A/N: Hey guys. I missed you all! Hope everything's going well!

Special thanks to my beta Harmony Valenka Smith for the inspiration and help, heaven knows I need it. Haha.

Songs I listened to while I wrote this chapter: Off To the Races - Lana Del Rey for no reason other than I like the song, and Carmen by Lana Del Rey.

I hope everyone's enjoying the story so far! I appreciate every review/favorite/follow/hit, I know I keep saying it, but it will never not be true. And I'm glad the Baffy fandom can be kept alive by such great people like you guys.

Chapter title taken from Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness. I know , I listen to a lot of Lana Del Rey, lol.

Anyways, on to the story:

Feeling Alive

In an incident so rare, someone should have alerted the presses, Daffy actually woke up before Bugs. Even rarer, the rays that shone through the curtains were evidence that he woke in time to see the sun rise. He hadn't seen the sun rise since he was a child, too many desperately forgotten nights dissolving into hazy, late afternoons spent trying to chase the hangovers away as an adult.

Bright gold rays bathed his room in their abundant, ethereal light and the sight was breathtaking, but when his eyes traveled over to Bugs' sleeping form, with the radiance immersing his features, Daffy found the sight even more amazing.

Bugs' eyes were closed in slumber, the world temporarily deprived of their calculating blue depths, their thick fan of lashes directing the observer to the sharp sculpt of his nose, a staggering contrast to the soft curve of his lips, but complementing the strong arc of his jaw just fine.

It occurred to Daffy that he was staring like a creeper, but he couldn't find it within himself to care. Bugs was beautiful and no matter how many people saw his movies, read the magazines, googled his name or even got a passing glance of him, they would never be as fortunate to see Bugs like this, unguarded and peaceful, more laidback than ever, as Daffy was to witness it.

It was at that moment, that Daffy felt something stirring in his heart. It was faint at first, but the more Daffy watched Bugs sleep and remembered the previous night of just being held in his arms, the stirrings grew stronger. It was terrifying, whatever it was, was probably dangerous to explore and should be nipped in the bud as soon as possible and yet Daffy felt content, despite its novelty, it felt right, as if it belonged there inside his chest.

In fact, Daffy felt so content and happy, he figured it would be nice if Bugs was greeted to a hot cup of coffee, so off to the kitchen he went.

He didn't get far when the doorbell rang. He was considering ignoring it as he never particularly cared for visitors or even the mailman, but it occurred to Daffy that it could be Porky, and he found himself eager to see his wayward pal if even to teach him a lesson about abandoning his friends in need.

Daffy swung the large mansion doors open, but it wasn't Porky who greeted him. Lola Alves stood on Daffy's gigantic front porch between two guys, her trademark blonde hair tied into a ponytail while her runway outfits were ditched for simple yoga pants and a tank top. But the best thing she wore was the smile that curved her lips as she met Daffy's eyes. She pulled him into a hug then and although Daffy was confused at first, he had no choice but to go along with it as Lola wasn't letting up.

"It's been too long Daffy Knight!" She exclaimed, finally letting go of him to put her hands on her hips and frown at him.

Daffy blinked at her. He technically had never met her before and only saw her in passing, but he remembered that Bugs said they were all friends and Daffy didn't want to make any waves so he smiled back and played along. "Um, Lola didn't you see me Friday night?"

She rolled her eyes tenderly at him. "Yep, but usually we hang out together almost every weekend. Are you forgetting the art show we planned to attend together?"

Daffy had no idea what she was talking about, his eyes traveled over to the two men flanking her sides. The shorter of the two, a petite guy with blond hair and big, blue eyes stepped forward and pinned Daffy with a cheerful expression. The taller man at Lola's left, had almost the same mop of ebony locks as Daffy, but his eyes were pure green and focused on a fancy camera that he was currently fiddling with.

The blond looked familiar to Daffy, though Daffy couldn't place where he had seen him before.

Apparently, Daffy was studying them for longer than was customary as Lola interjected. "Oh, forgive me. Where's my brain today? Daffy, this is Theo Samson," She pointed at the blond. "Or Tweety as we like to call him, you've probably seen his visage in many popular magazines. We met each other back when I was modeling for Vogue." Tweety, who looked a little younger than the three of them, gave Daffy a shy smile. "And this here," She put on an unnecessary fake Texan accent as she introduced the other man, "Is Sylvester Lion, he works for Style magazine as a photographer. If you ever see him without his camera than that means you should be worried."

