"Are you guys going back to dad's office, or can you come play videogames with me for a bit?" Garett asked, probably at a volume much too loud for work when he was admitting to slacking off. They were walking along the edge of the cubicle filled room, Garett beside Michael and the other two triples walking in front of them leading the way. Countless faces peered out at them as they passed, trying to catch a glimpse of the four suit clad men, and Michael found the attention difficult to ignore while his brothers seemed at ease with.

"Video games?" He asked Garett under his breath. "Here?"

"He has a television in his office," Joe explained, glancing over his shoulder at Michael. "Sometimes when we come visit dad let's us hang out there". This shouldn't have been a surprise, since Michael already knew that a lot of what Daniel and Joe did when they joined their father at work was goof off with Garett, but he hadn't been expecting this level of incompetence from his older brother.

"What exactly do you do again?" Michael asked Garett, who seemed unconcerned with Michael's obvious surprise at his poor work ethic.

"I manage the finance department or something or other. I'm not really sure if I'm being honest with you, I just tell people what to do and hang out," Garett answered happily, not a single care in the world. Michael wished– surprisingly, not for the first time– that he could be more like him. "So I'll take that as a no to the games then since we're almost at Dad's office?"

"Dad has some paperwork for us to get done this afternoon," Joe answered. "No video games this time".

"For you," Garett responded, a wide smile coming over his face as their father's secretary raised her head at his voice.

"Slacking off again I see," she reprimanded in a way that indicated she was actually quite amused. Garett stopped by her desk, but Daniel and Joe continued towards their father's door. Reluctantly, Michael followed, curious as to what exactly was happening between them.

"Uh, bye Garett," he offered, and his brother shot him a quick smile before directing his attention back to the brunette who was still looking up at him. As Michael passed, he took note of the fact that she was pretty, but not in the way that Bradford love interests typically were. Still, Garett was looking at her in a way he hadn't seen him look at anyone before.

"Ahh, Marie. You act as if you aren't going to come to my office on your lunch break to kill zombies for an hour straight".

"It's my lunch break. That's free time. You've already taken your lunch break, but then you're going to take another hour to sit and stare at me to memorize my technique," she shot back, and Michael's eyebrows shot up.

"Mike," Joe said, and Michael turned quickly to look where his brother was hovering in the doorway, waiting for him to join him and Daniel. "Come on".

"Oh". It hadn't even occurred to him that he had stopped walking to listen. With one last glance in the direction of his older brother, Michael passed Joe into his father's empty office. He waited until the door closed to begin speaking. "Are they-"

"Dating?" Joe finished for him. Michael nodded and waited for an answer. "You know, we can't really tell at this point. All I know is that when he says they're going to play video games, that's actually all they do. We thought they were having sex in his office for the longest time, but then Daniel accidently walked in there when she was there and they were actually just playing games and bickering".

"That's... cute, I guess," Michael supplied and Joe made a little scoffing noise. "What? You don't like her?"

"I'm just happy that one of our brothers is interested in a woman is all," was Joe's response, and Michael felt his blood run cold. Thankfully, Joe's eyes flickered over to him and he immediately looked like he regretted the comment. "I don't mean that. You know I don't care about-" he paused briefly then, eyebrows drawing together, "James and Tyler".

"What, did you forget their names?" Daniel asked him, sounding slightly amused.

"No, I just-" Joe huffed. "Shut up". They both went over to the table in the corner of their father's office where the paperwork they were expected to do had been left, but Michael didn't move from his spot by the door, his eyes on Joe. Something about that interaction seemed strange to him, but he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Hey," Joe said when he looked up to see him standing there. How normal he seemed made Michael doubt that he had noticed hesitance in the first place. "You're not just gonna stand there and watch us do all the work, are you?"

