The two of them were snuggled close in bed, still both slick with sweat and rain from their recent "scene" at Mitsuhashi University's library.
"N-Nowaki...?" Hiroki whispers, shifting slightly in his lover's arms. He moaned slightly as Nowaki holds him closer. He feels those soft, warm lips ghosting across his cheek, his neck, his chest.
"Hiro-san..." Nowaki whispered back. He lifted his hands and ran it down Hiroki's tear soaked cheeks, tilting up his mouth to kiss him again. "I love you...so much..."
"Nowaki..." Hiroki sighed, kissing him back.
Ever since they had gotten home, walking back to Hiroki's apartment through the downpour, fingers locked, walking so close to one another the soaked skin of their arms touched. The moment they were behind closed doors, Hiroki had plunged once more into Nowaki's loving arms. Eventually, they had simply ended up making love again.
Hiroki, practically melting with bliss in the aftermath, was nestled in Nowaki's warm embrace. He felt those sweet lips brush his forehead. His chin.
I don't ever want you to go again. Hiroki had thought to himself. Never... I won't allow it.
Just then, Nowaki did something that almost made him have a panic attack, he started to get up.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Hiroki demanded hoarsely.
Nowaki blinked slowly, his eyes glazed with love and sadness. "I don't want to, but I think I should go home now. You need your rest Hiro-san, don't you?"
"You DUMBASS!" Hiroki shouted at him, tears springing to his eyes. Then, regaining his composure, he clutched Nowaki's hand, pulling him back towards the bed slightly. "You're just going to LEAVE? AGAIN?" The bastard just didn't get it. Hiroki looked down at their clasped hands and swallowed hard, saying the following words very quietly. "I don't...want you to go..."
A pause.
"Hiro-san. I don't want to go either..." Nowaki sighed, taking Hiroki into his arms again. "I never wanted to...it hurts just to think about it."
"Then don't go." Hiroki said softly. "Just don't.
"Move in...with me."
Hiroki's response to that was another warm kiss followed by a suffocating embrace. Nowaki ran his long fingers through Hiroki's damp hair, and when he spoke again his voice trembled.
"I will, Hiro-san."
Hiroki said nothing more, just held him back and sighed. His pride was all in shambles tonight, but it was so worth losing it just to hear those reassuring words. Just to feel Nowaki's arms encase him like a shield from his pain, his heartache...he loved Nowaki, deeply and truly. And he knew he would always feel that way.
Always.
In the end, Nowaki ended up spending the night. Hiroki groggily opened his eyes in the morning, alarmed at the sight of Nowaki's side of the bed vacant. He jumped up in a mixture of hysteria and outrage, thinking Nowaki had actually left when he was asleep, when his nostril's caught a warm, inviting, delicious scent wafting from the kitchen down the hall. He sighed, his heart swelling. Nowaki was most certainly there after all.
It feels a little strange. Hiroki began to think, his heart rate beginning to settle. To think about what happened last night, the things he said to me, and then to think about getting ready for work and going on with me day like normal...
Nothing will ever be the same between us again.
Voicing that reality aloud within his head, he immediately knew it was the truth.
He finally reached the kitchen, where the heavenly scent of the sizzling bacon and steaming pancakes and Nowaki's warm, happy smile greeted him.
"Good morning Hiro-san! I'm surprised that you were able to wake up okay."
"H-hey..." Hiroki murmured, sitting down at his set place at the table, while Nowaki served him a heaping stack of homemade pancakes. Nowaki sat down beside him, softly kissing his cheek and placing a fresh mug of coffee before him. "Did you sleep well?" Nowaki asked smiling.
"Yeah..." Hiroki murmured again, sipping the coffee, while not being at all surprised that it had the distinct flavor of his favorite brand, even though he kept several different brands in the house, with just the right amount of milk and sugar. "Did you?"
"Of course, how can I not when I'm sleeping with my Hiro-san?" Nowaki said grinning. Hiroki felt like slapping him silly, but he couldn't bring himself to at that moment.
"Stupid..." Hiroki muttered. "Hey, Nowaki?"
"Yes Hiro-san?"
"Listen..." He started awkwardly. He knew this was going to sound painfully sappy, but it wasn't something he could put off anymore. He'd already made up his mind the night before. It was time. "Do you remember what I said to you last night? That I wanted you to move in with me?"
"Yes Hiro-san." Nowaki said, all hint of playfulness gone from his voice.
"I-I really meant it." Hiroki stammered. "It wasn't just a heat of the moment thing I mean..." God, he was failing miserably at this. How did a man like him possibly ask a thing like this anyway. He couldn't look Nowaki in the eye; his face was just too red. "...will you...?" He finally managed in a small voice.
There was a moment of silence, but then Hiroki heard Nowaki shift in his chair. Heart skittering, he turned towards him.
Nowaki took him into his arms and held him tightly.
"I meant it too Hiro-san. I meant everything I said to you last night. Everything."
Hiroki sighed, face flushed with happiness. Thank you. He thought.
Nowaki kissed him gently on the lips, eyes bright with tears. "I love you Hiro-san."
Love you too...
Always...