„It was wrong that I didn't want you to be with Easy. I'm sorry."
As these words left Tobias' mouth, Ringo could feel his eyes welling up. Hurriedly, he pushed the beer bottle he was holding into his half-brother's hands and hugged him, quickly brushing away the moisture that was threatening to trickle down his cheeks. He desperately tried to hold back his tears, but as Tobias tightened his arms around his back, all efforts were in vain. It was as if all the pent-up emotions from the past couple of weeks were going to burst forth in a torrent of tears. By now, Ringo was almost certain that Tobias had caught on to what was happening to him, either through the wetness in the crook of his neck, where Ringo was trying to hide his face, or through his trembling body, that Ringo, despite his best efforts, wasn't able to keep in check. Trying to avoid further humiliation in front of the others, Ringo quickly freed himself from his brother's embrace and stormed out, heading for his apartment.
Steadying himself on the bathroom sink, Ringo decided to not fight his emotions any longer and tears started streaming down his face freely. He was trying to calm down his erratic breathing, when he heard a knock on the door. Worn out by this sudden outburst of emotions, Ringo couldn't bring himself to answer or even lock the door, so he just stood there silently, waiting for whoever followed him here to enter. To his surprise, it wasn't Easy who was checking up on him, but Tobias. In the past, Ringo would have avoided such an embarrassing situation at any cost, but right now he did not give a damn.
At the sight of his crying half-brother leaning over the sink, Tobias finally understood how serious Ringo was about his relationship with Easy and how much he has actually hurt him through constantly trying to drive a wedge between them. It was rare for Ringo to show emotion in general, but Tobias has only ever seen him cry like that once before, when he confided in him about the sex with Yannick and that he hated himself for it. Clearing his throat, because he, too, was beginning to get a bit emotional, he said: "I'm sorry, Ringo. I should have believed you from the start that you were serious about Easy, and I definitely shouldn't have said all these hurtful things. Only now do I realize how much pain I've caused you in the past couple of weeks. I am really sorry."
With that, Ringo slowly lifted his head and looked his brother in the eye: "It's okay. I don't blame you for not catching on sooner and I definitely don't blame you for not trusting me with Easy. All my life I've been trying to hide my feelings from the world and in the process I've become this horrible person, who only ever looks out for himself. But Tobias, I am tired of that. I don't want to be this person any longer. I was alone and lonely, clinging to the only thing that I had: money. Usually, I feel euphoric when I successfully do business, but it was completely different when I sold the kiosk to Benedikt Huber. No words can describe how much I regret hurting Easy like that. I was determined to keep up appearances by pretending that I don't care about whatever was going on between me and Easy at that time. But it was nothing but an act. I felt terrible; and ever since that day I've been trying to make it up to him in any way possible. Because when Easy walked into my life and managed to tear down every single wall that I've worked so hard to build up, I couldn't help but fall in love with him. You've said it before, Tobias: Easy is my jackpot; he is my chance to finally make things right and for once have something good and real in my life. He is my chance at happiness, and even though I've been trying to hide it, it hurts when my own brother ties to ruin that for me. I know you're only looking out for your best friend, but, Tobias, I promise you, I deeply care for him. I love Easy like I've never loved anyone in my life before." With that Ringo finished his admittedly very embarrassing but necessary speech.
Surprised by Ringo's action (his half-brother has never been a man of words), Tobias did the only thing that he could think of in this moment: He pulled his younger brother into his arms, hugged him tightly and whispered into his ear: "I believe you and I am proud of the person you've become."
They remained like that for what seemed like hours, not knowing that Easy had overheard the whole conversation and was now, an emotional wreck himself, silently retreating.
