Tom's POV:

Today I'm checking on my brother.

Iris has been begging Mom and Dad to visit him, but they can't. 

In their defense, she makes them out to be the villains more than they are. Right now, they are on a very important business trip, they really can't come and see Lyle. 

I'm driving and listening to random songs on the radio, I could connect to my phone and put something on, but I think this is nice.

 I arrived at Stonehill College in Bristol, Virginia. Small town. Cute town. It's late fall and the trees are shedding leaves in vibrant colors. Man, I love autumn.

My phone notifies me that Stone Hill College is at the next left turn.

I park my van and check the dorm number that he sent me.

All that I'm hoping for is that campus security doesn't wonder why I'm here, I swear I let the administrative staff know, God I hope that I'm at the right college.

I make it to Lyle's new dorm and knock.

"One minute!" I hear him yell.

He opens the door and gasps.

"Tom? I thought Mom and Dad were going to visit," he says confused.

"You know that Westside deal? Yeah, they're on that trip right now, but I'm here," I smile.

"Alright! I'm making a cake and cleaning, so be warned," he said in an eerie tone.

I walk in and sit on the sofa. The place is already spotless, but I know him; to him, it's a wreck.

Sigh.

He hums while whisking cake batter and rambling all about how he made an art piece that he's really proud of.

My eye is twitching, just slightly.

I love him, it's just that I took off an internship opportunity for this, and Iris made this seem like life or death.

Then I notice it. I'm so dumb, shit. I'm a bad brother.

It's unbearably hot right now, I'm in a tank top, and he's wearing a long-sleeved shirt. 

He's sweating and pulling at the sleeves.

I walk over and grab his arm, and pull up the sleeve.

He looks away, ashamed.

His arm is covered in fresh cuts; some of these look a little deep, and others need stitches. A couple are still bleeding.

"What is this brother? Care to explain?" I ask.

"Did you hear what happened?" he responds, I'm quiet, because I did, "Then you know."

I leave him alone, and he changes into a short-sleeved shirt, green of course, he can't wear anything but green. He winces every so often, and reaches out to scratch his cuts, then looks at me and stops.

He finishes up with his cake, then he puts it in the oven.

We talk about random things for a bit while waiting.

The timer goes off, Lyle rushes to remove the cake, then he ices it green and pink. 

A couple of minutes later, Ken comes back from classes. He looks tired and thin.

Lyle shoves cake into his system, which really can't be healthy.

After Ken was forced to eat almost half of the cake, he went to sit down and study. Lyle looks proud of himself and happy. Haven't seen that expression from him in a while.

Eric never made him that happy. But then again, Eric is a bitch.

Never mind.

I check into a camped hotel, I'm here for a week, until I go back to school to finish the month of college I have left, I worked my ass off for a PhD. 

Maybe then Mom and Dad will notice me.

Maybe then I will be able to be known as Tom.  Not Lyle/ Iris's brother. 

I sit on the creaky hotel bed and hope that I can help Lyle. In any way I can.