Sylvester glared at her, but it held no steam. He stopped tinkering with the camera to shake Daffy's hand.

"You might not remember them from the party Friday, as you had to meet a lot of people, but these are my two closest friends, well aside from you and Bugs of course, and I wanted you guys to get to know each other." Lola grinned.

"Do you want to come inside? I was just about to make coffee." Daffy stepped out of the way to let them in.

"Where's Bugs?" Tweety asked, when the grand tour that Daffy had decided to give them ended. Lola was the only one who seemed to know where everything was as she explained to her friends that she'd been there enough times to be familiar.

"He's still sleeping," Daffy explained, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "We kind of had a long night."

Lola smiled while Tweety just blushed and exchanged nervous glances with Sylvester. "You two could never keep your hands off each other." Lola stated, fondly.

"That's not what I meant." Daffy tried to clear it up, but then he just settled for blushing beet-red. "So, coffee?" He headed to the kitchen so fast, he didn't hear their answer.

A few minutes later, Daffy was serving the coffee while Lola, who was a ball of light and laughter, chatted with Sylvester and Tweety, loosening them up. Soon, Daffy felt himself relaxing too. He didn't know Lola from Eve, except that he stole her boyfriend, so he didn't expect to like her. Now, he wondered how he could not as she was an obviously wonderful person.

Bugs emerged at some point while Sylvester and Daffy were having a friendly discussion about photography. Daffy having taken it briefly in high school and Sylvester offering to show him his studio and darkroom if Daffy was interested, which Daffy thought was a nice gesture and told him so.

Bugs greeted them all in a way that proved that he was more familiar with them than Daffy was. He called Sylvester and Tweety by name, asked them how their lives were going, and hugged Lola.

"Hey," Daffy said when Bugs came to his side, "I thought I'd let you sleep more. I mean, you did stay up with me last night and I figured you'd be exhausted."

Bugs shrugged and kissed him on his temple. "I could never be too tired for you." Then: "Or our friends," He addressed everybody. "What did you guys have planned for today?"

"Well," Tweety started. "Lola wanted to make sure you guys weren't dead first. I don't think she had anything planned after that."

Bugs raised an eyebrow. "So you didn't think to just call?" He asked, facing Lola. "And how'd you know I'd be at Daffy's?"

Lola winked at Daffy. "I didn't come to see you today, Bugs. Daffy and I had plans this weekend."

Daffy blinked. "We did?"

Lola scoffed. "Yes, and I quote 'Lola we just have to hang out this Saturday! There's an art show that night and you know how much Bugs detests art shows. I need someone to go with me.'"

Bugs shrugged. "It's true, I do detest them. I don't really like the people who hang around them, but the art is nice."

"I do not talk like that." Daffy frowned.

"Anyways," Lola continued. "I tried calling yesterday, but no one answered the phone. I even called your apartment Bugs and your cell, thinking that maybe you went back home for the weekend."

Bugs and Daffy shared the same apologetic expression. "We're sorry Lola." Daffy spoke. "We've just been preoccupied. It was nice of you to come see us, anyways."

"Oh, we should go to the races!" Tweety suggested, sitting up so fast he made everyone jump.

"This isn't My Fair Lady, Tweety. No one just goes to the races. Plus, those places are riddled with paparazzi." Sylvester murmured tinkering with the camera again.

"I can't believe we, who are usually so busy we only have time to see each other on weekends, can't decide on what to do for a lazy Sunday." Lola said, nodding her head in mock-disbelief.

"I know what we can do," Daffy stated. "We can play poker."

Daffy led them to his barely used dining room, and put a pack of cards on the mahogany dining table. Bugs, Tweety and Sylvester had to be taught how to play, but Lola proved to be a worthy adversary as she almost matched Daffy move for move.

They played for most of the day and later, they ordered Italian food and greatly tipped the stunned delivery boy. (Apparently, he wasn't used to delivering for famous people.)

Daffy learned later that Sylvester and Tweety were in a tentative relationship. They both came out of rough breakups and were trying to take things slow. As Tweety helped Daffy pack up the cards, while the others were watching t.v., he explained this to Daffy.

