"Hereee you are boys!"

In a resturant at a table with the reunited brothers, a waitress brought over a tray of five plates with various foods and set it down in front of them.

"YEAAAHH meat circles!" John hooted as he grabbed a plate which indeed had a burger on it.

"Alright slow down there buster- that is my thing-" Clay eyed him before reaching to grab his own plate that also had a burger on it.

"Wellll here's the thing about that- you've said it to the point where it's engraved in my brain and I can't not say it now-"

"I've only said it like twice!"

"Can you sissies just shut up and eat-" Bruce cut both of them off before taking a sip of a Margarita cocktail he ordered.

For a second the oldest and middle brothers just stared at him with squinted eyes, before looking back over at each other and mocking him quietly.

"Wow, this is great- great! We're all havin a GREAT time! AMAZING start to our reunion!" Branch preached sarcastically in a slightly loud voice with a forced smile, grabbing his own plate.

"I know right!" John agreed, completely missing the sarcasm, "MAN I love you guys!"

"Gross-" Clay and Branch mumbled as they started getting ready to eat their own food.

"Branch I know you're being sarcastic but I'm genuinely enjoying myself," Floyd chuckled, taking a mozzarella stick off of his plate and biting into it.

"Sarcasm is my love language." The youngest brother replied absentmindedly, focusing on his plate and picking up a fry.

"Anyway-" Floyd cleared his throat and looked over to his right where the waitress was still standing, "thanks for the food!"

"Oh no problem! Heh, enjoy!"

After another minute the brothers were now all digging into their food completely, having small and different conversations with one another.

It wasn't until Clay, who was sitting near the end of the table dropped his napkin and turned to grab it, saw that the waitress was still standing there, raising his eyebrows slowly.

Collectively noticing this, the rest of the brothers all turned to look up at the waitress who was standing there biting her knuckles excitedly.

Bruce stared blankly while blinking a few times before stating in a casual tone,

"..that'll be all thank you-"

"OH- oh right sorry it's just-" the waitress cleared her throat, moving a strand of her behind her ear nervously with a smile, "it's just, uhm- you're uhh- Brozone, right?"

"We are.. or, were- I dunno whatever anyone calls us nowadays-"

"AH I KNEW it!" The waitress squealed excitedly and waved her hands around before clearing her throat, putting her hands back to her side, "that's- that's so cool! I mean it's cool to see you guys are still around!"

"Uhhh.. yeah! Thanks!" Floyd smiled awkwardly, looking off to the side a few times, Branch clearing his throat in the background.

The waitress nodded while holding a wide smile, still standing there excitedly and watching them, and of course they all just stared back.

"..you want an autograph don't you-"

"Yes very much! Five from Clay please!"
She eyed Clay who was slowly trying to eat again but nearly dropped his burger.

"Humma-"

"Ooooo Viva's not gonna be happy about tha-"

