We'd always been so close...
But, I understood his reasoning all too well, for I loved someone, too. A secret I'd kept close to my heart for all these years...
Had Mokuba been suffering just as I had?
I turned to face him, keeping my expression unreadable.
"Why don't you tell her?" I asked.
"...She's an older girl..." my brother admitted. "I've told her my feelings many times, but... She says she's too old for me... And I know that may be true, but..."
"What's the age difference?"
"She's 19..."
That wasn't as much as I thought it would be. Mokuba was about to turn fifteen.
"I've loved her for so long, it hurts to think that I may never be with her..." he continued, pouring his heart out through his words. "I don't want to be with anyone else..."
"I understand." I replied.
And I did.
Age was Mokuba's barrier.
Gender was mine...
"I can't just move on... It's not that easy... I wish she would give me just one chance..."
"I really do understand, Mokuba..." I began, averting my eyes, "I'm in love with someone, too. Although our stories are not the same, the pain behind them are..."
Mokuba rose an eyebrow, a puzzled look upon his face.
I sighed and bit my bottomm lip, preparing to spill a secret that had kept me up late at night, plaguing my mind. Something I'd never told anyone before.
But that was about to change.
I justhope Mokuba can accept me...
"I fell so hard for another guy." I whispered, tears threatening to fall from my cerulean eyes.
Mokuba didn't seem to be phased.
He didn't judge me...
He simply asked, "Did you tell him?"
"Yes..."
"Did he turn you down?"
"He... accepted my feelings... but..."
"...because you were another guy...' Mokuba said softly.
I nodded.
I felt as if I had just lived that night all over again, just by hearing my brother's words.
"Brother..." Mokuba said.
I lifted my eyes to meet his.
He was smiling at me.
"Don't give up on him."
"...I never did..."
"I won't give up on the girl of my dreams. I'll be strong and try my hardest for her. You have to do the same."
I got to my feet and turned to leave.
"I have something I need to do." I said before throwing open the door and rushing down the hallway to my room.
I picked up the phone and dialed Joey's old number, praying it hadn't changed.
"Seto?" Joey's soothing voice answered from the other end of the receiver.
"Joey..."
I couldn't hold back my tears anymore.
I began to cry.
"Seto, what's wrong?" he asked, sounding a bit worried.
"Joey... I... I can't just forget about you..." I said through my tears, "I can't stop loving you..."
It was silent for a moment, and I began to panic.
"I...I love you, too, Seto. But-"
I gulped, bracing myself for the words I knew he was about to say.
"They'll never accept us."
"I don't give a damn if anyone accepts it. I want to be with you, Joey."
He hung up...
I took in a sharp breath and let the phone fall to the floor.
I let out a cry and fell to my knees.
It felt as if all the oxygen had been forced from my lungs.
Joey...
You didn't even listen...
You didn't even... listen...
It wasn't fair...
It hurt too much.
All I ever wanted was you...
That's all I wanted...