Elphias always knew Albus was better than him, he knew it from the moment he laid eyes on him. He wasn't particularly wealthy or nobler than he was, the Dumbledore family never had much wealth or a good reputation, especially after Albus' father was arrested.
No, it was something else, something Elphias could neither describe nor point out, he just knew.
The feelings he harbored for Albus were neither right nor acceptable, some would even say grotesque. But it wasn't like he could decide what he felt for whom.
Albus could never return his feelings, he knew that, it wasn't because he was a boy, it was because he wasn't that boy.
Gellert Grindelwald
Probably the only wizard as powerful as Albus, the moon to his sun, his equal in everything but kindness, the only one good enough for him when it came to strength, magic and intellect.
Something he could never be, no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he would never be good enough for him. So he'll just be his friend, his good friend since their first Hogwarts year, who would do anything for him and ask nothing in return.
The friend whose love Albus could never return.