No one's POV

Anyone who knew him could tell you that Simon Seville was nothing short of a genius. He spent hours on end held up in the town library expanding his knowledge and if he wasn't there, he was working on some kind of project in the basement that he had pronounced his lab. His rigorous study plan got in the way of spending time with his brothers and friends, but they didn't mind too much. They all knew that he had a genuine gift to be able to love learning to the extent that he did, so it was no surprise when he was given the chance to graduate high school two years early. Not only was he able to graduate early and with honors, but he was also offered a chance at a highly prestigious school half way across the country.

Having jumped at the opportunity as soon as it was offered to him, Simon found himself sitting in line with the class graduating two years before his originally scheduled graduation. Though he was slightly shorter than the kids in his original class as was, he seemed immeasurably small compared to the current seniors. Not only height, but even his personality and voice, though everyone knew that his intellect would outweigh even the valedictorian's own. He was surely ahead of the game, and extremely excited to finally get to move on from the mediocre studying that is high school, and to get to study fascinating and intriguing things across the country.

"Samantha Senator, daughter of Leslie-" The principal droned name after name. Simon clenched his hands on his knees in anticipation. No one was prouder of Simon than his family. Dave had taken the trio of chipmunks out for dinner upon finding out the news, and had seemed less uptight than usual. He had also promised a dinner for after the ceremony. Theodore had hugged his brother and congratulated him along with the Chipettes. Of course, Alvin was excited for his brother, but he couldn't help but feel like too much change would come from this experience. He felt like things were out of his hands, and he thought of ways more than once to sabotage his brother's chances. Being on the brink of turning sixteen, Alvin's childish ways had been almost outgrown, but scheming was still a habit for the teen.
"Simon Seville, son of David Seville, brother to Alvin and Theodore Seville," With slightly shaky hands, Simon stood from his seat to make his way towards the principal and his diploma, his cap seemingly too large for his head. "A very special honor graduate, graduating with the summa cum laude gpa award, a golden rope for gpa, and a silver rope for the science award, and at only fifteen years old," Simon made it up to the principal after what seemed like forever. As he shook his hand Simon spied his brothers in the crowd through the handful of camera flashes both from his father and for the newspaper. One brother eager and bouncing on his seat while the other was spiteful with eyes downcast. It wasn't hard to tell which was which. "I award you your diploma. You've earned it." Simon watched as Alvin never looked up towards him, and he couldn't tell why it hurt him to see his brother looking away. He wasn't paying attention and he wasn't excited for him. Simon found that harder to swallow than he would have liked to admit.

Turning the key in the lock and pushing open the door, Dave lead his three sons into the living room of their home. One son had his arms loaded with his diploma and some books from their quick stop to the library, one bouncing on his toes to race towards the kitchen, and one pulling up the rear with headphones on and his nose in his video game. Each chipmunk went different directions once they piled into the house. Simon struggled up the stairs, Theodore could no longer be seen behind the open fridge door, and Alvin plopped down on the couch with his game.

Stopping to collect his bearings on the stairs and grabbing the book that was slipping from his hands, Simon eyed his apathetic brother. He felt the same pang of hurt hit his chest as it had done on stage when receiving his diploma. He hadn't made eye contact with his sulking brother since they left their house to get to the ceremony even though he had definitely tried. Every chance he got, he tried to look for some kind of sign to tell him what was going through his brother's mind. Why he couldn't be happy for him just this once.

"Of course, he's bored. None of this revolves around him." The pain turning to resentment, Simon turned to finish making his way up the stairs. Upon entering the room that, even after all these years he still shared with his brothers, he deposited his books on his already cluttered work desk near the window. He stationed himself in his chair and opened the book that had been at the top of his stack.

The sun had gone down by the time Dave called his newly named alumni son to come downstairs. Marking his place with the "books are fun" bookmark that he had grabbed at the library, Simon headed down the stairs towards his waiting family. He knew that Dave would be taking them out to eat again as it was their father's favorite way to celebrate something, and they all knew that everyone would enjoy eating out.

"Where are we going to eat Simon? I know you wanted to try that Italian place, but that Chinese place you had us go to last time was really good and a buffet, and-" The youngest Seville had grabbed Simon's arm as soon as the brainiac's feet hit the living room carpet. Bent on finding out where he'd be eating and exactly what he should be looking forward to, Theodore continued to pester his slightly older brother. Simon took a quick glance at his still brooding brother, and all but scowled. Alvin had his jacket hood pulled up over his head, hands shoved deep in his hoodie pocket, and his red headphones over his ears yet again.

