Don wandered downstairs after slipping quietly out of his old room. It was still early in the day, so he knew he couldn't spend it all with his brother. He hoped Charlie would understand and still be able to sleep peacefully. He didn't want Charlie to lose any sleep because of him, but he still had a job to do.
Alan was downstairs in the living room when Don walked in. He looked up through his reading glasses and set down the book he'd been reading. He removed his glasses, folded them, and set them on the coffee table.
"What was that all about?" Alan asked.
"I don't know, Dad. Charlie... he's had it really rough here lately. I think he just needs a little pity-time every now and then, you know?"
"Well, it's only human, but there was something more to that, Don. He's not one to wallow in self-pity. What did you boys talk about?"
Don sank into the leather cushions on the couch, shaking his head in confusion. "I don't know what to make of it. He told me he saw Jake today."
Alan leaned forward in his seat. "What?"
"I know. Apparently it didn't really happen. He hallucinated or something. I don't know what. But, if his mind is doing that to him, he's under way too much stress. Don't you think?"
Alan nodded. "Yes, I do. But how are we supposed to take that stress away? It's not like we can actually make him forget what's going on. It's on his mind 24/7. It's on my mind 24/7 and yours, too, I'm sure."
Don nodded in confirmation. "So what do we do? We can't just let him break down because of something that isn't there. It's bad enough he worries about the real Jake. I mean, can you imagine if Jake really does show up one day and Charlie thinks he's not there? That he's just hallucinating again?"
Alan shook his head at the thought. "I don't know what to tell you, Donny. I can only say that we need to be there for him as much as possible."
"That's just the thing. I need to get to work. I'm working on this case, you know. I can't spend all my time with him because I'm trying to work on the case to catch Jake."
"No one is asking you to. I'm just saying that we need to watch out for him. Not just with Jake. Maybe we need to protect him from himself. You know how it is when you start running things like this in your mind over and over again. We can't let him get to that point. It'll eat away at his insides."
"Yeah. I know what you mean." Don did not want this to turn into a conversation about his problems. But he did know what that was like. It was what he was doing to himself day and night. He ran through the possible outcomes, the possible injuries Jake could inflict on Charlie. He didn't like it, but it kept him motivated enough to stay at the top of his game.
"I'll go check on him," Alan said as he pushed himself up off his seat.
"Okay. I need to get to work now anyway."
"All right. Come home for supper tonight. I think Charlie would appreciate it."
Don nodded. "I'll be here."
Alan smiled. He wanted his sons to be close to him and close to each other. He realized that sometimes they forgot how much they needed each other to get by. Charlie would be seeing this more and more, so he wanted Don to be close should he ever need him. Alan knew he'd be around for quite some time, but when that changed, he wanted them to be used to depending on each other.
Charlie was sleeping peacefully when Alan got upstairs. Alan sat gently on the bed beside his son and stroked his hair. Charlie merely responded by pushing deeper into his pillows. Alan smiled down at his son. He was so happy he was home again. He could live without having to put up with him for the next week and a half. He knew that Charlie would whine and complain after a while about being bored and wanting to go back to work. That would be one challenge Alan wanted to live without.
Some time during the day Charlie began to feel fully energized. It was strange for him since he'd felt so groggy lately. He wanted to get up and do something, but he knew he couldn't, and shouldn't.
His arm seemed heavy to him with the large cast over it. He chose black so no one would make him feel like a five-year-old and write messages on it. He smiled at his cleverness.
Charlie got up and went to the bathroom to clean up. His arm itched to be cleaned, but he couldn't do anything about that for a while. He'd have to find something to do to keep his mind off it. Looking in the mirror, he suddenly caught something out of the corner of his eye. There were white spots on his cast. He moved it so he could see what it read in the mirror and saw the word "Don" backwards in the mirror.
Charlie couldn't help but laugh at his brother. He had gotten a white-out pen to write on his cast. It lightened his mood considerably and made the day seem much easier.
He was happy to see his brother come home for supper. He was in the living room watching TV when Don came through the front door. Charlie looked up and smiled at him and Don was pleased to see it.
"Hey, Charlie. What's up?"
"I'm just watching TV. What are you up to?"
"Looking for a good meal." Don smiled as he hung up his suit jacket on the coat hanger and came over to sit down in the leather arm chair facing the TV.
"Come eat," Alan said as he came out holding a pan of meat loaf. He went back into the kitchen and brought out homemade macaroni and cheese and green beans.
