I'm pretty sure you understand by now that this fic will only update once per year... *sweats a lot* I'm currently consumed by another ship and although I still love GrimmIchi with every fiber of my body, my creativity is mostly consumed by them.

Hopefully now that I'll have a bit more time, I'll update frequently. Enjoy!

XXXX

After Ichigo's phone call, Grimmjow dropped everything and jogged the entire way from his apartment to the beach as fast as he could. He didn't even consider the fact that he was still wearing his pajamas; the second Ichigo told him he missed him in that sweet, drawling baritone of his, whatever thoughts which would have occupied Grimmjow's mind were completely obliterated. He had to find Ichigo. Everything else came second.

It felt as if someone was testing him, as if someone was having fun tormenting him. Grimmjow wanted Ichigo like crazy - it wasn't any news - and thus, Ichigo calling him in the middle of the night, all tipsyand honest, did strange things to him and his libido. He wanted to take things slow but damn all that shit to hell when Ichigo spoke in that breathy tone.

Grimmjow was losing his mind in the sweetest way possible.

His feet took him to Starrk's beach bar where he suspected Ichigo's location was. His sharp eyes scanned the area, pinpointed Nnoitra flirting mercilessly with a tipsy-looking Shinji before he saw the familiar mop of red hair a few feet away from the bar. It was dark and Grimmjow had to walk closer in order to see him properly but Ichigo was sitting on the sand, his weight on the balls of his palms as he stared up at the night sky with awe in his eyes. Grimmjow spent a moment to look at the sight. True, he was almost ready to sport half a boner after his conversation with Ichigo over the phone but seeing Ichigo so open and vulnerable as he admired the night sky, brought up his affectionate emotions too.

This dumbass was making him feel too many things at the same time.

He walked a few steps until he came into a halt right in front of the red-haired man. Ichigo glanced away from the stars and into Grimmjow's eyes seconds later and the smile that took over his face had to be brighter than the sun itself.

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo said, "You're here."

"Told ya I was coming, didn't I?"

Ichigo laughed and he nodded. Then he added, "You ran to me."

At that point, Grimmjow noticed that his breathing was slightly labored. He took in a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds before letting it go. "I did," he admitted, "You told me to hurry, didn't you?"

"You're wearing pajamas."

"What is your point, ginger?"

Ichigo offered him a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head. "I'm kinda happy, that's all. It kinda feels nice to know that you dropped everything and came here jus' because my drunk ass missed you."

"What made you think I wouldn't?" Grimmjow questioned, amused. When Ichigo didn't reply, he offered his hand. "C'mere."

Ichigo grabbed his hand and Grimmjow hefted him to his feet. He had to grasp Ichigo's shoulders to steady him a few time since the redhead was indeed rather drunk, but as soon as Ichigo regained his balance, he wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's middle and squeezed him tight.

"You're so cute," Ichigo crooned, "You're so big and badass-looking but you're so darn cute. Like a giant...teddy bear."

Grimmjow chuckled and kissed the top of Ichigo's head. "That's the first time someone called me that and lived."

Ichigo grinned at him sheepishly. "I'm only sayin' the truth."

"Yeah, yeah," Grimmjow muttered, "Let's go back to the bar; I have to give Nnoitra a piece of my mind for reducing you to this condition."

"Excuse you, I'm a grown ass fucking man and I can drink as much as a fucking please."

Grimmjow saw Ichigo's face contort into a deadly scowl and fear gripped at his stomach. He raised his hands in the air innocently. "Wow, wow, Ichigo! I was kidding."

With these words, Ichigo's expression melted into a sweet smile once again. "Alrighty then!"

Jesus Christ, is he bipolar or something?

Grimmjow held Ichigo tight against him on their way to Nnoitra and Shinji. Ichigo was dazed and unstable on his feet, and he laughed a lot at whatever stupid thing Grimmjow muttered under his breath. Although Grimmjow was tired as shit and he wished he were under his blankets instead of carrying a heavy redhead, he couldn't say that he wasn't kind of enjoying this too.

"Oi, Nnoitra," he barked as soon as his friend was within gearing range. He saw the man lift his eyes from Ichigo's friend and flash a shit-eating grin. Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "Don't fucking laugh, you piece of shit."

"Yer welcome, Grimm," Nnoitra said shamelessly.

"What the fuck?"

"Hey, he's a grown ass man; he pays, he drinks."

Shinji, who has just caught up with the situation, let out a loud crooning sound. "Aw, Ich! He came for you - how cute!"

