A/N: Hi again! Finals are thankfully ended on Tuesday (If I have to write one more research paper...), so I've got a month to sit back and relax! This chapter is a little short (Around 2000 words) but I think it's alright.

Oh, and for everyone who was wondering why the characters seem a bit OOC, well this is pretty much a fluff story. As such, I kind of have to take a lot of the seriousness out of them and replace it with a cuter aspect. By the way, I've really kinda written this as I've gone along, so there may be a few weird inconsistencies that I haven't picked up.

I hope you've all enjoyed what I've written so far. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, who all had very kind words to say about it! You've all made my first real writing experience so wonderful!

"I love you."

The phrase seemed strange to Mei. Whenever he heard it, it was always spoken out of necessity, with a hint of annoyance in the speaker's voice as they said it to their loved ones. There was never any truth to it, no passion or veracity, it rolled off the tongue blandly and fell flat in the listener's ear, and they were perfectly content with hearing the phrase, even if there was no meaning behind it. But as he looked at Ritsuka's lips mouthing those three simple words, his eyes glistening in the rain, the words carried truth. The words flew into Mei's heart and soul and devoured him completely. His body was ravaged, both mentally and physically. The past days had been cruel to him, and his mind was flooded, throbbing with pain at the side of his skull.

His heart beat wildly against his chest, a thousand emotions were flowing through it rapidly and he thought that it might burst at the overflow of feelings. As he struggled to get his savagely pulsating heart under control, Mei had realized that he had not yet responded to Ritsuka.

He tilted his head up slightly to meet with the taller boy's dark eyes. He looked deep into those black pools; they shone with fear and anxiety. Had Ritsuka regretted uttering those words? Were they the result of nothing more than a moment of passion, a rush of hormones?

All the emotions that were scattering throughout Mei's heart now suddenly burst out, and he ran forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Ritsuka. He sobbed, the tears running down his face indistinguishable with the rain that was falling around them. The shorter boy burrowed his head into the dark confines of the jacket in front of him and continued weeping. A few moments passed before Mei felt Ritsuka's arms rise up. One traveled downward and wrapped itself around his waist, pulling him if closer if that was physically possible. The other went to gently tangle in his blue hair. He petted it softly, brushing away the sorrow like loose hairs as Mei's ears drooped in peace.

Mei's body had had enough. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind while a thousand emotions struggled for dominance over his heart. His sobs turned to quiet whimpers, his tears vanished, and he finally gave in to the gentle embrace of unconsciousness. Before he shut his eyes, he struggled to mutter out:
"I love you, Ritsuka."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a moment for Ritsuka to realize that the boy under him had become unconscious. After he had noticed the body in his arms had gone limp, he looked down to see Mei's eyes shut and mouth slightly open.

The taller boy wasn't quite sure what to do now. He held up Mei with one arm and used the other to take off his jacket and wrap it around him, then he picked up the umbrella that had fallen during their embrace and placed it above his head.

He soon realized that he couldn't carry both the umbrella and the boy, and threw it back onto the ground. Ritsuka then placed his hand on Mei's bottom, which he noted as being rather soft, and hoisted him up horizontally on his arms.

He wrapped the jacket tightly around the shorter boy's body and proceeded to walk back to his own house, the only option that he seemed to have at the time.

The normally 15 minute walk took Ritsuka a full 25 minutes before he reached his front door, reaching his arm down to fumble in his pocket and grabbing a key. He maneuvered his arms that were occupied with Mei, who was surprising light, to jam the key in the door and nudge it open with his foot.

Mei's eyes were still closed, but his chest moved up and down in a fairly regular fashion, diminishing any worries that he might be in some serious danger. He walked up the flight of stairs to his bedroom, similarly opening the door with a nudge of his foot and gently placing Mei on the bed, his arms thankful.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was warm now, gone from the icy rain that had made Goosebumps cover his body and his body quiver, though he wasn't sure the latter was to be blamed on the rain. There was a large heavy mass on top of him, but he was warm and that was all he cared about for the time being. He let out a sigh of pleasure and turned on his side. It smelled like Ritsuka, that sweet and slightly musky scent that he was already used to. His mind caught up, and he finally realized that he was lying in Ritsuka's bed. The sudden realization made a flood of memories soar through his mind, the kiss being brought to the forefront. He shot up from the bed instantly, his eyes wincing from the light that had entered them. He looked around the room. It reminded him of his own bedroom, there were no posters of pop stars or anime, the wall was bare apart from a few pictures that he couldn't make out. Across from him, a computer was giving off a faint blue light as it hummed quietly.

"Are you alright?" The sudden sound made Mei yelp and knock his head against the hard wall behind him. Sudden pain rushed to the inflicted area and he immediately grabbed it, trying fruitlessly to make it go away.

"Mei!" He knew the voice, it was unmistakably Ritsuka's, but he didn't look toward the sound. He closed his eyes and bent his head down, already feeling the tears forming.

There was silence for a moment; he couldn't hear anything, not even the gentle hum of the computer. Mei knew it was coming; it was inevitable no matter how hard he tried to keep it in. He strained himself as he felt it crawl up his throat, he gripped the bed sheets below him, anything that could stop it.

But it came. The loud sob escaped his throat and the tears streamed down even faster now. What would Ritsuka think of him now? Crying over a little bump of the head. The thought made two more loud sobs slip through his lips.