"Hey, Dad. Looks good," Don commented as he came up to the table.
"Donny. When'd you get here?"
"A couple of minutes ago."
"Well, come sit down. What you want to drink? Water?"
"A beer if you have any."
Alan rolled his eyes. "You're the only reason I keep beer in the house."
"In whose house, Dad?" Charlie teased as he came up to the table as well.
"Don't you start with me too." Alan pointed a finger at Charlie.
Charlie and Don shared a grin as their father returned to serving their dinner. Charlie sat across from Don and waited for his plate to be served. He took a sip of water while he waited and smiled when everyone had been served.
"Dig in," Alan said, spreading his hands out.
"Don't mind if I do," Don said.
For the first few minutes everyone ate in silence. After they had eaten for a while, Charlie started a conversation with his older brother.
"Hey, Don. How's the latest case coming?"
Don nodded. "It's going pretty well. We could have used your help on this one, but we're doing all right."
"That's good. I miss getting to work on it."
"Yeah, we all miss you too."
"How about, um... how about with Jake?" Charlie asked timidly.
Don and Alan paused in eating and looked at each other. Alan didn't know what Don would say. He was interested as well, but he wasn't expecting Charlie to ask.
Don cleared his throat before answering his brother. "It's going fine. We're progressing as normal. We'll catch him."
Charlie nodded, though he didn't exactly believe it was true.
"I'm sure you will, Donny. We have complete trust in you, right, Charlie?"
"Right," Charlie replied and smiled rather fakely.
Don frowned slightly at the look on his brother's face. It didn't look very sincere to him, but maybe he was just looking too far into it. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he wasn't really paying attention. Maybe he was upset...
For the rest of the meal, Charlie picked at his food. He hadn't wanted to hear that the agents were "progressing as normal." He wanted to hear details. He wanted to hear the excitement in Don's voice he got when they were almost ready to catch the bad guy. But Don sounded resigned, almost bored with the case. Nothing new had happened since the flowers and the home invasion. There had to be something more to this for Don to get what he needed. It wasn't enough concrete evidence to catch up with him. There were no leads, just a few taunts here and there.
"Are you feeling okay, Charlie?" Alan asked as he got up to get the dishes. He placed his hand on his son's forehead, knowing they should be cautious with Charlie and colds due to the removal of his spleen. He didn't feel a fever, but he could see that something was definitely up. Sometimes he actually wanted it to be a cold.
Don's attention was fixed on his brother as well. He wondered if something was wrong. He looked to his father. He hoped it was nothing serious.
"No fever. How do you feel?"
"Tired," Charlie replied, avoiding their gazes.
"Well, why don't you go upstairs? You should get some sleep if you're tired. We don't want you to catch a cold or anything."
"Yeah, okay."
"Sleep well, Buddy," Don said as he watched his brother slowly leave the room. He waited until he heard the door close upstairs before he pounced on his father.
"Has he been in his room?" Don demanded to know.
"Not that I know of," Alan said, looking toward the stairs.
He walked around so that he could see the door to Don's old room and he saw a light on from under the door.
"He's in your room right now. I don't think he's been in his room since before he was in the hospital."
"I thought maybe that was what was bothering him."
Alan shook his head. "No. He slept in pretty late, came downstairs and watched TV for a while, fell asleep, and watched some more TV. He's been in my sights all day."
"Hm. I wonder what's wrong then?"
"I don't know. I hope he's not getting a cold or something."
"Yeah, me, too. Well, I hate to eat and run, but I need to get back to work."
"At this hour?"
"Only for a little while. I just have a few papers to fill out. It won't be long."
"Okay. Thanks for coming for supper."
"Thanks for the delicious meal." Don smiled broadly at his father. "Take care of Charlie for me."
"I will."
"I know. See you, Dad."
"Bye, Donny."
Alan returned to gathering the dishes, thinking it convenient that both his sons left when it was time to do the dishes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charlie did manage to fall asleep for a several hours. He woke up a little after midnight and couldn't get back to sleep. He felt the urge to move. He could feel his room pulling at him, beckoning him to come take a look. It was supposed to be cleaned tomorrow anyway. So it was now or never.
He slowly made his way down the hall. He saw that the door to his father's room was open, but Alan wasn't inside. Figuring his father had fallen asleep downstairs, Charlie tiptoed on.
