Yakko has been avoiding him.

Was it something he did? Was it something he said?

Wakko racks his brain day and night, searching for a reason for his elder brother to suddenly decide that Wakko wasn't worth his time.

He comes up with nothing.

Grocery shopping isn't Wakko's favorite chore, but he knows Yakko will appreciate it if he comes home with food. He's used up all the money he'd been saving up (he was saving it for Dot's birthday gift, and he hopes she understands) but at least it means that Yakko won't have to go grocery shopping this week. Maybe he'll stop avoiding him.

He's fumbling with the key in his hand, trying not to drop the eggs that are tucked precariously under his left arm. Their door is broken - you have to turn the key and the doorknob at the same time, which makes this a real hassle when he's trying to hold things at the same time. Wakko thinks maybe they should stop locking it. They don't have anything that a robber would want.

If they do, it must be a pretty pathetic robber who's worse off than they are.

Wakko hears voices - yelling voices - from inside. He leans closer to the door, pressing his ear against it, unable to help himself. His siblings rarely ever fight, so he can't help but wonder what caused this.

"You can't keep ignoring Wakko!" he hears Dot shout. "He thinks you hate him!"

Wakko winces. He won't lie - he definitely does think that.

"Maybe I do, Dot!"

Wakko's eyes widen. Tears sting his eyes, and his arm loosens enough that everything he was carrying - including the eggs - falls to the ground.

Yakko hates him.

"Yakko Warner," Dot says, venom dripping from her tone, "that is the biggest lie I have ever heard anyone say! You love Wakko! You used to dote on him even more than you do me! What happened?!"

Silence. Wakko is about to suck it up and pick everything up and go inside, when suddenly Yakko speaks again.

"I'd rather him think I hate him than know the truth, Dot."

Oh, thank god, he doesn't hate him...

It's just something way worse than that. No big deal.

"What is the truth, Yakko? Tell me what the truth is!"

"Dot, I don't want to-"

"Tell me, Yakko!"

"I can't tell-"

"Tell me, goddammit!"

Wakko gasps softly. Dot rarely curses - she must be furious. Better tell him, Yakko...

There's a long, tense silence...

"I'm in love with him, okay? Is that what you wanted, Dot?"

...What?

"What?" he hears Dot say at the same time he thinks it. Her voice is soft, tentative.

"I've been seeing a therapist for it every Saturday, but it's still there," Yakko continues. "He keeps trying to tell me I'm not really in love with him, but I am. I know I am."

"Yakko-"

"He's going to send me to some kind of hospital," Yakko interrupts her. "I don't think it's going to work. But I know it's wrong, and I'm willing to try it. I don't want to feel this way. Please, please Dot, don't tell him? I don't want him to know. Please."

Another tense silence falls. Wakko's heart is racing in his chest.

"...Okay."

He hears Yakko sigh in relief. Wakko swallows thickly. He kneels down and picks everything up, then kicks at the door in lieu of knocking. It's what he should have done in the first place.

It takes a moment, but Yakko comes to the door. Something in his gaze shuts down when he sees Wakko, and immediately he walks away.

The work of that therapist, Wakko thinks.

Wakko enters their tiny apartment quietly, staring down at the floor as he heads over to the kitchen. Dot looks at him, as if she knows that he knows - but nothing is said.

Nothing is said.