A/N: Hi! This is my first fic—it's a… kind of AU KHR oneshot, with Mukuro and an original character, named Dani. And since this is my first fic, please be nice to me! Any kind of review is greatly appreciated though :)

She didn't even gasp against his chapped lips when she felt his frigid hand sneak under her thin shirt and touch her burning flesh.

She was sick. He didn't care. She refused at first. He persuaded her. She sighed and gave in. He smirked and went to her.

She wasn't very sure why he kept enduring this monotonous cycle of love and heartbreak: Every so often, he and his girlfriend would have a fight over little to nothing, and she would leave in fits of tears and anger, and separate from him for "forever." His face would usually show nothing but apathy whenever these episodes occurred. His girlfriend would call her friends and cry to them and have a sleepover complete with sappy, romantic films, makeovers, and boy bashing, and he? Well, he would quickly practice his smooth-talking voice and make a quick phone call.

And she would half-heartedly answer, knowing exactly what he wanted.

Earlier, as soon she snapped her cell phone shut after his phone call, his voice rumbled quietly throughout the dimly lit room in a familiarly haunting manner which never fazed her, even when she had first met the boy in junior high. It had been almost ten years since that initial meeting, but he still insisted that it spooked her, but she was too stubborn and just wouldn't admit it. Or feel it.

"Dani..." she heard his voice murmur around her. "You should get—"

"I know, Mukuro, I'm on it," she interrupted hastily, tiring of hearing him continue to press these little penchants he had upon her. She refrained from reacting to his echoing chuckle and rose from her bed. This scenario between them occurred many times—enough for Dani to know his every little preference for these spontaneous rendezvous that never really were spontaneous for her at all. She had already noticed their relationship pattern, rolling her eyes whenever Chrome looked at her with a disgusted look whenever the time rolled around that she and Mukuro forgive each other and get back together. Dani knew this routine well, but despite this, she could never refuse Mukuro. It was that whole "best friend" label that made her repeatedly succumb to his requests. And no matter how much she loved him, she hated how easily he could abuse their relationship. She hated herself for letting him use her like this.

She pulled on the loose, white v-neck tee that he wore at the very first of their secret reunions, and she replaced her warm, comfortable sweats with black Soffee's, rolled up twice on her hips, which were perhaps a size too small for her liking. It was starting to really feel like winter outside, and she shivered as the chilled air ran up her exposed legs. The sudden change of body temperature made her cough, sniffles plaguing her already stuffed nose. The tiniest line of black eyeliner graced her lower lid, and she sat in waiting in front of her dresser, staring at herself blankly in the mirror.

One blink later, and the tall, thin, but muscular man known as Mukuro Rokudo smirked at her in his reflection in the mirror. "Hello there, mi amore," he purred suavely through his smug smile. Dani, barely taken aback by his sudden appearance, turned around to face him as he approached her quickly. He slid his long arms around her waist and pulled her body close to him.

Annoyed, she crossed her arms in between them. Dani looked him straight in his heterochromatic eyes, a reprimanding stare, her own pupils flicking constantly between the glaring red of his right eye and the welcoming blue of his left. "So," she began bluntly, "what caused it this time?" Mukuro could tell she was only somewhat interested.

"It was a stupid fight," he started to explain, tsk-ing and then ignoring the blatant "obviously" easily read in Dani's eyes. "Chrome was bitching at me because apparently I 'go off on my own without telling her' too much." Mukuro rolled his eyes as if his "ex"-girlfriend's worry was naïve and unwarranted, but he growled when he saw Dani's disapproving glare. "Well, what?" he snarled, demanding an explanation for her dissatisfaction.

She sighed, pressing her palms against his sculpted chest, leaning forward to push him to walk backwards toward her bed. "I don't want to have to school you in the way a girl's heart works." As they neared the bed, Dani gave him advice in a tone that oozed indifference: "You've got a clingy girl. But it's obvious she really loves you. So either you accept her love completely, or you stop whoring around with your self-proclaimed 'night owls.'" She gave one final impatient push, and Mukuro's knees buckled against the edge of the bed, causing him to sit in a comfortable position.

Dani stood in front of Mukuro, and she watched his playful yet apathetic smile resting easily on his lips. She stood there, waiting for Mukuro to start. It was his turn to take the lead this time, which was actually his preference, and he knew exactly what he wanted from her.

