I think you can tell what mood I'm in by the content of each chapter of this story. Seriously, it's getting pathetic how bipolar I am. -TPP


Tear It Up

Chapter 9: Fever


Shinji had to admit that this was probably the most peaceful, lazy, content day he'd ever experienced since entering college. Uryu had promised him a picnic, and a picnic he did receive. He had been dependent on Ichigo for his cooking skills nearly his entire life: Shinji was extremely talented when it came to fashion and design, but even his eccentric self-centered self knew he couldn't make toast without burning it. Uryu's picnic ended up being more like a feast: an endless variety of sushi, vegetables, fruits, and homemade strawberry crepes for dessert (he didn't know how Uryu pulled all of this off without having a dorm kitchen, but he was still impressed.)

And the location! Just a short walk from campus and it felt like a private woodland wonderland. Bright flowers and even a fucking gurgling stream. Shinji was still waiting for Bambi and the other woodland creatures to attack the cliché tranquility.

And Uryu. Shinji had blamed the drooling on the food, but he was still salivating after gorging himself. Uryu cleaned up nice, even if he was dressed simply in a white t-shirt, grey skinny jeans, and a blue-and-white flannel shirt, unbuttoned, the arms rolled up. It was positively laid-back-artist chic, and Shinji was currently nibbling shyly on one of the delicious crepes to distract his mind.

His chest felt all…tingly. He wasn't horny, it was more like…contentment? He didn't know what to call it. Uryu had been absolutely charming, adorable even, although he was still a little reserved, a little shy, which Shinji mirrirored for the first time in his life.

Shinji had never, ever been shy. Ichigo had always told him it was one of his strong points, as well as a weak point. Sometimes he was a little too crass, a little too blunt, which turned people off. Shinji knew he used it as a weapon to keep himself from getting attached to others; Shinji was a naturally passionate person. He got hurt too easily, so it was a quick mechanism to fall back on.

But Uryu…Shinji really hadn't expected Uryu to be so serious, to really, truly, want to be with him, to come after him. Shinji was a master at running, and so far, he hadn't had the inclination or the desire to even start off at a brisk jog.

It was scary, but a little bit wonderful at the same time.

"Shinji? Is everything okay?" Uryu asked. The tone was uncharacteristically soft, making Shinji's face flush an even more obnoxious shade of red.

Shinji's mind was a whirlwind. He was scared, maybe, definitely a little confused, and he had never been one to hold things in.

"Why do you like me?" Shinji snapped heatedly, but it came out almost like a hiccup. He looked at Uryu despite his blush, "Why are you working so hard? I'm trying my damndest not to like you, and you're just…you're just…a persistent brat!"

Shinji fell back in the grass, ignoring his outstretched legs that were now probably messing up the picnic blanket. Uryu was an extremely clean individual, which was in complete contrast to Shinji's neurotic disorderliness.

"You're strong," Uryu began, not moving from his spot on the other side of the picnic blanket, "You're creative and decisive: which is quite the feat given your spontaneous nature. You care deeply for those closest to you and defend them to the death. You don't care what others think of you, and when you yawn, your nose crinkles up. It's really adorable."

Shinji sat up slowly as Uryu continued the list, not sure if he should be embarrassed or flattered. Uncomfortable with the sudden tightness in his chest, Shinji fell back on the first snide remark he could think of, "You sound like a stalker."

Uryu was sitting Indian style, his hands resting on his knees as he smiled at Shinji. Shinji felt like a fish out of water, practically gurgling at the attractive smile.

Uryu smiling. Uryu…smiling…brain…shutting…down…

"Stop it!" Shinji practically shrieked, throwing a temper tantrum as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Look, I don't know what I was thinking. This is insane, this is just crazy, this isn't like me at all. I can't fall for somebody like you! You're not the stuck-up, snobby sweater vest wearing geek with a Lolita fetish that I thought you were, and seeing you be all smiley and complimentary and nice is just throwing me off, alright? This…I don't like this at all."

Uryu was silent for what felt like eternity before Shinji dared to look at him, beginning to hate himself for his fiery temper. He was running scared, and that thought made him more pissed off then the fact that he might actually return some of Uryu's feelings and affections. Shinji had always been an emotional creature, always falling headlong into things too fast, even if he had never had a decent relationship. He could hear Ichigo teasing him in his subconscious about how he was crushing on a good, sweet nerd for once in his life instead of the dangerous bad boys he was used to chasing.

