I want take a moment to thank 18moptop for being a really wonderful beta reader and korrmin for a wonderful prompt. Okay thanks.

"Nitori, this is my son Rin. Rin, this is Nitori Aiichirou. Nitori will be staying with us in the month leading up to your marriage since his family hit some financial trouble," the taller woman said as she introduced the two boys. Nitori was nervous. The man that stood in front of him was amazingly handsome.

"H-hello… Ri-"

"Call me Matsuoka. We're not married."

Nitori stiffened. "Ah… Yes. I'm sorry… Hello Matsuoka…" He made a nervous bow, glancing back up at the taller man. 'He doesn't look nervous at all…' Nitori thought as his soon to be mother-in-law snapped at his fiancé

"Rin!" she commanded. "Don't be so rude. You'll be married in a month." Rin only huffed, getting an irritated reaction from his mother. "Keep acting like that and see what happens. You're an adult!" His shoulders grew tense as he gave his mother a hard look. He dropped the subject.

Turning her attention back to the younger boy, she placed a smile on her face. "Now, I would like for you and Rin to get to know each other better. Would you be able to do that for me, sweetie?" Nitori could only nod and smile back at the older woman.

"Great!" She said, turning to face both of them. "I want both of you to go have fun. The wedding is planned to be a month from now. Please be on your best behaviours." She glanced pointedly at her son. "I'm mainly talking to you Rin."

With that she walked off and left the two of them alone. This gave Nitori a chance to get a better look at the man he was going to marry. He was tall, with his hair being a warm shade of red, and his build wasn't too bad either.

While he was off daydreaming about his fiancé, Rin gave Nitori a glance and scoffed. That brought Nitori out of his dream world.

"Me? Having to marry some small fry like you?" Rin remarked. He stretched his arms up and began to walk away from Nitori.

Nitori tried to stop him. "Wait… She said we had to get to kn-"

"What is there to know?" Rin cut him off. "I don't want to know you." Rin crossed his arms and turned his back to Nitori.

"Would you… at least meet with me later to talk?" Nitori practically begged. "We're going to be married in a month…" He sounded almost defeated.

Rin turned back to Nitori and sighed "Fine. When and where?" He unfolded his arms. Nitori smiled and thanked Rin after agreeing on where to meet.

They met the next day and it was awkward. The tension was thick and tried his best to start off conversations. He tried things like, "Do you have a hobby?", "What was your childhood like?", "What do you enjoy doing?" and even "What type of books do you read?" But as much as the blue eyed boy asked, all he got in return was silence.

Feeling the frustration hit him, Nitori finally let out a sigh. The awkward pair just ended up sitting on a bench, facing the ocean. The silence was nice, but everything felt so tense. He looked back over at a slouching, stone faced Rin. He didn't want to be here and Nitori knew that, but he wanted Rin to be here. The fact he even agreed to accompany him here made the boy happy.

" You… swim right?" Nitori asked, noticing a slight change in the red head's expression. He was surprised he got a reaction from Rin at all.

"How did you know?" He sneered.

"Your mother," he admitted sheepishly. " She told me before I met you that you swim…" Nitori began to play with his fingers. "I thought it would be a good conversation star-"

"Well I don't," Rin cut in, and abruptly went back to being silent.

"So, how's your fiancé treating you?" Nitori listened as he sat down at the cafe' table, across from a taller, brunette.

'Takako,' he thought. Ever since middle school, the blue eyed boy had felt like he could talk with Takako and not be judged. They had always been there for each other, especially when Nitori's family began to crumble.

"It's only been a week…" The gray haired boy sighed out. He felt a small pat on his shoulder.

"That doesn't seem like a good sign…" Takako said with a frown. He knew that his friend only had good intentions, but Nitori still had hope for the arrangement.

Nitori looked up to his friend and sighed again. "It's just slow right now. I'm sure when things start to progress then everything will be fine."

"Ai."

His friend grunted. He crossed his arms and watched Nitori until blue eyes actually looked at him. "Look at me and tell me things will be perfectly fine by the end of the week."

"Takako, I'm fine," the smaller boy pouted. He looked up at his friend and saw the look of frustration all over him. "Why are you so nosy about this anyway? It's my engagement." He whined, throwing himself back on the chair. "You don't have to wor-"

"Because I could be so much better for you!" Takako stopped his train of thought, turning away to hide his cheeks dusted a shade of pink. "It's just…I don't like him. That's all." the boy murmured.

Nitori sat up straight, slowly turning red. He felt his chest tighten. "So that's what this is all about?" He turned his gaze back to his childhood friend. Nitori knew that his friend had held feelings for him ever since their last year of middle school. Back then, Nitori explained to the brunette that he only thought of him as a friend. It had been hard on Takako back then, but over the years, the stubborn boy had never given up, always trying to prove himself to Nitori.