Quietly Charlie opened up the door to his room. It was dark, and he didn't want that to change. He felt around for his flashlight on the night stand and found it easily. He turned the light on and shone it across the room. He felt bile rise in his throat at the sight before him.
If it was this bad now, Charlie couldn't imagine what he would have thought if he'd come home to this unprepared. His heart pounded in his chest and sweat covered his forehead. His knees began to buckle and he sank to the floor. Why had they lied to him? Someone should have warned him about this. Someone should have told him about it. How could they tell him that Jake had just written "Welcome home, Eppes" on his wall? It was so much more than that.
Red writing surrounded his room, surrounded the walls. It was as though someone had written a novel across his room. It covered the ceiling, the lights, the wall, the floors, and sometimes even overlapped across the furniture. The central wording said, "You're going to die. I will kill you." Other lines read, "Revenge is so sweet," "Ready for some fun?", "Don't bother running; I'll find you." Every line stabbed him until he couldn't breathe. He fell fully on the floor, covered in the frightening red writing. He covered his eyes, trying to hide from it all. It wasn't there. It couldn't be. It was all in his head. All in his head!
"You're safe, Charlie. You're safe. You're safe," Charlie whispered to himself as he held himself in a tighter ball in the middle of his room.
Though he told himself that, he didn't really believe it. Deep down he was crying out, "Save me!"
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Don couldn't believe he had actually forgotten his cellphone. It was the one thing he kept with him at all times. He just didn't forget it. But some how he had left it at his brother's house when he had stopped by for dinner. Since he'd been at the office since then, he hadn't really missed any calls. But now, since he was going home, he would need it in case of an emergency. He was thankful that he had a spare key. He would hate to wake up his brother or father just because of his cell phone.
Don walked through the front door quietly, expecting no one to be up to bother. He jumped when he turned and saw his father stretched out on the couch snoring. He smiled to himself at the sight. He decided not to wake him since he looked comfortable enough where he was. He quietly searched the areas he'd been for his cellphone. He found his cellphone on the kitchen table with a sticky note on it that read, "Don's phone." Don smiled and shook his head. His father must have found it and left it out for him. He was glad he didn't have to risk waking his dad up by looking for it.
Just as he grabbed the phone to pick up and put in his pocket, a thud sounded from upstairs. It wasn't loud enough to be a fall, but it made Don wonder what it could be. He snuck up the stairs, thankful to see the noise hadn't woke his father. He went to his old room and found it empty, as was the bathroom and his father's room. It could only mean one thing.
"Damn it," Don breathed. He slowly opened the door to Charlie's room and found his brother lying in the middle of the floor, curled up into a tight ball. He could only see that from the light shine of the moon through the window. He could see a small glimmer of light coming from Charlie's folded arms. Don could see that Charlie had a flashlight in his hands, but it was being covered by his arm wrapped tightly against him.
"Oh, Charlie," Don said as he flipped on the light, feeling sorry for his brother. He wasn't expecting what happened when the light turned on. No wonder Charlie was upset.
"Charlie, don't touch anything." Don didn't actually expect Charlie to. Charlie was too busy shielding himself on the floor to touch anything else.
"Come on. Let's get out of here." Don quickly gathered his brother close to him and led him from the room. Don turned off the light, hoping that Charlie couldn't see any more of the writing on the wall. He led a howling Charlie back to his old room and sat with him on the bed.
"Make it go away! Please!" Charlie cried as he pressed his face tightly against Don's chest. His main goal was to hide his view of everything. He didn't want to see the world because he knew when he opened his eyes he'd see the horrible red writing. It scared him, taunted him. What did Jake want with him?
"Sh, sh," Don soothed as he wrapped his arms tightly around his brother.
"You should have told me! Why did you lie to me? Why?!" Charlie screamed as he sobbed into his brother's shirt. He was going to be sick. This wasn't right. He was supposed to be safe.
"Sh, sh. You're okay." Don knew there was no point trying to explain now when his brother was so upset. Hell, he was upset. It meant Jake had been back. He had come inside his brother's home within the last 24 hours. And Charlie and Alan had been home during that time.
"Why? Why? Oh, God." Charlie suddenly let go of his brother, surprising Don. Don let go when he felt his brother fight him. Charlie rushed out of the room and out into the night.
"Charlie!" Don called as he got up from the bed. He walked toward the door, expecting his brother to be in the bathroom or perhaps in their father's arms. However, he found the front door wide open, and could see his brother running fast down the street.