Uryu finally took a deep breath and let it out slowly, removing his glasses and focusing his dark blue eyes on Shinji, his face serious, "I like you. I'm a sadist in my affections; I've always had that problem. When I am sincerely attracted to someone, I treat them like dirt. At first. I like to tease, but I don't want to tease any more. I was also avoiding confronting my feelings due to the stress of this semester, and I was unsure of your real relationship with Kurosaki. I'm desperately jealous of him, but I knew the only way to insure you never picked up on my feelings was to help him out when he needed it. Maybe a part of me hoped you would be jealous of the time I spent helping him with projects, I don't know, but I'm tired of pretending I don't want you: I'm a lot more aggressive then I look, Shinji-kun."

Shinji felt goose bumps racing up and down his arms and spine as Uryu stared at him intently, not mincing his words. God Shinji could just melt all over the picnic blanket. Shinji briefly wondered if Uryu's glasses were some kind of magical barrier that kept his inner-dominant-seme self locked away and replaced him with gooey, sappy, desperate-for-your-attention Uryu that was also balanced out with the I-will-always-be-better-than-you Uryu that his father had trained him to be.

But it was the first sentence that had made Shinji listen to Uryu's calm explanations. Shinji remembered telling Ichigo that maybe Uryu had a thing for him, but now he came to find that Uryu was simply trying to avoid Shinji the entire time? Even trying to make him jealous? Well that certainly explained a lot.

"Um, that explains a lot, actually," Shinji said lowly, rubbing at his forearm in embarrassment, averting his eyes before thinking it through and looking at Uryu in what was almost annoyance, "You thought me and Ichigo had something going on? Puh-lease, like that's never been thought of before. Be a little more original, will you? We've been buddies since diapers!"

"Attraction knows no bounds," Uryu said sagely, his eyes still piercing, but his face softened slightly as he stared at Uryu before he got up as nimbly and quickly as a ninja and offered Shinji his hand, "Come on. This date's not over yet."

"Where are we going?" Shinji asked, taking his hand and being brought to his feet fast enough to give him vertigo.

Uryu kissed Shinji's knuckles, making Shinji's legs shake slightly, "I'm going to prove to you that this is not a joke, that I genuinely like you, that I'm only looking at you and nobody else and I want you to feel the same way."

"How are you going to do that? And where?" Shinji said, swallowing hard as Uryu began to lead him away.

"My room," Uryu said simply, offering Shinji a smirk he didn't trust at all, "After all, I only have one week to work with."


Shinji had never been in Uryu's dorm room. He had pictured it this clean, this organized, though. Shinji could see the entire floor, nothing to make him stumble. A large book shelf was arranged in alphabetical order, everything from Chuck Palahniuk novels in English to thick textbooks for different college courses. Fashion magazines lay in a neat pile on a corner of the desk, along with several color samples. The walls were covered in quotes arranged in neat lines, some of them in what looked like big Sharpie marker to tiny, hand written pencil marks in kanji and English alike. Most of them were inspirational, or sagely, or just about creativity and imagination.

Shinji smiled as he read some that were obviously song lyrics, some of them sappy, some of them sad. He hadn't known Uryu had such a variety of tastes.

Uryu had asked him to take a seat wherever he liked, so he had plopped down in the swivel desk chair because he had been too nervous to sit on the perfectly made dark blue bed spread.

Uryu was turning back from the closet, an acoustic guitar in his hands.

Shinji's eyebrows lifted to the sky, "I didn't know you played guitar."

"I didn't," Uryu confessed, his ears red from embarrassment, "but Kurosaki and I started talking about music on one of our project breaks, and he mentioned how much you liked acoustic songs. So…so I started taking lessons a few months ago."

Shinji's mouth dropped open as he watched Uryu settle on the edge of his bed, guitar in his lap, hair covering his face as he began to strum, "So I…so…I wanted to play this for you."

To say Shinji was totally blind-sided was an understatement. Coming back to his dorm room had had Shinji's mind floating with many different possibilities, possibilities that had involved a mega-make out session, or something along those lines, possibly even sex, a seduction, or something, but this?

But this? This? This was too fucking adorable, and Shinji's chest tightened again as Uryu began, Shinji not recognizing the song but he understood enough English to have his heart melt:

"You say that Gainesville's got no soul, well that sounds like a good excuse for coming home.

And all these Tallahassee skylines, they keep singing our song, and now it's your song…they've been singing all night long…"

Shinji sat, transfixed, Uryu's eyes on his fingers, his hands shaking slightly as he tried to keep the tempo going.

