NOTES:
I'm not feeling too well and I don't have the ambition to reply to people's reviews, so next chapter, okay? Besides, don't you want to know what happens between them! Don't kill me for not replying to reviews! So all of those new people who reviewed, please tune in next chapter for your responses to last chapter and if you review on this chapter, too. :D
Chapter Eight – I'll Cover You
"I take it…you gave him my letter?" Kei asked Kurisu through a small sob.
"Yeah, I did," Kurisu said in a small voice. She held out the folded piece of paper for Kei. He unfolded it and noticed that it was beginning to tear on the folds. There were also large smudges of ink where Sho's tears had fallen as he read and reread the letter. Kei traced over several of them.
"My poor Sho-chan…" he whispered to himself.
"You can leave whenever you're ready, Kei," Kurisu told him, handing him his clothes.
"Thanks," he said softly before he asked her to leave so he could get changed.
Nearly an hour after Sho had stormed out of the hospital, Kei arrived home. When he opened the door, he found Sho sitting at the kitchen table, staring intently at the dark surface. Kei closed the door slowly and hung up his red coat. "Hey Sho," he said quietly. Sho simply grunted in response.
Live in my house, I'll be
your shelter
Just pay me back,
With one thousand kisses
Be
my lover - I'll cover you
Sighing, Kei wandered towards the bathroom to take a shower, but when he got to the kitchen, Sho's voice stopped him. "Kei," he said. Kei looked over at him, but the young vampire continued to stare at the tabletop. "I didn't mean it when I told you to piss off," Sho finished in what sounded like a slightly ticked-off voice. Kei gave him a half smile and continued on to the bathroom.
When Sho finally looked up, he noticed that Kei was holding the envelope in one hand and his trench coat in the other. He glanced up at Kei, who looked at him for a brief moment before he closed the bathroom door. The water turned on immediately.
"He hates me," Sho said out loud. "He truly, truly hates me. He despises me…h-he'll never love me again now…" He began to cry silently.
Ten minutes later, Kei emerged from the bathroom, still holding the envelope in one hand and Sho's trench coat in the other. He walked out into the kitchen to find Sho standing next to the table, practically glaring at him. Silent tears were streaming down his cheeks. Slowly, the two walked towards each other. As they neared, their pace quickened; Kei dropped the envelope and the coat and threw his arms around Sho's neck as Sho wrapped his arms around Kei.
"I'm so sorry," Kei said into Sho's shoulder. "I never meant to hurt you…"
"I'm sorry, too," Sho said, tears still streaming down his cheeks. "I shouldn't have gotten angry over something so fucking pointless." Sho pulled away and realized that Kei was crying, too.
"I never meant for any of this to happen but…but you just…you just started yelling and I…I couldn't control myself and—" Kei tried to say, but Sho pressed a finger against Kei's lips.
"We both screwed up," Sho whispered. "Let's not keep trying to pin the blame." Kei sniffed and nodded. "And we both need sleep…" Kei nodded in agreement.
"Sho," he said softly before Sho could turn away and go to bed. "…We're going to need our personal space for a little bit, right?" He looked at Sho, whose azure eyes held a trace amount of sadness, and he nodded. "I'll…I'll sleep out here then, okay?"
"Okay," Sho whispered sadly, turning and walking to the bedroom. He put on his pair of red pajama pants and stripped off his shirt. When he climbed under the covers, he automatically reached out to place a hand where Kei's back would be. But all he felt was the mattress. "Right…he's not here." With a sigh and a sniff, he rolled over, pulled the covers around him, and fell into a light sleep.
The next evening when Kei woke up, there were a few blissful moments before he realized why he was sleeping on the couch. And then it hit him. Moaning, he rolled off of the couch and made his way into the kitchen where he found Sho sitting at the kitchen table. The vampire had made himself a sandwich and was reading the newspaper while he ate. "…You actually made something to eat by yourself?" Kei queried.
Sho didn't look at him when he answered, "I'm not that helpless that I can't make a simple sandwich." Kei bowed his head low, realizing that Sho was still hurt by his actions. Silently, he grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and sat down at the table across from Sho. "I put the leaf back in the table to make it bigger," he said quietly, his eyes stopping their back and forth movement.
