Anyone who saw the two walking together would say they were a couple. There was something about them that fit, something no one could quite explain. Vanitas, the guy who used to spend most of the time by himself, now followed Ventus wherever he went. And Ventus, that shy, silent boy, would laugh and make jokes out loud when he was with him. If one wanted to find Ventus all they had to do was to find Vanitas and vice versa. It was only expected that one day they'd become more than friends but until now neither of them had said a word about it.

That didn't mean it wouldn't happen of course and, soon enough, Ventus fell in love.

The first time they saw each other had been at college, just a few days after classes started. Ventus had left the classroom running, desperate to get to the bus in time and go home, when he bumped into the black haired young man. It shouldn't have been a problem to simply apologize but the moment Ventus' eyes fell over the man going home didn't sound so important anymore. Ventus imagined that was what people referred to as love at first sight .

Of course, all the excitement he felt from staring into those eyes was gone when the stranger knelt down to get his stuff from the floor and Ventus realized he had also made him drop his coffee! Quick to apologize, he tried to help but the man raised his hand in a leave this to me gesture and Ventus left him alone.

He didn't stop thinking about the man him all the way home. And to his luck, said man hadn't stopped thinking about him either.

"So..."

Vanitas had approached him carefully and stood by his side with a hand on his hips, looking at him from his head to his toes. Ventus was startled but was more surprised to realize he was laughing and not looking angry in the slightest.

"Ah, hi! I'm sorry about yesterday! I-I was late and-" The man shook his head.

"Relax. But, well..." He crossed his arms and smiled. "You owe me a coffee now, I suppose?"

It had been a year since that little incident and Ventus was sure of what he felt! He also knew that the longer he took to tell Vanitas about it the worse it would be for both of them. They had become inseparable despite not being in the same course and Ventus could no longer see himself without him. Most importantly however, Vanitas was his friend! To let him know was the least he could do.

With all the doubts out of the way, Ventus started to prepare himself to tell him about it. It was all set! He had invited him to go to the movies, having bought the tickets one day before. After the movie they would go get something to eat at the mall and then he'd invite him to go to his house. Then, to end the night, he'd tell him the truth and hope for the best. And probably cry afterwards.

His plan went down the drain as soon as they left his house. They were on foot, the clouds above them were dark and despite both agreeing that taking an umbrella would be good neither did it. The situation only got worse when they arrived at the mall and Ventus reached for his pocket only to find out he had forgotten his wallet at home. The wallet where his money and the tickets were!

"We can wait for the next session." Vanitas said, Ventus still searching for the tickets in every pocket he had, panicking! "No worries, Ven."

"I swear they were here, I'm sure I-"

He continued to look but it was obvious they'd have to go home to get them... Which wouldn't work anyway because they wouldn't make it in time. And if they did wait for the next session they'd leave the mall much later than expected! What if Vanitas didn't want to go to his house by then? There goes his chance to tell him-

"Ventus?"

"Oh- I'm… I'm sorry, I swear I thought they were with me!"

Vanitas laughed. "Relax. Why don't we get something to eat while we wait?"

"I… Forgot my money too, Van…"

"It's on me! You can pay me later."

"No, wait-"

"What would you like? You like Mcdonald's, right? Wanna go there?"

He had two options. One, stay there alone cursing himself for forgetting the tickets or, two, go back home also alone to get them back for nothing. Seeing as Vanitas wouldn't wait for him either way Ventus ran after him.

Vanitas only stopped when he had the menu in hand, choosing what he would get for himself. He gave the blond a soft pat on his back. "Cheer up, Ventus! We can watch the movie later."

"It'll be too late then..."

"I don't mind. I don't really have anything else to do anyway."

Ventus held his breath and chose what to eat.

The next session of the movie would be in two hours and a half. Ventus didn't know what Vanitas intended to do for all that long but he looked really determined to endure the long wait, to Ventus' dismay. He took his sweet time to eat, letting Vanitas talk about his classes and tell him the latest gossip without paying too much attention, wondering if it was too late to call it a day and say nothing at all.

"Ventus, are you okay?"

He drank his soda to force the food down. "Y-Yeah. So, you were saying…?"

It all sounded too easy before they came but now telling him really didn't sound like a good idea. Each passing minute with them sitting there only made Ventus feel more nervous. Worse: Judging by the way Vanitas looked at him he wasn't exactly being discreet about that. He had to change plans!

"So, what do you want to do now?" Vanitas asked, throwing the remaining fries in his mouth. "Maybe we could take a look around?"

"Uhm… I-I don't know. Maybe… How long until the movie starts again?"

"Now… Two hours."

"We could… We could go home then, what do you think? Since we'll have to wait for so long we could stay there and watch something or… Or play a game. Maybe?"

"Mmm… Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Yours is closer than mine anyway."

"Yeah!" Ventus exclaimed maybe a little bit louder than he should and Vanitas raised a brow at him, entertained as he followed Ventus outside. The plans had changed, yes, and that meant to eat first, which they had already done, go to his house and… Tell him. Oh.

"Looks like it'll rain."

Ventus looked up to the dark sky, heavy clouds floating in the air. Maybe they should wait a little bit before leaving?

Maybe not. "… It does."

Both knew better than to ignore the lighting in the distance and the occasional thundering around them so they picked up the pace, walking as fast as they could. Vanitas was still talking about the things he had had to endure that semester but Ventus could not even think straight right now. In only twenty minutes they'd be at his house and there would be no escaping then. He closed his fingers over his palms and avoided looking at his friend as best as he could.

"Ventus, are you really okay?"

Of course that wouldn't work out. "Uhum. I'm okay."

"... Then why are you ignoring me?"

"Ignoring you?" Ventus stuttered and looked at him, feeling his cheeks burn! "I'm not… I'm not ignoring you, Van."

