Okay, so the original plan was to have this chapter be the confession and resolution, and then add an epilogue for chapter 15. However, I realized while writing this that if I did that, then this chapter would be extremely short. So I just decided to wrap them all up into one! Also, the link to the poll deciding what kind of Miritama story I'll be doing after this will be in the end notes below! I actually only received three suggestions in total, which is pretty disappointing all things considered. But no worries! I'll be keeping it up for TWO WEEKS before taking the results and announcing them. And as of the release of this chapter, I will not be taking anymore suggestions. Thank you very much to all of you who gave me suggestions! I love you guys!

By the time Mirio made it to Tamaki's floor and turned down the hall where his room was, he was panting hard from running up all the stairs. The door to his room was shut, but Mirio didn't care; he opened the door and stood there for a second, trying to catch his breath.

Inside, Akiyama-sensei was sitting on the rolling stool beside the bed, where Tamaki was sitting up. He was pale and had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. When they heard the sound of the door being roughly pushed open, both of them looked up. Akiyama-sensei nodded at him, but Tamaki's already deep frown deepened and he looked away.

"Can I...talk to Tamaki...alone?" He asked between breaths.

Akiyama-sensei tilted her head slightly to the side. "Have you done what I told you?"

He nodded, and realization seemed to dawn across her face. Her confused look became a warm smile and she immediately stood up, setting her clipboard down on the table across the room. "Alright. Take as much time as you need."

He waited until she had left, closing the door behind her, to walk over and sit down at the end of Tamaki's bed. He was still making a point not to look at him, so Mirio reached over and grabbed his hand. "Tamaki, I need to talk to you."

"I don't want-"

"Earlier was an accident." He continued, ignoring Tamaki's attempts at protesting. "But I don't regret it. Because now I can really tell you how I feel."

"Please stop-"

"Tamaki, you're the most amazing, sweet, caring, generous, selfless person I've ever met, probably in the whole world. I love everything about you. I love your hair, I love your ears even though they embarrass you a lot, I love the sound of your voice, and don't even get me started on your smile. I love hearing you laugh, especially when it's me who made you laugh. I love you, you and not anyone else."

Tamaki still refused to look at him, face turned to the side but Mirio could see the tears beginning to streak down his face. "Mirio...please..."

"I'm not lying in some desperate attempt to save you." He squeezed his hand tightly. "Even if you don't believe me, I can always just keep telling you until you do."

"Mirio-"

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you-"

"Mirio!" He stopped, shocked as Tamaki physically pulled his hand from Mirio's grip, clutching it to his chest. "I-I can't b-believe you could even be s-so cruel..."

"I'm not lying to you." He repeated himself, shifting so that they were now sitting even closer. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Tamaki in a huge embrace. He tried to push away, but Mirio wouldn't let him; he simply held on tighter as he buried his face into Tamaki's neck. "I love you."

Tamaki was trembling. "Mirio-"

Mirio slowly pulled away, an idea forming in his head. If he couldn't convince Tamaki with words, he would have to use actions. So he moved his hands to the sides of Tamaki's face, cupping his cheeks and simultaneously using his thumbs to brush away the tears. "I love you," He whispered one more time before leaning in and pressing their lips together.

It was awkward, to say the least. Tamaki did not return the kiss, but he didn't try to struggle away either. Mirio could taste salt as more tears fell from his eyes, but he ignored it, trying to convey all of his feelings into this one kiss. This was his only chance. He had to make Tamaki believe him.

Eventually he began to get light-headed from the lack of oxygen, so he was forced to break apart for air. Panting, he touched his forehead to Tamaki, who was still trembling and crying. "I love you," He said again.

Tamaki shook his head with a pathetic whimper. "N-No, you-"

"I love you! I don't know how much clearer I can be!"

"You don't love me, you just-" He stopped as his words were overtaken by a sudden bout of coughing. Immediately, Mirio was on his feet, trying to get Tamaki to sit up straight and help him in any way he could, repeating his confession every few seconds as he tried to hold back his own tears.

"Tamaki?" He shouted even though he knew he couldn't reply. Gritting his teeth, he reached around and slammed a hand on the call button beside the bed. Mere seconds later, Akiyama-sensei rushed back in accompanied by a male nurse.

"What happened?" The male nurse demanded. "This looks bad, we should-"

"Shush," Akiyama-sensei said, effectively quieting the male nurse. There was a look of concentration on her face. "Go get a cool washcloth."

"Ma'am-"

"I said go!" She repeated, clearly annoyed. The male nurse nodded and left the room.

"Sensei, what's going on?"

She briefly raised her eyes to his and placed a finger to her lips. Mirio frowned, tightening his grip on Tamaki's hand. Akiyama-sensei seemed to be telling him to just wait and see, but he didn't think he could do that.