"I don't know, but I really like him. I just don't want to mess this up. He's a really nice guy; I don't want to hurt him." Tweety sighed, his gaze turning distant.

Dr. Fudd's words repeated in Daffy's head: After you came out of rehab, you were hesitant to let him near you, afraid you'd ruin whatever it was that you two had. You had your doubts, but eventually you let him in.

Daffy reached out and touched Tweety's shoulder. "You know, Bugs and I weren't always like this."

Tweety looked up and blushed shyly. "I heard about your story. I don't think there's a human alive that hasn't heard your story. But, is it true that you hated each other once?"

Daffy nodded. "Yes, and before I went to rehab, we were rivals. I was always jealous of him."

Tweety looked shocked. "You were?"

"Yep, but when I needed him most, he never turned his back on me. I guess I didn't want his help because I figured when I was well enough or if I relapsed, he'd abandon me too. But he never did.

What I'm trying to say, Tweety is, Bugs didn't owe me anything and yet he was there for me when nobody else was. If our meant-to-be tragic love story could survive my alcoholism, jealousy, our rivalry and everything else, then I have no doubt that if your love is meant to be, it will prevail."

"You really think that?" Tweety questioned, his bright blue eyes gazing up in wonder at Daffy.

Daffy thought about it. He felt the stirrings in his chest again and thought of how deprived he'd be if he could no longer feel them, if Bugs was no longer there. He nodded, feeling tears well up unexplainably. "Tweety, I've never been surer of anything in my life."

"I want a relationship like yours. It just seems so real. And I see the way you two look at each other. It's like, wow."

"Tweety, you're still young. Take it slow, there's no need to rush."

"Thank you, Daffy. I appreciate the advice."

Daffy smiled. "You and Sylvester are good kids. I'm happy to help."

Later, as they were bidding everyone goodbye, Bugs turned to Daffy, who was busy looking through the mini portfolio Sylvester gave him.

"You know, Sylvester's pretty good."

Bugs nodded, but he wasn't focused on that. "Daffy?" He addressed.

"I mean, this is fantastic. He's so talented."

"Daffy?" Bugs spoke a little louder.

Daffy gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

Bugs gave Daffy an adoring look. He moved to take a seat beside the charcoal-haired man on the couch and took one of Daffy's hands in his. "Daffy, I have to go back to my chateau tomorrow. Will you be okay here for a night or two?"

Daffy blinked. "I guess so. Why do you have to go back home?"

"I have to get some things. I won't be long. I'm just a phone call away, if you need me. Promise me something." Bugs beseeched.

"Anything." Daffy assured, feeling surprised by how much he meant it.

"You'll take care of yourself, alright?" Bugs' opalescent eyes shone as they pleaded with Daffy.

"Of course, Bugs."

Bugs sighed. "God knows I'm going to miss you for the short while I'm gone, but you have work and Porky to keep you busy."

"Thank you, for everything." Daffy said sincerely.

"Daffy, I love you. There's nothing you have to thank me for. And don't you dare feel guilty for any of this. Don't feel as if you took anything from me, I'd give all of it up just to be with you. If I had to choose all over again, I'd pick you, always." Bugs kissed his temple.

Daffy couldn't find anymore words to say, so he stayed silent. He put on a movie for them both and tried to think positively about Bugs leaving for a little while. His heart didn't like the idea, but his mind figured it would be a great opportunity to gain some clarity about the situation. Still, he could admit that he would miss the other man.

When it was time for bed, Daffy tried to fight the sleep for as long as he could. He didn't want to miss a second longer being with Bugs. He knew it wasn't good, whatever was happening to him, but he didn't want to lose the feeling or continue to fight it. Maybe, he did love Bugs back. Love was stupid and unpredictable, it was going to hurt when this all blew up in his face and still he never felt anything stronger in his life, he never met anyone more worth it than Bugs. No high or drunken stupor was as good as this. He knew that much. He was drawn to the other man like a moth to a flame, like Icarus to the sun, and though he could expect to get burned, there was nothing he would do to stop it.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! I turned down the angst on this chapter, because although I like the angst, it isn't all what this story's about. And I'm glad you guys think the story is cute, that's what I'm going for.

Lola is one of my favorite characters, I hope you guys liked the way I portrayed her, Sylvester and Tweety.

Keep reading guys and stay safe out there!