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Ford sat at his desk, finishing up the remainder of his homework. His brother Stanley was doing what he usually did, skipped his homework and went straight to playing with a few toys. The light noises he made as the two cars collided brought a small smile to his face. Stan knew how much Ford liked silence when he was doing his homework. He always tried his hardest to be as quiet as possible for him. But Stan was a mountain of energy, so it was hard to keep it all contained. But the light moment was quickly ruined by the thunderous call of their father.
“Stanford Filbrick Pines!” Filbrick’s voice boomed through the entire house. “Get down here this instant!”
Ford instantly felt his stomach drop. His face pailed whiter than the paper he had been writing on only a moment ago. He slowly pushed himself from the desk and rose to his feet. He began to make his way to door when Stan forcibly grabbed his arm.
“Give me your jacket and glasses,” Stan demanded.
Ford didn’t look at him when he tried to shrug his arm off and leave. “Stanley, I can’t do this right now. I, I have to go before dad gets even madder.” He felt the hand on his arm tighten before he was quickly swung to face Stan. Ford’s stomach did another flop when he looked into Stan’s deadly serious eyes.
“Give me your jacket and glasses, Ford,” Stan deadpanned. “Now,” he demanded with much more force.
Ford knew this was a losing battle and slipped off his jacket and glasses. Stan swiftly put them on and made his way to the door. This time, Ford caught Stan’s arm. “W-where are you going?” He stuttered as the panic began to rise.
Stan’s serious eyes softened behind the lenses as he looked back at Ford. “Just go back and do your homework, Ford. I’ll be right back.” Stan gave Ford’s hair a playful ruffle. This action settled Ford’s frantic nerves only slightly. The moment was once again ruined by the roar down stairs.
“I said NOW Stanford!” If it was possible, their father sounded even angrier.
Stan gave Ford one final smile. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves and squared his shoulders. And with that, he walked out the door, shutting it as he left.
All Ford could do was stare at the door that separated them. He could just open it and walk down there now. Apologize for the switch up and beg his father to let Stanley go. Whatever it was was all his fault anyway, so why get Stanley involved right? But he couldn’t. His legs wouldn’t move a muscle, his arms wouldn’t reach for the handle. Ford’s body seemed to do the opposite as he collapsed on the floor where he stood. His hands curled into fists at his sides. He felt the tears fall free from his eyes as he silently cried. How could he just sit here and cry while his brother took his punishment? Stan deserved so much more. Deserved a brother who would own up to his mistakes. Deserved a brother who would protect him instead of cower behind him. A brother who wasn’t Ford. More tears came but he made no move to wipe them away. Wiping them away was as useless as he was right now.
He finally willed himself to move to Stan’s bunk. There was no way he could do homework now when he could barely even think. He grabbed one of Stan’s magazines on the nightstand to distract himself with. He hazily looked through it. Every once in awhile a random picture would catch his eye. He would stare at it for a few seconds before moving on to the next page. The sound of the door opening brought him back to reality. Stan had finally returned after what felt like an eternity. Ford couldn’t see him very well in the dark of their room. It had grown late and Ford didn’t bother with the lights.
Stan kept his face down and shoulders stiff as he leaned against the closed door. He was breathing heavily, but was doing his best to corral it.
Ford couldn’t take the silence anymore and finally spoke up. “S-Stanley?” His voice was barely a whisper, but it practically echoed in their small room.
Stan jumped and took a sharp intake of breath. He had thought Ford would have been asleep by now.
Ford cautiously tried again. “Stanley, are you ok?” Of course he’s not ok, he thought to himself.
Stan took another deep breath, forcing his shoulders to relax. “Hey Sixer,” came his hoarse voice filled with false delight. “You still awake? We have school tomorrow remember?” He gave a forced chuckle.
Ford can’t believe what he was hearing right now. After all he has been through, he still acts like nothing is wrong. All to protect Ford. Ford feels the tears well up in his eyes again. “I couldn’t sleep,” he lies. He lies to allow Stan the comfort of thinking Ford isn’t worried sick about him right now. He lies so he doesn’t sprint off the bed and embrace him. To hold him close and whisper soft lies about how it’s all going to be ok. But Ford is too selfish to just let it go. “Can i sleep with you?” He hates how much he just needs to be next to Stan right now.
“Of course Sixer,” Stan chuckled. He made his way over to his bunk.
Ford lifted the covers and slid under them. He kept them raised so Stan could easily slide in as well. As soon as Stan was comfortable, Ford wrapped his small arms around him as best he could. Stan immediately jumped at the contact. Ford couldn’t tell if it was from pain or the soft touch itself. Ford began to release his grip on Stan when a hand was placed over his own, signifying it was ok to stay like this. Ford snuggled into the neck of his jacket. His jacket? Ford thought. He realized Stan was still wearing his jacket. Did he even take off his glasses? “Stanley, you should take off my glasses and jacket before you fall asleep.” He mumbled, sleep already taking over him.
“Oh, yeah, right,” Stan mumbled in return. He slid the glasses off his nose and placed them on the nightstand. He snuggled back against Ford without removing his jacket.
“You forgot the jacket,” Ford informed, thinking a sleepy Stan had just forgotten already.
“Don’t wanna take it off.”
Ford decided not to argue. He and Stan needed sleep after what happened today. I’ll get it in the morning, was his last thought as sleep overtook him.
He awoke the next morning with his jacket draped over him. He looked to see Stan hastily scribbling at their desk, no doubt trying to finish up ignored homework.
Stan’s twin sense must have kicked in, for he turned and looked at Ford. “Morning sleepy head,” his normal chipper voice was back.
“G’morning” Ford answered, still full of sleep.
“You better get up, school starts soon.” Stan gave him a smug grin.
Ford quickly grabbed his glasses and noticed the time. If he didn’t hurry, they would be late for sure. He jumped out of bed and changed into the nearest set of clothes he could find. Hope these are clean, he thought. But there was no time to worry about that now. “Come on Stanley, we have to go or we’re gonna be late!” He hollered running towards the door.
“Alright, I’m coming,” Stan returned following Ford out the door.
And just like that, things were back to normal. Stan cracked jokes and continued on like it never happened. That was until Ford had noticed how uncharacteristically many long sleeves Stan had been wearing that week.