Just stay the night and we'll see that things can work out
and this will last forever
how long can we wait for things to change
and this will last forever

"Ken, I need you to go water the roses for me since I'm busy right now," Aya said to the brunette standing next to him. He was staring uninterestingly out the shop windows, oblivious to the crowding fangirls and shouts.
"Whatever," he grunted and walked away without so much as a glance towards Aya. Clutching the flower cutters in his hand, Aya stared down at the table as if hoping to win a contest. Ken had been so unusual lately, ignoring him or being flat out rude...not to mention that he seemed unhappy with everything around him. Taking some peonies, he savagely started cutting away at the stems for the arrangement he had in front of him, all the while looking at Ken's broad back.

"Are you okay, Aya?" He turned around, started by the concerned voice. It was only Omi, staring at him with a nervous look on his face. "You seem a little tense, is something wrong"
"I'm fine," he mumbled almost to himself. "I'm fine." Untying his apron and setting it on the counter, he started to walk to the back room. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Omi, I'm sure you can all hold down the shop in that time."

every day (die),(die)this i say
turn to dust and fade away(die),
this will last forever.
every day, this i say
turn to dust and fade away,
this will(die) last forever.

As Omi looked on, confused, Aya walked numbly down the narrow corridor that led to the back room. He was a hard worker, and didn't want the depressing thoughts occupying his mind to distract him with his work in the flower shop. Just a few minutes to clear his mind was what he needed right now. The image of Ken's unusual coldness towards him was burnt into his head and he couldn't concentrate on anything else.

Entering the room, he sat down on a cardboard box of flower bulbs and sighed, looking at the ground blankly. Normally he would assume that Ken was just having a bad day, but this...this had been going on for nearly two weeks, now. Ken seemed almost avoidant and while Aya did his best to hide his hurt, it was getting harder and harder to do.
In the other room, another small storage room not far from the room Aya was in, Ken picked up his bag of soccer equipment. Not noticing it was unzippered, a soccer ball and other choice accessories droppd out of the bag and onto the floor.

"Damnit!" Ken cursed quietly, but accompanied it with a loud sigh and knelt down to pick up the things. He had felt so irritable lately. Things that he normally enjoyed seemed useless to him, and the days seemed to drag on. The brown-haired young man bit his lip as he place the dropped items back in the bag. He didn't like it, but he couldn't control his aggravated outbursts lately. He had been taking it out on almost everyone - the kids on the soccer team occasionally, his fellow Weiss members, and worst of all, Aya. Ken spent his nights tossing and turning, searching his mind for an answer for his recent ongoing behavoir. However, time after time of sleepless nights turned up nothing.

still waiting for tomorrow
just wait for today
to close my eyes

"what was that..?" Aya slowly got up and made his way to where he heard the sound, looking into the other storeroom only to meet with a pair of deep brown eyes looking back. What is he doing, the redhead vaguely wondered, the shop isn't closed yet. Ken brushed off his knees and stood again while slinging his duffel bag over his hunched shoulders; he began to walk without saying anything to the other. Having had enough, Aya blocked his exit and glared down. He was sick of this 'being ignored' business, and he wanted a reason for it. He was sick of leaving the shop every day and dealing with the same coldness at home. He was sick of going to sleep unsatisfied and doubting himself.

waiting for tomorrow
just wait for today
to say goodbye

"Ken," came the stern, almost wistful reprimand, "where are you going? The shop isn't closed yet, and your shift is far from being over." Ken didn't look up. "Just move, Aya, I'm serious." His heart was sinking even further into his ribcage, he didn't want to sound so harsh to Aya, truly. Something inside him was just tearing at his being though, and the words just kept on spilling out. His words were biting and he was aware of that, it wasn't like he was oblivious to the damage they were causing.

"Ken." He continued to lurch forward, trying to pass the outstretched arm in his way. "Ken, what the hell is wrong with you? All you've been doing is ignoring me like a bratty six year old, and you've been bitter about everything lately. What's your problem, did I do something wrong or what? I want answers"
"Fuck off, Aya!" Ken shouted angrily. "For once, just once, get off your high horse and stop bossing me around. I'm sick and tired of all your nagging, I just don't care anymore." With that, the arm dropped and the hunched figured of Ken brushed by and a few seconds later, the sound of the slamming front door could be heard.

Aya stood there in shock for a little while. He felt so numb, what had just happened? Resting his body against the door frame, he covered his face with a hand. What the hell am I so
upset about, he thought bitterly, I should have expected this would happen.

she never said she loved me
she never said goodbye

Flipping back through the weeks he spent with Ken, the good ones and the bad, Aya tried to search for an answer. An answer as to why he was being treated by Ken in such a way, and a reason for why their once healthy bond was slowly deteriorating. He searched and scoured his brain for a pattern or a hint. He thought back to early times and new.

