Characters: Adam, Crosby, mentions of the others

Warnings: None

Spoilers: For all three episodes

Author's Notes: A character study on Adam with Crosby helping! :D Review, loves.

Prompt: A creek at story_lottery

There's a creek out in the wooded area behind their parents' house. No one really knows where it leads to, they've never followed it that far. It's Crosby's favorite place to come to when he needs to think or wants to relax or wants to be alone. It's where Adam finds him one day, just leaning against a tree, eyes closed, looking like he hadn't a care in the world.

"What are you doing?" Adam asks, standing over his little brother.

"Relaxin'." Crosby opens one eye and looks up at him. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for you. Mom is worried." Adam takes a seat next to him, their arms are brushing, but neither pull away.

"I told her I'd be back in a few hours." Cosby shuts his eye again and leans further back into the tree.

"Well, you know Mom. Always worrying about what we're getting into." Adam smiles slightly.

They sit in silence for a while, neither willing to break the peacefulness that surrounds them. They listen to the birds sing and the squirrels chatter with each other. It's calming and Adam sees why Crosby comes here to relax.

"You've got to stop living like everything depends on you, dude." Crosby says suddenly, startling Adam.

"What does that mean?" Adam turns to look at him in confusion.

This time, Crosby opens both eyes and looks at him really intently, his eyes a cool, icy blue. "Stop living like the world is going to fall off its' axis if you're not there to hold it in place."

Adam gapes at him for a moment, utterly shocked. He had no idea that Crosby is capable of being that deep and understanding him that well. He supposes that he never really gives his brother a chance. Crosby is smarter than he looks, after all. "Care to explain that a little more?" He asks, genuinely curious as to what his brother thinks on this topic.

Crosby reaches into his jacket pocket for a pack of smokes and lights one, inhaling deeply for a moment. He looks away from Adam as he blows the smoke out of his mouth because he knows Adam hates cigarettes and wishes he would quit.

"You're killing yourself with that cancer stick." Adam frowns in disapproval.

"Yeah, well, you're killing yourself with all the stress you hold onto." Crosby says, taking another drag off his cigarette.

"Anyway, tell me what you mean by 'you've got to stop living like it all depends on you'." Adam says, his curiosity winning over his dislike of Crosby smoking.

"Well, I guess it's because you're the oldest, but you're the glue that holds this family together and because of that, we all, me included, dump our problems onto you and expect you to solve them." Crosby says, blowing smoke rings now.

Adam opens his mouth to protest and finds that he can't. It's completely and absolutely true. He never really gave it much thought before. Fixing things just came to him naturally. It isn't a surprise that he tries to help and fix the lives of his family. It is just what he does.

He has tried to help Julia with her feeling like she was missing out on Sidney's life and helping her deal with Raquel. He has tried to help Sarah deal with her children and moving back home with their parents. He has tried to help Crosby deal with Katie and his 'quasi-engagement' and Jasmine and his son. He does help. He helps everyone, except for himself and his family.

Well, that's not strictly true. He is learning how to cope with Max's Asperger's and trying to take some of the stress off of Kristina. Where does that leave Haddie though? He has missed her Final Game after he had promised her that he would be there. He is always putting Max before her. It isn't fair on her, he knows, but she is so uncomplicated-wow, he'd never thought he'd say that about a teenage girl before-and Max is so complicated, but it's not their fault.

That's not even counting everything he has to deal with at work either. It is pretty stressful being an executive of a company. He tries to leave work at work and home at home. He doesn't believe that his personal life should interfere with his business life and vice versa. He never would have guessed that Crosby would be the person to pin point all of this so easily though. To be honest, he doesn't think any of the others, except maybe his mom, would have noticed either, but just the fact that it's Crosby astounds him.

Maybe it shouldn't though. They were always the ones that were closer to each other than they were to anybody else. Maybe it was because they had two sisters, but Adam likes to think it is because they just mesh so well with each other. He understands Crosby, or at least he thinks he does until Crosby says something like that to him that takes him by surprise, and he likes to think that Crosby understands him and now he knows that his younger brother does get him, much more than he thought he did at first.

"You get it now?" Crosby asks, startling Adam out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks Crosby." Adam smiles at his younger brother.

"Yep. Can't have you having a heart attack from all the stress, now can I?" Crosby stubs out his cigarette.

"I guess not. Who would solve your crisis' then?" Adam smirks.

"Exactly." Crosby smirks back at him, getting to his feet.

He offers his hand to his older brother and Adam allows himself to be pulled up from the ground. He dusts off the seat of his pants and follows after Crosby back to the house.

He catches up with Crosby and surprises them both by hugging him tightly. "Thanks. I really mean it."

Crosby tenses at first, not used to this from Adam of all people, but he hugs back. "I know."

They part and start on their way back to the normal hustle and bustle of their every day life. If it is peaceful all the time, it would get boring, right?