The fic has changed a lot up to this point. I hope you're all enjoying it. I am very proud with the direction I've been taking this fanfiction this time around, so I hope you all can continue to root me on and to let me read all your wonderful comments and words of appreciation. They honestly mean the world to me, and I cherish every single one, even the ones hating on this fic. Your hate fuels me, fiction does not equate reality but the fact you spent the time to not only read but write a comment to say how much you hate this or me still gives me hits!


Time seemed to stand still the longer Greg sat there, his skin had long since pruned, and the noise coming from the other side of the door stopped. No more knocking, no more Rodrick telling him to open up while trying to stay quiet. Nothing. Just silence from the night as the water trickled down his bruised body.

'I'm disgusting.' Greg repeated to himself.

'let Rodrick do that to me; I didn't even try to stop him.' His self-esteem was as low as the ground he sat on, the hatred coursing through his veins at his inability to make good choices in his pathetic life fueling his self-deprecation.

'I'm sick; this is my punishment for not pushing away. I could have done something; I didn't try hard enough.' Air fell from his lips as he hiccupped through the pain Rodrick was putting him through.

'I'm a freak like him. I'm disgusting like him. I hate myself for liking it. Why. Why is this happening to me? What did I ever do to him? I hate him. He always wins. I hate this. I hate this. I hate this.' Greg knew he was lying about hating Rodrick. That's why it hurt so much more. He couldn't escape.

"Greg, are you okay? Manny needs to use the restroom. You also left your clothes outside the door. Hurry up; breakfast is almost ready." Eyes wide as he stared at the door, adjusting to the window to see that the sun was already up. Just how long had he been in here? Turning off the water, he went ahead and grabbed the towel to dry himself, his body moving subconsciously, which he immensely appreciated at the moment with his thought's being too deep on himself.

"Y-Yah, I'm almost done, mom. Just. Give me a few seconds." Greg stammered out, trying to catch his bearings as he stood up on shaky legs and quickly wiped at his face to remove any notice of blotchy red eyes before wrapping it around his body. Unlocking the door and stepping out, he glanced down at the clothes that had been placed neatly at the door.

"I know it's early, but forgetting your clothes outside the door is so silly of you." Susan giggled out as she let Manny rush to the toilet. Picking up his clothes and shuffling to the side, Greg took his chance to go into Manny's room and start to change into his clothing.

Stepping out of the room once he finished putting his baggy sweatshirt and jeans on, Greg slowly looked up towards the bed and saw to his relief that Rodrick was nowhere to be seen. Though with how frazzled his mind was, he couldn't take any chances. He figured Rodrick was the one to pick out his clothes, considering everything was black. He didn't know what he had expected, as far as apology went this was dismal at best. Besides, Greg was having difficulty trying to forgive Rodrick. Not after everything he did. He was inhaling a deep breath, holding it to try and zone himself out to act at least a small semblance of normal in front of his family. Greg was a master of repressed emotions. A ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

"Where's Rodrick?" He asked his father as he stepped outside to sit at his spot at the table from the previous night. He felt tired and, most of all, famished. His energy had gotten sucked out before the day even started; food is the only way that could help in his current situation. Eat your feelings, as Rowley always said.

"I'm not sure champ, he was already gone by the time your mother and I were up. Going to miss this awesome breakfast that I set up." Greg hummed along, not listening as his father confirmed Rodrick wasn't around. He started digging into his food as his mother and Manny showed up. It was a quiet breakfast, Greg thankful for that as he was busy enough with trying to keep everything in check. Greg was surprised by how much he was eating, his appetite not having been much of anything with the activity from the early morning, but his body was demanding nourishment because of said activity anyways. His attention was absent during the conversation around the table; his mother seems to think he was simply still tired and chose to spick more with her husband instead.

Greg's thoughts moved towards Rodrick, how his older brother seemed to feel ashamed of what he had done to him. Was Rodrick finally realizing he was going too far? Was there still hope that they could put everything past them and just move on from all of this, and Rodrick would stop being so weird? Stop it before it gets too far and ends up drowning him in the process.

Up until now, Greg hadn't seen any sort of remorse from Rodrick, nothing at all up until Greg saw the clothes in front of the door, how he had left him alone. Rodrick was never one to apologize, especially not with words.

