Chapter 2

"What if he doesn't show?"

"He'll come."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"Then we assume he had something to do and that he will schedule another day to talk with you."

Shuichi was about to ask another question, when a look from his boss silenced him. Instead of speaking, he stirred the whipped cream topping into a Hot Chocolate he'd ordered, watching the foamy sweetness dissolve. He ate a little off the tip of his spoon at glanced repeatedly at the clock on the wall above him. Each second was a year to him. When would Yuki get here? When would Tohma leave? Where the hell was the bathroom?

"Tohma, I gotta go."

"If you'll hold on just one second, I'm sure Eiri will be here soon."

"No. I mean I've gotta go." He half stood, doing a little wiggle dance as he moved. "Where' the bathroom?"

"Oh." Tohma held in a polite snicker. "By the bar, to your left."

Shuichi shot off.

In the bathroom (while relieving himself) Shuichi thought and he thought hard. An unusual circumstance for him. They were supposed to have met Eiri here, at precisely ten a.m. It was now… five past ten. Okay. Maybe he was stressing to much. But Yuki was usually very punctual, or fashionably late. Today he must be going for the latter. This meant Shuichi had at least two to five more minutes until Yuki arrived.

Pleased with his thought process, Shuichi washed his hands and raced back out to see Tohma, and more importantly get a new batch of whipped cream for his Hot Chocolate.

He almost turned and ran right back into the bathroom.

Standing near the table, Yuki was talking quietly to his brother-in-law. Shuichi saw the tall form, blond hair, and somehow he felt shocked and mad, but excited at this chance. In compromise for mixed feelings of either running away, or running forward, he stood stock still and watched in fear as Tohma pointed towards him, and Yuki turned around, smirking like the naturally cocky man he was.

"Hey." He said, the deep rivets of his voice tuning Shuichi's memories. He felt like crying, dying, or just falling back into Yuki's arms.

He somehow managed to act normal.

"Hey." Shuichi replied, stepping forward shakily. Yuki held out a hand to shake, and for a moment Shuichi wanted to hit him. Only a handshake? But he took it, and shook it, and sat down beside his cooling cocoa.

Tohma was smiling nicely at his brother-in-law and employee, obviously trying to lighten the tense mood. Then Yuki gave him a look that spoke volumes on Tohma's "not being welcomed into this conversation" and Tohma Seguchi obediently cleared his throat and stood.

"I suppose I'll take my leave. I'll see you Monday Mr. Shindo."

Shuichi nodded and smiled as he left. Then Yuki sat down across from him, in the space Tohma had left occupied. There was tense silence. Shuichi laughed nervously. "How ya been Yuki?"

The writers face paled suddenly, as though the long forgotten voice scared him somehow. "Fine." He replied. "How about you?"

"Great!" Shuichi lied. There was another deep silence, broken only by a waitress, coming to take Yuki's order.

"Coffee. Black." He said.

"Anything else for you, hun?" The waitress turned to Shuichi, snapping the gum in her mouth as she smiled at him.

"More whipped cream please! Don't you want anything to eat?" he asked Yuki. The author shrugged. "Did you eat?"

A pointed glance. That would be a no.

"Some pancakes too please."

"Of course." She bustled away to give out the order.

"I hope you know I plan on not even touching those pancakes." Yuki said.

"I hope you know I plan to change your plan about not touching those pancakes." Shuichi retorted. He got a small smile out of that one.

They chatted for a while, ice broken by Shuichi's pancake banter, waiting for the order to come. Just as the waitress was setting up the pancakes and pouring Yuki's coffee, Shuichi pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket. A fresh Cocoa found its way in front of the hyper teen, followed by an extra bowl full of whipped cream for him to eat on the side.

Yuki eyed the envelope, holding his comments until the waitress bustled away again. His face seemed to get even paler. "Why'd you have to bring that?" He asked quietly. Shuichi was shocked at the emotion, and the quiet weakness in his voice.

"I want to talk with you about it."

"What for?"

"You wrote some things… I want to understand them. I want to understand all of it."

Yuki sighed, looked away. "You always want to know everything."

Shuichi stared at him, incredulous. "I'm sorry if I care."

"Ah. So you do care." Yuki smirked. "You didn't care very much six months ago."

Shuichi glared. "That's unfair. It was a long time ago. And you didn't help matters much." Yuki sat back, reaching an arm around the top of the booth. He leaned his head to one-side, laying it against the window. He smiled.

"I'm sorry."

Shuichi's eyes went wide. Yuki never said sorry. Or at least he never meant it. The certainty and sincerity in his gaze and his grin made Shuichi feel warm and forgiving. But his thought process snapped suddenly as his memories went hay-wire. He left you for six months and didn't even look back once.

"What happened to you Yuki?"

"Nothing." Replied the author. Shuichi narrowed his gaze. He was being way to nice.

Don't fall for it.

Don't ever fall for it again.

Shuichi had told himself that the day Yuki had left. The day he'd tried to forget so badly. A bubble of rage seethed in his stomach.

"What was that?" Yuki asked. Shuichi glared at him, realizing that he must have spoken out loud.

"I said I won't fall for it!"

"For what?"

"You're fucked up mind games, you sick bastard!" Shuichi shoved his spoon violently into his cup, cocoa sloshing over the side with a loud ceramic chink. Yuki looked mildly surprised.

"Shuichi… what are you--?" He was cut off by a glare.

"Don't you dare." Shuichi began in a low whisper. "Don't you even dare think to turn your charms on me. I won't fall for it again. You were gone for six months. Six fucking months, and you never said a word to me. Until now. I don't know what you're playing at and I don't presume to find out through another heartbreak episode." He scooped a load of whipped cream into his mouth. "Leave." He said thickly.

Yuki nodded tensely, eyes wide with his natural icy emotion. "Fine. Damn brat." As he gathered his jacket and paid the bill with a fifty, he looked down upon his ex-lover with something close to confusion in his eyes.

He reached forward, wiping a spot of whipped cream from Shuichi's cheek and he smiled sadly. "I miss you Shuichi. Believe it or not. I miss you." And he licked the cream from his fingers.

A bell tinkled seconds after. He was gone.

End- 2