Seth walked into the cafeteria looking for Richie. He hadn't seen his brother since they moved him to a different cell in the prison. He figured that they most likely put Richie in solitary after he got into it with Mendoza. Seth was pissed at Richie. He had no clue why Richie started that fight and he never had time to ask him. If Seth thought about it. It was probably due to the fact that Mendoza thought of Seth as his "toy". He never said those words, but everyone could tell by the looks that Mendoza gave him. He cornered Seth a few times, but luckily for Seth he managed to fight his way out of those awkward situations.

Ever since Richie got locked up Seth had been trying to protect him but that clearly didn't work.

He finally spotted Richie at the far side of the cafeteria where one of the guards stood overlooking it. He moved towards him slowly, just as he reached him Seth spotted Mendoza smiling at him from a nearby table.

"Nice shiner…" Seth said.

"Relax, I'm fine." Richie replied, "I can protect myself you know."

"I know Richard, but I can help you. And I can take care of myself too." Seth replied grabbing his bread and pulling it apart.

Richie smiled, "You won't need to protect yourself once I kill Mendoza."

"Don't do anything crazy Richie." Seth whispered, "Please don't do this for me. If anything happens to you I won't be able to forgive myself."

Seth grabbed Richie's hand under the table. He looked into his eyes begging him not to start this fight. He didn't want his brother in solitary forever. Ever since they were younger Seth tried to protect Richie as much as he could from their father. He was a mean bastard who had a thing for picking on Richie. He never left his brother alone and he wasn't going to start now.

"Let me help you…" Seth started.

"No. You always protected me when dad was being a bastard. And I killed him because he raped you. I'm not letting Mendoza do the same thing. Seth, I need you to know that I-I love you." Richard finished getting up from the table.

Seth watched Richie walk away. He couldn't think of anything to do. Seth felt helpless and he never felt that way before. As he was thinking about a way to help Richie a fight broke out and he watched a big guy hand Richard a shank. Before any guards could react to what was happening Richie took the knife and plunged it into Mendoza's stomach. That wasn't enough for Richard though because he watched his brother stab him in both eyes and whisper something into his ear. Richie stood before him covered in blood. All Seth could think about was how he was going to get his brother out of prison. Neither one of them could do this forever.

Seth watched the guards bring Richard to solitary. It was the second time since they had been in prison that he wanted to just close his eyes and be somewhere else. Since the fight broke out everyone had to go back to their cells and wait until lock down was over. It could be days but hell what else did he have to do but wait. Seth laid down on his cot and all he could think about was Richie. They always had a strange connection. Anytime something was wrong the other brother knew it. They always knew how to cheer each other up and they always stuck together.

Flashback…

Seth watched as Richie iced the cake he had made for his birthday. He was so careful…he never understood how Richie could concentrate especially with the piece of shit environment that they lived in, but he always concentrated when he made Seth something. As Richie was putting the final touches on the cake Ray stormed past them to get a beer from the fridge.

"What are ya doing?" Ray asked, "Who's birthday?"

Richie gave him a death stare, "It's Seth's birthday!"

"Fuck that! He doesn't deserve a cake," Ray yelled knocking the cake to the floor.

Richie was about to call his dad a not so nice word when Seth pulled him to their room. Once they had retreated to their room Seth hugged Richie. He didn't want to lose his brother, so he just held on to him a little longer than necessary. That was the first time Seth ever felt different about his younger brother. Seth began to cry, and Richie just rubbed his back and tried to calm him down. Once Seth stopped he sat on his bed and looked down at his feet. Richie walked over to him and put his arm around Seth. He thought about saying something to Richie when suddenly, Seth felt warm lips on his neck. He looked into Richie's eyes.

"You deserve that cake and so much more…" Richie smiled.

That was the first time he had ever thought about kissing his brother. It gave him warm feelings inside, but he knew it was wrong. He knew he shouldn't want to kiss his brother, but Seth soon realized that there wasn't much he could do about it. He learned that wanting someone only made you life more difficult. The want grew inside of him and there was nothing he could to do to escape it.