Author's note: First of all, I'm really sorry about the huge wait for this chapter. It wasn't from lack of ideas. My real life has been a little crazy these past weeks and seeing as this was the only piece of writing I wasn't getting marked on, it fell to the bottom of my 'to do' list.

This chapter jumps around a lot so I hope it's not too hard to follow. It's slightly different to the other three because I wanted to sum them up in this chapter without just going over what I'd already written. I experimented a little on the form but I'm pretty happy with the final product. The song used is I'll say I'm sorry now by Shawn Colvin.

Also, just a quick reminder, in my world Don and Charlie are five years apart.

Enjoy.

E for Enduring

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I'm gonna let you down

I know that now

Make you cry, I know I will

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Six year old Don, peeked his head round the doorway of Charlie's room. Margaret was cradling the small boy in her arms, rocking back and forward on the rocking chair. The only sound a harsh coughing that stopped and started spasmodically.

Creeping slowly into the room, Don coughed himself, alerting his mother to his presence. In truth Margaret had known her oldest had been watching them for quite a while, and now smiled at her advancing son.

Seeing her beckoning smile, Don moved closer. Stopping just in front of the chair, peering at his restless brother. Charlie was flushed, his little eyes screwed up in discomfort, a single tear track running down his cheek. Opening his mouth, the coughing started again. Charlie's little body heaving with the effort.

Once the coughing fit was over, Charlie whimpered slightly, turning his body towards his mother's. Don looked on silently. He knew Charlie was sick. Charlie had been sick for almost three days now. Nothing to worry about, just a bad cold. Don didn't think Charlie was going to die or anything, but still he couldn't push away the feeling that Charlie was in danger.

Charlie's skin was as hot to touch as it looked and Don couldn't help but look up at his mother in anxiety. She just smiled down at him, seemingly unfazed by what was happening to the small boy in her arms. Wasn't she worried?

Then Charlie started crying. It wasn't a hysterical cry, he was too tired, too uncomfortable for that. Just a soft whimpering noise, signalling his unhappiness. Squirming away from Margaret, arms and legs going everywhere, Charlie finally found himself facing his brother. Growing quiet for a moment, Charlie gazed at Don intently.

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And why should you believe

I would never leave

Or that I'll love you still

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"Hi. You've reached the Eppes residence. We're not in at the moment so could you please leave a message after the beep."

Beep.

"Hey, it's Don. I just wanted to call and say that I'm really sorry about missing Charlie's graduation. Something came up at work, and well, couldn't be helped really. Congratulation anyway, Doctor Eppes. I'm real proud of you buddy. And hey, I should be able to get some time off over Christmas, so I'll see you then. Um, miss you all. Bye."

"Damnit."

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For all the by and by

And hard as we try

The bough breaks and the cradle falls

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Eight year old Charlie sat sprawled out on the carpet of the lounge room. Surrounded by paper and coloured pencils he mumbled happily to himself. In the back of his mind he sensed it was almost five, and that meant that Alan and Don would be home soon.

Almost on cue, the front door opened and he could hear as his father and brother entered. Charlie's first thought was to leap up and throw himself at his returning brother. But Charlie had learnt that Don sometimes got angry when he was too enthusiastic. It was better to let Don find him. Even though it went against every nerve in his younger brother body.

Finally after what seemed liked eternity, but was in fact only two minutes, Don found his way to his younger brother.

"Hey Charlie." Don knew Charlie was restraining himself. He smirked as the younger boy only murmured in response to his greeting.

Settling himself down beside Charlie, Don picked up a piece of discarded paper. It was covered in pink and green scribbles. To untrained eyes it would have meant nothing, but living with a child prodigy had taught Don a few things. He knew the 'scribbles' were actually part of some mathematical equation that made sense to only a handful of people in the world, his brother included.

Holding the paper up to the light, he pretended to appraise it, as you would a priceless painting.

"I like your use of colour. It enhances the sense of otherworldliness."

Charlie looked up at Don, not quite getting his brother's joke. For a moment he hesitated. "You like it?"