Ichigo snorted a laugh and held Grimmjow tighter but other than that, he didn't say anything. Grimmjow rolled his eyes at his friend again. "Him too?" he said motioning at Shinji.

Nnoitra shrugged. "I might have ulterior motives with this one."

"Don't do anything stupid to Ichigo's friend, I'll break your neck."

"Easy there, panther," Nnoitra said, pouting, "Y'know I ain't that kinda person. I'll just take 'im to his tent and maybe pass out as well. He said I could."

"Yep! He can!" Shinji intervened cheerfully.

Grimmjow's gaze alternated between Shinji and Nnoitra. Then he frowned. "Huh? And Ichigo?"

Nnoitra smirked. Shinji let out a sneaky chuckle. "Aw, Grimm...will ya be kind enough to take him to yers?"

"What," Grimmjow deadpanned and he glanced down at Ichigo. The redhead was staring up at him with large, expectant eyes and fuck him in the asshole if that didn't break whatever resistance Grimmjow would have posed. He pushed a hand through his blue locks and huffed in frustration. "Why you look at me like this, ginger?"

"It's 'cause I know you'll do whatever I ask if I look at you like this," Ichigo said, a triumphant smile playing on his lips.

Nnoitra and Shinji snorted at the same time and high-fived each other. Grimmjow was just staring at Ichigo with wide eyes, absolutely God-smacked. "You fucking asshole," he said in the end.

Ichigo playfully nuzzled his chin. "Mm, I guess you are what you eat."

Shinji and Nnoitra were roaring with laughter, keeling over the counter. Ichigo was cackling, utterly satisfied and Grimmjow wondered what did he ever do to deserve this. Pretending to be annoyed, he flickered Ichigo's nose. "Alright, you smartass," he said, "I'm taking yer funny ass to my place."

"Awesome!"

Talking about leaving for Grimmjow's place and actually doing it were two separate and very different things; for once, Ichigo's extra affectionate side seemed to have woken up, if the fact that he kept hugging Shinji without letting go was of any consideration. Secondly, Shinji seemed to feel the same as he kept coaxing Ichigo into doing more shots with him and as much as Grimmjow subtly told Nnoitra to stop indulging to them, his friend just wouldn't listen.

"This is so fucking fun," Nnoitra said.

Grimmjow couldn't exactly disagree on that - the shit that came out of their mouthes was surprisingly amusing, however, Grimmjow was tired as shit, half horny and he had to wake up early the next morning. He waited patiently until it became three. Then, he decided to take out the big guns; he walked up to Ichigo from behind, placed his hands deliberately low on the redhead's hips and whispered in Ichigo's ear, "Let's go back, babe."

He could swear Ichigo almost passed out on him. It made Grimmjow smirk in triumph.

On the way back they didn't speak. Ichigo was occupied by his thoughts and Grimmjow was way too tired as well as way too distracted by where Ichigo should get to sleep in his place to hold a conversation. Tipsy Ichigo would probably have zero qualms sharing a bed with him, which was exactly what Grimmjow wanted too, but what about sober Ichigo?

It doesn't matter, he told himself, We'll cross the bridge when we get there.

Albeit difficult to get Ichigo to climb up a series of stairs as he was much more unsteady on his feet than usual, they both managed to enter Grimmjow's apartment without much of an incident. Ichigo seemed to quickly forget about his embarrassment over tripping every second stair in favor of looking around Grimmjow's place, eyes wide and mouth open in awe.

"Woah," he gasped, "Your place is so cool!"

Grimmjow didn't often bragged about it but his little apartment was pretty darned cool. It wasn't big but it was comfortable for a bachelor like Grimmjow, the walls were white but Grimmjow took the liberty (and the landlord's permission) to draw on the walls; seashells, shores and waves as well as leaves and flowers adorned pieces and bits of his walls instead of a typical wallpaper, usually combined with wooden shelves carrying his awards and medals on swimming or surfing or any other water sport, really. There was also a corner in his living room where he placed his surfboard.

Ichigo seemed to be rather enraptured by a rather leafy sketch on Grimmjow's wall, his fingers tracing the outline carefully. Grimmjow walked up to him, offering a smile when Ichigo looked up. "You like it?" he asked, although he knew the answer.

"Is there something you're not good at?" Ichigo answered with another question, shaking his head in disbelief. Grimmjow laughed.

"Math," he said with certainty, "But I was never good with studying anyway; practical activities were more suited for me."

