Title: Baking Pumpkin Sweetness

Author: XxInsanity With a SmilexX

Summary: Haru and Rin work part time at a bakery. Halloween is coming and they plan to spend it together, as friends of course. One thing leads to another and their plans end up changing a lot.

Disclaimer: We don't own Free!.

Sticky. That was, Haru surmised, the most remarkable thing about the bakery. There was an astounding amount of sticky things in the bakery. There was the gooey glistening red jelly that filled fat donuts until they were oozing, there was the icing that frosted the cakes so delicately and beautifully, and finally possibly the most annoying of all were the sprinkles. They got everywhere and he was always glittering with finely ground sprinkles after a day of work.

His melodic blue eyes focused back on the cupcakes he was decorating. They looked like someone had taken a turd on them. He glanced over at Rin's cupcakes. Like usual his looked like a piece of art. The pink sprinkles offset the deep brown beautifully and the vanilla looked scrumptious. Little dots of creamy icing ringed them. His eyes found themselves focusing on Rin's hands.

His hands were fascinating. They moved in slow, steady movements, squeezing the icing bag gently. His nails were clipped short and were very clean. Haru's eyes clung to his long fingers. They moved so purposefully while sprinkling the last few cupcakes with crystals of pink. Lately he had found himself watching Rin more. It was instinctive, as though RIn was a unique animal in a crowded place.

"Haru your cupcakes are a bit messed up," Rin said, bringing him back to earth.

"Hm," He looked back down at his cupcakes, 'a bit' was an understatement.

"Here," Rin took the icing from him, "I'll show you how. Place your hands over mine."

Haru obeyed, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling at skin to skin contact. Rin squeezed the icing and began to move in slow steady circles. His finished icing looked good enough for a magazine. Red eyes met blue and for a second there was silence. It seemed to stretch ages dripping with unsaid words, then broke like a fine thread. Haru let go and Rin pulled away.

"So, Haru," Rin began placing his cupcakes in the display, "Halloween is tomorrow, any plans?"

Haru mulled the thought over. Mako was taking his siblings Trick or Treating and Nagisa and Rei were going to some haunted house. He had nothing to do for Halloween other than sit at home, which wasn't that bad.

"I'm not doing anything," He said.

It sounded too much like a date proposal, he was feeling distinctly ruffled as Rin spoke, "I was wondering if you wanted to spend it at my house. We could watch scary movies all night and play scary video games."

An unnatural fluttery feeling filled his stomach and he felt a flicker of anxiety. Spending the night at Rin's. It wasn't like he'd never done it before, but he wasn't sure if everything was still the same. Sometimes before he fell asleep he entertained the most ridiculous, outlandish ideas. Thoughts of something more with Rin. Seeing Rin was like seeing sparkling waters, he couldn't resist the urge to fling himself in head first. Could he really spend the entire night at Rin's without doing something stupid?

"Yeah," He found himself saying, "Sounds fun."

Rin grinned, "Awesome!"

For the rest of the evening Haru moved with a bounce in his step. He tried to remain nonchalant but the facts were that he would be spending the evening with Rin. The thought gave him a warm fuzzy feeling. It was like a crackling fire had been lit in his stomach.

The mood of Halloween was thick within the store. Pumpkin donuts, pies, cookies, bread, and anything else imaginable all came in great quantities. Little bats were stuck to the rain flecked windows. As he moved his cupcakes to the display he watched Rin add little icing pumpkins to the cake he was working on. Whomever said Rin was only good at swimming was a fool.

Rain drummed on the windows as music played through speakers set around the store. Haru was too focused on his cookie decorating and covertly watching Rin to really care. Occasionally a watered customer would enter the store and order something but mostly it was just Haru and Rin. A comfortable silence was between them, occasioanlly punctured by small talk. Haru was just finishing up his cauldron cookies when the door opened with a merry tinkle. Their boss came in, closing his umbrella as he went.

"Hullo boys!" He boomed, "Everything getting on alright?"

"Yes sir," They chorused.

He approached the counter rubbing his balding head, "Boys, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" Rin asked.

"Halloween night I'd like you to go around delivering baked goods. They've already been ordered and I have a list of addresses. They're special Halloween goods so they need to be treated with care. Originally Yuu was going to deliver but he sprained his ankle. I hope you don't mind."

A sick swooping feeling crushed Haru's stomach. Oh.

"Yes sir," Rin was saying as Haru's innards shriveled up.

For a whole hour he'd believed he would be going to Rin's. It had been a shiny, glittering, warm hour. Now the rain outside seemed to have moved inside. He clamped down on his emotions and tried to stuff them down. His perfect poker face had barely flickered. The crushing feeling lingered like dill in his mouth, unpleasant and unnecessary.

"Yes sir," He chimed, annoyed at the sudden flatness of his tone.

That night he spent feeling quite sick. Even mackerel didn't cheer him up. No matter how hard he tried the sinking feeling wouldn't leave. He was slowly sinking into quicksand, every waking moment it was harder to escape the crushing grains. It was stupid, that he knew, but he had really been looking forward to a night spent with Rin. They'd probably split up if they went on delivery duty.

It was a very unpleasant event falling asleep as his thoughts heckled him, and it was no better waking up. As in sat up in his bed, wiping sleep out of his eyes, he felt unusually tired. The only thing that kept him going was the thought of spending at least some time with Rin. That was worth something, a big something, and he would cherish every moment. He felt nervous as though he'd be doing a relay. But the thought of Rin, like the thought of freestyle, calmed him. He would face this.

Mackerel cheered him up a bit as he had breakfast. He was rationalizing his worries and sadness and fixing himself up. There was always a next time. As he was eating his breakfast a light knock on his door followed by a shouted greeting told him Makoto had come to visit. He was finishing his mackerel when Mako came in.