Don laughed softly, "Yeah I do."

Charlie studied the paper, nodding at the 'scribbles' in an understanding that Don would never have. He looked back at Don with a look of confusion. "Do you understand it?"

Don laughed out loud this time, nudging at Charlie playfully. "Of course not, Genius."

Charlie's confusion only seemed to deepen. "Then why do you like it?"

Don studied his brother closely. He thought about telling Charlie he had just been joking, but the kid could take it the wrong way. He could complement the picture, but that would probably just cause Charlie to try to explain it to him, and he didn't have the time for that. So instead he opted for the safe option. The option that Charlie couldn't argue with.

"I like it because you did it. And you know what, I'm going to put it up on my wall."

Speechless, Charlie stared at Don, unable to communicate as his heart melted with joy.

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For everything I do

That will tear at you

Let me say, I'm sorry now

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Charlie knew he shouldn't go into Don's room. Don had told him time and time again. But for some reason Charlie couldn't resist. He never touched anything. Well, sometimes, when he couldn't help himself. But mostly he would just stand in the middle of the room. Sometime he would sit. Sometimes he would even close his eyes for a moment, just soaking in the feel of the room. Usually no one caught him. Usually he was in and out in just a few minutes. A little longer if he went through a few draws.

Today was a little different. Today he had an excuse to be in Don's room. Well it wasn't really an excuse. Not a very good one, but if he was discovered it might just save him from being yelled at. Charlie was in Don's room to see if he had put up Charlie's drawing.

Sneaking into the room, Charlie quietly closed the door behind him. Don was in the shower so he had some time, but could just as easily get into trouble if he was discovered by one of his parents. Walking into the middle of the room he began inspecting the walls. He couldn't see it. The only things covering the walls were baseball posters. His drawing was nowhere in sight.

Next he checked the back of the door and even the backs of the wardrobe doors. Nothing. Just as Charlie started to get disheartened he had a thought. Maybe Don had it at school. Maybe he liked it so much he put it in his locker. Happy that this was the explanation, Charlie walked back towards the door. Halfway there something caught his eye, something green and pink.

Stopping he turned towards the bed. He had found his drawing. It was sitting wedged between the bed and the bedside table. Obviously dropped there, discarded by Don.

Don hadn't wanted it after all. He'd only said he did to please Charlie.

Somewhere in the back of his head, a little voice told Charlie that it was okay. It was just a drawing, it wasn't a big deal. And it wasn't even a very good drawing, just an collection of symbols. It didn't mean anything to Don. Only Charlie knew it's meaning. He couldn't expect Don to understand.

Charlie quickly left the room. He left so quickly that he failed to notice the space above Don's bed. The space that just happened to be that same size as the paper on which Charlie drew. Failed to notice the four pieces of sticky tape attached to each corner of the paper. Failed to notice the sentence written in Don's hand writing across the bottom.

Charlie aged 8.

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So you can sing your song

You can get it wrong

You could kiss the rock of ages

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Don looked down helplessly, smiling his bravest smile, reserved only for his little brother. Sensing nothing was happening, Charlie began to cry again. Tears rolling down his cheeks. Sticking his little arm out, Charlie grabbed at Don. At first Don didn't understand what he was doing, then realised Charlie was trying to grab his hands. Offering his biggest finger to Charlie, the smaller boy squeezed it tightly, pulling Don closer.

Don felt tears in his own eyes, but blinked them back self-consciously. Looking back up Margaret, Don voiced his fears. "Mummy, what does he want me to do?"

Looking down at the obviously distressed one year old, Margaret sighed.

"I think he wants you to make him better."

Don balked at that. Looking from Margaret to Charlie and back again. "Why?"

"You're his big brother Don, to Charlie you can do anything."

Don looked from Margaret to Charlie and back again. He suddenly felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Charlie expected Don to save him. That was his job as a big brother. But Don didn't know how.

"Maybe I could kiss him better. Like you do when he falls over and hurts himself."

Margaret smiled at her eldest and nodded her head. "I think that's a great idea."

