I finally finished editing this, hooray! I was putting it off for so long, sorry about that. But hopefully it was worth it! And very quickly I would like to say that Sousuke will not be in this story, because someone messaged me about it. As much as I'd like do it, it would be too much of a hassle changing around the story line to cram him in somewhere, especially since we're reaching the end. (Yes, we are reaching the end. There will only be a few more chapters to go after this.) But if I ever write a sequel to this story, I'd probably put Sousuke in it!

But hey, this is no time to be thinking about sequels! The story is still going and it isn't over yet, so please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Free! and it's characters do not belong to me and belong the respected owners. I only own/made this story.

Blue eyes drowsily blinked open as the sound of something sizzling was heard from downstairs. Haruka grumbled quietly and slowly sat up, realising he was sleeping with his head facing the end of the bed. He looked towards the window to see a crack of sunlight coming through the blinds and furrowed his brow as he tried to remember if anything happened the day before.

His memories were all fuzzy as his temperature was incredibly high, but he didn't feel as bad now. Although his nose was still running and his throat was still sore. There were some blurry pictures of Rin in his head, and he wondered if it was just a dream or not.

Haruka sniffed in an attempt to have some relief from his running nose, only to catch a small whiff of whatever was cooking in the kitchen. A loud stomach growl was heard and the teen almost drooled from the delicious smell.

Sluggishly, Haruka swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, but shivered when feeling the cold air hit him. He had slept the whole night without a sheet covering his body, leaving his skin ice cold. Haruka quickly grabbed the bed sheet and draped it around himself before making his way downstairs to find the source of the smell.

Surely it must've been Makoto cooking, whenever he was sick Makoto would always come over to cook for and look after him. So, without even looking into the kitchen, Haruka sat at the table and yawned "Morning, Makoto."

There was no response, making Haruka look up, blue eyes widening at what he saw.

There, standing in the kitchen, was a red haired teen.

Rin turned to Haruka with a small smile "Not quite."

Haruka continued to stare at Rin, wondering if he was an illusion or not. There was no way the redhead would be over after what happened on New Year's, which was actually really embarrassing considering Haruka started crying. He had cried in front of Rin before, but that particular time was, how to put it, messy? No, that wasn't the word. Melodramatic maybe? That wasn't it either. It wasn't melodramatic for Haruka to cry in that situation, was it? Or maybe it was…

As Haruka thought about this, he began feeling more and more embarrassed while thinking about that time, and put the sheet over his head to hide his face. Rin didn't notice, however, as he was too busy cooking the food in front of him.

"Alright! The food is ready! Haru, this should make you feel…hey! Where are you going?"

When turning around, the redhead saw Haruka heading back upstairs. The sick teen jumped slightly and froze to the spot, his hands tightly clenching the sheet around him.

"…back to bed" Haruka quietly responded.

Rin gave him a blank look "Back to bed? Well you have to be feeling better if you made it down here, so just stay for a bit longer to eat."

"No…" Haruka muttered, turning his head slightly to glare at Rin "you're not real."

"Huh?" Rin's brow furrowed, giving Haruka a questioning look "What the hell are you going on about?"

"You're not real." Haruka repeated, now continuing to shuffle back upstairs. Rin clenched his teeth and grabbed the teen before he could leave the room, quickly sitting him back down and looking into Haruka's wide, confused eyes.

"I don't know why you're saying that, but after you eat you're taking some medicine and going back to bed." Rin was about to walk back to the kitchen until he had a second thought and turned back to pinch Haruka's cheeks.

"And I am real, see?"

Haruka slapped the redhead's hands off him and rubbed his cheeks, giving Rin a mad look. Rin grinned and walked off to collect the food from the kitchen, swiftly grabbing two plates sitting beside each other on the cooking bench. Blue eyes stared at the plate placed in front of them as the redhead walked back, the teen giving a sour expression when seeing what was on it.

It was marinated meat with rice, something he didn't even know was in the household. Rin must've bought it, considering Haruka hated meat and would never buy it. Even if it was on sale and he was running low on money, meat was never an option.

Rin grabbed his own plate and sat down with Haruka, saying a quick let's eat before picking up his chopsticks. He began digging into his meal, inwardly complementing himself on how well the meat was cooked, and looked up to see if Haruka was enjoying it.

