Still looking for my OP from the kink meme! Where oh where could you be? XD

Thanks a lot to the two responses about hypothermia! It's mostly the next chapter that I'm worried about when it comes to being accurate to the illness. I won't spoil anything, but I know that it's probably going to be extremely inaccurate considering I couldn't find very much on the internet other than the symptoms and how to re-warm a person… I tried though! I spent quite a good amount of time on google, but still didn't manage to find much! XD

**And by the way, I forgot to mention in the last chapter, but I did manage to do a drawing for Shizuo's birthday! If you care, here it is:
http:/ kappaoodobi (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Happy-Birthday-Shizu-chan-282053760
/end shameless advertisement of my art. XD

Enjoy chapter three, and don't forget to review!

…~-~…

Shizuo yawned into the back of his hand as he watched Izaya sleep. His shivering had died down immensely, and his lips were back to their normal color, but every once in a while there was a telltale shudder from underneath the blankets. As Shinra suggested, he woke Izaya up every once in a while to give him some warm water with a bit of sugar in it. When the hot water bottle cooled down, Shizuo pried it out of Izaya's grip to refill it. Even in his sleep, Izaya wrapped his arms back around the hot water bottle without hesitation when Shizuo brought it back.

He yawned again, taking his place back on the bed. After what Shinra had said, Shizuo was nervous about leaving Izaya alone for too long. The last thing he needed was for Izaya to take a turn for the worse.

But he was getting tired too. Who would have thought taking care of the Flea would be this exhausting? It couldn't hurt to take a nap, right? He'd be right next to Izaya if anything did happen.

Carefully, Shizuo lifted the covers and slid underneath them next to Izaya. Sleeping next to Izaya wasn't exactly a comfortable thought… But Izaya seemed to be too weak to try anything. Besides, it's not like he has his flick blade nearby. And a maybe it would help Izaya warm up. Carefully, Shizuo pulled Izaya's sleeping form closer to his own body, trying not to think about what he was doing.

'That reminds me,' Shizuo thought, 'I wonder how he even ended up there in the first place…?'

His curiosity would have to wait of course, seeing as Izaya barely even recognized Shizuo. It would be a lot more difficult for him to remember exactly what happened right now. He would just have to wait until Izaya was feeling better.

Shizuo sighed, giving in to exhaustion and letting sleep take him regardless of who was curled up against him.

…~-~…

Izaya looked around the room, taking note of all of his classmates' frustrated faces. Izaya hadn't found the test hard at all, but many of the others in the room seemed to be struggling. Izaya sat back and smiled as one person in particular caught his attention. Heiwajima Shizuo sat in the same row on the opposite side of the room. He was biting the end of his pen with his brow furrowed in concentration.

Izaya took a moment to admire him. His blonde hair stood out against the rest of the class, making him easier for Izaya to see. Izaya carefully looked over his features, wishing he could get a closer look, but knowing that he probably never would… At least in the way he wanted…

It happened a lot actually… Izaya would find himself daydreaming about how those lips might feel against his own… Or how those strong hands would wrap around his waist…

But those were dreams. They would never become reality. Shizuo hated him, and there was no changing that. Like hell Izaya would ever tell Shizuo how he really felt. The brute probably didn't even understand the meaning of love let alone be capable of loving another person.

Izaya sighed, turning his attention away from the man he loved. Besides, even if Shizuo was capable of love, who would say he would accept love from another man? Izaya rested his head in his hands, suddenly feeling miserable.

When class was finally over, Izaya left the building completely ignoring Shinra's reminders that they had biology club that day. He simply wasn't in the mood. On his way home, Izaya stopped at Rajin Elementary, where his sisters would be leaving any minute now. He waited for them at the entrance, still unable to get Shizuo out of his head.

Izaya reached up and placed his hand on his chest. Why did it hurt so much?

"Iza-nii!" A small voice called accompanied by a waving hand in front of his face. "Are we going or what?"

Izaya shook his head in an attempt to clear some of his thoughts. "Yeah, let's go you little brats."

"That's mean, Iza-nii!"

