(Len's POV)

I remember how earlier that day I had been told those rumors by Teto, who was a good person but was obsessed with gossip and would do pretty much anything to become the center of attention. It struck me hard, so much that I wasn't able to think clearly enough to realize that it was likely that she was just lying to me anyways. Besides, the lie she told me was rather believable, it wasn't as if she had told me something crazy. It was just that... it destroyed what little hope I had left of the one I love loving me back. It was unlikely anyways, but at least I had some aspect of hope left.

"Hey Len-kun, you know how you like Kaito?" Teto brought up.

"Shhh! I don't want him to hear, Teto-chan! I requested for her to be at least a little quieter. It could have ruined everything if Kaito found out!

"Well, I hate to say this, but... I saw him kissing Meiko yesterday and I heard that they're dating. I'm sorry, Len-kun, but he likes girls." she said.

"Um... It's okay, I'm totally over him anyways!" I pretended to laugh lightheartedly and ran away with tears in my eyes.

I didn't really know where to go, but I knew that I had to get out of our house. It would have been way too humiliating to let them see me cry, especially if Kaito was there, and it would just make everything worse. I already lost all hope of us ever being together, I couldn't embarrass myself in front of him so that he maybe wouldn't even want to be my friend anymore.

I ended up sitting in the street around our house, letting the tears roll down my face, and really just not caring anymore. What was the point anyways? I had tried to hard not to get too attached to anyone other than my own sister and tried to stop myself from falling in love as best as I could, because when someone is in love they are just far too vulnerable. One person can decide whether the other is happy or sad, whether their life is meaningful or if it isn't, whether there is a point to anything. That's way too mucho wet to have over somebody! Yet, I couldn't help but fall for the trap, and to make it even worse I ended up falling for another boy. And not only another boy, but Kaito, who was one of my best friends! Since I was told he was with Meiko, that obviously meant that he liked girls and would never, ever be interested in me no matter what. I always doubted that it would happen, but it hurt so badly to have all of the hope ripped from my heart.

I hoped that Kaito would never have to know about all of the pain I had endured because of him. Someone as kind, caring and amazing as him didn't deserve to be burdened with the problems of another person, it just wouldn't be fair. If I was selfless, I would have been happy that Meiko was able to make Kaito happy, but I was selfish and wanted to have him for myself. I still wasn't selfish enough to bother him by letting him know about this; I would keep it a secret, for both his sake and my own.

As for the, I would just sit there, hoping that I could cheer up as soon as possible. If I was lucky, no one would notice I was gone until I could get calm enough that they wouldn't be able to tell I had been upset.

(Kaito's POV)

I heard from Teto that, for some reason she wouldn't tell me, Len had run out of the house and that she had no idea where he was. This worried me a lot since anything could have happened to him by then and he wasn't exactly the most careful person out there. I quickly ran outside to go looking for him and after a while I found him sitting outside on the street behind the house. I was kind of nervous to talk to him about whatever it was that was bothering him, since he might have been sensitive and I didn't want to hurt him even more. Still, I needed to know what was wrong and help to fix it.

"Len-kun!" I looked at him with concern, "What's wrong?"

There were tears running down his face and he looked to be very upset, "Look away, K-Kaito-nii! I don't want you to see me cry...!"

I didn't really know what to do to cheer him up, so I just took his hand into mine and tried to comfort him. I hoped that it wasn't too weird for me to hold his hand. I had been in love with Len for a while, but I was always too scared to tell him about my true feelings.

"Please, Len-kun, tell me what's wrong. It DOES matter to me." I insisted.

"I-it's way too embarrassing, and you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore if I told you!" he cried.

"Why would you think that? I'll be your friend no matter what, and you know that I'll understand whatever it is that's bothering you. Trust me, you can tell me anything, I don't judge anyone." I argued.

It hurt me so much to see Len in so much pain, so sad... I had no idea what it was that made him feel this way, but I knew that I wanted to cheer him up as soon as possible. Seeing him cry made me want to burst into tears as well, but I didn't because I had to keep my emotions sealed away so that I wouldn't make Len feel any worse than he did already.

"If you really wanna know... It's because I love you, Kaito-nii..." he whispered so softly that I could hardly hear him. I felt my heart began to beat faster and faster.

"W-what?!" I exclaimed, obviously surprised. I was absolutely certain that he had a "crush" on Miku, and had come to accept that he would never love me back. I was so, so overwhelmingly happy to know that he felt the same way as I did, but also sad that I had caused him so much unnecessary pain. If I and been a more courageous kind of person I would have told him my feelings long before this, but I gave into my cowardice and ended up keeping it a secret.

"Teto told me about you and Meiko being together! I had hoped that you'd love me back, but I was wrong! I don't want to be without you anymore, Kaito-nii, even if it's selfish of me to cause you more trouble!" Len began to sob out loud as he talked to me, and it hurt me deeply to know that I was the one who caused him to feel that way.

"I don't think you understand, Len." I told him, "I love you too. I have for a really long time, but I didn't want to tell you since I was worried and afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way, or that you'd be freaked out since we're both guys. I'm... so happy right now, it's hard to even comprehend..."

Slowly, the tears stopped and instead of just holding his hand I took him into my arms and softly embraced him. His body was so warm and I could feel the tears he had cried just minutes before on my clothes.

I couldn't hold myself back anymore, and so I kissed his lips softly. I wondered if that was Len's first kiss. I wish that I could have shared my first kiss with Len, but I had dated a few people by that time. I was 16 and he was 14, so there was a good chance that I was more experienced than he was.

I couldn't wait to show him all of the other things I knew about...

Author's Note: I originally intended for this to be a one-shot, but I've decided to make it a two-shot (as in, it will have two chapters.). The second and final chapter of this story will be lemon, and I'm excited for that! :). Please read and review. Thanks! ~ Lydia-chan