A/N- This is kind of lame but I don't usually write one-shots. *shrugs*

Sweet Tooth

Seifer didn't know when it had started, but for as long as he could remember Hayner had had an obsession with sweets. When he was younger, the sweet of choice was cookies but that changed to cakes and brownies upon entering grade school. Donuts were only really eaten on Sundays unless someone else brought some to share and ice cream was year round, though more was eaten during the summer when the Sea Salt Ice Cream Stand opened up near the beach. It seemed that every time Seifer looked over at the shorter blonde, he had something in his mouth; lately that something seemed to be candy. Lollipops, licorice, sweet tarts, chocolate; he didn't seem to have a preference; as long as it was sweet the younger teen would eat it. The fact that the lithe skater was always eating the unhealthiest things wasn't the only thing that had caught the scarred bully's attention, however; Seifer had noticed the way Hayner went about eating each new snack too. Take yesterday, for example. Yesterday the sweet of choice had been licorice and once the scarred male had noticed the skater eating it, he hadn't been able to look away. Hayner would start by taking a new piece of licorice and inserting half of it in his mouth, sucking on it for a little while, the strand being pulled in and out of the sandy blonde's mouth every few seconds. After a minute or two the strand would slowly be pulled all the way out and a small piece would be bitten off of the end. Once that piece had been eaten, the skater would then place the licorice strand back into his mouth and begin to suck on it again. Seifer didn't know how long he sat staring but a sudden tightness in his pants brought the rest of the world back into focus. He'd actually gotten hard off of watching Hayner eat candy. He didn't think it would be the last time, either.

Looking up from where he was currently studying, Seifer could see Hayner on the other side of the library writing out a set of math problems with one hand while, this time, eating some sort of sucker. The sucker in question would stay in his mouth for a little while and then he'd pull it out slowly, tongue coming out to lick the extra flavor off of his lips. When working on a particularly difficult equation, Hayner would bring his tongue back out and slowly run it across the surface of the hard candy before it disappeared back into his mouth. Once the problem was finished, the sucker would then be stuck between his cheek and teeth to sit and from there the cycle would start all over again. Eventually, Hayner finished his homework, as well as the sucker, and left the library. Turning back to his own work, Seifer took a moment to check the time and realized with a flash of irritation that he'd been watching the skater eat his candy for fifteen minutes. Shaking his head at himself, the bully went back to his work and was done in a fairly short period of time, now that he wasn't focused on something else. Gathering up his books, he then left the library himself and headed to his next class, wondering when he had become so fixated. He and Hayner had fought with each other off and on for years without the bully really paying much attention to the skater outside the struggle ring but recently that had changed. Not the fighting, if anything that had actually gotten worse, but Seifer was no longer ignoring the smaller male; he couldn't stop watching him. Thinking back on it, the scarred man figures he started paying attention about the same time Hayner had started eating the candy, around two months earlier. And, regardless of why he suddenly took notice, Seifer ruefully admitted to himself that, now that he had, he didn't really want to stop.

After graduating High School, both Hayner and Seifer had moved on to the local community college and, by some odd stroke, had ended up having several of their classes together which only gave the bully more time to study the younger male's eating habits. Walking into his last period History Class, blue eyes scanned the students already present and zeroed in on the skater already seated in the corner un-wrapping a candy bar. Taking his own seat across the room, Seifer pulled out a notebook and settled in to listen to the lecture, one eye still focused on the smaller teen. The bully's attention remained divided until the end of class when his professor stood and began handing out their next assignment; it was a two part project consisting of a research paper to be turned in and a presentation given to the rest of the class. The amount of work required elicited some groans from various other students in the room but the professor just smiled.

"Before you all start lamenting the loss of free time I would like to point out that this is a partnered project and you may divide the work up between you and your other half however you wish. I have already paired you all up and will be reading off the names in a moment; I would suggest with the time remaining in class that you at least touch base with your partner and exchange contact information. You do have a month to complete this assignment though it would be best if you didn't put this off until the last minute due to the enormity of the project. Are there any questions?"

Heads shaking in the negative was the only response so the teacher grabbed a separate sheet of paper off of his desk and began reading names. "Gates and Davis, Schaeffer and Deas, Fletcher and Tate, Willis and Brown, Almasy and Rhodes…"

Shoving his book into his bag, Seifer stood and looked towards the opposite corner; Hayner looked as though he'd swallowed something unpleasant and as the bully watched he took another piece of candy out of his bag and popped it in his mouth, standing only after he did so, moving to where the bully still stood waiting.

"So how do you want to do this?" Hayner asked. "I'm cool with just splitting it and then getting together at the end to put it all together."

"Actually, I'd rather work on both parts together, that way we each have a say in the entire thing. If we do it that way we'll both have input on it as well as a better chance of being happy with it all in the end."

Hayner looked as though he might protest for a minute but instead sighed and looked away. "That's fine, I guess. When do you want to get started on this?"

Seifer shrugged. "Are you free tonight?"