Ichigo nodded in understanding and looked around a few more times before he finally turned to Grimmjow. His eyes were half-lidded and sleepy, probably from the alcohol, but his fingers were actively crawling from Grimmjow's belly all the way up to his chest, until his hands were cupping the back of Grimmjow's neck. "Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow stepped closer, his hands landing on narrow hips. "What is it babe?"

Ichigo let out a shaky breath and swallowed. "Thanks for coming to get me," he said, "When it's so late and all."

"You're very much welcome," Grimmjow assured him. He pushed his fingers through red tresses and he added, "Tell me though; why were you drinking so much? Something's wrong?"

Ichigo made a face. "I was thinking of stupid shit."

"Stupid shit? Like what?"

"Like stupid."

Grimmjow chuckled. "Just say you don't want to talk about them, babe."

Ichigo pouted but still leaned in the touch when Grimmjow cradled his face with both hands. "Grimmjow?"

"Hm?"

Ichigo swallowed, his eyelids fluttering. "I got sad. When you left." A sigh. "I always get sad when you leave."

Grimmjow bit his lower lip, resisting the urge to kiss Ichigo's face off with nail and teeth. They were pretty close to do that too. "Me too, baby," Grimmjow said, "The only thing I can think of is when I'll get to see you again."

"Hm," Ichigo hummed airily, eyes finally drifting closed. Grimmjow felt himself smile. He was so fucking adorable, what the heck; how could a human be so darned adorable?

"Say, Ichigo..."

Bleary eyes blinked open and Grimmjow got caught in swirls of chocolate-brown and golden freckles. He touched the tip of Ichigo's nose with his, his eyes sliding closed. "Can I kiss you?"

Ichigo chuckled. "What an unnecessary question," he said before closing the gap between their mouths.

It didn't start off slow, like their kisses usually did. This one was full of passion and longing from the first second. Grimmjow was holding Ichigo's face in place, guiding the kiss while Ichigo gave up control completely and clung to Grimmjow shirt like his life depended on it. He tasted bitter, like the tequila he had been drinking but Grimmjow sucked on his tongue anyway, unable to find satisfaction. More, more, more, his mind kept chanting.

Surprisingly enough, the one who broke the kiss was Ichigo. He pulled away with a deep inhale and he licked his lips. Grimmjow noticed that his eyes were much darker than before. "Grimm," Ichigo started, voice hoarse, "Do you want to have sex?"

A bolt of electricity went down Grimmjow's spine at the sound of those words. He closed his eyes and exhaled shakily because boy if he wanted to. "I'm dying to actually," he said earnestly and to make his point clearer, he let his hand dip low and cup Ichigo's ass, pushing their bodies closer together. "Yet," he added, "I am not going to take advantage of you in this state."

Ichigo's eyes rounded. "Oh, Grimmjow," he whispered, "I know that you're fucking perfect but please. I'm only tipsy and lacking the usual inhibitions."

Grimmjow shook his head. He was relentless. "We won't have sex unless you're completely sober and sure you won't regret it the next morning."

Ichigo stared at him dead in the eye before he nodded and offered a smile. "Alright baby," he said sweetly, surprising the hell out of Grimmjow. He took it better than any of Grimmjow's ex lovers had. In fact, he even hugged Grimmjow tighter against him. "You're the sweetest thing in the world."

"Maybe," Grimmjow smirked, "But you're still sleeping with me on the same bed. Is that alright?"

"If we make out then yes."

"We got a deal then."

Ichigo titled his head, pensive. "I'll probably freak out tomorrow morning but for now..." He trailed off, grinning. "S'okay."

Grimmjow chortled. "I love how certain you are you're freaking out in the morning."

Ichigo took a step away from him, waving a dismissive hand in front of him. "If I don't know myself then who does?"

"Fair point," Grimmjow agreed, amused. He smacked Ichigo's butt playfully and added, "Now bed. I'm fucking beat."

"Yessir!"

Grimmjow took Ichigo's hand in his and guided him to his bedroom. He didn't really have to change clothes since he was already in his pajama's but Ichigo wanted to be a tease and asked Grimmjow to take his clothes off for him. Grimmjow had given him an incredulous look but Ichigo was challenging him with his eyes and there was no way Grimmjow was backing out on a challenge. It wasn't in his nature.

