~ Chapter 11 – Kiss it better ~

"I only have water unfortunately since you can't have alcohol. I don't drink sweet stuff so I never buy anything else than just water." Grimmjow explained as he went through his fridge for something to drink. "I don't have any snacks either." He mumbled to himself more than telling it to Ichigo.

"What about tea?" Ichigo suggested.

Grimmjow went through his pantry in search for a box of it. He found one and grinned in triumph only to notice that it was empty. "Tea is gone apparently. I haven't done any proper shopping in a while." He said and threw away the empty box.

"Water is fine, I'm not that picky." Ichigo felt awkward as he stood one step behind Grimmjow. On top of it all he hugged his left arm in an attempt to push the feeling away. He looked as awkward as he felt. Grimmjow gave him two glasses and nodded his head toward the sofa. Ichigo got the hint and sat down in it. Grimmjow put down a big bottle of carbonated water flavored with lemon which he opened and filled their glasses with. He then sat down next to him, very close in fact. Their thighs were touching and almost their shoulders. Ichigo took a sip of his water to calm his suddenly rising nerves. The TV was turned on as background noise by Grimmjow who zapped around until he found a channel he was happy with.

"How's your back?" Ichigo found himself asking to break the silence. Grimmjow seemed fine but it could just be a pretense since he was the one supposed to be healing.

"It's much better, took my medication. My back does that to me sometimes, I'm used to it but the pain floors me at times. It never healed properly even if I had surgery."

Ichigo nodded and shifted a little in the couch making him collide with Grimmjow's shoulder. A faint blush spread on Ichigo's face. He suddenly had turned into a blushing virgin whom he absolutely hated, but with the man next to him he couldn't fight them. His mouth felt awfully dry and he drank some more water. He couldn't help himself with comparing him and Shinji. Shinji met new men every so often and didn't seem to have any problem with it. The difference between them was that Ichigo had a conscience and his friend didn't. Having no conscience was pretty convenient at times like these. That way you wouldn't need to think about consequences and just act. Kariya had liked his shyness as much as he respected it. Why he then cheated on him with a whore was quite the mystery. It just wasn't the man's standard. A hand waved in front of his face to get his attention. It seemed that he had spaced out more than he had intended to.

"Sorry?" He excused himself.

"Are you ok? You didn't answer me." Grimmjow asked in a concerned voice.

"Y-yeah, I tend to space out sometimes." Ichigo stared into those magical blue eyes. The man smelt divine. A strange mix of cigarettes and whatever cologne he wore, or was it the fading smell of chlorine? His detergent maybe? Ichigo couldn't decide. He could once again see that spark in the blue eyes. Grimmjow's hand came to caress his face, the thumb stroking at the side of his eye. Ichigo smiled at the motion as he felt warmth spreading in his entire body. Seconds later he was given a peck on his lips. It was light, almost as if Grimmjow didn't want to scare him away or hadn't made up his mind yet. Ichigo's own mind short circuited and he clasped Grimmjow's shirt with his hands and straddled the man. They kept eye contact the entire time. Ichigo balanced in the bluenette's lap to find the right position. He then leaned forward to continue where they had left on the hospital.

The kiss was hot like fire. Ichigo could vaguely feel the taste of lemon and the tell tale of a cigarette smoked at their arrival and he could already feel himself get addicted to the tobacco taste. The bluenette's hands found the two slightly bony hips and rested them there to help Ichigo with his balance. All Grimmjow wanted to do was to flip the orangette over and ravage him senseless. Everything would probably go to hell if he did. He got mighty impressed when he found himself on his back in the sofa with Ichigo hovering over him. How that just happened he had no idea. He looked at Ichigo a little confused, but relieved that he wasn't holding himself back. The kid was flustered, breathed hard and probably had a thousand thoughts bombarding his head at the moment judging by the thoughtful look he wore. The sight before him was very erotic and his lower region twitched shamelessly.

