As they pulled into the driveway, Emil was disappointed to see Matthias's car parked (badly) in the garage. He'd wanted to spend time alone with his brother, which he had less and less of since Berwald and Tino had adopted Peter.
The brothers were silent as they walked in the door, as it was past noon and Matthias had probably started drinking, which made him more obnoxious than usual. They ignored his attempts at conversation and sat on the opposite side of the couch.
'Oh, hey Emmy, I've been noticing that you're almost seventeen and you've never had a boyfri-' Matthias inquired, for the third time that month. Emil cut him off as he realized what he was asking
'Don't call me Emmy. And I've told you a million times I'm just not interested.' The white haired boy said, annoyance more than hinted in his voice.
'Sorry, I'm just worried about you. You can't stay alone forever, it's not healthy.'
'Why would it be un-' This time Emil was cut off by his older brother, who had put a protective arm around him as Mathhias moved closer.
'He's asexual. Don't be stupid.' Lukas said in his usual monotone.
'L-LUKAS! That was a secret, and the last person I want messing around with my personal business is him!' Emil turned red and buried his face in his hands, and he could feel both men staring at him.
'I'm sorry, I didn't know. Were you molested as a kid or something?' Matthias asked as if there was nothing wrong. Emil sat there, looking like a deer caught in the headlights for a few seconds.
'You can't just ask people if they got raped Matthias!' Emil threw off his brother's arm and ran upstairs, face still red and voice still shaky from embarrassment. Lukas shot the older man a dirty look as he followed his brother.
Lukas waited outside his brother's closed door to let him calm down. After half an hour, he knocked on the door.
'Little brother? Can I come in?' he leaned his head against the wood as he waited for a response.
'What do you want?' Emil hadn't even finished his sentence before Lukas was opening the door. Emil was lying on his bed, his face still in his hands.
'I hate to be on Matthias's side, but were you…?' His voice was calm, if a bit concerned, but he couldn't bring himself to say that last word, and a part of him couldn't bear asking the question at all.
The younger brother did not respond, he simply turned on his side, back to Lukas, and curled his legs into his chest. Lukas sat down on the empty space at the edge of the bed. He put a hand on the smaller boy's arm, which stiffened under the touch.
'I know you better than anyone, even Matt. If the answer was "no", you would have just said no. I also know you hate lying to me.' It was true, whenever he lied to his older brother, the only family he had, it hurt him more than if he had told the truth.
'So what?' Emil said, still dancing around the original question. Lukas, sensing this, took his hands away from his brother's face and looked him in his eyes, puffy from tears.
'Emil, there is something wrong. I need you to tell me so I can protect you from it happening again.' The younger brother finally sat up, letting his bangs cover his eyes. he let out a deep sigh.
'It was two years ago. It was my fault anyways, I didn't scream or anything. He was drunk anyways, he doesn't even remember it.' A new wave of tears welled and spilled over in his eyes. Lukas's eyes were getting blurry too, but he wouldn't let himself cry. He pulled his brother into a hug, never intending to let go.
'Nothing is your fault. You can't blame yourself for someone else's choices.' He laid back now, with Emil's face buried in his chest. Quiet, calm tears still ran from the younger's eyes. 'I won't make you talk about it anymore, if you don't want to.'
'Stay with me.' Emil held Lukas tighter when he started to move towards the door. The blonde, complying with Emil, stayed the rest of the night stroking his white hair until they both fell asleep. They loved sleeping next to eachother, though maybe not the same way Matt and Al did. They loved eachother, but they were not in love.
