Ah, wait, let me think... I own the Coca Cola Concern, Microsoft, Wesley, Heath, Hayden, Ranger and Morelli, and am literally too poor to afford a pair of cotton socks. Oh, damn, this contradicts itself, huh? See, there you have it. I own nothing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The door gave an unwilling squeak as Ruki pushed it open, desperately trying to handle the bags in her hands which were threateningly close to falling and spilling all their contents on the floor.

"RYO! A little help here?!"

Seconds later, the young man's head emerged from the living room.

"Wha? Oh, sure, coming!"

A faint rustling and he stepped into the hallway, taking the purchases from her arms which caused her to emit a relieved sigh.

They had settled on sharing the work, after all Ruki lived with him for almost two months now, and it was surprising how comfortable she felt.

"Man, that stuff is heavy. Why didn't you go shopping?"

"Ah, let me think a sec... If I recall correctly, someone was absolutely unwilling to touch either the dirty dishes or the vacuum cleaner or the flat iron. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Moron, ever heard of the word rhetoric?"

"Oh, of course, this wasn't a question but an accusation. Wait. Yes, Oh Master Of Accusing Me For Every Problem Within Twenty Miles Reach, I apologize for being my dense self and not immediately jumping to your aid in these serious issues. I am absolutely and completely unworthy of your affection and trust. I prepare to sink into the depths of guiltiness, roll into a ball and die."

The speech was followed by a tributary bow and an inevitable roll of eyes by Ruki.

"You know, you could've just said sorry."

"Yeah, but that would sound as if I was serious."

"Oh, you're terrible, you know that? I hate you!"

"You know how much more convincing that would sound if you actually stopped grinning?"

Her face lit up even more when he pulled her against him and enveloped her in his arms. His hold was possessive and tight, not even giving her an inch's space. She looked up as he leaned his head back and then brought his face back down to hers so that their foreheads touched. His expression was serious, almost forming a frown.

"God, I love you."

Her lips contorted into a soft, genuine smile.

"I know. And don't you ever stop."

"How could I? You're practically the centre of my life."

"And you're mine."

His face softened.

"You love me, right?"

"Of course, I always have."

"That's what I've been longing to hear."

"And you will for a long, long time."

"I could not think of any words more comforting."

She smiled.

"Come on, Pooh, let's get these things into the fridge."

"What? Did you just refer to me as Winnie the Pooh? That's insulting!"

"No, it's not. Winnie the Pooh is cute and quite dense and he always wears red. Fitting, is it not?"

She poked her finger into his red shirt while she grinned at his pout.

"That's not nice, Ruki."

"No, but it's the truth."

"I'm not dense."

"Not in the intellectual sense."

"As opposed to?"

"If you had any emotional understanding you'd never feel the need to ask me if I love you. You'd simply know."

He gave her a fake arrogant face.

"I know a lot more than you do. I for example knew already seven years ago what I wanted you to be to me. You've only decided for what? Two months?"

Then his face went earnest again.

"Besides, I did know you loved me. I never doubted it in the last few days. But you could never imagine how good it feels to really hear you say it out loud, in my face no less."

"Aww, little Pooh-Bear is all happy-happy now, isn't he?"

"You sound like you really need an infant to bother. I've grown out of that language about seventeen years ago."

"Oh, that's alright, we could just go to Kazu or Takato, they'd probably understand every word."

He chuckled and took hold of her hip. Pulling her up to his waist, he pulled her legs around him, supporting her by holding her bottom. Though his hands lingered longer than necessary, causing the passion that had burned on pilot flame for the last hours to flare up full force again.

Ruki brought her face up to his, their noses grazing and their foreheads touching once again. Her arms wandered up his arms and shoulders, grazing the hot flesh exposed to finally come to a rest around his neck while his hands grasped her bottom more tightly.

It had almost become normal by now, but still Ruki felt surprised and amazed every single time she noticed how quickly and eagerly her conscious mind shut down, leaving her to her instincts and passion. Not that it disturbed her in any way, mind you.

Their kiss grew more demanding and fierce, both obviously acting upon their bodies. Her legs tightened around his midriff and his fingers found their way down to the hem of her dress, tucking it successfully over her head. Which left her in a bra and panties and even more eager to get his clothes off too. Her fingers unfastened the buttons in an astonishing pace, pushing the shirt down his shoulders.

