The next morning, I opened my eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the slight sunlight that was coming through my shades. Turning over in my bed, I was actually surprised to see that Ikuto was not there. He always crawled into my bed beside me in the middle of the night, and though I protested, I was starting to get used to it. I looked down to find him still asleep on the floor in the exact same position he had been in when he fell asleep. Frowning, I looked a little closer at him.

He really did look feverish. His face was slightly red and I could see sweat on his forehead. His breathing was slightly labored as well. Getting out of bed, I crossed over to my bedroom door, slowly turning the knob and walking out into the hall.

"Amu? Is that you? I'm glad you're up, it's time for school!" I heard my mother's voice from down the hall. Crap.

"Mama?" I said, inserting a fake cough. "I…I feel pretty sick and I have a really bad head ache…I don't think I'm going today. I'm…I'm just going to the bathroom to get some medicine and a damp cloth," I told her, inserting another fake cough.

"Well, Ok, if you think you need to stay home, then go ahead. I'll come back to check on you around lunch time," she said.

Grabbing the supplies, I walked back to my room and shut the door behind me. I headed right over to where Ikuto lay on the floor, still sleeping. Remembering how he had reacted in his sleep last night, I decided that it would be best to wake him, even just for a couple minutes.

"Ikuto…wake up. I think you have a fever," I said, shaking him gently awake. Opening his eyes, he looked up at me, not fully functioning yet.

"Fever…?" he asked me groggily. I didn't answer, but instead handed him a couple of tablets to take as I brought the damp cloth to his heated forehead.

Swallowing the pills, he laid back down, turning slightly to put his head in my lap. Without conscious thought, I started to thread my fingers through his hair as I held the cloth on with my other hand.

Within minutes, he was asleep again, breathing evenly on my exposed leg. Sighing, I took his head and gently set it back onto the pillow. Then I got up, yawned, and climbed right back into bed to sleep for a couple more hours.

I woke up to someone pounding on my door. Jarred awake and feeling exhausted from over-sleeping, I put a hand to my now actually aching head.

"Amu, I brought some soup up, come and get it when you're ready, it's by the door," I heard my mother say from outside. Thank God she allowed me my privacy and didn't come in.

Groaning, I turned over and put the pillow back over my head, not wanting to move. I almost thought about going back to sleep, and I might have except for this small ripping sound in the background that I couldn't ignore. When it didn't stop, I sighed and sat up in bed, looking to see what it was.

Ikuto was sitting up in the makeshift bed. He had evidently found the bandages and rubbing alcohol, because he was trying to rip pieces of bandage off the roll and wrap it around his arm, the arm that I remembered had one of the deepest, bloodiest cuts.

"What the hell…why are you awake…" I grumbled at him, wanting nothing but to go back to sleep. He looked up at me, surprised.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to wake you up…but this bandage…it was all bloody and it hurt a little…and then I saw these bandages under your bed…so I thought…" he started to say.

With a tremendous effort, I made myself get out of bed, and I lowered myself to the floor next to him. "You can't bandage your own arm by yourself, idiot," I told him.

He didn't say anything, but silently watched me as I cleaned the wound again and reapplied the bandages. When I was done I looked up and was momentarily caught in his gaze.

"Th-there," I stuttered after a moment. "That should do it."

Before I realized what was happening, he was inches from my face. "You know, you still space out just like a kid," he told me, looking straight into my eyes.

"And you still have no respect for people's personal space," I told him, pushing him away. This caused him to smirk.

Suddenly he stood up and walked over to my bed again.

"…What are you doing?" I asked him suspiciously.

"I'm tired. I'm going back to sleep," he told me, stretching like a cat as he sat down.

"Hold on. I'm tired too! You sleep on the floor."

"Did you see these bruises?"

"Wh…you were fine on the floor last night! And anyway…we should probably not go back to sleep…it's already lunch time, you know. You don't want to get too much sleep and then not be able to get to bed tonight," I told him.

"I could never get too much sleep," he said, yawning, but staying upright, nonetheless.

Deciding that maybe I was hungry after all, I got up to open my door and retrieve the soup my mother had left me. I brought it back in and sat on my bed with the tray on my lap.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Ikuto, wondering how we would share with just one spoon.

"No," he said as he scooted down the bed to lie on his back beside me.

