Aha! New chapter babies~ I shortened their summer because that was killing me to write ughh.

Enjoy~

chapter 30

"Damn it Shinra, you're cheating!" Shizuo threw his controller down, growling in frustration. Around him, the others all laughed. Kasuka sat on the couch by his brother, Shinra seated on the floor by Celty and Izaya sitting on the other couch with Kadota. They were playing video games...and Shizuo was losing horribly. He heaved an irritated sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"You're such a sore loser." Shinra laughed, setting his controller aside.

"Shut the hell up," Shizuo snapped. "You cheated."

"Or you just suck at this game." Kadota offered with a small smirk.

Shizuo's eye twitched and he ran a hand through his hair. Kasuka patted his brother's shoulder with the smallest of smiles. "I think you did fine, Shizuo."

"You're his brother," Izaya reminded with a giggle. "You're supposed to say that."

Kasuka threw Izaya a playful glare before standing up. "Shinra, do you want me to start making dinner?"

"I can help you," Shinra replied, standing and stretching his legs.

Kasuka and Shinra left to the kitchen and Celty whipped out her PDA, typing and holding it out to Shizuo.

Kasuka didn't have to cook for us.

"Nah, let him do it," Shizuo waved it off. "He wanted to. Plus, Mom and Dad don't really let him cook at home. He likes it, so let him."

Celty's shoulders shrugged and the headless woman stood, stretching her arms. She left, probably to the kitchen, and Kadota looked over at Shizuo. "Kasuka got any acting gigs coming up?"

"Not that I know of." Shizuo replied as he shook his head. "I think he decided not to audition or anything until summer ends."

"It gives him more time to spend with us and Shizuo," Izaya added, taking a sip from a can of soda. He ran a hand through his hair and leaned back. "Mostly with Shizuo, though."

Shizuo shrugged a bit and looked at Izaya. He smiled slightly and Izaya raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Shizuo picked up Shinra's controller and tossed it to the raven who caught it with ease. "Play with me."

Izaya blinked and then rolled his eyes. "You want to play me? Alright, but let's make it interesting."

Shizuo raised an eyebrow, a little nervous. "Ok...?"

"Loser has to be...a puppy for the winner." Izaya grinned, trying not to laugh at Shizuo's expression.

"Puppy?" Shizuo echoed.

Kadota snickered. "With the ears and all?"

"Ears, leash and tail," Izaya nodded, grinning towards Shizuo. "A form of role play, let's say."

Shizuo huffed. "You're just a fucking pervert. Kadota, you're going to let this happen?"

"You can always say no," Kadota reminded, scoffing. "Unless you're scared..."

"Like Hell!" Shizuo snapped, ignoring the sly smirk that Izaya and Kadota shared.

Izaya sat by Shizuo as they started up the game. He leaned over to kiss Shizuo's cheek. "Go easy on me; I'm terrible at racing games, babe."

Shizuo scoffed. "Well I'm pretty good at them. Isn't that a shame?"

Izaya laughed a bit and then the game started. Half way through it, Shizuo's arrogant smirk turned into a frantic frown. Izaya was better at this game than even Celty was and Shizuo didn't like that one bit. By now Celty and Shinra were lingering behind the couch watching, Shizuo in second plae and Izaya in first. Shizuo grit his teeth as they started on the last lap. "Damn it, you lied!" He cursed.

"I did not," Izaya said with a grin as his car sped ahead of Shizuo's. "I told you that I was horrible at racing games...but I never said which racing games it was I was terrible at."

Shizuo let out a angry breath, eyes locking dangerously on the TV screen. Shinra laughed from the side as he and Kasuka went back into the kitchen. "Those two are so perfect for each other, man."

"Maybe," Kasuka murmured.

Shinra paused and looked over his shoulder. "You uh...don't seem to agree with me."

