Read Switching Sides by Grace Musica before reading this! (It's in her first collection of FAKE-drabbles, chapter 26)

Ever wondered what exactly happened in-between Ryo's following Dee and the creaking of the mattress springs? Well... :) This little story could be what happened...

Characters/Pairings: Dee/Ryo, Bikky, Carol (mentioned)
Warnings: Mild language!
Spoilers: For Gracie's story "Switching Sides" probably.
Disclaimer: Not mine. All Sanami Matoh's sigh
Notes: Dedicated to Grace Musica, who also betaed this story. Thanks, hon. And I hope you like it!

Making up
a little story by DeeRyoFan

"Dee!" Ryo shouted, running after his partner who had just stormed out of the apartement after a particularly nasty argument - the upteenth fight they had have in the last two months.

Ryo caught up with the other detective as his lover sat down on one of the steps to put his shoes on, the dark-haired man's jerky movements indication enough of how upset he truly was.

When Ryo reached out to his partner's shoulder, his hand got shrugged off and with a burning look thrown at him, Dee stood and proceeded his descent down the stairs.

"Dee, please, wait! Where are you going?" Ryo cried, following Dee and grabbing the man's wrist to stop him.

This time Dee didn't pull away, even turned around to face his lover, but the grim look upon his face made Ryo let go off Dee's hand anyway.

"Why? Maybe I'm going to the church to pray for forgiveness for being a possessive jerk. Then again, maybe I'll just go down to the pub at the corner of the street and get completely plastered at 5 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. What's it to you - I thought you don't care?"

"Dee."

"What the fuck, Ryo, what's with you going berserk on me for shit like that lately? God, I know we're stressed and all, but dammit, Ryo, I'm not your fucking punching bag. Not like that. You made me feel lower than the dirt beneath your shoes right then!"

"Dee..."

Dee heaved a sigh, and Ryo could literally see his lover's anger fading away, leaving only raw hurt in its stead.

"Look, Ryo. I didn't mean to make you feel like you need to get my approval when you plan to do stuff that doesn't involve me as your partner in work or in life or whatever."

"I know."

"It's just... we've been so swamped with cases these past few months. We hardly get to spend any quality time together anymore as it is. And even on the rare occasion we do, we're both too tired and drained to do anything useful - or we're so testy due to all that being stressed out we end up fighting over insignificant shit."

"I know."

"I mean, God, when was the last time we made love that wasn't a short okay-let's-get-it-done-and-over-with-to-relieve-some-tension kind of affair right before the morning shower and a rushed cup of coffee? Three weeks ago, or four? And it's not even the lack of bed play. I can live with that, Ryo. At least for a time. But when was the last time we had a real family dinner together - you, Biks, Princess and me? When was the last time we got to go to the park for a picnic or took the kids out to the movies or something? Or had a quiet evening at home, just you and me, with a nice bottle of wine, a DVD and including the use of lots of massage oil?"

"I know."

"I just want to spend some time with you, Ryo, dammit. And that's why it'd be nice to have you talking about your new assignments with me first before making decisions like that. Just so that we can see if we can't find a way to work my schedule around yours or vice versa. But this I'll do it my way, so deal with it-attitude is just... uuber crappy."

"I know, Dee, I know. May I say something now, please?" Ryo asked calmy, taking a step closer to Dee.

The younger man nodded, loudly letting out a breath after his little rant.

Ryo looked up at Dee's face, not really sure how to say what he wanted to say, because, frankly, there wasn't much he could say - and so after a short moment of silence, he simply threw his arms around the taller man and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Ryo apologized, his voice small and filled with genuine remorse.

Ryo's heart sank, when he realized that Dee returned the hug only half-heartedly - instead of wrapping his arm around Ryo's waist as he usually would, he simply laid his hands on the smaller man's hips - whether to pull Ryo closer or to push him away, Ryo couldn't be sure. He must have hurt his lover more than he had thought.

Pulling back somewhat, Ryo locked eyes with his partner.

"I don't know what got into me," he explained, softly rubbing Dee's upper arms simultanously. "I guess, I'm just frustrated and stressed and... oh damn, I just don't know what got into me. I'm really sorry, Tigger. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to make you feel like I don't care about what you do. Of course I do care. And you are right, I should have discussed this with you first. Especially since it's not for my own personal enjoyment that I'll be doing that stuff, after all."

"It'd be nice if you'd tell me about things like that before making a decision in any case, own personal enjoyment or not. I know it's sorta silly, since it's more like a principle-thing than anything else - hell, like I ever could seriously do anything about it even if I didn't want you do to something - but I can't help feeling left out because you didn't come to me first. I mean, it wouldn't really be a big deal if it was only one evening per week, but, Jesus, three? I mean, what's next? You decide to get transferred to Boston and Mr. Zero gets to know you're moving away a week before me?"(1)

"Dee, please, don't be like that. I understand now, really. And I'm sorry, honestly."

"Just promise me it won't happen again."

"I promise. Now, please come back to the apartement." Ryo took a step backwards, holding Dee's right hand in his left, waiting.

But again Dee hesitated. He looked down at their joined hands than back up again to once more lock eyes with his lover.

"I'm sorry, Ryo, but I... I just... I really could need some time to myself to cool down, okay, baby?"

Ryo felt his heart sink even further. Dee had never declined such a peace offering. Thinking about it a moment, Ryo realized that maybe he had never declined, because Ryo hardly ever made any when they fought. Usually it was Dee to make the first step after an argument.

