Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me; I own no characters or settings that'll be used in this fic, but as I am poor, please don't sue ^.^
Notes: Angst. Lots of it. Blame school.
And sorry if anyone seems kinda OOC; I'm in the midst of reading the manga. X.x *has watched the anime though ^.^*
WARNING: Shounen-ai, hints of yaoi…maybe even some yaoi later. This means malexmale partnerships. If you happen to disagree with this, the turn back now by hitting the "back" button. *happens to wonder why you're reading Gravitation fanfiction*

Key:
'…' = speech
blahblah = flash back

------

'Where's Shuichi?' a now short haired Nakano Hiroshi asked, as his plate of steaming food was set down in front of him, 'Oh, Maiko, western food now?'
The woman nodded and settled into her place next to her boyfriend, Fujisaki Suguru. Across from them sat Hiro and his wife, Ayaka.
She smiled sadly at Hiro; 'Onii-chan said he had things to do.'
'Like what? Or doesn't he want to spend time with his friends?'
Suguru looked up from his food, 'I expect amongst us, he'd feel rather like a fifth wheel…he puts on a brave face, but well…you know.'
'Mmm, Shu-chan hasn't cheered up much at all…his smile isn't real. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?' Ayaka asked.
Maiko stabbed viciously at her carrots. 'Its all that Yuki Eiri's fault.'
The rest of the group responded to the statement in silence, Ayaka shifting uncomfortably, Hiro chewing slowly on his food and Suguru holding Maiko's hand in an attempt to calm her down.
Suguru coughed, breaking the silence that had before been broken only by the sound of clinking cutlery. 'So, Ayaka, how are you feeling? Any idea when this baby intends to show up? Have you two stopped arguing over names?'
Ayaka and Hiro cast a look each other and shook their heads.
'We can't agree on a name,' Ayaka replied with a disgruntled sigh, 'and its the eighth month. Not long now.' She smiled, and placed a hand almost secretly on her stomach.
Maiko got the look most women got when the subject of babies came up, and Suguru, worried, changed the subject.
'What did you say Shuichi was doing?'
'He wasn't specific, but you know that he's working. That's all he ever does. Its always-new lyrics. Onii-chan is no fun anymore.'
'Even after two years apart, he hasn't recovered…'

*

Its over…
What? Why? What have I done?
It has nothing to do with you…I don't want to be with you.

 'Yuki…' Shindou Shuichi slid underwater in the bath, stayed under for as long as he could before his lungs began to burn. He broke through the surface of the water, fast, drawing in as much breath as he could.He shook his head, to clear any feelings of nostalgia implanted there. Pasting a smile on his face, for himself, no one else, he hauled himself out of the small bath, wrapped a towel round his waist and padded into his living room/bedroom. Small drops of water slid with a 'plip' sound to the hardwood floor as Shuichi made his way across the vast room, to his wardrobe.
Pulling the door open, his eyes paused on the door. On the inside was a mirror, surrounded by photos.
He stared with a smile at the various images scattered across the expanse. A photo of he and his sister, sitting on the high branches of a tree, taken when he was ten; a Polaroid of him and Hiro at their graduation, which for some strange reason had been signed by one of their classmates; one of Bad Luck on their last tour, looking triumphant after a sold out gig.
His life full of memories. His fingers traced over the familiar faces, his face unfittingly thoughtful for one who had once been so carefree.
Perched precariously at the top of the mirror was a picture taken roughly three years ago when it had snowed. It showed him and Yuki, huddled together, and smiling, Shuichi more so than his partner. They both had snow in their hair, and bright cheeks and eyes, the aftermath of a snow battle.
Shuichi looked hard at Yuki, eyes sombre.

Its over Shuichi.