Open your door, I'll be
your tenant
Don't got much baggage, to lay at your feet
But
sweet kisses I've got to spare
I'll be there and I'll cover you
"Oh, thanks!" Kei said in a false cheery voice. Sho simply made a noise and continued to read. We need time to be separate… Kei thought as he ate his yogurt. So why does it feel like he's tearing my heart out every time he looks at me? Or even when he doesn't look at me. Before he gave himself the chance to sigh and give his true feelings away, he was already talking to Sho. "Hey Sho?" he said. Sho looked up from the newspaper. "Since neither of us is planning on doing anything, do you want to watch a movie or something?" Sho gave him a blank stare, but after a few moments, he nodded his head.
"Sure," he said, smiling slightly. "As long as we have popcorn." Kei grinned.
"Yes, we have popcorn, Sho," he replied, getting up to go grab a few bags. He opened them and put them in the microwave. "Do you want to watch any certain movie?"
"I don't have anything particular in mind…anything you want to watch?" Sho asked as he strolled over to their movies.
"I always loved Rent and I haven't seen it in so long," Kei thought out loud.
"Rent it is," Sho told him, pulling out the DVD from the stack it was in. Kei turned back to the microwave and smiled inwardly and embarrassedly.
Dammit! Why am I acting like this all of a sudden? Kei asked himself as the microwave shut off. Why am I acting so embarrassed when Sho just asked me a question and smiled at me? Pouring the popcorn into a rather large plastic bowl, he had no idea Sho was thinking the same exact thing as he put the DVD into the player.
I feel like a teenager again, Sho thought, biting down on his lower lip. And I hated being a teenager! Why the hell can I not act normal towards him anymore? I still love him—just because he put himself in a coma to prove a point doesn't mean—
"Sho? Are you okay?" Kei's voice said from behind him. Sho turned around to find Kei sitting on the end of the couch with the bowl of popcorn in the middle; he was staring worriedly at him.
"Yeah. I'm fine," Sho replied as he grabbed the remote and pressed play. He sat down at the other end of the couch as the movie started.
"You're going to cry during this movie," Kei said.
"How do you know?" Sho shot.
"Because it makes me cry and I never cry," he replied.
"Yeah, right," Sho muttered. He grabbed some popcorn and shoved it into his mouth moodily.
"I meant during movies." Sho simply shifted his body so he could rest his arm on the edge of the couch.
I think they meant it
When
they said you can't buy love
Now I know you can rent it
About halfway through the movie, not paying attention to each other, they both reached out to grab some popcorn from the bowl. Kei reached in first and Sho reached in after, grabbing Kei's hand. Kei looked over at Sho, who was staring at their hands with wide eyes. He looked up at Kei and the vampire could have sworn he felt Sho's fingers tightening on his hand, but a moment later, Sho grabbed some popcorn and stared back at the TV as though nothing had happened.
Oh god, oh god, oh god! Our hands touched! Sho's mind was screaming. What do I do? Oh god what do I do?
For the rest of the movie, the pair didn't look at each other or even acknowledge each other, except when the sad scene came Kei shot a glance at Sho and moved over slightly. When it was over with, Sho stood up and stretched.
"That was a good movie," he said. Kei smiled and went to eject the disk from the DVD player. "I'm off to bed." Sho turned around to leave and added rather quietly, "You don't have to sleep on the couch again."
"Okay," Kei replied just as quietly. "I'll be there in a few…" He heard Sho leave and close the door to their bedroom. Quickly, he put the DVD back in its case and put it back in its spot on the shelf and headed toward the bedroom.
As Kei entered the room, his night vision turned on and he could see Sho curled up underneath the heavy covers. His breathing was quite loud and he could tell that the vampire was just pretending to be asleep. Smiling softly, he made his way over to his side of the bed and slipped under the covers. Pulling the covers around him for warmth, he sighed and fell asleep…
A new lease you are my
love,
On life - be my life
The next morning when the pair woke up, they found themselves in each other's arms. Kei had his arms wrapped around Sho's shoulders and his head was resting against Sho's neck while Sho's arms were wrapped around Kei's torso. Kei looked up at Sho, who was staring down at him. There was a hint of something in the younger vampire's eyes, but Kei couldn't tell what.
They smiled softly at each other and let go quickly, muttering an embarrassed "Good morning" to one another. Silently, they changed clothes and made their way out into the hallway towards the bathroom. When they approached the bathroom, both of their hands reached out to push the door open.
"Sorry," Kei muttered, stepping back and letting Sho go first. Sho smiled at him and then Kei realized why they were acting so strange towards one another. Grinning like mad, a sudden plan formed in his mind. As soon as he heard the shower turn on, he knocked on the door. "Sho. I'm going out for a little bit, okay?"