"Yeah… family… (Yeah, we're your family!)"

Ignoring his sisters, Izaya continued with them following him until they reached their home. Izaya stepped inside and was immediately greeted with a "Welcome home!" from his mother.

When Kyouko came out to see her children, Izaya simply pushed past her and headed for his bedroom.

"Izaya?" She called after him. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Izaya answered coldly before slamming the door behind him.

Once in his room, Izaya dropped his bag on the floor and let himself fall face first onto his bed. Usually the pain would have stopped by the time he got home, but for some reason, today he just felt worse than ever before. His chest ached, and he was starting to get a migraine. Before long, Izaya felt a burning sensation in his eyes that grew steadily until hot tears began to fall down his cheeks.

Izaya couldn't even remember the last time he cried. He knew he'd never cried over a human before though. Burying his face into his pillow, Izaya tried to stop the onslaught of tears, but the more he tried to stop them, the more intense the pain in his chest became.

'This isn't right.' He thought. 'I shouldn't be crying. Especially not over something as simple as a person.'

It didn't take long before a small sob escaped his lips, and that was enough. Izaya sobbed hard into his pillow, hoping that it was enough the muffle the sounds that he couldn't control.

Eventually Izaya gave up on trying to stop the tears. It was just easier to let the pain win and continue to cry his heart out into his pillow. After a while, he was able to breathe easily again, and the tears fell at a much slower pace.

It was then that he heard a knock on his door, followed by footsteps heading towards him. Izaya didn't dare look up, fearing what he might look like right now.

"Izaya?" His mother whispered.

Izaya felt the mattress sink down next to him followed by his mother's hand on his shoulder gently rubbing back and forth.

"Izaya, is everything okay?" She asked.

He couldn't answer her. He knew if he told her "I'm fine", his voice would betray him.

"Izaya, please just tell me what's wrong." She sounded more urgent now. Her hand moved to the back of Izaya's head, and just rested there.

They were both silent for a few minutes, during which time Kyouko had begun to gently run her fingers through Izaya's hair.

"Dinner will be ready soon. Are you hungry?"

Izaya shook his head in response. He already felt sick to his stomach. Food was the very last thing on his mind.

"Okay. I'll make a plate for you when you get hungry."

Izaya simply nodded again, unable to find the strength to lift his head from the pillow as his mother's footsteps grew distant. He could never tell her what was really going on. He could never tell anyone how he felt.

Especially not Heiwajima Shizuo.

…~-~…

When Izaya opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Shizuo's sleeping face directly in front of his own. It definitely wasn't a sight he needed to see after the dream he'd just had. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of the pain he'd felt back in high school.

Ever since they graduated from high school, Izaya had done his best to ignore his feelings for Shizuo. And to be honest, he had been doing a damn good job for a while. The pain he had felt had never come back as strong as it had been the day it had reduced him to tears. But now, seeing Shizuo so close up…

Izaya smiled warmly at the calm face in front of him. It was the first time he'd ever seen Shizuo's expression so relaxed before. In fact, he had never seen his face so close up before at all. Izaya let his eyes wander over Shizuo's face starting from the blonde hair that fell over his forehead, then to his eyelashes which remained their original color.

His eyes paused when they reached his lips. They looked much softer up close than he would have thought them to be. If he could just touch them…

'No…' he thought, tearing his eyes away. 'Don't start thinking like that.'

But…

Izaya's eyes drifted back to Shizuo's lips as he leaned in a little closer.

'Just this once… Then it's over.'

…~-~…

Quick fun fact about your author!

Okay, so… Izaya says that he had a normal childhood, and the only thing strange about his parents is their choice of child's names, so I've always imagined that Kyouko and Shirou would have been caring parents, whether Izaya needed it or not. Think about it. Izaya observes people obsessively, I think he'd know what constitutes a "normal" parent. I'm not the biggest fan of fics where Izaya's parents are abusive/never around. Although, I'm not completely against them, considering I've read many good ones that suggest those themes, it's just that it's my head canon that Izaya's parents—especially his mother would have been very nice people.

/End random babbling.