My phone buzzing on the nightstand continued to get louder and louder. For a moment, it stopped, and then it started again. Who is calling me… this…early? My eyes fluttered open and it took a few seconds for the clock to come into focus. I jumped out of bed, almost falling to the floor as I slipped on the covers that had slid off into the floor. "Haru! Why didn't you wake me up?!" I exclaimed as I ran into the bathroom.

Of course, Haru was in the bathtub in his swimsuit. I'd gotten used to that. "You didn't sleep well last night. We could just skip again today." His blue eyes met my purple ones. He never said it out loud, but he worried constantly about my lack of sleep.

Jerking the hairbrush through my tangle of a mess black hair, I half smiled at him. "We can't skip again, Haru. We didn't go yesterday and Mako will definitely come looking for us." I put my hair up into two matching ponytails on the side of my head and brushed out my layered bangs again. Stripping out of my pajamas, I searched around for my uniform that always made its way into the bathroom, cursing under my breath.

Haru was so laid back. I only wished that I could be like that. But I wasn't. So, I panicked instead.

"Haru? Ren? You guys awake?" Makoto asked, opening the bathroom door. His face flushed red when he saw me standing in my underwear while I was putting on my makeup. The door slammed shut. "I am SO sorry, Ren! I didn't… you're usually… ahh…"

I slid my skirt on and then my top. "It's okay, Mako. I'm dressed now." Haru had kept his eyes on me while I got dressed but as soon as he got bored, he slid back down under the water. "Haru…"

"I'll get him," Makoto said, still not looking right at me as I passed him to go out of the bathroom. That poor boy will die when he actually gets a girlfriend.

I left them to find my school bag and paperwork that was strewn across my desk. I had forgotten to finish filling out some papers for the school. Dammit. I scribbled down the answers to the questions before running to catch up with them at the front door.

I trailed behind the two as we walked to school. Haru was acting weird again. I tried to play it off as the weather. It was still too cold for him to swim in an outdoor pool or the ocean. Affording a membership to an indoor pool wasn't in the budget. The lack of time in the water continued to drive him crazy. He would live in the water if that was at all possible.

But that wasn't all that as bothering him. He wouldn't talk about it, and that was driving ME crazy. It made me feel like I'd done something to upset him, which was also contributing to my insomnia, though, that wasn't the main reason.

"Ren? Did you hear what I said?" Makoto asked, looking back at me. My deer-in-headlights look must have said it all. He laughed a little. "In your own little world, again, I see."

My cheeks flushed. "What? No… I was just… thinking."

"Hey no worries! I was just saying that it was a bummer that all three of us don't have class together this year."

"How did that happen?" Haru asked. They both looked at me now.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Well… I didn't… exactly make the marks to get past first year." I hadn't told them about it yet. I'd had every opportunity but honestly, I was upset that I'd failed. It was completely my own fault. My first year away from my so-called home to this new one had been a tough year for me.

"Ren…" Makoto was at a loss for words. He and Haru both continued to just stare at me, probably waiting for me to have another one of my breakdowns.

Instead, I smiled and waved it off. "It's fine. It's not like I'll die not being with you two all day." I forced myself to walk past them and toward the school building. I gave them a wave and said, "I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

Things had been great since I moved in with Haru a little over a year ago. I'd planned to get my own place because moving in with my cousin, Makoto and his family would have been too much. They'd taken such good care of me over the summers in my childhood. But when it was decided that I'd be moving here permanently after the accident, I knew that I couldn't ask that of them.

That was when Haru offered his place. He had a huge house all to himself and we'd already sort of started dating. My aunt and uncle took some convincing. They knew Haru was a good guy and that they wouldn't have to remodel their garage to accommodate me. Just because of that gesture, I'd learned how much Haru meant to me.

"Ren? Ren Tachibana?" A boy's voice came from behind me in the office.

When I turned around, I immediately recognized that grin and blond mess of hair. He'd played with me over the summers when I was little. "Nagisa! It's been a while." Geez… he's old enough to be in high school?

"Too long! Is Haruka around? Or Makoto?" He was practically bouncing with energy, just like when we were kids. Nagisa had that effect on people too. It was hard not to be happy when he was around.

"They've already gone to class. I got held back so I'm not in the same one…" I hated saying it out loud. After all this time, I thought that I'd finally gotten my life back on track.

Nagisa ripped the paper out of my and gasped. "We're in the same class! How cool is that?!" Excitement overtook him again and he threw his arms around me.

I welcomed the distraction of his chatter on our way to class. He didn't leave out any details about his adventures in middle school and his swimming skills had apparently come a very long way. Even when class started, he passed me notes, unable to contain his need to tell me something.

"Hey, Ren. I heard you and Haruka are kind of thing. Is it true?"

I smiled as he did. "Yeah, kind of. I'm living with him too." I gathered my things. There was enough time to run by the cafeteria to get some lunch for me and Haru. He hadn't gotten up in enough time to make some. Instead, he'd decided to sit in the bathtub for who knows how long.

Nagisa tagged along. "That's so cool! I told Mako that you had a crush on Haru, but he didn't believe me!"

He continued like that all the way back into the school building. By chance, we'd taken the same stairwell as Haru and Makoto. "Haruka! Makoto! It's been forever! It's been a long time, huh? Guess who's finally made it!"

Neither of them recognized him right away. I laughed a little when he yelled Haruka. I should have told him that Haru hated his full name even more so now than he did back then. At least when he shortened it, it was a boy's name.

"Nagisa!" They both exclaimed.

He grinned. "Yep! Ren and I are in the same class. Man, Haru! You are so lucky! Getting a girl like Ren," Nagisa said as he bound up the staircase. He and Makoto headed for the roof. Haru waited at the top of the stairs for me.

"They had some mackerel on rice," I said, handing him the boxed lunch.

Wordlessly, Haru took the box and walked with me further down the hall. "Ren," he stopped and faced me. "What's up with you?"

I blinked a few times. "I thought I should be asking you that."

Haru shook his head. "Come on, you're barely sleeping. You act like there's nothing wrong but obviously, there is. Is it about school? Or your dad again?"

My shoulders sagged as I looked at the floor. My dad… it was always about my dad. "I don't know. It's all just… falling apart. First that happened at home. Then I failed a grade. I used to be at the top of my class. I mean… what's next? Us?" The only thing I had left to lose was Haru.

"Don't be stupid, Ren." Haru said, causing me to look up. "I'm not going to leave you and you know that. Stop letting him rule your life. He's behind bars and he can't hurt you anymore. I can't help you move on if you keep trying to do it on your own."

"Ren! Haruka! Come on!" Nagisa called from the door to the roof. He was waving his hand like we couldn't see him.

Haru had yet to break eye contact with me. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, too. You haven't done anything wrong. Just relax," Haru stepped closer, lifting my chin and kissing me softly. No one else really got to see this side of him. "I'll take care of you, Ren. Let me."

I blushed and nodded my head. "I'm trying."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Haru replied, giving me one of his rare smiles. He kissed me once more before taking my hand to lead me out onto the roof.

Nagisa was impatiently waiting for us. He wanted to catch up with Haru and Makoto about swimming things. I only have listened as I ate my lunch. It was hard to concentrate on anything after Haru had kissed me. My lips still tasted like him. I smiled to myself. I was so lucky to have him. And to have Makoto. They were the reason I was still here and fighting for myself to have the life that I deserved.