"Fine," he heard Sho reply.
"I'll be back later!"
And with that, he grabbed his coat and walked out the door into a cloudy Mallepa afternoon.
It was nearly two hours after Kei had left and Sho had been leaning against the windowsill in their bedroom ever since he had gotten out of the shower. He opened up the window to let in some fresh air, trying to ease his mind. His eyes passed over the still-bustling street where drunks and prostitutes staggered down the street to the bars they would be attending that night. Sighing, he pushed his braids behind his shoulders and blinked, clearing his vision that had become hazy.
If you're cold and you're
lonely
You've got one nickel only
Looking at the end of the alley, he noticed Kei coming towards the house. Kei looked up and smiled at the vampire. "Hey Sho," he called to him. Sho smiled and waved in return. Why the hell can't I just say 'hi' to him? Sho thought. Closing his eyes tightly, he cursed himself under his breath, not noticing when Kei walked into the room.
"Hi Sho," Kei said from the doorway, but the vampire didn't respond. Smiling, the scene feeling so familiar to him, he walked forward until he was right behind Sho. "Sho," he whispered seductively, but Sho didn't hear him.
Grinning, he slid in front of Sho and wrapped his arms around Sho's shoulders. Balancing on his tiptoes, he stared into Sho's eyes for a moment before he pressed his lips to Sho's softly. He heard his love take a sharp intake of breath before he pulled away. "I love you," Kei whispered.
Sho leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kei's, wrapping his arms around Kei's waist and lifting the vampire off of his feet as he pushed his tongue into the older vampire's mouth. Kei moaned as Sho carried him over to the bed and lied down. He let a hand wander down to Kei's ass while his other hand ran through Kei's hair continually.
"I love you, too," Sho whispered when he pulled away.
"I realized that was all we needed to say to each other to stop acting so stupid," Kei told him.
"But…I don't understand why we were acting like that in the first place!" Sho said, pushing Kei off of him so he could sit up.
"Either do I but I just know that we were acting way too distant. We just went through one of the biggest fights we will ever have and we needed our space to recuperate from it, I guess," Kei said, sitting up as well and resting his head on Sho's shoulder. Sho looked down at Kei.
"I do love you, you know."
"I never doubted for a minute," he mumbled in response.
"I…I can't believe I ever acted like that…" Sho whimpered. Kei looked up to find Sho crying.
"Shh. It's okay, Sho," Kei said as he pulled Sho into his warm embrace. Sho let out a loud sob as he buried his face in Kei's neck.
"I feel like I lost you," he sobbed.
"You could never lose me, my Sho-chan," Kei whispered in his ear. "Our love is eternal, like you said. Nothing can break it. Not even a stupid fight." Sho sniffed apologetically and looked up at his lover, giving him a watery smile.
"I think we may need an evening of getting back in touch with each other…" Sho said tenderly.
"You just want a reason to go out, don't you?"
"Well, there's that, too. But more importantly…" Sho wiped away his tears and sat up straight, placing his hands on either side of Kei's face. His cerulean eyes stared into Kei's affectionately as he leaned forward slowly. "I want a well-deserved evening with you. No interruptions. No fights. Just…an evening."
"A night on the town?" Kei asked, looking down at Sho's lips.
"Precisely," he breathed before he pressed his warm lips against Kei's and heard a content sigh from his love…
With a thousand sweet
kisses
I'll cover you…
Awww! Fluffy ending to all of the angst and fighting. I could never tear them away from each other. More importantly, they would never let me. XD I'm sorry that it's a lot of fluff and angsty fluff where they both act like morons, but I've been in a major fluff mood lately. Especially watching Rent. But I guess I haven't seen my boyfriend in a while so I'm sort of depressed, but I'm seeing him on Sunday:D
I saw Rent when I was at my friend's house and cried. For those of you who have seen Rent, I am married to Mark (who is apparently the only one of the actors who is really homosexual in real life) and Angel. Because Angel is amazing.
Lyrics are I'll Cover You from Rent. I seriously love that movie. Okay. Maybe just the soundtrack because the movie makes me cry…
I've noticed I haven't had as many author's notes lately. I'm being lazy I guess. Lately I've been really tired and days have felt like I'm floating in a dream. And I don't like that feeling very much.
Please review! It makes me happy when I get emails!
