3am

It had been a lovely dream as far as John could remember, though the details were fast disappearing as he glared at his phone. The ringing had interrupted his slumber and he wasn't impressed.

Leaning over, he picked it up and examined the display, seeing Virgil's name there. He sat up, a little concern creeping into him. His younger brother had gone out with friends the night before and normally a call at 3am would mean he'd need to go out.

With a sigh and a tired swipe of his hand over his eyes, John answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello!" came the cheerful and high pitched reply.

Uh oh, John thought to himself. Virgil didn't often drink, but if he did and got drunk, he became very happy and incredibly silly. "What's wrong, Virgil?"

"I've lost my keys," Virgil said, laughing. His tone was almost soppy, like someone praising a kitten for being cute.

John's hand covered his eyes again. "Where did you lose them?"

"I put them in my purse and now they're gone."

"Your… your purse?" John asked, not sure he'd heard correctly.

"No! Don't be silly, John, I don't have a purse," Virgil responded, laughing again. "One of the girls and she's gone."

John sighed. "Where are you? Do I need to come get you?"

"I'm right outside," he announced proudly.

"I'm coming," he said. With a frustrated huff, John threw his covers aside, worried that the disturbance might wake their younger brothers, or worse, their father. Why did Scott have to be on the Air Base? Surely this sort of thing was his role. But as John descended quietly he realised that, with Scott away, that meant it was down to him to keep his brothers out of mischief.

He opened the door to see Virgil leaning on the support beam of the veranda, grinning, and for some reason wearing battery powered fairy lights round his torso. "Johnny!"

John stepped aside to let him in, his arms folded. "Did you expect someone else?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You're grumpy," Virgil said, leaning closer to him as he went past.

"And you're drunk. It's 3am, Virgil. Get inside and go quietly, before you wake Dad."

"Grumpy," Virgil said, grinning as he went in.

John looked skyward as he went back inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

Virgil bumped into the banister at the bottom of the stairs as he tried to ascend, making him laugh. "Shh!" he said to the banister, not overly quietly. "Johnny's grumpy."

John went up the few steps he'd managed to climb and put his hand on Virgil's back, pushing him gently upwards. "Virgil, you gotta be quiet or you're gonna wake Dad," he whispered. "Or Gordon or Alan, who will wake Dad."

Virgil laughed again. "Johnny, don't push me," he said.

John put a hand to his forehead. Seriously, how did Scott deal with this? Maybe that's why he joined the Air Force…

Between them, they finally managed to get Virgil up to his room. He went over to his bed, turning as he fell onto it so he landed on his back and looked at the ceiling. "Why can't I see stars, Johnny? You know about that stuff."

"Because you're inside, Virgil," John said, approaching him and pulling his boots off. He sat on the edge of the bed. "Stay here. I'm going to go and get you some water."

"Why?"

"Because you're probably gonna need it," John replied, standing up.

Virgil grabbed his wrist, making him stop. John turned to face him as he sat up. "Why am I wearing lights?"

John rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I can't answer that one."