As His Heart Hopes...

The Weight of His Secrets

The heaviness in T.K.'s chest amplified after shutting his front door. Leaning against it for a moment, his breathing became ragged and his balance uneasy. As he started stumbling toward his bedroom his mind started racing all over again, having difficulty staying on one thought for too long. 

When he shut and locked his bedroom door behind him, he started feeling the tears stinging in his eyes. Collapsing into his bed, and curling into the fetal position, T.K. replayed the events of the Digital reset in his head. 

Replayed the image of HerculesKabuterimon holding back all of the infected Digimon...

Replayed losing Patamon...again...

As if possessed T.K. didn't take notice of his actions as he pulled his cell phone from his pockets and dialed a number. He only seemed to snap back to reality when the warm voice on the other end whispered his name with sleep laced between each letter. "Takeru?"

A small yawn filled the space as T.K. choked on his words, aggressively trying to blink the tears from his eyes. "Ephram...I...My friend...he..."

"I'll be right there." Ephram's voice filled with concern and a softness that warmed T.K.'s heart. "Don't worry, Takeru. I've got you."

"Okay..." T.K. could barely fight back more tears as he sat up in bed, hugging his knees to his chest. "Just...don't hang up. Please?"

*************************************************************

Despite having spent most of the call in silence, T.K. appreciated Ephram staying on the line. After an intense moment of neither boy speaking, for what was the sixth time, Ephram asked him again. "Still there?"

Against the heaviness and heartache that filled him, T.K. choked out the slightest laugh. "Yes. Still here."

"Good. I didn't want to lose you." Ephram said with a rawness in his voice that T.K. wasn't sure if he meant the phone call or in general. And it took him a moment to regain his composure.

"You'd never lose-" T.K.'s response is interrupted by a knock that echoes on Ephram's end of the phone call as well.

Opening the door slowly, T.K. took a deep breath not even trying to clean himself up after another of his crying fits. Ephram stands on the other side in a flannel onesie, his hair disheveled and bags under his yellow-green eyes. T.K.'s eyes linger on Ephram in the onesie as he hangs up his phone before the Meyer boy rushes forward and hugs him. T.K. feels his entire body go languid in Ephram's arms.

Staying in each other's embrace, T.K. felt like he could finally let out a breath. And with it came a fresh bout of tears. His voice escaped as almost a whisper, but he wasn't ready to explain everything yet. So he settled on, "What are you wearing?"

Pulling away from T.K. just long enough to look down, Ephram seemed to become aware of his outfit for the first time. His cheeks went red, but he softly smiled. "Uri had a onesie-themed party for his eleventh birthday...I guess I fell asleep in my party outfit."

"It's Uri's Birthday? And you're here dealing with my-"

Ephram reaches out, and wipes  T.K.'s tears with his thumb, interrupting T.K.'s thoughts. Ephram spoke in the silence instead, "Hey now. His birthday is actually in two days. And you're just as important to me...You needed me, and well, here I am."

*******************************************************

Laid out next to Ephram, as both boys stared a the ceiling, T.K. finally let out a breath. He reached out and gently grabbed Ephram's hand. "Hey...Ephram..."

Ephram positioned himself on his side, gazing at T.K. and rubbing the back of his hand gently. "Yeah?"

T.K. finally propped himself up to meet Ephram's warm gaze. He suddenly felt very exposed under those yellow-green eyes. T.K. had to clear his throat before continuing, "I think I'm ready to talk about it..."