"So. I guess you didn't find your father this time either, then?" I asked him, though I suspected that had he found his father I would have known by now.

"No," he said, keeping his answer short. I supposed that after so long, even something as important as this felt nonchalant when day after day you searched, finding nothing.

"So how did you get those bruises, then?" I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral.

"Here and there," he said vaguely.

"Ikuto. You don't get those kinds of bruises "here and there" unless "here" is a street fight and "there" is a boxing arena. Are you trying to be vague or are you really this unaffected by the poor condition your body is in?"

"It's just not important," he said, shrugging it off.

"If your well-being isn't important than what is, Ikuto?" I asked, starting to feel a little annoyed.

"You," he said, looking up at me from his place on the bed. I tried to hide the blush that came to my cheeks. This was not the time to get sentimental.

"Did someone do it to you?" I asked again, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Nope."

"Ikuto!"

"Relax, Amu. Everything is fine," he said, taking the now empty tray and putting it on the ground as he put his hand around my waist and pulled me back to lie down next to him.

"Maybe it's not. Ikuto…how long is this going to go on?"

"Well, usually bruises take a couple weeks to heal—"

"Not that! Ikuto…you still haven't found your father. Are you going to just…keep searching for him until you find him, coming back around here every once in a while to say hi and tend your wounds, then go to it again?

"Is that what you think Amu? That I come back just for those reasons?"

"I…wha-no, I mean—"

"I come back because I need to recharge. If I go too long without seeing you, I get discouraged and lonely. You know that you aren't just a "bed and breakfast" to me, right? I only stay here because it's the only way I get to spend an acceptable amount of time with you. Amu…you aren't just a pit stop. You're home, the place I will always need to come back to," he told me, folding his arms behind his head as he finished speaking.

We were quiet for a while then, enjoying each other's company, not having to say anything to fill the silence. Before I knew it, he had turned towards me and put his face into my hair again, wrapping his arms around me. "You're still so warm, just like a kid," he told me. When I tried to push him off of me, he laughed, kissing my nose and causing me to blush furiously.

"W-why do you always do that?"

"What, kiss you on the nose? Well—"

"Ikuto."

"What is it?"

"I'm not a kid anymore," I told him, looking him right in the eye, even though I knew I was red as a tomato. He smiled a strange smile down at me before raising a hand to stroke my cheek.

"You think so, huh?"

"I'm almost as old as you were when we met!" I tried to tell him.

"My point exactly. I was definitely still a kid when we met," he told me seriously.

"But I'm—" I started but was silenced as he suddenly pressed his lips to mine. He lingered there for a second, and then pulled away, that familiar smirk on his lips again. "How's that? Better?" he said as he sat up again, pulling me with him.

For a moment I just stared at him wide-eyed, not knowing what to say as my heart beat a million miles per minute. He stared right back at me until some invisible signal seemed to break the trance.

Moving in again, I touched my lips to his. Now he was the one to be surprised, I thought as I felt him stiffen slightly in shock, as if he had expected something other than me kissing him back.

As I continued to press my lips to his, he still didn't move, though he didn't protest either. Trying to figure out what he was doing, I tried harder to get him to just relax and go with it. I reached my hands up, playing with his hair as I kissed him. Still, he didn't move, so I figured he needed some extra help. I took my hands away from his hair, instead taking his hands and placing them on my waist. He didn't move them, but stared at me intensely.

Moving in again, I brought my lips to his and put my hands back into his midnight hair. Finally, his lips started to move, ever so slightly.

As we kissed properly, I felt a warmth settle in my chest. This somehow felt so right. As we continued to move our lips together, I felt his tongue press at my mouth, and knowing instinctively what to do, I parted my lips allowing him into the inside of my mouth.

There was a taste on his tongue, and somehow it tasted of him. Wanting more, I deepened the kiss.

Abruptly, he stopped and pulled away from me. He sat there looking at me, waiting for me to say something.

"What is it?" I asked, wondering why he had stopped.

"Well, that was our first kiss."

"Yes…I realize that…"

"And it was turning into more than just a kiss," he told me, still staring intensely at me.

"Yes…and?" I asked him. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Ikuto, what is the problem?" I asked him wanting to get to the bottom of this. He blinked at me, as if I somehow was supposed to know what he was thinking.

"Ikuto. I can't read your mind. Tell me what this is about."

