brother to brother

"I really wish you'd told me this, sooner." Xander didn't mean to be so disgruntled, but getting his brother Simon to go out with him lately, was like a dreadful trip to the dentist. Simon was not his old happy self. Of course, he always thought Simon was following his girlfriend Bree's lead for the most part.

At least, he met up at the outlet mall with him to go shopping for their Dad's birthhday.

"Well, its..really not a big deal." Simon kept stirring his smoothie.

"Not a big deal?" Xander looked at him blankly. "If you can't..just ask her..what's going on..then..I'd break up with her."

Simon didn't like the sound of that. He shook his head, no.

"Do you like Ivy?" Xander wanted to know.

"She's..she's easy to..talk too." Simon almost stuttered. "I mean, I..I hadn't planned on talking about it. But, it was the end of school..and it was just the two of us, that met up. Bree and Randy bailed."

"Hmm..you make it sound, as if they... are up to something." Xander tilted his head with a slight smirk.

Simon sighed as if he'd already let it go.

"We, we went to a movie..since then..and I..I guess..we're OK." Simon spoke of Bree, as he nursed his bottom lip.

"You guess?" Xander wanted to be helpful. He wanted to know what to do. Especially, when there was Sunny to worry about, when it came to dating. "I dunno. If you want to break up, then you really should. What if this kind of thing, gets worse? Can you live with that?"

"I know." Simon looked at him, ever so serious.

Xander knew it was only high school. "You've got one more year. Maybe, its time, to just enjoy it for you. You know, taking the classes that might help you decide what you want to do, when you start college. Maybe, you should be in theater. Make it a great Senior year. You, don't have to be, just Bree's boyfriend."