A/N: Thank you all for reading!

-Lucicelo

Chapter 19

After a tense month of conflicting hours, Nowaki's life transformed from terrible to utter bliss.

Without any warning, Hiroki leaned in close for a good morning kiss. Hiroki initiated a kiss. The slight pressing of their lips made his heart flutter and his face flush red. There wasn't a second kiss. Nowaki didn't need one, not when Hiroki even muttered for him to have a good day at work.

He spent the rest of his day with a smile and a bounce in his step.

His lips still tingled from the contact.

This kept happening for each day of the week. A kiss, a good day at work, a welcome home kiss, and a welcome home. Nowaki grew accustomed to such actions that he almost jumped onto Hiroki when he walked through the threshold.

Anything bad that happened to him, washed off of his back with the knowledge that his love was reciprocated. He was right. Hiroki needed time to come to terms to their new relationship. This isolation left out any outside sources that might have manipulated Hiroki against him.

He couldn't wait until Hiroki recovered enough for them to have sex.

Nowaki went through his clinical rotations with a genuine and refreshing smile. Any hard or impolite patient melted at the sight of utter happiness that Nowaki exuded out of his body. A few of the men guessed correct answers to Nowaki's happiness. He was lovestruck with his lover. Sure, he kept up the illusion on being with a woman, but it kept any nosy people from entering his business. Also, it helped to hide Hiroki from the public.

Even with the lost interest in his case, the people who commented in the hospital still brought him up. Nowaki gave neutral answers or commentary. Staying too long brought out signs of interest in Hiroki or pity in his apparent kidnapping. It wasn't kidnapping. He kept Hiroki in a safe place away from the public.

Their sanctuary away from the world.

He encountered the married nurse again during her lunch. They tended to align their breaks through some force in the universe. He enjoyed talking to her. She didn't flirt with him or touch him his arm during conversation. Remaining hardcore faithful to her husband, she spoke to him like a normal person. A trait he supported one hundred percent.

As they ate their meals, he kept looking down at her ring. A physical representation of binding oneself to their significant other. His work friend tended to slip it on during her breaks since wearing rings during their shifts wasn't appropriate. To wear such a thing meant a lifetime commitment to Hiroki. He was willing to accept such a responsibility.

Although, it wasn't legal to marry a man in Japan. He still had the means to gather paperwork from another country have the paper in his hands. Then again, it seemed ridiculous to go through such lengths when wearing the rings was enough.

"I'm proposing to my girlfriend soon." Nowaki informed her.

Many of the nurses and even doctors-in-training, kept trying to sway him away from Hiroki. Despite his objections or insistence that his relationship remained stable, they kept on pursuing him. He took it upon himself to stay away from closed off spaces and to remain in the staff lunch areas. Through doing this, he didn't have any headaches from having to repeat himself.

She covered her face in delight. "I'm so happy for you! Are you already looking for rings? Does she have a preference? Oh, you have so much wedding planning to do!"

Nowaki soaked up the excitement, relishing in having someone know of his relationship. No judgement. A means for him to release his troubles without having to reveal much. "Thank you, Narita-san. It means a lot to hear your response." He sighed. "The reception to my relationship hasn't been...good."

Nurse Narita scoffed. "It's their loss. You're happy in your relationship and taking a big step!"

"Yes, that's true." Nowaki touched the ring finger on his left hand. Imagining the cold metal touching that empty spot made him beam in delight. "I might just look around sometime this week. I want to surprise her in a month."

Nurse Narita tilted her head to the side. "Why in a month?"

Nowaki declared. "It's the anniversary of when we first met."

Going through his old stretches, familiar and comforting, Hiroki breathed through his nose. Closing his eyes, he ignored the twinge of pain going through his body. Having stayed bed-ridden and weak for a long period of time, his usual strength needed serious work. His now scrawny body showed the abuse from Nowaki's hand. He touched his ribs and all of them stuck out against his skin. His skin bruised easier, keeping remnants of Nowaki's touch.

His right arm flinched from the I.V brushing against a muscle. Pausing it in the air, he waited for the pain to subside before he brought it back against his chest. A particular hard spasm kept him still for another minute. The more he moved his body, the more he felt the tension and achiness.

He ended up stretching the rest of his body while keeping his arm against himself.

As he maneuvered his body side to side, his bones cracked, making him groan in satisfaction. The tension of dealing with Nowaki collected onto his back, settling in the knots of his back. He rolled his head around, side to side, and around.

Satisfied with his development, Hiroki slowly got up on his feet and pushed the stand upside. He sat on the couch,

Squeezing his hands onto the arm rest of the couch, he breathed through his nose as he applied more and more pressure in his grip. His muscles screamed at him to stop, but he went through worse in his high intensity training for his swimming, kendo, and archery lessons. Going through hours of stretching was worth it.

"I'm home!"

Hiroki climbed back onto the one seat couch and slipped the blanket back onto his lap. He kept his eyes onto the screen and made himself as inconspicuous as possible. When Nowaki made it into the living room, he turned to him, and breathed through his nose in slow intervals.

Nowaki saw nothing wrong as he walked over to him and pulled him into a deep kiss. Hiroki's fingers twitched, digging into the couch as suffered through Nowaki's sloppy kiss. Going through the motions helped him not react in obvious disgust.

Days passed where he followed Nowaki's illusion of them falling in love.