"No," Michael responded, moving across the room to join them. "Of course not. We'll get done faster if the three of us work together". As he sat down at one of the two free chairs, his cellphone buzzed in his pocket, but he didn't check it, already knowing it was probably Daisy just responding to his text confirming their dinner plans for that evening. "Where did our father go, by the way?"

"He had a meeting with an investor," Joe answered as Michael grabbed one of the heavier folders on the table. He flipped it open to reveal a multiple paged contract. When he flipped to the back, he noticed it was still unsigned.

"What the fuck?"

"We're supposed to read them," Daniel explained, getting up from his chair to grab three pens from their father's desk. "You need to make note of anything that seems suspicious and he'll review it and discuss it with whoever the contract is for later".

"Doesn't he have staff who does this?" Michael grumbled, accepting one of the pens when it was offered to him.

"Yeah," Joe confirmed. "But with the expansion there's too much work for the amount of people he has. Having us come in prevents him from having to pay them overtime".

"The expansion?" Michael repeated, confused.

"Yes". Joe sounded frustrated. "Don't you ever listen?"

"Not to dad," Michael grumbled in response, pulling the document he was to read from the folder. "I don't really see why we couldn't do this from home. Why make us wake up at five and get all dressed up just to sit here and do paperwork?"

"It's about reassurance, Michael. If we're going to take over this place someday, its important to show the people who work here that we'll be prepared and do a good job," Joe responded, and Michael raised his head slightly at the use of we. Joe knew he was student teaching next semester, so he knew that Michael's time as a business major was coming to an end, but he still seemed content to pretend otherwise for the time being. If it made him feel better– if it kept them from arguing– Michael wouldn't say anything.

Daniel met his eyes from across the table and Michael thought of their conversation from the day before and shook his head slightly, smiling at the silent offer of help.

It's fine, Michael thought. It's not like Joe's going to change my mind about anything.

***

Their father joined them nearly three hours later, just as Michael was circling what he hoped was the last contradiction on the final document. Joe and Daniel had both already finished their own stack of documents and were quietly discussing what they thought Ian had made for lunch that afternoon and if there would be any left over when they returned home.

They fell silent immediately as their father entered, along with a man who rivaled their oldest brother in height. Michael studied the men of them for a long moment as they discussed as if the three of them weren't even there before dragging his tired eyes back to the paper in front of him. He got through two more lines when both of his brothers kicked him beneath the table, one far softer than the other.

"What?"

"Ahh, another hard worker, I see," the man his father had been talking to said, and Michael wondered when exactly they had come to stand beside the table.

"He's motivated when he wants to be," his father responded, looking down at him in a way that made Michael feel nervous. "As I was saying, Michael, this is Gregory Duncan. He will be be working alongside Brad for the next couple months to learn what he does. He'll be taking over one of the new branches down south".

"Oh. Hello," Michael greeted, extending his hand out towards the other man since he knew that must be what his father wanted. "It's nice to meet you".

Duncan shook his hand, a smile that seemed far too plastic to be sincere on his face. "You as well".

"You boys are dismissed for the rest of the afternoon. Mr. Duncan and I will be going over some business in here and you're not needed. Just leave the paperwork you haven't finished in a separate pile and I'll have Marie take care of it," their father instructed.

"There's just this file and it's halfway done," Michael answered, trying not to sound too relieved at the idea of going home.

"The three of you got through the rest?" their father asked, sounding impressed. "Well, it's what I've always said. The three of you work more efficiently when you do it together". Of course we do, there's three of us, Michael wanted to say, but instead he slowly turned his head just enough to catch Joe's reaction. His brothers grin didn't surprise him in the slightest.

"Thanks for letting us come, dad," Joe said happily, and the elation in his voice made Michael squeeze his eyes shut as something like guilt tightened his stomach.

"Yeah," he forced out. "Thanks".

***

"Ahh," Kalen voice the second they stepped into the dining room. "The businessmen".