Greg let out a disgruntled sigh and stalked out of the room once he was done eating, shoving his shoes on as quickly as he could before rushing out, stalking down the front steps, and ignoring his mother yelling at him to know where he was going. He simply yelled back a wall before he was off, his legs dragging him down the gravelly path, even more, confused than he was before. Rodrick was sending mixed signals, the roller coaster ride having more twists than he was expecting, already starting to feel sick as his thoughts did the same thing.


Rodrick silently cursed to himself as his eyes burned holes into the wooden door in front of him, locked in a way to keep him out. He was cursing at himself silently, over again in his head, anger, a hint of regret crawling its way through his heart. Grabbing harshly at his throat as the soft sounds of crying could be heard on the other side through the water spray. Why had he done that? Rodrick had gone too hard and too fast. A lapse in judgment, the excitement of having control over Greg having clouded his decision, and not taking into account that all this was too much for his younger brother to handle right now.

Deep down, he knew why he didn't stop; he had known for a while now. It was nothing new that Rodrick felt something for Greg, the spark had been small, almost a blimp in his radar he had overlooked until it had been too late. Its claws sinking into his beating heart, squeezing every time he was close to Greg, starting to appreciate certain parts of Greg's personality and character that he had initially thought to have hated. His eyes were beginning to look at his little brother in a way a brother shouldn't.

As he kicked the small rocks in front of him, an exaggerated sigh left his lips as he kept his face cast downwards towards the ground. His thoughts were a mess, his frustration at the situation was dragging him down, and now it seemed like Greg might hate him. He had never really been angry at Greg; the reason he didn't want to come to this stupid place was that he was afraid of what he might do. As it turns out, he had been right. He felt like doing this deal might have been the worst idea he could have done, all traces of triumphant from before lost now that he had taken it too far. He had never wanted to hurt Greg; he had been jealous, angry at his feelings, and frustrated at Greg that he couldn't just see how he felt.

Most of the morning, since he left Greg in the washroom had been spent walking around the lake. Not particularly having a destination in mind and merely wanting to give Greg some space as much as it frustrated him.

Rodrick had almost made it back home just as he noticed Greg running out of the house in the clothes he had laid out for his younger brother. A small bubble of hope gripping at him at the fact Greg had chosen to wear what Rodrick had given him instead of spitting him by wearing something else. Greg had no reason to provide him with this small token, but it just showed how forgiving Greg was, a quality he admired.

Rodrick followed behind Greg for a few minutes, slightly enjoying to watch from behind as his presence might still be too much for him. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, trying to formulate a plan in his head on how he might be able to smooth things over. Rodrick felt like he should just call the whole thing off, but with how far they had gone, he felt like keeping this going was the best thing to do. His intentions were nothing more than to find a way to get closer to Greg.

Okay, he knew how completely fucked up his idea had been. Rodrick was certain that Greg felt caged, which was only driving him further. After living with his little brother all these years, he knew that Greg craved a different kind of attention from him. He was a bully though, Rodrick had picked on Greg for so long that at this point, it was tough for him to get out of that mindset. Rodrick knew Greg had bruises, and that he was the one to put them there. He was blaming everything on his anger and jealousy because Rodrick was too stubborn to blame himself and his own bad decisions.

Greg seemed out of it, not paying attention to where he was going, which was why Rodrick sped up to grabbed him by the collar to pull him back before he walked headfirst into a light pole. His younger brother jerked, twisting around as his eyes fell on him. Rodrick seeing the color drain from his younger brother's face, causes a spike of regret, fists balling at his sides once he let go, not wanting to cause Greg any more distress than his presence seems to give. The frustration was continuously swirling in the pit of his stomach, but he kept it at bay as much as he could. This wasn't Greg's fault. He wanted to make Greg feel better, but he had no idea how he could make him smile after what he had done. The dread gripping at him, wounding its way around him and holding him in place.

They stood there staring at each other, Rodrick not knowing what to do or say when a strange idea popped in his head. Taking the plunge instead of worry, Rodrick brought his hands up where he then proceeded to start tickling Greg in his sides, a devilish grin stretched across his face.

"W-what are you doing! R-Rodrick! Stop!" Greg huffed out, a small whine as a bubble of laughter escaped. Greg was starting to try and pull away, grabbing onto his hands to try and push only for Rodrick to broaden his search as he began to tickle his little brother a little bit everywhere. Greg had no chance as his body jerked in every direction before his legs gave out and he fell to the floor like dead weight, screeching all along the way. Rodrick followed, making them both fall to the ground in a way that it wouldn't hurt Greg as much. The faces Greg was making brought a smile to his face, happy to see an expression on his younger brother's face that wasn't hatred or anger directed at him. After a few more minutes, Rodrick pulled his hands back to allow Greg to breathe after all the laughing and screeching he was doing. Glancing around to make sure their little episode hadn't alerted anyone, coast clear.