"...I'm just worried." Kasuka muttered as he checked the food on the stove. "Shizuo's been awfully stressed recently and it's obvious that Izaya doesn't know how to help. It's stress about Izaya leaving, but god knows my brother won't say anything about it; he's too nice. I'm just worried about what'll happen when Izaya leaves. It's only a few more weeks, after all..."

Shinra nodded and opened the fridge to pull out some drinks. "Well...there's really no use trying to talk about it with them. Izaya's already tried to push back college for another year but Shizuo won't let him. And I understand that you're worried about Shizuo, because I am, too. I know how he is...and I know that he's probably up to his head in stress...but what else can we do?"

Kasuka let out a soft sigh. "...Nothing, I guess...it's just...he's my brother, so..."

"No, I totally understand." Shinra smiled, nodding. "But...all we can do is be there."

Kasuka opened his mouth but was unable to respond when they heard Shizuo's voice.

"Damn it, you fucking lying flea!"

Shinra started laughing. "Sounds like your brother just lost."

"Of course," Kasuka snorted.

In the living room, Shizuo was fuming. He threw the controller aside and turned to glare at Izaya. "You ass, you lied!"

"Again, no I didn't." Izaya laughed as he set his controller down. "Now, I do believe we had a deal."

Shizuo muttered under his breath. "We don't have the ears or any of that other shit..."

"Actually," Shinra sang, peeking through from the kitchen. "I was a dog last Halloween, remember? I have ears, tails, leashes and collars."

Shizuo's eye twitched. "Of course you fucking do, you fucking traitor."

"Go get them," Izaya sang with a grin.

Shinra left the room and Kadota laughed at the expression on Shizuo's face. "You knew what you were getting into, Shizuo."

"He said he was bad at the game!" Shizuo snarled.

"He's Izaya," Kadota reminded as he tried not to laugh again. "He's good at everything, remember?"

Shizuo muttered something the others didn't quite catch and huffed. Shinra came prancing back in and walked over to Shizuo. He clipped in a pair of brown dog ears and snapped a collar on him, a tight black one. Shizuo rubbed at the collar as he watched Shinra hand the leash over to Izaya. Izaya took it and grinned at Shizuo, patting his own lap. "Come here, Shizu-Chan!"

Shizuo's eye twitched as he stood up and, blushing profoundly, sat in the raven's lap. Izaya chuckled, hooking the leash to the collar as he pressed a kiss to Shizuo's cheek. "You make a cute puppy~"

"Go to hell." Shizuo snapped, looking away.

"Be happy I didn't put the tail on you." Izaya reminded lightly, still smiling as he stated to run his fingers through Shizuo's hair, mindful of the ears. "You look cute like this."

Shizuo sighed heavily. Around them, everyone else fell to their normal activities. Kasuka and Shinra went back to the kitchen to continue cooking while Celty and Kadota started up a new round on the video game. Shizuo shifted, uncomfortable, and looked at Izaya with a pout. "You play dirty."

"This isn't playing dirty," Izaya murmured in the blonde's ear, licking along the shell of Shizuo's ear slowly. "There's a big difference between being mean and playing dirty...Shizu-Chan."

Shizuo blushed and covered his ear, glaring at the black haired teen. "Don't do that!"

Izaya laughed and hugged Shizuo, nuzzling the blonde's neck. "Sorry, sorry...big baby." He paused and sat up a bit straighter as he tilted his head. "You really do look cute like that."

Shizuo looked away, his face burning brighter. He still wasn't used to being called cute or anything of the sorts and it...left him unsettled. He made a whining noise as he covered his face. "Shut up..."

Izaya simply laughed and then held Shizuo a bit tighter. The night went by calmly after that, Shizuo even loosening up and going along with the dog thing. He had barked a few times and, to Izaya's surprise, had taken to licking Izaya too. But no one really cared. By the time they left it was dark out and Izaya held the collar attached to his lover tightly as they walked down the street. "You know you could have taken all the dog stuff off, Shizu-Chan."