Of the three of them, Joe seemed to be the only one taking it as a compliment, while Daniel seemed unphased and Michael flinched as if it was an insult. To Kalen's right sat his boyfriend, who smiled a bit at the sight of them. Despite the fact that James had been home for a few days already, Michael hadn't really gotten to see him much. While this was slightly disappointing, because James really was one of his closest friends outside of his family, it wasn't at all surprising.

As it had been since James first started college, when he got home, Tyler had dibs on him for at least the first week. Even Kalen didn't get to spend much time with James beyond the date that had gone out on the night before.

Michael wondered why James wasn't with Tyler at the moment as well, but the sound of a toilet flushing down the hall corrected his thinking.

"Nice suits," James complimented, leaning back in his chair to better look at them from around Kalen. "They look nicer than the ones you wear to your dad's parties".

"That's because they are," Joe explained, leaving the doorway to take his regular seat at the table. Sighing, Michael and Daniel followed him. "We we go to work with dad we have to wear our best".

"Right," Tyler said as he entered the room, taking the chair on James's other side. "Because we can't let anyone think that you're poor".

"We have a standard to uphold," Joe claimed, eyes slightly narrowed as he glared across the table at the younger man. Michael thought of what his brother had said in the office earlier and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. The action didn't go unnoticed by James, and he frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowing in something like concern. "Where is Ian? The food at work wasn't great today".

"You eat with Garett?" Tyler asked at the same time that Kalen said:

"He's in the back room".

"I'll go get him," Michael offered before Joe could begin buzzing the intercom. The look that Tyler shot him in response told him that James had filled his friend in on the situation.

"Uh, okay," Joe acknowledged, seeming confused. "You can just press the button, you know".

"He's not a dog," Michael responded as he stood from his seat, pulling off his suit jacket and folding it over the back of his chair. He felt ridiculous, like a child dressing up in his father's clothing. "It's fine. I don't mind".

As Joe began talking about their day, Michael cut through the kitchen to the back room, knocking his fist against the wood of the closed door before pushing it open and peeking his head in.

Ian was sprawled out across the couch, his legs hanging over the edge. The television was on, the channel tuned to some cooking show, and the man was intently watching it, brown eyes glassy with something like interest. It was obvious that he didn't know a Bradford had entered the room instead of another worker, because he didn't even look in Michael's direction until he greeted him with a quiet, "hey".

"Michael," Ian breathed, sitting up quickly on the couch. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that it was you". He trailed off then, his eyes sliding down from Michael's face to look at the rest of him. Slowly, Ian's cheeks flushed pink, and Michael was reminded of him admitting his attraction towards him the week before. The attention had Michael's lips curling up, pleased. "I didn't know you guys were home".

"We just got back," Michael explained. "Hence the suit".

"Yeah..." Ian swallowed, his voice low so there was no chance of the men in the kitchen hearing him. "The suit".

Grinning, Michael pushed his hands into his pockets. "You alright?"

Ian turned his face away, staring blankly at the wall. "You're evil".

"Sure," Michael agreed. "Je ne suis pas simplement venu ici pour ajouter du carburant à ton pêché mignon ou je ne sais quoi". (I didn't just come in here to add fuel to your guilty pleasure or whatever). Ian groaned and tilted his head back slightly, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "My brother is hungry". 

"Oh". Ian stood from the couch, rubbing his palms on his jeans as he crossed the small room, not sparing Michael another glance as he moved passed him into the kitchen. Sighing, Michael followed. "Are you hungry for anything in particular or do you want to eat the leftover sandwiches I made for your mother's dinner last night?"

"That's fine," Joe assured, watching Michael approach the table once more, seeming conflicted. "Thank you". Whether he was addressing Michael or Ian was unknown, but either way it was surprising, and everyone in the room paused for a moment.

"Uh," Michael voiced, blinking at his brother from where he had frozen beside his chair. "Are you thanking me?"

"No," Joe said, looking away. "You haven't really done anything. I'm thanking Ian".

