- 13 -

Marui was over at Niou's house just sitting on the futon Niou's mom had set out for him, while Niou was on his bed. Marui yawned and stood up.

"Going to brush your teeth?" Niou asked as Marui reached for his bookbag. He nodded and made a noise as he opened up the front pocket, pulling out a toothbrush and some toothpaste. He always kept it in his bookbag for when he spent the night at Niou's house. He also left extra clothes at his house, too.

"Be right back," Marui mumbled as he went into the hall.

Niou knew Marui was just going to stand outside, Marui had told him that a couple of days ago, but he still liked pretending as though Marui hadn't said it. It made him feel more at peace that way as he slide off the bed and onto the futon. He rolled his shoulders and got on his knees, closing his eyes.

"Lord, I still don't if just saying 'Lord' will get you to listen, but I like to think that it does. If I need to say something special to get you to listen, then I don't want that. I want to believe that you're one of us – a man on the bus or the lady at the store."

Marui closed his eyes and pressed his ear up against to door. He could almost see Niou biting his lip in his mind.

"I have only ever asked two things of you: keep my family safe and let my grandmother rest in peace when it's her time to go. So, please, make this things reality. I don't believe in miracles, but I believe in happiness and love."

He actually was biting his lip now as he got off his knees. He stood up and flopped onto his bed. "Well, I'm done… Bye."

Niou didn't know how to start something, nor did he know how to end something, but he always knew what to do in between. Maybe that was why he didn't start this relationship or any relationship for that matter. But, if that was true, that also meant that Niou wouldn't end it.

Marui smiled at the thought as he went down the hall to swish mouth wash.

He still refused to brush his teeth.

A/N: Gah. I meant to make this chapter good, but I was listening to Paramore and I got this idea for my AU stuck in my head so I went to write that… I came back to this chapter and tried to keep writing and I was like "Crap. Where was I going with that?"

Anyways, I have school off again tomorrow so maybe I'll update my AU (Vampire's Lullaby - I'm thinking of changing it to "Bite Me") and I might update this depending on whether or not I get a good idea. I have something in mind, but I'm not really sure if I want to post it at this point (or write it for that matter).

Oh, I'm also posting a little one-shot tomorrow because it's someone's b-day :D