I had grown used to the confusion of waking up somewhere new, but this was entirely different.

The moment I opened my eyes to see the familiar comforter adorning Len's bed, hearing his soft breathing behind me, and feeling his arms still wrapped around me, the events of the previous night rushed through my head. He was still asleep, as far as I could tell, and I was thankful for that. I could hardly face the fact that everything would be different now. And I didn't have to face that fact until Len woke up.

With a permanent blush over my face, I tried to lean over the side of the bed. My clothes were… somewhere in the room. Len's grip on my made it difficult to move. Fear that I would wake him shook me as I wiggled out of his grip. But, like always, he slept like a dead person.

I didn't even want to get out from under the covers without my clothes, and, thankfully, my shirt was within arms reach. After sliding it on, and finding everything else, I tiptoed out of the room.

Even the apartment felt alien to me. It was early in the morning, but clouds covered the sky, and no sun shone through the window. Snow was piled up on our deck as well as the entire city beyond. It was freezing cold, I realized with a shiver, both inside the apartment and out. The thermostat read sixty-eight degrees. I cranked it up.

...What do I do? It was the weirdest question to ask myself, and yet it was the only one in my mind. Should I make breakfast like normal? Watch TV? Go back to sleep in my room? Should I go downstairs and avoid him? Should I call Ia and tell her everything that happened? Did I even want anyone to know?

The only thing I decided on was that I was cold, so I pulled a small blanket off of the couch and wrapped it around my shoulders. It did nothing to protect my bare legs, but I felt warmer nonetheless.

Well, are you hungry? My rational side asked me with a bit of extra attitude. If you're hungry, make breakfast.

I strode to the kitchen, but I wasn't hungry.

Holding my blanket with one hand, I cracked a few eggs into a bowl and mixed them. French toast for him, today. Four pieces with grape jelly on top and syrup.

First you fuck him, and now you're cooking him breakfast? What are you, his housewife? I sneered at my own conscience. Clearly, my rational side was unhappy with me.

The silence of the rest of the apartment was comforting. Here I was, in my home, warm, fed, and alive during the onset of winter in my favorite place on earth, in a building full of people who cared about me and loved me and wanted the best for me. The heat of the stove warmed the apartment further, only increasing my comfort. When I had the chance, I lit the fireplace in the living room. Minutes ticked by as the stack of french toast on the plate grew, until I had made enough for the both of us. I'd eat once I had the stomach to. The more deep breaths I took, the more comforting thoughts I told myself, the more I relaxed. Everything is okay. Everything is norm-

The thought instantly vanished from my head as the door to Len's room opened.

I whipped my head around, our eyes meeting as he froze in the doorway. He had put his same pajama pants back on, but nothing else.

Shit. I guess he did just stick his dick in me the night before.

My face flushed red, and we both stood motionless, trying to find something, anything, to say to each other. It was impossible. My heart dropped. We had taken it too far, and now there really was no going back. Despair filled me. My only solace was that he seemed just as flustered as I was.

"Goooooood Mooooooorning!" The front door slammed open, and I don't think I've ever been so happy to see Gumi barge into our apartment uninvited.

And then, out of nowhere, I smiled. What are you thinking? Nothing has changed. Gumi's appearance reminded me of that. "Hungry?" I asked her.

"I only come up here for food, now," she admitted, passing Len without so much as a second glance and jumped up the step to me. "What'd you make?"

"French toast." I shot Len a reassuring, and slightly sneaky, smile, before turning back to my cooking.

"Dude. I don't know how I didn't starve before you came here."

Len took my hint, and relaxed. "Me, neither," he agreed, taking a seat next to her.

It took everything in my power not to flash him a dirty look at his stupid joke. Gumi's ignorance towards the situation she had just interrupted had made me feel much more at ease.

"What'd you come to tell us today?" I asked, keeping my back to them to hide my sly grin.

"Nothing today. Just felt like popping in."

"Has it ever occurred to you to knock?" Len inquired. Of course he would worry about that now. If Gumi had walked in last night…

I grinned again, trying to clear my head of all these thoughts. The blush covering my face was showing no sign of receding, and I couldn't stand here with my back to them all day.

"No shopping or anything?"

"We're all way too exhausted for any of that stuff. Besides," Gumi slammed her hands on the table. "We decided that Rinny's little game last night was enough excitement for all of us." She laughed.

