And onwards :p Thanks for the reviews and favourites so far!
Enjoy!
T
The youngest of the trio had his loyalty tested not three days later, when he had come up the stairs to try and find a page of instructions Eleanor had given him on cooking a lemon-meringue pie.
From the music room down the hall, Theodore could hear Simon playing the piano and took it as a relief that Simon was too busy to talk to him. Ever since that night Alvin told Theodore about what he was going through, Theodore felt any conversation with Simon was too risky – he could spill this secret under pressure, and he severely wanted to avoid that.
Once he found his slip of paper, Theodore started out of the room and down the hall.
'Is that you, Teddy?' Simon called.
Panicking, Theodore stopped. 'Y-yes,' he returned.
'Oh, good,' Simon went on. 'Could you come in here for a moment?'
Theodore swallowed nervously, but did as requested and trekked back up the hall and towards the music room, where he entered and noted Simon still at the piano, looking far from suspicious and more or less excited.
'Thanks, Theo.' Simon smiled. 'I just… I needed to clear my head, so I was just playing around with the piano and – this melody,' he ran his fingers artfully over the notes and produced one of the sweetest four bars Theodore had heard in a long time. 'I need to record it for later,' he turned to Theodore now, the last note striking pure to end the phrase. 'Could you hold the camera for me?'
'Sure,' Theodore smiled, now, just as excited. 'I really think Dave's going to love it.'
Simon smiled in modest thanks and adjusted his glasses over his grey eyes. 'I'm just hoping that Alvin will…' he relayed with a sigh, turning back to the piano.
Theodore froze for a moment before responding. 'He has to like it.' He insisted.
'Mm…' Simon hummed. 'He has to sing what goes with it, that's all…' he forced a smile. 'You know how difficult he can be with those things… Dave's had to either scrap or modify at least sixty songs because of Alvin's… fastidious, taste.'
'Yeah, but he hasn't heard any of your songs.' Theodore pointed out, carrying over the camera.
Simon nodded and watched as Theodore stood beside him with the camera. 'That's because I don't want him to turn them down.' He explained. 'But… I have a feeling about this one.' He tilted his head and looked down at the keys. 'Maybe if I prepare it enough, he'll… somehow, miraculously, out of pure chance… he might like it.'
Theodore was aching to tell Simon that Alvin would love it, that Alvin would love anything Simon created. But he held his tongue. Somewhat. 'I bet he'll love it.'
'Thanks, Teddy.' Simon smiled, and shifted comfortably. 'Alright, is the camera ready?'
'I think so.' Theodore turned the dial to "record" and held the button ready.
Simon gave Theodore an "okay, go" and started to play. Theodore quickly took the video, again surprised by the tune coming out of the piano. Simon repeated the four bars nine times – that was the norm for a verse. One four-bar intro, and eight bars with the singer.
Theodore was fairly certain that he wasn't keeping the camera steady, but it was just a recording anyway. Once Simon was done, Theodore clicked off the recording and set the camera down, still thoughtful about Alvin's predicament. The youngest couldn't believe Simon would take it too badly. Sure, some shouting. But that was normal anyway.
'Hey, Theo?' Simon began in a thoughtful voice.
'Yeah?' Theodore replied uncertainly.
Simon was silent for a moment before he stood. 'Just… correct me if I'm mistaken,' he began, 'but: have you been avoiding me?'
Theodore took a moment before responding due to the fact that he didn't want to lie or tell the truth in this answer. 'N-no,' he achieved. 'O-otherwise I wouldn't be in here with you.'
'Is there something going on that I should know about?' Simon continued sceptically, folding his arms now.
'Why would there be..?' Theodore asked in a small voice, feeling more interrogated than he should have done.
Simon frowned slightly. 'I don't know… you've been very evasive lately and I'm just curious.' He looked down for a moment. 'Might have something to do with why Alvin's not capable of keeping eye contact. I can't help but feel you two are acting suspicious around me.'
Theodore was starting to feel cornered. What do I do? Reassure him? How do I do that without telling him about Alvin's secret? I don't want him to feel bad! 'Nothing's… going on.' Theodore got out. 'You don't need to be suspicious.' He looked down and fiddled with his shirt.
'Okay,' Simon nodded, putting on a smile. 'I trust you.' He shrugged. 'So… maybe tomorrow you can give this piano tune a backbeat for me?' He asked, motioning to the camera.
'Y-yeah, that's fine.' Theodore smiled in relief. He had no idea that Simon was reading him like a book. In fact, Theodore should have suspected Simon's continuing distrust – the intellectual brother didn't leave anything alone until he knew everything, even if it turned out to be nothing major in the end.
Later, Theodore would curse his naivety. But now he just felt lucky to avoid more of Simon's prying.
Simon gave him one last smile before he headed out of the room.
S
It was too coincidental not to be suspicious.
Simon drummed his fingers against his desk as he waited for his computer to start up. He didn't like this wait that he was putting himself through. Not the computer; figuring out Alvin and Theodore's actions.