He could see tears forming in the corners of Tamaki's eyes. There was blood at the corners of his mouth and on his chin. Clumps of blood and petals lay on the bedsheets already. He could hardly stand to just sit there and watch, but he trusted that Akiyama-sensei knew what she was doing. So he pursed his lips and squeezed Tamaki's hand one more time.

The coughing fit continued for several minutes, never seeming to get better or worse. Maybe five minutes later, just when Mirio was sure he could take no more, Tamaki gave one last, violent cough before slumping over against Mirio's side. He laid there trembling for a few seconds, panting for breath before his breathing evened out and his eyes slipped shut. Mirio panicked for a second before realizing he was simply unconscious.

He'd been so distracted with Tamaki's state to notice what was laying on the bed now. He wrapped his arms around Tamaki and pressed his chin to the top of his head, determined not to let go. He didn't even notice when the male nurse returned with a small bowl of water and washcloth, nor when they started collecting the scattered petals from the sheets. It wasn't until Akiyama-sensei reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder that he remembered them, reluctantly lifting his head.

Akiyama-sensei was smiling at him, which struck him as odd. She held something in her hand, which she then passed to him once she had his attention. Confused, he lifted the object up to the light to see it better. It was a flower petals, except this one was different than the bright yellow ones he'd seen Tamaki cough up before. This one was brown, ugly and wilted. It would probably crumble if he closed his fist around it.

"What...is this?" He asked, confused by what it meant.

Akiyama-sensei kept smiling at him. "It's a wilted flower petal." To Mirio's annoyance, that much seemed extremely obvious.

"But what does that mean?"

She sighed, shaking her head a bit while saying something under her breath. Then she nodded to Tamaki's slumped over form. "If the petals on a flower are wilting, it means...?" She trailed off, raising her eyebrows at him expectedly.

It took a moment, but Mirio finally understood what she meant and broke out in a huge grin. "You mean he's-"

"Yes," She smiled again with a nod of confirmation. "It means the flower is dying, and he'll live."

Tamaki had always hated hospital rooms. They were cold and uncomfortable and sterile, lifeless. The closest thing to color was a small framed photo of a flower on the wall. Which he didn't really want to look at anyways. He felt restless, constantly moving on the observation table, the paper crinkling underneath him. He wished they would hurry up so he could leave already.

The door came open and Mirio walked in, carrying two travel coffee cups in his hands. He smiled as he walked in, handing one of the cups to him. "Your coffee, fresh from the cafe across the street."

"M-Mirio!" Tamaki exclaimed, closing his hands around the warm cup. "Y-You didn't have to go all the way across the street. There's a coffee machine-"

"Hospital coffee is gross, though." He said. "This is much better."

Tamaki sighed, deciding it wasn't worth trying to argue. Mirio sat down in the chair next to the bed and started telling him about this woman who'd been at the cafe with a small dog. He couldn't help but smile as Mirio talked, using his hands to illustrate his points.

Halfway through his story, the door opened again and Akiyama-sensei entered the room. She smiled at them, setting the manila folder she'd been carrying on the counter. "Good morning, you two." She greeted them. "How have you been doing lately, Amajiki-kun?"

"Better," he said. "I'm still coughing up the wilted petals, but the chest pain is gone, and there's no more blood."

"That's good." She nodded, reaching for the folder and taking out a couple X-ray pictures. "I wanted to give you an idea of how much progress you've been making, so I brought pictures from one month ago and a few days ago." She turned the pictures around to show him.

The difference was visible even to him, who had had no medical training whatsoever. In the picture on the left, there was a large stem and flower attached to the center, taking up practically the entire space. But in the picture on the right, the stem had disappeared altogether; all he could see were a few petals and leaves.

"Give it about another week, and this should all be cleared up." She told him. "I want to see you again next Friday. Hopefully everything will be gone by then."

Tamaki nodded, getting down from the table. "Thank you, Sensei."

"Of course." She smiled. "I'll see you two on Friday."

"Bye, Sensei!" Mirio called as the two of them left the room and headed for the elevator. A comfortable silence settled over them as they made their way out of the hospital and to the parking lot where Mirio's car was. His father had bought it for him a couple weeks before, apparently with no specific reason, but Tamaki suspected he'd just been happy about Tamaki's recovery. Tamaki took the passenger seat while Mirio climbed into the driver's side. Before even pulling out of the lot, he had reached out and intertwined his hand with Tamaki's, making him smile and blush.

The drive from the hospital back to Tamaki's house was relatively short, thankfully. Still without a word spoken between them, they got out of the car and linked hands once more before heading inside. However, they were greeted with a dark, silent house. Tamaki furrowed his brow in confusion and was just opening his mouth to call out for his mother when several people jumped out with a collective shout of, "SURPRISE!"

Tamaki jumped from the shock, stumbling back into Mirio's thankfully solid chest before smiling. His mom was standing at the front of the room with a warm smile on his face. Nejire was at the side of the room, a party popper in her hand which had sprayed confetti when they shouted. Yuyu was leaning against the wall next to her, arms crossed as she looked between Tamaki, Mirio, and her girlfriend. At the other side of the room was Fatgum, who held the second party popper. They were all smiling at him.