"SHUT YO-"

~~~

The five siblings were all walking outside again after they had their nice meal together, slowly beginning to engulf back in their nonsensical conversations.

"Well! That lady was.. nice!" Floyd cleared his throat.

"She's definitely not gonna regret losing her job later- I mean an autograph on her nose? Did we always have weird fans?" Branch questioned, turning to look at him.

"Everyone does little bro." Floyd chuckled, patting his shoulder.

"I still can't believe you actually gave her five autographs Clay-" Bruce proclaimed out of nowhere.

"I did NOT-"

"HA, yeah, I know," He bumped his side playfully, "I just like stirring shit up-"

"I know that's right! POUND it ma man!" John held his fist out for Bruce to fist bump it, only to get a side eye in return.

"Damn- not the crickets-" Clay snickered.

"...Floyd-" The oldest quickly shifted his attention towards his third younger brother,

"you wouldn't leave me hanging would you?"

Floyd wasn't paying attention at first but would eventually turn only to see John's fist close to him and stare wide eyed for a bit before shifting to a confused look.

"What's this John?" He asked genuinely.

"It's me totally not desperately-"

"Very desperately-"

"Shut up- asking for a fist bump before I die of anymore embarrassment or lose anymore of my cool older brotherness-"

"Never say that last part again-" Branch chimed in.

"..you could've just asked for a fist bump-" Floyd chuckled weirdly before casually colliding his fist with his.

"HA! AHA! SEEEE!" John laughed aloud before patting Floyd's back two times, a bit roughly to where he tipped over a bit.

"At least ONE of us still respects me!"

"Nah, he just felt sorry for you-"

"...will you just let me LIIIIIIIIIVE!"

"You are living- you're just stuck with us in the process."

"Ahahaaaaa good one!" Bruce and Clay did their handshake again while laughing.

"..okay that I'll only accept simply because you said I'm stuck with you but I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS OLDER BROTHER SLANDER YOU TWO- geez it's like you're both secretly plotting my demise and part of your evil plan is to torture me.."

Purposefully getting him worked up more, the two middle siblings looked over at each other with slowly growing smirks.

"..I WASN'T SERIOUS!!!"

"I don't think they were either Jack-"
Branch rolled his eyes, watching as he'd have a mini flip out while the CPA and muppet father both laughed their asses off.

"Come on guys," Floyd chuckled again, "ease up on the old man."

"Thaaaank you Floy- OLD MAN?!"

"Damn, can't even a catch a break from FLOYD!" Clay and Bruce were hunched over dying at this point.

"Alrightttt hardy har flip floppin har you can let the punching bag BREATHE now- or- maybe you should because you both look like you're about to pass out-"

"Okaaay okay but seriously," Floyd raised his voice a little to get everyone's attention,

"Where we goin?"

After asking that question, he felt all the eyes of his brothers burn through him, leaving him standing there awkwardly.

"...we never actually agreed on where we were gonna go after eating out-"

"OOOOH right!"

"Weren't there a few suggestions? Like going to the park or-"

"Yeah but those were just a few, there's still so much for us to do!"

"Well you know what.. we've got the whooole day ahead of us bros," John said in a calm voice turning to look at all of them, "and the week. We can go aaaanywhere our hearts tell us to!"

Slowly, they'd all turn to look at John and just stare at him, not saying or replying a single word.

"Soooo.. arcade?"

"Yep."

"Mhm."

"Let's do it!"

"Great! Branch, take us to the one you brought me and John to?"

With Branch agreeing to lead again, they all started following and walking in his direction to where the arcade was.

Clay was a little behind but eventually caught up and tapped Floyd's shoulder lightly, to which his magenta eyes would meet with his.

"Hey uh, do you have the time? I kinda left my snailphone behind before we left earlier."

"Oh sure!" Floyd whipped his own snailphone from his hair and clicked it on, "it issss three twenty five."

"Alright, cool- cool cool cool very cool very cool." Clay mumbled in response, nodding his head slowly.

"Hey.." Floyd tilted his head before putting his phone away back in his hair, "you alright?"

"Hm?" The older brother turned back to him, "Oh- oh nah nah nah I'm cool, I'm great! Just- wanted to know what time it was since we've been out for a while!"

"Yeesh, you gettin sick of us already G?" Bruce joked, punching his shoulder lightly.

"Come on man can't a guy just know what time it is-"

"Well," Floyd wrapped an arm around him, "as long as you're all good."

The two offered each other a smile after this warm gesture, a bit of silence before Floyd started to speak again.

"I'm really glad you're here Clay. We all are."

As much as that made his heart happy, he had no idea why deep down somewhere.. it just felt like there was something that either didn't want that for him, or was trying to protect him from believing it, for reasons he wasn't in any mood to figure out right now.

He wasn't about to make that his focus, not when he was finally in a good place with his family again.

..

"So am I."

Their time together started now.

~~~

"OH COME ON YOU'RE CHEATING!"

"You know just because you don't like that I'm better than you doesn't mean I'm cheating-"

Right now John and Bruce were in an intense dance battle while their three younger brothers were watching and rooting from behind.

"BETTER than me?! I've been playing this for LONGER than you have FOOL!"

"So then why are you so bad at it?"

"Ooooo I CANNOT defend you there-"

"Dayummm CLOCKED!"

"BAD?! Nahh just you wait! You're not gonna beat me next round!"

Oh, brother of mine
It's been a long, long time
Since I've seen my face in your eyes

Clay watched his two older brothers battle with one another while smiling and cheering, having his arms wrapped around both of his younger brothers who were cheering as well.

Oh brother, I've returned
To my burn scars of birth
Charcoal and iron brought me back

He turned to see another game nearby that appeared to be a racing game with four open seats, and his interest began to dissipate away from the intense dance battle.

Nudging his brothers and looking down at them he asked,

"Who's up for an intense race?"

The two youngest looked at each other before returning their gazes to him with smiles.

And I left you alone in a house, not a home
And I watched the burning grow as my hair filled with grey

The three walked away from the scene as they sat next to each other and started preparing their games excitedly.