"We aren't kids anymore, you know?" Nitori began. "I know you don't approve of this whole process, and you will always be important and precious to me Takako, but…" Nitori paused for a moment. "This is what I want. I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be." Getting up from the table, Nitori saw Takako's hard hitting gaze on him. Not understanding the look, the gray haired boy asked tentatively, "What is it Takako?"

"Just wait for a sign. A sign that he isn't meant for you. Because I know he isn't."

It was later in the afternoon when Nitori decided he wanted to get out of his room at the Matsuoka home. The conversation with Takako had turned sour and he had a bitter taste in his mouth. He had never seen his friend act like this before.

He turned down the hallway to find the dining room. A late brunch was sounding nice to Nitori.

"I'm not going to marry some stranger!" Nitori stopped dead in his tracks. That was Rin's voice. He walked back a few feet, going towards the source of the conversation.

"I can't marry him! I don't even know him! And I don't WANT to know him. He's just some random person you picked because you knew his mother. That and it would help his family full of drunkards and gamblers." Rin ranted.

Nitori's heart fell into his stomach as Rin kept going.

"I don't know why you would want me to marry into someone who isn't even - " The sound of a slap echoed in the hallway, and made Nitori flinch.

"Now you listen here," thundered the loud voice of Rin's mother. "You're going to marry this boy. You WILL marry this boy. Are we clear? I don't want to keep hearing you whine over this anymore, understand?" she commanded.

Everything was silent again, and Nitori knew he had to get away from the door. He knew he wasn't supposed to hear any of that. In fear of being seen, he quickly backed away and locked himself in the first room he came to.

Not moments later, he heard Rin storm out of the room. After his heart rate slowed down a bit, Nitori looked around the room. He hadn't been in this room before and didn't know if he was even allowed to be here.

He walked towards the shelf, something catching his eye. He smiled when he saw it was a picture with a younger version of Rin and his sister. They looked so cute. Giggling, he saw a picture of Rin's mother but didn't recognise the man. Nitori picked up the small frame and thought it had to be their father. He smiled at how in love Rin's parents looked, and only hoped he could be like that someday, even if it did seem hopeless at this point.

That thought made him sigh. Putting the frame back, Nitori browsed the other pictures. He saw pictures of other children he couldn't put names to, and more pictures of Rin and Gou. Rin looked so happy in all these pictures.

Over the next two weeks, Nitori never made any mention of the eavesdropping incident to Rin or his decided to take a walk, close to the beach since it was winter and there weren't many people around. This left Nitori alone to think, which he desperately needed. He didn't know what else to try with Rin.

He didn't know when it started, but over the last week or so Rin would give him small amounts of attention. It had increased Nitori's hopes tremendously. It made him happy when Rin would speak to him, even if it was just for a moment. He was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, it could really work between them.

Down by the shore he saw a head of red hair, which he would have recognized anywhere. He smiled and began to walk to where Rin was, wondering what he could be doing here in the middle of winter.

He watched as Rin walked into a small shop on the shore of the beach. He never noticed it before, maybe because it was so tiny. Nitori followed Rin and almost made it inside when he heard it.

"Haru… I love you.."

Nitori stopped and watched as Rin, the man he was going to marry in less than a month, leaned in to kiss this person named Haru. He quickly turned away, and ducked behind a wall, not wanting to be seen.

"Rin…" He heard this Haru breathe out. He had enough of this. What were you supposed to do in these situations? Should he stop them? He felt like his knees get weak. He couldn't even speak. Is this why Rin was so against the arrangement in the first place? He couldn't help but take a peek back at the two. Nitori felt his heart start to rip in two.

The way Rin looked at this man; it hurt Nitori. He knew Rin was never going to look at him that way.

He shook his head. 'No,' Nitori thought as he moved away from what was happening 'I can't give up just because of this… We only just met but, I can't give up on Rin..' Nitori turned and ran from the shop.

A whole week had passed since then. He didn't mention what he saw to anyone, especially to Rin. However, Nitori began to notice Rin leaving the house at awkward, ungodly hours. He couldn't help but feel jealous. Someone who he thought he would have a good married life with was off with some stranger…

He laughed bitterly at himself.

Haru wasn't the stranger. He was.

Nitori sat down on his bed. It was almost two in the morning and Rin was still out and he was getting worried. Maybe Rin ran off with this 'Haru'. Maybe Rin didn't want to bother with breaking off the whole arrangement. He could have at least told him…

The times where Rin would acknowledge him, speak to him; it all seemed like a waste now.