Shuichi flinched. 'Why? Why? What did I do wrong?' He asked the image, hoping earnestly for an answer. None came, of course, as he had expected. But, with the image, he did have more chance of receiving one than from the real person.
Turning away from the door, Shuichi pulled out the first clothing that came to hand and quickly backed away from the door, closing it with an outstretched foot, wobbling while he did so.
He dressed and pressed play on his stereo, flopping onto his bed. Head bopped up and down to the beat of the tune; some random CD he had borrowed from Maiko…Ta-something or other. It was good, he didn't quite understand it as it was in English, but it was different from his usual.
He was trying new things, like his little sister had suggested.
He looked over at his alarm clock; seven a.m. He didn't need to be in work for another hour and a half, so he was now stuck with nothing but time to kill.
Damn.
That was when he got most depressed, stuck with nothing but to brood on the past. He picked up his writing pad, and flicked through it, only to find he had finished all the songs he had been working on the previous night.
With a sigh he lay back on his bed and let his thoughts wander.

***

'Hidoii, Yuki! Lemme help with the snowman!' Shuichi pleaded with his boyfriend.
They were in the park, the two of them, along with Yuki's older sister Mika and her husband, Seguchi Tohma.
'No, baka, you'll mess it up.'
The group had found a small space that was clear of any other human being, with a nice patch of untouched snow. Mika and Tohma watched on as Shuichi and Yuki bickered over the snowman Shuichi had suggested they make.
'Yuuuukiii,' the pink-haired boy continued to whine. Yuki just turned his back on his lover, and continued to work with the icy snow to build his masterpiece.
Shuichi sniffled and tears filled his eyes, but he said nothing more, and retreated to stand by a tree and watch Yuki work.
'What are you doing, baka?' the man asked, pausing and looking over his shoulder.
Shuichi grinned, 'Not messing up the snowman?'
Yuki glared suspiciously.
Shuichi put his hands behind his back and meandered over to his lover; 'Ne Yukiiii,' he sung.
'What?' came the barked response.
'Come here…onegai?'
Another suspicious look, this time met by the picture of innocence.
Yuki shifted warily towards the pink-haired bundle of hyperactivity. Shuichi beamed, and latched onto him, his lips clashing into Yuki's, using a kiss as a distraction. In a quick scurry, he raised his hands, now revealed (to Mika and Tohma) to be full of snow, and shoved them down Yuki's back.
Yuki yelped and stumbled backwards…onto his semi-finished snowman.
'Hah!' Shuichi yelled triumphantly, doing a little victory dance.
A snowball collided into his head, smattering his hair with white flakes of frozen water.
'Baka.'
'Yuki!'
And so the snowball fight commenced between the lovers.
Tohma watched wide-eyed, chuckling, and Mika laughed outright at the sight of her usually stoic brother rolling about in the snow like he was five.
'Ah, Mika, you think its funny do you?' Yuki said, balling up snow.
'Huh…? Eiri, you woul---' Mika was cut short by the snowball flying over her head.
'Y'know, Yuki, you have a screwy aim,' Shuichi chided.
'I do not.'
'I happen to agree with him, Eiri-san, you missed Mika-san by miles.'
'Tohma, you couldn't throw a snowball if you tried.'
'Sounds like a challenge.'
Yuki suddenly found himself bombarded by flying snow from Tohma, Mika and Shuichi.
'Argh!'
'Haahhhh, I win…Yuki's down!' Shuichi stumbled as …

 ***

Shuichi's dreams of the past were interrupted by the harsh tune of his cell phone. He rolled out of bed and answered the call.
'Shuichi! You're an hour late!' He heard as a greeting from Hiro.
'Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry, up late last night, working.'
'Nah, s'okay, seems Fujisaki's kinda late too…'
'What? But he's never late!'
'He stayed with Maiko last night didn't he?'
Shuichi took a while to realise what Hiro was implying.
'Hiro! That's my little sister you're talking about!'
The other man chuckled.
'Look, just get here fast, we finally have a reason to moan at the guy…he's always on at us.'
'Okay, okay, I'll be there.'
He hung up, and after a quick mad dash, was out of the apartment and at the studio within twenty minutes, ready to berate Fujisaki for the rest of the day with Hiro.

