Double chapter! Yay! So don't forget this is a second chapter post, the first one is back there ;P

Well enjoy this one. It's nice and incidental

Chapter 6: Late Admissions

9:10pm

Toby and Miss Ortega had said goodbye for the night nearly an hour ago. They had stayed for a short while and in that time they were both informed on Alvin's new illness, much to Alvin's displeasure.

But after a while, they had gone home, leaving the chipmunks to sit alone and watch television.

It was one of those peaceful nights where they sat around just like the family they had become. They all sat huddled together on the couch. They had a thin blanket thrown over them to keep them warm, but nothing more.

The television was selling some documentary about deep sea fishing. It wasn't the most interesting show in the world, but what was on the TV wasn't that important.

Jeanette yawned and stretched widely. Nine pm was the bed time Dave had set them, and it had almost become second nature to get tired around this time.

'You know what guys' Jeanette said at the end of her yawn 'I'm pretty beat'

'It has been a long day' Simon pointed out

'Tell me about it' Alvin said with a roll of his eyes. Brittany just giggled.

'Should we go to bed?' Theodore asked

'Well if we have to do this show tomorrow' Eleanor said 'then we should probably get a good nights rest'

Brittany yawned. She was very tired. She hadn't slept too much when they had left Alvin at the hospital overnight. So she did have a lot of sleep to catch up on.

'I think you're right Elle' Brittany said 'lets hit the bed'

They all threw the blanket off and stood up, moving towards the bedroom. But before Brittany could drop off the edge of the couch, she noticed something. Alvin hadn't moved.

She turned around to look at him as he sat, leaning against a pillow with one arm behind his head.

'Are you coming Alvin?' she asked

'Actually' he said. Brittany felt a stern look grow across her face. She knew something was up

'Actually what?' she asked suspiciously

'Well, there was this' Alvin stalled 'show I wanted to watch at nine thirty. I'll come straight to bed after that'

The others were all just looking up at the couch, waiting for Alvin and Brittany to come down.

'Oh' Brittany said lightly 'what is it you wanted to watch?'

Alvin's eyes darted around the room as he looked for something to say. Finally his eyes landed on the television guide sitting on the coffee table. There was only one show that wasn't an infomercial on at the time.

'Uh' he said as he rubbed the back of his neck 'th-this old house'

'Oh' Brittany said with fake enthusiasm 'I didn't pick you as a this old house fan'

'Yeah, love it' Alvin said through an unenthusiastic chuckle

'Do you mind if I watch as well?'

'Well I was' But Alvin was interrupted

'It will be a great episode' she said. She looked down to the others 'we'll come to bed straight after this episode everyone' She winked

'oooooooook' Simon said, slightly confused. But he let it pass. He was too tired to try to figure out what those two were doing.

Brittany sat down right next to Alvin and looked at him with a smile. She could see right though him like he was made of glass. He wanted to wait until everyone went to bed, and then sneak off to that stupid party.

"How dumb does he think I am" Brittany thought.

But rather then badger him about his hair brained scheme. She thought it better to drive him nuts until he abandoned the idea altogether.

'So what channel is it on?' Brittany asked as she reached for the remote

'Channel three' Alvin sighed as he buried the side of is face into his hand.

It was going to be a long night.

10:00pm (after this old house)

Brittany had to admit. After watching a whole episode of this old house, there was only one thing she wanted to do with a hammer, and it didn't involve building anything.

She looked over to Alvin. He sat with wide eyes and a look of complete boredom plastered on his face. However boring Brittany had found it, it was obvious that Alvin had found it worse.

She put on a happy face and began

'That was a great episode don't you think?' she said happily. But Alvin didn't reply, he didn't even move. 'Alvin' she poked.

His attention suddenly shot to the moment as he looked around the room in a confused daze.

'Whoa what happened?' he asked

'The show finished' Brittany giggled

'About time' he said softly

'What was that?' Brittany asked

Alvin looked at her and chuckled

'I was just saying' he stalled 'you look tired, maybe you should go to bed'

Brittany pretended to consider his offer.

'Are you going to bed as well?' she asked

'Uh, probably not just yet, I'm not tired yet I guess'

'Then neither am I' Brittany proudly added.

Alvin looked straight at her. It was clear she had caught onto his genius idea. How she had figured it out he would never know. But he knew one thing.

This had become a battle of willpower now. All he had to do was outlast her until she fell asleep, then he could go off to the party.

'Alright then' he said confidently 'let's see what else is on'

'Sounds good' Brittany replied with a smile

11:55 pm

Brittany was tired, very tired. She could feel the weight under her eyes. She had given up looking at the TV at this point and so had Alvin. They just sat looking at each other now, waiting for the other to fall asleep.

If they were playing a show or something they would usually have no problems staying up this late. But because they were at home alone, and they had experienced such a long night last night, they were struggling.

'Tired yet?' Alvin asked

'Nope' Brittany replied quickly 'you?'

'Not at all'

'Great' Brittany sighed

They both looked away from each other and leant back onto the pillow they shared. Brittany blew the hair out of her face. This was taking way to long. She had hoped by the end of this old house Alvin would be begging for sleep. But he had more will power then she gave him credit for.

Brittany let her mind wander, but it shortly came to something that made her think.

