Timeline: High School A/U

Completed: Jan. 05, 2020

"Hey, you're being quiet. Is everything okay?" a seventeen-year-old Will Halstead asks his sixteen-year-old brother, Jay, as he drives them to school in the car he spent the summer rebuilding.

"Yeah, just tired," Jay answers him from the passenger seat.

"Is anyone giving you trouble?" Will asks, wanting to protect his younger brother.

"No," Jay answers while looking out the window.

"You would tell me if someone was?" Will asks, looking at Jay while they are at a red light.

"Yes, Will," Jay answers annoyed.

The light turns green and Will starts driving again, "I'm just looking out for you," he tells his brother, the hidden message of I love you, brother, in that statement.

"I love you too," Jay whispers, the words feeling strange on his tongue, as their father tells them that real men don't tell other guys that they love them- even family.

The drive is silent until they arrive at Will's girlfriend's house to pick her up. She gets in the back seat, "Morning, Kayla," Will greets.

"Morning Will. I didn't know your brother was driving with us today," she comments.

"Yeah, soccer season is over, so he doesn't need to be at school so early anymore," Will explains.

"Is he riding home with us too?" Kayla asks.

"I don't know," he tells his girlfriend. "Do you need a ride home, Jay?" he asks turning to his brother.

"I was going to go over to Hailey's to work on a project for history," Jay answers.

"Okay, do you need a ride to her place?" Will asks as pulls the car back onto the road.

"No, her brother is going to give us a ride," Jay answers.

The rest the ride is quiet: Jay having been quiet all morning and Kayla not being happy about sitting in the back for her boyfriend's brother. Will can sense there is a mood in the car and decides to stay quiet.

Arriving to the high school, the three of them going to their lockers.

Jay walks into his first-period math class and lays his head down on his desk. "Hey, Halstead," Adam Ruzek greets as he walks into the classroom.

Hearing his name Jay looks up, "Hey, what are you doing here already?" he asks his friend.

"What do you mean 'already'? Class is starting in, like, two minutes," Adam tells Jay.

"Oh, I guess I fell asleep," Jay makes up an excuse.

Before Adam can reply to him, their teacher starts his lesson. Jay, normally a good student, is having a hard time focusing on the lesson as a headache is starting to form.

Jay robotically takes notes from the board without trying to understand what they mean.

When the bell rings, Jay goes to his next class after stopping at his locker. His next four classes go the same way as his first; his headache becoming worse and this throat starting to hurt.

By the time lunch comes around, Jay just wants to sleep. Instead of getting in line to get lunch, Jay goes straight to the table where his friends usually meet and lays his head on the table.

"Hey, are you going to eat?" Kim asks when she sits down next to him.

"No," Jay murmurs as he looks up at her.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asks concerned, used to him having the appetite of the average teenage boy.

"It's just a headache."

"Here, at least eat this," Kim tells him while handing him her container of apple sauce and a spoon.

"Thanks," he tiredly thanks her while he quietly he eats the apple sauce as the others make their way to the table they are at.

Once finished with the food that Kim forced on him, Jay lays his head on the table ignoring Kim, Adam, Kevin, Antonio, and Erin. "Jay," he hears Kim calling, "Lunch is over."

"Okay, thanks," he murmurs tiredly.

"Hey, go to the nurse," Kim advises.

"No, I'm good," Jay denies.

Jay goes to his next class, glad that it is a health day and not a gym day. Going into the classroom, Jay takes a seat in the back and hopes that he won't be called on.

Jay spends the period copying what is on the board, not really listening to what their teacher is saying.

When the bell rings, Jay hurriedly gets up to go to his locker before entering his history class.

Walking into his history classroom, he sees that Hailey is already in her seat. Jay walks up to her before asking, "Hey," he starts.

"Hey, Jay," she replies before looking up. "Are you okay? You don't look so great," she comments.

"Actually, I was going to ask if you mind working on the project another day? I'm not feeling that great."

"Yeah, no problem. Do you need a ride home?"

"No, I should be able to catch Will before he leaves."

"Okay, well I heard we were just watching a movie today, so if you want to sleep, you can copy my notes later," she offers.

"Thanks, Hailey."

The class passes fast for Jay, who is woken by Hailey five minutes before the school day ends. When the bell rings their teacher dismisses them and the two gather their things before walking out of the class. "Sorry about the project," Jay apologizes.

"Hey, it's not your fault. This is why I wanted to start now, in case something happened, we wouldn't be stuck at the last minute."

"Hailey-" Jay tries.

"No, Jay. Go catch your brother before he leaves you here; feel better, and look at it this way- it's Friday, so you have all weekend," Hailey tells him before leaving him by his locker.

Jay grabs the books out of his locker that he needs for his homework before searching for Will. Seeing him at the end of the hallway by the gym, Jay calls to him, "Hey, Will. Wait up."

