Kise Ryouta had lived half of his life in a world where everything more or less revolved on the five Ws; Who did your face and hair(I'd like to congratulate them on a successful transformation)? What diet are you on (because it's either the lighting in here or it doesn't look like it's working)? When did that outfit come out (oh gosh honey I swear it looks so last season)? Where are you going (and why am I not invited)? Who's going with you (tell me lest I die from not knowing)?
The modelling world had been all about looks. Diplomas didn't matter here. Math didn't matter here. You were either bold, the in-and-now or you were nobody. Perhaps that's what had drawn Kise to him.
He'd been in ripped jeans that day, and an unflattering black sweater over a white shirt. So plain, so very monochrome. Somewhat stylish, perhaps... maybe. At least it wasn't yellow- yellow and his skin tone? Oh please no. His hair had been in an utter disarray, the wind playfully raising short blue strands as he simply stood there, hands in his pockets looking all for the world as if he belonged there by that tree and nowhere else.
Kise thought he looked like a model in his element and Tyra would have been proud.
One night, one after many others after they'd first met by that tree, they laid tangled in bed, skin touching, heads close, breathing nearly in sync. He was in a sluggish kind of bliss. He was happy. He couldn't be bothered to move his head, comfortable where he was pillowed against the other's arm. It was warm, oh so warm.
He whined when Aomine pulled away from him when he wouldn't pay attention to what the other man was saying.
"Just tell me what you were thinking. You kept staring at me like I'd just killed someone."
"Ngh." Kise struggled to get closer to him, squeezing his eyes shut. When Aomine moved away from him some more he opened them and glared at him. "Will you let me sleep if I tell you?"
"Maybe."
"I thought you looked perfect." Kise's cheeks felt warm. "In ripped jeans and a baggy sweater... you looked perfect. That's what I thought."
Aomine was silent and then he pressed his forehead against Kise's none too gently. Perhaps it had been done with a little more force than he'd actually intended and it made the blonde cry out in shock and surprise, effectively dampening his languid state. Aomine rubbed their foreheads together in apology, his voice low. "Idiot. Looks don't always matter."
Kise gave a non-committal noise but otherwise did nothing. He was warm again.
That warmth lasted for a long time. Most times it would be a nice presence in the back of his mind, keeping him company despite his solitude in country after country. They talked often, after all he was a model he could pay for those long distance phone calls. Other times it would be a blazing inferno where skin touched skin and lips were locked on lips and they would writhe, intertwine, and beg for tomorrow to never come.
It's been one thousand four hundred sixty one days since the day they'd met by that lovely tree. That would be forty-eight months, roughly two hundred nine weeks. Two million one hundred three thousand seven hundred ninety five minutes if you wanted to get it down to that number.
The proposal wasn't much of a proposal, but more of Aomine staring at him. Aomine look at him like he had something to say but he couldn't say it. Kise understood, he knew what his lover was trying to say.
Or at least he thought he did. Aomine had never been good at expressing himself, and often times he'd rather let Kise read the situation for himself.
Their friends were overjoyed when they heard about the upcoming wedding. Kise had put his modelling on hold. He would spend time with his soon-to-be-husband. He was only twenty-eight years old. Still young and still pretty. Nobody seemed to be more excited than his sisters and Aomine's own surrogate sister Momoi.
They'd all come for a visit as soon as they could and they'd barraged their loft with magazines, and cloth samples, and color swatches, and flower samples, and names so many names of caterers, venues, bands, shops that they would have to hit in order to make this wedding perfect.
Kise mirrored their excitement. He was practically glowing like the sun. Aomine told him he could do whatever he wanted before he went about writing the short list of people he wanted to attend.
It happened when they were choosing their rings. Kise's eyes were pulled to the white gold band, simple and beautiful all by itself. Neither of them really needed nor wanted any stones on their rings. Aomine had stared at the many rings on display but had only spared the one Kise had hinted at a short glance. His eyes were riveted to an eye catching ring with an aquamarine tear drop on it. It looked effeminate.
And nothing like Kise but plenty like Aomine's best man, Kuroko.
The warmth had dulled.
Kise wasn't known for being on the dean's list while in school, but he was sharp, observant if nothing else. He saw the looks, heard the sighs, noticed all the aborted moves that Aomine had done to try and talk. They were equally refuted, ignored, and dismissed by the receiver of the heart piercing stares.
Selfishly, Kise blinded himself to them. Aomine was getting married to him and when you got married you fell in love again and again and again with the same person. Here's hoping that person was Kise and not...