He scooted over to where Ichigo sat on his mattress and grasped the hem of Ichigo's shirt. Taking his sweet time, he brought it to the man's chest and waited for Ichigo to raise his arms up before he peeled it off completely and tossed it somewhere in the distance. Ichigo was grinning at him the whole time, his face flushing red when Grimmjow went for the fly of his pants.

"Oh, so now you're bashful?"

Ichigo snorted, flickering him on the forehead. "Shut up."

Grimmjow pried the fly open and pulled the zipper down. Ichigo leaned back and titled his hips in order to facilitate Grimmjow in taking them off. They were thrown away and forgotten within seconds. Grimmjow's hands found purchase on Ichigo's thighs immediately, starting from the knees and trailing all the way up his shorts. Then he looked up and caught Ichigo's hooded stare. He swallowed. "Man. This is harder than I thought."

"C'mere."

Ichigo opened his arms for him and Grimmjow lost no time kissing him for it.

The breeze coming from Grimmjow's open window was cooling his rapidly heating skin, but he didn't deny Ichigo when he reached for the hem of his shirt to tug it off. Ichigo felt him up while they kissed, he was open and honest with his reactions, his muffled moans music to Grimmjow's ears. Grimmjow forced his legs further apart and Ichigo wrapped them around his waist.

It was Grimmjow the one who broke the lip-lock first. "Babe," he breathed hoarsely. It was very hard to keep his eyes open when Ichigo's fingers worked in his hair in such ways. "Let's slow down."

Ichigo bumped their noses together. "Call me babe one more time and it'll be impossible to slow down," he whispered over Grimmjow's lips.

Grimmjow gritted his teeth. "Stop being so sexy, damn it."

"Can't do." Ichigo smirked. He retrieved his hands from Grimmjow's hair and dragged his thumb over his swollen bottom lip. "How do snails leave a spit-trail after them? That's what I do with my sexual appeal."

Grimmjow gave him a long, level look before he snorted. "You're such a nerd."

"Ah, I didn't kill the mood, did I?"

He kissed Ichigo's forehead. "You never do, stop worrying about it."

"Okay."

With care, he upwrapped Ichigo's legs from around his waist and flopped on the mattress right next to the other man. Ichigo turned to face him and Grimmjow mimicked him, reaching around Ichigo's waist and bringing their bodies closed together. Ichigo pushed one of his legs between Grimmjow's and Grimmjow let his thumb draw meaningless figures on Ichigo's hip bone. It was quiet for a while, but the waves splashing on the shore could be heard in the distance. Ichigo's skin was soft under the pads of his fingers, his breath smelled like alcohol but they were close enough for Grimmjow to count the freckles on Ichigo's nose.

"They've multiplied since the first day you came here and it hasn't even been that long," Grimmjow said, as he ran a finger over them.

Ichigo closed his eyes. "Yeah, they do that the moment I step under the sun. My skin is stupid like that."

"I think they are pretty."

"Hm."

Ichigo's breathing evened out in only a couple of minutes and Grimmjow regarded him with fondness. The wary scowl that marred his features when he was awake was long gone and Grimmjow was marveled at the smoothness of Ichigo's forehead. His lips had parted and Grimmjow couldn't resist kissing them lightly. Ichigo made a face and turned on the other side.

Laughing quietly to himself, Grimmjow scooted closer to Ichigo's back and spooned him before he, too, drifted off.

XXXX

Ichigo woke up to the sound of keys twisting in the lock.

Lifting his head off the pillow was a struggle, considering how heavy it fel and how painful the whole process was but even when he did, he had to blink at his surroundings multiple times. The high-ceiling and the pale blue on the walls was oddly familiar to him but the alcohol-ridden fog in his brain made it hard for him to recall with precision.

That was until Grimmjow walked in the room. Both his eyebrows rose as soon as their eyes met.

"You just woke up?"

Ichigo blinked at him as he rolled on his back. Then he groaned because all came back to him at once. "Fuck," he croaked, palms cupping his face, "I'm dead ass embarrassed right now."

He heard Grimmjow snort. "Just like you said you would be."

"I did say that, right." He peaked at Grimmjow through his parted fingers. "I'm so sorry Grimm."

Grimmjow leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed in front of his chest and face smirking. He was wearing a plain black tank top and a pair of khaki shorts, hair tousled in a meticulous chaos and he looked more like a model than any other model Ichigo had ever seen in any magazine. It was fucking unfair. Because Ichigo knew he looked like a gremlin in comparison.

"Don't apologize, babe. I told you it's alright."