Hearing his brother's voice, Will stops in his tracks, "Jay? What's up?" he asks.

"Can you give me a ride home?" Jay asks.

"Sure, but aren't you going over to Hailey's for a project?"

"I was going to, but I don't feel good, so we're doing that another day," Jay tells him.

"What's wrong?" Will asks concerned about his brother.

"Headache and my throat hurts," Jay tells him.

Will reaches his hand out to feel the back of Jay's neck, immediately feeling the heat radiating from him, "I think you have a fever too, come on."

The brothers walk out to Will's car, meeting Kayla on the way. "Hey, Kayla. I'm going to give Jay a ride home before we go to your place," Will lets her know.

"I thought he was going to work at a partner's house to work on a project?" Kayla asks annoyed at the detour.

"He was, but they canceled. He's not feeling well."

"Fine, but he better not get me sick," she demanded.

"I can walk," Jay offers not wanting to mess up his brother's plans.

"No, Jay. It's not a problem," Will reassures as he makes sure his brother gets in his car.

The drive to their house is quiet, Jay in the back not feeling in the mood to talk, and Kayla annoyed with Jay.

Pulling up in front of their house, Will sees that Jay had fallen asleep on the short ride home. Seeing his mom's car is not in the driveway, he looks over to Kayla, "Come in. I want to make sure he's settled before I leave him." Kayla gets out of the car, knowing that it will be a while for Will to make sure Jay's okay.

Walking into their house, Jay goes into his and Will's share bedroom to change while Will goes into the bathroom to grab medicine and a thermometer and Kayla goes to the living room to wait for Will.

Finding what he is looking for, Will goes into their bedroom to find Jay already laying in his bed. "Hey, can I take your temperature?" Will asks, showing Jay the thermometer. Jay only opens his mouth, letting Will put the device into his mouth. "102.4, here, takes these," Will tells him as he hands Jay two Tylenols. "Do you want me to stay with you?" he asks.

"No, I'm just going to sleep," Jay tells him, feeling guilty that Will is missing time with his girlfriend because of him.

"Okay, I'm going to get you the phone so call me if you need anything," Will orders while walking out of their room to grab the phone. "Here is the phone and the phone number for Kayla's house," Will tells him. "Do you need anything else?"

"No. Thanks, Will."

"No problem, I'll check on you when I get home."

"Okay," Jay answers already half asleep.

Will walks out to the living room to see Kayla looking around at the pictures of the two brothers. "Hey," he calls. "Jay's asleep, we can go now."

"Okay, you know my parents are excited to meet you tonight?" she asks

"Yeah, I'm a bit nervous, are you sure this is okay?" he asks referring to what he is wearing.

"You're going to be fine. My parents are laid back."

"Okay, let's go," Will says, leading Kayla out to his car.

"Is there anything that I should know?" Will asks on the way to Kayla's house.

"No, now stop worrying," she tells him.

Waking into her house, Kayla can hear her mom calling for her, "Kayla? Is that you?"

"Yes mom. And Will's with me."

"You're late," Kayla's mom tells her coming into the room, "I was getting worried."

"Sorry, Mrs. Graham," Will apologizes. "It's my fault. I had to take my brother home and make sure he was settled before coming over."

"You must be Will. I've heard a lot about you. Why don't you two go watch a movie? Kayla, dinner will be ready when your father gets home."

"Okay, mom. Will, we keep the VHSs in the family room," Kayla tells Will.

The two go into the family room to set up the movie while her mom starts on dinner.

Meanwhile, in the Halstead home, Jay is fast asleep in his room, unbeknown to his parents who have gotten home early so they can go out to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary.

"It's quiet," Pat comments, "You think our boys are staying out of trouble?" he asks his wife Ellen.

"It's quiet because both boys aren't home. Will is at his girlfriend's and Jay had a project he was going to a friend's house to work on after school," she reminds him.

"We did good with them, didn't we?"

"We did. Now we need to go or we'll miss our reservation."

Twenty minutes after his parents leave, Jay wakes up feeling really hot. Kicking off his covers, he tries moving around to get comfortable again. He tosses and turns for a few minutes, trying to ignore the growing uncomfortable sensation in his stomach.

Not wanting to get sick on his bed, Jay gets up, swaying slightly, to go into the bathroom. Sitting in front of the toilet, Jay throws up the apple sauce that Kim gave him at lunch, and what he believes is every meal he has eaten since yesterday morning.

Feeling like he is done, Jay wants to go back to the comfort of his bed, so he stands up. When he does so, black spots cloud his vision, so he grabs on to the sink for support. Once his vision clears, Jay makes his way back to his room. Still feeling like he is going to pass out, Jay, who is scared of actually passing out at this point, grabs the phone and dials the number that his brother left for him. Jay listens to the phone ringing, hoping that someone will give his brother the phone.