Of course, Hiroki didn't fake a smile or shower Nowaki with affection. He leaned close to the guy or relented in being kissed. Hiroki never presented himself as a bubbly or a touchy person. Showing overenthusiastic caresses would show an obvious lies. An angry Nowaki wasn't in Hiroki's plans. He needed to keep the guy as happy as possible.

Nowaki started to feed him protein rich mush, placed him near open windows to get air, he ceased adding extra medication to his I.V bag. A vast improvement

Anything to have a chance to escape.

Hiroki leaned his head back and accepted Nowaki's kiss. He even parted his lips to mold their lips into perfect alignment. A movie set sort of kiss that Nowaki loved expressing onto him. The cheesy sort of public displays that Hiroki abhorred. He grew up witnessing tender expressions and a kiss on the knuckles from his parents. The grand make outs and declarations of love put him off. A bit old fashioned, but he saw the love coming from his parents. He didn't think he ever saw them argue in front of him.

Not even Takahiro, in his lovestruck mannerisms over his wife, didn't sweep Manami into a kiss in front of people. Better yet, he didn't treat her with disrespect. Hiroki didn't delude himself in Takahiro not unleashing everything in the privacy of his own home. It would be odd if Takahiro didn't shower his wife with gifts of love.

In his loneliest moments, he imagined himself in the arms of an almost perfect match. A man who treated him with respect and dignity. They cheered on one another over their ambitions and discovered shared interests throughout their relationship. Living together in a home where they split the bills in half. His parents, family and friends would love him.

Illusions of a loving and steady romance.

Once the pressure left his lips, he leaned his head forward, cringing when Nowaki began kissing his neck. Keeping his eyes on the tv, he focused on the actors going through a horror scenario. The main couple managed to slam against the killer and went through their one means of exiting the home.

Ironic.

He lived in his own horror movie without any means of escape.

When Nowaki caressed his right arm, he let out a well timed yelp, making the man take his hand off of him. The I.V served as a good deterrent in keeping Nowaki's touches to a minimum. Nowaki didn't want to hurt him after all. When Nowaki wanted a blowjob, he slipped it out of his skin to free his arms. It wasn't sexy to have him attached to medical equipment.

Nowaki murmured into his neck. "You're shivering...I didn't take you as the type to be scared of horror movies." He licked Hiroki's neck and sucked the area, leaving a bright red mark.

Hiroki denied his comment. "I'm not."

Nowaki's hand wandered under his shirt, "Unless...my touch is making you quiver in pleasure."

Hiroki shut his eyes closed. He whimpered in disgust at the implication. His whole plan began crumbling the more Nowaki touched him. His seduction came at the price of his pride, his sanity.

Almost to his limit, Hiroki voiced wanting to try a bit of mackerel for dinner.

Nowaki jumped at his request and left the room to make dinner.

A happy whistling tune passed through the loud screams coming from the tv. One of the main protagonists was stabbed in the back and collapsed onto the ground. The second protagonist stopped running to look back, crying their eyes out for the person to get up.

Hiroki's usual drawl over the stupidity of the characters didn't come out of his mouth. He had no right. Not in his dire predicament.

Hiroki raised his hand and wiped his mouth. Rough enough to redden his skin, he blinked back tears of anger. As he looked at his shivering hand, it continued on quivering. He clutched it to his chest to comfort himself. He despised seeing his weakness in motion. His hands never used to tremble unless he got cold.

Housed in the wilderness with a madman who claimed to love him, Hiroki was powerless to stop Nowaki. Considering Nowaki locked his bedroom door, he suspected any openings were locked with padlocks.

He disguised his true feelings through a neutral face.

During sometime in his journey, Akihiko began getting multiple voice mails and text messages from an unknown number. He checked the text messages and rolled his eyes at the furious intent that Aikawa sent him. She didn't need to tell him her name. Her insulting sentences told him everything he needed to know. Unblocking her real number, he sent Aikawa a text, informing her to cease calling him unless in case of an emergency. She knew of his quest in finding Hiroki and bringing him home. Yet, she continued on pushing him for more work, citing that he could write anywhere and send the pdf to her email.

The lack of concern angered him. She saw the news coverage and knew how much this affected him. Months passed without a single development, making he situation more dire than before. Arguing with her did nothing more than waste time. Instead, he finished numerous unfinished novellas during his down time. At times, he wrote while eating dinner or taking notes while waiting in line at a store.

He poured his whirlwind of emotions into his work.

Remembering Hiroki's banter of improving his work ethic, he slept with his laptop beside him at night. Better than staying up all night and affecting his searching during the day. The bags under his eyes didn't become as dark as his usual night binges. Still, he smoked more than usual. Hiroki and Takahiro always worried about his constant all-nighters and smoking habit.

Despite the fact Hiroki was gone, his influence pushed him forward.

Many of his stories turned into tales of longing and love, a different take in the usual manner he wrote his BL dramas. Instead of the usual clichés, he focused on making the characters stick to the readers conscience. Whenever he wrote the sex scenes, he put his heart and soul into describing the connection between the couple.

Not that he didn't establish a connection in his previous works, but he wanted to release more thoughtful characters to the public. In the latest reviews, the critics enjoyed his massive change in making the reader care for the characters. The antagonists turned somewhat sympathetic in their goals.

He didn't realize that he used Hiroki's name until, Takahiro of all people, pointed it out.

TBC.