"Sy, are ya in here?"

Jaden twisted the knob and pushed open the door.

"Syrus? Hello?" He nudged the door open a little more, and looked inside. "Anybody home?"

Silence greeted him. He felt almost disappointed. He'd wanted Syrus to be there. He'd wanted to ask him how his little talk with Zane had gone, or even if he'd gone at all. He had a lot of faith in Syrus, but he knew that his friend had this tendency to ... give up.

"Hm. I wonder where--" He stopped short, and looked down. What was all over the carpet? It looked like blood, but... what was going on here?

Jaden's gaze followed the wide pool of red to the desk. Finally, the sight registered. Lying in all this blood was...

"Syrus!" Jaden kneeled beside him, pulling him up by his shoulders to face him. "Syrus. What happened? Ae you hurt? Syrus, come on, say something. Please, Syrus. Syrus."

Syrus sighed softly. His eyes fluttered open, his gaze unfocused.

Jaden let out his breath. So at least Syrus was still alive.

"Sy, what happened to you? Come on, buddy, say something. Are you all right? What's with all this blood all over the place? Are you cut?"

"Mmhm," Syrus mumbled, closing his eyes.

Jaden shook him, trying to be gentle but keep his grip on him at the same time. "Come on, Sy, stay with me. What happened? Where'd you get cut?"

With some effort, he held up his shaking arm. Dried blood trailed down from several jagged gashes across his vein.

Still keeping one hand behind his back to support him, Jaden took hold of his arm and pulled it closer to examine the wounds.

"How did this happen?" he said softly. "Syrus... how did you do this to yourself? Did you... you didn't do this on purpose, did you?"

Syrus looked into Jaden's eyes. The brunette saw how weary, how miserable, his friend looked. He'd seen this look in Syrus' eyes before, when he'd almost given up in a duel. When he'd built a raft and tried to run away. A look of absolute defeat.

Zane.

"Did you talk to Zane?"

Weakly, Syrus nodded.

"What did he say?"

Syrus didn't reply, but let out a small, plaintive whimper. He was near tears. Jaden could tell. He'd seen it enough times before.

"What did he say to you?" Jaden tried to keep the edge out of his tone. This was something about Zane, he just knew it. It didn't take a genius to see what had happened. Zane had said something to hurt Syrus' feelings, and it had driven him over the edge. He'd gone home and sliced his wrist open.

But what had done it? What could Zane possibly have said that had hurt him so badly?

"I... have to learn... "

"Learn? Learn what?"

Syrus gazed up, with a faint smile on his face.

"I had to learn... to be strong." A peaceful look came over his face. "I couldn't do it, Jaden. I couldn't be strong.

"I just get... in your way. I let Zane down. Nobody would miss me, because... nobody loves me."

Jaden had to bite his tongue to keep from say it. It's not true. I love you. Where did that come from? Had he really just thought that? Almost said it?

The realization was slowly sinking in. He'd been thinking it all along.

Well, now was definitely not the time to bring it up. One problem at a time was about all Syrus could handle.

"So you tried to kill yourself." It was less a question than a confirmation. Syrus nodded again.

"Yes. I didn't want for you to have to worry about me anymore. I didn't want you to have to put up with me anymore. I was sick of getting in your way. You could be the best, and I don't want to stop you. I'm not worth holding you back. I didn't want to let you down, because I love you."

Wait... had Syrus really just said...?

No, that wasn't right. Couldn't be. All the times Jaden had caught himself thinking about him and Syrus... together... he'd never thouht Syrus would be the one to say it.

He shook his head. That wasn't what Syrus had meant. Zane had rejected him. So Syrus had found a big brother in Jaden. He loved him as a brother. That was all. It had to be.

"He didn't love me."

"Huh?" Jaden snapped to attention. "What?"

"Zane. He didn't love me. He did it because he hated me."

Jaden stared at him. "Did what?"

A violent tremor shot through Syrus' body. Jaden felt it under his hands. Syrus was so cold... It was from losing so much blood. That was just common sense. But whatever Zane had done to him had left him cold inside, too.

"I'm sorry, Jaden. I didn't want him to." His voice cracked. He looked at Jaden with tears in his eyes.

"Want him to what?" Jaden let Syrus shift his weight onto him. He rubbed his back gently. This was ironic. All this time, Syrus had come to him with his problems. And now, Jaden was literally giving him a shoulder to cry on.

"...kiss me."

Syrus' shoulder convulsed with his sobbing. All the hurt, the rejection, the shame... it had finally been admitted to. No longer caring, he let himself cry. What was the point of trying to contain it? He had no dignity left. He was weak. Nobody would ever expect him to be strong enough not to.

Jaden stiffened. Kiss him? Zane had kissed him?

No wonder Syrus was so upset. His first kiss, at least as far as Jaden knew, and it had to be Zane.

He did it because he hated me...

That wasn't right. You kissed someone because you loved them, not because you didn't. Not because they had to learn. Not because they were weak.

...because you loved them...

Jaden pulled back, held Syrus by the shoulders, and pressed his lips gently to his friend's.

a little closure with your cliff-hanger?

i was going to put it in the first chapter, but i thought there should be a better motivation.

...and if this isn't it, i give up...

okay, you know what to do from here. peace be with you. )