Ross looked at Rocky, a lump in his throat. "Rocky," he said in barely a whisper. His voice was hoarse and low as he struggled to contain his tears. "I slept with Maia."

That was it. Saying the words somehow made it real. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't help it.

Rocky, eyes wide, didn't know what to say or do. "I mean," Rocky stammered, "Don't you do that all the time?"

Ross looked at him, the hurt becoming fresh again. He understood why he wanted to prove a point. His friends and family didn't even know him at all. They really thought he was some sort of womanizer. Why? Because girls liked him? If his friends even bothered to pay attention, they would know that he was the most innocent one of all. He might have had an air about him that made it seem like he ran around and broke all of the girls' hearts, but that truly wasn't him. He fooled them, without even meaning to.

"I've never done that before, Rocky!" Ross said harshly, a little too loudly for a conversation in the middle of the night. He noticed that his tears had stopped.

Rocky stared at him, almost in disbelief. Wait a minute.

"You don't even know me! I thought we were best friends and you don't even know the real me! Nobody knows me. Everyone has this preconceived notion that I'm some sort of playboy, but they don't take the time to see that I'm not!" He felt the tears coming back. This time, they were forming out of anger.

Rocky put his hand over Ross's mouth and shushed him, glancing towards the door.

Ross ripped Rocky's hand away from his lips and continued, "And that's why I did it, Rocky. Because I thought, 'Hey. Maybe if I show them how awful I can be, maybe they'll see that I was never really so bad.'" He paused, catching his breath and wiping his tear stained cheeks with the back of his hand. "It was too late before I realized how dumb that was." By this point he had lowered his voice.

Rocky watched him, his heart beat loud in his ears. He was at a loss for words. He had no clue. No clue at all. The past couple of days, he and his brothers had just pushed Ross aside, assuming that he was on yet another girl rampage. He had no idea that Ross was struggling. He should've known. Like Ross said, Rocky was his best friend. He should have known something was up.

He swallowed hard, finally gaining the courage to speak up. "I'm sorry," he managed to say.

Ross didn't look at him. He just continued to spin the ring on his finger, his eyes focused on the floor.

Rocky tried again, "I guess all the jokes about you being a girl magnet escalated into something horrible." He paused, "We all talked ourselves into believing something that wasn't true."

Ross still refused to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Ross. I didn't know it was hurting you so bad. I didn't know you cared so much." Rocky was almost begging him to acknowledge him. "I'm sorry."

"I've never felt like this before," Ross finally whispered, his voice hoarse. It was a hopeless feeling. He didn't know what step to take next.

Rocky sighed and watched the side of Ross's face, suddenly seeing him as the little brother he had forgotten he was. He needed to help him, one problem at a time. "Pretend nothing ever happened with Maia," he stated, eager to make Ross feel better.

The room fell silent. Ross's eyes were still fixated on the floor in front of him. The air felt oppressive, like the frustration would never end. Rocky continued, "And I'll get everybody to stop picking on you."

"I'm gonna tell them everything tomorrow," Ross confirmed abruptly, shifting his eyes in Rocky's direction. "I'm gonna tell them the truth and end this nightmare."

Rocky just wanted to hug Ross, like he did when they were younger. He wished they could go back to those days when everything was carefree.

"And I'm gonna tell Laura to stop telling me that things can never be the same between us," he added, his mind remembering the person that pushed him over the edge. He wanted to prove Laura wrong most of all. He wanted her to realize that she was imagining the wrong side of him. He desperately wanted her to see that growing up didn't automatically mean growing apart. She was wrong. It was like she was purposely pushing him away and making him believe that it was his fault.

"Laura?" Rocky raised his eyebrows, reminded of the tension between Laura and Ross.

"Yeah, she thinks because we're growing up and I'm apparently a player that we will never have the same friendship." He shook his head, his anger resurfacing. "She's the main reason I had this ridiculous plan."

Rocky stared at Ross, everything becoming so obvious to him now. Ross cared so much about what Laura thought of him for one reason. Laura pushed him away for the same reason. He felt like an idiot for not seeing it before. "Well, truthfully, she is right. Your friendship won't ever be the same again."

Ross finally faced Rocky, his eyes swollen and tired, but wide and expecting. "What do you mean by that?" he asked seriously, dreading that he had made the wrong decision to talk to his brother.

"You're in love with her." He paused, "And I'm pretty sure she's in love with you, too."

Guys, he did it. And he's making some pretty amazing discoveries about himself because of it ;) Haha! Let me know what you think.