"…I'll sing every song and ruin it if it'll make you want to stay…and it'll say that I miss you, and these words…they'll convince you…"

Shinji's eyes widened, his face feeling overheated as he continued to listen to Uryu's emotional voice.

"And I can call you baby doll all the time, and you'd whisper in my ears you'd say 'I miss you, boy', sing it over again and over again and over again…

And I can call you baby doll all the time, and you'd whiser in my ears you'd say 'I miss you, boy', sing it over again and over again and over again…"

Shinji swallowed, his pulse feeling like it was pounding in his throat. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.

"So you'd say…that I miss you…and these words…they'll convince you…

and I'm open as I kiss youuuu…And I can call you baby doll all the time, and you'd whisper in my ears you'd say –"

Shinji moved quickly, standing up and putting his hands over Uryu's, stopping the music. Uryu craned his neck up, his eyes questioning and let out a gasp as Shinji's lips met his.

Fire instantly ignited in Shinji's gut as his hands moved up to cup Uryu's face, his tongue slipping into Uryu's mouth. Shinji pulled back a minute later, both of them huffing for air.

"Ba-BAKA!" Shinji said, slapping Uryu's forehead lightly with the palm of his hand, Uryu's face almost bewildered, "You can't – you just – I can't believe you just did that. Have you been reading shoujo? Or is it the Korean dramas, because I'm secretly in love with those too and you can't be this cute with me it's my greatest weakness -"

"You're cute," Uryu said seriously, one of his hands reaching up to twirl a piece of Shinji's silk blonde hair.

"Shut up."

"You're adorable."

"Stop it!"

"Kawaiiiii," Uryu said with a grin before standing up and pecking Shinji on the nose. Shinji practically squealed at the action.

Shinji lifted his hands, pressing them against Uryu's chest, his fingers tightening in the front of his shirt, Uryu so close he could smell Uryu's aftershave. Uryu's arms settled around Shinji's neck in a harmless hug, making Shinji feel like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest.

He was completely taken aback by all the affection, the innocent touches. They were making him dizzy. He was used to sex and foreplay, but this, this was a totally different experience that had Shinji craving more.

"I like this side of you, too," Uryu said sincerely, still holding Shinji close, "The blushing and stuttering is even more cute than I initially realized."

"Shut up," Shinji mumbled, laying his forehead against Uryu's shoulder. Uryu was a little taller: Shinji would have to get on his tiptoes to kiss him properly.

That thought made Shinji's blush even harder. Shit, when had he turned into such a pansy? He was gay, but he was still a guy, for Christ's sake!

Mind made up, he reached up on his tiptoes to kiss Uryu on the lips, a quick brush of lips that would hopefully have Uryu craving more before he pushed Uryu back, watching him stumble back against his bed, watching Shinji curiously.

"Call me," Shinji said, strutting out Uryu's bedroom door before he lost all sense of control and his feigned cool, "Or else. Got it?"

Uryu was still lying back on the bed, propped up by his elbows, his slow, sideways grin making Shinji's pants suddenly very tight and uncomfortable, "I'd like that."


"So, how'd it go?" Ichigo said, watching his best friend traipse into the dorm room in a daze.

Shinji collapsed onto his own bed, face in the pillow, his voice muffled.

"Sorry, could 'ya run that by me again?" Ichigo said sarcastically, setting down the car magazine he'd borrowed from Grimmjow's stash at the garage. He had his own date with the blue haired boy that night, but he was still curious about how Shinji was developing with Uryu. It was still really strange, maybe even a little awkward for Ichigo to take in.

Shinji turned onto his side, his cheeks red enough to make Ichigo grin like an idiot.

"Ichi…he might be The One."

Ichigo burst into laughter, putting a hand over his mouth until he could calm down enough to take in Shinji's appearance. Ichigo had seen Shinji claim a boy to be The One enough times to know he was just smitten at the moment. But, it wasn't like Ichigo could judge him, either. If anybody deserved some actual happiness in the romance department, it was Shinji.

He looked so…so middle-school-girl-crush right now.

"What did he do?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Shinji put his hands over his face, sucking in a huge breath before looking at Ichigo, "He serenaded me. With a guitar. He called me a baby doll. What the fuck, Ichi? Who does that?"

Ichigo didn't even laugh, but his smile was big enough to rival his blue-haired boyfriend's, "Shit, who knew Uryu was such a romantic?"

Shinji flopped his face back into his pillow, sighing deeply.

Shit, he really was a goner, huh?