Alan jumped up when he heard the front door swing open. He looked around, forgetting where he was, and realized that whoever it was had left the door open. Were they being robbed?
Then he heard Don call for Charlie. He got up and went to the front door and found Don rushing down the stairs. He looked outside and saw Charlie's small frame running away.
"Charlie!" Don shouted, ignoring his father.
"Don, what's going on?"
"Go look at Charlie's room and you'll find out." Realizing that probably wasn't good advice, Don paused a moment. "Charlie got scared. He went into his room and there was more writing. He's terrified. I have to go get him."
"Please, do."
Alan watched Don run after his brother, noticing how in shape his oldest must be in.
Charlie didn't have destination. He just wanted some place safe. Throwing all logic out the window, he ran to get away. He had to find some place safe where Jake could never find him.
"Don't bother running; I'll find you."
Jake was right behind him, whispering it in his ear. Charlie ran faster. But with each amount he increased, Jake did too. He was right on him. He couldn't escape.
A car turned the corner, aimed straight at him. Though still far enough away for Charlie to get out of the way, he stopped in his tracks, looking much like a deer in the headlights.
"TIme for round two?" Jake asked as he stepped out of the way, allowing Charlie to get hit.
Don couldn't believe his brother had stopped. Feeling the adrenaline speed him up, Don ran faster than he ever had before. He got to his brother as the car tried to swerve out of the way. Charlie screamed and Don screamed, too. He grabbed out, pulling back with all his strength. He was relieved to find that he had grabbed Charlie in time and had pulled him back.
"Ow!" Charlie cried, grabbing onto his side and his arm. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Oh, God it hurt. He looked up and saw a figure standing above him in the dark. Jake would get him now! He was down. He couldn't defend himself. Someone help!
"Charlie! Oh, God. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
Charlie saw his brother's face now, not Jake's. He sighed with relief, though even that hurt. He couldn't figure out how he hadn't felt the pain in his broken ribs as he ran. He could only say that fear and adrenaline pushed the pain away. Now, though, he was in pain. He needed help.
"Don? Help," Charlie whispered quietly, heartbrokenly. He laid his head atop his brother's thigh as Don sank down beside him.
Don pulled out his cellphone, having now remembered it. He called his father, though only a few blocks away.
"Dad, get your ass down here. Now," Don ordered, angry, but scared.
"Turn around. And watch your mouth," Alan said right before hanging up.
Don turned his attention away from his brother and saw his father's car coming toward them.
"Okay, Buddy. I'm going to lift you up and get you in the car, okay?"
"No. It'll hurt!" Charlie cried.
"I know, Buddy. I know. We have to get you to the hospital. You may have gotten hurt worse. I can't let that happen, Buddy."
"No! Please, Don! No!" Charlie screamed as Don lifted his brother up. Alan had opened the back door for them and Don placed Charlie inside. He sat in the back with him, cradling his brother's head in his lap. Charlie's tears dampened his pants, but he didn't care.
"I'm sorry, Buddy. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
Charlie shut his eyes tightly, though the tears could still spill out. He whimpered miserably. He wanted this to be over. Why did they have to take him to the hospital? He wouldn't be safe there. There was no place safe. No matter where he went, he'd be trapped, cornered. Because no matter what, Jake would find him.
Don brushed his hand across his brother's forehead and wiped at the tears that stretched across his face. He had no idea where his brother had been going, but he wanted him to stay. He couldn't let Charlie get away. He needed his brother, even if his brother didn't need him.
Alan stole a quick glance in the rearview mirror. He saw his boys huddled together. Charlie had his eyes forced shut and Don was watching him intently. They looked so fragile, so scared. He felt his throat clog with emotions. How could he comfort them? They seemed to depend on themselves or each other. Why couldn't he be a part of the support group?
They pulled into the hospital parking lot by the emergency room. Don helped Charlie out of the car, who decided he could walk to the hospital. Alan walked closely beside Charlie and Don was on Charlie's other side.
Charlie sat in one of the chairs in the ER waiting room and Don and Alan went to check him in.
"What in the world just happened?" Alan asked.
"I don't know. He just ran out. One minute I had him out of his room and back into my old room. The next he was running away like his life depended on it. I don't know what happened, but he nearly got hit by a car. I had to pull him out of the way, and, in the process, I had to toss him on the ground. I think it hurt his ribs again, and maybe his arm, too."