Ryo moved them and began to make his way to the bedroom, never taking his arms away from around her or breaking their fiery kisses, and with their clouded minds, the couple barely realized the bedroom door slamming shut, barring out the rest of the world, as much as they didn't know that it wasn't to open until almost 24 hours later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What a weird feeling.

Her body felt sore and worn out, but relaxed and refreshed at the same time. It was... well, weird, as stated above. But nice. Very nice. Slowly, Ruki began to recognize other things around her, like the unfamiliar, but familiar scent of the bed she was lying on, like the chirping of the birds she had grown accustomed to in the last two months, like the warmth of a body surrounding hers.

She snuggled closer, never able to get enough, generating a tired, but happy sigh from her lover. She opened her eyes and surveyed the scene. His hands were playing with her hair, probably without his own notice. His face, resting against her slim throat, was relaxed and unguarded, as most times when he was around her. All she could feel, sense, was his genuine and unwavering happiness, equalling her own.

And, she realized, for the first time in her whole life, she felt utterly, wholly, wonderfully complete. Without a doubt on her mind, without fear for the future, without grief for the past. Not thinking through consequences or possible means of escape of whatever was demanding responsibility and trust in herself. The first time these three small, yet so important words came out without a tinge of reluctance, flowing naturally like it was the easiest and best thing to say:

"I love you."

"I love you, and I love hearing it." He lifted his eyes to meet hers and smiled.

"I know."

"Would you mind hearing it every morning?"

"What?"

"That I love you. Would you... would you mind waking up beside me every single day of your life? Would you mind growing old with me?"

His eyes fluttered close as he seemed to search for the right words to lighten up his girlfriend's confusion. A slight look of apprehension settled on his handsome features.

"Would you... would you marry me?"

"What?!"

He let out his held breath, still not opening his eyes. Then finally, when he brought himself to meet her gaze, he was met by a beaming smile.

"Man, you're lucky you got me this instant."

"Why?"

"Because right now, I can't even bring my infamous  'Voice Of Doubt' to find a single argument against you of for the fact that I should say no. I love you, I'm sure it will stay this way forever, and I want to be able to hang a sign around your neck stating that you're taken, so... yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!"

"Ah, I knew it!"

"No you didn't, you looked like a lost five-year-old, waiting for the execution of his favourite teddy bear. Absolutely lost."

Ryo pouted, answering in a defensive voice: "Fine, so I was scared of you saying no, and now what?!"

"Oh, don't get all upset, darling. It's alright now, isn't it?"

"Damn straight."

He sighed exaggeratedly at her smirk.

"I love you, but you can still be a bitch sometimes."

"HEY!"

His grinning face was confronted by a pillow coming directly its way, and due to the morning drowsiness, Ryo was unable to prevent the impact, receiving a satisfied giggle from Ruki.

"Damn woman, you'll never get away with this!"

He grabbed his own pillow and hurled it at her, involving them in a huge pillow fight that continued on until, after almost an hour, the both collapsed onto their bed again.

"Is it normal that wife and husband-to-be share a pillow fight right after the proposition?"

"I don't give a fuck if it's normal, it was cool."

"Yeah, exactly my train of thoughts."

"So, wanna give it another go?"

"Sure. How about in... five hours? I need my beauty sleep right now."

"You don't need anything like that, but I'm sure you know this and are just fishing for compliments, so I'll shut up and sleep. Wanna join me?"

"But of course!"

She gave a small laugh as she was pressed up to his body again, snuggling so close that she practically vanished inside of him. Then she turned and gave him a look.

"Hey, I think we forgot the kiss."

"Oh, yeah. We did."

"So?"

He grinned and leaned down, placing a long, soft kiss on her lips.

"Now you're mine. Unofficially."

"But that's all we need, right?"

"'Course. Now go to sleep."

"See you in twelve hours, baby."

"Mhmmm..."

He was obviously already drifting off again, so Ruki followed suit and fell into a deep slumber beside him. Dreaming of him, their love and the wonderful life they were going to have.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yes, that's it, folks. The moment we've all been waiting for. What? You actually thought I'd write a lemon? Besides the fact that I should not even be reading them, much less writing one, I'm pretty sure I would simply not be able to.

And now, something very important which my dumb and forgetful mind simply embezzled:

A HUGE THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!

I'm afraid I can't name all of you right now, but every single one of your words made my days brighter. Thank you!