"Oh". Michael and Ian shared a brief look of perplexion before Michael slowly sat in his chair beside Joe.

"Uh, you're welcome," Ian responded weakly, and Joe nodded his head, still not looking at any of them.

"You'd think they've never heard you say that before based on how they're all acting," Tyler chimed in after a brief pause, sounding incredibly amused with the slightly uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Shut up," Joe grumbled. "Michael's always getting on me for being polite".

But that's never changed anything before, Michael thought, but he didn't point this out, only sunk his teeth into his lower lip as he continued to watch his brother from the corner of his eye. In the kitchen, he could hear Ian fixing a plate for them.

"Um..." Michael cleared his throat and raised his eyes to look at James, who was looking at Joe with raised eyebrows as if he noticed something Michael didn't. "So, how was moving back on Friday?"

It took James a minute to realize that Michael was talking to him, and Kalen chuckled under his breath, leaning to bump his shoulder against his boyfriends. "It was fine," James answered, shrugging his shoulders. "It took a long time though since my mother insisted on folding all of my clothes as she packed them".

"Why weren't they folded already?" Kalen asked, dropping his head onto James's shoulder and then peering up at him from the corner of his eye. A heavy sigh left James then and Tyler snorted in amusement. With an eye roll, Kalen looked across the table at Michael and Joe. "Hey, what are you guys doing tonight? We were going to go to a movie once Pierce got done with work if you want to come along".

"I'm actually going out to dinner with someone," Michael answered, immediately aware at Joe's curious gaze on the side of his face. "You don't know her". It was a lie, of course, and Michael didn't like the false words tasted on his tongue, but it was far easier than telling the truth in this case.

"She hot?" Joe inquired, and Michael ignored him, focusing instead on the platter of food Ian placed in the center of the table. Joe didn't thank him again, and the familiarity of that was slightly relaxing.

"I'll pass," Daniel cut in, addressing their youngest brother. "Mary might be coming over later".

"Who's Mary?" Kalen inquired.

"His girlfriend," Joe answered for him.

"You have a girlfriend?!" Kalen exclaimed, raising his head from James's shoulder to look at the man on the other side of him. Seeming uncomfortable, Daniel shifted under the gaze.

"What are you two going to be doing?" Joe teased, dropping his right eye in a quick wink that made Daniel scowl, seeming disturbed. Unable to help himself, Michael chuckled at the expression, reaching out to grab one of the mini sandwiches from the platter. 

"We're not going to be doing anything," Daniel protested. "You guys are going to all be here at some point. It's not like we're going to have sex with you here". Immediately, James and Kalen reacted, simultaneously leaning back in a way they probably thought was subtle to remove themselves from the conversation. It only succeded in drawing attention to them though, and Kalen flushed red upon realizing this, staring down at his lap. A loud laugh left Tyler.

"You better be fucking kidding me," Joe growled, voice very low, and Kalen rolled his eyes but still refused to look at any of them. Sighing, James reached out a hand to soothingly brush his knuckles down Kalen's arm in confort.

"It's not like it happened recently," Kalen defended weakly, though it didn't need to be said, since him and James had been gone for the past four months.

"You're lucky none of us walked in or we would have kicked your ass," Joe threatened to James, who just nodded, unconcerned. Somewhat nervously, Michael threw a quick glance at Daniel, expecting to find him even more upset than Joe given his previous behavior towards James, only to find Daniel distracted by the sandwich he was eating, not even paying attention to them. "Just don't do it again".

"Hopefully we wont need to," Kalen responded, getting Michael's attention once more.

"Kalen, you don't need to have-" Joe began, but Micahel interrupted him, much to Kalen's apparent relief.

"What does that mean?"

Kalen looked surprised. "I didn't talk to you about it yet?"

"Um, no," Michael answered, looking to James, who, of the two of them, he got the most of his information from. James didn't look back at him, too busy looking at Kalen's smaller hand, which he had taken in his own.

