Author note: Another Shinichi and Shiho centered one shot. A little OCC but again that's just how I imagine this scenario taking place. Enjoy.

The worst Romeo

Over the years we came up with our very own traditions. We get together at his place after every case. We sit around, chat aimlessly until one of us dozes off. I'm waiting for him by the elevator but he's taking longer than usual. We usually finish around the same time, besides he should be finished doing all of my paperwork. i decide to go to him and if I'm feeling generous, I may actually work on a paper ow two. I make my way to his office and knock once before entering.

He doesn't notice me. He's holding what looks like a letter in his hand and he scans it closely. I close the door behind me startling him. He sees me and smiles, "something wrong I've been waiting for like four minutes," I tell him.

"Yea sorry, umm no nothing is wrong really I'm just feeling a little nostalgic I guess," he replies while getting up and placing the letter on his desk.

"Anything you would like to share?" I ask pointing towards the direction of his desk.

"It's a letter from Hakase, I just received it today. The kids are apparently asking about us they're getting into less trouble now thankfully yet they still manage to stumble into a corpse or two," he chuckles as he talks, "Hakase's is doing well his wife is taking good care his diet, a little too strictly for his liking," it's my turn chuckle, "and Ran is getting married too so that's great."

That's catches me off guard. I figured she would move on eventually but I never knew how that would affect him. Looking at him now, I can see something distant in his eyes. Regret is not really the word for it but neither is content. His eyes meet mine and for a second he tried to hide it from me, but he know it's futile. "I'm sorry," I manage to say.

He's looking at me now and slowly a smile creeps into his face. I hate this, not knowing what he's thinking. I pride myself on being able to read him like a book but it's moments like these that I feel myself getting frustrated, I guess that's how it feels to be him. The more my frustration shows, the more he smiles.

"Of the long list things you owe me an apology for, this is not one of them," he says throwing himself onto the couch by his desk.

A question dances on the tip of my tongue. A question I've been afraid to ask for years, "why did you pick me? Did you even pick me?" I ask him barely maintaining eye contact.

He looks thoughtful for a second. He sits up in the couch and smiles again, "I could tell you that it was a choice between two different career paths but that's not really true, it was ultimately a choice between you and her. The harder I thought about it the more surprised I was. I cared about you just as much as I did about her, and after realizing that I realized that all I wanted was for both of you to be happy. As long as Ran is happy then I'll be fine as for you on the other hand, being happy just wasn't enough," I don't realize that I'm holding my breath, "I had to be the one that makes you happy, no one else."

What a selfish jerk is the first thought that pops into my head, well second really. Right after the usual thought of just how much I 'feel' for him. He makes me smile. I want to laugh, and so I do. I throw myself into the couch next to him not bothering to avoid crashing into him. He's grunts but says nothing. "So you love me huh?" I say.

"I never said that," he replies a little flustered.

"Well no but it was clearly implied, I'm actually quite flattered so thank you," I sit up away from him and give him a thumbs up.

"Yea keep dreaming," he says. He looks away for a while and I wait for him to say something, "you love me?" He asks.

I think about it for while. "No."

"Yes you do," he says.

"No."

"I know that you do," he says a little frustrated, this is fun.

"How exactly do you know that?" I ask him.

"Well it's a mixture of observation, experience and a little gut feeling," he says in his detective tone.

"hmmm, no I don't think so," I say again while maintaining my poker face.

"You know it's moments like these when i wish that I had never left Japan," he says while getting up.

"Maybe you should go back, I'm sure you would make an adequate private investigator," I reply in my most sarcastic tone.

He throws me a side ways glance before he starts packing up. My eyes never leave him, tracing his every step. His breath is music to my ears, sometimes I forget how lucky I am. I'm watching my partner and he's everything I will ever need, I think this is how happy feels like and I love it, this is how he makes me feel. One day I will tell him that. But until then I will make sure that I will tease him until the day I no longer can.

"Let's go," he says walking out.

"Slow down Romeo."

End

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