1. He shuts down creepers immediately. It doesn't matter where you're going. Whether it's out out or just into town for ice cream, your brother's first instinct is to protect you. Creepers, beware: "Yeah, excuse me, are you talking to my sister? I didn't think so."
2. Instead of being a passive-aggressive little snot, you are able to be up-front with him. "Yo, it's really not cool that you hit a tennis ball into my side mirror, but you're just going to fix the car like a big boy so I don't have to tell mom and dad, right? OK, great."
3. Guess who's always down to take shots when your friends bail? Your #CoolKid brother who can handle his liquor way better than you can, that's who!
4. If you really need to talk about a weird bathroom problem, he's your dude. Some things are just too strange to discuss with anyone else. Your friend doesn't want to hear it, you can't tell your coworkers, but your brother gets it.
5. He can reach the plates on the highest shelf when you need to eat mac and cheese immediately. He's not even angry when you tell him it's an emergency, as long as you share.
6. You never need to hire a mover because he can carry big, heavy things. As long as he can crash on your couch whenever he needs (see No. 3), you've got your very own Human U-Haul for life.
7. During Important Sports Things, he will feed you facts. When everyone pretended to care about that World Cup thing and you had nothing to contribute, he explained to you how there were other talented people besides Cristiano Ronaldo. "Oh, you haven't heard about Dempsey? Ha!" It is times like these that you understand the true meaning of teamwork.
8. It's so sweet when he and your boyfriend bond. There's something about your two favorite boys in the whole world texting about what kinds of weight they're lifting these days that just warms your heart forever. It almost feels like sisterhood. Almost.
9. He is a rational human being when your mom is ~*NuTs. He'll tell you immediately when you are maaaybe overreacting to something your parents said to you, but he's always the first to agree that omg she needs to stop with the #TBTing on Facebook, like, now.
10. It's fun to watch him turn into a gentleman. Whether he's older or younger than you, he wants to make sure you are treated right. Whether that means paying for dinner or asking for girl advice, he'll come straight to you.
11. He's always honest. It's more like he doesn't have a filter, but if you really want to know what you look like in that dress, your brother is happy to tell you. "Wait, why are you calling it 'freakum'? Did you mean freaky? That dress is effing freaky."
12. He has good-looking guy friends. By the time you've actually realized they're good-looking, they're old enough to date! Plus, if they're friends with your brother, you know they're solid. He'll only be a little bit weirded out at first. He'll get over it.
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Tess Koman covers breaking (food) news, opinion pieces, and features on larger happenings in the food world. She oversees editorial content on Delish. Her work has appeared on Cosmopolitan.com, Elle.com, and Esquire.com.
