Author's Note: Have I been gone longer than I said? *grimaces and nods head reluctantly* Should you be upset with me? *shakes head adamantly with wide eyes* Haha. Sorry. I got a little sidetracked (crazy) over another work. I apologize. But as of now, this story is my main priority on here.

And this chapter was really hard to write up for some reason, hope you guys like it...

- Chapter 12 -

Ichigo walked, hands stuffed in his jeans' pockets, the air cool but the bright sun shining warmly on his neck. He shook his head, a begrudging grin pushing at his lips as Grimmjow looked around the amusement park with an expression that bordered somewhere between agitated and confused, his steps hesitant and sizable muscles tense, reminding the shinigami almost of a wild animal.

"Watch out!" A group of more than ten teenage girls all wearing the same purple shirt ran between Ichigo and Grimmjow, causing the latter's expression to darken as he took a wooden step back to make way for the giggling and shouting girls.

Ichigo nodded politely when two of the girls, who appeared around his age, said hi to him shyly as they passed, and then he began walking again, meeting up with a disturbed-looking Grimmjow.

"It's crowded," Grimmjow said roughly, snarling at a second group of girls dressed in similar shirts as they approached, and Ichigo motioned with a tilt of his chin to the side and onto a small path that wasn't as busy as the one that went straight through the entire park. "Why is it so fucking crowded?"

Ichigo held back a smile, finding the ex-Espada's reactions pleasant for some reason. It felt sincere, like he wasn't trying to sway Ichigo or lie to him or mess with him, he was just reacting. And Grimmjow was confused, which made sense. The shinigami ran a hand over spiky hair, glancing up at the taller man, who looked a little less tense but not any more sure. "It's how these places are," he offered, "you just gotta ignore them until you get used to it."

Grimmjow ran the tip of his tongue over the inside his cheek as he considered the words. And then his gaze shot up when a thundering noise sounded almost directly over him. One of the train-like things carrying a car of screaming people only meters over his head.

"Roller-coasters," Ichigo said as he pointed at the track above them with a single finger, once it had raced away. "You want to try one out?"

Grimmjow looked back down at Ichigo. "You mean ride it?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said with a laugh. "That's how it usually works. What do you say?"

Another car just then came barreling towards them, and sharp blue eyes watched as it shot up into the air, only to keep going, twisting until it was upside down and then once it was upright once more it launched over a cliff-looking drop, and terrified screams ensued. Grimmjow nodded. "Yeah. Let's do it."

Ichigo shook his head, laughing despite himself as he walked alongside a grinning Grimmjow, the only lights around them small racing ones that were wrapped around the roofs of still-running rides and gift shops, the sky above finally a dark blanket of stars after a long day of roller-coasters and more roller-coasters and food, that had miraculously stayed down.

Grimmjow was unsurprisingly a bit of an adrenaline junkie, not that Ichigo was complaining. He'd loved fast rides when he was younger, the scarier the better, but he hadn't had a friend who could or wanted to keep up with him so he'd usually find himself without a partner halfway through the day. But with the willing ex-hollow by his side, he'd found himself enjoying it all over again but not alone.

Ichigo cleared his throat, pulling out his phone when it buzzed against his leg, only to find five missed calls, all during his last ride and all from his dad. "Shit. I'm going to be in so much trouble when I go home," he muttered, placing the phone back in his pocket. He'd talk to him when he got there.

Grimmjow sniffed. "Why's that?"

Ichigo tilted his head to the side as he grimaced slightly. "Because my dad's probably worried about me."

Grimmjow hummed. "He doesn't know where you've been?"

Ichigo laughed, the sound sharper. "No, I wasn't about to tell him that I was staying the night with a hollow."

"Ex," Grimmjow supplied, and he looked around before saying, "Could've just told him you were with a guy."

Ichigo laughed again. "I think that might be worse." Blue eyes trained on him, the ex-hollow not saying anything but waiting expectantly. He shrugged. "My dad doesn't know..." He trailed off.

"What, that you like cock?"