But you could only lie to yourself for so long.
Kise leaned against the tree and smiled sadly at it. This place... was special to not just him, but surely to Aomine to. He couldn't believe he was about to taint such a place. He couldn't believe he would do it here.
"Hey." Aomine's voice was strained, and Kise wondered why.
"Hi..." Kise turned away from the tree, hands in his pockets and kept that smile on his face. A month ago... or sometime ago, Aomine would have told him he was faking it. "We need to talk."
"Do we really?" Aomine too had his hands in his pockets.
"You know we do." Kise chuckled. His breath came out as snow started to fall. "Aomine..."
"Lost my nickname have I?"
"Well it was a stupid nickname right?" Kise snapped. He saw Aomine's face for what it usually was, unfazed, collected. He took in a deep breath. "Sorry. I said I wasn't gonna be angry, sorry."
"Don't be. I'm actually waiting for you to get angry." Aomine took a step forward. "You should be mad at me Kise."
The blonde shook his head. His lips trembled and he sucked in another breath. No. He was not going to cry. He was also not going to get mad. He'd cried himself dry the past two days, and he'd told himself that he would not do this. Not with Aomine. Not when...
"Look at me dammit!" Aomine grabbed hold of his shoulders. He was still taller than him, but not by much. "Kise I said the wrong name. We were getting married and I said the wrong name. You have every right to be angry, livid, furious even. Dammit Kise look at me and get mad. Look at me and show me some emotion. I want to see you glare at me. Not this- not this fake smile you've had on your face ever since Tetsu and the wedding got started!"
Kise shook his head.
Aomine froze. "Punch me."
Kise stared at him. "What?"
"Punch me."
"Aomine you're being ridiculous."
"No I'm not. Punch me."
"Aomine-."
"Punch me!"
"Aom-."
"Fucking punch me already Ryouta!"
"Dammit Daiki alright!" Kise's fist swung, and he wasn't sure why he'd done it. His eyes went wide when it connected with Aomine's open palm. He'd been ready for it, and the small smirk of satisfaction. That smirk that spoke millions of how Aomine knew him... it broke him.
The tears fell and he felt even angrier with himself. Why was he crying?! He made to pull his fists to his face but Aomine kept hold of the one on his palm, and even when Kise tried to pull away, Aomine used the same hand to pull him closer. A hug. He missed Aomine's hugs. They were still so...
"Warm." Kise breathed. "You always made me feel warm. You always made me feel safe. But when Kuroko came into the picture and I learned that he had been the one you'd loved first. That always, it would always be him. I felt colod Daiki. I felt alone and broken because you couldn't take your eyes off of him when he stepped into the room. I couldn't take that. You say you're over him but you're not. I know you're not."
Aomine pulled him closer, hugged him tighter and confessed. "I'm not."
A sob pulled from Kise's throat.
"But that doesn't mean I don't love you." Aomine's hands moved, one to his hair, and the other around his waist. "If you'd just give me another chance Ryouta. Four years couldn't have passed with me and you together if I didn't love you or feel anything for you. I wouldn't have committed myself to you. I wouldn't have stuck around. But I did. I went ring shopping with you, I went tux fitting with you and I ate all those cakes because you were worrying about your stupid figure."
Kise let out a small choked laugh. Aomine was smiling, his lips pressed into his hair.
"I guess I shouldn't have chained you that way. You didn't actually propose, I mean. did I... just assume that you wanted to get married to me?"
"I didn't know what I was trying to tell you that day but I do know what I'm trying to tell you now." Aomine's voice was low, and he pulled back a little, slipping one hand into his coat pocket then pulling it out.
Kise saw the glint of gold, recognizing his engagement ring. Or rather, Aomine's engagement ring since he was sure he left his matching ring at home, on his nightstand in its blue velvet box after he'd fought the urge to throw it away. "That's..."
"Yeah." Aomine smiled, or tried. He still sucked at this. "Kise Ryouta. Give me... another chance. This time I'll do it right. This time, I'll put this ring on your finger and mean it with all my heart. Ryouta just... let me make you fall in love with me again."
Oh Daiki... I'm at an unfair disadvantage. You see-
"Okay."
-I'm still insanely, irrationally, and unexplainably in love with you.
AN: I just had the urge to write this. I've been preoccupied with school lately. I'm so sorry about not updating Stuck On Earth. I'll get to it I swear. Thoughts on this though? It was written on a whim, perusual lol.
Nique