Shizuo shrugged half heartedly. "I don't really care now. You like it so...it's no big deal."

"Such a softie," Izaya purred as he pulled Shizuo over by the collar. He pressed his lips to Shizuo's, ignoring the people around him.

Shizuo blushed and covered his mouth, huffing. "Hey..."

"Sorry," Izaya smiled, fiddling with the leash in his hand. "...I'll miss doing that."

Shizuo's expression fell and he glanced at Izaya before walking again. They both fell silent and Shizuo started to chew his lip nervously. The thought of Izaya leaving was heavy on both of their minds, apparently, and Shizuo looked up at the sky. The city lights made it difficult to see the stars and he sighed, before taking Izaya's hand and tugging Izaya ahead. Izaya stumbled a bit and blinked. "Shizuo?"

Shizuo didn't answer, yanking off the dog ears and shoving them in his pockets. It was a good ten minutes until Izaya realized where Shizuo was taking him; the park. They'd ended up there many times over the summer. That was their place, the place they had realized their feelings. For Izaya, it brought a pang of bitter pain that was quickly paved over with happiness. He hoped it brought the same feeling to Shizuo, and he figured it did since they went so often.

Shizuo finally let go of Izaya's hand and walked over to sit on the swing. Izaya stared at him, the smallest smiles tugging at his lips. "Why'd you bring me here this time?"

Normally when Shizuo brought him here, it was to talk or to make out under the slide a few yards from the swings. Shizuo shrugged very slowly and started to swing. "...I felt like coming. It's nice here...with you, at least."

Izaya walked over and sat on the other swing. He swung lightly and sighed a bit, looking up. "You're thinking about it...aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Shizuo sighed, looking back at Izaya. "But so are you."

Izaya shrugged a bit. "...It's about time that I started to think about it...you don't have to worry, alright Shizuo?"

Shizuo stopped swinging and looked at his lap, gripping the chains of the swing tightly. "...I know, but I'm going to. But you don't need to worry about me, Izaya...I have Shinra and the others if things get bad and-"

"You never went to them before," Izaya cut in softly, looking at his own lap as well. He took a breath so he didn't lose his composure in front of Shizuo. "...I want to have faith in you...and I do. You've come a long way, Shizuo...and I'll never be able to explain how proud I am of you. I'm just..." He felt his hands shaking and bit his lip. "...I walked in on you cutting your wrist open, Shizuo...that was my fault. I was lucky when I caught you doing that...but with me gone...what if you cut again? And you cut too deep? Or...or you..." He was choking back tears he hadn't even realized had formed.

Shizuo's eyes widened and he was at Izaya's side in an instant, making the raven stand before pulling him into a hug. Izaya held to him tightly, shoulders shaking violently. Shizuo grit his teeth. I broke something in him that day...didn't I?

"...I love you." Shizuo finally whispered, shaking now, too.

Izaya let out a breathless laugh, leaning back to wipe at his eyes. He smiled and kissed Shizuo. This kiss was soft, just lips against lips...and it felt more beautiful than their very first kiss had. Izaya's arms wrapped around Shizuo's waist and then he smiled, the tears gone from his eyes. "I love you too, you idiot."

After that, their summer felt different. They still hung around the others, but they left more time open to themselves. They went to the park, their park and just talked for hours. They'd hang around in Izaya's room, would go out for dinner dates. They took Kururi and Mairu out to the zoo a few times, took Kasuka to neighboring towns for auditions that the younger boy was to lazy to attend himself. The couple didn't want to part and no one wanted to force them into doing so.

The summer was nice, the best either boy had experienced in years. But, like they had expected, the summer came to an end.

When Shizuo opened his eyes that morning, when he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he knew.

Izaya would be gone by dusk.

Pleaseeee don't hate me too much these next few chapters. It's only going to be one or two about them being separated, and then there's a time skip. Anyhow...yeahhhh major feelings. Thank you all for sticking with me for so long, I love all of you! review darlings~