He didn't say anything. I was starting to get annoyed.

"Is this about me being a kid? Because I told you I'm not anymore—"

"No," he cut me off. "I can see that you're growing up."

"Then what?" I asked, exasperated.

"Nothing," he said, sighing as he smiled a very tired-looking smile, making me even more curious. "You know, I am getting a little hungry now. Why don't we get some lunch."

Later that night as I sat on my bed eating the dinner my mother had brought me, I watched him, thinking about what had happened earlier.

"Spacing out I see. It's ok, you can stare at me all you want," Ikuto said, smirking as he laid back against the pillows having finished his sandwich. Good to see he was back to normal I thought as I threw a small decorative pillow at his head. Just then the phone rang.

"Hello?" I said after running over to my cell phone which was on my desk.

"Amu, are you ok? You weren't in class this morning," Tadase's voice came through the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little…sick. Don't worry about it," I told him, feeling a little guilty about lying to one of my closest friends.

"Oh no, I hope you feel better soon. I'll made sure to take extra notes for you in all of the classes we have together, so don't worry about getting behind?" he told me.

"Thank you Tadase, that's really helpful," I told him, smiling in spite of myself. He was such a sweet guy.

"No problem. Rest up and get better Amu," he told me before hanging up. Putting the phone down, I turned around and ran into a chest.

"GAH—what are you doing over here?!" I yelled at Ikuto, who was undoubtedly the owner of the chest.

"Tadase, huh? How are things going with him?" He asked me, hugging me tightly to him so that my face was still pressed into him.

"Wh-what?! They're fine! We're friends, so it's completely normal for us to talk on the phone—" I started as I tried to push him away from me, somehow frantic to prove to him that Tadase and I were only friends.

"Relax, I know that. Do you really think I would have kissed you if you and Tadase were anything more than friends?" he asked, surprising me.

"I…well, uh…" I stuttered, trying to think of something to say. Before I could, he smirked at me and then swooped in to kiss me again on the lips.

Completely forgetting what I had been about to think of, I kissed him back, relieved that he finally seemed to be ok with this. Maybe it had just been nerves before.

Stopping, he put his forehead to mine, eyes still closed. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to kiss you," he said softly, making me blush.

"Then…why didn't you?"

"I did."

"No! I mean…before. Why didn't you kiss me before if you wanted to so badly?"

"Because the time wasn't right," he told me, smiling. Taking my hand, he led me back to the bed and sat down on it. Following, I didn't waste any time before I climbed onto his lap and took his face in my hands. Now that I had had a taste, I couldn't get enough of him.

As I kissed him once again, I heard him chuckle. I guided his hands to my hips again and then put my own in his hair as we continued.

After a while, I let my hands trail down to his neck and shoulders, then his chest. He breathed in deeply and his lips slowed on mine. Sliding my hands down, I found the hem of his shirt and brought them up to touch his bare chest. He stiffened for a moment, but as I rubbed my hands over him he let out a breath, wrapping his arms around me tighter.

As we moved our lips together, I found my hands wandering down his sides. He had such narrow hips. As I rested my hands on his hip bones, he shivered slightly and pulled away from our kiss. I frowned, looking up at him to see what was wrong now.

"It's probably time to head to bed, don't you think?" he said out of the blue.

"What? Bed? Now?"

"Of course. You can't skip school again tomorrow, after all. You need to be well rested," he said matter-of factly, making me scowl at him.

"Fine, I suppose you're right," I said, getting up and walking over to grab my pajamas. "D-don't look, ok? My mother will think it's weird if I go to change in the bathroom," I said awkwardly.

"I won't," he told me, turning around to bury his face in my pillow. One I was changed, I walked over to the bed.

"Ok, out," I told him, pointing towards the floor.

"But it's so comfy in here," he told me, voice muffled in the pillow.

"Get OUT!" I yelled, climbing onto the bed and pushing him over the edge. He landed with a thud on my floor.

"That hurt," he complained. "That was not very cute at all."

"I wasn't trying to be cute! I was trying to get you out of my bed. And it worked."

"So I can kiss you, but I can't sleep in your bed?" he asked me, a small hint of a smirk on his face.

"Yes!" I yelled at him, crossing my arms. "Now goodnight."

"Goodnight, Amu," he replied softly.