Brad walked along the edge of the pool slowly, thankful that it was late, and his teammates would be long passed out from the jet lag. He was surprised he himself wasn't asleep, but something had made him stay up for a stroll around the hotel.
It really wasn't all that surprising, since the hotel was so extravagant and all. He was dedicated to making the most of his private time to relax, after all, this WAS Hawaii.

Naturally, fate was against him. As he stood overlooking one of the five pools, who else should he see but Schuldich.
Damnit, what's he doing up? Brad thought irritably to himself. At least the redhead hadn't noticed him. Brad glanced again at him again, watching the German as he swam by the waterfall that leaked into the pool. God.. he's beautiful... Brad's thoughts betrayed him, but this was a common occurance. All the more reason to be thankful he was so good at shielding his mind from the German. If he knew how Brad felt about him... but, he never would. Brad cursed himself mentally. Goddamnit, we're coworkers. It would never work out. Plus, he already hates me anyway. Still, was there anything wrong with admiring the way the moonlight hit his hair just right? ... As long as Schuldich never knew about it, it couldn't hurt him, ne?

So Brad continued to watch the German, decidedly moving to a place where he would be harder to notice. There weren't a lot of people around, and Schuldich had chosen a spot far away from the crowd.

Soon, Brad found himself moving closer to the pool, his feet moving as if they had a mind of their own. And by the time he realized this, it was too late.

"Why, hello Bradley, going for a swim?" Schuldich drawled. "I didn't know that was any of your business." Brad glared, after regaining his composure. Why hadn't he foreseen that, anyway? "You should loosen up, being so uptight all the time isn't healthy." Schuldich smirked, leaning in closer to Brad who attempted to back away, only to find himself backed up against a lawn chair. "You sure you want to pass up the opportunity to take a swim with me, Braddie?" Schuldich taunted, taking off Brad's glasses. Brad didn't bother stopping him. He wasn't sure he wanted him to stop. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he could bring himself to stop him if he wanted to. The German was damn attractive. "Yes, I'm quite certain." Brad said, attempting to salvage the situation. "Certain, eh?" Schuldich said, pressing himself up against Brad, and then pushing him over onto the lawn chair. He quickly moved in so that he was leaning over Brad, pinning him to the chair. Once again, Brad couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. Goddamnit, what the hell is wrong with me?! Brad demanded of himself. He didn't like not having control over a situation. He especially didn't like not having control over himself.

Schuldich tossed Brad's glasses into the pool. "Whoops." He said evilly. Brad glared at him, he'd forgotten to bring an extra pair, and although he could see pretty well without them, he preferred not having to deal with the handicap. "What are you aiming at, Schuldich?" Brad demanded. "Are you accusing me of plotting something???" Schuldich asked innocently. "Are you?" Brad glared. Schuldich snickered. "What do you think?" Schuldich grinned. "You don't want to know what I think." Brad stated. "Don't I?" Schuldich asked. This is going nowhere. Brad thought irritably. "Anyhow, judging by your face, you seem to be under the impression that I'm trying to seduce you." Schuldich said. "If I was, I would be correct, ne?" Brad asked. "Here I am, innocently asking you if you want to go swimming, and you're accusing me of trying to seduce you!" Schuldich exclaimed. "I wasn't aware that innocently asking included pinning a person to a lawn chair and throwing their belongings into the pool." Brad said. "You can leave anytime you want, we both know that. And that was an accident. They just flew out of my hands." Schuldich said. Brad couldn't argue with him on the first point, and arguing on the second wouldn't get him anywhere. So, he decided, the best answer was silence.

