Chet had shown up like Frank predicted and hearing his voice downstairs William decided it would be a good time to go and see what was keeping Joe. He’s spent the day lazing around and rummaging through more of Joe’s stuff. He was amazed at everything his brother kept.

Sentimental value, he sneered, is way overrated.

"Hi guys", he said in greeting and both Phil and Chet said hello while Frank just gave a big sigh. William really knew how to push his buttons.

"What Will?" Frank asked hoping the younger boy was going out somewhere or something.

"Well I’m not feeling that great so I thought I’d go out for a walk", Will lied watching to see if Frank was paying attention.

"Oh yeah", Chet said, "that’s right you were home sick yesterday from school…not feeling any better today?"

Frank felt a slight ping of guilt for not remembering that himself and asking Will but then one quick thought about what had happened the previous night erased that guilt. You weren’t feeling too bad then…he thought bitterly as he got up to put on another pot of coffee.

"Not really. Say where’s Joe?" he glanced around pretending to be surprised not to see his twin.

"Still at Biff’s", Frank answered getting the coffee out of the cupboard.

"Really?" Will became a bit worried that everyone might find it odd and think Joe was avoiding coming home…which is what he was thinking.

"He loves that dog", Chet said helping himself to one of the donuts he had brought over, "he usually likes to hang out with Sherlock when Biff’s gone."

"Yeah", Phil chuckled, "don’t expect him until later tonight."

"Should we check on him or something?" A plan was already forming in Will’s mind and just needed to feel a few things out first.

"Hooper’s have food", Frank said shortly, "he’ll come home when he’s ready." In truth he did want to check up on his little brother. But he was still afraid…afraid of what he might say.

"Oh", Will shrugged pretending not to be too interested, "well in that case…" he turned to the bulky boy, "why don’t you hang out with us for supper. You can have Joe’s…and you too Phil."

William expected to hear some sort of rebuttal from Frank but to his mild surprise the older boy backed him up, "That’s a great idea. Come on guys and we can get more stuff done on this…I’ll order Chinese or something." In reality Frank was as anxious as Will to have the other boys stay, although for a different reason. He did not want to be alone with Will.

Chet pretended to be indifferent, "Oh I don’t know guys…Chinese…hmmm" and then when he saw the look the other boys shot him he ‘fessed up, "hey who am I trying to kid? I’ll just call my Mom and let her know."

"Sorry Frank", Phil said, "I’d love to but Dad wants to do this father-son thing tonight and I’m kind of committed."

"Next time then", Frank grinned relieved that at least Chet would be here.

William beamed. Chet was staying for supper! With a quick good-bye to the boys, he grabbed a jacket and then went out the kitchen door. He had somewhere to be.

* * *

Joe was in an exhausted sleep and never heard the front door open. Snoring lightly on the floor next to the bed, Sherlock awoke with a start and stood up a low growl coming from deep in his chest.

At the warning sound, Joe’s eyes flew open and for a second he was disoriented and couldn’t remember where he was or why he was here. And then the sound of the door opening, an angry shout and Sherlock’s barking instantly brought him to reality.

"HOLD THAT DOG JOEY…OR ITS DEAD…I SWEAR TO GOD…ITS DEAD!" Joe heard William’s angry voice as he slowly turned his head towards the now closed door. He could see Sherlock jumping at the door and figured out what must have happened.

The pain from his inflamed back caught him unaware and he let out a sharp gasp as it felt like it was covered in shards of glass. The sound of William yelling on the other side of the door wasn’t helping as his head thudded dully when he tried to stand.

Taking a moment to recover he was acutely aware of how miserable he was feeling.

"YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF 10 JOEY…OR WITH MY BARES HANDS JOEY…MY BARE HANDS!" William was incensed and Joe cringed at his tone.

Wiping a hand across his slightly sweaty brow, Joe forced himself towards the door and then leaning against it as he called out, trying to be heard above all the noise, "Go…out…go…" his mouth was parched and he found it difficult to form words.

William did hear him thought and still grumbling he went back downstairs and put the front door between him and the angry dog. When Joe was sure that William was out of the house, he opened the door and the dog lunged downstairs.

Joe wasn’t stupid. He realized that he was weak from whatever bug was making him feel this lousy and there was no way he could wrestle the big dog into his kennel so he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed one of the dogs favorite treats.

"Sher…lock, "he managed to call out and the dog turned to him expectantly. Brown eyes lit on the treat in Joe’s hand and then he was running towards the boy and into his kennel where Joe tossed it. Quickly Joe leaned over to shut the kennel door and was assaulted by a strong wave of dizziness.

Leaning against the cage, he waited for the world to stop spinning and that was where he was when William came back in the house.

* * *

William was incensed. That damn dog almost gave him a heartache when he opened the door to Biff’s room and the beast lurched towards him.

Seeing Joe still leaning against the kennel, William laid into him, "Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?"

Sherlock was barking again but since he was now locked up, Will didn’t give him another thought.

Joe had no idea what he was talking about, "W-what?" he stammered as Will walked towards him. He involuntarily flinched as William came closer to him.

"Your back…you piece of filth…where’s you sweater…ANYONE could have just walked in," William couldn’t believe how stupid Joe was. What if Frank had come to check on him??