"Dee..." Ryo tried, not quite able to keep a slightly anxious tremor out of his voice.

"Please, Ryo," Dee interrupted, before Ryo could say more, knowing full well, that he'd never be able to stand his ground if Ryo asked him once more to go back to his apartement with him. He had never been good at saying no to the man he loved. He could see that Ryo was worried about them, that his partner was afraid he had not forgiven him yet. He squeezed Ryo's hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry, baby, we are okay. I'm just..." Here he made a helpless gesture with his free hand, searching for the right word.

Ryo knew what Dee wanted to say anyway and decided to spare his lover the struggle.

"O-okay. But you're going to be back again for dinner... or ... or at least for the night, right?" He asked, his dark eyes conveying his emotions better than words could have ever done. He wanted, no, he needed Dee back in his arms tonight, needed the reassurance that everything was alright again, that he was truly forgiven. And he allowed Dee to see that in his coal-black depths.

"I don't know if I'll make it back for dinner, so don't wait up for me. But later... maybe I stop by the videostore, see if I can't find a nice flick for Bikky and us to watch later tonight. How's that sound?" Dee's voice was gentle now, soothing, for he knew that this was not the answer Ryo had hoped to hear. It couldn't be helped though. He needed some time to himself, just to center himself again and lick his wounds caused by the harsh sting of Ryo's earlier words during their fight.

"... Sounds good to me," Ryo answered, reluctantly. He wished Dee would have agreed to have dinner with him, but he didn't try to persuade him to do it. He knew it wouldn't do either of them any good.

"Okay." Dee said simply, his face and eyes friendly yet still guarded.

"Okay." Ryo replied quietly.

"Later then." Dee continued, his words creating an inner distance he needed to be able to leave now.

"Yes, later." Ryo repeated, fighting the urge to tighten his grip on Dee's hand.

"Okay." With that Dee nodded and gently pulled free from Ryo's grasp.

He would have bent down for a kiss, but then one of Ryo's neighbours chose exactly that second to come walking down the stairs and the moment was gone. So Dee simply gifted Ryo with a small gentle smile and left.

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The following four and a half hours were pure agony for Ryo.

Shortly after dinner, that he and Bikky had shared in unusual silence, both painfully aware of the empty chair that most of the time was occupied by a certain vibrant dark-haired being, Dee sent him a text message on his cell phone - informing him that he had ended up at the orphanage and would stay there for a while because Mother needed assistance with installing her newly acquired computer.

So Bikky went down to the videostore to rent a movie - that Ryo was unable to concentrate on for the first half and bored to death by for the second (because he had missed the first half and therefore didn't have a clue what the heck was going on).

The credits had barely began to scroll up the screen when Ryo was already up off the couch and back in the kitchen to clean up God only knew what - for there was hardly one immaculate spot in the whole apartement (except for Bikky's room obviously).

When he heard someone enter the kitchen behind him, Ryo turned to see Bikky standing in the door. The tall teenager was leaning against the door's frame, his arms crossed over his chest, and shaking his head over his guardian's displacement activity.

"Really, Ryo. Scrubbing off the wood of the countertop won't make him come back any quicker," the dark-skinned blond-haired boy stated, his tone that of an adult talking to a dense child.

"Ha ha ha." Ryo replied, throwing the wet rag in the sink, and heaved a sigh.

"I'm hitting the sack," Bikky informed him, pushing away from the door. "You guys on early shift tomorrow or late?"

"Late."

"Okay, I'll let you sleep in then." The teen declared, putting one of the chairs deeper under the kitchen table.

"Thanks, Dad," Ryo answered and grinned as Bikky rolled his blue eyes at him in mock huffiness.

"Night, Ryo," he said, and still shaking his head left the room, not waiting for his foster father's reply.

Ryo heaved another sigh and looked around the room, searching for something else he could keep himself occupied with while waiting for his lover's return.

He wrung out the rag in the basin and put it over the heater under the kitchen window to let it dry. Again he let his eyes sweep across the shelves and countertops.

He fidgeted with the mugs next to the coffee maker for a while, arranging them in one symmetric row, then went to the fridge and opened the door to stare at the cooling device's contents.

"He's not in the fridge, you idiot, what are you thinking?" The auburn haired detective muttered under his breath to himself, shaking his head, when he realized what he was doing.

After closing the door with a soft thud, he almost jumped straight out of his skin when suddenly two strong arms snaked around his middlesection from behind and a pair of warm, soft lips pressed against that oh so sensitive spot right behind his left ear. The familiar scent of Dee's cologne made Ryo go weak in the knees and even after all these years, the feeling of his lover's tall and strong body pressing against him never ceased to make Ryo's heart do flip-flops within his chest.

Dee barely had time to turn Ryo around in his embrace before his mouth was attacked by his lover's - no more words needed for neither of them after they had talked it all through in the afternoon.

On the way to the bedroom they bumped into several pieces of furniture, almost tripped over a rug in the hall, and barely managed to hold back enough to not rip their clothes off of each other before they reached the bedroom. Both detectives subconsciously registered that come next morning they'd find a lot of interesting new bruises on their respective bodies. But right then they couldn't have cared less.

Nor did they care that the steady, rhythmic creaking of mattress springs that their love-making caused surely could be heard in their foster son's room down the hall. They hadn't endowed the boy with a new radio complete with cordless headphones for no reason after all...

(1) If you have ever seen the movie "When Harry met Sally" you know what Dee is referring to here :gg: - if you haven't, duh, go and rent the movie, it's great:)