From the expression on Theodore's face, whatever that was going on wasn't his idea. Surprise, surprise, it was obviously Alvin's.
That wasn't as reassuring as you'd think. In fact, Simon got more and more concerned.
He felt a little like he did at school when the jocks would whisper to each other – like some conspiracy was going on about him, like they were plotting against him, like he was about to get hurt one way or another.
If he was younger, more naïve, he would have tossed this aside as something he clearly was left out of for his best interests. Like a surprise party or something.
I was a dreamer when I was little… he smiled to himself, loading his Chemistry report.
Whatever was going on, he was going to get to the bottom of it. And he was going to do it cleverly. Instead of demanding it from Theodore, and getting his little brother upset, he was going to wait until the two both slipped up. That way it wouldn't be just one person's fault and no one could blame the other.
He wanted to crack Alvin, first, so that Theodore didn't feel so guilty.
And he knew it would be easier to get to Alvin – he had a knack for doing that. Whether through civil talk or… regrettable shouting, he'd get his response.
He leaned back with a sigh and looked down at the desk in thought. He didn't like being so scheming, honestly. If things were different, he would rather sit down and talk to his brothers together, and tell them how this made him feel isolated, left out, and how that wasn't something brothers should feel amongst each other. He'd tell Alvin that it was hurtful. He'd tell Theodore that he didn't have to do whatever Alvin told him to.
But he knew all too well how that would pan out.
Alvin would sit there glaring at Theodore if he said the wrong thing, pressuring the youngest into silence. Alvin would remain stubborn and get even more detached if Simon were to mention the concept of "feelings". And the intellectual boy would end up feeling worse, perhaps to the point of on-the-spot melancholy. And looking weak in front of his brothers was the last thing he wanted to do. Ever.
So he would have to do this – he had no other choice but to single them out individually to generate his desired response – to start putting together the puzzle that remained. Sure, he could blame this on his constant curiosity about everything around him; but this was something that made him feel like he deserved to know.
And no way on Earth would he let Alvin slip anything by him.
A
Alvin woke before he could yell that early morning.
The dream he had just witnessed was even worse than his other ones. He felt as if he couldn't yell.
Oh, man, I hope Theodore can keep quiet… he thought as his sapphire eyes scanned the dark ceiling above him. If Simon finds out from Theodore… who wouldn't know how to explain it properly… it would be… chaos.
He steadied his breathing and tried calming his thoughts down. It's been a week… that's more than Theodore's ever kept a secret for… he frowned slightly. If only he'd stop being so conspicuous about it when Simon's around… he's lucky Simon's too busy with other things to pry… all he needs to do is act like it never happened… heck, I've been doing that for months…
Alvin sat up gently, looking miserably down at his lap. 'It's only these stupid nightmares that won't go away…' he whispered, trying to be casual about it. He liked being able to do this: it convinced himself that he had nothing to worry about. 'Or these… ridiculous feelings…' he tried a breathy chuckle. 'All this fame… and adoration… all those stunning girls… and I manage to fall for him…' he shook his head with a sad smile. 'Hilarious…' he looked up at the ceiling. 'Honestly, am I not a freak enough? I'm part chipmunk, have this ridiculous voice – who knows how my ancestors evolved this way – my father abandoned me, my mother pretty much did, too, I was taken in out of sympathy, I fail miserably at being the eldest, spent my whole life trying to make up for that by being popular – and to top it all off? I'm romantically attracted to my brother…' he nodded down once before looking up to the ceiling again. 'Thanks for nothing!' He yell-whispered bitterly.
Groaning, he lay down again and tried to shake off both the dream and the self-criticism.
He should have expected the likes of this dream after telling Theodore.
This time, Theodore had told Dave about his older brother's feelings, and Dave had turned around and put both Alvin and Simon in prison himself. Alvin had felt helpless, and more guilty than ever for dragging Simon into something that the bespectacled boy didn't even know about.
And then it all happened again: Alvin watched helplessly as Simon grew old in front of him, getting beaten and bashed and ridiculed for something that was neither his fault nor his choosing. Decay, misery, blame – the last things Alvin saw in the swirling grey eyes he loved so much, before the body went limp and Alvin woke.
It had been more terrifying than ever.
Alvin checked the time beside him; 2:23AM. He sighed heavily and focused on something else. Of course, there were pros and cons to feeling this way.
The only pro Alvin could think of, was that he always could fall into pleasant thoughts after his nightmares. He'd imagine Simon's sarcastic smooth voice telling him fondly "You're an idiot… do you really think your family would ever hurt you that way..?" his smile would be that priceless 'I know everything' smile, the one that reached to his eyes and made it seem more like some sort of smirk than anything else.
It was about the only thing in the world that soothed Alvin. That low voice… those calm eyes… that charming smile…
Before he knew it, Alvin was smiling, too. His sapphire eyes closed and he felt as at ease as he could, just imagining he and Simon sitting beside each other. The comfort and security that came with his intelligent half…
Sleep would come thankfully, this time. There was no room for nightmares anymore.
Still more to come! Thanks again guys :)