Two set of hands tugged on his hair harshly before he had two tongues in his mouth. Ichigo felt desperate and needy. Grimmjow raked his hand over Ichigo's back noting that he felt more built than the clothes gave him credit for. He had seen him in the pool with barely any clothes on but now when he felt it; it gave him a clearer picture. Ichigo was lean with muscles in all the right places and Grimmjow knew a few at the gym that would kill for a body like that. Man he was a good kisser too. The kiss suddenly came to an end and a forehead rested against Grimmjow's. Ichigo had his eyes shut as he tried to control his breathing and pounding heart.

"Dizzy." He breathed heavily. When the world stopped spinning he, scooted down a bit to rest his head on Grimmjow's chest. It suddenly dawned on him what he just had done and he couldn't look Grimmjow in his eyes. After his high had cooled down, he felt terrible. Exhausted even more than before, he closed his eyes and took Grimmjow's silence as something good. The man only confirmed it by rubbing his big hands up and down his back and it helped his discomfort. He yawned and snuggled deeper into the chiseled chest. The smell of Grimmjow calmed him down and he let out a content sigh. His heart was pounding in a fast rhythm too and it lulled him like a little kid.

"Sleep, you need it." Grimmjow whispered.

~xxx~

The next morning when Ichigo woke up the TV was still on. He felt a blanket over his back which Grimmjow must have covered them with. The man himself slept quietly under Ichigo. It was mesmerizing to see the bluenette so calm and carefree. Ichigo realised that he loved to watch his sleeping face. He made no effort to move, sleeping on Grimmjow turned out to be cozy and incredibly warm. Re-runs of the show 'Friends' played on the TV. Ichigo chuckled quietly at Joey's slow thinking, Ross wasn't better of either in this episode.

"Novaki… it's too damn early." Grimmjow muttered in his sleep. Ichigo felt how his body froze. Grimmjow thought that his spouse lay on top of him. His dead one at that. He felt a little stupid thinking that Grimmjow had moved on after all these years. Come to think of it, the reason that someone as Grimmjow still was single after all these years seemed a little strange. Now he knew why. Chocked and betrayed, Ichigo moved to climb off the sleeping man, only to be pushed back again. He wanted to get away, now.

"Stay…"

"No. Let me go." Ichigo complained urgently. Please just let go of me.

"What's the matter?" Grimmjow asked a little more lucid and let Ichigo sit up balanced on his thighs.

"I'm not Novaki."

"I never said you where… Ah, shit. What did I do?"

"You thought I was him."

"That hasn't happened for a while." Grimmjow muttered embarrassed. He shifted his weight on the sofa but Ichigo noticed his discomfort which was followed by a small wince. Ichigo practically threw himself of Grimmjow when he noticed. "I'm so sorry!" He apologized.

"We have been through this," Grimmjow sighed. "stop being sorry."

"Sorry, heh, ops." Ichigo smiled. "I don't think sleeping in a couch was the best option."

"You don't say?" Grimmjow answered sarcastically.

"I'll make it up to you. Breakfast?"

"Sounds great."

Ichigo put together a decent breakfast with what he found in the fridge. Grimmjow never complained about the food so he guessed that it had been edible. He also took his medication. They never spoke again about what had happened during the morning. Ichigo suspected and understood that Grimmjow probably didn't want to dig in it any further. It hurt a little, but remembering how he had been as a kid when his mother died, he knew that it was a phase one needed to pass. Grimmjow seemed to still be grieving in his heart. It would take longer to heal probably.

"Hey, you're spacing out again."

"Oh."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, just thinking."

"Must have been difficult."

"Really difficult, meltdown as we speak." Ichigo joked. "How's your back?"

Grimmjow stretched a bit in his chair, making his back crack and pop in different places. Ichigo frowned at the sound. Something sounding like that couldn't feel good at all. "The pain is gone but it's weary."

"I could give you a backrub. It sounds to me that it's stressed and need to relax a bit." Ichigo suggested. Grimmjow looked at him clearly thinking about it. "Alright. Let me take a shower and have a smoke first. You should rest meanwhile, you're still healing."