"James and I are trying to get an apartment by school before the next semester starts. That way we don't have to move out at the end of every year and we can just stay over breaks," Kalen explained, and Micahel felt his eyebrows raise slightly. In the kitchen, Ian dropped something metal and swore softly.

"Why do you hate it here so much? I mean, the three of us live here year round and we're fine," Joe pointed out. "It's not horrible".

"I don't hate it here," Kalen counterd softly. "It's just... difficult going from living on my own with my boyfriend like I'm an actual adult, to moving back home with my brothers and my parents".

"I recommend getting a place just the two of you. Ten out of ten," Tyler chimed in around a mouthful of sandwich.

"What would you know about getting a place just the two of them. You still live with Garett," Joe pointed out and Tyler shrugged since this didn't effect his point at all.

"How long have the three of you been living together now?" Michael asked Tyler, who blinked his green eyes as he thought about it.

"Almost two years now? Midway through summer it'll be two years," Tyler answered, smiling a little bit. "God. That's kind of crazy, huh?"

"What's crazy is that you actually enjoy living with Pierce," Joe claimed, finally grabbing one of the sandwiches he had requested. "I hated living with Pierce. He was always so disagreeable".

"I still get some of that," Tyler assured. "And it's not like we never argue, but it's overall pretty great. I think that's because he's generally less disagreeable around Garret and I though".

Daniel snortered and grumbled, "Pierce being agreeable," voice thick with amusement.

Tyler just shrugged and got a look on his face that reminded Michael how mischevious the other man could be. "Putting out really helps". The Bradford sons all groaned, and James barked out a little laugh.

"Gross," Michael offered and Tyler just smiled at him.

"Have you guys talked to dad?" Daniel asked Kalen, who made a face that indicated confusion. "About getting an apartment. I mean... you'll pay for half of the apartment, I'm assuming, and you're probably going to need to use dad's money, right?" This was true. Even if Kalen got a job, he probably wouldn't be able to make enough to pay for an apartment given how little he would be working during the school year at their father's insistance. He prefered they focused on their studies during those nine months.

"Yeah..." Joe contributed. "Have you thought this through? I don't think dad's exactly going to be thrilled with you and James living together year round".

"I'm going to talk to him sometime next week. Give me a few days to suck up to him first... I'm trying to think of when he's most likely to be agreeable. Maybe at the dinner?" Kalen suggested, and both Joe and Daniel groaned loudly. "What?"

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Daniel asked and Kalen wrinkled his nose.

"It's gonna be awkward then," Joe added. "Why would you subject us to that?"

"In his defence, our family is usually awkward," Michael defended before realizing he had no idea what they were referring to. "What dinner are you talking about?" Everyone at the table looked at him like he was stupid– even Tyler– and when Michael turned his head he found Ian looking at him the same way. "I'm clearly missing something".

"Didn't mom talk to you?" Kalen asked softly, sounding sad for some reason. Michael made a face.

"I don't remember the last time our mother spoke to me," he admitted before realizing how sad that sounded. Kalen frowned.

"Ah, it must suck for being the least favorite," Joe teased, not caring that he was being insensitive. Uncomfortable, Michael shifted in his seat, and then Joe cried out loudly and spit out his bite of sandwich. "Jesus, Daniel!" He pulled his leg up to his chest, one of his hands cupping his ankle.

"Michael, you're not the least favorite," Kalen assured, and Michael just nodded his head. He knew this, really. He just also knew that his parents had a tendency to forget about him.

"You haven't been reading the group chat?" Joe asked, still sounding in pain, though he let his foot fall back into the floor. "Pierce and Brad are currently arguing about it. Mom wants to have dinner on Friday with the whole family to celebrate the return of her baby".

