Yuki…

By the time Yuki arrived at the dining room, everything was already set on the table and his step-brother, Mikael, was sitting there waiting for him. Seeing him hesitate by the door, Mikael spoke up.

"Hurry up and sit down."

"Ah! Yes…I'm sorry." Yuki nervously walked over to the seat that was prepared for him next to Mikael. He sat down but didn't touch the food that was already on his plate. Mikael frowned.

"Are you just going to stare at it? Eat."

"...Sorry," Yuki whispered before picking up his fork and taking a tiny bite of food. Although Mikael still looked unsatisfied, he didn't say anything further. The two of them ate in tense silence. Yuki could barely taste the food and was sure he'd end up with a stomach ache later from the stress of everything. Why had things ended up like this?

Things weren't always so tense and awkward between the two of them. When Yuki was nine years old, his mother had decided to remarry. Yuki's father had passed away before he was born so the thought of having a father was strange but not unwelcome. In preparation for the wedding, Yuki's mom introduced him to the man she was going to marry and that man's son, Mikael.

At the time, Mikael was eighteen and about to start college. Everything was going well and they all got along. Yuki was happy with the addition of two new family members. For the next two years, they all lived as one big happy family. Mikael would come back to see them every time the school had a break or long weekend. Even when he couldn't visit, he would call and video chat. Yuki believed that they were close and Mikael was an important person to him.

Regrettably, their happy days soon came to an end. When Yuki was twelve, just three years after his mother's remarriage, there was an accident. Yuki, his mother, and his step-father were driving back home from the movies one night when there was a huge car crash. Two large trucks and several cars collided, including Yuki's family. Both his mother and his step-father died in the impact and Yuki was severely injured.

When he was finally pulled from the wreckage, Yuki was flown to the nearest hospital and immediately entered surgery. Several of his ribs were broken and one of them punctured his lung. He also had a broken collar bone, a fractured skull, and both of his legs were broken. After multiple surgeries, Yuki was in a coma and placed in the ICU. He woke up two months after the accident.

By the time he woke up, the funeral for his mother and step-father was long past. He was informed of their deaths by one of his doctors and he was told that his step-brother had become his guardian and not to worry. Yuki was heartbroken at the loss but he felt somewhat comforted by the fact that he still had Mikael. However, when he asked to see him, he was told that Mikael was very busy and would come visit soon. The doctor and nurses seemed to be hiding something but Yuki wasn't in any condition to notice at the time.

As time passed, Yuki began to recover and was moved out of the ICU. He still required hospitalization and physical therapy but he was on the mend. His only complaint was that Mikael hadn't come to visit him. Every time he asked one of the nurses about him or asked if he could call, they always made some kind of excuse and changed the subject. It wasn't until Yuki overheard the nurses talking one day that he finally learned the truth.

It turned out that after Yuki's surgeries were complete and payment for his treatment and hospital stay had been made, Mikael never once visited the hospital again. He had never come to check on him at all. Yuki felt his heart break all over again. Somehow it was even more painful than when he learned he was the only one to survive the accident. He cried so much that the doctor's had to give him a sedative.

For an entire week after that, Yuki would constantly pester the doctor's and nurses to let him call Mikael. He couldn't stand not knowing why he never came to see him. Did Mikael hate him because he was the only one who lived? Did he not want to be a family anymore since it was just the two of them? He needed to know.

Eventually, the hospital was able to contact Mikael and get him to come visit since Yuki's health and recovery were being affected by extreme depression. Yuki could barely eat, hardly slept, and was crying all the time. The nurses were heavily scolded for letting Yuki hear them but the damage was already done. They all hoped that seeing Mikael would calm Yuki down and get his recovery back on track.

The day soon arrived where Mikael was supposed to visit. The nurses managed to get Yuki to eat a little bit so they were relieved but that didn't last long. Just like he said, Mikael arrived at the hospital and went in to see Yuki. When he entered the room, Yuki beamed at him but his smile quickly faded at the cold and distant expression on Mikael's face. Yuki still remembers every word Mikael said that day.

"I'm here. What do you want?"

"Huh? I…I wanted to see you. You didn't come to visit and I…"

"That's it?" Mikael looked angry.

"...What?"

"They said you weren't eating or sleeping and that I had to come and see you no matter what. But all of that, just because I didn't come visit? What's wrong with you?!" For the first time since Yuki had known Mikael, Mikael shouted at him in anger. Tears filled Yuki's eyes and he stared at Mikael in confusion.

"W-what do you mean…'that's it'? You…you never…not once…came to see me. I…I was all…alone and hurt. I thought…why didn't you come? You…left me…It's been months! Do you…do you hate me now?" The tears he was attempting to restrain finally streamed down his face. Mikael was shocked.

"That's…What kind of childish question is that? Of course I don't hate you!"

"Then why?!"

"...I have my reasons." Mikael returned to being cold and distant. "I have to go now. Don't do something like this again. I don't want another call saying you're not eating." With that, Mikael turned and walked out of the room.

"Wait!" Yuki desperately called after him but he didn't return. Yuki's tears were unrelenting as he whimpered with no one there to hear him, "Please, don't leave me!"

Ever since then, their relationship had changed completely. Yuki recovered and was let out of the hospital a few months after Mikael's visit. He moved into Mikael's house and was given homeschooling by a tutor to catch up with everything he missed. Although they were living in the same house, Yuki hardly ever saw Mikael and when he did, neither of them spoke to each other. Yuki didn't know why Mikael was so different. He only knew that being near him was too painful so Yuki started avoiding him.

The longer things went on like that, the worse it got. Anytime they had any kind of interaction, it always felt like Mikael was angry or annoyed. The constant stress and anxiety started to negatively affect Yuki in all aspects of his life. He always felt nervous and couldn't relax. He hardly spoke to anyone and even when he did, he would stutter or speak too quietly for them to hear him. He lost all confidence in himself and when he started high school he became a prime target for bullies.

The way he was treated at school and the way things were at home only managed to make his anxiety worse. He stopped smiling, he didn't have any friends, and no matter what the bullies did, there was no one there to help him. At first, he tried to stand up for himself and ignore them but their persistence wore down any and all resistance he managed to muster.

As years passed, Yuki felt as if he'd become invisible. It seemed as if only his bullies could see him. He was so accustomed to how things were that being treated badly by people was all he expected. That was until Aiden showed up. For the first time in a long time, Yuki felt happy. He had almost forgotten what that felt like and now that he remembered, the pain he felt from Mikael's actions was much more difficult to bear.

When Yuki finished half the food on his plate, he suddenly started feeling nauseous. If he ate another bite he knew he'd get sick so he set his fork down and took a sip of water to try and calm his stomach.

"...May I be excused?" Yuki asked.

"Fine." After that one word, Yuki fled the dining room and headed straight back to his bedroom. Mikael sighed and dropped his fork on the table with a loud clang. He ran both hands through his hair in frustration thinking about how pale Yuki's face had been.