Ichigo nodded and lay down in the couch to watch some TV. Grimmjow was right he should rest. Sleeping on top of Grimmjow the entire night hadn't been the best for his rib. He found it hard to lay down, doing nothing. He was used to be up and about doing things to keep himself busy. Then there also was the need to make sure that everyone else was okay, it was in his nature to care less about himself and more about others. The sound of the bathroom door opening and the waft of Grimmjow's body wash indicated that he was done with his shower. Ichigo left the couch to give the man a space to lie on, but when he saw Grimmjow standing outside the bathroom he froze and swallowed hard.

In front of him stood a 6'1" half naked body. Sweat pants hung low on the hips, showing of the 'V' shape of Grimmjow's pelvis. He wasn't used such nakedness in broad daylight Kariya had almost always been decent during the day. Ichigo knew that the bluenette was defined but it still surprised him. The blue hair was still damp and pushed back over his head to keep it from his face. A few strands had already managed to dry and fell away from the rest. Then it was the tattoos. They weren't all over his body like Renji's, no it was concentrated to his right side. He too had a tribal and it begun underneath the pectoral and then reached all the way down to his hip where it dipped down beneath the pants leaving Ichigo to wonder where it ended. In the middle of it was something resembling the number '6' though it wasn't visible until you got a good look at the design. Ichigo did a good job to not be blushing right now.

"I was thinking that we could be on the bed. It's more space on it compared to the couch." Grimmjow said, drawing Ichigo out from his impolite staring. That made him blush. It got responded with a grin from Grimmjow, who walked in first. Ichigo got a good view of his back. It was defined like the rest of his body and no tattoos where there. Instead Grimmjow had an angry looking scar that went from shoulder to hip. Ichigo remembered his story and realized that this was what was left behind after getting out from the gang. He understood why he always suffered from back pains; the cut must have torn muscle and nerves. Grimmjow probably should be lucky to move at all or even be alive.

Grimmjow was already on the bed when Ichigo came inside his bedroom. It was his first time being in another man's bedroom besides Kariya's, Shinji's didn't count since it only where a one room apartment. It felt strange and private at the same time. Grimmjow lay on his stomach in the middle of the bed with his forehead resting in his arms on the pillow. Ichigo swallowed hard when he realized that he would need to straddle the man to get in a comfortable position. He walked up to the bluenette and did so, carefully to not sit on him too much and put pressure on his back. The room was silent besides from the noise from the TV still on in the other room. His hands hovered over the back not knowing where to start. Two of his fingers traced the scar's way down to the hip. He couldn't help it. Goosebumps erupted on Grimmjow's skin from the light touch.

"It's beautiful." Ichigo said when he noticed discomfort from underneath him. "Knowing what it stands for makes it even more so." He bent down and placed a light kiss on it, making his point more than just empty words.

"Thank you." Came silently from Grimmjow.

Ichigo placed his hands on Grimmjow's shoulders and started to make him relax as his shoulders proved to be very tense. It took a few minutes until they sunk and finally became soft. He moved lower to work on the rest of the back. It wasn't as stressed as he thought, but hopefully the massage would ease the weariness a bit. Grimmjow didn't complain meaning he must be doing something right. His hands traveled dangerously low to the pant line to take care of the hips. The corded body felt good beneath his hands, Grimmjow had absolutely nothing to be ashamed for.

"You're good at this. Nnoitra gave me rubs when I was at my worst but I'd say you're better than him." Grimmjow mumbled into his pillow.

"I thought that I heard you purr before."

"I do not purr."

"Sure, sure." Ichigo teased and finished the massage. He climbed of and sat beside Grimmjow's body, placing himself against the wall. The bluenette turned around and stared up at Ichigo who wore a scowl worse than his usual frown.

"What's wrong?"

"What are we?" Ichigo asked confused.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean that we obviously got some sort of attraction to each other."

"I do care about you and something inside of me wants to protect you."