It's not like he wanted to give up, not yet. Besides, Rin had never really told the gray haired boy that he didn't want him. 'Rin may have told his mother, but he never told me,' Nitori thought. 'Maybe he's changed his mind a little after all this time.' Even if it was small, the boy held onto the small hope he had.

Getting up from his bed he walked up to the window where he saw Rin sneaking back into the house. Nitori ran outside, needing to speak to the red head.

Once outside, he saw Rin trying to put on his shirt. Nitori didn't want to think about what his fiance' would have been doing without a shirt on. He chose to ignore it. "Rin…" he said quietly. The red head quickly turned around and saw the sleep deprived Nitori.

"What are you doing here?" He muttered as he buttoned the last of his shirt.

"Well, you were gone all night and - "

"So?" Rin interrupted, unfazed by Nitori's questions. He turned to face the boy. "What's it have to do with you?"

Being tired and not in his right mind, Nitori grabbed Rin's arm as accusations flew from his mouth. "Where were you? I'm your fiancé, just in case you forgot. Not that boy Har-"

"CAN YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?" Rin snapped at Nitori, causing the smaller boy to fall back to the ground. The look on Nitori's face resembled the look of a scared puppy.

"Ri-" he tried to cut in.

"Don't you dare call me that." Rin snarled. "Just because we're engaged, it doesn't mean anything. I didn't ask you to marry me. I didn't want you in the first place," he huffed. Nitori was still on the ground, but at this point he didn't even bother talking back to Rin. "Just stop it. You're not Haru and you won't ever replace him." Rin stomped away, leaving behind Nitori.

"I… I just wanted to make this work…" Nitori whispered as he watched Rin go farther from him. Was this it? Was this the sign that Takako told him he had to watch for? He thought about it and didn't notice how there were tears falling down his face. "Oh… I'm… I'm silly aren't I?" He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve "I'm silly thinking this would have worked" he breath was shaky. "I.. I can't go on like this…"

The wedding was almost a week away and Rin decided he needed to drink. His company, Haru, watched him and sighed. The silent boy stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Rin grabbed Haru roughly by his shoulder. Haru didn't look up at him and his gaze fell to the ocean.

"I can't do this anymore Rin." He spoke calmly. Haru took a hold of the hand on his shoulder and moved Rins hand off himself. "Rin…We're over." he said bluntly, distancing himself from the buzzed red head.

Rin looked at him, confused and betrayed. "What would make you say that?" he growled. Haru only closed his eyes and shook his head. Rin was growing impatient.

"I'm not stupid Rin." Haru spoke, "This is the last time I'm going to see you." Rin's breath hitched.

"But why?!" He couldn't understand Haru's rash decision.

"I know you're getting married in less than a week. I've known.." He paused to look at the shocked look on Rin's face. "I've known for a while now."

"And you never said anything?" Rin gawked. Haru shook his head.

"I was waiting for you to be honest with me." Rin fell silent at Haru's accusations. "And besides, I'm moving away for my new job soon anyway." Haru's eyes showed the hurt he felt. "If you can't even be honest with me when I'm here, what makes me think you would be honest while I'm gone?" Rin began to feel the guilt sink in as Haru continued to talk. "I tried to ignore the truth for the last few weeks but in the end I just couldn't."

Haru paused before going on. "I…I wanted to know what he looked like, so I went by your house while running one morning. He's cute, you know that?" Haru looked straight at Rin.

"From what I hear he really seems to like you too," Haru continued. "I'm sorry Rin but I think we should just stop this sneaking around. It would only hurt us in the end anyway, more than it already has."

Rin got up to protest but Haru sat him back down. "This is what I want Rin. I'm doing this so that we can both have a chance at something better." And with that, Haru left the bar, leaving Rin to think by himself.

Minutes passed into hours. First Rin thought about all of Haru's words. The two of them had only been together for a few months. It started out as lust and had accelerated into a whirlwind of sex and passion. The redhead began to examine more of what Haru had said. What saddened him was that what his now ex-lover had said about him was completely true. He had lied. Haru was special to him and Rin knew that would never change. But he also had to admit defeat sometimes and he just wanted to crawl into a hole.

Then, out of the blue, all he was able to think about was a goofy smile attached to a stupid mop of grey hair. He could hear a calm voice telling him that everything was going to be alright. He could see the shining smile of the boy accepting him with open arms, even after Rin hurt him countless times. Rin thought back to the moments when he had actually talked to Nitori. The boy was nothing but kind to him when he deserved none of it.

Nitori's smile didn't leave Rin's thoughts the rest of the night at the bar, except for when he remembered the look of rejection his fiance' wore before Rin had left him alone.