"I love you, Ken"
"I know, Aya"


"I thought about you today, Ken"
"I bet, Aya"


"Hold me, Ken"
"Later, Aya"

It hit him like a ton of bricks. Aya finally recognized the pattern. Every time he had offered affection, even when their relationship was thriving, Ken had denied it. He had brushed him off. Aya never read into it or thought of it as negative. To himself, he had simply blamed it on Ken's being hot-headed and stubborn. But now...it was clear. Almost. After this came to mind, Aya thought he had it figured out, but this was truly only the tip of the iceberg. Why was it that Ken acted this way? Did he not feel the same things that Aya himself felt towards him? Was he scared? There were so many "ifs" and each one of them felt like it was eating away at his heart like termites on wood.

just stay the night
and we'll see that things can work out
and this will last forever
how long(can't wait) can we wait for-
(can't wait for things to change)things to change
and this will last forever

As the sun began to set outside, Ken sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his mussed hair. Idly, he rolled the soccer ball beneath his foot back and forth out of habit. It helped him relieve stess. Going back to the flowershop was making him uneasy, he didn't want to have to face everybody. Yoji was just a pain in the ass now, and Omi would pry into things way too much like he always did, but mostly he didn't want to see Aya. He didn't want to step through that door and see those piercing eyes reading him, the pain and confusion mixed into those dark pupils.

"Shit," he swore and kicked the soccer ball from where he sat, it rolling not too far away before stopping dead. The weight on his shoulders felt like it would crush him. What the hell was Aya doing to make him feel like this? Those tacit endearments whispered to him now and then just frustrated him so much that he wanted to break something. He dragged himself over to grab the errant ball.

Aya sat at the kitchen table with a book opened in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hands, but he wasn't reading it. He had tried a few times, but as his eyes passed over the letters, nothing was registering. The minute hand on the clock seemed to go slower than ever, taunting him cruelly. Taking a sip of his drink, he recoiled a little at the stinging burn the heat caused. How familiar, he thought bitterly. Soon, the door creaked open and then shut again. Not bothering to turn around, Aya waited for the Ken to walk into his vision. He did. "You're back late," he said softly.

still waiting for tomorrow
just wait for today
to close my eyes

Ken met Aya's seemingly stoic glance briefly, before looking away and down at the ground. That calm yet bitter gaze of Aya's eyes pierced his heart as if it had just been stabbed with the redhead's katana. Ken felt like he had to use every once of his strength to keep his words soft and to keep from lashing out at Aya. "Yeah...I...I was out trying to clear my mind. Kicking the ball around, you know"

"Mm." Aya teared his eyes away from Ken, who had stopped in his tracks not long after he had stepped past the doorway. "Kicking the ball around just like you kicked around my heart." He thought acridly. Aya wanted to know what was going on with Ken, but at the same time, didn't want to know the harsh truths. Was ignorance truly bliss? He didn't think he could bear the thought of Ken telling him that all the times they were together meant nothing. That he didn't feel anything for him. While their so-called relationship of late had been dispicably banal, and Aya was just expecting the worst, he knew that when or if he heard those words from Ken's mouth, it would hurt more than going through a thousand missions.

waiting for tomorrow

It didn't matter though, he didn't have to hear it. It was hard enough feeling it, and he refused to hear those spoken words. Everytime he tried to look at Ken, the other's eyes averted. Every step forward he made, the other backtracked. I don't want to play this game anymore, Ken, I'm forfeiting. You win. Have a trophy, ass.

Thrusting his chair back, he slammed his cup on the table and lowered his head, crimson hair blocking his eyes, his face contorted in an indescribable anger. Storming over, Ken hurried back as if to avoid getting hit, his heart was racing. A thick tension hung in the air like a noose, foreboding. However, he walked swiftly by him, Aya didn't want to see him anymore; he was afraid he would lose it all if he met those eyes...this little tete-a-tete was over. For good. For Aya, he had used up all his energy on this never ending chase. The brunette stood shaken in the kitchen as the footsteps pounded up the stairs and the door slammed violently, with a force that may as well have broken it. "Goddamnit, Ken," Aya whispered as he gripped a pictureframe from his bedstand.

"I love you Ken, you know that right"
"Sure, Aya"

Shattered glass and wood lay scattered on the carpet, the picture inside now damaged a little. "Oh god," he breathed. His back slid limply along the door until he was curled up on the floor amidst the damage. Ripping the picture from the broken glass, he tore that useless memory into two...four... Shaking hands holding the pieces, he buried his face into his hands. It just wasn't worth it, anymore.

just wait for today
to say goodbye...

AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO AYA AND KEN NOW! Will their relationship be fixed, or will it only get worse?

Please leave us some reviews if you want to find out: D

Lyrics by Hawthorne Heights.