"You make me sound like some damsel in distress." Ichigo pouted.

"Let's be honest here, you are one."

"Fine." Ichigo took a deep breath. "I find you attractive." He admitted. "The way we held hands at the hospital felt so right. It I wanted it to be more, could you do it?" It was a little forward, but Ichigo felt that he needed a straight answer. Grimmjow adverted his gaze and played with the heavy band around his finger. "I can't promise anything, but I'm ready to try. I want to be able to move on, but it still feels as if I'm cheating."

"Novaki would want you to be happy. Right? You need to continue to live because that was what he wanted you to do when he shielded you. We try and see how it goes, alright?"

Grimmjow was silent for a few minutes, thinking about it again to be sure of his decision. "Yeah."

A silly smile spread on Ichigo's face as he thought about it. His eyes teared up at his many emotions, both happy and a little bit sad at the same time. It was impossible to stop the tears from falling. Grimmjow's hand stroked his knee to make him calm down. "What's the matter?" Grimmjow scooted up to sit beside to Ichigo. "Shhh." He used the back of his hand to wipe away the tears. "We sort of confessed to each other. You should be ecstatic!"

"I know, I just can't… stop crying." Ichigo sniffled.

"I'm sure there's away."

"Huh?" Ichigo turned his head surprised. Grimmjow leaned in and captured Ichigo's lips with his own. As he let go he caressed Ichigo's face, the crying had stopped. "Told ya." Grimmjow smirked before starting to kiss the tear tracks following them down to the throat. More was given to it as he continued his descend. Stopping at the junction between the throat and neck, he nipped it a little to gauge a reaction from Ichigo who whined. "You want to do this?" He spoke into Ichigo's right ear and got a nod as an answer.

Grimmjow took a chance and placed Ichigo's hand on his crotch. The bluenette had an obvious semi hard on that felt big under Ichigo's hand. A nip to the ear was given as an encouragement. Ichigo tugged on the sweat pant to get them down a little. Grimmjow got the hint and slid them off enough for his manhood to see light. Ichigo looked at Grimmjow's pride and hesitated. It had been a while since he last had sex, he was a little out of tune. He'd only been with one man previously and could feel his nerves rising. Grimmjow took himself in his hand and stroked his manhood while Ichigo watched how the it grew bigger. It stood proudly at attention when Grimmjow let it go. "You can touch it you know." Ichigo did and it twitched a little. He mimicked Grimmjow's self pleasuring he'd done seconds ago. A safe start. Then Ichigo realized that it was like riding a bike, you never forgot how.

He crawled down to lay between Grimmjow's legs and got as comfortable as he could. Grimmjow seemed to be hairless all over his body, except on his head of course. It was extremely attractive and suited him. Ichigo leaned closer and let his tongue trace from the base to the top but let go just below the head. He then caressed the soft skin behind the balls as he sucked on them a little. Grimmjow shot him a mean stare though Ichigo paid it no mind and took his sweet time.

Bored with the sacks he alternated with sucking on the shaft and stroking it slowly. He tried to figure out what Grimmjow liked and what drove him crazy. No such luck yet, until he closed his lips over that pink and swollen head which earned him a guttural moan. Bingo. He sucked on it like a lollipop while letting his tongue rub the underside. Before letting it go with a sound that made himself grow harder, he made sure to swivel his tongue around the head a few times to taste the precum in earnest. Grimmjow's breathing had picked up and Ichigo looked at him confidently. "Watch closely." With no further explanation he swallowed Grimmjow's cock, all the way down to the hilt in one go. The thickness of the cock strained his mouth as he tried not to choke on the tip touching the back of his throat.

"F-fuck." Grimmjow hissed.

Slowly, Ichigo raised his head all the way so that his lips barely closed over the head before going down again in the same slow pace. He picked up the pace and a hand fisted itself in his hair so that Grimmjow somewhat could stay in the real world. Ichigo took the opportunity to deep throat it again and swallowed around the head. He wasn't buried nose deep in the soft skin around the manhood for long. Grimmjow pulled him up and off his cock, deciding that it was enough. Ichigo licked his wet lips, tasting the lingering taste of precum and Grimmjow's own special flavor. Grimmjow was flustered and Ichigo could feel his own member pushing against his pants.

