Category: Gen
Setting: Any time after "Winter's End"
Characters/Pairings: Eric Green
Rating/Warnings: K+
Summary: Most people assumed that Eric was the older brother, not Jake.
Note: This sprang up from the fact that it took me half the season to realize that Jake, not Eric, was the older brother.
Disclaimer: Neither Jericho nor its characters belong to me.
Big Brother
Growing up, Eric was often mistaken for the oldest Green boy. By the time they were teenagers, he was both taller and broader then Jake. And not only did he look older, but he acted older as well. Eric was studious, completely focused on his academics. He had a plan for his life, plans that would make his father proud of him. Unlike Jake who was never going anywhere, except maybe prison. It hadn't always been that way. When they were younger, Eric had idolized his big brother and had wanted to be just like him.
And then Jake had gotten mixed up with Jonah Prowse and Mitchell Cafferty. He changed after that, grew more distance and had less and less time for his family. Eric lost track of how many fights Jake and his Dad had gotten into. When Jake ran away for the first time, he had left their mother in tears. Eric had watched from the top of the stairs as their father all but dragged Jake back, yelling about "thinking only of yourself" and "hurting your mother."
That was the day he had ceased to idolize his brother and became determined to be the exact opposite of him. Where Jake was reckless, he would be cautious. Where Jake was foolhardy, he would be smart. He would follow the rules to the letter, he would make his parents proud in everything he did. He would never make his mother cry or make his father have to drag him home. He set out to be the best he could be and Jake sprinted in the opposite direction. It was no wonder that people mistook him for the eldest brother. He praised himself on it and took joy out of correcting them because "Oh, that Eric Green. He's so mature, unlike that older brother of his."
When Jake left it was almost as if he were an only child. He made his father proud as deputy mayor and made his mother smile by bringing April over often. It was a perfect five years. But then Jake came back and the bombs went off. Suddenly Eric was back to the way things used to be, with him having to carry the load while Jake continued to be irresponsible. He continued to act the oldest, looked down at his brother, but it didn't take long for anyone to realize that Jake had changed, and changed for the better.
Still, Eric felt he had a duty to his parents, to the town, and so he acted as if he was the eldest until he couldn't act any more. And Jake was there, the big brother that he remembered from all those years. The big brother who had held him when he was afraid of the storm, the big brother who stayed at his side when he was terrified of his first visit to the med center, the big brother who had always caught him when he fell. And surprisingly, Eric was just fine with being the younger brother. He started looking to Jake for advice, went to him before he went to their father in some things. And when Jake fell, he was there to catch him.
The newcomers in town still sometimes questioned which of them was older. Now when asked, Eric no longer replied with haughty glee. Instead, he gave a sincere smile and proudly answer, "He is." Things had changed since that day their father had had to drag Jake back, and now Eric was proud to call Jake his big brother.