Heart pounding at the thought of how stupid Joe had been and how close he had been to being caught, William grabbed the reeling boy and dragged him back towards Biff’s room.

"N..nooo", Joe whispered as he tried to struggle. The fever starting in his body numbed his senses or he never would have protested…but he was feeling so ill.

"No?" William was incredulous, "you dare resist me?"

Banging open the room door, William flung his brother towards the bed where only a short time ago Joe had been resting.

Joe’s stomach hit the side of the bed momentarily knocking the wind out of him but that was long enough for William to search through the closet and pull out what he needed. Biff’s closet was much neater then Joe’s and William easily found a black tie.

Pulling Joe’s arm tightly behind the back he was relished with a loud gasp of pain from his brother as he tied the tie around his wrists.

"Now little brother…" he hissed in Joe’s ear, "you wait right here. I’ll be right back."

Lying face down on the bed with his hands tied tightly behind, Joe didn’t have a choice and the pain in his back was making him nauseous.

A few seconds later, William was whistling as he came back in the room with something Joe recognized. Sherlock’s leash.

Deftly he used the leash to tie his brother’s feet together and then fastened a gag out of a pair of Biff’s black socks. Satisfied with his work, he dragged Joe to Biff’s closet and then unceremoniously dumped him in.

Wiping his hands in satisfaction he grinned when he saw Joe’s cream colored sweater lying on Biff’s desk chair. Grabbing the sweater he took one final look around before going downstairs.

He had a hot date waiting for him.

* * *

Frank was on the phone talking to Callie when William got home and came into the kitchen. Quickly he finished his conversation with her and hung up.

"I saw Joe", William said opening up the fridge to get a glass of juice, "You’re right. He is going to hang out with the pooch and said not to hold supper for him. He’d be back later tonight."

Although he didn’t say anything Frank was very relived. William has seen Joe…that meant he was fine.

Breathing a little easier, he then dialed their favorite Chinese food place and put in an order.

* * *

Joe closed his eyes after William left and waited. He sighed as much as the gag would allow and tried to shift into a comfortable position but it was hard as his back felt like it was on fire and protested his every movement.

He prayed that he’d be able to get some sleep and be feeling better by the time William came back. But he highly doubted it as he did not sleep well in closets.

He really wished Biff were here. Let William try and put him a closet with his best friend around! But then he realized with some irony that if Biff were here, then he wouldn’t be in this closet anyway!!

Joe thought about Frank and about all the great times they had before William came to live with them. He wondered if Frank missed being with him even a fraction as much as Joe missed Frank.

Slowly as his fever began to rise, Joe drifted into uneasy sleep.

* * *

William went upstairs immediately after supper and waited for Chet to go home.

He made a big production of letting everyone know he wasn’t feeling very good and that he was going up to his room for the night.

Frank reminded him that Con Riley, a police officer and family friend, was coming over around 9:30 with a pizza and movie but Will just shook his head and said not to bother to wake him, he wasn’t feeling up to pizza.

Then leaving his half eaten dinner on the table, he had gone upstairs.

Iola was expecting him by 7:00 but as he looked at the time he knew it wasn’t going to happen. Being late would cut into his time with her so he’d have to speed things up once he got there.

Finally he heard Chet saying he needed to head home now and glancing over at the balled up cream colored sweater, William knew it was time to get this show on the road.

The sweater was too big and he easily put it on over the dark blue one he had been wearing all day. He knew he would need it later to switch back to himself after the date.

Making sure to leave the small desk lamp on, Will closed both bedroom doors confident that Frank wouldn’t be up to do a head count while he was gone. He had more then done enough to ensure that. The older Hardy would be just too happy that Will and Joe were both out of his hair.

Then opening the bedroom window, he quickly climbed out, along the roof and shimmied down the drainpipe. Then he quietly made his way around the block and waited.

Chet would be leaving any moment and he would flag him down and get a ride to the farm with him.

* * *

Chet was just turning the corner when he saw the familiar figure of Frank’s younger brother, Joe walking towards him.

Not having seen Joe all day, he quickly pulled over to say hi.

Joe smiled, "Hey Chet, where ya going?"

"Home", Chet said, "tonight’s family evening pizza and movie night."

"Cool", said Joe, "you just coming from my place?"

"Yup, "Chet confirmed, "I was working with Frank and Phil on a term paper. We ordered Chinese."

"Oh man, " Joe whined, "if I knew you were going to do that I would have come home sooner. I had a sandwich."

Joe continued, "How’s Iola doing?"

Chet laughed, "She’s fine. Probably home watching tv or something."

"Oh", Joe said with a faraway look on his face, "she’s very nice."

"Yes she is", Chet confirmed. He got a big kick out of how shy Joe was around Iola and vice versa and then got an idea, "hey why don’t you come out to the farm with me and say hi to everyone, " he winked as he said it, "my mom was complaining only yesterday that she hasn’t seen you in…well…well since William moved in."

"True…" Joe said pretending to mull it over and Chet continued, ‘Sure you can call Frank when you get there so he wouldn’t be worried."

"Hey", Joe said getting enthused over Chet’s idea, "and I could get a ride back with Tony when he drops off your pizza!"

"Exactly!" Chet beamed and seconds later he was pulling into the night with Joe sitting beside him in the passenger seat.

Like taking candy from a baby, William thought to himself as he smiled out the window at the reflection.