My Best Friends' Younger Brother

| 39 | 𝙼𝚒𝚖𝚒

"I c-can't think about it l-like that Travis. You n-need to think about this p-positively-."

"But I can't. You might be able to lie to yourself, but I love you too much to lie to my own sensibilities. I need you in my life all the time now. If you're not with me...I'm a mean person. I'm cold, and I lack emotion. That might be seen as some 'tough-boy' image where I am, but I'm depressed without you. I'm not being dramatic with this. I need you." He explains very fast, his eyes wide on the board. "I need you more than I need basketball. I'd quit the sport if it meant I could be with you forever-."

"D-Don't quit basketball! That's not wh-what I want!" I shook my head so fast. "You c-can't cut your dreams like th-that for me. I won't a-allow it."

I saw him look hurt as if I broke his heart, but I don't know why. Basketball is his life and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I got in the way of that.

"Travis r-remember when we were i-in school. Those days...when you h-had practices and I d-didn't know, you were by y-yourself."

"But I knew after that I would just drive to your house and see you. Besides, that only happened twice." He reminds me, and I remember it was when we had that little misunderstanding.

"Travis..." I move the board to the side, sitting on his lap. I look at him as he looks down at me sadly. "We'd both...both regret it if we just ended everything that way. I love tennis, and you love basketball - I even love basketball! I refuse for you to do that - no way!"

I see him grin at me, soon looking around me.

"I brought you some things." He tells me, and he picks me up with him as we stood. Taking me to the room I originally gave him, he sets me down on the bed. I see him open his suitcase and gasp as he pulls out a basketball jersey.

Except my last name was on it...

"I-Is this...?" I rush for the jersey, grabbing it as I gaze down at my very own jersey. I look back up at him excitedly, seeing him nod. "You m-made it seem like y-you threw it a-away."

"I could never do that. You worked too hard for this. I'd be a horrible person to just...throw this away, and it reminded me of those great times. I could never throw it away." He shook his head, and I found myself smiling at him. "You can keep it when I leave, obviously. Oh! - and this."

I see him dig to the very bottom, pulling out a letterman jacket. I gasp excitedly to see such a thing, diving right for it. Once it was in my arms I hold it so close to me. I breathe in the smell that reminded me of him...his house...his car - everything!

I look up at him again, seeing him look sad.

"Christmas w-was yesterday." I tease to help him feel better. "Why didn't you g-give these to me then?"

"It didn't really seem appropriate after what happened at your grandparents place... I was going to surprise you with this eventually." He nods, and I grin.

"Well, th-thank you." I put the jacket on, sighing in comfort. It felt so nice... Still was big on me, but I wasn't surprised.

When I look back at Travis though I see tears build up in his eyes. It broke my heart to see that as I went towards him.

"Travis d-don't cry...you're still here with me."

"But I will be away from you soon. I can't do it... I'm happy with you, and if I leave...like this, it will tear me apart all over again." He cries, and I grasp his face.

I look into his eyes and get close enough so that he can't look anywhere else.

"Before...y-you were like that because you didn't k-know where I went. We were forcefully separated, a-and there was no talking to one another. But right now, we can! We have everything of ours, r-right here. You can go back b-being content within your h-heart that I'm thinking of you all the time. It's not forever, this s-separation. This time we both are content." I murmur, and I feel his hands rest on my waist.