"Wherever sounds good to you Theodore, sounds good to me. I'm not honestly too hungry right now," as Theodore's eyes lit up, the doorbell rang. It wasn't unusual for the Chipettes to join the Seville's when they went out to celebrate, so Simon wasn't surprised when his father let in the three female chipmunks. A quick hug from each of the girls, and everyone was ready to head out the door.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Dave made Alvin leave his head phones in the car and told him that he was being insensitive towards his brother. Apparently, Simon hadn't been the only one to notice the increased resentment radiating from Alvin all day. Alvin's response had been to simply shove his hands back into his hoodie pocket, and stare at the ground. He trudged behind the rest of the group, and didn't respond when Theodore slowed to ask what was going on with him. He had shrugged his shoulders and kept his gaze averted.

"You know what my favorite part of all you can eat buffets is?" Theodore asked turning from piling more onto his already sky-high plate to Eleanor.
"Uh, the "all you can eat" part?" Eleanor responded placing a spoon full of rice onto her own plate. Theodore just nodded eagerly as he finally topped off his plate with some kind of sushi.

"Why is that not a surprise?" Brittany asked skimming past the conversating duo towards the table. Alvin had sat himself at the table before anyone else with only a couple things on his plate, and slumped in the chair. He was picking at his food more than he was eating, and Simon could feel himself getting upset again. He had stuck himself next to his older brother at the table, and was already regretting it. He just wanted to have a good time with his friends and family, but like usual, Alvin couldn't get over himself to let him enjoy his night. Alvin finished half of his plate, and excused himself to the arcade area. Dave nodded, and Alvin jumped down from his chair without taking a second glance at the table of his friends.

Pushing past the 70's-esque beaded door curtain, Alvin found his way into a slightly rundown arcade. The décor was very dated, but the games seemed fine, so he inserted his first coin into the Frogger machine, and planned to waste as much time as possible hiding out alone in the dark room.

"So, what's his problem, huh?" Brittany inquired looking back to see Alvin disappear behind the curtain of beads. "He's been annoying all day, what's the big deal. He should be happy," Brittany added looking back towards the group still sitting around the table.

Before giving himself time to properly rationalize his thoughts, Simon blurted out "He just can't stand a day that isn't all about him. I accomplish something, and no one is cheering for him, so why should he be excited? He only cares about himself." The blue clad chipmunk shoved a strip of orange chicken in his mouth to make his sentence final. The topic of the brooding chipmunk was dropped for the rest of the night out, and the remaining six patrons stationed at the table found other topics to discuss.

On the group's way out of the restaurant, Jeanette peeked into the arcade to alert Alvin that they were leaving. He pushed past the beaded curtains for the second time, and wiped his jacket sleeve across his eyes as he caught up with his family. He tried his best to keep his bloodshot eyes averted from his family as they made their way to the car, but Dave noticed as he took head count after everyone had been buckled into their seats. "Alvin did you stare at those screens too closely, or what's your problem?"

Alvin shrunk under the gaze of the other five chipmunks and his adoptive father, pulling his hat down over his face. "Probably something like that," came his muffled reply, obstructed by his shield from the annoyed faces of the others. He slid his headphones back on as everyone else took to lighthearted conversation. He honestly didn't want to be there anymore.

Arriving home just earned a lecture from Dave that Alvin gratefully got to miss out on as Dave forgot about his headphones hidden under his hood that he chose to pull over his hat. He caught a bit about him not taking other people's accomplishments seriously. He waited until he was in the clear, and made his way up the stairs to his room. He took off his headphones as he reached the door, wrapped up the cord, and pushed open the door.

Alvin hadn't seen Simon climb the stairs upon arriving home, so to say he was shocked to see his brother in the room when he entered would be an understatement. He was a little annoyed as well, as he made his way to his bed sitting between his two brothers' beds. Dropping his headphones onto his night stand, Alvin plopped onto his bed without bothering to pull back the covers. Face first in his pillows, he shut his eyes deciding that sleep was his best option at this point. "You're just upset because today was about me. I know you, you couldn't even give me one day to enjoy. Could you?"

The irritation that had built up over dinner began to show on Simon, as he groaned at not receiving a response from his brother. He stood from his chair and stomped towards Alvin's bed. "Leave me alone," came Alvin's only response to his brother's continuous pestering.

"You can't think of anyone but yourself, so you tried to ruin my day," Simon stated matter of factually as he stood over his brother's bed with arms folded. "You-"
"Yeah, you got me all figured out. You know everything at school, so why wouldn't you know everything I'm feeling too?"

"What's gotten into you? Jealousy? Spite? Why can't you just be proud of someone else?" Simon continued to rant at his brother about his insensitivity, leaving him to not notice his face down brother's shoulders start to shake. He continued to ask Alvin derogatory and slightly offensive questions, but the cap-donned chipmunk stayed silent. When he felt satisfied with his two cents that he'd gotten in, Simon slammed himself back into his desk chair to continue reading. It didn't take long for Alvin to finally fall asleep and for his shoulders to stop shaking.