*

Yuki Eiri rested his head in his hands, closing his eyes in rest from the glaring white screen of his laptop. He had had enough of sitting in front of the damn contraption. So what if he only had a few more paragraphs to go until he finished the novel, beating his 'deadline' by weeks.
He stood so fast; he sent his comfy office chair over onto its side. He walked briskly out of the room, stretching on his way.
He hadn't slept for almost two nights now, and was exhausted, only thinking of one way to enjoy his break, doing the only thing he did nowadays apart work and eat. Sleep.
He stumbled into his bedroom, and noticed something out of place almost immediately.
A photo frame on his bedside cabinet. However, it was devoid of any picture. He looked at it, and felt anger tingle in his emotions. That was probably the only photo he had of Shuichi; and now it was gone, replaced by a note. He stalked over to the frame, and read the note.

"ANIKI! You shouldn't keep things like this! Otherwise you'll soon build up a huge collection of all your lovers…"

Aha, so Tatsuha had done this. The little punk would pay.
Setting down the frame, he took a few calming breaths. Maybe he shouldn't get angry, after all what right did he have to hold onto the past?
He had ended it after all.
He sighed, and ran a hand through his scruffy blonde hair, wondering what the pink-haired baka would be up to at that moment. (Of course; Yuki would never of guessed that Shuichi had just received a nasty thump to the head from Suguru for being everlastingly annoying).
Did he have a girlfriend? Or maybe another boyfriend? Was he happy?
Yuki paid little attention to what Tatsuha had to say, always had and that would never change, but he knew his younger brother was good friends with Shuichi, and Tatsuha tended to hang out with Shuichi and his friends whenever he was in Tokyo.
He looked at the empty photo frame, which seemed to be screaming the reflection of his life. Empty. Devoid of anything but the daily motions. No happiness, no free time, no love, nothing.
He snarled, what had brought on the sudden bought of depression? Yuki flopped back on his bed, and promptly fell asleep.

*

'Thanks for the ride home, Hiro!' Shuichi waved from the door of his apartment building, watching his friend drive off home. As soon as Hiro was out of sight, Shuichi's shoulder's slumped in exhaustion and he practically had to drag himself up to his apartment.
He entered his one room home, and immediately turned up the heat shivering. Winter was coming.
He dropped his backpack onto one of the armchairs that were scattered around the huge room.
His apartment resembled that of a loft conversion; it was one big room for his living space, his bedroom area cut off from the living room by a partition that he rarely ever closed. His kitchen was over in the corner, a breakfast bar separating it from the rest of the room. And his bathroom was a small boxlike room, the only room separate from the main room.
The whole apartment was decorated in a bland white. Shuichi had never got around to decorating, even after one and a half years of living there.
Shuichi yawned, tired after bouncing around the studio all day and from smiling a fake smile.
He wandered over to the bedroom part of the room, and noticed that the picture of him and Yuki in the snow had fallen to the floor, probably from when he had closed the wardrobe door earlier.
He picked it up and looked at it, with a smile this time. That day had been fun after all, a good memory. And the night that followed had been even better, he thought wickedly.

***

Shuichi stumbled as Yuki tackled him to the floor.
'I think that should be "Yuki Wins"' Yuki whispered in his ear, 'seeing as you're the one who's down.'
'Wah! Yuki, you're heavy! This is cheating! Get off, get off!' Shuichi squirmed, attempting too look to Mika or Tohma for help, only to find they had conveniently wandered off.
'Are you saying I'm fat, brat?'
'Yuki! Cheater! Cheater!' the "brat" in question wiggled as snow slipped into his collar.
The weight removed itself from Shuichi and he opened his eyes too see Yuki kneeling above him, hair in disarray and covered in soft white snow.
He grinned; 'Yukiiiiii looks so cute!' He jumped up and latched onto his love, burying his face in the crook of the mans neck.
'Come on, we should follow Mika and Tohma to that café. We'll finish this later,' he said with a predatory grin.
With no argument, Shuichi followed.