Grimmjow pulled Ichigo's shirt over his head, threw it away and went straight to pinch at his nipples that turned into hard bullets. It all went too fast for Ichigo to comprehend and he was suddenly on his back staring at the sealing. His pants had also been ripped off somewhere during the way. Grimmjow hovered over him, taking in Ichigo's own aroused face and slightly swollen lips. He crashed down on them subtly tasting the bitter after taste from where those lips had been mere minutes ago. Ichigo's tongue crashed with his own, breaths mingling and pelvises crashing against each other for friction. Ichigo got the chance to breathe when Grimmjow moved down to his nipples to bite in to them slightly before kissing and licking his way south.

The underwear was also thrown away and Grimmjow found himself looking at neatly trimmed orange curls. Spreading the legs further with Ichigo's help, he sucked on the insides of the thighs but soon decided that he couldn't wait anymore. He pushed Ichigo's legs against his torso who got the hint and held them there. Grimmjow swiftly leaned to the night table and took out a vial of lube and a condom. He quickly checked the expiration date on it before ripping it open with his teeth. Condoms where only a bother, but better safe than sorry.

Ichigo was waiting and the wait was agonizing. He could hear how Grimmjow opened the cap on a bottle and the familiar sticky sound reached his ears. A cool finger at his rear made him jolt. It smeared the lube around before pushing its way inside. The finger wiggled around a bit before it was pulled out a little and then the procedure was repeated. The next time the finger moved out a second followed. Ichigo moaned at the sensation when they went pass his ring muscle, the nerves most sensitive there. At the third he had to grip his legs tight beacuse it felt so good. He bucked into the hand, wanting more. It had been too long since he last had indulged.

"Oh God." He moaned unable to keep it in. They hadn't even gotten to the good part yet and he felt ready to burst. "Please…" He begged and clenched around the fingers. Grimmjow was as impatient as he was at this point and pulled his fingers out. He helped Ichigo with releasing his legs only to spread them wider, ankles reaching his head. Ichigo who knew his own body very well realized that this would provide Grimmjow with the perfect 'dead on' angle to his prostate. Grimmjow filled him up in one single thrust and he could only gape wide, breath stolen. The bluenette was by no means small in the downstairs department. He got a moment to adjust to the new girth before Grimmjow started to move and just as Ichigo predicted he hit his prostate every time. If he thought he couldn't breathe before he surely couldn't now. A few thrusts missed and he could moan out his pleasure while Grimmjow grunted in time with his movement.

The speed increased and Ichigo could feel himself getting closer. He touched his own arousal and met the speed. Grimmjow got the hint and bucked into him with fast thrusts to send them over the edge. Ichigo spilled over his hand when he came and Grimmjow rode out his own orgasm, gently rocking back and forth. He let Ichigo's legs go who lowered them to the bed while catching his breath. Grimmjow pulled himself out before collapsing on top of Ichigo.

"That was… wow." Ichigo said while controlling his breath.

"Yeah." Grimmjow agreed and rolled to the side. The condom was pulled off of his limp member and disposed of. Ichigo received a tissue that he could dry his hands on. He balled it up and threw it on the floor. His hole was throbbing and he was thankful that Grimmjow had used a condom.

"Want a shower?"

"I should but I'm too worn out to move." Ichigo said tiredly. His eyelids where already dropping but he tried to keep them open. Grimmjow chuckled and brought him close to his chest to spoon him from behind. "Feels safe." Ichigo mumbled, almost asleep. Grimmjow placed a kiss on the crown of his head and hugged him closer. Exhausted, Ichigo fell asleep while Grimmjow lay awake thinking about the past and the future.

TBC.

AN: The chapter everyone has been waiting for. You perverts.