“Devon, I can’t get to sleep,” the little boy says as he shakes his older brother awake.
The twenty-one year old brother gets up and puts his glasses on. By the side of his bed, he finds his seven year old brother. His hair is brown and sticking up in multiple places, and his green eyes are big. His eyes and hair color make it obvious that they are brothers. Their hair came from their father, and their eyes came from their mother. The younger’s hands are clutching his stitched up teddy bear.
“Want to sleep in my bed tonight?” Devon asks. The younger brother, Daren, nods and climbs in next to Devon. “Was it another nightmare about...?”
“Yeah.”
With that, Daren snuggles into his older brother’s chest. The younger does this about once a week. Although, Devon knows that he gets them more often than that. His brother wants him to get sleep because he works. He is the only one that is taking care of him. He needs all the money that he can get from his job.
~
“Time to get up,” Devon tells his little brother as he gets up himself. “You don’t want to be late to school today.”
The seven year old mumbles something before sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Now that he’s up, he goes into his room to get dressed. Devon doesn’t have to pick out clothes for him or comb his hair anymore. The younger brother learned how to do that because he knows how busy his older brother his. Devon his grateful for that, but he also wishes that he could have a normal childhood like he had. Sadly, he will have never have the childhood that he deserves.
After Daren goes out of the room, Devon goes over to his closet and picks out what he is going to be wearing today. It ends up being a white button up top with a green sweater vest. Although he doesn’t like wearing them that much, he knows that it would be best to wear clothes like this when he’s working. He does whatever it takes to not get fired. His job is the only thing that’s supporting him and his brother, and he can’t afford to lose him. Losing him would be worse than losing himself.
Since the twenty-one year old had gotten a shower the night before, he just gets dressed. He’s glad that he can wear his skinny jeans to work. They are the most comfortable form of pants in his opinion. He goes into the bathroom, combs his hair, and brushes his teeth. When he goes into the small kitchen that really isn’t much of a kitchen, he sees that he brother is there eating cereal. Devon smiles at how cute his brother is before packing both of their lunches.
“Today’s the day that I’m going over to Rose’s right?” the little boy asks with food still in his mouth.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, and yes, today’s the day.”
Rose isn’t a family member of theirs. She was the best friend of their mother, and she has Daren come over whenever Devon needs some time to unwind. The older brother wasn’t going to do that at first. He thought that he was fine and didn’t need some time to himself, but Rose told him that every man needs to go out and get a drink once and awhile. That’s why Daren goes over to her house every two weeks.
“I’ll miss you,” the seven year old tells his older brother when he swallows.
“I’ll miss you too buddy.”
After eating, Devon gives his younger brother his book bag and lunch pail. They go out the door, and Devon locks it. The brother’s make their way down the flights of stairs and out of the building. Once outside the apartment complex, they go over to Devon’s car and get in.
“Can we listen to music? Sara gave me this CD to listen to. She told me that they’re really good.”
“Go ahead. It’s not like I can say no to that cute face of your’s.” Daren puts in the CD and presses play. Devon has never heard of them before, but he likes them. The tune is catchy, and the singer has a good voice. “Who is this?”
“She called them All Time Low. I like them.”
“They’re pretty good.”
“They are. I want their CDs for my birthday.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Please.”
“I might just give one to you before your birthday.”
“Yay!”
Devon drives his little brother to his school and drops him off. He told him that he was going to miss him and to have a good day. Then he went on his way to his job at a magazine company in town. He enters the building and goes to his own little area. It isn’t much, but it’s enough for him. He’s not a leading writer, but the boss has been taking a shining to him recently. He was able to get a couple of his stories into their newspapers. He’s been saving up that money for his brother’s birthday.
Time slowly went by at his job. When it is finally over, he collects his stuff and makes his way home. He makes sure to take off his apparel and change into something a little more fitting for going drinking. After everything is set, he grabs his keys and makes his way out the door and down the stairs.
What he doesn’t know is that this simple drinking night will turn into something much bigger.

Notes

I just had to write this. I've only read one like this that was a Alex/OC, but it was never completed. Actually, the story hadn't even begun yet. I still plan on writing my other stories. I'm starting this one and two others for summer.
There is going to be smut in the next chapter. Just wanted to say that.
Plus, I'm not telling why he takes care of his brother in detail unless someone guesses it. There is a really big clue, but I'm not saying what it is.