"I actually have our group chat muted," Michael admitted. "It gets annoying sometimes". He was expecting some kind of protest from Joe, about how important the sanctity of brotherhood was and how offended he was that Michael wasn't keeping up with them, or some shit, but instead he just got a nod of approval from all three of his brothers. "What are Pierce and Brad fighting about?"

"Pierce doesn't want to come," Tyler answered, even though he wasn't a part of the group chat. "Apparently Brad thinks it's necessary everyone is there".

"It is necessary," Joe grumbled in agreement. "It's what dad wants. Even you and James should be there since you were invited".

"Oh, I'm planning on coming," Tyler assured, grabbing another sandwich. "With or without Pierce. I never turn down good food".

"Garett's cooking doesn't cover it?" Kalen asked and Tyler rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"All he knows how to make is different kinds of soups. And like, I don't mind soup, but it's getting too nice out to eat it all the time," Tyler explained and Michael cracked a little smile. "But, more on topic, I really don't think you need to worry about Pierce not coming. He's just trying to be annoying".

"I think you're underestimating his stubbornness," Joe accused, sounding incredibly distressed. His elbows were braced on the table in front of him, hands clasped in front of his face, and he leaned forwards to press his forehead against his knuckles, eyes closing. "I'm going to have to go over to your apartment and talk to him".

"And you're greatly underestimated how whipped Pierce is," Kalen said in response. "You think there's any way that Tyler's going to be here and he's not?"

"This is very true," Tyler supplied. "I don't think he wants me to be around Brad without him there. For some reason he forgets that Brad is literally the scariest man I have ever met and thinks I'll try to befriend him just to be a shit".

"That does sound like you," James mumbled and Tyler cracked a little smile.

"You should have seen his face last week when I made a joke about getting coffee with Brad. He looked absolutely horrified".

"I don't understand how you get away with stuff like that," Daniel said, surprising them all with his input. "If we ever did things to taunt Pierce when we were growing up he'd steal things from our rooms and light them on fire".

For some reason, this made Tyler look both amused and fond, even though it was bringing back some rather horrific memories to Michael. "Ah," he breathed. "The man I love".

***

They spent the remainder of the afternoon like that, talking amongst themselves and occasionally requesting things from a Ian who spent his time between in the back room with the door open so they could just call for him when he was needed. Michael was sure that he was going to be the one to break up the reunion, since the time he was supposed to be meeting Daisy grew nearer and nearer, but they were cut off first by their father stepping into the dining room nearly two hours before he usually got home. The man paused in the doorway and looked at them all. If he was surprised, nothing was visible on his face.

It fell silent, all of them wondering how the man was going to react to the Kalen having invited his boyfriend over without permission. "Hello James. Tyler," he greeted, nodding his head in their direction. Both boys quickly mumbled back greetings of their own. "Michael, Joe and Daniel, would the three of you mind joining me up in my office in a few minutes once I get situated? I'd like to have a word with all of you".

Suddenly Michael felt sick.

"Um," Joe spoke, very poorly keeping the nerves out of his voice. "Sure, dad. We'll be up in a minute".

"Thank you". And with that the man left the room, either unaware or unconcerned with the anxiety he had just struck upon his sons. Even Daniel looked uncomfortable, his eyes moving from Joe and Michael over and over again.

No one spoke until they faintly heard the opening and closing of the office door on the second floor. "Um," James managed weakly. "What's that about?"

"Did you do something wrong on the paperwork?" Joe asked, and it took Michael a moment to realize that Joe was directly addressing him, not him and Daniel. Offended, Michael turned to glare at his brother, who immediately held his hands up. "Hey. I'm just saying that Dan and I have been doing this for years and we've never had a problem. Doesn't it seem a little weird that the day you come along is the day we get in trouble?"

"How do you know you're in trouble? Maybe he just wants to thank you for going today. I mean, you said you got a lot of work done," Kalen soothed, trying to smile reassuringly.

Joe scoffed. "You saw his face. He was upset about something".

"Dad always looks like that," Kalen protested.

