you, you'd still be in the hospital.

No! Don would never do that!

If he really cares, why hasn't he been over to see you in three days?

Maybe he has. I haven't left the garage in three days.

He would have made an effort to see you if he had come.

He's probably busy with work.

Too busy to come see his little brother?

Yes.

Admit it! He doesn't care. He never has cared. He enjoys having you out of the way. Now his life is perfect.

I threw the piece of chalk I was holding and screamed.

Alan's POV

I was startled out of cooking dinner when I heard Charlie's scream.

I rushed out to the garage and found him on his knees in the middle of the room.

"Charlie? Are you all right?" I exclaimed as I came to his side.

He wouldn't look at me. He stared at the floor in front of him.

"Charlie, look at me, son." I took hold of his arm and was surprised by his angered response.

"Get off of me!" He screamed, moving away from me.

"Charlie. It's just me."

I stood and stepped toward him. He backed away with every step I took.

"What's going on, Charlie?"

He stopped when he got to the corner of the garage. He pulled his knees to his chest.

"Don doesn't love me," He whispered.

I was shocked. What had gone on between those two?

"Charlie, no. Don loves you."

"Then why isn't he here?" Charlie demanded in an angry voice.

The fear, anger, and sadness in Charlie's eyes hurt me.

"Don is probably giving you space." I wasn't sure what had happened, but I figured Don was the one who caused it, judging by Charlie's words.

"Come on, Charlie. Why don't you come inside? Dinner will be ready soon. What do you say we invite Don?"

I just wanted Charlie out of that garage. He had been in there for three days straight. He was lucky it was spring break.

"No."

"Charlie-"

"I said no!"

I backed up. The venom in his voice scared me.

"He doesn't want to see me anyway." I heard Charlie say.

I walked out of the garage, convinced Charlie didn't want anything to do with Don.

I went into the kitchen and grabbed the phone.

Don's POV

I looked at my cell phone to see who was calling. It was either Dad or Charlie. I assumed Dad.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Don. It's Dad."

"Hey, Pop. What's going on?"

"Don, will you please come over for dinner tonight?"

"I can't, Dad. We've been really busy with this case. I'm swamped."

"I'm begging you. Whatever happened between you and your brother I need to know about. It's killing Charlie."

"What do you mean? Is he okay?"

"No, he's not okay. Please, son, come home so we can talk about this."

"Dad, I can't. I'm serious. I'm really busy."

"When is the earliest you can come?"

"Friday?"

"Friday! But it's Tuesday."

"I know, but I don't think we'll have this thing wrapped up until then."

"FIne. But if you get any time off, you know where to come."

"I know, Dad. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, son."

I hung up the phone.

What was going on with Charlie? Was he okay?

I worried about Charlie constantly. We would have gotten this case finished if I had just talked to Charlie.

I rubbed my temples. It seemed I had a constant headache lately.

I laid my head on my desk.

"Don? You okay?" Megan asked, startling me.

"Huh?"

"Don? What's going on? You look horrible."

She walked into my office.

"It's nothing, Megan, just a headache."

"A headache that lasts three days? Come on, Don, I'm not blind. Something's been bothering you for days now. Spill, Eppes."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand. You'd probably end up hating me."

"Try me."

I sighed. When Megan wanted to fix something, she usually succeeded.

"It's about Charlie."

"Go on."

"I-I did something to him that I never should have."

A look of interest washed over her face but she quickly masked it.

"What did you do?"

"I didn't actually do it, but I was going to hit him."

This time she couldn't disguise the shock on her face.

"Why were you going to hit him?"

"He made me mad. You remember when he came in here a couple of weeks ago looking so awful?"

"Yes."

"Well, I was mad at him for coming down to the office. I yelled at him when I got him home. We were fighting at the top of the steps. When I moved forward to hit him, he knew what I was going to do and stepped back. He went too far and fell down the stairs."

Megan gasped.

"Is he okay?"

"He was. He got a mild concussion, a broken wrist, and a few broken ribs."

"Ow."

"He couldn't remember what happen. When he was getting better, I told him what happened. We haven't talked since. Dad just called me saying he wanted to know what happened. Apparently Charlie hasn't told him. And he said something about Charlie not being okay. It worries me."

"That's pretty rough, Don. But I know Charlie, too, and I know he'll forgive you. You just have to go talk to him."

"I will."

"When?"

"Friday."

"That's an awfully long time, Don."

"I know. But with this case, I don't want to leave."

"Do you not want to leave the case or do you not want to face Charlie?" Megan asked as she got up and left.

Damn it.