Jyabura snuck through the door, quietly shut it behind him and quickly retreated into his room. He was careful to avoid the other residents of the house; he wasn't in a chatty mood. The wolf Zoan crammed his work clothes into his backpack and flopped down onto his bed. He laid there for a short time with his eyes closed. He wanted everything to go away, even if just for a short while.

A quiet knock on his door interrupted his peaceful silence.

"Yeah?" he grumbled. The door opened and someone silently slipped in.

"So you're the one who was sneaking around." Blueno's deep voice mumbled.

"I'm not staying, I won't be back 'till tomorrow sometime, maybe later." The wolf Zoan said not bothering to move or even open his eyes.

"Do you know where Kaku is? Califa is worried; he doesn't usually stay out this late."

"He's fine, he's at a friend's place." The other man sighed in relief.

"That's good to hear." Jyabura wasn't much in a talking mood.

"Food will be ready in about half an hour, if you want to stay and eat." Blueno informed him.

"Thanks, I will. Is Lucci around?" The other man was silent for a moment before he answered.

"Yeah, he is. He's in his room. I swear if you try to kill him again I'm gonna kick your ass into next week."

"I know. I wasn't planning to. Kaku wanted me to talk to him." Blueno was still unconvinced but he trusted the other man had calmed down.

"Just try not to cause trouble. Do you know when Kaku is coming home?" Jyabura sat up and shook his head.

"I have no clue. He doesn't want to be around Lucci at the moment and I don't blame him, he has lot of thinking to do."

"Some time apart may do them some good." The wolf Zoan didn't repeat what Kaku had said. He wasn't met to tell the others. Besides, the other man would find out soon enough anyway. He got to his feet and moved to the window. He looked up into the starless night sky and watched the snowflakes slowly drift down.

"Things are gonna change soon." He mumbled before he walked past the taller man and out of the room.

Jyabura opened the door and waltzed into Lucci's room without knocking. He found the other man lying on the bed reading a book.

"Knocking would have been appreciated." Lucci mumbled, unimpressed with the interruption.

"Leave Kaku alone." Jya blurted out, getting straight to the point. A small smirk tugged at Lucci's lips.

"He doesn't want to be left alone." He kept reading his book as though the other man wasn't even there.

"Yes he does. Stop fucking with the poor kid's heart."

'How can he be so dammed laid back!' Jyabura queried, quickly getting agitated with the younger man's calm demeanour.

"I don't know what you talking about. He loves me, simple as that."

"Not any more. He's had enough of your shit. You've lost him." Lucci looked up from his book.

"You know he'll come back to me." Every other time the pair had fought Kaku had come back apologising even though it was almost never his fault. Lucci had no reason to believe this fight would be any different.

"Not this time. You pushed it too far. He's not coming crawling back this time." Jyabura informed the younger man with a slight smile. Lucci's confidence suddenly started to dwindle.

"What makes you think it will be any different?" he asked, abandoning his book completely.

"He wanted me to tell you that he's leaving you." Lucci was taken aback with what the man said.

"You're lying." Lucci didn't want to believe him.

"I wouldn't lie about that, it's the best news I've heard all week." Jyabura walked out of the room without a further word.

"That true?" Blueno asked as soon as the older man shut the door behind him, he had been standing just outside the door the entire time.

"Eavesdropping is a bad habit. You should try not to do it in future." He mumbled sarcastically, not at all impressed about being listened in on.

"I wouldn't have if I was confident that you two wouldn't try to rip each others throats out the moment I turn my back. Now, answer the question." Jyabura scowled at the younger man. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone else, only Lucci. He wasn't happy about being pushed into this new situation.

"I wasn't supposed to tell anyone else but yeah, he's planning to. You can't tell the others though, he didn't want you lot to know and don't you DARE try to talk him out of it!" Jyabura hissed through clenched teeth.

"He finally has the resolve to do this. He doesn't need you guys trying to talk him out of it." Before Blueno had the chance to speak Jyabura moved away from him.

"I'm gonna have a quick shower, save me some food." He called to Califa who was cooking.