Alan shook his head. "Go sit with him. I'll tell them."
"Okay."
Don walked back over to Charlie, who was sitting in the corner. He was sitting so that his side was on the back of the chair. He was looking down at the floor, and that didn't change when Don walked up to him and sat down by him.
"Where were you going, Buddy?" Don asked after a few awkward minutes of silence.
Charlie just shrugged in response. He didn't have an answer. He didn't have any place in mind when he ran. He had just wanted to get away. That was it.
"Come on, Buddy. Why did you run out like that? You could have gotten hurt a lot worse.
"I don't know," he replied to his brother quietly.
"You have to have had some reason. What's going on?"
Charlie slowly turned around so his back wasn't to his brother anymore. He didn't meet Don's eyes, but he at least began to speak to him.
"I just wanted to get away. I'm tired of not being safe. There had to be some place safe, some place where Jake couldn't get to me. I just couldn't find it. So I ran. I figured eventually I'd find it. But Jake found me first."
"What? Charlie, I never saw him."
Charlie nodded. "It was my shadow," he whispered.
Don leaned forward and grabbed onto his brother's head, forcing his face close to his own.
"Tell me, Charlie. What can I do? What can I do to fix this? What can I do to make this stop? Please, Charlie, tell me! I'll do anything. Just... tell me."
Charlie met his brother's gaze with a stoney face. He felt no emotion. He was detached from the pain. It was what made looking Don in the eye so easy. It was what made telling him the truth so easy.
"There's nothing you can do... unless you can figure out a way to kill Jake."
Don's face lost all color, so Charlie turned away, unable to look at his brother. Don stood almost mechanically and walked away.
Alan came back to where his boys were, except he found that one was missing. He sat down beside Charlie and asked him where Don was.
Charlie shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have an answer. He didn't know where Don had gone.
"Did you say something to him?"
Charlie didn't give his father a response. He fiddled with a corner of the cushion on his chair that had come up and worked to get it back in place.
Alan sighed. His son had gone off the deep end. It was his other brood mood, the one he worked so hard to keep his son out of. What could he do to get him back this time? And what happened to Don?
Unusual for the LA region, the emergency room was nearly empty. Charlie was taken back soon after they arrived and Alan decided to look for Don.
It wasn't hard to find his son. He had gone outside and sat on a bench close to the entrance. Alan didn't notice the tears and sobs until he sat down beside Don.
"Donnie?"
Don sobbed and ran his hand under his eyes before he was able to answer. "I can't. I'm useless, Dad. Charlie's going to get hurt again, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
Alan gathered his oldest son in his arms. Don shook and cried against his father, feeling like such a failure. Charlie was right. There was nothing he could do, unless he could figure out a way to catch Jake. And so far he hadn't. He couldn't figure out how to save his brother. Maybe it was because this case became personal. He never had a problem like this with a case before. But this time, when it really mattered to him, he couldn't figure out how to save his brother. What was he going to do? He couldn't just wait around for his brother to get hurt again, but that's what it felt like. It felt like that was all he could do because he hadn't made any progress with catching Jake. It was as though he was just a ghost, vanishing in and out of the real world. It didn't make sense. He had been caught so easily once before. Why couldn't that be the case now?
"Sh, Donny. Sh. It'll be okay," Alan comforted. He hated seeing Don throw in the towel like this. His son wasn't the kind of person who gave up easily. Something had changed, and it scared Alan.
"What happened, Don?" Alan asked when Don seemed to calm down a bit, at least on the outside.
"Charlie... God, he was right."
"About what? What did he say?"
Don turned his gaze to his father's and Alan could see the broken heart in their depths. "He said that there was nothing I could do to save him, unless I could figure out a way to kill Jake. And, I don't know how to do that. I can't catch him. And if I can't, that means he'll still be free and he can get Charlie. There's nothing I can do to stop that."
Alan wasn't sure how to respond to that. Changing the subject, he directed their attention back to Charlie. "Let's go back in. Charlie should be done soon."
And he was. Charlie's ribs had to be taped. Luckily his arm hadn't received any further damage except for a few bruises. By three o'clock, they were all back home.
"Now, get into bed, and you get into bed," Alan ordered as he pointed at both his sons.
Don took the couch, since his old bed was being used and no one should go into Charlie's room since it was once again a crime scene. He'd have to remember to call it in in the morning. For now, he just wanted to sleep. He figured that would be the only way to make the misery go away.