Rodrick backed off as he crouched, arms crossed over his legs as he balanced himself. His gaze was fixed on Greg's cherry tomato face, the fall, and rise of his chest as he wiped the laughing tears from his eyes. It was only for a moment, but Rodrick was glad that he was at least able to give Greg a little breather before his younger brother went back to glaring at him suspiciously. Rodrick's smile drooped slightly, bringing his hand up to scratch at his head as his thoughts centered on what to do now.

Rodrick was scared of his feeling quickly growing for Greg, at how his own body was betraying him by being so responsive towards Greg. He didn't want his older brother to hate him; it was something he had feared for a long time now. He had felt like he could get away with anything because Greg never seemed to fight back as much as he should. He just kept telling himself that the only reason he was doing this was that he didn't want to lose Greg. This was the only way he felt like he could of a chance at being in his life, despite how twisted this whole thing was.

"Look…" He whispered out, licking his lips to bring moisture back to their dryness and forcing his eyes to rest on Greg's face, his little brother deserving at least that much for putting up with his shit. Inhaling softly before letting out words he should have said a long time ago. Greg was looking at him with suspicion in his eyes, not that he blamed him.

"I'm sorry for what I did. It was out of hand; I shouldn't have gone that far with my teasing." A voice reverberating with regret, trying to put his feelings into his apology, knowing deep down that Greg needed this from him if he ever wanted to be let back in.


Greg felt like his ears were betraying him; not once had Rodrick ever apologized to him. His heart had started to race after his older brother's statement, not know what to say or do in this type of situation. It was completely new territory to him, and Greg had no idea if he should just trust what Rodrick was saying at face value. He sounded sincere, Rodrick's expression pulling at Greg's heart, nibbling on his bottom lip in contemplation. Greg felt skeptical; he thought this might still be a trick, a way for Rodrick to always play his game while trying to push him into a false sense of security before Rodrick struck again. Greg hadn't forgotten that amount of damage Rodrick had done to him, how could he, he was still feeling that disgust at himself. But, they were brothers, and Rodrick seemed like he was trying to fix things between them.

Rodrick had moved from his position to standing, dusting himself off before offering his hand to him, giving Greg the option to either knock it away and never turn back, or believe Rodrick and hope that things would get better. That whatever kind of game he was playing at would end there and wouldn't hurt him anymore. Greg knew his face spoke of what he thought, and that Rodrick saw, because his older brother smiled softly at him, non-threatening, merely waiting for a hand and giving Greg a chance at a choice.

He took a few moments to himself before a small sigh left him, already knowing his decision, eyes falling to Rodrick's hand as his own hesitantly drew towards those outstretched fingers. He was hovering for a few moments before his hand clasped around, allowing Rodrick to pull him off from the ground. Greg's chest squeezed from the warmth he felt when Rodrick took his hand, relief flooding his face as the hand left his once he was upright and standing on his own.

A snarky remark was on the tip of his tongue until his face was pressed against Rodrick's chest, arms wrapped around his shoulders as his brother hugged him. Greg tensed, realizing a moment later that a hug was all that Rodrick was doing. His mind was spinning at the suddenness of it all, but strangely enough, not against it as much as he thought he should have been.

They both stood there with their arms wrapped around each other, the back of Rodrick's shirt held loosely between his fists, the sound of their heartbeat beating to the sound of their drum. Rodrick was softly petting his hair, not saying anything and letting their embrace do the talking. Greg was honestly surprised at how 180 Rodrick had gone. He didn't hate it, at least. It was a start; it was a chance.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, a small whimper, he stopped trying to resist and instead let the comfort of Rodrick and his arms envelop him in the embrace he always craved from his older brother. Greg let himself breathe in his brother, letting the calmness of his scent, the air, and the oxytocin from their hug bring light into his otherwise dark thoughts.

He didn't hate this despite how awkward it made him feel, cheeks heating slightly.

"Hey, Rodrick, I'm surprised to see you awake! Greg always tells us stories about how you sleep your days away. What are you doing her-" Holly cut off her sentence as she realized she had walked in on them having a somewhat brotherly moment? She stood behind Rodrick, inspecting them both with surprise washing across her face, eyes wide at their position. Greg gasped and bounced out of Rodrick's arms, suddenly embarrassed despite the fact they were just two brothers hugging each other. Nothing weird about that, right? Was he simply overthinking about it like he usually did?