Breathing in deep, Don looked back down at Charlie. "Charlie, Charlie," he called quietly, trying to get the younger boy's attention. Charlie turned his head to look at Don, tears drying on his face.

Slowly Don bent down and placed a soft kiss on Charlie's forehead. For a moment there was silence. Margaret, Don and Charlie waited in anticipation. Then suddenly Charlie sneezed, Don jumped and Margaret sighed as Charlie began to bawl, for real this time.

Don looked on petrified, as Charlie began to scream, thrashing around in Margaret's arms, before finally succumbing to exhaustion and settled into a soft whimper again. Whispering soothingly to Charlie, Margaret looked up at Don in sympathy.

"I guess a brother's love can't cure the common cold."

And Don ran from the room.

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And in your wildest dreams

You might see between

The liars and the sages

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"This is Don Eppes. I'm not available right now, so leave a message."

Beep.

"Hi Don. How are you? Oh, it's Charlie by the way. Just in case you didn't recognise me. Anyway, I'm just calling to say we got your message. Don't worry about missing graduation, it wasn't very interesting. Mum cried a lot. Dad was really embarrassed, it was kinda funny. About Christmas, Mum wants you to call her as soon as you get this, she needs to clean up your room, we've been using it as storage. I told her that Christmas is months away but you know Mum. We all hope you can make it. We miss you heaps. Well, I should go before...

Beep.

"Damnit."

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You could walk awhile

Down the mystery mile

you can beat the drums of freedom

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Don sat in the living room of his father's house. Charlie's house. Drinking beer and watching a game. He was about as content as he could be. It was late, too late to be doing much of anything, but still too early to think about going home. He was happy here, might as well make it last. Allowing his eyes to drop slightly, he sighed happily, feeling every muscle in his body relax.

He turned his head so he could see Charlie who was sitting on the armchair, a pad of paper on his knees and a pencil in hand. He also had another pencil tucked behind his ear. On the floor surrounding him were about a dozen textbooks, all open, all ready to be picked up when needed and then discarded again.

Charlie's long curly hair obscured his face and Don wondered how he could stand it. Subconsciously he raised his hand to run it through his own short hair. Sensing the movement Charlie looked up, brushing the curls from his face so he could see his brother. Smiling curiously, Charlie eyed his brother.

"What?"

Don feigned innocence. "What?"

"What are staring at?"

"Nothing."

Charlie regarded his brother for another moment before going back to his work. Don went back to watching the game, although he didn't really know what was going on. After a few more minutes of relative silence, Don went back to staring at Charlie. Deliberately trying to put Charlie off. Slowly a smile formed on what Don could see of Charlie's face. But he didn't look up.

"What?"

"What?"

"Don..."

"What?"

Charlie was frustrated now. Looking directly at Don, trying not to laugh. Don didn't show the same amount of restraint, chuckling softly.

"Go back to your work, genius."

"It's not funny."

"Then why are you laughing."

Charlie tried to wipe the smile from his face but wasn't very successful. The result was a look very close to constipation. And that only made Don laugh harder.

Thoroughly fed up, Charlie dropped the pad of paper to the ground, moving to get up. Seeing this, Don managed to control himself.

"Charlie wait, don't go."

"Why?" Charlie mumbled. "You're just going to laugh at me."

Don coughed back a laugh. "I won't do it anymore. I promise." Charlie hesitated. "Come on, I want you to stay."

As if Don had said the magic words, Charlie smiled coyly. "You do?"

"Of course I do. Now sit your ass down."

With barely a moments thought, Charlie threw himself down next to Don, causing Don to bounce on the cushions. That wasn't what Don had in mind.

"Jeez, careful."

Settling in, Charlie put his head back against the couch. His books forgotten, just happy to be in his brother's company. "Who's winning?"

Don looked at the TV contemplating his answer. "I have no idea."

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And in love and war

Through the rush and the roar

You just call 'em like you see 'em

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A/N: Just as a finally note I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed. Your comments make me very happy : )