Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or its characters!

Chapter 4

The past week had surprisingly flown by. Carter and Alan were officially a couple and spent most of their time together. Today they were helping Mr. Murphy gut a foreclosed house. Unfortunately, that meant when Alan got home from Carter's house John would be there.

"Want me to walk you home?" Carter joked pulling him closer to her.

"I thought that was my line?" Alan smiled before kissing her.

Carter ruffled Alan's hair playfully. "You should get going. I don't want your brother to think I'm needy or something." She laughed.

"I doubt John will even care I have a girlfriend." Alan confessed.

Alan leaned in to kiss her again, but she pulled away. "Home now! We can make out later." Carter said pushing him out the door and waving goodbye.

As soon as Alan walked through the door his brother was on him. "Hey sprout? Where have you been all day?" John asked hugging him.

Alan suddenly felt like a deer caught in the headlights. "Carter and I were gutting a house." He breezed. "I better go shower before dinner."

"Did I say something wrong?" John whispered to his aunt.

Mary shrugged, "I think Alan is still worked up about the rejection thing."

"Rejection thing?" John inquired. "That was months ago during spring break. Plus that was my dad's decision. For what it's worth I was on the kid's side."

"John, I don't know what's going on between your dad and Alan, but someone needs to talk to him." Mary encouraged.

John nodded, "So who's Carter?"

Mary shook her head. "No freebees talk to him John. Preferably before I call your dad and say something I'll regret."

John let a long sigh before going to find Alan. He found him sitting on the patio looking out at the waves. "I still can't believe how much you've grown up." John stated taking a seat next to his brother on the steps.

"I know. You all make that pretty damn obvious." Alan hissed feeling his anger rise.

"Alan, I'm sorry Dad went back on his word and crushed your dreams. If I could shake some sense into Dad I would." John reasoned. "That man is as flexible as a brick wall."

John could tell Alan was shutting him out. "You got that right." Alan agreed. "Sorry avoided you earlier. It's just hard being around the one thing I'm forbidden to do."

John took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't blame you for being pissed. Virgil and I were so mad when Dad changed his mind. Gordon and Scott on the other hand said it was only to keep you safe." John explained.

"Well you can tell them I don't feel very safe." Alan rebutted.

John put his arm around his brother to comfort him. "You look and act so much like Mom."

"Yeah, story of my life! I can't do anything I want, because I look like Mom!" Alan hollered.

John stood up to face his brother. "It was just a comment Alan. I didn't mean anything by it." He apologized.

"I don't need your damn approval! I have finally found a place I belong, with people who actually like me enough to get to know me! Then, you come along and think that we must be cool, because we're Jeff Tracy's sons. Well news flash John, I don't want to be a Tracy anymore! So just leave me the hell alone and go tell Dad to stop ruining my life." Alan yelled before taking off towards Carter's house.

"That went well." John said slamming the door. "I've only got one night to fix this and he ran away."

"He'll be back. He probably just went to Carter's house to cool down." Mary helped.

"Okay, and who's this Carter person he's so close to?" John wondered.

"Carter is Alan's girlfriend." Mary informed taking a long drink of wine.

John stopped pacing and glared at his aunt. "Girlfriend? Alan is too young to have a girlfriend." John criticized.

Mary slammed her glass down almost knocking it over. "And now I see why Alan is filled angst every time I mention you guys. Alan is 17, not 14. He is almost an adult and if y'all don't get your heads out of the sand real soon he is going to shut y'all out." She warned.

"Is it alright if I stay here on my way back from the conference? I'll be able to stay longer and won't have a firm schedule." John begged.

Mary nodded, "Just make sure he knows how much you care, John."

Alan ran as fast as he could to Carter's house. Luckily, she was still up with her dad. "Alan, what are you doing here? It's really late." Carter asked joining him on the beach.

"Is your dad okay? I saw the pills." Alan babbled.

"He had some heart trouble last year. Sometimes he still needs help after a long work day." Carter explained. "You okay?"

Alan shook his head and Carter hugged him. "Come inside. You'll get sick if you stay out here at night." She insisted.

Alan was surprised that Mr. Murphy was okay with him staying on the couch for the night. When he got home John had already left for the airport. Even though Alan felt guilty about snapping at his brother he knew he couldn't keep playing dumb. Eventually, he was going to have to face them. They had hurt and betrayed him.

The first thing Alan noticed when he picked up his phone was that he had missed several calls from not only John, but his aunt. Alan clicked the call back button and waited for his brother to answer. Thankfully, it went to voicemail, which most likely meant John was on the plane.

"Hey John. It's Alan. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for blowing up like that. Its Dad I'm mad at, not you. Let me know when you get there safe okay. I think we need to talk." Alan finished and hung up the phone.

"That was really brave Alan." Carter acknowledged.

"Kind of like you covering up for your Dad so he can continue to kill himself?" Alan blurted.

"My dad works, because it makes him happy. Who am I to keep him from doing what he loves?" Carter argued. "Your family refuses to let you do what you love and look what it's doing to you."

Alan sighed in defeat. "Why can't I ever get mad at you? With my brother it was so easy, like flipping a switch."

Carter smirked, "Because we talk Alan. We tell each other things and listen to each other. From what you've told me about your family their not exactly the 'let's talk about it' bunch. You were raised in a penguin raised among parrots."

"I'm not sure that analogy works here." Alan disagreed.

"Of course it does. You're dad and brothers are rich, successful, and have no trouble flaunting it or their resources. You on the other hand try to hide your last name and haven't even applied to college; parrots flaunt their colors and migrate. Male penguins stay home and are smart, caring, and strategic." Carter said kissing him. "I for one prefer penguins."

"How do you know so much about birds? I don't know whether to be offended or fascinated." Alan laughed.

"My dad designed an aviary for the zoo. I basically spent my whole summer trying to relocate the birds so they didn't die from paint fumes." Carter hummed. "It was my summer's mission to find out if a penguin is a fish or a bird."

"Despite that amazing reference I'm starving." Alan leaned down and kissed Carter. This time she didn't pull away. That was until Alan's phone went off.