"Holly! Haha-ha…how are you doing? What brings you out…and such?" Greg decided to speak up first, his awkwardness causing him to speak on reflex. His voice wavered and he cursed inwardly at himself, trying to calm down and act normal. Nothing weird had happened; they didn't get found out. Holly didn't know. Greg's eyes focused on Holly's face, a grin stretched across his face in a way that seemed too enthusiastic. Great, he was going to scare her away.

Huh? That was strange. He felt his heart beating rapidly, but this time around, he knew that it wasn't because of Holly. He wasn't feeling shy at standing in front of her; he felt more embarrassed at the fact he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings. Greg should have heard Holly running at them, and he knew she ran, considering she was currently still trying to catch her breath. Greg knew one thing for sure; Holly was definitely into Rodrick.

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking, and since you asked Greg, I'm here to ask Rodrick something." She smiled softly, seeming to push their brotherly hug to the side as his face turned towards Rodrick.

"Rodrick, I was wondering if you'd like to go on a walk with me. Get to know one another?" Her cheek started reddening as she asked, Greg feeling a touched annoyed at not only being ignored despite everything he had done for her, being pushed to the side for Rodrick. Again. Greg tried not to pout, but considering Holly was focused on Rodrick, he felt like he had a right to be upset with his situation.

What clouded his mind the most at the moment was the fact he couldn't feel a single thing for Holly anymore in the romantic department. All semblance of a crush having seemed to disappear. But even so, he still didn't want her anywhere near Rodrick, telling himself it was because she was still his friend and he was trying to protect her. But the smaller part of him that Greg couldn't hear was telling him it was for a completely different reason.

Greg didn't know what to do apart from standing there and watching Holly try and flirt. Truthfully, he wouldn't be able to do anything if Rodrick decided to forgo their deal, which was something that Greg might have slightly wanted before, but now it seemed to be something he hopped Rodrick would follow. It took him a while to realize what he was feeling was jealousy, the sweat in his palm, the chill on the back of his neck, this heating annoyance eating at him, and causing him to lose all control of words. Speechless.

"Thanks for the invite, but I'll pass. This kid-" He heard Rodrick say as he felt a finger brush against his neck, sending a rush of chills down his spine before it hooked into his shirt, tugging him closer to Rodrick as his older brother hooked an arm over his shoulder. Greg squawked out in protest, trying to get the arm off from around him, except Rodrick wasn't letting go.

"-Was just telling me how our family wanted to spend some time together out on the lake. Maybe some other time." Rodrick's grin stretched across his face, showing teeth and giving Holly smoldering eyes. Greg blinked his eyes in confusion at what was currently occurring. Was Rodrick still following through with their deal? A warm sensation was rubbing at his chest, feeding into him like a blossoming flower soaking up the sun and the positivity.

"Oh…is that so?" Greg felt terrible for the smallest fraction at how sad Holly looked, but it was quickly overshadowed by the swell of happiness suddenly overflowing in him.

"Yeah, we are," Greg mumbled out, awkwardly trying to smile at Holly without showing how downright smug he felt.

"Alright, maybe some other time then. You know where I'm staying, don't be afraid to drop by Rodrick! By Greg, see you later. Have fun with your family." Holly smiled sadly and waved to both of them before heading back in the direction she had come from, her steps seeming less vigorous than usual. Greg gnawed his lips, starting to feel sorry for how he had acted with her. She was still his friend in a way, even if he no longer had feelings for her.

"Why did you say no?" He asked, questionably. He wanted to know Rodrick's reasoning behind his decision.

"No reason really, I figured I should focus more on you and righting my wrong instead of going off with one of your friends." Rodrick spilled out, not particularly upset about not getting to be around Holly. Greg hummed at his older brother, still wondering if the other was playing at something or if he had just completely changed since the early mornings. Greg didn't know what to believe, considering he felt like it took more time for someone to change for the better completely. Greg told himself he would still be careful; he always felt hurt after all. Rodrick would have to do a lot more to gain his trust back than just hug him.

Of course, it had been a warm hug.

"Alright, if that's what you want," Greg muttered out softly, gaze averted to the lake, noticing a few people already lounging in their waters.

Rodrick hadn't been serious when he said they were going to go out on the lake, right? His chocolate eyes trailed back towards Rodrick only to gulp, the gaze looking back at him, clearly planning something worse.

Oh no.