Kyo lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and sighed. All he could think about was Yuki. He hadn't seen him for a whole week. Ever since that kiss.

That kiss.

He had never had a kiss like it. In his experience, drunken kisses were always sloppy and lusty and were just a necessity to show the other person what he really wanted, which was just sex. But his kiss with Yuki just wasn't like that even one bit. It was loving and passionate. All he wanted to do was kiss him again and again. He could kiss him forever.

But now he couldn't. He would never again most likely. It had meant so much to him, it meant everything to him, yet it didn't to Yuki. For him, it was just a fleeting moment of weakness. Kyo knew he could've been anyone, it didn't matter to Yuki. He was drunk and unhappy and needed someone there for him. Yuki would never break out of his cycle, he was far too comfortable in it. Nothing Kyo could say or do would help him.

The cat had thought about calling Yuki, it was all he had thought about. All day, he thought about his friend; at work, at the bar, sitting in front of the TV, before going to sleep. His friends were concerned, of course. They knew something happened up on that rooftop and they had probably guessed what, but Kyo refused to tell them. He didn't want to talk about it with anyone. They kept telling him to call Yuki, but he wouldn't.

If the rat wanted to call him, he would. But he hadn't and Kyo knew he had to just get over it. He may never see Yuki again for all he knew. He could just go back to his life, the one before Yuki had come into his restaurant and turned his world upside down again. There would be nothing wrong with that and he would probably get over it sooner or later.

Kyo knew it would be easier if he wasn't so hopelessly in love.

Something soft suddenly hit his face and Kyo snapped up, greeted by the sight of Alexa standing over him with her arms crossed, "What the fuck 'Lexa?!"

"You need to get off your mopey ass," Alexa said deadpanned, "It's pathetic."

"Leave me alone."

"Nope," She forcefully moved his legs and sat in the space next to him, "You need to tell me what happened that night. I'm assuming you made a pass at Yuki and he rejected you."

"You wouldn't understand, you're an emotionless tin can," Kyo said sarcastically.

"So you do still have a sense of humour? That's nice to know," He kicked Alexa lightly and turned over to his side, "Come on, Kyo. If you're not going to talk to Yuki and sort it out, at least tell me what's going on in that thick skull of yours."

"I kissed him," Kyo admitted, "And he kissed back, but then he freaked out and we had a massive argument."

"How long did it last?"

Kyo growled, "How does that matter?"

"It matters a lot. If it was a peck, maybe it was just a reflex and he doesn't have any feelings for you. But if it was longer than that…"

"It was longer than that," he sighed, "It was probably a few minutes…"

"So you made out?"

"I'm not going to talk to you if you're not going to take this seriously."

"I am taking it seriously. Kyo, he obviously has feelings for you. I mean, I've told you that before."

"Even if he does, it's not enough. He's never going to break up with Sam though."

"If you told him you loved him maybe he would," Alexa said casually.

Kyo spluttered, "I've never said I loved him."

She tilted her head and gave Kyo a look, a look that he knew far too well. It meant Kyo, really, come on.

Suddenly Kyo's ring tone sounded through the room. He instantly grabbed his phone, hoping it was Yuki like he had done every time he received a call the past week.

And this time it was.

"It's Yuki," Kyo breathed out in disbelief.

"Well don't just stare at it."

Kyo shoved Alexa off the couch and she laughed as she moved into her bedroom. He took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Yuki? I was just-"

Kyo…"

Kyo sat up immediately when he realised Yuki sounded off. He sounded weak. His heart immediately began to race.

"Yuki? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I-I-" Yuki was wheezing down the phone and Kyo already jumped up to grab his keys and jacket, "Asthma attack…"

"Where are you?! Yuki?!"

"West… 81st Street… outside that bath shop..."

"I'm on my way, don't move."

Kyo rushed out the door before he could even tell Alexa where he was going. Once downstairs, he hailed a cab and was shouting at the driver to hurry up, despite the nightmare that was New York traffic.

He eventually got to what Kyo only assumed Yuki meant, 'Bath & Body Works'. He threw far too much money at the driver and jumped out of the taxi.

The rain was coming down hard and Kyo glanced around. He couldn't see Yuki anywhere and he began to panic. The street wasn't busy, he should be here. Where the hell could he have gone?

It then dawned on Kyo. Yuki had changed.

He scanned the floor until he saw a bundle of clothes by a bench on the sidewalk. He grabbed them and carefully searched until he noticed the little rat asleep, under his jacket.

He gathered the clothes and hailed another taxi. When he got in, he held Yuki to his chest, praying that the smaller man wouldn't change in front of the driver.

They got back to Kyo's apartment without Yuki changing back. Alexa yelled at Kyo from her room when she heard the door go, but he immediately locked himself in his own room, grateful that she didn't see him carrying a rat around like a crazy person.

Kyo tucked the rat up in bed and felt his shivers. Deciding he needed something to warm him up, Kyo switched the switch on for the kettle he kept in his room for his morning coffee and waited a moment before filling a hot water bottle up. He lifted the rat and placed him on the bottle.