'I don't…never mind' she said. Alvin rolled over onto his side to look at her

'What?' he asked. Brittany just kept looking up at the ceiling

'I don't suppose you want to talk yet? 'She asked

'About what?'

'Your' she stalled 'stresses'

'Oh' Alvin said, he rolled back onto his back and looked back up to the ceiling 'there's nothing to talk about' he said flatly

Brittany sighed and rolled onto her side to look at him

'Come on Alvin' she reassured 'it's not like I'm going to judge you or anything'

'I'm Fine' he said in an aggravated tone

'You know you can tell me anything'

'There's nothing to tell you!' he said as he rolled over to look away from Brittany.

She pushed herself up with one hand until she hung just above him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder

'Alvin' she said softly 'talk to me'

Alvin suddenly shot up to his feet, knocking her hand away

'There's nothing to talk about Britt!' he yelled as he walked across the couch. She stood up as well

'Then explain to me what happened last night?' She said in a raised voice

'Last night was!' Alvin started, but stalled 'last night was a one time thing. It won't happen again'

Alvin kept his back facing Brittany. She bit her lip and clenched her fist

'Why do you have to be so stubborn?' she asked

'Why do you have to be so persistent?' he asked right back

'I'm just trying to help'

'Well don't, I can look after myself'

'Ah!' Brittany exclaimed in frustration 'all I want to know is what's on your mind! It's not that much to ask'

Suddenly it seemed like Alvin snapped, he swung around to look at Brittany. He had a face on that scared Brittany enough that she took a small step back

'You want to know what's on my mind?' he asked, aggravated

'Yes' she said as she got her confidence back

'Oh don't worry its nothing special!' he yelled 'I just have to worry about twenty billion things at once'

Brittany looked at him with wide eyes.

'I'm getting constant pressure from the football team to keep up in the practice sessions, even though I'm only eight inches tall. On top of that I'm a fill in for the sprinting team, I help out with the music group, I somehow ended up coaching the girls netball team. I don't even know how that happened'

Alvin was letting his words flow straight from his mind and out his mouth now

'I'm failing four of my original classes, and because of this I have to pick up another three classes for enough extra credit to pass the year. But I still have to push to pass my original classes to be able to stay on the football team'

Brittany was breathless. This is exactly what she had asked for, but she didn't realize she had asked for so much

'The new album is set to come out soon and there is a huge expectation for it to be a massive success. And if it's not its all going to fall back straight on me'

Alvin suddenly stopped mid sentence. He started to take deep breaths in. Brittany looked at him with a confused look. He started to sway slightly and he grasped his head tightly with one hand.

Suddenly it hit Brittany.

'Alvin' she said in a tone of worry 'Alvin lie down' she took a few steps towards him, holding her hand out. He grasped her arm for support. She came around and used her other arm to grab his shoulder, directing him towards the pillow behind him

'Lie down Alvin' she ordered. Alvin took a few seconds to breathe

'Ok' he finally replied.

Brittany helped him down until he was lying against the cushion. Slowly his heavy breathing returned to normal and he moved his hand away from his head. She knelt down beside him

'How do you feel?' she asked softly

'Still a bit dizzy' he answered.

She turned around and collapsed onto the pillow right next to Alvin. And they both just lay there, staring at the ceiling. There was a noticeable level of silence between them.

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

'Sooo' she said slowly 'is that all of it?' she asked

'There's a bit more' Alvin said calmly 'but I think you get the idea'

'Yeah' she added

There was another moment of silence. What was once a big secret that Alvin would have protected with his life was now out in the open for both of them to know.

Brittany had no idea Alvin had so much to worry about.

They continued to sit in silence for a while longer, both soaking in what had just occurred until finally Brittany looked across to him

'Well for starters we can get on top of your schoolwork tomorrow if you want'

Alvin just chuckled. But after a few seconds he finally replied

'I don't think you realize how behind I am' he said with a chuckle. They both took another deep breath in and let it out slowly

'Can you stand up?' Brittany asked

'Yeah' Alvin answered quickly

'Let's go to bed then'

Alvin lay still for a second, but finally he nodded 'alright'

She stood up and helped Alvin to his feet. They both dropped off the couch and headed towards their bed room. Brittany walked closely to Alvin, making sure he was ok.

They both quietly entered the room and slowly made their way up to the top of the boys bunk..

Once Alvin was safely to the top of the bunk, Brittany launched from his bed to hers. She crawled into her bed and pulled her blanket up close to her chin, watching Alvin and making sure he got into bed alright. He looked over to her once he was comfortably in his bed, and she smiled back at him.

'Good night Alvin' she whispered

'Night Britt' he replied. She went to roll over, but his voice caught her 'hey Brittany' he said softly

'Yeah?' she said, looking back to him

'Th-thanks for listening' he pushed out.

Brittany just smiled at him.

She rolled over and placed her head on her pillow. Alvin had finally pulled his walls down to let her in. how he would react tomorrow morning was a mystery to her. But right now all she knew was he had talked…and to her of all people.

She wanted to contemplate all the things he had said, but her mind was too tired. She felt the pull of sleep approaching. And she didn't fight it, falling into a dream filled sleep.

oooOOoOOOOoooooo. Interesting! I wonder what will happen in the mooorning. Find out next Friday :D