"Alright, don't take too long." She called back before he shut the bathroom door behind him.

Lucci found himself staring at the closed door, still in shock about what the older man had said.

'Kaku's leaving me? No, it can't be. It's just another of that damn wolf's lies! Kaku loves me too much to just leave. Even if he is planning to now once he's in front of me he will back down. Just like last time.' Lucci tried to convince himself that he was right, that Jyabura was simply lying again.

But then his mind drifted back to earlier that day, the pain in Kaku's voice, the hurt in his eyes, his words.

"I don't know anymore." Lucci repeated aloud.

'Maybe I did over do it this time. Maybe I have lost him.' Those thoughts worried him immensely.

Kaku had always been the thing that grounded him, the thing that always kept him coming back. Without the boy he would have either taken off long ago or gotten himself killed by taking on some impossible mission. That boy was his resolve, his reason to keep going.

Lucci had no idea what he would do if he lost him.

The leopard Zoan started to fiddle with the simple gold band on his ring finger. He ran his thumb over the smooth surface and watched the light reflect on the pale gold.

He sighed heavily remembering the night he gave Kaku a matching ring.

He remembered moving his hand beneath the covers to find the sleeping redhead's wrist and drawing it up into the night air.

He remembered sliding the ring onto his finger and whispering the word "forever" into his ear as the boy slept on.

He remembered waking up to Kaku throwing his arms around his neck, repeating the words: "I love you" again and again.

Lucci smiled at the memory. That was the best moment of his life so far.

But he feared it would all fall apart, he feared that if Kaku did what he was planning, the memory would become something that brought him hurt, instead of happiness.

'What have I done?'

Lucci had finally realised what he was about to lose.

Kaku lay on the couch staring at the gold ring that his finger was endowed with. He slipped it off and stared at the inner edge, at the single word that was engraved on its surface.

"Forever" He quietly read aloud. He just wished it was still true.

Lucci had always promised he would always be there by his side, that he would be there forever. But it was all falling apart.

Kaku slid the ring back onto his finger; it would stay there, at least for the time being.

The boy stared at the ceiling as he questioned his own resolve.

'Do I still love Lucci? I don't know anymore. I don't want to be with him anymore and yet… and yet I can't help but want to try to fix this. Or am I just scared to leave him? Am I scared to be alone? I don't know anymore!'

Kaku closed his eyes and sighed, all the brooding he was doing was quickly giving him a headache.

'I can't say I never loved him. I used to, very much. Did he ever really love me? Or was it all just an act? Of course he loved me! He wouldn't have stayed so long if he hadn't. But … did he really care? Does he still care about me? Does he still love me?'

A thought drifted into Kaku's mind that made his resolve waver.

'What if he tells me he loves me when I try to split up with him? What will I do then? Will I still be able to do it? Or will I give in and stay with him. What will happen if I do stay? Will he try to fix this? Will we go back to being happy again? But how long will it last? Will he run off and cheat again? It wouldn't surprise me. No! I WILL do this. I can't back out now!'

Kaku sat up suddenly and opened his eyes. He had finally come to a conclusion. He would leave Lucci. If the other man wanted him back he would have to work for it. He wouldn't back down; not this time. Definitely not this time!

"I'm heading off, I'll pop back in tomorrow some time to tell ya whats going on." Jyabura said as he came out of his room with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

"See you then." Califa answered cheerfully, she had gotten a lot happier since Jyabura had told her Kaku was safe and fine.

Blueno had hardly said a word to the older man since they had spoken earlier. He just hoped the other man would heed his words and not tell the others.

The wolf Zoan pocketed his keys and left the warmth of the house for the snow covered streets.

"Jyabura." He heard only moments later. The man turned to see that Lucci had followed him out.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly.

"Give this to Kaku for me." He said, holding out a bag.

"What's in it?"

"A clean set of clothes." Lucci said as he threw the bag to the older man. Jyabura was mentally kicking himself. He hadn't even thought to grab clean clothes for Kaku.

"Thanks." He mumbled and started walking again.

"Please tell him that I'm sorry." Lucci said quietly before retreating back into the warmth of the house.