Mukuro took in the familiar sight of his best friend, wearing his shirt with that detached expression upon her face. He thought she was beautiful and extremely entertaining, with all her little quirks and funny little habits. He knew them all; hell, he's experienced them all. They might be friends with benefits, but they literally were best friends. He knew that even though it seemed like she was disgusted when her face scrunched up and her toes curled under, she was actually reacting to something she found incredibly cute. He knew that whenever she was irritated or frustrated, she had the amusing tendency to grope repeatedly at the nothingness of the air and make silent snarls while pretending to be a dinosaur. He knew that she had an intriguing obsession with double chins to the point where she had asked him if he could give her an illusory double chin that only she (and Mukuro) could see (a request to which he complied, mainly for his own amusement). These peculiarities, he embraced them all.

But he had noticed that recently her usual manic and adorable self was showing less often, and her snarky, sarcastic side nastily bit at him when he spoke to her. Of course, he knew exactly how to handle her when she was "PMSing," as Gokudera would always claim it to be, but he nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

A closer look: Dani was shivering. Of course, Mukuro noted. It was chilly outside, and her heater had refused to work its purpose. And she's sick, he reminded himself. Her fever was raging; he could visibly see the goosebumps forming on her arms and her bare legs, prompting him to make a move. Mukuro started to reach out, to touch her with his own cold hands, hoping that maybe her heat would compensate for the lack of his own, and his icy touch would weaken her burning fever. His hand was so close—he could feel the heat radiating from her skin. As soon as he rested his frigid hand upon her arm, he jumped at the sudden beats he felt against his hand. Light, husky noises started to pour from the poor girl's mouth, surprising Mukuro until he realized what was happening. He couldn't help but quietly chuckle when she quickly and ungracefully covered her mouth when she started to let out incessant little coughs, and his laughter increased when she muttered a hurried "excuse me" and ran hastily into her bathroom. She's so cute, he thought absentmindedly.

He could hear her coughs getting worse, mixed in with the sound of the strong, rushing jet of water from her faucet. The coughing stopped abruptly, allowing the interrupted, sporadic rhythm and breaks of the water hitting the cold sink to be heard. But as soon as the water returned to its continuous flow, the coughing started once more, albeit with less force.

"Are you alright, Dani?" called out a worried Mukuro. He knew how bad she could get when she had an irksome virus, shuddering at the memory of when he and all the other Vongola Guardians (sans Chrome) spent a weekend in high school caring for the flu-infected girl when her parents were away on a business trip. Hoping this illness was not another repeat of that horrid memory of loud hacking and snot-filled tissues, he tentatively rose from his seat on the bed and approached the door of the bathroom. "Dani?" he tried again, standing right next to the door now. The coughing had ceased, but he heard no movement inside.

"Dan—" he began to call out a third time before being hastily interrupted by the unexpected bang of the door crashing open and smashing into the adjacent wall. Dani sniffled, attempting in vain to clear her congested nose and stepped over the threshold, her nose a bright pink from the myriad sheets of dry, rough toilet paper she rubbed on it.

Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Mukuro's eyebrows shot up, silently questioning Dani's health. "I'm okay," she replied, the blockage stifling her normal speech. She turned her head to him with tired eyes and a weary grin. "You sure you want all this nastiness all up in your mouth?" she jokingly asked.

Mukuro gave a small laugh and responded, "I've dealt with worse."

He grinned when her smile widened.

"But if I end up being deathly ill tomorrow morning, it's your fault."

The menacingly sweet smile grew on his face, trailing his fingertips down Dani's warm arms, his hands easily finding hers at the end. He padded backwards toward the bed, slightly tugging Dani along with him, her small smile matching his own. Soon his body hit the bed, and he slowly sat on the edge, pulling Dani closer and closer until she sat down tenderly on his lap. He led her arms to rest on his shoulders while he sneaked his own around her thin waist. Their foreheads rested on each other's, his freezing skin opposing her burning touch. Confidently staring into each other's eyes, Mukuro pressed a gentle kiss to her bottom lip, closing his eyes lightly.

A gentle Mukuro was a rare Mukuro, and it surprised her at first. But they had had so many of these trysts that she knew what a gentle Mukuro meant. Ugh, why is he wearing leather pants today? Dani mentally cursed. Nonetheless, the icy hand on her thigh blew that worry from her mind.