"I'm sorry to ask to see you out of the blue like this," Nitori sighed as he sat down across from Rin's mother.

"Oh child, it's fine. You're my soon to be son-in-law after all. You're practically family," the older woman chirped. Nitori felt even worse at those words. He quickly let out a sigh and smiled back a half smile before turning serious.

"I'm afraid that's the problem." His gaze turned away from her. He didn't want to see any look of disappointment on the woman's face when all she did was treat him with kindness.

"A problem?" Her eyes narrowed on the nervous wreck that Nitori was becoming.

"Y-yes… I… I was wondering if…if this arrangement could be nullified."

Rin's mother looked at Nitori with a hard look in her eyes. "May I ask, why?"

Nitori gulped and nodded "I've… I've tried my best to make this work, but he isn't interested in me. I can't handle the stress of knowing my fiancé will never love me, no matter how much I love him."

Rins mother took in a deep and hard breath, her head hanging low. "You do know what that will do to your family, correct?"

Nitori hesitated "I.. I'm well aware. I've spoken to my family about it," he paused and looked back up seeing the disappointment in her eyes. He didn't know if that was because of him giving up so quickly or because she was disappointed in her own son.

" I'm so sor-" he began.

"Say no more." She stood up, not spearing him a second glance. "The arrangement is nullified. But I won't guarantee that your family will be alright." With that she walked off and closed the door behind her, leaving Nitori on the verge of tears. 'I… I have to put this behind me,' he thought. Seeing one of the butlers come in, he stood and was escorted to his room to pack his things.

The night finally passed and Rin came home, tired and worn out, wanting nothing more than to come home and apologise to Nitori. He expected to be greeted by his mother and his fiance' but instead was greeted with silence. He raised an eyebrow in confusion and walked towards the dining room where he saw his mother having her lunch.

"Welcome home" she greeted with a smile, which quickly turned into a bitter frown. "Now sit down, we need to talk" she pointed at the chair across from her.

Rin stiffened at his mothers tone and did what she said. Seated, she slouched forward, head resting on her hands. "Do you know what I did this morning, upon request?" She questioned, staring at her son. Rin opened his mouth, to say he didn't know before his mother beat him to it.

"Your engagement with young Nitori has been canceled," she hissed. Rin's eyes widened

"How?!" Rin shot up from his chair.

"SIT down," she ordered and that's exactly what Rin did. "He told me you had someone else that holds your affections." She fumed "He also said he felt like he couldn't compete. Now, were you going to tell me this or make a fool out of me?"

Rin didn't speak. That pressure on his chest was back and he didn't know what to think anymore. "What else did he say?" the redhead gulped.

"Nothing that concerns you at this point."

Rin had spent all of his day looking for Nitori but didn't see a single sign of him. He didn't know where to look in the first place. He tried places he thought he could be but it all ended in failure. Did he really not know that much about Nitori? A person he was going, no, wanted to marry in less than a week?

His heart started to race. 'What if he's hurt?' The thought ran through his mind a few times, but only now, after hours of searching, did it truly worry him. He ran around frantically, his breaths becoming labored, the cold air not helping.

He didn't stop running though, not until he heard Nitori's voice. Relief washed over him upon finally hearing the boy's voice. Rin shuffled over and saw him speaking to a man who was just slightly taller than Nitori.

"Nitori," he weakly called out. It was enough to get Nitori's attention. It was also enough to grab the attention of the person Nitori was talking to.

"Is this him Ai?" The man gestured at him. 'Ai?' Rin thought angrily. This man had the nerve to call his fiancé Ai? Rin could feel his blood boil as Nitori stepped closer to this unknown man, hiding. Rin looked confused for a moment before realizing that Nitori was hiding from him. Guilt swept through his chest once more, followed by anger directed towards the unknown man.

"Who the hell is he and why aren't you at the house?" Rin seethed. Nitori flinched at Rin's tone and hid behind the unknown man completely. "Answer me, Nitori!" Rin cried almost desperately. He heard a small squeak and saw Nitori step out from behind the man.

"It's alright Takako…" Nitori muttered as he made himself seen. He took in a deep breath and sighed.

"Ri—- Matsuoka… It's done. Everything. It's over now," Nitori muttered, staying close to Takako, who was glaring daggers at Rin the entire time. Rin looked between the two of them, how they were too close together for his own comfort.

"Come on Ai…" Takako held out his hand for Nitori, ready to leave the redhead behind. "Yeah…" Nitori whispered.

As Nitori took hold of the Takako's hand, Rin was stranded and watched as Nitori walked beside Takako, fingers intertwined.