When Hayner turned and stared the taller male just shrugged again. "If we get started now we'll have first pick of any books in the library besides the added bonus of finishing with time to spare. Also, tomorrow is Saturday so there's no class to get up for in the morning." He paused. "Unless you already have plans…?"

The skater was silent for a moment before answering. "No. Not really. I assume you'd prefer to work at home rather than on campus, so the only question is your place or mine?"

"Mine's closer."

Hayner nodded. "I have a few books at home that may help so I'll swing by and pick them up first before heading over."

Not waiting for a reply, Hayner then turned and left the room and Seifer watched him walk away before slowly following behind. He knew that he and Hayner's relationship had never been the best but the skater's reactions to him lately had him puzzled. It was almost like it pained the younger male to be around him and Seifer just couldn't figure out why. It wasn't the physical fighting either, since they'd been beating on each other for years. With a frustrated grunt, the blonde tried banishing the skater from his thoughts and instead headed to the library; if the shorter teen was going to be bringing some books to use it would be best if he wasn't empty handed either.

Seifer hadn't been home but maybe twenty minutes when a knock on his door let him know that Hayner had arrived. Ushering the silent teen into his apartment, Seifer shut the door and headed to the kitchen to grab a couple of drinks. Returning to the living room, Seifer then set one of the drinks down in front of Hayner and received a quiet thanks in reply.

"I don't suppose you have any ideas on what to do this project on, do you?" The bully asked, taking a seat next to the younger male.

"Actually, I do." Reaching into the bag next to him, Hayner pulled out a couple of books followed by a bag of jolly ranchers. "What about something to do with the Medici Bank? That was a pretty big deal during the Renaissance so it shouldn't be hard to find information and it should also be a good enough topic to meet the length requirement for the paper." He passed the books over and then stuck one of the hard candies in his mouth as the man next to him flipped through the offerings.

"Sounds good to me; I think there might be something we can use in the books I grabbed from the library, too."

Spying his bag next to Hayner's, Seifer leaned over the smaller male in order to grab it and was surprised when the skater stiffened in response, left hand groping for the bag of sweets as if he forgot there was one already in his mouth. Pretending for the moment that he hadn't noticed the skater's reaction, the older male hauled his bag up and over, fishing his own books out once the bag was on his lap.

"I figure we start by flipping through all of these, writing down anything relevant as well as the pages the information can be found on."

"Sounds good to me."

So for the next half an hour the two blondes worked in silence while Seifer couldn't stop thinking of how Hayner had reacted to his proximity when he'd leaned over. Looking back at all the times they'd been together over the past few months, as well as the times Seifer had merely sat back and watched, the bully finally came up with a theory and decided to see if he was right. So, as the teen next to him continued to jot down notes, Seifer shifted and made as if he wanted to grab another book, brushing against the teen next to him in the process. As expected, Hayner once again stiffened and began groping after a piece of candy but the bully instead snatched the bag out of his reach.

"Seifer, what the hell?"

"Why is it every time I get near you lately, to stuff a piece of candy in your mouth?"

Brown eyes narrowed as the skater glared. "I have a sweet tooth; it has nothing to do with you."

"Bullshit. You eat more candy when you're around me than you do any other time, including during that English test we took on Monday or that fight you got into with the guy that grabbed your ass last week."

Too late, the bully realized what he'd let slip and surprise colored Hayner's face as he realized that Seifer had been watching him, probably for some time now, without him being aware. Brown eyes searched blue before they glanced away and settled on some spot on the floor.

"It's a coping mechanism."

"Excuse me?"

Hayner sighed. "I eat more sweets whenever I'm stressed; I don't remember when is started and it wasn't always candy, but candy just happens to be easier to carry around."

"There are better ways to relive stress than eating sweets, you know."

A snort. "Oh yeah, like what?"

Tossing the bag of candy aside, Seifer reached over and yanked Hayner forward into a hard kiss; he tasted like cherries, probably from the last piece of candy he'd eaten. After a moment's shock, the lithe teen responded, hoisting himself onto his rival's lap and kissing him back for all he was worth. Hands fisted in blonde locks as their tongues worked against each other, warring for dominance, and Seifer moved his hands down to cup Hayner's ass, pulling him closer. The smaller male shifted in response, grinding down slightly which elicited a groan from the man he was sitting on. After a few more minutes, the two broke apart in their need for oxygen and Seifer brought his lips down to rest against the pulse that was hammering wildly in Hayner's neck. Once the teen's pulse began to slow and he was no longer gasping for air, Seifer removed one of his hands and groped after the candy he'd tossed out of the way, pulling the bag closer.

"I've changed my mind; you can eat as much of this as you want."

Hayner brought his face down to meet the scarred male's gaze. "Why's that?"

A small smirk crossed his lips. "I seem to have a sweet tooth of my own."

Brown eyes blinked a few times before a slow smile transformed the skater's face. Reaching for one of the hard candies, he began un-wrapping it as Seifer decided a single condition was necessary.

"Just do me one favor and stay away from the licorice." As the statement earned him a confused glance, he continued. "You have no idea what watching you eat the stuff does to me."

Understanding dawned a moment later and Hayner's smile grew wider. "No promises."