She smirked against his lips, the cool feel of his touch raising goosebumps down her entire body. She pressed her body deep against his, desperate for his wintry relief from her scorching fever. All through this, she was shivering—whether from the fever or from the arctic chill around them, she was unsure. Mukuro noticed, and enclosed his body around hers to hopefully share whatever limited body heat he possessed.

Suddenly the intensity of their kiss deepened; he bit down on her lower lip viciously, the pleasurable pain causing her to pull back and gasp sharply against his mouth. He ran his tongue along her lip, tasting the salty blood he drew from it before sucking on it again, stopping the bleeding. She flicked at his own lip with her tongue, lips parting in the process, and Mukuro took advantage of this to fully attack her mouth, sending his confident soldier of a tongue into well-known territory.

Dani's head spinned. She could blame it on the sickness, but she had to admit—Mukuro was doing things with his tongue that she couldn't help but let the woozy cloud of ecstasy fill her mind. She was trying to keep up, trying to attain dominance over this man, trying to make them both feel beyond good—

Wait. She wasn't supposed to be enjoying this.

"What's wrong?" Mukuro asked with poorly hidden irritation in his voice, when Dani had abruptly pulled away from him to cover her mouth.

"It's nothing. I just have to sneeze."

Which was more or less true, but her reasons were multiple for stopping their kiss. She quickly turned away (as well as she could while she straddled the boy's lap) and let out a convincing sneeze, covering her nose with a tissue she had hurriedly grabbed from a tissue box lying less than a foot away from them on the bed.

Taking the tissue between both her hands, she faced Mukuro straight on and stared straight into his eyes before blowing noisily into the thick tissue, shaking her head rapidly from side to side as she did so.

Mukuro didn't move, just stared back at her while she spread her germs all over his face (the tissue was doing a horrible job), and waited for her to stop. When she opened her eyes again—bits of tissue still stuck on her red nose—Mukuro was smiling.

"You are so disgusting, Rudolph," he sneered with a chuckle, brushing the leftover bits of tissue from her nose with his hand. Dani peered back at him while he did this, her eyes taking in every little detail of his face that somehow seemed to be emphasized in the dimness of her room—the sharp angle of his jaw, the smooth point of his chin, the suave, perpetual smirk of his mouth. His dark hair hung in long curtains on each side of his face, an endearing puff jutting out from the back of his head. His half-closed eyes shined brightly in the dark as they bore deeply into her ordinary bright green eyes. He was beautiful, and he knew it.

Dani always appreciated this about him, appreciated his confidence and superior demeanor, but was also slightly daunted by him—it was hard living up to the title of being such a visually perfect human being's "best friend." People would see the two of them together and they were an exceptionally good-looking pair, but Dani always noticed how their eyes—men and women alike—would always linger longer on the tall man. She was extremely attractive herself, don't get her wrong, but she didn't like thinking it, let alone admitting it. Mukuro always did well to remind her of her looks, but she knew in her heart she would never be as attractive as him. It was this insecurity that pained her—he could always find another more beautiful woman than her and leave her in the blink of an eye. Despite the fact that he had stuck with her for so long, this anxiety left her feeling cold and empty.

When he had started dating Chrome back in high school, Dani supported it. Chrome was cute—a timid kind of cute that men fell for instantly—but she could fend for herself as well. She wasn't defenseless. She shared Mukuro's talent for illusions, despite her skills being subpar to his, and they quickly bonded and found comfort in this. She fell in love with him quickly, offering herself completely to him. But Chrome was still a sweet girl, and Dani made friends with her easy.

However, about a year into their relationship, Mukuro messed up. Royally.

The details were iffy, and frankly, Dani didn't really want to know, but Chrome had dumped him, demanding that he "never see her again," and she retreated to the comforting embraces of rest of the Vongola boys, who all scorned Mukuro for the day, though silently promised that ignoring him would only last for the night. It was that night that Mukuro sought out Dani's physical and psychological aid. But mostly physical. He wasn't too fond of how Dani easily pointed out his flaws and processed information about emotions more quickly that he did. Whenever she'd start criticizing, he'd shut her up with a kiss.