I looked over my shoulder at them, shrugging at Gumi, and, when she closed her eyes in laughter, casting another sly glance at Len. This is actually kind of fun.

"Here," I turned, finally confident enough to show my face. "Take 'em." I set the plate down in front of her.

"...Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Gumi beamed, ripping the silverware out of my hands and digging into the plate.

I set Len's down next to him as well. "Wouldn't want you to starve."

"Oh," he chuckled. "I won't."

With another grin, I turned around to clean up.

"What about you?" Gumi asked, syrup spilling out of her full mouth.

"Finish eating!" I laughed. "Gross."

"You didn't make any for yourself?" Len asked. Even he ate like a pig, but, next to Gumi, he had the manners of a prince.

"I'm not too hungry."

"Don't ever tell anyone you feed me," Gumi said, swallowing. "Or else everyone else will be hounding your apartment for breakfast, too."

"Oh, great." I rolled my eyes. "Eight people barging in instead of one. That'd be awful."

"I know! So don't tell them." She resumed her eating. My snide remark had completely flown over her head.

With all of the dishes in the sink, I leaned over the counter, looking out the window. The three of us fell into a comfortable silence. Well, silence beside Gumi's ravenously consuming her meal.

"It feels weird having nothing to do," Len said.

"I know," Gumi replied. "But it's nice."

"Do we know when our next show is?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet. Miku told Erik we wanted a little break."

"How long is a little?" He asked between bites.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe, like, a week or two."

"A week or two?" I raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if I'd rather be busy, or bored."

"We could always go out and enjoy winter!" She pointed her fork out the window. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Is it supposed to snow today?"

"I think so." Her fork jammed back into what little remained of her breakfast.

"Even more?" Len groaned.

"What?" I turned my attention to him. "You don't want it to snow?"

"It's just so much to have to deal with."

I shrugged. "If we don't leave the apartment, we won't need to deal with it."

He nodded. "I could go with staying here for the next two weeks."

This conversation had almost returned to normal, until my mind began to wonder if he was implying something. His tone seemed to prove so. I was still too busy trying to wrap my head around the first night. I hadn't even imagined the possibility that there might be more.

Then again, two weeks off does sound kind of nice.

"Me too!" Gumi sighed. "I can't decide if I want to live on the couch, or go out clubbing every night."

"You think clubbing is relaxing?" Len narrowed his eyes.

"It's fun! That's what matters," she defended herself.

"All we ever do is go shopping and partying," I said a bit sadly.

"Yeah? And?"

"...when's the last time you went to the Zoo? Or the museum? Or the aquarium?"

"There's an aquarium here?"

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "You've never been to the aquarium?"

"Where is it?"

"Downtown."

I stood tall, my eyes switching between the two of them. "I guess I found out what we're all doing today."

Everyone else decided to tag along as well.

It was freezing outside, and there wasn't a single person in line to purchase their tickets. The bored expression of the ticket clerk warped into disbelief as we walked up. We probably made that poor girl's day. After paying, we pushed through the turn stall and walked upstairs.

I led the way with Len beside me. We were all bundled up in our winter clothes, and everyone had flakes of white in their hair. "Have any of you been here?" I asked over my shoulder.

"A long time ago," Miku told me, looking around with wonder at the scenery. We weren't even in the main hall yet, and there were no fish around, but they were already entranced with the paintings and plaques that hung on the wall. Each featured a different kind of fish; something I expected little kids to crowd around during a school field trip.

"Come on!" I waved them towards a cave-like hallway. The lights inside darkened, and a dim glow of blue could be seen around the corner.

"Me first!" Gumi yelled, charging to the cave. The girls raced after her. I didn't mind their otherwise embarrassing antics so much, since we were virtually the only people there.

Now, Len and I followed up the back. "Why the aquarium, of all places?" He asked once the others were out of earshot.

I shrugged. "Gumi said she's never been here. Have you?"

"No," he admitted.

"Then it'll be fun."

He grinned devilishly at me. "I think you just want to avoid being alone at home with me again."

I put my fists on my hips, pausing our walk to face him. I blocked his way through the hall. "Now why would I want to do that?" I smirked in reply. My eyes narrowed mischievously, before I spun on my heel and continued towards our friends. He fell back into step next to me. There was no mistaking the many times he glanced in my direction with more scheming expressions. I didn't even want to know what he was planning. But I had the distinct feeling I was going to find out soon.

"Holy shit!" Gumi's voice echoed through the cave. "It's a fucking waterfall!"