"If you're not worried about it then you go talk to him," Daniel mumbled, staring down at the half eaten sandwich he was clutching a little too tightly in his hand. It was almost amusing how wide Kalen's golden eyes grew at the suggestion.

"Wha- no. He asked for you. Why would I go up there?" he demanded. There was a sharp inhale to Michael's left as Joe went to respond, but it cut off as Michael stood.

"What are you doing?"

"We might as well go up there. He's probably ready, and it's not like sitting here bickering is going to solve any issues," Michael explained, proud of how composed he sounded, but giving away his nervousness by pushing a hand through his dark hair. "Let's just get it over with, yeah?"

Joe and Daniel didn't move, just squinted at him with similar expressions that expressed their distaste. "Oh my god you guys," Kalen groaned. "You're in your twenties. Grow a pair".

The insinuation that their youngest brother found them somewhat pathetic was enough to get both boys out of their seats, but they still trailed quite a distance behind Michael as he lead them from the room and up the stairs, dragging their feet. When he finally got to the office, he had to stand there and wait for them to finally join them.

It was kind of funny, he thought as he eyed the way Joe had his lip pulled nervously between his teeth. Joe has always been their father's favorite of the three of them– it was common knowledge really– and because of that he had gotten to spend the most time in their father's office, helping him with his work. For a long time, when Michael was still willing to abandon his calling to appease his father, it had bothered him that Joe got all the attention, and his brother had known it, always sticking his tounge out childishly at him as he left him and Daniel to go up to the office.

Joe didn't look too excited now though.

Perhaps giving up on worshiping his father had been a good thing for Michael. He had spent his entire life thinking that letting the man down was the worst thing he could possibly do– and that mindset still took over when it came to the big things– but he was able to calm himself in the face of minor disappointment, while Joe and Daniel could not. "Pull yourselves together," Michael instructed quietly before reaching out and knocking twice on the door.

He waited for his father to call out to them before entering.

There were only two chairs in front of his father's desk, so the three of them stood behind them in a line, standing silently as they waited for the man to begin speaking. It took him a minute to look up from the papers on his desk, and immediately his sharp gaze cut to Daniel and Joe, never once flickering over towards Michael.

"This won't take long, boys. I just wanted to discuss your grades from the semester with you," their father claimed, and Michael immediately tensed up as much as his brothers to his left.

"You got our grades already?" He asked without thinking. Their father liked to be the one asking the questions. "Why didn't they get sent to us first?"

"They should have," their father answered after a pause. "I still receive them a day after you do".

"I got an email yesterday saying I could view mine," Daniel chimed in, and Michael's head snapped to the side to look at Joe, waiting for him to speak.

"I did as well," he confirmed after a moment. "I didn't look at them though". This wasn't surprising. Why would he look when he got the same grades every semester just for being who he was?

No. Out of the three of them, the one who had the highest probability of doing badly was Michael, just because he asked his professors to grade him honestly. The knot in his stomach tightened, and he dropped his eyes, face still turned towards his brothers. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked softly.

There was a pause, and then Daniel answered just as softly, sounding somewhat guilty. "Didn't really think about it".

"You have yet to see your grades?" His father asked. "All of you?" They all shared a glance, and then nodded in unison. With a sigh, the man opened his briefcase. "I asked Marie to print out copies for you just incase you hadn't seen them yet". He withdrew three pieces of paper, which he studied for a moment to locate their names. One at time, starting with Joe much to Michael's displeasure, he handed them to them.

Eagerly, Michael accepted the paper, his eyes raking over the lines where his grades were printed to the left of the course titles.

A.

A.

A.

A.

Confused, Michael lifted his head to look at his father, only to find the man still looking only at his brothers. Michale followed his eyes and took note of Daniel's wide eyed look, and the way Joe was staring at his feet. "What-" he began, only to be interrupted.