 ***

Shuichi put the picture back its perch above the mirror and turned away. At least he had those good times nobody would take them away. Granted they weren't as good as Yuki himself, but still.
But, remembering those times would just make him depressed. He hadn't seen Yuki in two years now, but he still loved the other man dearly, missed him with every fibre of his body. Not that Shuichi could put it that way whenever the subject was brought up.
He had tried dating other people, but it didn't work out, ever, he was still too…tangled in Yuki's web.
The thing that hurt most was that the fact it had ended so abruptly, there had been no warning; it was as if his ex-partner had just fallen out of love with him.
Whenever Shuichi saw Tatsuha, he was assured that wasn't the case. Yuki's younger brother was set on getting the two back together, and Shuichi was unsure of his motivations. Tatsuha scared him sometimes.
'Argh,' Shuichi mumbled. He didn't have time to think of Yuki, shouldn't be either as his spirit sank lower with each little jab of memory.
'What did I have to do tonight?' Ah, that was it. Maiko was pissed at him for not going to dinner last night, so he had promised to go for a drink with her, Suguru and some others to make it up.
He groaned, a big crowd was the last thing his tired mind needed. But he had promised. Resentfully, he went off to get ready.

***

'Eiri-san.' Tohma looked up at Yuki as the younger man opened the door.
Yuki shot a hazardous glare at the intruder.
'What do you want?'
'Nothing. Its just you haven't answered anyone's calls, so I felt obliged to come see if you were okay.'
'Feel obliged to go elsewhere now then.'
Ignoring Yuki's harshness, Tohma slipped past him into the apartment. He looked around.
'So its true then?'
Yuki looked at him.
'That you finished your relationship with Shindou-san,' Tohma elaborated.
'I have no idea that it had anything to do with you,' Yuki snarled, lighting up a cigarette and inhaling deeply.
'I thought you quit.'
'S'no one here to complain.' Yuki responded simply.
Tohma could think of no way to respond to that, so he settled for sitting himself down.
'Eiri-san…'
'Don't start. It's none of your business. It's no one's business.'
'I was going to ask if I could have some tea, but seeing as you brought it up. Why?'
'Is that the only question anyone can ask nowadays?' Yuki asked, looking away.
'I was under the impression you were happy. You were changing, becoming more…sociable. We were all lead to believe you loved that boy.'
'He's not a boy anymore. And I may have been happy. But in the end it would end in tears,' the younger man breathed out, smoke curling around his face, 'we'd of hurt each other.'
'He's vanished, you know that? No one can find him.'
Yuki whirled round; 'Do they know if he's okay?' He asked, before having a chance to get his emotions in check.
Tohma's eyes widened. 'Eiri-san…why on earth--? If you still love him, why are you doing this to yourself?'
'Because I don't want him hurt. I'm doing this for him…he'll eventually get over me. I can't stay with people, I'll ruin them.'
'Eiri-san…'
'Even if he's hurting now, he'll recover. I've never known people bounce back like he does.'
There was a stale silence between the two.
'I never really approved of your relationship,' Tohma said quietly, 'I feel bad about that now. I think you two, you were good for each other…but, you've ruined it now, Eiri-san. You've pushed him away, and I'm sure he'll do as you wish and stay away.'
With that, Tohma stood and silently left the apartment, leaving Yuki to wallow in his actions.

***

'It's over, Shuichi.'
Shuichi looked up from his manga. 'What was that Yuki?' He asked, puzzled from Yuki's abrupt comment.
'I said; its over. I'm finishing it with you.'
Shuichi's eyes went wide, 'Why? Why? What have I done wrong? Is it the sex? I can get better! Or...don't you like my cooking? I'll practice. What is it?! Yuki…why?' He sobbed, tears welling in his pretty purple eyes.
Yuki put his fingers to his temples and resisted the urge to wrap his lover in a hug. 'I…I don't want you around. Stay away from me.'
'Yuki…'

'It's over.'

To be continued…