A/N: So, after several years of using the Microsoft Word Starter that came with my laptop…I'm suddenly not being able to open files because I'm supposed to buy Microsoft Office instead or whatever. If anyone has any ideas, that would be helpful. Because it's really hard not being able to look back over recent chapters. It's taking forever to try and figure out what happened.

Disclaimer: If I owned .Hack, the boys would be cuddling for my amusement all the time…and Ryou would hate me.

The next morning, Kaoru attempted to keep Ryou in bed as long as possible. He was so good at distracting him with a well-placed kiss or a whispered word of endearment. And it almost worked, except for the fact that Ryou had two free movie tickets saved on his phone and he wasn't about to let them go to waste.

Ryou dragged Kaoru over to the theater a good fifteen minutes before the movie was supposed to start. It just felt so good to get out of the house for a change, even though watching movies was something they did plenty of back at his apartment. But standing in the expansive lobby, Ryou felt energized. So what if he was going to drink a soda and sit on his ass for two hours? At least he was surrounded by other people, being part of society again.

Even Kaoru seemed more energetic, even if he was only channeling the energy into freaking out and grabbing onto Ryou's shoulder.

"Would you give it a rest?" Ryou snapped. "There aren't that many people here. You can handle it."

"But she's here," Kaoru hissed, his grip tightening around Ryou's shoulder.

"Who?"

"Noriko, the girl from the café."

Ryou craned his neck, looking past the people lined up at the concession. Sure enough, there was the damn girl, still in her uniform from the café. Luckily, she hadn't seen them yet. She was poring over a pamphlet about the latest movies.

"Aw shit."

Kaoru shuddered. "What are we going to do?"

"Stop freaking out. Maybe she won't see us."

"But, Ryou, I'm not…normal."

Ryou huffed and put his hands on his hips. "Just try to be inconspicuous, okay? Flailing around is only going to draw more attention to yourself. Walk with me. We'll lose her in the movie."

"What if she's going to see the same movie?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Kaoru averted his eyes. "No, not really."

"Good. Then we'll take it nice and easy. Just walk right past her and into the theater."

Kaoru nodded and took Ryou's hand. Ryou grimaced. When Kaoru was nervous, holding hands became rather painful. But there was no use telling Kaoru to relax. They just had to get this over with as soon as possible.

Ryou led the way, setting an easy, casual stride. No one would much notice of two teenage boys walking across the lobby, even if they were holding hands. Nope, it was just a regular, everyday occurrence that couldn't possibly distract anyone from-

Noriko looked up from her pamphlet, her face brightening in recognition. "Hey, guys!" she called to them, beckoning to come over to her.

But Ryou had other ideas. "We gotta run for it," he told Kaoru. "Only safe place is the men's room." He scanned the lobby for the nearest bathroom.

"Too late," Kaoru said. "She's coming over here."

Ryou cursed. "Oh, come on. We don't have time for this shit. Just…be your usual self and we'll try and weasel out of this."

"As long as she isn't going to same movie."

Ryou glared at him. "Are you trying to make this worse for us? Just work with me here."

Noriko ran up to them breathlessly. "Hi, guys! I thought I recognized you two."

Ryou coughed. "Uh yeah, nice to see you again. We have a movie we need to get to, so…"

Noriko gave no indication that she had heard him. She was too busy gushing over Kaoru. "Oh, he looks so good. He seemed really sick before."

"He was sick. Really, really sick. But he's a lot better now."

Ryou sighed and made a face at Kaoru. He really didn't want to stay and talk to Noriko for too long. They were managing fine for now, but the cancer ruse was really wearing thin. It made him uncomfortable to have to keep up a lie for so long.

"Ryou nursed me back to health," Kaoru said. "He gave me something to live for."

"Awww. That's so sweet." She glanced down at their clasped hands. "Are you two together now?"

"Yes," Ryou said. "Now, if we-"

"After all, life is short," Kaoru said. "Why waste time being lonely and unhappy when you can spend it with the one you love?"

Ryou cleared his throat and tapped one foot against the linoleum floor. "Kaoru, my darling. Don't we have a movie to see?" He fixed Kaoru with a meaningful glare, daring him to prolong the stupid conversation any further with some more inane love drivel.

Thankfully, Kaoru got the message. "Oh, yes. We, uh, we did have plans."

"Well, I won't keep you from your date," Noriko said. She patted Kaoru on the shoulder, somehow missing the way he flinched away from her touch. "It was good to see you again."

Ryou waited until she had disappeared across the lobby before he could relax. "She fell for it. Dumb bitch."

