Short chapter, sorry! Thank you for reading!

…~-~…

To put it simply, Namie was really beginning to get tired of putting up with Izaya. When she entered the apartment that morning, not only was there a massive pile of papers lined up for her to sort through, but in addition, Izaya was lying on the couch half asleep mumbling for her to bring him coffee.

"Lazy," she said under her breath, setting her bag on the desk and heading into the kitchen. As much as she wanted to punch him in the face, she had to make a living somehow. And right now working for Izaya was a good way to lay low and avoid being noticed by Nebula.

So, she poured his coffee and brought it to him. However when he made no move to touch it after ten minutes, Namie's brow twitched.

"Are you going to lay there all day or are you going to work?" She said coldly.

"I was working all night, actually," he responded a little too flatly, "I'm not feeling well, so leave me alone."

"Don't tell me you've gotten sick. I don't want to be around you if that's the case."

"Haha, I might be," Izaya said, his voice still not sounding normal for him, "Isn't Doctor Yagiri going to give me a check-up and make sure I'm not dying?"

"That's not part of my job. If you want a check-up you should call Kishitani-san."

There was no response from Izaya.

Within fifteen minutes she was nearly done sorting through the paper stack and there was still no sign of movement from the couch. The sound of steady breathing signaled that Izaya had fallen asleep.

Barely ten minutes later and Izaya's sleep seemed to have been interrupted. Namie could hear a small gasp escape the man's lips and see him glance around the room looking tense. From her position at the desk, she could barely see the sweat that had formed on Izaya's brow as he finally settled back down into the couch.

"If you're just going to lay there and sleep then I am going to go home. I have plenty I need to do and my work here seems to be done."

"Yeah, fine, go home," Izaya mumbled from the couch. She noticed he was holding his arms tightly across his stomach. Maybe he really was sick.

Taking the invitation to leave early, Namie gathered her things stopping to take a closer look at Izaya. She could see the bags under his eyes as he looked back at her. He was pale and still breathing a tad fast.

"You look like shit." She said, earning a small frown from Izaya, "I'll call Kishitani-san for you on my way out."

Oddly enough, Izaya once again said nothing as she swiftly headed out the door.

"Kishitani-san," Namie said when the doctor picked up his phone, "Izaya-san isn't feeling well. You should check on him and make sure he isn't sick."

"Why can't you?" Shinra asked.

"If he's actually sick I don't want to catch whatever weird disease he has." She said, hanging up immediately after.

…~-~…

Izaya had woken with a jolt from another nightmare. The feeling of cold, rough hands running up and down his skin making him feel nauseous.

Sending Namie home was the only solution he could think of to avoid having a panic attack in her presence.

He couldn't control his breathing, even when Namie had left the room. He just needed to calm down before Shinra arrived to avoid unnecessary questioning. He would have stopped Namie from calling, insisting that he was fine, but he really wasn't sure if he was. Ever since Shizuo left the pain in his chest had gotten worse. He figured it was probably from stress. After all, standing up to a man who could throw a truck over his head with nowhere to run was rather nerve-wracking even for Izaya.

A short while later Izaya found himself sitting on the couch while Shinra hovered over him listening to his heart and lungs through his stethoscope.

"You're perfectly healthy, Izaya," he said with a hint of anger in his tone, "Whatever is going on is all in your head."

"So it could be stress then?"

Shinra frowned. "Well," he said cautiously, "It could be stress, yeah. But if it is, there has to be a cause of the stress."

Izaya was silent for a moment. He wasn't about to tell Shinra about his nightmares.

"Did you see Shizuo today?" Shinra asked abruptly.

"Why would that matter right now?"

"So that's a 'yes'. And you started feeling strange at that time?"

"Shinra…" Izaya said warningly.

"I won't say anything more." Shinra gathered his things while Izaya watched him carefully.

He headed for the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. "Ah, but I do have one thing for you to keep in mind, Izaya."

"What?" Izaya asked dryly.

"The best way to deal with your problem is to confront it. Feelings can change. Even yours. You've been alone long enough."

Before Izaya could respond, Shinra fled, door closing behind him. Izaya was left with a new sensation. One that left him only able to fall back onto the couch, stunned.

Shinra knew about Shizuo. Based on that conversation, he must know.

What was with everyone lately? He'd gotten through his life just fine without all of this "love" crap.

…Vrrr…

Someone somewhere was mocking him. That's what he thought when he glanced at the text message on his phone from Mairu.

"[Iza-nii! Come get lunch with us!]"

"[Shouldn't you two be in school?]" he responded.

"[Yeah, but we skipped so we could get you out of your apartment for once. You've been locked in there for weeks!]"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Izaya tried to deny them. To tell them that no, he didn't want to see them today. But they were already missing out on their education by skipping, so he might as well make sure the day wasn't a complete waste.

Begrudgingly, Izaya met them for lunch and escaped back home as soon as possible.

…~-~…

It had begun to rain as soon as Shizuo got off of work. He looked up at the cloudy, grey sky which reminded him so much of the night he'd found Izaya. He doubted he could ever stop associating this weather with that night. It was likely that Izaya was affected as well.

The sound of a small splash behind him caught his attention. He turned, but saw nothing.

Shrugging, Shizuo continued on. He couldn't stop thinking about Izaya. Of course, what else was new? That had always been the case. The difference was that now when he thought of Izaya, it felt wrong. Instead of the taunting, powerful, and influential man he had known, all he could see was a small, too thin man, huddled on the floor with tears running down his cheeks.

Shizuo clenched his fists. Izaya needed help. He'd practically admitted that this morning! Shizuo didn't care if it was him to be the one to help Izaya or someone else. As long as he could see the glint of confidence in those eyes once again, he would be satisfied.

BANG!

He was given no time to process what had happened when a sharp force brought him to the ground. The only thing he could understand in that moment was that he could feel pain and something warm dripping down his neck.

Ahh… it was blood.

…~-~…

…Vrrr… Vrrr… Vrrr…

"What is it now, Shinra?" Izaya answered venomously.

"Izaya! It's not good! Shizuo has been shot!" Shinra exclaimed.

Izaya raised a brow while his heart rate suddenly picked up. "He's been shot before and was fine."

"This is different. This person had better aim."

Izaya didn't speak. In fact, he didn't even breathe. He waited for Shinra to continue.

"I have to go. He's lost a decent amount of blood."

Without another word, Shinra hung up, leaving Izaya sitting at his desk in silence with his phone still pressed against his ear.

When did it happen?

When did he lose control of himself like this?

When did news of Shizuo being hurt become something that scared him?

Heart pounding in his ears, Izaya ran. He had enough sense to throw his coat over his shoulders as he headed out the door into the rain.

It was dark and every part of him screamed that he should be afraid of the people that lurked in the dark of the city, but he couldn't bring himself to fear that now.

Shizuo.

He just needed to see Shizuo.

"Shizuo," He whispered to himself as he ran, "Don't you die on me."