Hide shivered as he made his way down the snow covered sidewalk. The frigid wind brushed against his face, he took notice of his surroundings with mixed emotions. It had been about a year since Kaneki had carried him down the very same street, pleading with the CCG inspectors to provide much needed medical attention and offering his own life in exchange.

He soon found himself standing before a vacant lot where the coffee shop once stood. He paused with a heavy sigh. He vaguely recalled the fire,lying in Kaneki's arms as he drifted in and out of consciousness,comforted my his friend's presence. He had many fond memories as well. Kaneki had always seemed to be happy there, Hide had been most grateful to the employees and manager for giving his beloved Kaneki a sense of belonging and happiness.

After another moment of reflection, he continued on his way. It didn't take him long to arrive at his destination. He peered through the window with a faint smile. The coffee shop resembled Anteiku in many ways. Touka leaned against the counter,addressing the small group seated in front of her,which included Yoriko and his beloved Kaneki.

Hide pulled open the door and was greeted with the familiar sound of the bell above it.

"Hey guys." He greeted,taking a seat by the window.

"Hey Hide."The group called back in unison.

" So,I know it's not what some of us are used to," Touka continued. "But it's at least something and..thanks for supporting this, it means a lot." She sighed heavily.

"We'll officially open after the Christmas holiday, so I guess that's it and I'll see you guys then." The group rose from their chairs, most of them filing out the door and into the cold, soon only four remained.

Kaneki made his way over to his friend. Hide greeted him with a kiss,wrapping his arms around the ghoul.

"Hey beautiful." He said softly. "Miss me?"

"Only all day. How was work?" Hide shrugged.

"Same as always, Amon had me running all over the place."

"I wish you hadn't gone back there." Kaneki said.

"We talked about this. Amon offered me my job back and we need-"

"It makes you more of a target, I don't like that."

"I know you don't, I'm not exactly fond of the idea myself but we've been over this, I'll be fine. It's almost Christmas, let's not-"

"Do you want to know what I want this year?"

"Kaneki-"

"You home and safe. I can't do it again, Hide." Hide could see that Kaneki was becoming upset now.

"It really scares you doesn't it?"

"Every time you walk out the door it scares me."

"Hey,I always come back."

"Until the one time you don't and I have to go looking for you." Kaneki snapped.

"How do you think I feel when I'm at work and I don't know where you are." Hide said calmly. "Why do you think I call you so much during my shift and on the way home. I came too close to losing you too many times to not worry. That's why we got the headsets for our phones. You wanna know why I went back, Kaneki, so I can protect you. If I know what they're doing I- I'm not going to fight you on this."

"You don't need to protect me."

"Seriously, we both-"

"Are you guys okay over here?" Touka asked, hoping to defuse the argument.

"We will be,it's an adjustment that we're still trying to make." Hide explained,Kaneki remained silent. Hide turned back to Kaneki.

"I really came by because I thought if you're ready we can go home together. I don't want to fight with you,it's not worth the time we could be using to strengthen our relationship and honestly, arguments are draining. That's energy we could be putting to good use...Like Christmas shopping or even better than that-"

"Hide-" the young man reached out pulling the ghoul close in his arms.

"Something like this. I like this much better than fighting, don't you?" Kaneki rested his head on Hide's shoulder. "I love you,Kaneki, so very much. It's okay to be scared,sometimes I am too. But we have to remember to not let it stop us from living."

"It's so hard to do that."

"Hey, I know it is.I've had days when you were going out that I wanted more than anything to pull you back in and keep you home because I don't want to lose you, but I tell myself that if I tried to make you stay in the house all the time you'd be so unhappy and that's not what I want for you. You're not my prisoner, you're my best friend, the one person I can never be without, so I get it."

"I'm sorry." Kaneki said. "I just need you to be okay."

"You don't have to be sorry. We've been through a lot this last year, it's going to take time. Let's just get home, maybe we'll watch some TV and try to unwind a little, maybe a little snuggling?"Hide said hopefully.

Kaneki grabbed his coat and turned to Touka and Yoriko,ignoring Hide's request.

"If you don't have any plans for the holidays,you can come over to our place." He offered. Yoriko smiled gratefully.

"thanks, it was just going to be the two of us. We were going to watch some TV and just hang out. It would be nice to get together. Maybe this weekend we can take a look around and you guys can help us pick some things for the new house. We'll have you over when it's all pulled together."

"That would be great. " Hide said as they walked out the door and Touka locked the door behind them.

"I guess we'll see you guys-" the conversation was cut short by a group of CCG vans rushing through the street.

"What's that about?" Touka asked, Hide shook his head.

"Must've happened after I left." He said. Touka sighed heavily, feeling Yoriko grab onto her.

"You don't think..."

"We'll be okay." The dark haired ghoul assured her. Hide and Kaneki exchanged glances.

"If you'd feel safer, you can come hang out with us, I'll call Amon when we get there." Touka turned to her friend, seeing the deep concern in her eyes.

"Okay,we'll go." She said pulling Yoriko close to her. "Thanks for the invite,Yoriko gets nervous around those guys.,"

"Only because if something's happening I don't want you to get hurt." Yoriko said.

"Hey,it's cool. I don't exactly like the investors around Kaneki,I get it." Hide put an arm around Kaneki, who rested his head on his shoulder.

"See,I knew you couldn't be mad at me forever." Hide said with a grin.

"I'm just cold." Kaneki replied, Hide kissed his head softly. The group began their journey down the snow covered sidewalk.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you warm."

"I'm not worried," Kaneki said. "you always do."