Charlie moaned as he stretched out on his bed. He rested on his right side and clung to one of his pillows as he hugged it to his chest. He pressed his cheek against it and tears spilled down his face and onto its cover. There was no way he was going to get to sleep now, and he found that after laying awake for an hour.
He decided to get up and he tiptoed down the steps. He saw Don laying on the couch, looking peacefully asleep. Good for him, Charlie thought.
"Charlie?"
Charlie jumped at the sound of his brother's voice. He thought he was asleep.
"What are you doing up?" Don asked as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Couldn't sleep," he answered.
Don smiled softly. "Yeah, me either." He motioned with his hand for Charlie to come over. Charlie moved to the couch and sat by him. Don put his arm around Charlie and just sat there with his brother. How could he let anything happen to him? But how could he prevent it? He already had agents watching the house and following Charlie. What more could he do?
"I'm sorry," Charlie whispered, looking out across the living room, anywhere except for his brother's face.
"For what?"
"For hurting you, for making you feel like a bad brother. I don't mean to. I know you'll catch Jake. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise."
Don couldn't respond. He felt tears spill down his face and he bit his lower lip to keep from crying out. He rested his head on top of Charlie's and stayed there for a long while.
"Why are you crying?" Charlie asked once he noticed the moisture hitting his head.
"I'm sorry, Buddy. I'm not doing a very good job of protecting you, am I?" Don asked with a joyless laugh.
"Yes, you are. Nothing's happened since I got hit by the car. Sure, he's been in my house, but he hasn't touched me."
"Yeah, not physically. You can't tell me he hasn't gotten to you. It's written all over your face and I wasn't able to protect you from that."
"You didn't make me go into my room. You tried to keep me from it. I was the one who made the stupid mistake of going in there."
Charlie paused a moment, realizing something. "Why didn't you tell me that it looked like that? Why did you lie to me?"
Don squeezed Charlie a moment, pressing him tighter against him. "I-I didn't lie to you. He had just written, 'Welcome home, Eppes.' That changed, though, and I didn't know it... He's been back here, and probably while you've been home."
Charlie doubled over, holding his stomach. He fought off the wave of nausea and was able to keep from throwing up.
"Are you okay?" Don asked as he rubbed circles on Charlie's back.
"This is crazy, you know that? This should not be happening."
"I know... but it is."
Why couldn't that change? Why did it have to be him? Sure, he wouldn't wish this on anyone else, but he still didn't want it to be happening to him. It was awful. It was haunting. It stole his attention and changed him. He was emotionally fragile, and terrified of every little thing because he was always afraid it was Jake. He was never relaxed, always on edge. He was ready for this to be over, but it was far from it. What would happen when it was all over? The answer scared him because it was an unknown. He liked knowing what to expect. That definitely wasn't the case this time.
Don pulled Charlie back so that he was sitting by him again. He got up and pulled Charlie with him and led him back to his old room. He forced Charlie down onto the bed and waited for him to get under the covers. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and returned his brother's gaze.
"I'm going to keep an eye on you, okay? I'll make sure nothing happens."
"Why? You need sleep, too," Charlie said quietly, already getting sleepy.
"Yeah, I know. But I can't let anything happen to you tonight. So you're stuck with me." Don moved to the closet and pulled out an old sleeping bag he'd left there. Charlie threw an extra pillow on the floor for him.
"Thanks. Good night, Buddy."
"'Night."
Don smiled as he soon heard the light snores coming from his brother. He stretched out and got comfortable. He knew he'd fall asleep easily, too. He had lied to Charlie. He had been sound asleep when Charlie came downstairs, but he figured Charlie wouldn't want to bother him if he said he had just woke up again.
Maybe he could offer his brother some feeling of safety by being in the same room as him. He hoped so, because from what he could tell, it was the only comfort he was able to give his brother.
Well, this is pretty long for me, so I hope you're happy with that. I figured I'd take my time a little with this because I really don't know when I'll be able to update again. This week is finals' week, so I won't have time during the week to write. And this Friday I'll be at school all day and when I get home, I'll be there for a few hours and then we'll be on the road for 12-14 hours since we're going on vacation. And we'll be on vacation until Wednesday. Soooo, I don't know what's going to happen. I guess we'll just have to see how this plays out. I hope you guys will survive without it for a while. I promise that I will write the chapter down while I'm on vacation so I can update fairly quickly when I get back. Okay? I'll miss you!