"A C, Joseph? How did that even happen?" Their father asked, and Michael's eyebrows shot up. That has never happened before. No professor had ever dared to give Joe lower than an A.

"I don't know," he answered, voice incredibly small. It was surprising to Michael that his brother didn't immediately try to blame their professor, but maybe he shouldn't have expected Joe to be so petty.

"Well it's not going to happen again," their father said simply, and Michael noted the way Joe's eyebrows drew together but he still didn't lift his head. "The next time any of you get a C, you're going to get a job and repay me for the class. I don't pay for you to get C's".

While Michel felt slightly uncomfortable that Joe was being reprimanded, it was also kind of refreshing at the same time.

"Daniel," their father began, focusing on the boy in the middle then. "I understand getting B's once and a while, but don't make a habit of it, alright?"

"Yes sir," Daniel answered quickly.

Finally, Michael met his father's gaze, and he was surprised to find the man's expression softening as it came upon him. "I'm proud of you for maintaining your GPA, Michael. You did a good job. Will you be able to stay for a minute? Theses some things I would like to discuss".

I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you.

It rang over and over in his head, words he had been waiting to hear for years, but for some reason he didn't feel as he always thought he would after hearing them.

"Um... sure I can stay," he answered weakly. There was still a bit of time before he needed to pick up Daisy, and even if there wasn't, it wouldn't be acceptable to decline his father's offer.

As his father dismissed his brothers, Michael stood there stiffly, staring down at his grade report. It was weird looking at it, finally confirming his successful semester after agonizing over it for so long, and not feeling any sort of relief. No. What he felt was the opposite, something that tied a tight knot of nerves in his stomach as he thought about what his father was going to say once it was just the two of them.

The door closed.

He didn't look up.

"Michael, you're doing impeccable in school. I'm not necessarily surprised, since you've always been one of my hardest working sons, but I noticed you've been taking some unnecessary classes," his father said and Michael's teeth dig into his lower lip as he forced himself to look up. "You're still taking french, even though you've more than completed enough classes to qualify for a minor, and I noticed you've taken plenty of education classes as well".

"Yes," Michael confirmed, his voice small as he tired to to figure out a convincing lie to tell his father. "Um-"

"Now, I have no problem with you taking classes for enjoyment since you're doing so well in your major, but maybe you should take some extra classes that would actually be helpful to you. You've always excelled at math. Maybe you should look at some accounting or economics classes. What are you signed up for next semester?"

It was the perfect opportunity to tell his father that he was going to be dropping his Business major to student teach the upcoming semester, but his father had just told him that he was proud of him, and Michael couldn't lose that just yet.

"I'm taking Business and Econ classes," he lied, dropping his eyes so he didn't have to look at his father's pleased expression.

"That's perfect, Michael. I think that is a very good choice. Are your brother's taking the same courses?" the man asked, and Michael nodded his head, since he had simply told his father the classes Daniel and Joe had signed up for in his lie. "Good. I'm hoping that they'll watch how you approach your education and perhaps pick up a few things for themselves... especially Joe. A C? I suppose that's what he gets for not taking things seriously enough..."

"Can I go?" Michael asked softly, raising his gaze slightly. The question seemed to surprise his father, because his eyes widened a fraction, but then he nodded his head.

"Yes, of course. I suppose you want to continue catching up with your brother while he's here".

Michael didn't tell his father that he was really about to be on the verge of running late to his dinner plans with a girl, because discussing a potential girlfriend with his father might really push him to mental breakdown. "Yeah".

Free to leave, Michael hastily took his retreat, for some reason expecting the tight feeling in his troat to release once he stepped into the hall. It did not, and he spent a minute leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself down.

I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you, I'm proud of you.

What'd it matter when Michael wasn't even proud of himself.

Why doesn't this feel good? Why am I not proud for making him proud? I've waited years to hear him say those words. Why?

Maybe, Michael concluded after a moment, it was because he now had further to fall when he told his father about all the things he had been hiding.