Jyabura was still confused by the entire exchange. First of all Lucci had used his name. Lucci never called him by his name! Ever! Then he had been polite without making a stab at him, which had always been a rarity between the two men.

"Please?" Jyabura repeated, still unable to believe what he had just heard.

Lucci had asked him to say sorry.

Lucci had pleaded him to say sorry!

'Maybe he's finally getting things together.' He thought doubtfully. He still didn't trust Lucci had cleaned up his act but he had confidence in the fact that Lucci was finally starting to regret what he had done.

The dark haired man couldn't help but break out into a jog as he headed back to Paulie's apartment. It seemed as though his day wasn't as bad as he had first thought. Kaku was finally going to break up with Lucci. He was finally going to let himself be happy.

Jyabura soon found himself rapping his knuckles on Paulie's door. It had taken him a surprisingly short amount of time to get there, not without losing his way once or twice though.

"Coming!" Paulie called out from inside. The door opened a crack as Paulie checked to see who was there before he opened it fully.

"Everything went ok?" the blonde asked as the older man walked in.

"Not too bad. Where's Kaku?" Jya asked when he saw the boy was missing from the lounge.

"He's taking a shower." Paulie informed, lighting a cigar.

Jyabura moved to the bathroom door and knocked loud enough to be heard over the sound of the running water.

"Yeah?" Kaku answered from inside.

"I've got some clean clothes for you, what do you want me to do with them?" the older man said in a raised voice.

"Great, bring them in." Jyabura hesitated a moment before he opened the door and stepped in. He could see the silhouette of Kaku's body in the shower cubical, he didn't want to stare but he couldn't tear his eyes from the sight.

"Did you talk to Lucci?" The redhead asked.

"Yeah. He didn't believe me at first. Then later he wanted me to tell you that he was sorry." Jyabura turned away from Kaku as he spoke, he didn't want the youth to catch him staring.

"Thank you for doing this for me Jya." He mumbled, the older man barely heard him speak over the sound of the water.

"Anytime kid, I'll just leave the bag here."

"Thanks, I'll be out in a minute." Jyabura exited the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

Paulie stopped mid step when he saw the older man sneaking out of the bathroom.

"I'm not even going to ask." He mumbled and kept walking.

"What?" Jyabura asked before he realised what it had looked like.

"I didn't do anything! He just wanted to ask me something!"

"Look, I don't care. Do what you want. You can even have the bed for all I care."

"What! No, you thick idiot! It's not like that!" He took a playful swipe at the younger man and caught him on his shoulder.

"Riiiiiight." The blonde said with a chuckle. He believed the man but he enjoyed teasing him. It was his revenge for all the times their playful banter was turned on him.

"And I'm not thick, you mistaking me for yourself."

"You are thick as a plank, my friend." Jya said with a laugh as he wandered into the lounge.

"And you're as smart as one." Paulie joked and followed him.

Kaku stepped out of the shower and quickly dried himself off before he spotted the bag Jyabura had left just inside the door. He pulled out a fresh pair of pants and put them on before he rummaged around in the bag to see what else was in there.

Like Jya said, it was mainly clothes but the redhead soon found something else in the bag. It was a small box he knew all too well.

Opening the box he revealed the thin silver chain that was inside. It had been a gift Lucci had given him for his birthday a few years back.

He never wore it to work out of fear of ruining it, but it was always the first thing he put on as soon as he got home. He hadn't gotten around to retrieving it yet when Lucci had confronted him earlier that day.

Kaku ran his fingers over the smooth surface before he removed it from the box and put it on. He would keep wearing it like the ring, for the moment at least.

The younger man let out a sigh of relief when he felt the cold metal fall against his chest. He never felt quite right when he wasn't wearing the necklace.

Pulling a shirt on Kaku grabbed the bag and exited the bathroom.

TBC

A/N: well, that's all i have for the moment reviews would be apreciated but all in all i hope you enjoyed it ^^

there WILL be more im just im a slum with this one at the moment so its been put on hold but rear not, i wont scrap it, i WILL finish it eventually