Thank God there were no kids here to witness Gumi's potty-mouth.

Len and I caught up to the others in no time. Sure enough, they were all gathered at one end of a cavernous room, a wide fake drawbridge extending to the other end, and the rest of the hall behind it. The bridge was currently falling victim to a torrential downpour of rain. It came from one end of the room, falling down a carved-out path underneath the bridge, but the walkway was still soaked. A sign warning people of the "Wet-Zone" stood next to the bridge.

"This is the flash flood room!" I yelled over the sound of rushing water. "It'll stop in a second. Or you can run through."

"Dude, hell yeah!" Luka was holding her jacket, and she sprinted through. The mist was enough to dampen her clothes and hair, though not enough to chill her to the bone. I was more worried about once we left the building afterwards. Hopefully they would be dry by then.

Miku didn't share my concern. She followed her through, laughing gleefully as she was hit with a bigger spray, and then the water ceased.

"Is it safe?" Meiko asked. "There's no way I'm getting wet when it's snowing outside."

"Yeah," I answered from behind her. "It happens every two minutes. You'll be fine."

She crossed the room with everyone else in tow. Miku and Luka laughed at us, then skipped off down the hallway.

The second I began to move with them, Len's arms wrapped around my waist, and he buried his lips into the crook of my neck in a barrage of kisses. I tensed up, my shoulders rising, before he let me go. It was over as quick as it had started. He walked in front of me, turning around to shoot smug fingerguns at me. I glared daggers at him.

What a dork, I thought as he swirled around, walking out of the room. Two can play at that game.

When I caught up with him, he had already rejoined the group in the next area. We had reached the fish tanks. Behind every glass wall were giant underwater ecosystems complete with plants, sand, rocks, and, of course, fish. Small ones, big ones. Colorful ones, gray ones. Some sharks even swam by, usually keeping low to the ground. Miku pressed her hands against the glass in wonder.

Len stood at the back of the crowd, and I recognized my immediate source of retaliation. With everyone's attention directed at the tank, I snuck up behind him, letting my fingers slip up under the back of his shirt and brush softly against the small of his back. His gaze shot down at me, but I ignored him, not pausing as I made my way to a spot next to Miku. I stared up at the fish with her. I knew Len was glaring at me from behind, and the knowledge put a smile on my face.

Thus began our game of… tag? I dunno. I guess, in a weird way. Nonetheless, this was much more fun than being unable to talk to each other out of embarrassment.

A few rooms later, he snuck up behind me and brushed his fingers against my hip bone. I blew softly into his ear as we walked through the hall. He copied my small-of-the-back move, which I told him didn't count, but he didn't listen to me. Then, in possibly my greatest stunt since birth, I yawned in the final room, stretching my arms out to my sides and accidentally grazed his neck with my fingertips. It was evil, but genius. And it was also when everyone else was staring right at us.

I win, I thought.

"The sharks," Gumi insisted. "The sharks were the coolest." We had reached the exit atrium, and the entire wall in front of us was glass. The falling snow had only increased, to my delight and everyone else's disdain.

"No, the stingrays." Miku wagged a finger at her. "You just don't get it because you were too scared to feed them."

"I don't want anything with the word sting in its name near me. And you're crazy for disagreeing."

"Jeez," Luka gazed out the window with me. "Thank God we took the Hummer. I would have been terrified driving home in this weather.

"I like it," I admitted.

"Ugh. I miss Cali," Luka dismissed me.

Following them back down the stairs, I made extra sure to position myself near the front of the group, halting any of Len's attempts at tagging me back. My eyes glimmered evilly at him as I cast a single glance over my shoulder. He only shook his head, clearly accepting defeat, but pleased at the same time. There really was no loser, here.

The entire city was blanketed in white, and our home was no exception. The hedges which separated our property from those nearby were painted white. The gate-keeper was nowhere in sight, much to my relief, and was hopefully somewhere inside and warm. Our driver dropped us off outside the gate. We shivered, Miku and Luka, especially, as Kaito punched in the gate code.

It swung open, and I followed Gumi, Luka, and Miku through first. Sure, I hadn't fallen victim to any waterfalls today, but it was fucking freezing outside. The four of us didn't realize what was being plotted behind us until it was too late.

A blast of cold snow hit me square in the back, sending stray flakes everywhere throughout the courtyard. The three girls next to me flinched, too, the others clearly having picked their targets already.

