Malcolm sat at the table, his fork toying with a thick brown mass of god knows what on the plate in front of him.

Casserole perhaps?

Or more likely weekly parfait?

Who knows and he dare not ask.

Yet no amount of playing with his food would make the knots in his stomach dissipate. His eyes deliberately avoided those of his older brother's, yet a part of him was tempted to glance for a moment, if for no other reason than to try to read his brothers next move.

No.

It wasn't worth the risk.

Still, he needed to do something to stop the inevitable trainwreck. Perhaps it would be best to get him alone so that he could explain to him that what he had seen was somehow not what it looked like. Although how he was going to convince him was anyone's guess.

Yet at the same time he had wanted to avoid him, to never have to see those glinting mischievous eyes ever again.

Damn he was in a bind.

"How was your day Reese?" Lois broke the silence with a sigh, as though the question were more that of a chore rather than genuine curiosity.

Damn it. Malcolm sunk his teeth into his lip, as though doing so would somehow stop the inevitable humiliation that was soon to consume his life. Why had his mum opened the floodgates? Now all this garbage is going to come out. Talk about giving Reese a free ticket to ride.

"Very interesting" A delicious grin consumed the boy's face as his eyes locked mercilessly on Malcolm.

Damn it.

"Oh how so?" Lois began, suddenly displaying a lot more interest in the topic at hand. Though, whether that was pure interest or the precursor to a cross between alarm and concern remained to be seen.

Her eyes fell upon Reese, who's grin was becoming more grotesque by the minute. Yet, his lips remained stationary, whether this was to add an unmitigated level of suspense to an already stressful situation remained unclear.

Reese's alarming silence had now captured the attention of both Hal and Dewie.

Malcolm resisted the urge to sever the gaze, he mustn't show any sign of weakness. Not now. Not ever.

Please no.

Reece appeared to hesitate as his eyes darted back to his mother's before returning to Malcolm.

"What have you two done now?" Lois raised her voice, getting a waft of impending disaster.

Damn it.

There is was again. The undeniable chuckle forced mockingly from Reese's lips. Malcolm didn't dare look up. He couldn't afford to make eye contact.

"What's so funny?" Lois stated flatly, her eyes resting upon Reese, as though she were locking in her target.

Great.

There is going to be no way she was going to relent until Reese spilled his brother's most personal secret.

There was no such thing as privacy in this household.

Malcolm's eyes shot up, greeting his brother's with a look of absolute unadulterated death.

"Perhaps you'll feel more like telling me about the events of your day after you clean up the dishes and sweep the yard?" It wasn't a choice as the words left Lois's lips.

Great.

Just great.

*~.~*

Malcolm sat on the edge of his bed as he watched Reece toss a baseball towards the ceiling before catching it again. He watched the process again as though taking comfort in its slightly hypnotic effect.

"Thanks for not saying anything at dinner." Malcolm mumbled, as though a part of him hoped the words somehow wouldn't reach his brother's ears, yet he felt compelled to say them despite himself.

Reece suddenly stopped what he was doing before turning his eyes directly to his brother.

"Don't thank me, I'm waiting for the perfect moment." Reese nodded as though agreeing with himself as a grin reminiscent of amused maliciousness returned to his lips.

Great.

When exactly would this 'perfect moment' occur? Malcolm gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes as he allowed himself to fall back on his bed.

He despised this feeling. What was it? Defeat?

Not exactly.

Anxiety?

Yes but still not exactly.

Perhaps feeling like he was being strung up and soon be beaten into submission via humiliation.

Absolutely.

Damn he wished he could build a time machine and go back to that shower and lock the bloody door.

Malcolm closed his eyes. There was hardly any point in trying to get any sleep.

"Well?" Reese suddenly sat up, his eyes directed towards his younger brother.

"Well what?" Malcolms eye's peered open before darting to meet those of his brother, who was now leaning closer to him. It was as though Reese were fishing for yet another dark secret to exploit.

A secret Malcolm could not discern.

"How did it feel?" Reece stated, as though the question was the most obvious and didn't require clarification.

"How did what feel?" Malcolm screwed up his face, suddenly more confused than ever.

"To have your fingers up there?" Reece waved his arms around in the air as if to reconfirm that his brother should have been able to read his mind.

"What? Why do you even care?"

"I just want to know why you would even want to do that?"

Malcolm's gaze narrowed upon his older brother, as though attempting to discern whether the boy was expressing genuine morbid fascination.

"Try it yourself." Malcolm forced the words from his lips in a half-hearted sigh, as though doing so might exude a lack of care.

"No way!" Reese screwed up his face as though he had witnessed something truly revolting.