While making dinner, Kayla's mother hears the phone ringing. "Hello, who is this?" she asks, not recognizing the number.

"Hello?" a scared voice comes through the phone.

"Who is this?" she asks again.

"Is Will Halstead there?"

"Who's is asking?"

"His brother, Jay."

"He is. Give me a second," she tells him while putting down the phone. Walking into the family room where the two teens are, she calls his attention, "Will, your brother called. I have him waiting for you."

Hearing this, Will rushes to the phone, worried about Jay. "Jay? Are you still there?" he asks.

"Yeah," is the whispered answer he receives.

"What's wrong?"

"Can you come home? I really don't feel good," he cries.

"Okay, I can. Jay, I need you to calm down or you'll make yourself feel worse. Can you tell me what doesn't feel good?"

"My stomach. I woke up feeling really hot and then I got sick. When I was coming back to our room, I got dizzy- I'm afraid I'm going to pass out."

"Where are you now?"

"Floor."

"Okay, I'm going to be home in ten minutes, don't move," Will tells him, "Everything is going to be okay," Will assures before hanging up.

Walking back into the family room, Will finds the mother and daughter who gave him privacy while he was one the phone in the kitchen, "Is everything okay?" asks Mrs. Graham.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Graham, but I need to go," he apologizes.

"Why?" Kayla asks.

"My brother's not feeling well and he's home alone. He's-" Will tries to explain.

"You don't have to say anymore," Mrs. Graham cut him off. "I hope your brother feels better and you can come back another time and meet Kayla's dad."

"Thank you," Will is grateful that his girlfriend's mother is so understanding.

"You don't need to thank me for that, now go," she shoos him out of the house.

Will gets in his car to drive home, coming close to breaking multiple traffic laws to get to his brother.

Arriving home, Will hurries in to the house. He finds Jay in their room, laying on the floor where he was probably leaning against the dresser. Will feels Jay's head to find that he is burning up. Will goes into the bathroom to get a wet washcloth, wringing out the excess water, Will wipes the cool cloth against Jay's hot forehead.

After a few minutes, Jay wakes up, "Will?" he asks confused.

"Hey, welcome back. How are you feeling?"

"Sick."

"Okay, if I help, can you make it back to your bed?" Will asks. When Jay nods, Will helps him sit up slowly before throwing Jay's arm around his shoulder and wrapping his arm around Jay's waist and slowly helps Jay walk across the room to his bed.

"I need to take your temperature again," Will tells him once Jay is laying down again. Jay opens his mouth, letting his brother stick the device in. "103.8," Will reads. "You can't have any more medicine for a couple more hours. Do you think you can eat a popsicle?" Jay just shakes his head. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Will asks wanting to help his brother.

"Stay?"

"Stay with you? I can do that."

"No, lay with me?"

"I can do that too," Will answers. "Scooch over," Will orders. Jay weakly moves over, allowing enough space for Will to fit too. Once Will is lying next to him, Jay moves, so his head is resting on his brother's chest. Listening to his steady heartbeat, while Will keeps the washcloth on Jay's forehead, trying his best to bring down the fever he is running.

"How are you feeling now?" Will asks, "Do you feel like you're going to pass out again?"

"No. I feel cooler," Jay tells him.

"Good, that's good."

The two lay in silence, Jay's breathing becomes steady to the point where Will believes that he is asleep. So, Will is surprised when Jay calls to him, "Will?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry," he whispers into his brother's shirt.

"'Sorry'?" Will repeats confused, "Sorry for what?" he asks.

"I messed up your night," Jay tells him, not looking up at his brother.

"What are you talking about?" Will asks, "You didn't mess up my night."

"I made you come home because I was scared."

"Hey, it's not your fault you got sick. And you're my little brother, you're more important than my plans."

"I still feel bad about that."

"Don't. Kayla's mom was really understanding."

"What about Kayla?"

"She knows you're important to me."

"That's not an answer."

"Try to sleep. I'll wake you up when you can have more medicine," Will tells him. Hearing this, Jay snuggles in closer to his brother, not caring about what their dad says about being real men, glad to have a brother like Will.

Glad that Jay has fallen back to sleep, Will closes his eyes, telling himself it's only for a few minutes.

Pulling into the driveway almost two hours later, Pat and Ellen Halstead see Will's car is parked at the curb. "It looks like at least one of the boys are home," Ellen comments.

Walking into the house, Pat and Ellen see that it is dark, "Will?" Pat calls.

Hearing no answer, Ellen tells Pat, "I'm going to check their room." Walking down the hall she sees a light coming from underneath the boys' door. "Will." She knocks. Not hearing an answer, she slowly opens the door to find both her boys asleep on Jay's bed.