"Why do you put yourself through this? We both know you want me. So why suffer?" Schuldich asked, brushing his lips against Brad's. Brad stiffened at the contact, as Schuldich continued; "Why not loosen up just a bit, ne? You're only human, after all. Everyone should enjoy some of the basic pleasures of life." Schuldich said, his lips once again brushing against Brad's as he talked. Brad stared at Schuldich, jade eyes boring into his. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the German was so close. This proved impossible, as Schuldich's breath hit his face. Brad took a deep breath, and in one liquid motion, pushed Schuldich onto the cement and got up from the lawn chair. "I will not become your next toy, Schuldich." He said sharply. "Fine. But who said anything about you being a toy?" Schuldich asked, getting up. "Don't think I don't know you, Schuldich. You don't give a damn about me or anyone else. Everyone around you is just here for your own amusement. Toys. Someone to play with and throw away without a moment's notice." Brad glared. "That just proves how little you know me." Schuldich said, glaring back at Brad. "Hn. What's this all about, Schuldich? We all know you hate me with a passion, so what are you plotting?" Brad demanded. Schuldich blinked. "Ne.. nani?" He asked, suddenly confused. "Don't fuck with me, Schuldich. We all know you hate me, you've made that known from the very first." Brad exclaimed. Schuldich blinked again, his previous facade completely forgotten. "You.. think I hate you?" Schuldich asked. Brad blinked, suddenly unsure of what to do next. Schuldich hated him... but... why was he looking at him like that? "I.. yes..." Brad stammered, taking a step back. He didn't like feeling so helpless, why the hell hadn't he foreseen any of this?! Schuldich's eyes suddenly softened. "You idiot. You complete flippy idiot." Schuldich said, snickering slightly. "What the hell's so funny?!" Brad demanded. "I don't hate you! Mein Gott... where the hell did you get that idea?" Schuldich asked. "The way you never listen to my authority, the way you strive to drive me insane every, single hour of the day!!!" Brad exclaimed. "You idiot." Schuldich said again, striding up to Brad and wrapping his arms around Brad's neck. Brad triped to back up again, and found himself at the very edge of the pool. Great. I hate swimming pools. Brad thought irritably. "That's not how I feel at all." Schuldich said. "Then how DO you feel?" Brad asked, desperate to get away from the man. Schuldich cocked his head slightly, looking somewhat unsure of what to do next as well. "Well..." He said, letting go of Brad and looking away. Brad straightened up, thankful the German had released him. "Well what?" He asked irritably.

Schuldich turned to Brad again, their eyes meeting. Brad realized he had completely dropped the facade, and watched a sea of emotions flowing through Schuldich's eyes. "Well... I... I love you, Brad." Schuldich said. Brad's eyes widened, and he took a step backwards.

And fell into the pool.

Schuldich jumped in surprise, and jumped in as Brad surfaced. Luckily enough, this part of the pool was neither too deep, nor too shallow."Y-you what?!!" Brad demanded, the wet hair sticking to his forehead going unnoticed. "I love you." Schuldich said, trying to put every ounce of conviction he had into the statement. Brad simply looked shocked. "You.. you can't possibly.. how.. why...." He stammered, unable to form anything remotely resembling a coherent sentence. ".. Eh... are you ok, Crawford?" Schuldich asked, somewhat worried by Brad's completely abadonment of his usual character. Perhaps even more so by the fact that he was now babbling incoherently. He'd expected to be shot down, or to receive a cold look or a glare or... anything other than this. He had no idea how to deal with this. "I-I'm fine..." Brad said, still suffering from complete shock. Schuldich had to be lying. He just had to be. But.. why did he look so worried...? "Are you sure??? Give me something here, Brad. A glare, a sarcastic remark, hell, anything. Just please don't lead me along like this." Schuldich begged. Brad blinked. "Wh-what....?" He asked. "Tell me you hate me! Do SOMETHING! Anything!!! You're acting all weird now, you're scaring me." Schuldich exclaimed. "I... I don't hate you..." Brad said, he really had no idea what he was saying, other than whatever had come to mind. "Ne...? But.. you said you thought I hated you." Schuldich said. "Just because I thought you hated me doesn't mean the feeling was mutual." Brad said. "Then.. how do you feel?" Schuldich asked.

Brad suddenly realized he was wearing a suit, and standing the five foot part of the pool, so he pulled himself out and sat on the edge. Schuldich followed, staring at him nervously. Brad stared blankly at his glasses, at the bottom of the pool a few feet away, and tried to gather his thoughts. How did he feel about Schuldich? He certainly didn't hate him... and he was attracted to him... but... love? He'd never really thought about it like that before. Why would he? To admit he loved Schuldich would just be setting himself up to be hurt... And Brad Crawford wasn't that stupid.

"... Same." He said finally, after what seemed like centuries. Schuldich blinked. "What...?" He asked, unsure whether or not he had heard correctly. Brad closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened them again, and turned back to Schuldich.

"I love you too, Schuldich." He said clearly.


****************

Verie: ... wee. This is just some pointless SchuxBrad semi-fluff I wrote while I was in Hawaii, as a present to Shinigami Nagi. ^-^ Also, it's the first peice of fluff I've ever actually written.. which might explain why it just doesn't seem very fluffy to me ;_;'' But apparently she liked it.. and she wants me to continue.. so jah, I probably will. (.. the next part will probably be a lemon though... ;_;' which will be the first one of those I've written, too. O.o;;)

Has anyone noticed that no matter what, I can't seem to escape from adding humor in my fics?! >.;; Can't I write *one* completely serious fic? ~sob~ it makes me sad. I'll have to try harder. (but.. I *like* humor.. ~sigh~)

Anyhow.. bwee.