From the ashes that fell
The mountains I knew so well
Burned with hellfire in the blue light of midnight

"Allllright you two," Clay started as he was choosing his character and vehicle, "I must warn you that I gained a loooot of skills while we were separated, so don't be surprised when I beat you!"

"Pff- you're just saying that because you're older, not a very good argument you know-" Branch eyed him while choosing his own character.

"That's not- did you even hear what I jus-"

"Don't worry Branch, he'll automatically go easy on us since we're younger," Floyd teased, chuckling.

"Oh I'm not lookin for easy-"

"Is that what you think Floyd?? Ohh alright just you watch emo!"

"Emo?! Oh yeah it's ON now!"

As soon as every character and vehicle was chosen and afterwards a course, the game would eventually load with all three of them on each screen and count down from five before starting.

Brother, I watched the sky burn

"You sure you ready for this?" Clay smirked over at his younger brothers.

"You wanted the challenge, so you're getting it."

"Alright okay! You got me there! Let's do it then!"

And all I learned was smoke fills the lungs
like a disease

The racing was on, and one could probably say it was a little more intense than the dance battling, with way more laughing, yelling and teasing involved.

Oh brother, I see
You burn like me
The singes on our skin like a brand

Oh brother, I confess
There is little of me left that could care about dousing the fire

"Heyyy there you guys are!" John jogged over to them but got no response from any of them as they were caught in their game.

"What's happenin here?" Bruce eventually caught up with him from a little ways away.

John didn't answer him as he watched them play their game for a bit, studying their very much focused expressions.

"I dunno but all I know is that last seat is MINE-" He slightly shoved past his younger brother as he sat down in the last open seat that was next to Clay.

"What the- oh you-!"

And I left you alone in a house, not a home
And I watched the burning grow as my hair filled with grey
From the ashes that fell
The mountains I knew so well
Burned with hellfire in the blue light of midnight

"Okay! How do I join!" John tried to start up his own game.

"You have to wait until they're done playing their own game you buffoon-"

"...I knew that- ALRIGHT who's winning!" The oldest turned towards his three younger brothers who were still intently playing.

This time though they actually gave responses.

"I am!" Clay said.

"Hmmm you sure about that Clay cause it kinda looks Floyd i-"

"I'M WINNING-"

Floyd was in fact winning, not Clay.

Brother, I watched the sky burn

And all I learned was smoke fills the lungs like a disease

After the final lap, Branch ended up taking the lead, and against his better judgements he ended up standing in his chair and cheered excitedly, something that normally his girlfriend would've done.

"Great job Branch!" Floyd applauded him, clapping.

"He was always meant to be the leader honestly-" Bruce said in almost a mumble, clapping with him.

"Okay OKAY ALRIGHT-" John gave Bruce a quick side eye before clapping for Branch as well, "WOOOO GO BITTY!"

Floyd looked over at Clay who he noticed wasn't cheering along but saw him smiling up at his youngest brother.

"Hey!" He called to him and waited until he caught his attention to hold out his fist, "good game."

Clay chuckled and reached out his arm as well, bumping his fist with his.

"Good game."

"Heyyyyy all!" John shouted to all of them, watching as they turned to him.

"How about another good game huh?!" He sat back in his seat and pretended to be driving, pursing his lips as if he was making car noises.

"Mmmm I dunnooo," Clay responded in a mischievous tone and rested his arm against his chair before turning to Branch and Floyd,

"We feel like takin down older brother square guys?"

"..well at least he called me older brother-"

"Not really, that took a lot of my energy but- I'll go again anyway." Branch sat back down in his seat.

"One more game wouldn't hurt!" Floyd agreed.

Looking down at him then his younger brothers from behind, he mouthed to all three of him,

"Go easy on him-"

The three of them chuckled quietly, unbeknownst to the oldest brother who eventually caught on and saw they were looking behind him, whipping his head around to look at Bruce who only offered him a smile.

"Okaaay I see how it is," He nodded slowly and turned to his game, "imma show y'all what having an armadillo vehicle taught me, game or not!"

In a matter of seconds like it was nothing, he cracked nearly every bone in his body, from his neck to his knuckles to his back and arms.

"Oh he's serious-"

"Hell yeah I am! Let's get this show on the ROAD!"

Oh brother, did you know
You could just strike a match?
Hear him scream my name one last time

Some time after starting again the race grew back into intensity, and they realized they all really did underestimate John and how much of a challenge he'd be as his skills with Rhonda very much showed through this gameplay.