Haruka, however, wasn't touching his food, and just continued to stare at it with a sour face.

"What are you doing?" Rin questioned "Eat."

The teen didn't say anything. Just frowned at the food, frowned at Rin, then frowned down at the food once more.

A loud sigh was heard as Rin put down his chopsticks and placed a finger on his temple "What is it now? How have I dissatisfied his lord and majesty?"

Haruka's brows furrowed at the mocking comment, but chose to ignore it. He was too sick to fight back anyway.

"This is meat." He finally fessed up, making Rin pinch the bridge of his nose.

"And what of it?"

"Makoto only cooks me mackerel when I'm sick."

Rin growled slightly "Well I'm not Makoto, I'm not a mum that's going to give you anything you want and you only ever eat mackerel. That's one of the reasons for why you're sick."

"Mackerel's healthy." Haruka argued back.

"But it doesn't give you the protein that meat does! You need to balance your diet, so eat the meat!" Rin raised his voice slightly, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.

Haruka looked away from the redhead "Meat's disgusting, I'm not eating it."

"Haru, for god's sake eat the meat! Do you want to get better or not?"

"Give me mackerel and I will."

Rin slammed his hand down on the table, giving Haruka a dangerous glare "I don't care if you don't like meat, Haru. It's healthy, so eat it! And if you don't eat it I will shove it down your throat!"

"You shouldn't do that to someone who's sick." Haruka stated bluntly, making Rin grind his teeth together.

A silence surrounded the two, and the redhead took a long, deep breath to calm himself down. He couldn't lose his temper now, no matter how childish Haruka was acting. The teen was sick and Rin had come over to look after him, and he intended to do just that.

"Please, at least try the meat." Rin begged, his voice quiet. "I won't force you to eat it, but just try it. If you don't like it, I'll make you some mackerel."

Haruka raised an eyebrow at how easily Rin gave in, and blue eyes curiously examined the redhead. There were bags under his crimson eyes and his face looked drained of colour, the only time Haruka had seen Rin like this was at the swimming tournament last year.

"Rin…are you okay?" Haruka asked, a tinge of worry in his voice.

Crimson eyes looked up into blue when the question was asked, seeing the concern sparkling in them. For a moment, Rin forgot where he was, and couldn't help but stare into Haruka's shining blue orbs. They always looked so dazzling, reminding Rin of the ocean with the sun's rays bouncing off it. For as long as he could remember he'd been drawn by those eyes, and a small smile creeped up Rin's lips as the concern continued to glimmer in them.

Haruka cared about him, and that's all he needed to know to calm him down.

"Haru, do you remember what happened yesterday?" he asked, making Haruka look up in thought.

"I…" he started, trying to remember. But the only thoughts in his head from that day were fuzzy "…I don't remember."

Rin sighed and rested his head on his hand "Right, you wouldn't remember. You were so sick you probably didn't even know your own name."

A small and slightly forced chuckle escaped from Rin's lips as Haruka watched in confusion, wondering why such a question would be asked.

"Why?" he questioned "Did something happen? Did I do anything strange?"

Rin shook his head "No, no, no, you're always doing strange things. Although you were a bit more moody than usual."

A frown curled Haruka's lips, since when was he moody? He was never moody! Rin must've been mistaking him for someone else.

"Although…" the redhead continued, startling Haruka from his thoughts "I did say some important things…so I was hoping you'd remember."

"Important things…" Haruka repeated, his eyes now going dull. Important probably meaning Australia, the one place that tore their whole relationship apart, and would probably do it again.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Haruka mindlessly spoke, making Rin look up.

The redhead sat quietly, thinking of the right response. After a small amount of time he sighed and said "Haru, Australia didn't wreck me, I wrecked me. It was my fault I came back like that, not Australia's. I could've gone to America or England but I still would've turned out like that! It had nothing to do with Australia, it was all me."

Hands squeezed together as Haruka began questioning Rin's thoughts, wondering how he could be so calm about going back to the very place that destroyed him.

The teen's head shot up to stare straight into crimson orbs "Well how do you know it won't happen this time? How do you know you won't destroy yourself again?"