He felt himself being pulled from the bed, lifted from the warm confines of the bed. His body was propelled forward and he was gently placed on the taller boy's lap. Mei tried to lift his head up to look questioningly at him, but a strong hand was placed on the back of his head, softly rubbing the wound.

He had stopped crying, but Mei wrapped his arms around the boy in front of him. He had spent so many nights alone, staying in his house and lying sleeplessly in his bed, or going out into the dangerous night and walking nowhere. But now Ritsuka held him, his mind bathed in the fact that he didn't have to be alone anymore, he had someone who cared about him now.

"Ritsuka…" He whimpered the simple word as the familiar scent entered his nostrils. There was no response from the other boy; he just continued to pet his head, making Mei shiver in pleasure. He loved this feeling, the feeling that he was worth something, he mattered to someone.

The hands left his head to grasp his shoulders and push him back onto the bed.

"Are you alright?" Ritsuka placed the back of his hand against Mei's even before he heard Mei's response.

"I…I think so." Mei's mind was still foggy, but he didn't feel sick.

"I think you're ok…" Ritsuka reached under his shirt, an action that immediately made Mei's eyes open wide and his face turn red. The boy above him smirked and let out a small chuckle.

"Just checking your heartbeat" Ritsuka placed his hand on his chest and smirked again "Going pretty fast."

The blue-haired boy's face turned a darker shade of red and tried to slow his throbbing heart, but Ritsuka's hand left it a few seconds later.

"Can I?" He asked in a husky voice, lowering his head. Mei wasn't sure what exactly the other boy was requesting, but at that point he really didn't care and he gently nodded his head.

His body was enveloped in fire as Ritsuka leaned down to press his lips against his own. It was soft and gentle, yet it seemed to make his heart jump out of his chest. The taste was pure this time, there was no cold rainwater to delude it. Mei tried to return this kiss, but his body seemed to lie still. Ritsuka had complete control of him now, he couldn't move or even think while the slight moisture was still on his lips.

After a few moments he felt the lips leave his and Ritsuka lifted himself up from the bed. He glided his fingers against Mei's face, moving a few stray hairs from his eyes.

"Go to sleep" he whispered "It's almost midnight."

"I…" he hadn't even thought to check the time "I've got to get home then…"

"It's still raining and I'm not going to take my chances after what happened." Ritsuka walked toward his own bedroom door. "Go to sleep, you can go home before school." He turned off the light and grasped the doorknob to close the door.

"Wait!" Mei sat up from the bed once again "Where…where are you going?"

Ritsuka's fingers returned to the light switch and the room was enveloped in orange again. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"I mean…" Mei stuttered "This is your room right? I can't just…"

"Don't worry about me, you need to get better for school tomorrow. I can't be stuck with Yuko all by myself." He smiled at him, knowing that phrase would him feel better.

"But…" Mei couldn't help but smile slightly at the latter statement "Where are you gonna sleep?"

"I'll manage."

"Ritsuka…I couldn't…"

"Would you rather me sleep there with you?" Ritsuka smirked and leaned against the doorway.

"I uh…" Mei blushed and stumbled over his words "I mean that would be…" His mind fought with his heart, should he say it? "…ok." The final word escaped his mouth and he almost covered his mouth with his hands as soon as his ears heard it.

"Well…" Ritsuka's smile widened and he closed his bedroom door. "In that case…" he again walked over to the bed. "…which side do you want?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ritsuka tried to make sense of the situation he was placed in. Here he was with the boy that had made his cold exterior break and his heart open. A boy that he had kissed more than once in the same day, a boy that he was quite sure he was in love with, though he really wasn't sure how one felt when they were in love, a boy that was now presenting him with the option of sleeping in the same bed with him.

He uncovered the sheets on the other side of the bed and sat down, seeing the blushing boy on the other end dart his eyes. Ritsuka brought his feet under the covers and let his head fall back onto the pillow beneath him. There was no movement or sound, and Ritsuka wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Good night, Mei." It seemed to be the most appropriate thing to say in order to break the tension that was filling the air.

"G…good night, Ritsuka" He loved that nervousness in Mei's voice, he was so fragile, yet Ritsuka knew exactly how to handle him. He reached his hand over to gently scratch Mei's ears, an action that caused a pleasant sigh to escape from his mouth.

He felt the bed move slightly, and suddenly he felt Mei's head on his chest, his arms reaching to wrap around his upper torso.

Ritsuka smiled inwardly and placed his arms tightly around the boy in front of him, kissing the bushel of hair that was now in front of him.

"I love you, Mei" The words felt natural, he hadn't even thought about saying them, the words had come straight from his heart.

"I…love you, Ritsuka." The taller boy smiled to himself, thinking what Hitomi would say if she had seen them like this.

A/N: Gwa, I tried to make this chapter cute, but I'm not sure if I pulled it off so well! I was going to have Ritsuka say 'Let's lose our ears' in a joking manner, but I figured that was a bit too perverse for someone so young to say, ha!

Anyways, next chapter is the final one! I hope you've enjoyed the story.

Next fanfic will be a bit more serious. It'll be a Jigoku Shoujo one, so I hope you'll check it out whenever I get around to finishing it. Oh, and that will just be one chapter.

Anyways, as always, please read and review!