Maybe he wasn't great with other games, but racing was for sure at the top of his list. They definitely underestimated him more because of how he was close to being fifty, but really it was just another factor of how skilled he was.

"Geez! He keeps knocking me over!" Floyd directed towards John who was in fact knocking him over while they both were in the lead.

"Maybe you should stay in your lane then FloOoOoyD!" John mocked while keeping his full focus on the game.

"Old man's got speed, okay, noted.." Branch mumbled to himself as he stared intently at his game.

"HA, I dunno about y'all but I like competitive John!" Clay was alongside Branch behind the two, trying to gain speed.

John was never not competitive, but he wasn't always at his best when he was. That was more of when he was younger though. Being older and actually bonding with his brothers it was kind of a fun side to see from him.

Clay's never actually said this about him until today.

"I don't! If he wins that means he's never gonna shut up about it!"

"True, but- it is all for fun right?"

"Ion know 'bout all that speedster-"

"Call it what you want but we ALLLL know who's gonna win!"

Oh brother, I am home in the fires of our youth
I could care less if it hurts you anymore

And I left you alone in a house, not a home
And I watched the burning grow as my hair filled with grey
From the ashes that fell
The mountains I knew so well
Burned with hellfire in the blue light of midnight

After some time and more intense racing, John did eventually win the game and he nearly knocked it over cheering so much.

"Yeesh, and I told them to go easy on YOU-" Bruce backed away from him a bit and stared with a raised eyebrow, "cut that out before you break something!"

"We maaaay have misjudged him a little-" Floyd admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"A little?"

"YEAH you did, but I ROCKED THAT so you know WHAT!"

John stood up in his chair like Branch did earlier, looking down at all three of his competitors with a smirk.

"Andd here we go-"

John slowly raised a hand in the air while still holding his smirk, but instead of boasting about like they thought he would, he held his arm out towards them.

"Good game!" He said in a cheerful voice, a warm smile on his face.

For a second all their eyebrows were raised, looking at each other before back at his fist that was sitting in front of them.

"Well come on, don't leave me hanging for the second time!"

Eventually after staring for a little longer, Floyd have in first and reached his fist in to bump it against his, then a few seconds after Clay would do the same, and Branch as well.

"Well, that turned out differently than I thought-" Bruce said.

"Yeah, no gloating- what a shocker-" Branch joked in response.

"Oh come on guys I'm not THAT evil!" John chuckled as he jumped from his chair.

"Yeah thank goodness for that-"

"Well that was.. intensely fun!" Floyd slipped out of his chair and walked toward his two oldest brothers.

The other two got out of their chairs as well and followed behind.

"Yeah I need a break from anything 'intense' right now- I wanna win a prize at sumn!"

"There's a claw machine over there," Floyd pointed out a claw machine across from them that had plushies, candies, and other kinds of goodies inside of them.

"..nah- also too intense-"

"Well I'M game! OUTTA the way!" John shoved the air as he ran toward the direction of the machine like a child.

"IIIII think I'll just get a snack- meet you guys after-" Branch said before going in his own direction to find a concession stand.

"I'm gonna join him actually," Bruce pointed back with his thumb, "dad bod needs some nutrients, later-"

After Bruce left, it was just Floyd and Clay left there, and for a bit they were contemplating on what their next moves would be.

"Uhh-" Floyd turned to his older brother, "how about we walk around until we find something we like?"

Clay looked over at him for a few seconds, before a small smile began to form on his face.

"Let's make a move!"

They walked alongside each other around the arcade until they found a game or games they'd both enjoy, and for the rest of the time they were there that's what they'd be occupied with.

