Midorima groaned miserably when the phone on his bedside table started ringing again. He had managed to ignore the annoying buzzing the first five times but now it was becoming too much for his already thin patience. The green haired boy rolled over, untangling his nearly naked body from the sheets and narrowed his eyes, trying hard to focus his eyes on the cell phone. It was hard to miss, really. Especially when the screen was shining in the darkness. Midorima reached out and after several unsuccessful attempts of trying to grab it, he finally did it and hit the receive button blindly.

"What?" he barked, not really caring about who was on the other side of the call. It was two in the morning, he hadn't slept in a few days as he was too worried about Takao (not that he was about to admit it. Ever.) and all he desired now that his friend was peacefully sleeping in the next room, was to fall asleep for at least a week.

"Shintarou-kun?" asked a confused female voice and Midorima was suddenly wide awake. Okay, he knew that voice and something told him that nothing good was about to happen. "Were you sleeping?"

The green haired boy groaned and fell back on his bed, covering his aching eyes with his hand. He gently rubbed them as he tried to gather all of his patience.

"What else could I possibly do at two in the morning, Kana?"

He suppressed the impulse to turn off his phone.

"I don't know... we had a date and you didn't show up..."

Midorima slapped himself. He had forgotten about the arrangement they had made.

"Sorry," he muttered and closed his eyes. He was so damn tired. "I... had an emergency" he had to think fast. "Something happened and I had to stay at the hospital..." Midorima prayed that this was enough to satisfy the girl's curiosity. He was in no mood to explain anything about Takao to her.

For once, Kana seemed to understand the meaning of his words.

"I was really sad when you didn't come," she whined and Midorima seriously considered the option of hanging up. "You are going to make it up to me, right, Shintarou-kun?"

Remind me again... why did I talk to her in the first place?

A memory of Satsuki saying something about Takao and him being in a relationship crossed his mind and for a moment Midorima forgot everything about rationality. Who needed something so overrated?

"Okay, I am taking you out this Sunday," he said and pushed aside the feeling of guilt he couldn't possibly understand. He wasn't doing anything wrong, right?

A loud squeak made him move the phone away for a moment.

"Thank you, Shintarou-kun!" and the line went dead and he pressed the button. He had no patience left to deal with her.

Oh, Midorima had the feeling he had just gotten himself into something terrible.

Takao woke up, feeling scared as hell. His breathing was heavy, his vision was blurry and his skin was damp with sweat. He looked around like a scared rabbit, still hearing the echo of his own scream.

"It is just a night mare," he muttered and let his body fall back on the bed, still breathing hard and heavy. It was all just a dream. He wasn't with his farther. He wasn't at home... One look at the room he was in and Takao was sure that he had dreamt. He was in Midorima's guest room. Not at home.

Not at home.

Takao wanted to cry like a baby as the realisation sunk in. He was safe. Despite his throbbing head and aching arm, he was safe. He wasn't going back to that hell ever again. The boy shut his eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears from falling. Without realising it, Takao turned on his side and curls into a ball. A quiet sob escaped his lips and he choked.

Come on, don't cry.

He was aching to feel some warmth, to get rid of the coldness that made his limbs numb. Takao was even secretly hoping that Midorima would wake up from his earlier cry and come to spend the night by his bed like he did at the hospital. However, the time passed by and the dark haired boy was still alone. There was no sound of a door being opened, no sound of bare feet coming closer to his door. Nothing. Midorima wasn't coming.

This time Takao didn't try to hold back his sobs and tears. He lied on the foreign bed, curled into a small ball, too cold to move.

He was all alone.

Midorima felt his heart waver as he listened to the muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door. He hadn't fallen asleep after the call from Kana so he was fully awake when Takao woke up with a scream. Immediately, the green haired boy had rushed to his friend's room, but he had stopped in front of the slightly opened door.

He didn't manage to gather enough courage to enter as he watched his friend hug and cry himself to another restless sleep.

The morning came quickly. Too quickly, Takao decided as he slowly cracked his eyes opened and blinked a few times. His head hurt like hell after the tears from the night, his spine was aching from the sleep in a curled position, but the boy didn't seem to notice as he stood up on his shaky legs and headed for the bathroom.

Takao was feeling ill as he walked inside and slowly stripped off his clothes. He desperately needed a long warm shower. The water was turned on and the boy stepped under it, keeping his casted arm out of the way. He let the warmth wash over his body, damp his neck, shoulders, hair, face... and all of the time the only thing that was in his mind was coldness. It was like even the burning water felt chilly against his feverish skin.

Half an hour later Takao went downstairs for breakfast.

"Kazu-chan!" exclaimed Midorima's mother and she quickly pulled out a plate with two sandwiches from the fridge. She gestured to the big table.
"Come on!" she urged him and placed the food in front of her new son. "I bet you are hungry," she said cheerfully and sat down on the other side. "I hope you slept well..."

It was her way of asking if Takao was fine and he understood it.

"Ah, don't worry about me," he said with a smile and forced himself to take a bite from his food. After all, he needed to feed. "Where is Shin-chan?"

The woman narrowed her eyes but tried to keep her cool face.

"He went to practice basketball for a while but he must come back any moment now,"

Feeling a little disappointed, Takao nodded and continued eating in silence. Midorima's mother watched him try to force himself to eat anything. But she saw right through his calm façade. Takao was breaking apart and she knew it. She also knew that there was only one person, who could possibly help.

Sadly, that day Midorima came home after everyone had gone to bed. Only Takao was still lying on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Oi, Takao," he called. "Go to bed, don't sleep here,"

The black haired boy slowly turned his head to the side and blinked a few times. The silence that followed was thick enough to be sliced with a knife.

"Shin-chan..."

Midorima swallowed hard. These words told him more that he wanted to know.

To be continued,...

A/N:

Sorry for the late and crappy update, but I am really bussy right now. I hope everything would die down in a week since I might be done doing everything essential for this term by then. I really hope so, because I am already going insane. Hope you liked the chapter! It is just the beginning of something big, so be prepared!Thanks to everyone who is reading the story! I hope all of you enjoy it as much as enjoy writing it!