I don't know how I even thought of this, but I like it.

I own nothing. Talk about a mental disorder. Please review?

"Come on, Wes," Travis grinned annoyingly, "Tell us!"

It was one of our sessions with Dr. Ryan and the group and for the last seven minutes everyone had been trying to figure out why my jaw had a lovely bruise on it. They were all like a dog with a bone and I was ready to scream. They weren't even listening to Dr. Ryan as she tried to reign them in.

This time I couldn't even bring myself to glare at Travis. I had slept maybe an hour last night when I finally got back to my room and I only got that long by luck. Now I had to deal with these people demanding answers on top of the day I had yesterday.

It usually wasn't all that bad, but with everything piling up around me I knew my emotions were dangerously close to the surface. I couldn't leave unless I left the group, and Travis, permanently. Anyway I never talked to anybody here. Especially about this. Alex knew, but I didn't really have her to talk to anymore, did I?

Honestly this whole situation made me feel exhausted and guilty. I couldn't walk away though. I would never do what my parents did. So it was a little difficult for me. That didn't matter. I just had to deal with whatever came along and keep going. I couldn't show weakness. Not with this.

That didn't make it any easier. I hated myself for it, but I wanted to leave. To walk away and forget all of this. Go back to having the 'normal' life that I had dreamed of. That dream died years ago. My life couldn't be 'normal' as long as I kept doing this and I loved him too much to walk away. I loved him.

"Travis," Dr. Ryan tried to stop him.

"Did someone hit you?" Dakota's sweet voice broke through, "Like a girlfriend."

All the joy and amusement seemed to wash out of Travis when she said that. He obviously had thought I had been in a bar fight or something. Now he had another theory and this was one he would never joke about. Neither of us would. We had seen too many domestic disputes in our line of work. I couldn't help but be glad though that Dakota knew a man could be just as easily abused by a woman as the reverse.

Though now even Dr. Ryan was staring at me. She hadn't thought abuse either. Now I had no choice but to talk. I couldn't just say I wasn't being abused. No one would believe me. No, I was going to have to do something I had never wanted to do. Even with Alex I didn't want to talk, but she found a picture. I had to talk.

"Wes," Travis said before I could speak, "What happened?"

"Nothing," I started, "I got…"

"Your jaw is bruised. That's not nothing. Come on, Wes. Talk to us. You know you're safe here."

"Travis, I…"

"And don't lie. I'll find out. I'll help you man. Just talk…"

"It was my brother!"

Travis opened his mouth to continue, but stopped when my words sunk in. I hadn't meant to yell, but, like always, Travis wasn't listening. He jumped to conclusions and was so far in his thoughts few things to get through to him. I hated when that happened.

"Your brother," Travis spoke slowly, "Since when do you have a brother?"

Everyone could hear the hurt in my partner's voice as he stood up and started to leave. I felt a surge of anger consume me and I found myself moving quickly to pull Travis back into the room and close the door. If he wanted answers then he'd get them.

"Move, Wes," Travis glared.

"No," I growled, "You don't get to do that."

"Do what? Keep something as big as a sibling a secret? No, wait. That's you."

"You always do this! You always leave before you know the whole situation. Always make me the bad guy when I did nothing wrong!"

"I asked you a million times if you had siblings. You said 'no'. You lied!"

"I was protecting him!"

"From what? Me? Do you really think I'd hurt your brother, Wes? Do you know me at all?"

"You don't understand, Travis."

"Damn right I don't! What was going on in that head of yours?"

"Protecting him. I had to protect him!"

"Why?"

"He's Schizophrenic!"

"What?"

"My brother is…Travis, my brother is Schizophrenic.