Ichigo let out a surprised laugh, and he shook his head. "Yeah, basically." He huffed another laugh, and his chest tightened a little at the realization that he was enjoying the blue-haired man's presence by his side not for the first time that day. He knew he was attracted to Grimmjow. He'd known ever since he'd first seen him in the bar with Keigo and hadn't thought of him as someone who'd try to murder him or the people he cared about, but he hadn't expected there to be anything beyond that, especially not after he'd found out who he actually was.

He cleared his throat, pushing the disconcerting thoughts far away as he glanced around the quieting park, most of its patrons now older people or locals. Because even if he did like the ex-Espada - which he didn't - there was no way he'd ever act on it. Not to mention he doubted that the man would want anything from him past what he'd already admitted to wanting. Sex. Ichigo cleared his throat again when his body reacted eagerly to the thought without his consent. He was just helping him, nothing more.

"You think he'll be upset?"

Ichigo looked up, surprised at the question. "Ah. No. I mean." He thought for a moment. He'd wanted to tell his father for a while now, not liking keeping anymore secrets from him than he had to, and he couldn't really see the man being upset about anything regarding him other than feeling unneeded. But every time he got up the nerve something would come up, a mission, his younger sisters would show up, his dad would start being especially emotional, homework... or maybe he was just making excuses. He spoke up when the man bumped his shoulder with his arm, pulling him from his thoughts. "Oh, uh. No, I think he'd be okay with it."

Grimmjow nodded as they began to make their way down a dirt path Ichigo had veered off onto, the lights behind them being blotted out by trees on either side the further down they went, and they were suddenly enveloped in darkness. The shinigami's arm brushed against his, and he slowed his step. "So what's stopping you?"

Ichigo looked over, meeting intense blue eyes that seemed to almost glow. "It's complicated..." he hedged.

"You scared?"

Ichigo stopped in his tracks. "What?"

Grimmjow grinned down at the suddenly tense teen. "I asked if you're scared, Kurosaki," he said.

Ichigo clenched his jaw, and he shook his head slowly.

"I mean. That's the only explanation."

Ichigo glared darkly at the man, who only seconds before had been in his good graces. "You don't know me."

Grimmjow pushed up onto his toes, his grin widening, as he watched the shinigami grow increasingly agitated. "I kinda do, Ichigo."

"Yeah?" he asked sharply, "And how's that, Grimmjow?"

The blue-haired man cocked his head, blue eyes dancing with obvious amusement. "Well, we've fought before," he said, laughing when Ichigo scowled, "And that tells you a lot about a person."

"And what do you think you know about me?"

Grimmjow grinned. "I know that you're insecure, reckless, have a terrible temper and," he paused, tilting his head side to side as if he were considering his next words as Ichigo fumed, "and I know you care more about others than you do yourself, and you're honorable... and a lot stronger than you know."

Ichigo blinked. The anger that had been growing suddenly dissipating as he processed what all the man had said. He blinked again. "You got all that from our one fight?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "I had to do something during it."

Copper-colored eyes narrowed. "You're an asshole," he said with less conviction than he'd have liked, the man lifting blue eyebrows in an unaffected shrug in response. He thought back to their battle, remembering the almost bored look at times on the blue-haired man's face and how angry it had made him. "You think I'm strong?"

Grimmjow nodded. "Yeah, I know you are." He began to walk again, Ichigo by his side, the shinigami scrubbing at his hair. "The question is why don't you."

Ichigo frowned. "I wasn't even supposed to be a soul reaper. It was an accident."

Grimmjow let out a sharp laugh.

"What?"

The man looked down at him, his expression almost disappointed, and Ichigo tensed under the look.

"What?" he asked more sharply.

Grimmjow shook his head. "I'm not here to pad your ego, Ichigo, if you think you're weak, maybe you are."

Ichigo frowned as they walked under the archway, signaling their exiting of the park, following beside the man with his gaze trained down. "I don't think I'm weak..."

Grimmjow stopped mid-step, Ichigo not noticing until a hand reached out to stop him. The shinigami opened his mouth to complain when lips pressed to his unexpectedly, arms wrapping around him and pulling him close.

"Well well well, look what we've got here."

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