"Oh. My. God." We had all whirled around to face our attackers except for Miku, who looked ready to throw a temper tantrum. "I will fucking destroy you all."

Len was, obviously, the source of the now cold-spot on my back. We locked eyes in a wild western style showdown, before Gumi screamed next to me.

"Warrrr!"

I scooped up a pile of powdery snow in my hands, pushing it in his direction without even bothering to form it into a ball. He responded quickly, but I dodged, dashing across the courtyard to create distance between the two of us. He had gloves on, I didn't.

"Unfair!" I laughed in his direction, waving my bare, ice-cold hands in his direction.

He just shrugged. "All's fair in love and war!"

'Ain't that the truth.

I dodged yet another snowball, scooping up another batch of ammo in my numb hands. The edges of my scarf swung loosely from my neck. My entire outfit; my jeans, jacket, bow, everything, was covered in snow. I chucked the snowball in his direction. I would have missed him entirely, but his dumb ass dodged directly into it, and it hit him square in the chest.

"Hah!" I yelled. Around us, the others were engaged in their own battles as well. The accumulated moisture in my hair was beginning to melt, only to be joined by the remnants of the bullets being thrown my way. While I was distracted by teasing Len, an icy shot came out of nowhere, clapping me in the arm.

"Miku!" I yelled in betrayal. "I thought we were on the same team!"

"No teams!" She yelled relentlessly. "Everyone for themselves!"

"She got you good!" Len laughed. But he spoke too soon, for mere milliseconds later, Kaito threw a perfectly aimed shot, smacking him directly in the face.

I nearly fell over laughing as he tried to wipe the snow from his eyes.

We filed into our apartment fifteen minutes later, leaving sopping footprints on the carpet behind us. My jacket was heavy with snow, my hair soaked completely through, and my cheeks hurt from laughing. Len was in the same shape.

"Who's idea was that?" I asked him, a hint of sass added.

"... No one's."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure." I shoved my icy hands into my armpits. "I think you gave me frostbite."

We walked into the living room. "I think I know what'll help with that," he smirked.

I shook my head at him, grinning. "I'm going to change."

"Can I come?" He joked.

"No!"

He beat me out to the living room. His face was still red, he was still warming his hands by the fireplace, but he had changed into clothes that weren't heavy with snow.

"I don't think I have ever been so happy to have a fireplace," I told him, laying on my stomach with my hands sticking towards the flames.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I really forget how awesome it is. Like in the summer, the thought of turning it on is literally enough for me to consider getting rid of it. And then winter comes around and I'm like what the fuck Len why would you think that-"

I chuckled, craning my neck to see the TV hanging over it. "Is it Thursday?" I asked in sudden panic.

"Way ahead of ya. It starts in, like, twenty minutes."

I heaved a sigh of relief. Hell would freeze over before I missed the next episode of our show. "You want snacks?" I asked, pushing myself up into the sitting position.

He shrugged. "I think we have, like, chips and stuff."

"Okay." I began to rise, only to be beaten to it once again by Len.

"Nah, it's cool. I've got it." I lowered myself back to the couch as he dashed to the kitchen. "You want anything?"

"Do we have any ice cream left?"

"I'll check," he called. The TV in front of me was playing nothing but uninteresting drone. I heard the fridge open from behind me. "There's a little bit left."

"Just bring me the tub." I looked over my shoulder, leaning on the back of the couch to look at him. "Unless you want any."

"I'll just bring two spoons."

"Smart guy."

So we sat on the couch, an almost-empty tub of ice cream between us, hardly talking to each other as our show went on. My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. The only sound between us was the occasional shuffling of the bag of chips.

"I'm glad it's not weird," he suddenly said during one of the commercials. He scooped another spoonful of strawberry ice cream out of the carton.

Me too, I thought. "Why would it be? It's just… sex." I knew I was trying to convince myself more than him.

"Yeah," was all he answered.

There. There it was. That was the only talk we needed. It wasn't weird, nothing was weird about it. Nothing at all. Just two people who happen to fuck sometimes. No big deal.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Everything really was normal. Just like it always has been. Only with a few extra benefits.

Prepared to dive my spoon in for another bite, I sighted the single mouthful of ice cream left. My spoon lowered. "Do you want the last bite?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" I scooped up the pink ice cream. "It's your favorite~" I sang, waving it at him like a parent would to their toddler.

