A/N: OMG I've been gone for so long! I'm so sorry! I will make it up to you all, first with this! Please enjoy, there will likely be one more chapter and then an epilogue that might lead into a possible sequel! I also have two other Free! fics that I will start soon, one a fluffy RinHaru, and the other a totally goofy SouHaru!

Enjoy!
-Katie :)

Chapter Nine

Days Pass By

Haru stared up at the ceiling, the silence in his house almost deafening. He could hear the steady pulse of his heart, and the soft sounds of inhalation and exhalation. The world seemed to stand still, nothing moving and nothing making a sound. Blue eyes glanced sideways at his arms, each in turn. He noted how the cuts that were once red and angry were beginning to fade, some of the deeper ones beginning to scar. They would be permanent reminders of his weakness. He would see them, even while he swam, and remember that he was a pathetic excuse for a human being. Self-loathing washed over Haru like a tsunami, making him squeeze his eyes shut and clench his fists, bracing for impact. However, as quickly as he closed his eyes they shot open. Every time he closed his eyes, the only thing he could see was that look on Sousuke Yamazaki's face. That look of utter disappointment.

Those teal eyes bore into his every time he tried to sleep, keeping him awake until his body could not physically stand to be active another second. Those eyes haunted him, and eventually Haru began to wonder if Sousuke had been thinking of him. Thinking of how stupid he was, and how ashamed he (Sousuke) must be to have been actually becoming friends with someone so senseless.

Days had passed by, exactly six days, since the incident. In those six days, Haru went to school twice, and then decided that he would prefer to lay at home instead. No one had tried to come speak to him; no one knew what to say. Rin did attempt to call him once, but he soon realized that it was a futile attempt and gave up. Sousuke had no tried to reach him even once. Neither had Makoto, Rei, or Nagisa. It surprised him that Makoto had not tried to come over. Although, Haru did not think anyone would want to see him after what he had done.

So this is my worth. I am worth nothing to those whom I called friends. Rin does not care, Sousuke does not care. I am useless. Pathetic. Haru scoffed at his thoughts. Sitting up in his bed, the black haired swimmer swung his feet over the edge of the bed. It was Saturday, which meant that no one was in school. For a brief moment, Haru considered texting Sousuke, but in the end he talked himself out of it. Standing up from the bed, Haru walked down that hall and into his bathroom. He left the door open as he quietly removed his sleeping pants and turned on the shower. Glancing slightly at the bathtub, he could still see a light rust colored ring around the tub. He had not taken a bath since Sunday.

Stepping into the shower, he sighed as hot water ran down his body, shivering lightly as it traveled down his spine. The freestyle swimmer did not spend long in the shower, only staying in to wash his hair. He stepped out and grabbed a towel. As he dried off his body and hair, he heard his phone vibrate in his bedroom. Curiosity rose in Haru, as he walked to his room with his towel draped over his head. Picking up his phone he stared down at the screen, as it blared in bright text that he had received a text message from Rin.

Do u want to go out 2nite?

Looking down at his arms once more, Haru opened his phone and replied:

Okay.

He received another message after, saying that Rin would be over around 5:00pm to get him and they would go out to dinner. The idea sounded good to Haru, so he agreed and went to his closet to pick out clothes. He pulled on his swimsuit, and then a pair of black skinny jeans over them. Deciding to pick out a shirt closer to the time Rin would get there, Haru went downstairs to make himself breakfast.

/

Sousuke looked at his phone that sat on the desk across from his bed. He could hear Rin on the bed above him playing games on his PSP, and could hear his phone buzz every now and then. With a sigh, Sousuke climbed out of bed and grabbed his phone.

"I'm going for a walk." He said, before leaving the room. He walked out of Samezuka, watching the clouds as he strolled slowly down the street with his fingers interlocked behind his head. With not specific place in mind to go, Sousuke walked until he reached the beach. A soft breeze was coming off the water, carrying a slightly salty scent that vaguely reminded him of a certain freestyle swimmer.

He always smells like chlorine, ocean salt, and lavender. Sousuke thought as a fond smile began to work its way onto his face. He stopped it though, frowning instead at the memory of Haru lying in bed, looking barely alive. Clenching his jaw, Sousuke kept walking, dropping his arms and shoving his hands into his jeans pocket. He ripped his gaze away from the ocean, as if it had offended him. As he wandered, Sousuke glanced around at the houses near him, suddenly realizing that he knew where he was. He stopped in his tracks as he ended up in front of a set of stone stairs.

It was not the first time that he had ended up here without thinking. In fact, this had happened every day since Makoto informed Rin that Haru had stopped coming to school, starting on Wednesday. Every time he got to those steps, he would watch Haru's house for a long moment, trying to decide if he should go up to the door. Every time so far, he has chosen not to.

Do I really want to see him? After what he did? Sousuke thought, his teal eyes burning with anger but also sadness. He wanted to know why, why someone as strong as Haruka Nanase would do something like that to himself. On the other hand, he did not want to walk in and find out if Haru had done it again, or something worse. A chill ran up Sousuke's spine, and he felt his shoulders tense up.

So many days had passed by since they had spoken. Their friendship had gotten to a point where they would talk at least once in a day, just to say hello. In these six days, Sousuke found it harder to sleep at night without talking to Haru first. He wondered if it was the same for the black haired teen.