The next couple of months seemed to go by without too many incidents. Simon would be going off to his college a couple states over in August, and everyone had taken to his good side. Alvin seemed to not be in too much of a better mood since the day of the graduation ceremony but still spent the next couple of months doing stuff with his brothers as often as he could. Their favorite thing to do together was definitely going to the movies every couple of weeks. Simon started to note some out of character things that Alvin started to display more and more over the months. His brother would admit to being wrong more often, seeming to try to avoid an argument, he made breakfast for Simon on more than one occasion, and Simon even woke up to find Alvin had joined him in his bed one night. He had gone back to sleep after noticing his brother in his bed, figuring nothing of it. When he had awoken for the day in the morning, Alvin was no longer in his bed. Simon inquired on his brothers motives at breakfast that morning and all Alvin had to say was, "I wasn't. You must have been dreaming." He was still trying to piece together his brother's behavior.

"I swear to God Theodore, if you hit me with one more shell I'll, - WHY?" The trio of brothers found themselves stationed in front of the TV in their room, Mario Kart in the PlayStation. "Simon, why'd you have to pick Rainbow Road. No one can beat this, THEODORE."

"Get outta the way Alvin, and I'll stop with the shells."

"Boys, can you help me with this?" Dave yelled up the stairs to his preoccupied sons, "I need you down here." Confused, Alvin paused him and his brothers' game as they made their way towards their father. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, all of the ribbon and decorations shocked Alvin. A party? His brothers stepped off of the stairs after himself, and everyone looked around. The Chipettes were standing in front of the boys, a proud face on each girl.

"It's a going away party for you," Brittany said placing a hand on Simon's shoulder. Looking around to take everything in, Simon allowed the girls to usher him farther into the living room. He was led over to a table lined with snacks. Alvin's face dropped as he looked at the group of chipmunks standing at the table. Theodore pushed past Alvin to get closer to the action and the food, but Alvin couldn't move his feet.

"Since you are leaving in three days, we figured-" Jeanette started before being interrupted by the sole chipmunk still near the stairs.

"Three days? I thought you were leaving next month? Your classes don't even start until the end of next month how come you need to leave so early? It won't even take that long to –"

"Alvin, there's a couple clubs that start in only two weeks, and I wanted to move in and get settled before those actually started, get a look at the local library and –" Simon set his plate of chips and dip that he had graciously helped himself to down on the table and started making his way towards his brother. Everything started making sense to Simon, the strange behavior and the gloomy attitude Alvin had been displaying as he looked into his brother's face. It wasn't irritated, it was fearful and obviously saddened.

"That's still too early, you shouldn't be leaving for-" Brittany shoved her way past her sisters to face Alvin at her full height.

"You have been completely disrespectful and self-centered through this whole ordeal. Your brother just got the chance of a life time and you are still trying to make him feel bad-" Alvin looked from Brittany to Simon, and went to turn around to climb the stairs. Brittany grabbed his arm before he could take so much as a single step up the stairs. "And now you are leaving him?"

"Brittany don't-" Simon started. He had finally figured it out, and he felt stupid. How couldn't he have seen it before?

"He's the one leaving me. You don't understand," Alvin struggled against Brittany's grip in a couple feeble attempts before he looked up and made eye contact with Simon. "Please, let me go. I don't wanna-" The tears were obvious in Alvin's eyes as he pushed past Brittany, almost knocking her to the ground, and wrapping his arms almost too tightly around Simon's neck in an embrace. "I didn't wanna cry in front of everyone," Alvin all but whispered to his brother as his silent sobs escaped him. Simon hugged Alvin back just as hard as he had been embraced and looked at the group now staring at the duo. "I'm sorry, Si."

Simon hadn't gotten over the shock yet. His brother had been moody and a pain in his neck for months. Alvin didn't make eye contact with him at his graduation and all Simon did was yell at him for it. The bloodshot eyes, the shaking shoulders, it all made sense to the blue clad chipmunk now that his brother was being so open. Alvin had been grieving Simon's approaching absence and everyone took it as him being insensitive. "You don't have to be sorry, I understand." Simon started to notice the cloth of his shirt on his shoulder was becoming damp. If that wasn't enough clue to the fact that his brother was crying in his arms, the shaking and sniffles were. "I'm gonna miss you, too." Alvin retightened his arm grip around Simon's neck and didn't seem like he would be calming down soon.

Simon felt Theodore wrap his arms around him as well, and soon everyone in the room was joining the hug that the emotional duo started. Coos of "Everything will be fine," "we'll see him again," and the like were repeated around the room. Never had Simon honestly felt as loved as he did in that moment. One brother crying passionately on his shoulder and the other joining all of his friends trying their hardest to hug the both of them. He hadn't once felt any kind of remorse or sorrow about leaving his family, until now. Of course, he would have a blast once he headed off to his university, but he would enjoy it even more when he came back for holidays and was welcomed home by the people currently surrounding him. The people he loved.