Unbreakable

“Dammit, Charlie, would you stop?” Charlie dropped his chalk and wiped his hands slowly, watching his brother out of the corner of his eye. Ever since he lost his security clearance, he’s noticed that Don’s been antsy and uncomfortable; avoiding him at all costs. Today, out of nowhere, Don decides that he’s going to sit and watch Charlie as he played around with some equations on his chalkboards for hours. He hadn’t moved, eaten, or spoken until now. “What, do you honestly think that I don’t notice that you’re staring at me?” His voice was irate, startling Charlie. The younger brother shifted his position so that he was looking at his chalk; away from Don. 1

“No, I-I don’t. It’s just that you’ve-” Don cupped his chin and pressed his lips firmly into Charlie’s, pulling him tighter as he pressed his fingers into the youngster’s curls. Charlie responded desperately; he was almost certain that Don would never give into this again unless things went back to normal- whatever normal was in the first place. As he found himself laying on the couch with Don on top of him, he figured that if he still could have this, then it didn’t matter what “normal” ever was. 2

~*~3

“What’s on your mind, buddy?” Don looked questionably at Charlie, who had been staring at him for a while now. Charlie sighed and pressed his face into his brother’s chest. 4

“I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with you. I understand why you’ve been keeping your distance lately, but today you just sat and watched me for hours; it was weird. I was going to ask you what was wrong, but I couldn’t think of anything to say-” He held his breath as Don ran his fingers through his curls slowly. 5

“I was worried about us.”6

“Don, there’s no reason to worry-”7

“Look, when you started helping us at the FBI, we created an amazing bond. Now that you may not get your clearance back…” The older brother sighed before continuing. “I was worried we’d lose it-”8

“That’s ridiculous. Just because I may not be able to work with you, it doesn’t mean we’ll lose everything we have. We’re stronger than that. We’re unbreakable!”9

“Promise?” With a smirk, Charlie lifted himself off his brother’s chest to meet his lips again.10

“Yea, I promise.”11

~~***~~12