Alan growled in anger as he slammed the living room door shut behind him, his feet stomping on the wooden floors as he made his way outside. His frustration was made even clearer when he began to kick a clump of grass, grunting out curses with each hit.

"Stupid…Gordon! Stupid…Scott! Stupid…Virgil!"

"Stupid John?" Alan span around in surprise to see John standing there, his book clutched against his chest as he looked at Alan with concern.

"What do you want?" groaned Alan "Come to make fun of me as well?!" John winced,

"You know I'm not like that Alan…"

"No…I don't John. You're never here! You're always upstairs reading!" John took a step back at the anger on his brothers' face,

"I-I-"

"How do I know you're not the same as them!?" John smirked,

"You think you're the only one that they make fun of?" Alan sat down in shock, John sitting next to him as Alan stared at him,

"B-but….you're the golden child! Top of your classes….Dad would do anything for you, and has done I think!" John chuckled at the last sentence,

"Well, I disagree with the last statement…he's just a little over-protective, I mean compared to you lot, I'm practically a twig!"

Alan couldn't help but silently agree. Him, Scott, Gordon and Virgil were clearly stockier and had a greater muscle tone due to the amount of running around and sports they did. John was more of a reader and preferred to stay indoors studying, he was also the one who looked like their mom the most and she had quite a slender build herself.

"They tease me as well Alan…" continued John, his eyes downcast as he stared at the paving stones, "…at least you know that the things they say aren't true, you're not useless or a screw-up…" Alan opened his mouth to protest, but John continued on undeterred,

"But let's face it…I'm exactly what they say I am. I'm a nerd…a geek…I'm strange, not like everyone else!" Alan frowned at the anger and the pain in his brothers' voice, but John still continued,

"What I'm trying to say is that….Scott and that lot aren't perfect either. Far from it in fact!"

"What do you mean?"

"You think Scott has never failed a class before? Or that Virgil has never made a mistake? Or that Gordon has never annoyed Dad to the point where he loses his temper?" Alan flushed at the memory of why he had stormed out in the first place,

"Why do they pick on me then?!" John smiled,

"You're young….an easy target. I'm an easy target because of my nature." Alan nodded in understanding,

"I'm making it easy for them by losing my temper too quickly…aren't I?"

"Yep….they continue to tease me because I very rarely show a reaction. It's like a competition to see who can make me lose my temper between the three of them. But with you, you react every time, no matter how insignificant the insult….your response is anger and they find this funny" John placed a gentle hand on Alan's shoulder,

"You just have to learn to control your temper…"

"How?" John smirked,

"I'll share my secret with you…how I manage to deal with them" John leaned closer to whisper into his brother's ear. What was said made Alan grin…o this was going to be fun…

…Years later…

"John! John!" John span around as he heard Alan run up to him, tackling him in a hug that almost lifted the slighter brother off his feet,

"Hey!" John laughed at Alan's enthusiasm, "How did it go?!"

"I nailed it!"

"That's awesome!" Alan opened his mouth to reply but they were interrupted by the loud conversation of the rest of the family,

"O hey Sprout!" exclaimed Gordon as he, Scott and Virgil entered the room, "…How many cars did you manage to crash then?" Alan frowned at the mocking tone in Gordon's voice and the accompanying laughter from Scott and Virgil that surrounded it.

"I passed if you must know…" Alan answered, speaking through clenched teeth as he helped John to steady himself after the heavy tackle.

"How much did you pay them?" Before Alan could lunge himself at Gordon, he was stopped gently by John placing a hand across his chest.

"Calm down and remember what I told you…" Alan smirked before focusing on the rest of his family,

"Hey Gordon….do you remember your high school prom?" Gordon frowned in confusion,

"Yeah but what-"He stopped as his eyes widened in shock, before facing John, "You told him!" John laughed at the surprise in Gordon's voice, and Alan continued,

"And Scott…whatever did happen with you and…what was her name, you know…Dad's secretary? Oh Rosie! That was it!" Scott flushed at the memory before turning accusing eyes on John. Before Alan could say anything else, Virgil held up his hands in mock surrender,

"No way. I don't want to know what you have on me" Alan and John glanced at each other before grinning at the other three,

"We've got to have some advantage against you guys, right Alan?"

"Right!" Scott, Gordon and Virgil glanced at each other before nodding in silent agreement, before walking away.

As they wandered off, John span round to give Alan a high five,

"Remember, just knowing that you have something over them helps when they start teasing you. Yu don't have to say anything…" Alan nodded sheepishly,

"I still lose my temper a fair bit…."

"Trust me…I know"

"But…you've helped…" Alan smiled, "Thanks John…."

"No worries Alan"