Reese Kirkland was the type of person that you trusted...sort of. Unbeknownst to many, he would only appear to take your warnings into consideration before sneakily doing something you didn't want him to do. For example, Malcom didn't want any of them to write a letter. Sean and James outright ignored him, but Reese was sneaky. He waited until everyone was asleep before pulling out his own laptop and writing a letter.

To: This kid

From: Reese Kirkland.

My brother and his brother-like friend have probably already explained the meanings of the words you struggled with. Don't use them until you're older.

Anyways, advice: stick to your family. Yes, parents are overbearing at your age, but when you're a legal adult, you're gonna keep going back to them. My brother (let's call him "Arty") went through some hard times. His girlfriend for 4 years and fiance for 3 months dumped him flat on his ass. It was pretty cruel, and he was devastated. He's been drowning his sorrows in a bottle of rum for the past two years. He hasn't held a job for more than a week; it's driving my brother mad. Heck, it's driving all of us mad. But we can't exactly kick him out. Arty is a good person. He's just...having difficulty getting back up. As a family, it's our job to hold him up.

I probably don't sound like the seventeen-year-old I am. I'm okay with that. People say I sound really mature for my age, which is good, I guess.

Anyways, family is good for you, regardless of your life decisions. Whether you come out, are trying to do rehab, or just need a place to crash, they always seem to have something. Just remember to get back on your feet. You can't exactly mooch forever, even if you're the Queen of England. God fucking bless her! (I'm not too fond of the royal family. They get paid for sitting on their asses and being born with the right blood. It's outrageous, and it drives up the taxes. But that's just me)

Anyways, they don't know I'm writing this. I think Sean is waking up, so I'm gonna print this (it goes to a different room to print) and put it in. Wait, why am I writing this?

Bye!

(Signature)

Reese's fears were unfounded. Sean and James were both conked out on the massive guest bed. Their limbs were tangled, and James was clinging to Sean's shoulder. He rolled his eyes. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear they're gay he thought to himself. He tucked the letter into the envelope, which was getting quite fat now.

To this damned kid,

Yes I am druunk rigt now. then again, I'm always dfrunk. All I gotao say is: get a griop on realtiy. IF it's tgoo good to be true, then it probaly is. If noiwone makes a move ina relationship, then it idnt ever gonna go anywhere. jsut get obver it now.

alcohiol is a sutipd way to get over life's sucvkhy moments. But, its the most coneveintnat. Don't get on it, or yeou an't getting off theis roller coaster. terustr me, I knwo so. ive bheen triying to quit for the pastr two yers. niot fun. at all.

(Very scribbly signature)

Arthur printed the letter and tried to force his note into the envelope, only to find the contents too fat to fit.

"Fuck," he slurred. "Fuck it all." He dug through one of the cabinets (he had gotten adept at functioning while drunk) and found a big manila envelope. He forced all the letters inside.

"Awthuw?" Peter called out. "Awty, are you there?" The drunk Briton turned to face his youngest brother. True, the five of them were all half-brothers, but he felt closest to Peter. The two had been born in the same city.

"Whaddya want?" he said, trying to keep his voice emotionless. "'S late." He noticed (what an accomplishment!) that the boy was holding one of many of his ripoff Beatles tracks. "Tha's mine, y'know."

"S'not real," Peter said knowingly. "'Merican boy can have it."

Arthur took the CD from him. "All You Need Is Love?" He hadn't seen or listened to this song in a while, probably two years or something like that. The boy nodded. Arthur couldn't help but smile crazily at his little brother. This little tyke had unknowingly given him his favorite song, the one he had lost. He started to sing, picking up in the chorus. "All you need is love/All you need is love, love/ Love is all you need!"

It was crazy, but this strange high had washed over him, one even better than anything alcohol or drugs (his brothers didn't know about the drugs) he had tried. He picked up his brother and started spinning him around. Peter shrieked in surprise and glee. Arthur even started laughing. It wasn't degrading or sarcastic; it was pure, inane joy.

Unfortunately, it woke the other brothers up. "What the hell is goin' on?" Malcom growled, leaving the comfort of his room. The (not by blood) twins came from the guest room that they shared, regardless of both having their own separate rooms. Reese popped in, trying to fake exhaustion; luckily, everyone else was too sleepy to notice.

Arthur didn't bother being surly again. "Sing with me! There's nothing you can do that can't be done/ Nothing you can sing that can't be sung!"

"You've never been a happy drunk," Malcom said, his voice thick with sleep, "so you can't be drunk. What's gotten into you?"

"Love!" Peter said before anyone else could intervene.

"Fucking brilliant observation!" Arthur said, putting his brother down. "This brilliant brother of mine has made the observation that the world needs love!"

"Go to sleep, you bloody noisy bastard!" Sean finally snapped. "I don't want to hear any more of your revitalization shit; it's too early-slash-late to say such crap. Why don't you go to bed and we can figure out this out tomorrow when we all aren't cry-our-eyes-out exhausted!" He stormed off, James right on his heels. The rest of the brothers soon disappeared into their respective rooms, falling asleep as soon as they hit the pillows. Arthur, his head clear for the first time in a while, tucked the CD and letter into the manila envelope. He hefted his brother up and took him to his bedroom.

"Tired?" The little boy nodded. "Me too. You stay with me tonight." The little blond smiled ecstatically. It had been forever since Arthur had shown such affection. It filled his little heart with such joy. The two fell asleep holding each other like a young boy clutching his teddy bear.

The next day, the whole clan went to the post office. Earlier in the day (read: at noon), they looked up some French businessman's office. They wrote his address into the mailing address. All the letters had been transferred into a manila folder. They sent it off, wondering how the letter would fare when it arrived in the City of Lights.

Holy crap, where the hell did this go? Anywhere starting after Arthur's letter was written after leaving this alone for a few months. Then it just started going downhill...I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't abandon writing for long stretches of time. Anyways, your input would be nice, as well as what you want to see.