To be honest, that wasn't the first time Mukuro had kissed her. They tried dating years ago, even before they had met Chrome, but that didn't work out. But somehow, when he came to her that night of the break-up with a stone-like expression on his face, her heart nearly jumped out of her ribcage. It wasn't that this look was seductive or anything—it was just that Dani hated seeing him like this. She wanted to make him feel better, to abandon that unfeeling face and smirk again. Somehow, she couldn't fight the urge to do basically anything and everything he asked of her, however ridiculous or scandalous.

It was that night that she realized how hard she had fallen for Mukuro Rokudo.

All this came rushing back over her, and she felt disgusted. With Mukuro, with their actions, but mostly with herself.

Saying she was doing this out of her love for Mukuro was stupid. She had more pride than that. She hated how easily she broke down her pride just to give herself to him, when all he did was take her—her body—for granted.

"Mukuro, I can't do this anymore."

He didn't respond. She must have said it too quietly. Either that or his mind was somewhere else. The latter, of course.

She rolled her head to her right, exposing her warm neck to his hungry mouth, and he eagerly took the opportunity and sucked at the indented space above her collarbone. Indifferently, she stared at her originally dark brown headboard, barely reacting as Mukuro made the wood shift from brown to a swirling black and red, hypnotizing the girl to the point where her conflicted emotions about the situation nearly disappeared. There she sat, straddling his lap on the edge of her bed, her hands clenched loosely in his long, dark hair. By habit her hand threaded through the long, slick ponytail he kept tied at the base of his neck, giving a small tug near the end to pull his head back to hers, and she pressed a soft kiss to his now swollen lips—a sweet kiss, which he quickly and impatiently turned into a death match between tongues.

Between kisses she repeated what she said. "Mukuro. I can't do this anymore."

This time he heard. He pulled back from her mouth abruptly. "What did you say?"

"I said, I can't do this anymore," she repeated for the third time, accompanied by an uncomfortably hot sigh that ghosted his face.

He crinkled his eyebrows in confusion. "Do what?"

"This," she said gesturing, untangling her hands from his hair. "We can't do this anymore."

The look on his face told Dani that he didn't understand. She sighed. "If all I am to you is just a body, then this is over. I can't be your pick-me-up all the time after you break up with Chrome. I don't want to be your pick-me-up."

"You're not my pick-me-up, idiot. You're my best friend."

"Yeah, well, best friends don't do this," she countered, another sigh leaving her lips. She removed herself from his lap. "A best friend is supposed to be the person you can laugh with at the stupid things you do. A best friend is supposed to be the person you can tell about all the shit in your life that's annoying you, and he'll lend you and ear and won't judge you. A best friend is the person who would give you advice on all your insecurities, someone who would give you a hug when you need it, someone who will go to absolute lengths to cheer you up when you're sad. A best friend isn't a fuck buddy. A best friend doesn't neglect you for his girlfriend and then come back when his relationship is failing. A best friend doesn't leave you behind. I might be your best friend, but Mukuro, you are far from mine."

She pulled off her Soffee's and replaced them with her comfortable sweats, ignoring the fact that Mukuro's eyes were following her every move. She would say she felt violated, but that was weird to say, since honestly he'd seen more before.

She made a move toward her bed, but Mukuro was still sitting on the edge, staring up at her blankly.

"Can you leave?" she asked, her weariness finally washing over her. "I'm tired, it's late, my fever is giving me a headache, and frankly, so are you."

When Mukuro said nothing, Dani sighed again—she seemed to always do that around him recently—and got in her bed on the side. She curled underneath her warm blankets and shut her eyes tight, hoping that Mukuro would leave.

But since when did she ever get what she desired?

She felt the springs in her bed creak underneath her, the cushioning dipping in the places where he crawled toward the headboard. He hovered over Dani, and he could see the slick sheen of sweat on her forehead.

She thought it was just her body reacting to the sickness when she felt a cool breeze on her back, but when she felt a cold arm wrap around her and an even colder body press against her own, she couldn't help but shiver.

"Mukuro, what are you—"

"Shh." His embrace tightened around her, the flawless skin of his arms coming pressing deep into hers, chilling her to the core.

"Mukuro—"

"I do not want to prove my worth to you or say that I am your best friend," he whispered in her ear. She felt involuntary goose bumps travel down her neck. "Whatever I say, I will sound like a douchebag who has done you wrong. And I have. I have treated you horribly. Everything you have said is true, and I have no way of apologizing to you enough for every stupid thing I have done."