Rin noticed the slight crack in Haruka's voice, making him realise Haruka wasn't just worried, but also scared. Not just for him, but for both of them, for their relationship in general. And why wouldn't he be? They had just patched up their relationship, but the thread used to patch it wasn't delicate or fragile, weak or feeble.

No, this thread was very tightly strung and would no longer break at a touch. A thread so strong that even if scissors were used to cut it, they would be blunted. So strong it would take more than one snip to break.

Rin knew he needed to show Haruka just how much he had changed, and how Haruka had saved him from caving in on himself. He needed to prove it, even if it meant repeating word for word what he said last night.

"I have a different mindset now, Haru." He smiled, blue eyes still piercing into him "And I know I've said this before, but I will say it as many times as needed to make you understand."

"Make me understand what?" Haruka uttered, the worry in his voice now not as noticeable.

"To make you understand that now I know you see me as your proper rival! That now I know you see me as more than a rival! Now I know you think of me as a friend, and as long as I know that I could never wreck myself the way I did back then! So I promise you, I will never be that way again. I will never repeat what happened in the past."

A small frown curled Haruka's lips "You promise…do you?"

"I'd rather die than break that promise." Rin reassured, wondering if he finally got through to Haruka.

There was silence between them once more as Haruka sat in thought, his hands still squeezed together and his eyes still dull.

Slowly, very slowly, Haruka opened his mouth and said;

"Why do you think that will be enough?"

"Huh?" Rin sat back, an eyebrow raised.

"Why do you think…" Haruka began once more, but looked as if he was hesitating "…why do you think that just because you think you won't wreck yourself, it'll be okay?"

"Haru, I know I won't wreck myself!" Rin stated, now thinking of how to convince Haruka this was the case.

Said teen's hands shook as he began opening and closing his mouth like a gaping fish, as if trying to say something but not being able to get the words out.

Rin stared at him for a while, wondering if he was actually about to say something. It was hard to tell, considering he would silently stutter out a word or two.

"Haruka, how can I convince you that-" Rin started, only to be cut off by said teen.

"Why do you think you keeping a good mindset, even though being thousands of miles away from me with no way of seeing each other, will keep me satisfied?!" He rapidly blurted out, his head hung low and his whole body now a trembling mess.

Rin sat frozen, staring at Haruka in disbelief.

He already knew Haruka saw him as a rival, a friend, and he knew Australia would no longer be able to destroy him like it did before. But never, not once, did Rin think of Haruka's situation. He was too focused on trying to prove to Haruka that Australia would no longer wreck him, that he didn't think once about Haruka actually missing him.

The thought sounded alien to him, the thought of Haruka missing him. Honestly, he never thought Haruka could miss him, but he was proven dead wrong during the tournament last year. Haruka did miss him, Haruka would miss him, so of course Haruka wouldn't want him to go back to Australia.

"I'm such an idiot." Rin thought as he stared at the still shaking Haruka, now wondering what to say.

He was at a complete loss for words and felt like sinking into the ground. Once again, all he thought about was himself. All he ever said to Haruka was I will be fine, I won't wreck myself, I will still be the same. It was always I and never you. He should've been saying will you be fine? Will you be okay? Will you be able to cope with this? He should've been thinking of how Haruka would cope with it, not how he would cope with it. Obviously the raven haired teen was deathly scared of Rin going to Australia, and Rin never asked if Haruka was okay. Not even once.

"I'm sorry," he pathetically apologised, moving back from the table to bow deeply "I'm sorry I've been so selfish! I'm sorry I never looked at the situation from your point of view! I'm an idiot, I'm a fool! Instead of running after you to apologise at the New Year's festival, I spent three days feeling sorry for myself! I'm sorry I've only been thinking about myself, all I ever do is think about myself, and I'm so, so sorry!"

Haruka couldn't count the amount of times Rin bowed during his speech, and now the redhead was as low as he could go. His hands were on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut and his hair was sprawled around his head in a tangled mess. Haruka knew they were on a serious topic, but the sight looked so pitiful that it made him let out the smallest sound.

Rin flinched slightly at the sound of a giggle, and his eyes opened wide when hearing chopsticks being moved. He peeked out from under his hair to see Haruka holding the chopsticks to his lips and chewing, his face calm and composed.

As the teen swallowed, Rin was now fully sitting up, and Haruka smiled while saying "This meat is good."