Brother, I watched the sky burn

And all I learned was smoke fills the lungs like a disease

~~~

It was now late at night, almost ten pm as the brothers had just gotten finished their day of partaking in nonsensical adventures with one another.

After another hour or two at the arcade they spent another two hours just walking around the village and doing whatever, talking about whatever.

Then a while after they decided to kick it with the girls for the rest of their time after Floyd suggested it before they headed back to Branch's bunker for the night; before that they'd make a quick trip back to Rhonda for Bruce and Clay to grab a few things they'd have for the night and morning, and they were soon on their way over.

Happily of course when they arrived they were invited into Poppy's pod, but as soon as they got in their noses were caked with the smell of cotton candy and all sorts of other candies. Not that it was bad but it was like it practically got shoved up their nostrils as soon as the door opened.

There were also a few clutters of scrapbooks and scrapbooking material on the floor that they'd make sure not to step on while going inside.

"Oh yeah, watch your step, we're still using those," Poppy advised literally minutes after they noticed that they were on the ground while giggling with Viva.

"You're free to pick up something and join us!" Viva sang out while she rolled onto her side and held out her arm towards them.

"OOOOOHH that was a good note!"

"Oh my god I know riiiightttt-"

"..alright who's idea was it to come here-" Bruce stated as he continued walking inside anyway.

"Floyd's, and I quote- 'Hey, let's go see what the girls are up to!'" Clay held a finger up as he pretended to speak in Floyd's voice.

"Well you guys agreed! And they're our friends are they not!"

"More like crazy girlfriend and sister in law for me-" Branch joked in a mumble.

"You love me grumpy shorts!" Said crazy girlfriend of his called over to him and he failed to hold back a small smile. He very much did.

"Wait- Sister in law?! EEEEEE!!!" Viva squealed as she rolled around on the ground excitedly, "HE SAID IT POPPY HE SAID IT!!"

"EEEEEE I KNOW I KNOWWW!!" Poppy excitedly grabbed her arm as she squealed with her back.

"Anddd just like that I have regrets-" Branch joked again, sliding his hands up to his ears slowly.

"Just remember who wanted to come here-" Bruce said as he also slid his hands up to his ears.

"Our FRIENDS!" Floyd reminded them even with his own hands over his ears.

"Yeah guys, Floyd's right, they are our friends!" John agreed, not even reacting to the squealing but not even having to as it started to slowly die down, "Quit bein misogynistic!"

Floyd's eyes widened as he stared at the ground and mumbled,

"Oh, well- well I didn't say all tha-"

"I literally have a wife," Bruce gave his older brother the strongest side eye, "HOW can I POSSIBLY be misogynistic-"

"...maybe you are secretly and you just never knew it?" John smiled sheepishly not taking anything seriously.

"Man what th-" Clay stared at his oldest in disbelief, "what kind of drugs are yo- you just ALWAYS have to take it a step further-"

"Claaayyyy!"

Everything inside of him stopped when he heard his favorite person call out to him, and saw that she was waving him over with a smile.

"Come sit with me!"

She said with her. Not with her and Poppy, just her.

"Yeahhh Clay," Bruce stood alongside and nudged him almost quietly, "go sit with your gir-

"UHMM HAHA YEAH YEAH," Clay shouted over him before giving him a quick glare then turned back to Viva, "sure, why not!"

"YAYYY!" Viva clapped like a child and moved to make space for him as he began to approach.

Poppy smiled then turned to look at the other four brothers who were still just standing there.

"Boysss make yourselves comfortable, this is your home too! Sit on the bed, sit with us, grab a scrapbook, do whatever! Or don't, you're not obligated to stay here if you don't want to- either is fine!

After a small pause she would add, before giving him a look,

"Branch has no excuse though he knows this is his second home-"

"Sorry," he chuckled wholeheartedly, wanting to make it clear he was fully aware and was more than happy to see her, "I was under the impression we wouldn't be here long, and it was kind of out of nowhere and I don't know what's happening and my brothers are being weird-"

"Hey!" They all said in unison.. except John of course-

"Ahahaaa love you bitty bro!" He pointed at him with finger guns and clicked his tongue.

"Soooo yeah it's kind of awkward-"

"Well you're here so I command you get comfy!" She squinted at him before sticking her tongue out with a smile, "ALL of you! Branch, show them to the kitchen why don't you!" She waved him off before getting back to what she was doing.

"Yes ma'am," he teased with another chuckle then turned to his brothers, "come on, let's get a snack then we can find somewhere to sit."

They all agreed before they began to follow him into the kitchen.

"Well shoot, I'm not one to turn down a good snack! What sugar goodies Poppyseed got stocked up in that frigidaire?!"

"Please.. stop talking-"

Clay shook his head at them before turning back to Viva, who was chuckling at the scene before her, but then offered him a smile when she caught his eyes on her after.