Dani hesitated before speaking. "How did this even start, Mukuro?"

He tried not to smile at how Dani had somehow relaxed into his embrace—it was so comfortable; it was like she belonged there. "That night of the first time Chrome and I broke up, you were the first person I thought to come to. I came to you because I knew you would be there for me. The Vongola Guardians all adore Chrome—I would have no support there. And the Kokuyo gang—as much as they support me, they can't do anything for me emotionally. I needed you that night, more than I ever needed anyone."

Mukuro paused, perhaps waiting for Dani to say something. But he was only met with silence. He took that as a cue to speak again.

"And you were there for me, just like you said a best friend should do. And you were there for me the next time I screwed up with Chrome, and the next time after that, and every other time I came to you. And I took advantage of that. I took advantage of our friendship and our closeness and I just screwed up everything."

"Yeah, you did," Dani agreed with a small chuckle.

"I don't deserve a friend like you."

"No, you don't." But there was a lightness in her voice that made him smile.

"You know what I realized a long time ago?" he asked, wrapping his feet around hers.

"What?"

"I never loved Chrome."

"What?" The tone of the word changed dramatically from the first time she said it.

"Never," he repeated, his cheeks rising in the mocking smile he gave himself. "I thought I did—hell, even Hibari thought I did—but I realize now that that was why our relationship was messed up. It was doomed from the start."

"Then why did you keep trying?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I guess there was always this weird of obligation I had towards her, towards her life. And I owe her a lot, you know that."

"Yeah," Dani agreed reluctantly.

"And she always came back, looking to make-up, but she would take all the blame herself. I did not like that. It was like I was too high above her to be at fault for things. And it was mostly my fault."

"Hell yeah it was."

Mukuro ignored that comment. "I think I only pitied her—she nearly worshipped me, especially since I saved her life. But I never loved her. I don't even think she loves me. She just admires me to such an extent that she thinks what she is experiencing is love, when it really is not."

"No, she loves you," Dani replied coolly, like it was the most obvious thing. "She loves you. She nags at you because of it. She thinks you're amazing, and yes, she basically worships you, but she loves you to want to make you a better person."

"Well, I do not appreciate it."

"Of course you don't, you hate changing for someone. But she has good intentions."

"I guess."

"Hey, since when did you get so submissive?"

"Since I realized that perhaps I should listen to you instead of arguing."

"Aww, good boy."

"However, I refuse to be demoted to the position of your dog."

"You have no say in that decision."

"Excuse me?" But she was laughing.

He relished in that laugh. That giggle. That chuckle when she shook her head at him. It soothed his mind, his soul, his heart. Every little thing she did was perfect. She was so adorable and she didn't even know it. She was so smart and she didn't even acknowledge it. She was so beautiful and she didn't even see it.

And how badly he wanted her to see it.

It was this overwhelming feeling inside of him that made him do what he did next. It caught both of them by surprise—he never thought he would ever say these kinds of words to her again, nor did she ever think that she would ever hear them directed towards her. But it happened too quickly for him to think about the consequences and take it back, and the words he said made her heart leap miles from her chest.

"Dani, I love you so much. I have always loved you. I want to give you everything and absolutely everything. Will you be mine?"

Was it the fever? No, this was real. These were the words he whispered so lovingly into her ear, too genuine to be retracted or altered.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

She paused. "What about Chrome?"

"When we fought today, I broke it off completely. We will never be together again."

Dani's breath caught in her throat. "If you are lying to me—"

"I mean every word I have said."

Dani's head whirled with her thoughts. Mukuro, finally to be hers? After all this time, to finally be actually together?

"You asshole. Do you know how long you have made me wait for this?"

She turned herself in his arms to face him, reaching to take his face in her hands, pulling him down to her face in a long, sweet kiss.

It was beautiful how well they balanced each other out. His freezing touch warmed up and her burning fever cooled. They enveloped each other in their differences, finding the cozy temperature in between that blew them floating into sweet oblivion.

"I do not think we have had a kiss like that since junior high," he joked, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist and pulling her closer to his body.

"That's because we didn't know how to kiss any more passionately than that back then."

"Well, one grows wiser with age."

"Well, we're old now, right, Mukuro?

He laughed as he pulled her up to his face, and they sank into each other with nothing to regret.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please review 3