"I woke you up," Ichigo enuciated slowly, "And you got off the comfort of your bed to collect my drunk ass."

"My bed is too big for one person anyway," Grimmjow said oh so smoothly, "You only did me a favor."

"Grimmjow."

"Yes babe?"

Ichigo dragged the pillow from under his head and slapped it on his face to hide. "Fuck you," he muttered.

Grimmjow's chuckle was gravelly deep and Ichigo heard his footsteps approach the bed before the mattress next to him withdrew. A hand slid up his thigh and Ichigo lowered the pillow half-way down his face. There was fondness mixing with amusement in Grimmjow's eyes when their gazes met. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Starrk gave me an early leave," Grimmjow explained. His hand stopped as soon as it reached Ichigo's hips. "I was worried bout'chu and he said it's annoying to see me pace so he sent me home early."

"Shit, I'm sorry."

"Quit apologizing." Grimmjow's tone turned curt, his face twisting in disdain. "Replace your sorry with thank you instead. I don't do shit out of kindness, got me?"

Ichigo blinked at him and his chest grew heavier. He swallowed his heart and a bit of his anxiety, nodding. "Yessir."

Grimmjow huffed and pushed a hand through his hair. "Shit, I didn't mean to snap at you," he said, "Just... Just get it that I like you already, 'kay? If it was anyone else, I wouldn't have bothered."

Ichigo licked his lips but nodded in earnest. "I get it, Grimm. And for the record, I like you too."

"Good." Grimmjow kissed the tip of his nose. "Now get up, I'm going to make lunch. You like squid, right?"

"Holy shit, it's lunch time already?" His eyes widened comically. "Shinji will be ballistic - where's my phone?"

"Don't worry about anything, Shinji found him and I assured him that nothing without your permission happened to you last night."

Ichigo gave out a long sigh. "Thank you Grimm, you're seriously the best."

Grimmjow laughed as he stood up from the bed. "Wait until you've tasted my food!"

There was little doubt in Ichigo's mind that Grimmjow's cooking would be as perfect as the rest of him but he chose against mentioning it. Instead he watched Grimmjow's back disappear on the way to the kitchen and lingered in bed for a couple more minutes. He sought out his clothes which were thrown off to all directions in Grimmjow's room, paused to look at the bright blue sky from Grimmjow's window and then took a brief glance at Shinji's frantic messages from earlier that day.

When I see you again, I'm smacking the shit outta you asshole, was Shinji's most recent message and Ichigo couldn't help but smirk a little at it.

By the time he was walking out of Grimmjow's bedroom, the scent of grilled seafood had already punched his nose.

Grimmjow was standing behind the sizzling hotplates, humming a tune familiar to him. The table was already set, a bowl of salad already on it. Ichigo hugged himself and resisted the urge to pout and he walked up to Grimmjow, hugging him from behind instead. Startled, Grimmjow stiffened in his arms before he loosened up seconds later. A large hand landed where Ichigo's fingers linked over Grimmjow's stomach. "What is it babe?"

"From ginger, to babe," Ichigo muttered in Grimmjow's nape. "Talk about glo up."

"You like babe more, don't you?"

Ichigo smiled. "Yes."

"Then babe it is."

"Charmer."

Grimmjow's chest rumbled with his laughter and Ichigo felt resonate within his as well. He hugged him tighter and murmured, "Can I help you with something?"

"Keep doing what you're doing right now and it should be fine," Grimmjow replied quickly.

"Aight."

Ichigo put his head on Grimmjow's shoulder and listened to him hum a song under his breath while he twisted and turned the squid on the grill. They talked about inconsequential things, about cooking times, about dressings, about the best food to eat after a night out. Ichigo watched the action over Grimmjow's shoulder while feeling Grimmjow's pecs up or tickled Grimmjow's sides when he found out the man was ticklish. For the latter, he earned himself a well-deserved whack on his behind.

Grimmjow had been right about one more thing; he was really great at cooking. Ichigo wondered if there was indeed one single thing Grimmjow wasn't good at.

"What are you doing tonight?"

Ichigo swallowed a mouthful of squid with quinoa and shrugged. "First I need to find Shinji and maybe Renji."

"They haven't left Shuuhei's house yet," Grimmjow said, "Shuu texted me."

"The hell." Ichigo made a face. "Don't they need to eat or something?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "They eat each other out I guess."

"Grimm ew, I'm eating."

"Sorry babe."