"Yes, you are. And you've been acting weird since we left earlier. What happened?"

Vanitas was serious, concerned, but he still looked relatively calm. Him on the other hand was desperate and despite the cool wind his body was covered with sweat. Maybe it really would be better not to say anything but deep inside he knew he had to because… Because he needed to? Wanted to?

"Ventus, did I say something wrong? Or… Did I do something you didn't like? Are you mad at me?"

"No!" Ventus took a step towards him, shaking his head vigorously. "No, Van, you did nothing wrong. You… I… I just-"

A drop of rain fell on his head and he blinked. Shit!

"Rain!" Ventus exclaimed for no reason: Anyone could see it had started to rain. He looked around trying to find a shelter but he had barely seen where they were when Vanitas grabbed him by his hand, pulling him as he ran down the street.

"There's a bus stop up ahead! We can hide there!" He said, not aware of Ventus' entire face turning red as he blushed and tried to speak without succeeding because oh my God, he held my hand!

Maybe because Ventus didn't really expect for it to rain or maybe because Vanitas had tightened his fingers around his own, the bus stop suddenly looked much farther than it should! They continued to run and jumped under the shelter just as the rain got heavier, both leaning on their knees and catching their breath.

"I… I said we should have gotten an umbrella." Ventus said but Vanitas didn't reply. "Van?"

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Ventus felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest. Vanitas was laughing just a few minutes ago and he was very, truly calm, but now his voice was deep and filled with worry and disappointment.

"V… Van..."

"Come on! I know things didn't work out like we wanted them to but why get so stressed over that? It wasn't even something out of the ordinary, we were just going to enjoy our time together!"

"T-That's not it! I assure you, that's not it!"

"What is it then? Is it me?"

Now this was turning into something Ventus definitely didn't want to. Why did Vanitas sound so emotional all of a sudden? That really wasn't like him. "No, Vanitas, it isn't you! You're fine, you did nothing wrong and nothing happened. I'm just..."

"You're just…?"

"I'm confused!" Ventus said and tears welled up his eyes. "Okay? That's the problem!"

"Confused? About… About me?! Why?"

"... I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Vanitas looked truly desperate right now. What was going on?! "I just wanted to have a pleasant day with you! And going to your house, it's fine by me, I mean… Unless you don't want me to go, I'll understand, you know."

"I want you to go! I want you to go, I thought about you there with me the entire day!"

"Then why are you ignoring me?!"

"Because I'm in love with you!"

Vanitas stared at him with eyes open wide and that reaction only made Ventus tear up more. He looked shocked, of course he would. Ventus looked away from him, unable to watch him like that any longer.

"... I'm sorry, Van. I… I wanted to have a pleasant night with you too. But I messed up, I messed up because I… I wanted to keep you entertained until we went home. I was… I was planning on tell you once we got there." He laughed at himself. "Looks like I messed that up too."

Ventus could feel it, the tension in the air. It had been a mistake to even consider they could be together in the way he wanted to. Maybe that was why he wanted to tell him so much, so he could just hear him say no and move on. Too focused on himself and what he had done, Ventus didn't notice Vanitas moving closer to him.

"Ventus..."

"I'm so sorry."

Vanitas took Ventus' hand in his, sighing. "Ventus, stop. Ven… Look at me."

He did as he was asked, refusing to cry. Vanitas looked so sad and he was the one responsible for tha-

"Will you stop beating yourself upon it, silly?"

"... Uh?"

Vanitas rolled his eyes and squeezed Ventus' hand in his. "I said… Will you stop beating yourself upon it? Just imagine if you had freaked out like this over the cup of coffee I lost because of you!"

"You're… Still thinking about that?"

"... Okay, now you're just being oblivious."

"What are you talking about?"

And just as Ventus was about to explain what he meant, Vanitas did. And he did so with a kiss.

Ventus was rendered unable to move or do anything other than feel Vanitas' lips against his, moving in an almost surreal and mesmerizing way. It took him a few seconds to realize what was going on, to finally understand what Vanitas meant and he rested his hands on the raven's waist, taking him in, returning what he was giving. Vanitas smiled into the kiss and pulled him closer to himself, no space between them anymore. It was only them, the street and the rain but whatever cold had been brought by the water earlier disappeared. In its place, something much warmer came to be, something that made their bodies grow hot and their cheeks turn pink.

Vanitas pulled away and lifted his chin up in a calm and caring movement. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I… I-I… Why didn't you?"

"Because I didn't want to-"

"Ruin our friendship."

"God, we're so stupid."

"We are. And you're oblivious too!"

"I guess I am."

They started laughing, still holding each other. Touching their foreheads together, the two let themselves be and listened to the now soothing sound of the rain. There was no one else on the street besides them, but the street and even the city were insignificant now, just like the bus had been a year ago.

"Hey, Ven..."

"Y… Yeah?"

"Have you… Have you ever kissed in the rain?"

Ventus bit his lips, holding back his laughter. A tear fell down his right eye. "N-No?"

"Well… We can't ignore that now, can we?"

He took firm steps out of the shelter and pulled Ventus with him. The blond didn't hesitate for one second and followed, promptly throwing himself in Vanitas' arms and kissing him again. Both were smiling now and just seconds later were soaking wet, but they could deal with that later.

"D… you… Do you want to go home? There's… There's extra towels there, you can take a shower and we could watch a movie. I… I could make some popcorn too!"

Vanitas laughed more, their tension dissipating into thin air. It had been a long time wondering about when he would have Ven in his arms and now that it was actually happening he just had to wonder if it was a dream. Of course, Ventus wondered the same and once they were both sure that no, this was indeed very much real, Vanitas replied.

"I'd love to, Ven!"