my sweet brother

I had a brother

He was the sweetest person I knew

He wanted to help everyone

But he had a secret

He didn’t like girls

He liked guys

He had a boyfriend

They were so sweet together

I was the only who knew

They told me after I saw them kiss

I told my brother that no matter what he would always be my brother

My sweet brother who meant the world to me

I saw tears fill his eyes and his lips turn into a smile

He hugged me tightly

I felt his tears soak my shirt

I told him how much I loved him

He smiled at me

His sweet smile

It was even brighter than the sun

I wanted to see him smile like that more

That day I talked with his boyfriend

He was sweet

Perfect for my brother

I could see that he really loved him

Everything was going fine after that

I helped my brother sneak out

I knew it made him happy

For the first time I lied to our parents

I never lied before

But I wanted to protect my brother

I swore to always protect him

To protect his sweet smile

But things took a turn

Our aunt saw them together

She told our parents

They were furious

They asked if I knew

I just kept my head down

Not in shame, but guilt

Because I couldn’t protect his secret

When he got home, he was smiling

But when he saw our parents his smile fell

I saw the fear in his eyes

I could hear his heartbeat quicken

Before he could even ask, our father slapped him

My eyes widening

Tears forming in his

That night was the longest night in a while

After that night he barely smiled

I didn’t see his bright smile

His sweet smile

My dear brothers smile slowly began to fade

His boyfriends parents also found out

They weren’t happy either

They yelled at him

They took his phone and locked him inside his room

He cried the whole night

His eyes were puffy the next time I saw him

He told me he barely slept

That he always cried

My heart broke watching them

Seeing the lights in their eyes slowly fade

Watching them smile less and less

Watching them slowly break

Our parents told us that my brother was going to be sent away

We stared at them in shock

They said that the camp would make my brother normal

My brother was begging them

They were determined to send him away

I wanted him to stay

He was normal

There was nothing wrong with him

In my eyes he had always been normal

My sweet brother

Who I watched grow up

Who I have to watch get sent away at the age of 16

He snuck out that night

He met up with his boyfriend

They took many pictures together

Even videos of them laughing together

That night they had decided

They wanted to have fun one more time

Before they went away

and they did

They even took a picture where they were kissing

They wrote a letter

A letter for me

Thanking me for everything

The next morning I didn’t find him

I saw a note

He wrote “went to the cliff with my love”

I could feel my heart sink

I ran to the cliff

I didn’t see them

I could feel my chest tighten

Tears slowly forming in my eyes

I went down to the bottom of the cliff

There they were

Laying down surrounded by flowers

There bodies entangled with each other

It looked peaceful

They had small smiles on their faces

My brother was holding a note

His boyfriend holding a phone

I took the note

It had my name

I opened it

I couldn’t stop my tears

They were thanking me

Telling me that it wasn’t my fault

But that I saved them

I went to my brother and held his cheeks

They were cold

But I didn’t care

I hugged him

I looked at his boyfriend and held his cheeks

I hugged him

I hugged them both

I wanted them to hug me back

I’ll never be able to see those smiles again

Those sweet smiles

The smiles that screamed that they were in love

I will never be able to hug them again

To feel their warmth

I will never see them grow older

Forever 16