It was then that Sousuke decided. He put a foot on the first step, and began his steady ascent to the house that sat at the top. Once he reached the front yard, two cats ran over to him, meowing fiercely with excitement. Yuki and Kuro had grown up so much since the first time he had been there. With a smile, Sousuke leaned down and gave both cats scratches under their chins before walking up to the front door. Taking a deep breath, he raised a fist and knocked three times.

Silence met him. He stood there, for what seemed like minutes, but in reality was only mere seconds, before the door was cracked open. Blue eyes met teal, and Sousuke felt his heart pound hard in his chest. The door opened the rest of the way, allowing Sousuke to see Haru's bare torso and his black pants. His hair was wet, so it was apparent that he had just showered. But what really caught Sousuke's attention was those eyes of his.

Ocean eyes stared deep into Sousuke's, for a brief moment showing him every emotion going through Haru's mind; tiredness, surprise, joy, pain, and something that made Sousuke's heart ache; fear.

"Hey, Haru." The taller boy's voice was even, and his face calm, regardless of the stir of emotion within him. Haru's eyes shut him out, his stoic expression claiming its usual place.

"Sousuke." He replied, his voice sounding smaller than it used to. They stood there for a moment, Sousuke looking at Haru, and Haru looking away. The shorter was about to speak when big, strong arms wrapped around him and pulled him close. Haru tensed on instinct, but slowly felt himself melt into Sousuke's embrace. He wrapped his arms around the taller male, burying his face between Sousuke's arm and chest. Sousuke closed his eyes, breathing in Haru's scent and sighing as he hugged him closer. He felt the other shake slightly in his arms, and recognized it immediately as Haru's attempt not to cry.

"I'm sorry," Sousuke whispered into Haru's ear. Haru sniffled softly, unable to look up at the other.

"Why?"

"For not being here when you needed me." Haru felt tears fall from his eyes, and he looked up at Sousuke. The teal eyed teenager could see the pain in the younger's eyes as tears brimmed.

"I am sorry, for disappointing you." Haru managed, his voice very soft, just loud enough for Sousuke to hear. They smiled slightly at each other and ended their hug. Haru moved to invite Sousuke inside, who obliged happily and went to his old spot; right on the corner of the couch. Haru shut the door and went over to him, sitting next to him and laying his head on Sousuke's shoulder. A large hand took Haru's, warm and comforting.

"Haru?" a low voice asked.

"Yes, Sousuke?" he replied softly.

"Can you tell me why?" Sousuke's voice was very quiet, and not pushing. He said it in a way that made Haru feel like he would understand if he did not want to talk about it. But, because of this feeling of understanding, Haru felt it was time to open up. He nodded, and then felt Sousuke move to lounge more on the couch, pulling Haru gently to lay against him so that he would be more comfortable. They held hands, Sousuke's thumb gently rubbing back and forth against Haru's hand.

"Rin and I have been dating for a long time. And in the beginning, it was fine. We would do everything that normal couple did; go out to eat, see movies, hang out, and whatnot. A couple months after we began seeing each other, he started to change. His temper got particularly bad, and it would last for hours or days. Rin isn't who everyone thinks he is, with his smile and his happy-go-lucky attitude.

After his temper started, he shouted a lot. He got angry over very minute things, and it was troublesome. Soon after that started…other things started." Haru absentmindedly brushed his fingers over the raised, pink scar that just peeked out from above the hem of his pants. Sousuke eyed it curiously, but remained silent.

"He is a very aggressive person. We started getting into fights, but I never wanted to hurt him, so I would never fight back. I would just stand there, like a punching bag." Sousuke felt his hands begin to tremble with anger, squeezing Haru's hand lightly and feeling himself scowl.

"He's overprotective, and hardly lets me go anywhere. If I come home late, there are consequences. Everything now seems to have a consequence. So I thought, maybe if I can't feel it anymore, it'll get better. Maybe if I can be numb and just let myself go somewhere else, it will be okay. So…" he raised his arm slightly to indicate the last bit of the story. Sousuke felt rage settling in his belly and coursing through every vein in his body.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Sousuke asked through clenched teeth. He felt Haru tense at the sound of his voice, looking as if he were ready to take a hit.

"Rin said not to, and I learned long ago to not go against what he says." Haru replied, sounding defeated. He reached a slim hand down and lightly pulled down the hem of his pants to reveal the scar on his hip. Sousuke was taken aback by what it actually was. His eyes held a sadness, but also an anger as it looked at the scar that was the kanji symbols for "Whore".

/

Sousuke stayed with Haru until 3:00pm, talking with him but mostly laying on the couch and watching television together. Haru tugged on his hand as he was leaving, making Sousuke turn to face him.

"Sousuke, I am going to break up with Rin tonight." He said, fear in his eyes, but confidence in his voice. Sousuke gave him a half smile.

"I am only a phone call away, Haru." He said before leaning down and giving Haru a light kiss on the cheek. A light blush dusted the freestyle swimmers cheeks as Sousuke smiled and turned, leaving Haru to smile like an idiot and watch him walk down the stairs.

Days had passed by, but now it was time. Today was the today. With the confidence Sousuke had given him, Haru was finally going to end his suffering.

One thought nagged him like a knife held to his throat; how will Rin handle the breakup?