Valentine's day promise

"Haru… do you remember that promise we made when we were younger? That if I came back from Australia and was taller than you we'd spend Valentine's Day together?" Rin asked Haru. They were alone in Haru's house and it was late afternoon. They had a joint practice at Iwatobi and Rin decided to drop by Haru's house for dinner and thought it a perfect opportunity to ask this question. He knew that he had always liked Haru, but not to what extent. That only became clear not that he was older.

Now he could see Haru's beauty for what it was. Black hair thet sometimes fell in his eyes, a lean but strong body and those azure eyes. The yes was what he liked the most. If one just looked closely one would be able to decipher the different feelings and thoughts going through him. Though Rin wasn't exactly good at that sort of thing, being the kind of person that showed things by actions or talking. Now of all times, however much Rin gazed intently into these eyes, he could not see what Haru was thinking.

After several minutes and Haru still hadn't replied to him, Rin was getting more and more nervous. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears and his hands clammy. Why wasn't he saying anything? What if Haru thought he was really stupid to even bring this up? Truth to be told, Rin didn't even know if Haru actually liked him.

The silence was stretching out and becoming awkward and so Rin decided to speak up again. "Oi, why aren't you even answering me? It's rude to ignore people!" he said in a loud voice, desperately trying to hide his emotional turmoil that was currently at works inside of him. At that Haru looked like he was jerked out of trance and he quickly averted his gaze from Rin and muttered "…I don't remember" Though Rin saw in astonishment Haru's ears turning red and so betraying him.

It was no doubt that he remembered that promise. Was he even embarrassed? That was something he hadn't expected. Haru, who was an expert at hiding his emotions. Rin could feel his lips curving and soon a broad grin was on his. "Of course, so, how tall are you, Haru?" he said with a cocky voice. Though he didn't actually need an answer, they had been the same height when they were young but now Rin was definitely the taller one out of the two of them.

Haru still refused to look at him and muttered "175cm…" It was rather endearing how Haru was acting and the only thing Rin wanted to do now was to wrap him in a hug. But he managed to refrain from doing so and said "Hah, I'm 177cm! So you'll have to spend Valentine's Day with me!" And now his grin was so wide that his pointy teeth were showing. Was it just his imagination or did Haru's blush only increase when he said that? It looked as if his cheeks had a dust of pink now too.

Now he was overjoyed! His cheeks heated slightly as well seeing the other's embarrassment. It had taken all of his courage just to ask Haru and he was willing to go through with the silly promise they had made! "Rin… what are two guys even supposed to do on Valentine's Day…?" Haru mumbled. The question startled Rin from his thoughts. What should he answer? Was now the time to tell him he liked him? What if Haru said he didn't like him in that way and then Valentine's Day would be ruined…? Rin pondered on what to say.

On one hand, it might be the perfect opportunity to confess his feelings. Though then there would be the problem of Haru's response. But on the other hand, if he didn't confess his feelings now he could do that on Valentine's Day instead. Truth to be told, he already had something planned for that particular day.

Rin raked one hand through his hair, still not sure what to do. "Rin…?" Haru said in a low voice. That made Rin once again jerk his head in Haru's direction. The look on Haru's face…decided his next action. He swallowed nervously and his chest tightened. He took a deep breath and said "Haru, I want to spend Valentine's day with you because I…I…I like you…" the last part coming out in a hardly audible voice and his cheeks felt as if they were burning. Now that he had said it, he didn't dare look at Haru and had promptly averted his gaze.

Rin could clearly feel Haru's intent gaze on him but still he refused to look at Haru. Right now, he was so scared and nervous at the same time. Scared of rejection and nervous for what Haru's response might be.

After a few minutes, he couldn't take it anymore and he scrambled to his feet to get away. Since Haru didn't say anything that must mean he had rejected. "S-s-sorry…forget I said anything" Rin said with a strained voice. Just as he was about to walk away from his place in the living room he felt a strong grip on his wrist. Turning around to give Haru a look af annoyance which turned into widening eyes instead. Haru wasn't looking at him, but his face gave him away. Across his face was a deep blush and even the tips of his ears were red.

The firm grip on his wrist loosened a little and Rin could now feel that Haru's hand was trembling. Tears started to prickle behind his eyes. Even though Haru's face might be evidence enough that he indeed returned his feelings, he needed to hear him say it. "Haru…I need to hear it…" Rin mumbled.

This time, Haru shifted his gaze from his grip on Rin's wrist to his face and gazed intently into his eyes. This made Rin want to tear away from it, so intense it was. Watching closely, he could almost hear Haru's inhale of breath and then he saw Haru opening and closing his mouth a few times. Almost as if he thought about if he should say something or not. Apparently Haru decided on the former. "Rin…I really like you…always have…"

Overwhelmed, Rin acted on instinct and wrapped his arms around Haru tightly. The tears that had threatened to fall earlier now fell freely down his cheeks. Although this time, they were tears of happiness. It didn't take long for Rin to feel Haru tentatively wrap his arms around him and put his hands on Rin's shoulder blades. "Haru…sob….I'm so…sniffle…happy!" Rin said in between sobs and sniffles. He couldn't care less about what Haru thought of him right now. It was still hard to believe that their feelings had been mutual.

When Rin had finally calmed and pulled away from Haru, they just stared at each other. An awkward silence was starting to stretch out. Without warning, Haru leaned close to Rin's face, so close that their breath mingled with each other. Rin noticed that Haru hesitated and decided to take matters into his own and closed the distant between their mouths.

The kiss was sweet but tender and it just felt right. Like this was something meant to happen. As embarrassing as it was, this was Rin's very first kiss and when he tried to break the kiss Haru followed instead. One arm snaked around Rin's waist and the other tangled in his hair. Rin followed by wrapping his arms around Haru's waist.

Just as pulled away to tell Haru to part his lips, the other let his chin rest on Rin's shoulder. This made Rin a tiny bit confused, he had really gotten into the kiss. Then Haru proceeded to lift his head a little and he breathed into Rin's ear "I'll be looking forward to Valentine's day…" and a little pause where he teasingly licked Rin's ear and whispered huskily "…Rin." A shudder went through Rin and now he was sure as hell going to enjoy this years Valentine's day, no question about it. It would no doubt be the best one ever.