He chuckled. "I'm good, thanks. You can have it."

"Your loss." I swallowed it in one bite, and picked up the empty tub to throw it away.

"Hurry! It's back on!" Len warned me from the couch.

"Okay! Okay," I jumped over the back, landing on the soft cushions easily. The screen was tilted while I laid on my side, with a pillow tucked under my head and my feet nearly touching Len's leg, but I got used to it soon. The couch was littered with blankets and pillows. I pulled one of the former over me, cuddling into it.

The episode was interesting enough, but I couldn't help sneaking looks at Len from time to time. My mind wandered to the events of last night, having an even greater effect on me since the boy was sitting right there. I took a deep breath. I hoped he wouldn't notice, but I couldn't help but play everything over with a small smile and the occasional squirm under my blanket.

After an hour, it ended, and I had missed a lot of it in my daydreaming. He picked up the remote. "What do you wanna watch now?"

Pushing the blanket off of me, I shifted across the couch, my legs straddling him and my hands resting gently on his shoulders. "Oh, I dunno~" I answered.

The initial shock of my movements subsided in him. I guess he's not used to this… thing between us, either, I thought. Knowing that I wasn't the only one was comforting.

His hands rose to my hips instinctively. "Works for me," he answered, his voice lowering.

Closing my eyes, I leaned forward and kissed him. I could never imagine getting tired of the feeling of his soft lips on mine. My fingers ran greedily through his hair. His grip on my hips tightened, and he pulled me further into his lap. The TV remained forgotten background noise as our kiss deepened.

He wasted no time in sliding his hands under my shirt. I inhaled sharply as he ran his hands up my stomach, smiling at the tickling feeling they left in their wake. He grinned into my lips as well. Just as he reached my bra, all of his movements froze.

"What's wrong?" I breathed.

"Someone's coming," he whispered.

My eyes widened in alarm, and I too heard the footsteps outside of our apartment. I rolled off of him, laying back on the couch and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Dammit, Gumi. I thought. Why do you have to come at the worst possible time?

Len smoothed his shirt down, and pulled a blanket into his lap.

It wasn't Gumi who appeared from behind the fireplace.

"Rin!" Luka appeared, wearing her workout clothes. "It's gym time," she called, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, uh, already?"

"Yeah! I've been waiting downstairs for, like, ten minutes."

I nodded. "Okay. Um, sorry. Do you… do mind waiting like twenty more minutes?" I noticed Len shoot me a look from the corner of my eye. "This episode is almost over," I continued, pointing at the screen.

She sighed. "Fine. But hurry."

"The later you go, the less people will be there," Len pointed out. I couldn't help but notice that his voice was a little shaky.

Luka didn't seem to notice. "I know. But I want to go to bed at a decent time."

"I'll be down in like half an hour," I said, shifting into a sitting position.

"Okay." She turned to leave, and then paused. "Don't keep me waiting too long, Rinny." And she left.

We both sat in utter silence until we were sure she had gone. Then, I crawled back over to him, continuing just where we left off.

"Close call," Len said between our kisses.

"Yeah," I responded. "You should probably start locking the door, dumbass."

"But don't you think it's at least a little fun to think we might get caught?" He said softly, his fingers finally finding the latch of my bra once again.

"No," I giggled. "Can you imagine being Gumi, coming up here for some breakfast, or whatever, and finding us-" My words caught in my throat once his lips began planting kisses along my shoulder.

"Finding us…?" He egged me on, his assault on my shoulder not stopping.

"...like this," I finished, feeling myself melt into him further with every passing second.

He shrugged, lifting his head and leveling our eyes. "I wouldn't care," he said, before digging kisses into the crook of my neck.

"I would."

"Why?"

My breathing had picked up again. The straps of my bra fell limply from my shoulders. "What do you mean why? I don't want people walking in on us-"

"It'd be funny," he chuckled.

I pulled my arms into my shirt, untangling myself from my bra and letting it fall in between us. Len swept it beside us.

"No! Poor Gumi would be traumatized," I whispered my argument in his ear.

He shuddered underneath me. "We don't have a lot of time," he pointed out. One of his hands left my waist, and dug between the cushions in the couch.

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you-"

He pulled out a small condom wrapper.

"You're hiding those in the couch now?" I laughed in surprise.

He gave me another devilish smile, before pulling me back into our kiss.

oof.

Finally this story is getting to the good stuff.

Thanks for reading guys :)