"Not in the tub for once Haru-chan?" Mako said, smiling gently.

Haru shook his head and got up, placing his plate on the counter. He'd wash it when he got home. Mako was watching him, his green eyes as warm as ever. They were pools of liquid emerald glimmering softly in the light. Haru ran a hair through his own deep blue hair and turned towards Mako.

"Happy Halloween," He said,

"Happy Halloween to you to Haru-chan," Mako smiled.

School was a dull event as usual. The weather was too chilly to do any swimming, The sky was a merciless blue when he left the school, heading for the bakery. A light breeze had kicked up bringing along the scent of coming winter. He would need to get winter clothes soon.

The bakery was unusually lively when he arrived, the tinkle of the bell announcing his entry. Rin looked up from the counter, wiping his red hair back. He grinned and beckoned him over. Air stampeded into Haru as he breathed in, he hadn't realized he'd been waiting on baited breath to see that smile.

"How was school?" Rin asked when Haru was behind the counter.

"Boring," Haru admitted, "We didn't get to swim."

Rin smirked, "You should have come to my school. You could have swam in the indoor pool."

"I only swim free," Haru said, uninterested in such a factory like school.

"Of course," Rin said smiling slightly.

For a few hours they worked in silence, then Rin said, "About tonight, I'm sorry. You seemed upset when you found out we'd be stuck doing delivery. I should have protested."

"I'm not upset," Haru said.

"You look upset."

"I wasn't," There was a bit of impatience to his voice now.

Rin pinched his cheek, "Cheer up Haru,"

The place where he touched burned. Haru tried to fight down the blush that rose up from his touch. Maybe he hadn't quite succeeded because Rin grinned.

"You're all red Haru," He teased, smirking, "I wonder why?"

"Shut up," Haru said irritably.

Rin just grinned wider and leaned in so their noses were nearly touching, "Do you really want that?"

Haru pulled away trying to keep expression cool and unphased. Inside his heart was hammering so loudly he was surprised Rin couldn't hear it. It threatened to burst from his chest and take flight, a ridiculous thought but strangely accurate to what he was feeling. He focused extremely hard on the pumpkin donut he was sprinkling.

"You know Haru, I've been noticing you watching me a lot more lately," Rin said offhandedly, "Why's that?"

Haru remained silent.

"So I thought about it," Rin said, "And I figured it was the same reason I've always been watching you."

Time seemed to flow slowly around them. The store was oddly enough empty and he couldn't help but wish a customer would walk in. He was not prepared for this situation. The only thing he could do was stare blankly at Rin, a deer in the headlights.

Rin leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. His brain seemed to freeze up, he was having trouble making coherent thoughts. A furious blush rose to his cheeks. If he thought his cheek burned before he was completely wrong, this was burning. The kiss seemed to replay a thousand times a second. It was like Rin hadn't stopped kissing him, and never would.

"Do you feel the same way?" Rin asked, his voice oddly hushed and his eyes glowing in intensity.

Haru opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, "Y-yeah."

They just stared at each other as something changed. The walls were coming down around them, going up in flames. Haru examined every inch of Rin's face shamelessly, Rin doing the same to him. It was like floating above the clouds until with a tinkle the door opened.

"Boys!" Their boss said, clearly unaware of what he'd walked in on, "Good to see you! I've just come to help close up shop and show you where the goods are."

Haru snapped his eyes off Rin's and stared at his boss. For a few seconds he had no clue what he was talking about, then he remembered the delivery. Rin seemed to be having trouble coming out of it as well. His eyes still burned intensely and he didn't seem to be looking at their boss like he was truly seeing him.

"Yes sir," Haru said after too long a pause.

Their boss clapped his hands together, "Follow me boys."

They followed him to the back room where there were a bunch of a boxes. Some had bats on them and others pumpkins. Several even had what looked like silvery moons. The boss started piling them into their arms.

"Now just deliver these to the houses marked on the list and you'll be fine," He said, stuffing a piece of paper into Haru's hand.

"Thank you boys!" He called, leaving the room, "Don't forget to lock up!"

Under the starless sky Haru and Rin found themselves tromping all around the surrounding neighbourhoods. The people they delivered to all seemed rather strange. One couple invited them to dinner and only a coppery scent hung in the air. Another was a frail old woman with way too many dogs. Everyone seemed strange and unusual and Haru was relieved when their delivery was over.

"Last one," Rin sighed in relief as they turned away from the final house, "Finally."

He checked his watch, "Not too late," He pulled a baggie out of his jacket, "Here."

Haru opened it and wiffed something delicious. It was a pumpkin spice donut with the word 'Haru' etched on it. The bag crinkled as he took it out and examined it. He looked back at Rin who was watching him.

"Thank you," He said.

"Happy Halloween," Rin said, "I know it's not as good as a night of movies and video games but I hope it'll cheer you up some."

"Thank you," Haru repeated and this time he smiled.

Rin leaned in and kissed him. Haru had never understood the big deal about kissing but now he finally understood. It made his brain go numb and being so close to Rin was intoxicating. Sparks had to be flying, he was burning up. It could have been hours or several years and he wouldn't have noticed time fly by. In this moment he was just with Rin.

"BOO!"

They jumped apart. Nagisa and Rei had walked up and they were laughing. Rin joined in and Haru stood there blushing. A few late time Trick or Treaters walking by had whistled and joined in laughing. Rin slung an arm around Haru's shoulder and Haru felt warm. He joined in laughing and felt this Halloween would be the start of many more good ones.

A/N Hey so tell me what you think in a review. Fav or follow to show support! Thank you for reading and this will be the first of many.