Sky looked down at the bouquet of roses in his hands. The dark pink turning to yellow in the centre. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Yes, these flowers would do nicely, but…they made him want to give them to someone else. Sky bit down the urge to go up to Ty's room with the flowers and forced himself to walk towards the door.

Half an hour later Sky found Mitch in the lounge room, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, Jerome on the couch behind him. Sky felt his resolve crumble a little, but he forced himself to stop worrying.

"Mitch", Sky called.

Mitch looked up from the TV and saw Sky. Sky beckoned Mitch and Mitch got up, walking away from his position and over to Sky's.

"Yes, what can I do for you?", Mitch asked.

Sky brought the flowers out from behind his back and offered them to Mitch who looked surprised and confused. Sky looked away.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I acted. I was a real jerk to you", Sky apologized.

Mitch gently took the flowers and smiled softly.

"Thank you for saying sorry. What I really want to know is why you acted the way you did."

Sky grabbed Mitch's hand and led him into the garden. Sky took a deep breath and sighed.

"Promise not to be weird about it, or like, shun me and stuff", Sky asked.

Mitch smiled and placed a hand on his chest.

"I promise. So what is it?"

"I…I kind of really like Ty and…", Sky stopped and tried to make the words come out.

"And you don't want me to touch him because you get jealous. Am I right?", Mitch asked.

"W-well, not just you. The others as well. Look, the point is I don't want anyone to make a move on Ty", Sky said his voice dropping.

Mitch smiled.

"Wait, so you're cool with me liking a guy, let along one of our group?", Sky asked, realizing that Mitch hadn't said a word about him liking another man.

Mitch flustered and blushed looking away from Sky, not meeting the other's gaze.

"W-well, no. W-why should I be. I-I mean I like a guy as well", Mitch said.

Sky was shocked but quickly came to his senses.

"Who? Is he from our group? Is he older? Younger? Taller? Is it Brice or Seto? Or is it Jason? Who? Tell me?!", Sky asked, firing off questions like a machine gun.

Mitch blushed harder.

"Uh, well. He is from our group. And he is taller than me- but only slightly! And, well, he's just…well…", Mitch said trying to explain, but failing to.

Sky smirked and moved closer to Mitch, who in turn moved back.

"It's Jerome. Isn't it", Sky said.

"W-well…"

"Hah, I knew it. Jason so owes me."

"Wait you bet on me liking Jerome!?"

"Uh duh, it was so obvious. But Jason couldn't see it. I'm telling you, he is just so oblivious sometimes, especially when it comes to love. Tyler could walk right up to him, confess his love and Jason still wouldn't know what was going on."

"No, wait. You bet on me liking Jerome!?"

"Yeah, so. You bet on me liking Ty. And I already know you bet on Jason liking Tyler, and just everyone in our group bets on everyone else liking someone else…it's just a huge mess of betting and money."

"You bet on me liking Jerome!?"

"Ah, are you kidding me. You're still on this?"

"Well of course I am. You bet on me liking Jerome!"

Sky sighed and rolled his eyes.

"'Let he who hath no sin cast the first stone' Mitch, you do it as well, you're just as much a hypocrite as Seto. Sheesh, you're both such hypocrites and you contradict your own rules on betting. You're no exception."

Mitch huffed and crossed his arms.

"Well, I'm going inside. Don't call me out here again", Mitch said, turning to leave. He stopped a few steps from the door.

"But please, call me again if you need to talk about Ty, though. I'm worried about his safety and his heart", Mitch said before disappearing.

Sky smiled and looked up at the clouds. He felt something cold and wet hit his face, then another, and another. He got up and dusted himself off before sprinting inside the house as rain pelted him.

Ty waited by the window. Songbird hadn't come back yet, and it was starting to rain. He had left for a while. His heart in too much pain to see Sky and Mitch in the garden talking. Mitch had left a little while ago and Ty had come back to his window just as it began to lightly rain. Ty closed his bedroom window and smiled as he watched Sky run back to the house. Ty's eyes drifted out to the horizon, to the light that was coming from beyond the clouds. Ty lay his head on the tops of his hands and let his eyes close. His breathing light and soft. He could feel himself drifting away and he let it happen. He could feel something pulling at his subconscious, telling him to wake up. He ignored it for a while but woke up to a loud knocking at his door. Ty got up and walked to the door to open it. He was surprised to find Sky on the other side.

"Can I come in…please", Sky asked, looking at the floor and blushing.

"Uh, yeah", Ty replied, as quiet as ever.

Sky walked in and sat down on Ty's bed.

"Uh, nice day we're having isn't it", Sky said, trying to make conversation.

"It's pouring outside…"

"Oh…yeah."

Ty walked over and sat down on his bed. He put his hands together and let them rest in his lap.

"So, why did you come here?", Ty asked.

"What, I can't visit my best friend and talk to them?", Sky asked, faking an offended tone.

Ty laughed and looked at Sky.

"Seriously, though, why did you want to talk to me in my room?"

Sky looked down and fiddled with his hands.

"Oh please…please tell me you didn't murder anyone", Ty asked.

"What! No!", Sky said, laughing at the end.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I-I, well, I kind of, like, really like you…", Sky whispered.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Sky sighed and turned to look directly at Ty.

"Ty, we've been friends since we were like five years old, well I was more like eight and you were five, but I'm getting off track. We've know each other for a really long time and I've really gotten to know you." Sky stopped to take a breath, "And you and I, we've always been there for each other. You and I are a team and a really good one at that too. What I'm trying to say is that I really like you. Really, really like you. And I want to know that we can still be friends if you don't like me that way. I don't want my feelings to get in the way of what we have. But if you feel the same way please say so."

For a time, there was silence. Not the sort of silence that you would get at an awkward family dinner, nor the sort of silence you get during a test. No, this silence was cold, cruel and heartbreaking. A silence that felt like ice drilling into your very being. A silence that made you want to wake up and discover that all of this was just a dream. A silence that would give you nightmares.

But then, Ty spoke.