It was quiet as Rin stared at Haruka, dumbfounded. His expression clueless and unmoving, looking almost like a confused puppy. But his face soon brightened to a wide smile and he shuffled closer to the table.

"So…so you're not mad at me?" He cautiously asked, expression still looking like one of a puppy's.

The chopsticks in Haruka's hands were held still, his blue eyes glassy. Rin patiently awaited the teen's response, all the while wondering if he should've asked the question in the first place.

"Well I…" Haruka started, looking up at the redhead with brighter eyes. Rin perked up as he stared into the shining blue.

Haruka let out a large sigh and continued "I'm still in doubt, I guess, about you going to Australia. But as long as you think you'll be okay-"

"That doesn't matter anymore!" Rin interjected, startling Haruka "The real question is will you be okay? Are you okay with the thought of me being in Australia? I don't want to go there knowing you'll spend every day in doubt, in fear for me, for what's going to happen. I want to go there knowing you will be happy in Japan, knowing you'll be okay here without me. As selfish as it sounds, I want me to be happy, but I can't do that without you being happy!"

Haruka gave Rin wide eyes, trying to take in all that was said. "Rin…what are you trying to say?"

Sweaty hands clenched together as Rin thought long and hard about what to say, he knew what he said here would be important. What he said here would either ruin or improve the moment. So he carefully chose what he thought to be the right words.

"Last year I thought…no, for a few years I thought if I beat you, and you saw me as your rival, I would be happy. I didn't care about how you felt, I just wanted to be happy, I just wanted you as a proper rival. But even when I got that, even when I beat you and felt like your true rival, I still wasn't happy. Do you know why?"

Rin looked up at Haruka, who shook his head. The redhead took a deep breath before answering his own question.

"Makoto and Rei both told me you stopped swimming competitively because of me, they told me you were devastated about me quitting swimming in the past. When Makoto told me I tried to ignore it, I didn't care. Or I guess, I tried not to care. Then Rei beat it into me, almost literally, that you actually did care about me. He made me see I was the one who made you feel depressed, I was dragging you down with me. That was when I realised the reason for why I still wasn't happy, the reason why I wasn't satisfied…was because you weren't happy."

Rin went quiet, and so did Haruka. The raven haired teen felt his stomach tingling, a feeling he could only describe as butterflies. A feeling he'd usually only get when swimming through the water. So why now? Why was he getting them now? He wasn't in the water, he was nowhere near the water, and Rin had made him feel like this before. Whenever Rin was near him, whenever Rin touched him, whenever Rin would kiss him. He'd get butterflies, he'd feel like he was in the water. Why did Rin make him feel this way?

It wasn't love, it couldn't be love, he refused to believe it was love! But he had the biggest urge to want to touch Rin, to kiss Rin, to hold or be held by Rin. His heart felt like it was doing back flips and his throat felt sand paper dry, and all Rin was doing was looking at him. All Rin was doing was speaking to him, but his words sounded like the ringing of sweet silver bells. His voice chimed through Haruka's ears in the most beautiful way, and it was so damn addictive.

Haruka's lips tingled as he found his eyes tracing Rin's own, feeling as if he was losing his mind, making him wonder if his temperature really had gone down.

He wanted to kiss Rin, he wanted to kiss Rin so badly, he wanted to say something. But his throat was so dry he found it hard to force any words out.

"…Rin." Haruka quietly muttered the teen's name, surprising himself as to how weak his voice was.

"I just want you to be happy!" Rin burst out, making Haruka flinch back "I just realised I've only ever wanted you to be happy! And that's because…because I...!"

Rin couldn't finish his sentence, making Haruka's eyes go wide and bright. His heart beating so loud he could hear it in his ears. The butterflies in his stomach now creating a strong whirlwind and his expression filled with anxious anticipation.

The redhead clenched his teeth and slammed his fist on the table "God dammit! Haru, it's because I-"

"Haru chan!" a voice called from the door, making both the teens jump "I'm here with Rei chan to help make you feel…oh."

Nagisa appeared in the doorway, giving the two a curious look "You're here with Rin chan?...say, you didn't do anything to Haru while he was sick, did you Rin chan? Because you know how low that-"

"Nagisa kun!" Rei jumped in, quickly putting his hands over said teen's mouth "I'm sorry about that, I'm sure Rin senpai would never be the sort to do that kind of thing! After all, he is a guy, and guy's would never do that thing to other guys."