He smiled back at her softly before scooting closer to her.

"Soooo.. what you been doing all day?" He said in a mumble, looking at a few of the material and candies sitting in front of her.

As soon as he asked that she started yapping as if she was ready for him to ask her that.

"Oh we spent majority of the day looking through all of Poppy's scrapbooks which took us like almost seven hours but it was SOOOO FUN! I love ALLL of them but my favorite ones are the ones she made of her and I they're just TOOOO cute and I teared up a little at the one where we both reunited after so long that day was just SO important to me you know I mean I never thought I'd see my baby sister again! BUT anyways yeah we also went out at one point to get more candy and even ice cream because how could we even resist right?! Then after our scrapbook reading we made even MORE scrapbooks which is why you saw all this stuff on the floor obviously- OH YEAH and we went to go say hi to dad too."

Not phased by any of her chatter as he was fully used to it by now he simply chuckled, readjusting his position next to her with a sigh.

"Okay! Seems like you had an awfully eventful day!"

"Sure did! Can't wait for the rest of this week, hehe!" She giggled.

"Yeah, heh.. me too." He nodded, his voice growing slightly quiet as he looked down at the floor again.

Her excitement settled and she held a softer expression as she grew silent for a bit, before scooting closer to him herself.

"Well anyway.. how was your day, Clay?" She asked in a warm voice, tilting her head a little as she tried to catch his gaze.

Eventually he would look up and see that she was trying to do so.

"Oh, mine?"

"Well you're the only Clay in here," She chuckled, shrugging her shoulder.

"You're funny- and.. you know.. my day was good! Really good," he smiled, "I enjoyed actually spending time with my brothers. I got to know more of who they are and who they've become and.. and show them more of who I am."

"That's so good Clay," Viva nudged her shoulder into his gently with a warm smile, "and you're gonna be getting a full week of that."

"Oh ho ho with these maniacs? I can't wait," he joked with a smirk, his ears flickering in delight when he heard her giggle again.

It was silent for a bit again as they stared at one another for a few seconds, the smile on Viva's face beginning to slowly falter as she was about to say something else.

"Are.. are you gonna be okay tonight?"

His smile was already faltered the minute hers went away.

"Veev.. we already talked about thi-"

"No like.. I need you to be sure, like- really sure."

"I.. I don't.. know.."

Viva sighed and turned her gaze to the ground now, slowly moving her hand towards his and hesitating a bit, a small chill going up her back as he finished for her and slid his hand towards hers and closed the gap, squeezing it lightly.

"There is no way for me to be sure, because I can't do anything about it.. but.. I don't wanna sit here and keep worrying about it. I'll figure out what's going on eventually, but.. I had a really good day today, Veev. I wanna at least be able to not think about it.. hell maybe then I'll actually get somewhere and possibly it'll just go away on it's own."

Viva nodded slowly as she didn't look up at him but stared at their fingers interlocked as she played with his.

"I understand." She mumbled, "I wouldn't want you to overthink it either.. but that's also just it. You're having a great time here with your brothers, you shouldn't have to end everyday with.. that."

"We'll get to the root of it. I don't know how or when, but we will. For right now though.. I'm just goin with the flow." He moved his hand in a wavy motion playfully and smiled when he heard her snicker.

"Well it is what you do best." She finally looked back up at him, smiling.

"I know." He smirked before hearing another snicker come out of her.

"Hello allll!" John returned to the main room with Branch, Bruce and Floyd following behind, "we come with treats!"

"Yeah and this dunce took a million years to pick one-" Bruce walked past him while pointing back at him.

"Erm aksHauLLy I got three and also it's not my fault she has a wide variety of snacks!" John looked over at Poppy, "that's a compliment by the way Popster-"

"Awww stop ittt!" She waved him off, laughing, "I try my besttttt."

"Then Floyd had the idea to bring out a whole tray for everyone which also took a million years of deciding-" Branch teased, walking the group with said tray, which had choices of pastries, chocolates and fruits atop of it.

"I'm just nice okay!" Floyd slapped his hands to his sides as he looked slightly flustered.

"Well you know what Floyd, I appreciate it a whoooole bunch!" Poppy reached over to pat his arm as he sat down across from her.

"Thank you! I'm glad someone does!"

"I never said I didn't!" Branch set the tray down in front of everyone.

"Yeah, who am I to deny a good looking snack tray," Clay reached over to grab a pastry.

"I appreciate it too! And not just because I lowkey wanted a snack but didn't feel like getting out of my extremely comfortable spot-"

Viva's input got a few chuckles from everyone as a few of them also reached to grab their own snack.