His shitty grin didn't match his remorseful words but Ichigo chose to ignore it anyway. "Anyway, why are you asking?"

Grimmjow gestured with his hands. Ichigo noticed that Grimmjow talked with his hands more often than he didn't. It was adorable.

"I was hoping I could steal you away from your friends tonight as well," he said.

Ichigo smirked. "You wouldn't steal me, I'd come willingly." Then he frowned. "Don't you have work though?"

"I do. But Nnoitra will cover for me. He owes me for...business."

"Somehow I don't wanna know."

"Hm, you really don't."

The grin on Grimmjow's face was half-cryptic, half-amused and although Ichigo's curiosity sky-rocketed, he decided against prying for more. "Informationally only," he started, "Nnoitra isn't...dangerous, right?"

Grimmjow shook his head. "He's an asshole with little tack and he's super kinky but dangerous? No," he said, "He's a real one, I guarantee."

"Oh, then he's a good match for Shinji; he's kinky too." Ichigo thought back to some things Shinji had told him about. "Too kinky."

"What about you?"

Ichigo caught Grimmjow's gaze. Grimmjow just swallowed a bite and he was taking a sip from his water but his blue eyes were burning holes in Ichigo's face. Heat threatened to crawl on his face and Ichigo tried to mask it with a dry cough instead. "Not as much as Shinji."

Grimmjow put his glass on the table with a thud. He had finished his food. "Something tells me it's more than Shinji."

Ichigo's stare deliberately lingered in Grimmjow's eyes, then dropped back down at his half-empty plate. He cracked a grin and shrugged his shoulders. In reality, he didn't know how kinky he was; he never got the chance to explore himself that way. Apprehension was the primary reason, the second was that Kaien never seemed interested in nothing but the usual sex.

Grimmjow shifted on the seat opposite his. "You fucking tease," he said roughly.

"You can always try to find out."

"Oh, you bet I'll try." When Ichigo looked up at him, Grimmjow was biting his lower lip. "Yes, burn me like that, ginger."

Ichigo snorted to stop himself from blushing. "Shut up."

"Anyway," Grimmjow said and the thick sexual tension in the air dissipated, "I was thinking if you wanted to go stargazing. I have a car and I know a place we can go to watch the stars."

Ichigo put down his fork and knife and wiped his mouth clear before he spoke. "You're taking every romantic date idea and hitting me with it, aren't you?"

"I mean, yes and second of all, what else are we going to do here?" Grimmjow made a face. "It's the sunset, the sea and the stars. We've already done two of them."

"We can always just chill at the sea again," Ichigo said. Then, with hesitation he added, "Or here. Like, at your place. I'm low maintainance."

Grimmjow blinked at him. "You wanna stay in instead?"

"No, I mean, I do wanna go see the stars, of course I do, but you don't have to worry your pretty head about what we're going to do each time. Chilling is fine."

"I'm not really bothered by it." Grimmjow gestured again. "I just wanna make the best out of the little time we have."

Ichigo was glad that he had finished his lunch because after what Grimmjow said, his appetite would have been ruined. The little time we have, Grimmjow said and he was right. They didn't even know each other long enough for any sort of attachment to form but their upcoming separation weight heavy on Ichigo's chest nonetheless. He hadn't met someone quite like Grimmjow before; a free spirit, crazy in his own way but a soul he could connect with so deeply. The prospect of parting with him felt so wrong.

"When I come over where you live," Grimmjow then continued, "It's up to you to keep me entertained."

At that Ichigo blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Grimmjow frowned at him. "What, you thought these few days were it? Nah babe, you're stuck with me now." A smile made it on his beautiful face and he reached out to cover Ichigo's hand with his. "Have you ever met someone and your gut said, this is a good one, better keep them? That's how I felt when I saw you the first time."

Ichigo twisted his hand until their fingers laced with each other. He brought Grimmjow's hand close to his face, kissing the top gently. There was an undeniable spark in his chest, a flare that burnt him slowly but sweetly, a kind of joy he hadn't felt in what had to be like forever. Grimmjow's smile to his gesture washed away every negative thought that had nestled in his head until that day.

"So," he said in the end, "What time are you picking me up for this stargazing trip?"

Because with Grimmjow it felt righter than with any other person Ichigo had met before.

XXXX

Ah, well, I'm sure you've also understood that there's not much plot going on for this fic. I mean, I started it too many years ago, I seriously don't remember where I was going with it, so at this point it's a self-indulgent escape from my other writings.

Thank you for reading anyway!