I lean against the car, arms folded, waiting for the tank to fill up. It is way too quiet. Nate talks so much, it's impossible to forget his presence. Something I took for granted. I try to keep myself from worrying about Nate with Sam, but it's hopeless. My mind keeps drifting back to the first time Sam came to visit Nate...

A year earlier...

I look up from the black and white pages of the newspaper at the sound of knocking on the front door. That's weird, I think to myself. Nate isn't usually home for another half hour.

Regardless, I open the door to find a man in his early twenties. He looks familiar and yet not familiar at the same time. "Do I know you?" I ask, still trying to place him.

"I don't think so," he says, shifting his bag on his shoulder. "I'm Nathan's older brother, Sam."

"Huh." Well, that explains the familiarity. "Uh, come in, I guess." I step aside to let him in.

"Thanks. Do you mind I leave my bag at the door?"

"No, not at all." I close the door behind him, mind reeling. Nate never told me he had a brother. "Nate's out right now, but we can have a drink until he comes home."

The man, or "Sam", smiles and asks, "Where is he? Sitting on top of a building somewhere?"

"I hope not." I grab two beers from the fridge. "He should still be in school."

"School?" Sam says, taking a beer from me. He sits at the table, laughing hysterically. "Oh, that's a good one!"

"What's so funny?" I ask, taking the seat across from him.

He wipes his eyes, then gets his breathing under control. "Wait, you were serious?"

"Yeah, what's so bad about that?" I smile, but underneath I'm kind of ticked. Who is he to tell me how to take care of Nate?

"It's not bad, necessarily. It's just weird to me. We never went to school when were together."

"That doesn't mean he can't go to school now. He's an incredibly smart kid. He deserves to flex his brain muscles. And I'm definitely not smart enough to do it."

"No, I think it's fine as long as he has a choice."

"Well, if I gave him a choice, he wouldn't go. He would be wasting his potential."

"So you're forcing him to go to school?"

"It's not like that," I scoff, smile finally caving.

"It's exactly like that and-"

"Do not finish that sentence," I threaten. Sam shuts his mouth, but he continues to glare at me. "I know you're family and you used to roam the streets together, but I'm the one that's been taking care of him for the past two years. I think I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, I'll be the judge of that," he says with a single eyebrow raised.

I take a breath to angrily respond, but Nate interrupts us. "Sully, I'm home!"

We break eye contact when I scoot my chair back. I peek around the corner and smile at the sight of Nate struggling to take his converse off. He looks up at my voice. "Hey, kid. I've got a surprise for you."

"Okay..." he says, raising a single eyebrow. It's uncanny how much he looks like his brother.

"Hey, little brother," Sam waves.

Nate's eyes widen in surprise then happiness. "Sam! What are you doing here?" he cries, running to give Sam a hug.

"To see you, of course. And I thought you were the smart one," he teases. I almost smile at the sweet reunion, but Sam stops me when he gives me sly smile. It's not a competition, asshole. But even as I think that, a tinge of worry hits my heart. He couldn't be trying to take Nate from me... Could he?

"Sam, Sam, look," Nate says excitedly, displaying his ring proudly. "I found it!" I watch their movements carefully. They're completely trusting of each other, no fear. I'm... jealous. Jealous! God, I'm jealous of Sam. It took months for Nate to let me even touch him.

I let them have some time together in Nate's room. Once their laughter starts to grate on my nerves, I gather them for dinner. Pizza, to be exact. I make sure Nate sits next to me at the pizza place, but even then, Sam keeps Nate's attention.

Later that night, the brothers lounge on the couch, joking around with each other. Sam tunes the TV to one of the millions of cop shows. No taste... "Are you staying over?" I hear Nate ask.

"I guess. Depends on if the old man'll let me stay," Sam says. I frown, but bite my tongue to keep my thoughts to myself.

"Sully, can Sam stay tonight?" Nate asks hopefully.

I glance between Nate's pleading eyes and Sam's smug smirk. He knows I won't deny Nate anything. If I do, Sam's liable to use that against me. "As long as he doesn't cause any problems," I decide to say. It appeases Nate and acts as a warning to his brother.

"He'll be fine," Nate says. "Right Sam?'

Sam gives me a thumbs up and a secret wink. "Right." Asshole...

Nate turns in his seat to face me again, eyes shining with happiness. "He's good."

I smile and rub Nate's head to mess with his hair. He laughs and swats my hand away. "Alright. He can take the couch," I say.

"Thanks," Sam nods.

"No problem," I say without even looking at him. "Ready for bed, kid?"

"What? It's only 9:30."

"It's a school night. You'll be cranky if you don't get enough sleep."

"What, is he a toddler?" Sam scoffs. "Let him stay up. What's the worst that'll happen?"

I shoot Sam a glare as Nate begs, "Yeah, let me stay up! Sully, please?"

"Nate..."

"Please, please, please?"

"Alright, alright," I give in. Goddamn it, Sam... "I'll let you stay up, whiney. Just try to be in bed before midnight, okay? I'm going to bed. See you in the morning, kid."

"'Night, Sully."

I consider running a hand through his hair, but he turns away to talk with Sam before I can do it.

I pull the pump from the tank and sigh. All I could think about that night was losing Nate. Later I realized I was being ridiculous. It's not like Sam could just take Nate with him. And I don't mind that Nate loves his brother. I think it's awesome he gets along so well with his family. I just don't trust Sam.

Before I can pull out of the gas station, I stop in the convenience store to fix a craving...

Ten minutes later...

I lay on the horn as someone cuts in front of me. It's kind of hard to drive with a lit cigar in one hand.