It was late at night when a soft rustling woke Ryo from a deep sleep. _Wha...?_ He cracked open an eye, thinking maybe his brother had gotten up for a glass of water. Maybe only had turned over. He didn't give it any more thought, being way too tired to care at the moment, and went back to sleep.

Standing next to the other bed in their shared room, Eyn let out a soft sigh of relief. _Woo...for a minute there I thought he was going to wake up._ That was something he /really/ didn't need at the moment. When he was convinced it was safe, he crept over and carefully slid in next to his brother. Sighing, Eyn rested an arm around Ryo's chest and slipped back into a peaceful slumber.

Early the next morning, knowing that his boys had a reputation for being deep sleepers, Toji stepped into their room to wake them up. Since Eyn's bed was the closest to him, he went there first. Instead of his son, however, he found an empty bed. _Maybe Ryo knows where he is._ He thought, making his way over to Ryo's bed. There, he got the surprise of his life. Ryo and Eyn were snuggled together under the blanket.

"EEEEYNNNN!!!!" Toji shouted, startling both boys awake.
Eyn sat up, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. "Hmm? Is it morning already?"
Fuming and ignoring his son's question, Toji grabbed hold of Eyn's right arm and yanked him out of the bed. "I /thought/ you were over that!!"

"But Papa-"

"You KNOW you're supposed to sleep in your own bed!"

"Maybe he had another nightmare." Ryo offered, yawning. "It's happened before."

"I know that! Besides, that was three years ago!" He glared at Eyn, still on the floor where he had tumbled. After a moment, he remembered why he was there in the first place. "Oh yes, get ready for school. You'll be late, otherwise." That said, he then turned and walked out of the room.

The two dressed in silence, neither feeling much like talking. Once they were ready, they headed out to the kitchen for a quick breakfast of milk and toast. Toji watched his sons closely. He had never really noticed just how much the two were together. Though, he had to admit that he usually didn't see one without the other. That, to him, only made the situation worse and him angrier. _I'll have to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand._

* * * * * *

_Gaaaah, I /hate/ this class..._ Eyn thought, listening to his teacher drone on and on about some famous war that they were all supposed to feel proud about. _Yeah right. Like I'm really supposed to feel proud about my ancestors attacking a bunch of unprepared, peaceful villagers._ He glanced at the clock. Only one more minute and he was free. He couldn't /wait/ to get out of there.

"...And for homework, I want each of you to write an essay about the role your ancestor played in this war." The teacher's monotone voice brought him back from his thoughts just in time to write the assignment down before the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Quickly gathering up his things, Eyn shouldered his backpack and all but /tore/ out of the room. _I hope Ryo's there already. I haven't seen him since this morning!_ He power-walked all the way to the spot where they usually hung out, which was nothing more than the brick walled side of the art building.

Meanwhile, Ryo was already there, talking with his friends.

"No way! He really got into bed with you?" His friend, Rowen, asked, astounded.

"He did."

"And you /let/ him?!" One called Kento, asked.

"Well, I didn't exactly know it at the time. But he's done it before. No big deal."

"Ryo," Another, Cye, started. "your brother wants to sleep with you and you say it's not a big deal? Something's wrong with that..."

Ryo shrugged. "Not really. When he was younger he had started having nightmares. When that happened, he crawled into bed with me, as he felt safe. Usually slept the rest of the night with no further bad dreams."

"But-" Sage, the last of Ryo's group of friends, was cut off as Eyn came walking up.

"Hey guys." Eyn smiled at them, then grinned happily at Ryo. "What'cha talkin' about?"

"Hey Bro. Nothing much. How was history?"

He made a face. "/Boring/. As usual. Say, we didn't have any ancestors in a war against unarmed villagers, did we?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Homework."

"Oh." He absently watched as Eyn set his backpack down and leaned up next to him against the wall.

Sage watched as well, convinced that his friend was not telling them something. _What can it be? I mean, having nightmares and going to your brother for help as a little kid is one thing, but having them as a fourteen year old and going to your brother for help is quite another._ He frowned to himself, unnoticed by the others. _I have to agree with Cye. Something is seriously wrong here...._

"So, Eyn," Kento took a sip of his Diet Coke and grinned mischievously at him. "is it true that you can't get through the night if you're not in Ryo's bed?"

Ryo nearly dropped his school bought carton of fries. "Kento!" He glanced over at Eyn who, while blushing furiously, found his can of Dr. Pepper extremely fascinating.

"What? I'm just curious." He adopted an innocent look that no one believed. "So Eyn, is it true?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said finally, looking up from the can to, somewhat, calmly meet Kento's gaze.

"Whether you're curious or not, Kento, that was in poor taste." Cye reprimanded, rather appalled at what he had asked.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry."

Lunch progressed without any more embarrassing questions and soon the bell rang. Everyone picked up their things, threw away their trash and headed off for the rest of their classes.

* * * * * *

"It's about time you two got home." Toji said as he spotted his boys coming through the front door of their apartment. "It's five o'clock, where've you been?"

"Sorry, Dad." Ryo said, placing his backpack on a nearby chair. "Eyn had to stop by the library and I waited for him."

"I see." And he did, all too well. _Just another ploy to be together._ But that was easily fixed. He'd just separate them, that's all. _Prevent it before anything starts._ He had already decided on what he was going to do. "How was school?"

"Same as usual." Came Eyn's voice from the fridge. "How was your day?"

"Busy. But you wouldn't want to hear about my boring old job." He smiled in thier general direction and proceeded to help start dinner.

Later, as they got ready for bed, Ryo looked up from pulling on a pair of faded, red flannel pants. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did you really have a nightmare last night?"

He didn't answer for a moment. "Not...exactly, no."

"Then why, prey tell, did you get in bed with me?" He noticed Eyn tense slightly.

"Well..." _I can't tell him...can I? I don't think he'd understand.._
"Eyn? You can tell me. Please? I need to know."

"*sigh* Okay...." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned to face his brother. "It's like this, I...I couldn't help it. I like it when I'm next to you." He searched Ryo's face for any sign of understanding.

"That's hardly an answer."

"Perhaps..perhaps I should start from the beginning?"

"/That/ would be a good idea." He crossed his arms and waited.

"It really all started back three years ago. When all the nightmares began." He sat on his bed, picking up a pillow and hugging it to his chest. "You see, all those bad dreams left for the night because I had a big strong brother who protected me. Slowly, during those times, I...I fell for you."

He said that last part so softly, Ryo almost didn't hear it. _He...He.../fell/ for me?!_ He couldn't believe it. For the past three years, he had never noticed that Eyn was spending more time than usual with him. _I mean, I LIKED spending all that time with him but..._ "Why didn't you tell me this before?" He stared at his brother, in a state of shock.

Eyn wasn't looking at him anymore, instead staring at his feet. "I thought, if you knew, that...that you wouldn't want me around anymore." He blinked back the tears that were starting to form. "I just wouldn't be able to bear it if that happened."

Ryo sat down hard on his bed, eyes wide, and stared at his brother. He sighed. "Eyn..." Eyn looked up at him. "I think it's time to go to bed." So saying, he pulled back the covers on his bed and got in, pulling them back up to his chest.

"Ryo..." He whisperd, a tad hurt, but half expecting the reaction. Sighing softly, he turned out the light and got into his own bed.