Seeing the boys asleep together surprises her, as that hasn't happened since they were young. She then notices the thermometer laying on the table and the rag near Jay's head. Taking a better look at them, she sees Jay's face is flushed from a fever.

Reaching out, she places the back of her hand on Jay's forehead, surprised at how much heat is coming off of him.

Jay feels someone touching his head and burrows into the gentle touch, "Mmm."

"Jay, baby. Can you hear me?"

"Mom?" Jay asks half awake.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Sick."

"Do you know when the last time you've taken anything?"

Hearing voices, Will wakes up, "Mom? When did you get home? How are you feeling Buddy?"

"Sick, hot. Can I have more medicine now?"

"Will when was the last time he had something?" their mom asks.

"I gave him two Tylenol when I brought him home from school," Will answers.

"Okay, do you think you can eat something before I give you something?"

"No."

"What about some apple sauce? A couple of bites?"

"I can try."

"Okay. Will can you get it for him?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back." Will leaves the room, leaving Jay with their mother.

"I thought you were working on a project after school?"

"I was going to, but I wasn't feeling good, so Will brought me home."

"You should have called me. I would have picked you up."

"I didn't want to mess up your anniversary."

"Baby, you're more important than that."

Will walks back into their room with the food, "Here."

Jay eats enough that his mom lets him take the pills. "Do you want to stay here or move to the couch?"

"Jay, if you move to the couch, you can pick the movie," Will tells him, referring to how they watch a movie every Friday night as a family.

"Okay," Jay agrees.

"Sounds good. I'm going to make up the couch for you. Will can you help him down?"

"Yes, mom."

The four of them watch Jurassic Park, Pat sitting in his recliner and Jay, Will, and Ellen on the couch. Ellen sitting at one end with Will at the other end and Jay laying with his head on his mother's lap and feet in his brothers. Ellen plays with his hair like she knows he likes.

The weekend goes by as lazy days. Kayla called the house multiple times, wanting to know if Will wanted to hang out and do something, each time he would tell her that he wanted to stay in with Jay.

Sunday night while the two brothers were watching the Bears game, "I'm sorry you didn't get to hang out with Kayla this weekend," Jay apologizes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know she was calling for you."

"Hey, you didn't make me do anything."

"But-"

"No 'buts'," Will tells him. "Why don't you lay down?" Will suggest when he hears Jay yawn. Will helps Jay lay on him.

"Jay, wake up," Will calls to him when the game is over.

"Wha'?" he asks confused.

"Game's over. We lost. Come on, let's go to bed."

The next morning, Will leaves for school while Jay is still sleeping. Driving to Kayla's on the way to school, he knows that they are going to have to have a talk.

"Hey, Will," Kayla greets as she gets into the passenger seat of his car, "No Jay today?"

"He still had a fever last night," Will tells her.

"What did you do this weekend? I mean, you couldn't have done much with Jay if he was sick all weekend," she asks, annoyance clear in her voice.

"What is your problem with my brother?"

"He's fifteen, he can take care of himself. He doesn't need his older brother when he's sick."

"He's sixteen," Will corrects her annoyed.

"That's not helping your point."

"Look, if you can't understand that Jay is important in my life, then I can't be with you."

"You're- you're breaking up with me?" she asks shocked.

"Yes. Look, Jay's my brother. Family is important."

"You're going to regret letting your brother dictate your life," she says before getting out of the car in the student parking lot.

Will finally sees what kind of person Kayla is, making a mental note not to tell Jay because he knows that he will blame himself.

On the way to school on Wednesday when Jay returns, he questions Will on why they are not driving to Kayla's house.

"Let's just say, I saw her true colors," Will answers cryptically.

"Is this because of me?"

"No. It's not and I don't want you blaming yourself."

"Okay," he whispers.

"Whoever I date, needs to know that you are in my life and it's my job as your older brother to take care of you."

Jay is silent, not sure of how he has such a great brother.

Pulling into the student parking lot, Will turns to Jay, "Find me if you're starting to feel sick again."

"Okay. Thanks, Will," Jay answers before getting out of the car to see if he can get the work he missed the past two days.

A/N: One more chapter, which I will do my best to post on time. Forgot to say in the last chapter, I've never broken anything, but watching videos of people getting cast was quite interesting.

Conversions:

102.4= 39.1

103.8= 39.9

Comments:

ChellyxxWelly- Chapter 22- That was great bringing up the thing about Adam actually finishing at the academy. I've been wondering that too! can't wait to see the dinner showdown!

Glad I wasn't the only one who has thought about that.

Lauren- Chapter 24- Of course the boys managed to get them in trouble, with result Jay hurt his arm. Naturally Hailey noticed. Great chapter. Loved it.

They can never stay out of trouble when together, can they?