"Don't be mean, Ryou. She's a nice girl. She was only trying to be friendly."

"She's a pain in the ass is what she is. Come on, Kaoru. Let's get out of here before anybody else finds us."

Ryou had expected the movie theater to be relatively empty since Shattered Sun had already been out for a few weeks. But it was even emptier than he had expected. There was nobody else sitting in the theater.

Ryou stuck his hands in his pockets and surveyed the rows of empty seats. "Wow. Looks like it's just us. So, since we have the pick of the place, where would you like to sit?"

Kaoru hunched his shoulders. "I defer to your good judgment, Ryou."

"My good judgment, eh?" Ryou started down a row of seats halfway down the aisle. "This is awesome. We can fuck around as much as we want." Ryou vaulted over the back of the chair in front of him and slid down into the seat. "I've always wanted to do this."

Kaoru trailed down the aisle after him. "Must you keep switching seats? I want to watch the movie with you."

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I did it once, Kaoru. Lighten up. We'll sit here." He patted the seat beside him. "Come on, Kaoru. Get comfortable."

Kaoru settled into the seat beside him and nestled into his side. "This is actually quite nice. It's a little eerie having no one around, but it's quite nice."

Ryou leaned back in his seat and put his feet up on the chair in front of him. "Jesus. We could be fucking in here and nobody would ever know."

Kaoru flushed and looked away. "I can't believe you'd talk like this, Ryou."

"Don't try to act innocent. You're the kinky one."

"And you'd probably smack me for suggesting such a thing."

"Damn right."

Kaoru sighed and pushed up the armrest separating the two seats, nestling further into Ryou's side. "This is actually quite romantic, once you get past the abandoned atmosphere."

"I'd smack you for suggesting sex, remember?"

"Not sex," Kaoru said. "Romance."

Ryou huffed as Kaoru tugged at his legs, but he reluctantly set them back on the ground in front of him. "Okay, okay. We can cuddle if you want to. It's not as comfortable as the couch, but to each his own."

Kaoru patted Ryou's knee and gently squeezed his leg. "I have enjoyed these dates, Ryou. I don't mind leaving the apartment as much as I thought, especially when we can share such beautiful moments together."

Ryou frowned and glanced down at Kaoru's hand resting on his thigh. He didn't get what was so special and beautiful and magical about the moment. Sure, they were wedged together pretty tightly in their seats, which wasn't exactly comfortable or romantic, but it did mean a lot of physical contact. But not nearly as much as Ryou had expected. Kaoru wasn't practically glued to his body like he was during the night. Instead of wrapping his arm around him, Kaoru was just petting his leg, slowly moving his hand up and down his thigh, his thumb applying gentle pressure. Ryou watched in fascination. The slow, rhythmic movement was almost hypnotizing. There was certainly nothing else to do while they waited for the movie to start. Why not just relax and enjoy having Kaoru stroke his thigh?

"Well, it's not just us anymore," Kaoru said in a sorrowful tone. "But, one person won't make too much of a difference."

What the hell was he talking about? Ryou blinked and looked around hazily. To his horror, a man with a bucket of popcorn was bustling his way to the front of the theater.

Ryou jerked his leg back. "Pervert."

"I thought my touch was soothing to you."

"I'm not an idiot, Kaoru. You're trying to get into my pants."

Kaoru looked hurt. "I'm not allowed to simply touch the one I love?"

"You know what you do to me when you touch me. And I said we're not having sex in this damn theater." Ryou looked around furtively. It was hard to keep his voice down when he was angry, but the last thing he wanted was for a stranger to hear about his sex life. That would be beyond mortifying.

"I'm sorry, Ryou. I suppose cuddling would be out of the question now?"

Ryou crossed his arms over his chest and propped his feet back up on the chair in front of him. "If you can keep your hands to yourself."

"Oh." Kaoru hunched down in his seat and rested his head against Ryou's shoulder. "This is nice, too, I suppose."

"It better be, because I'm not a damn exhibitionist like you are."

"Ryou, I wasn't trying to-"

"Quiet, Kaoru. The movie's starting."

Kaoru sighed and shifted down further into his seat. Ryou told himself that he didn't feel the least bit sorry for Kaoru. Why should he let Kaoru cuddle with him after he had shown that he had absolutely zero self-control? Cuddling was just going to lead to groping and the last thing Ryou wanted was for someone to see him with Kaoru's hands down his pants. But, Ryou thought, surely putting an arm around Kaoru's shoulder couldn't hurt. There. Now this was the perfect movie-watching position.