A few minutes later, though it felt like an hour, Yuki transformed, though still asleep. Kyo was caught off guard for a second, seeing Yuki naked again, but he shook himself out of it and found a jumper and sweatpants. He carefully dressed the man he loved.

He checked Yuki's breathing like he remembered Hatori's doing when they were younger. When he deemed everything alright, he sat down next to his sleeping rat and took a deep breath himself. He could feel his adrenaline drop dramatically and he suddenly felt exhausted.

He made himself a coffee and sat on his desk chair when a voice nearly made him jump out of his skin, "I can't believe you have a kettle in your room."

He turned around and saw Yuki staring at him with tired eyes, "It's convenient."

"Lazy," Yuki corrected with a small smirk.

"You know, you shouldn't be so rude to the guy who just saved your ass," Kyo said with a raised eyebrow.

Yuki closed his eyes slowly and leant back, "I'm sorry. Thank you for this…"

The redhead picked up Yuki's asthma inhaler that he found in the man's pocket and handed it to Yuki, "Didn't you call Sam?"

Yuki took it and had a deep breath from the inhaler, " I knew I would transform… he wouldn't have known it was me."

"Still haven't told him?" Yuki simply shook his head and Kyo thought he should probably change the subject, "You know, Imy's brother is a doctor. Maybe we should tell him about the curse just in case this happens again… I mean this wasn't even a bad asthma attack, Yuki. I've seen you have worse at home but you always had Hatori… you need someone here."

"That sounds good…" Yuki said quietly, "Really… thank you, Kyo."

There was a moment silence as Kyo sat back down on the bed next to Yuki. Yuki shifted ever so slightly away from him and Kyo winced, but the smaller man seemed to backtrack on his decision and leaned towards him.

Kyo sighed loudly and said, "I'm sorry… about last week. I was out of line…"

The rat shook his head, "No, I'm sorry… it shouldn't have happened, I was drunk and stupid. It was a mistake."

The taller man lowered his head and mumbled, "I didn't think it was a mistake..."

Yuki tightly closed his eyes, "Kyo… it was, I'm sorry to say it-"

"Don't start condescending me."

"I have a boyfriend-"

"Who is the biggest dick I've ever met and treats you like shit. And I know you think so too."

He expected some quick insistence that Yuki loved Sam, but he was surprised when a tear rolled down the man's cheek instead. His eyes widened; he had never seen Yuki looking so vulnerable, so broken in his life. In body and spirit. It scared Kyo, Yuki had always been the strong one. He was the weak one. Now the roles were reversed… and he didn't know what to do.

All he could do was hug the man he was in love with.

He reached forward and pulled Yuki into an embrace, cradling the boy close as he sobbed into Kyo's shoulder. Yuki wound his arms around Kyo's neck and grasped onto him tightly.

"I'm here for you, Yuki…" Kyo squeezed, "I'm always here for you…" he cradled Yuki's head, running his fingers through his silver hair, "But you need to break up with Sam."

He felt Yuki nodding against his shoulder frantically, "Why do I do this to myself? Kyo? Why do I do it? I won't let myself be happy… I don't know what it is to be happy anymore…"

"Give yourself a chance at least… get rid of the things in your life that make you unhappy first… Sam is never gonna make you happy, you need to leave him behind and start afresh," he heard a chuckle from Yuki and he frowned, "What?"

"When did you get so wise, Kyo Sohma?"

Kyo smiled, "Since I had to start looking after you."

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden."

"Stop saying sorry you damn rat… I like looking after you."

They stayed like that for a while, just hugging. The feeling of having Yuki in his arms was overwhelming. He felt like he was holding the whole world.

Yuki eventually fell asleep, his limbs wound with Kyo's. He lay the man down on his bed. He thought about getting in and curling up beside Yuki, but he thought it would be too much. Yuki needed his own space and own time to decide things; he remembered what Hatori said to him all those months ago. He needed a push and Kyo had given that to him, it was up to Yuki now.

Kyo felt his stomach rumble and decided to go to the kitchen. He heard the TV and saw Alexa lounging on the sofa.

She turned her head abruptly, "What the hell is going on?"

"Yuki had an asthma attack…"

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping."

She smirked at him, "So you got to play the knight in shining armour? Brownie points to you."

He rolled his eyes, "Not in the mood, 'Lexa," He grabbed a pot of soup from the cupboard, "I'm gonna have to sleep on the sofa tonight so can you stop watching that crap soon?"

"Just sleep in my bed, idiot."

"As long as you don't try it on with me."

She gave him that look of hers again, "You're not my type."

Kyo grinned at her, "I doubt that very much."

~x~

So I managed to get this done pretty quickly! I think I'm going to be updating quite regularly so hopefully I'll finish this story in a few weeks! The next chapter is going to be another big one!

Thank you to SweetLiars, veemistrot, Rainy (anon), Stacy (anon) and some other anonymous reviewers!