"What's all this for?" He asked after the shock had begun to wear off.

"It's a celebration!" Nejire cheered, jumping and clapping with a cheerful giggle. "We heard you're healing well, so I thought we should throw a party!"

"You really didn't have to-"

"Oh, hush. Let us fuss over you." His mom walked over to give him a hug, leaning down to kiss the his forehead (since he was too tall for her to kiss his head).

"I brought takoyaki from the shop!" Fatgum announced, gesturing to two large boxes on the living room coffee table.

"And there's cake!" Nejire said excitedly, dancing over to open the boxes, revealing a bunch of takoyaki balls and a big neapolitan cake.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing and eating. But when the sun started to go down, his mom decided it was time for everyone to go home. Yuyu had to practically drag Nejire from the house, and Fatgum left after giving him one last bear hug.

That left Mirio and Tamaki alone in the living room while his mom washed dishes in the kitchen. They were quiet, simply enjoying each other's company. They sat on the couch, Tamaki's head leaning against his shoulder.

Tamaki wasn't sure how much time had passed before his mom returned to the living room with her purse, saying she had to make a quick trip to the grocery store and would be back later. The boys said goodbye, ignoring her teasing comment about them not getting up to anything funny.

About ten minutes after she left, Tamaki let out an involuntary yawn, drawing Mirio's attention. He nudged his shoulder a bit so that he would sit up and gave him a questioning look. "Are you getting tired? You can go lay down if you want."

"Um...yeah," He nodded, blushing. "But...uh...could you-"

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked, already moving to stand. "I'm sure you'd want to be alone if you're tired; here, I can-"

"N-No!" He reached over and grabbed his hand, lowering his forehead to rest against Mirio's arm. "C-Could you...stay?"

"You...want me to stay? While you're sleeping?" Mirio's expression was obviously asking if he meant anything more by that, so Tamaki rushed to correct him.

"N-Nothing like that!" He assured him. "I just...I just think I'd feel more comfortable with you there. O-Of course you don't have to! I-I'd be just fine on my own, I was just-"

"Tamaki," Mirio rested a hand over Tamaki's and gave him a sweet smile. "I don't mind at all. Actually, I'm really glad you like me enough to feel comfortable like that."

Tamaki shook his head. "Th-That's ridiculous, you know...of course I feel comfortable with you. After all..."

"Because you love me, right?" He grinned.

Tamaki's face started to burn and he turned away in a half-hearted attempt to hide it. "Y-You know I do, you don't have to...a-ask and make it e-embarrassing."

"Aw, but I like hearing you say it." Mirio pouted, draping himself over Tamaki's back and resting his chin on his shoulder. "Here, I'll go first. I love you, Tamaki. Tamaki, I love you."

"S-Stop it! That tickles," He couldn't help but giggle as Mirio intentionally turned his head to the side and started whispering the words directly into his ear. Before long, he had dissolved into a fit of giggles while Mirio grinned, starting to attack his sides on top of the whispering in his ear until Tamaki was crying from laughter.

"O-Okay, okay! Okay, enough!" He was laying on his back now with Mirio on top of him, watching him and waiting for him to say the words. FInally, he sighed and looked up to meet his eyes. "I love you too, Mirio." As soon as he'd spoken, Mirio broke out in a huge grin and leaned down to wrap his arms around him, gleefully placing kisses anywhere he could find; his ears, his nose, his cheeks, his chin, anywhere.

After they'd both calmed down, the boys headed back to Tamaki's room and laid down together on top of the covers. As Tamaki laid there, snuggling closer into Mirio's chest and laying his head against his sternum, he silently thanked whoever had decided to make this possible. Because he never wanted to give this up, not for anything.

Oh. My. God. It's done. Bloody Petals is done. Oh my God. It's actually kind of unreal? I feel like I was working on this book for longer than Luminescence. Which I actually think I was...but that's not the point. Are you guys happy with this ending? I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it, it felt too easy to me, but maybe that's just me being picky. Please let me know what you guys thought in the comments below! And don't forget about the poll to decide what Miritama fic I'll be making next! The link will be in my bio, there are three choices since I only got three suggestions. But they all seem really cool and I'd be happy to do any of them, so please go vote! I'll be ending the poll after two weeks, so make sure to vote before then. And thank you all SO SO much for reading! I love you guys!

11/1/2020 UPDATE: The voting is now closed! The winner was Fantasy/Royalty AU! So, uh...yeah. Now I've gotta figure out how I want to tackle that one haha I'll figure it out, I promise. I'm thinking something like Mirio being a knight or a soldier or something, and him either protecting Tamaki or...well, I'll keep that to myself haha that should make it more interesting...hmmmm anyways, yeah, I love you guys; thank you all for the votes and suggestions. I hope to see you all when the new book gets started! Love you guys!