~~~

After a little more time with the girls the brothers all began to get ready to make their departure for the night.

They got their last words in from whatever conversations they were having and grabbed a few snacks to take with them, then bidded their goodbyes and goodnights.

They were tackled with hugs from both of them but only one of them got a longer hug then a kiss from Poppy, and another a longer hug from Viva, and followed by some quiet teasing they were eventually sent off for the night.

As they were heading back to Branch's bunker, the excitement for their sleepover started to arise back into topic.

"Alrighttttt who's ready for the GREATEST BROTHERLY SLEEPOVER EVAHH!"

"Not when you announce it like that-" Branch cringed.

"I am! Our first actual sleepover together?! It's bound to be a good time!" Floyd said in genuine excited.

"THANK you AGAIN, FLOYD–" John eyed all of his brothers while saying this, to the eyeroll of his youngest and fourth youngest brother.

"Uhh, heh- you're welcome?"

Clay was a little silent around this time, thinking about his conversation with Viva earlier.

Once he eyed all his brothers John would pause momentarily and watched him for a bit as he just walked without saying a word.

"Yo, Clay, you good man?" He asked the middle child in a slightly quieter but still loud enough voice.

This caused the rest of his brothers to turn their attention towards him, and eventually after realizing everyone was silent and feeling like all eyes were on him, he looked up and over to see that they really were. All full of either concern or confusion.

"Oh- what- yeah, yeah I'm good, what's up?"

"You were just– kind of quiet, dunno." John answered simply while keeping his eyes on him.

"Oh uh, yeah sorry, I was just- I was just uhh–"

"Lost in thought?" Floyd finished his sentence for him.

That's not what he was going to say, but then again he didn't know what he was going to say, so he just nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeap! Exxxactly!" He put on a wide smile.

"About what?" Bruce decided he'd lighten the mood a little with some teasing, "Viiiiiiva?"

"It's really too late for this—"

John was going to say something else since he didn't necessarily feel sure, but he decided to leave it alone and keep the good mood afloat.

Putting back on a smile of his own, he clapped his hands together and raised his voice again.

"You, are gonna LOVE Branch's bunker Clay and Bruce!" He faced the both of them, "He has a lot of roomssss a lot of collectiblessss a lot of mechanicssssss.. a lot of roomsssss—"

"John, please– it's really not that interesting–" Branch sighed and walked in front of everyone as they started to get close to the entrance of the bunker.

"Not interesting?! I LOVE it in there! Come on Floyd you've been in there too!"

"Yeahh it is pretty chill," Floyd chuckled, agreeing.

Branch only shook his head in response, deep down appreciating the praise but feeling it wasn't necessary.

"Well I can't wait to see it Bitty bro," Clay walked up to him and wrapped an arm around him, smiling.

Branch offered him a small smile back and slowly unhooked himself from around him as they finally reached the entrance.

The rest of them paused behind him as he continued walking to go and open the door, standing to the side to let them all go in first, waiting until they all did to go in himself and shutting it behind him.

As soon as they were all settled on the platform, Branch pulled on the lever to take them to the main floor.

"A platform?" Bruce said before nodding in admiration, "fancyyyyy~"

"Ain't it?! Champ built ALLLL of it himself!" John did a belly laugh before settling his hands on his hips.

"Seriously, if I get more one more compliment I'm gonna vomit everywhere–"

"We know you love it so much," Floyd chuckled, ruffling his hair.

They got to the bottom and stepped off of the platform, Clay and Bruce looking around in the first room they were in.. which was full of the bergen theories and drawings.

"...uhhh–"

"Oh yeah uh, sorry– still have to clean this room out–"

"You said the same thing when Floyd and I–"

"Listen okay it's hard when you have to keep a bunch of other widely stored may I add rooms organized and you end up forgetting every single ti- sigh okay– OKAY, LOOK– JUST–"

Branch swatted the air and held both his arms out to shut everyone up and whoever may have been irking to add something, which a certain oldest brother actually was, his finger held up and mouth agape.

"we don't mention it, we were never here– let's just head to the living room."

"Uhhh yeap, got it!" Clay nodded quickly with a forced smile, wanting to move past this immediately.

The youngest said not another word and sharply pointed his finger in the direction of where the main room was and started walking that way, everyone else slowly following behind.

They all arrived in the room and got settled somewhere, Bruce and Clay putting their things down as they looked around.

"Wow, you really built this all by yourself." Clay slightly mumbled, looking around in amazement.

"I wasn't lying when I said I built the hideout," Branch scoffed with a chuckle, turning on a lamp.

"Oh I believed you one hundred percent, you were really out here doin things B! Proud of how far you've come man."

Branch just shrugged a little like it was nothing, a small smile on his face.

"You guys too." He mumbled almost quietly.

Clay didn't know why, but he felt the warmest surge swarm over his body when he heard his baby brother say that to him. Sure it wasn't just directed towards him, but knowing that he was included made him feel a different type of happy.