Rei kept winking at Nagisa all the while, trying to be as discrete as he could. Nagisa caught on quickly and took Rei's hands off him.

"A-ah! What was I saying? Of course Rin chan would never do that! It was a joke, a joke!"

The two started laughing in a way that sounded almost forced, making both Rin and Haruka give them strange looks. The mood was ruined, but the raven haired teen ignored them anyway and turned back to Rin.

"So what were you saying?"

Rin gave him a confused look "About what?"

"Because I…?" Haruka started for him, moving his hand in a motion for Rin to continue.

"Oh y-yeah!" Rin exclaimed, his eyes wide "Um, because I...I don't want to drag you down!" he finished, making Haruka slump slightly.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Rin questioned, brow furrowed "Why oh?"

Haruka shrugged "Because…never mind, probably just the sickness."

Rin leaned back, a look of suspicion on his face "…right, okay then."

When the two were done with their awkward exchange, Nagisa started going off about all the mackerel and medicine they bought, even offering to cook Haruka some. Rei tried to show Nagisa that Haruka was contempt with eating the meat in front of him, which Rin tried to back up. It had hardly been touched, after all.

Haruka continued to ignore them, not being able to shake off the feeling of disappointment. He didn't know why he was feeling it, but the butterflies from before were gone completely and made him feel empty inside. His heart had even gone back to its normal pace.

Rin's heart, however, was still beating a million times a second, and he was willing it to calm down.

For Nagisa and Rei to interrupt like that, it must have been fate. Rin didn't really believe in that sort of thing, but for them to suddenly appear in that crucial moment had him convinced. Obviously it was too early for him to tell Haruka, and he'd just have to wait for the right time.

"Rin." Said teen turned to see Haruka looking up at him, and was surprised when a smile slowly curled onto the teen's lips "I'm still not one hundred percent happy with you going to Australia, but I know it's your dream and I know I'll be fine here. So let's enjoy the moments we have together and make sure not to regret this year from now on."

Rin stood still for a minute, staring down at Haruka with blank eyes before a large, thankful grin appeared on the redhead's face.

"Right, I'll make sure not a second goes to waste."

Blue eyes lit up while looking at the redhead, but quickly went back to the beautiful shade they always were when staring into fiery crimson.

With a small, genuine smile, Haruka sweetly said "Thank you, Rin."

…

"So Haru is feeling okay?"

"Yeah! When we went over he seemed fine."

"I see."

The brunette held a phone to his ear, his voice sounding gleeful as he talked to the blonde on the other end.

"Nagisa, was Rin there when you and Rei went over?"

"Yup!" Nagisa answered, the usual happy chirp in his voice "It's a good thing too, I was worried what would happen if Haru chan was home alone, sick."

Makoto's eyes dimmed, his expression changing to a menacing one.

"And how were Rin and Haru interacting?"

The blonde on the other line was silent "…what do you mean?"

"Well," Makoto perked up once more "considering what happened at the festival, it's only natural to ask."

"Oh!" Nagisa exclaimed "They were acting fine, like how they normally would! I heard Haru chan thank Rin chan for something though, not too sure what for, exactly."

Makoto sighed "Okay then, that's good. It would be horrible if they had another fight."

Nagisa made a sound of agreement before his mother was heard in the background, making him yell something back before talking into the phone once more.

"Sorry Mako chan, but I have to go now." He apologised, speaking in a hurried manner "See you when school starts next week!"

Makoto said goodbye and hung up, standing still with the phone to his ear as the continuous beeping was heard. He let his arm slowly fall to his side and made a dark expression, thinking about the information Nagisa had just passed on to him.

"So Rin and Haruka are still getting along…" he mumbled to himself, his teeth clenched together.

This wasn't going to plan, none of it was going to plan. The exact opposite of what he expected had happened, and this won't do. He had to act fast, or Haruka would be taken away from him again.

This won't do, this won't do at all.

Oh gosh I am such a tease, please don't be too mad at me. But don't worry, it will happen! Rin will confess some time!...or will he? Guess you'll just have to find out. *evil laugh*

Thanks for reading!