Or was reassurance the better word?

"Awww Branch!"

"You more bro!"

"AWWWW BITTY–"

"ANYWAY—" Loudly he would clear his throat and direct his attention toward all of them.

"So!" He clapped his hands together, "Sleeping arrangements! You all technically have your own rooms but obviously since– everything happened I kinda changed things up– a lot– John and Floyd sleep on spare beds I had lingering around and I have plenty more blankets and pillows right in that closet over there," He pointed to a nearby closet that was across from where they were all standing.

"I refuse to let anyone sleep on the floor though, so if you'd wanna take my bed I'll gladly take the couch."

"Aw come on now Branch, we can't kick you off your own bed," Bruce refused back, shaking his head.

"I mean last time I checked we're the guests– I CALL DIB– owww‐" Clay rubbed his arm after Bruce elbowed it.

"I really don't care to be honest, I'd really just rather none of you slept on the floor–"

"OOOOOH OOH OOH, you know what we should do?!" John held his hand up and waved it rapidly, "We–"

"It is TOO late for a pillow fight I am TIRED–" Branch sharply pointed again at him.

"No it's not– I mean I wasn't gonna say tha‐!" He was literally holding a pillow in his other hand.

Bruce facepalmed whilst pinching his nose, while Branch sighed and rolled his eyes.

"He does this everytime–"

"NO– what I was actually gonna say was– we should all sleep in HERE!"

"..john I just said no one is sleeping on the–"

"No no no, I mean– we can just take the bigger blankets and I dunno– make a fort or something or even a bed out of them and just get cozied up together!"

"Hmmm.." Floyd thought, "that's.. actually not a bad idea!"

"You know what, for once.. I agree." Bruce nodded, crossing his arms.

"Well– yeah okay, I don't see any harm in it."

"Oh uhhh," Clay started, "I don't know if that's such a-"

"But whyyy? Come on man for old times sake?!" John wrapped an arm around Clay and patted his shoulder a few times.

"I dunno, I just– want my own space?"

"You don't wanna be around us?" Floyd asked.

"N-No, I didn't mean it like that! I just–"

"Then come awnnnn," The oldest brother squeezed him lightly, "it's a sleepover for a reason! Come awnnnn Clay thee Clayterson come awnnnn!"

"Never again–"

"John leave him be," Bruce sighed and lightly shoved him off, "if he wants his own space we should just respect that. We're spending a whole week with each other he's gonna want a break from our annoying asses at some points–"

What if that wasn't the case though.

Eventually, John sighed and nodded, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

"I didn't mean to pressure you man. You need some you time," He patted his back this time, "you got it. But we'll all be out here if you change your mind."

"Yeah.. thanks."

Smiling warmly, he and the two younger brothers nodded before turning to get their things ready and set up for bed, conversating with one another.

Bruce pat Clay's shoulder as well and turned the other way to the closet to grab a few blankets and pillows.

Quietly, he just stood there while watching them all do what they were doing, the sound around him slowly started to fade as he began to become engulfed in his thoughts again,

That was just it, he didn't wanna be alone. But he also felt like it wasn't a good idea to be around them knowing what would happen.

He hated that he was overthinking this. Today was such an amazing day.. how could anything have possibly ruined it?

He wanted to be one hundred percent about that so badly.

Nonetheless, he couldn't stop the bubbling that was starting to formulate in his stomach.

..

To hell with it.

Whatever happens happens.

He was going to be with his brothers no matter what.

"Actually.." He spoke up, grabbing all their attention and pausing whatever conversations they were having.

"I do change my mind, I wanna stay with you guys."

He smiled. Something in him was painful, but the smile was still genuine.

His brothers all looked at each other before smiling as well.

Bruce began to walk up to him and reached a hand to his hair.

"Welcome back to the party,"

He eyed his hair for a second then guided himself back to his eyes.

"..bush," he ruffled it playfully and snickered along to the light chuckling behind him.

"Boutta make me change my mind real quick– get offa me fool–" Clay lightly swatted his hand away only to more of his older brother's amusement.

He smirked at him before turning back around to his brothers and walking back towards them.

As he watched him walk again he lost himself in thought once more, turning to walk to the closet to get himself some blankets and pillows.

Opening it he stood there for a second, sighing quietly as he looked at the varieties of fabric and colors.

He knew what he was getting himself into, but he also didn't.

Asking himself if it was worth it felt pointless and slightly insensitive because of course it was, it was his brothers.

But something intrusive kept pushing to at least ask once.. would it all be in the end?