The first part of this fic was written years ago, and I'm probably going to go back and re-write the first chapter to make it generally better. Maybe. I'm sorry it took literal years for this second chapter to come out, but to those who are dedicated enough to read both, you have thanks from the bottom of my heart.

When Grimmjow awoke, he was alone, with the morning sun beating brightly on his face. He groaned, rolled over, and tried to return to sleep. But Pantera was digging into his side and he could hear the rest of the city waking up around him. He was too used to absolute silence. There was no getting back to sleep, not here anyway. And with Ichigo gone, it was probably likely that Grimmjow's presence had been reported on. Which meant getting attacked. And while he was sure he could get in the mood, right now all he felt was lethargic.

So he stood, shaking himself out and getting his lax muscles to cooperate. With a gesture, he opened up a Garganta and slipped through, doing his best not to think about how warm he felt, and how secure. If he felt that way, it was merely coincidence, and had absolutely nothing to do with Ichigo's unexpected appearance the night before.

Little did he know, this was about to become a thing with them. Grimmjow wouldn't be able to sleep, Ichigo wouldn't be able to sleep, and they'd both somewhat cautiously approach the park in the hopes of getting some rest, only to have those hopes dashed when they saw the other was already there. The second time it happened, and the third and the fourth, they sat apart, and each did their best to ignore the other.

The next time, though, Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. Something had to give, and dammit, he wasn't going to let it be his sanity. So he approached Grimmjow, determination setting his mouth into a frown.

"Hey. We have to talk." He growled.

Grimmjow half sat up. Ichigo couldn't help but notice that Grimmjow was looking a little better, a little more put together, by Grimmjow standards, anyway.

"Do ya want me ta leave?" There was no challenge behind the words, just an honest question, and that blew Ichigo away. He tried not to show it.

"No, no, I just-" Ichigo huffed, frustrated with his own inability to find the words he wanted to say. "We have to set up some rules for this. If we're both gonna keep coming out here, I need to keep an eye on you so you don't attack anyone-" Grimmjow opened his mouth to argue, but Ichigo spoke over him. "-you can't blame me for worrying about that." Grimmjow stopped and scowled. "So here's the deal. No weapons. If one of us is leaving, we warn the other. This is neutral ground, no fighting here."

"So what exactly are the benefits?" Grimmjow asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Ichigo hadn't really thought about that. So what came out of his mouth next was spoken before he could really contemplate what he was saying.

"We'll watch each other's backs. Being spread out is too risky."

Grimmjow seemed to think it over while Ichigo stood there, trying not to shift nervously. Finally, he nodded, rolling to unfasten Pantera from his belt and set it out of arm's reach. Then he appeared to wait.

It only seemed natural for Ichigo to lay down beside him, back to back. They were silent, and at first Ichigo thought he was imagining it, but no. Grimmjow was slowly scooting back, gradually, a centimeter at a time and pausing in between to make sure Ichigo wasn't reacting, until they were pressed firmly together. Ichigo could feel Grimmjow's shoulders against his own, sharp and defined. The hole in Grimmjow's torso made a perfect circle of cool air at the small of Ichigo's back.

Grimmjow was taller than him, but not like this, laying down. And the Arrancar was warm, almost unbearably hot. Better than any blanket out here in the open. Ichigo couldn't be tense for long. He couldn't tell if Grimmjow was still awake or not, but he was quickly dropping off himself.

This was the new normal. They'd meet up almost every other night and nap, back to back or side by side, sitting against a tree or reclining in the grass. They didn't speak much, but they didn't need to in order to communicate. Theirs was the language of steel and blood and bruises. There weren't any punches being thrown, but body language and eye contact wasn't something that could be unlearned. The only time they really spoke was when one of them was leaving. Ichigo would shake Grimmjow awake (which took a while) and say he was going, only to receive a grunt in return. Grimmjow, on the other hand, would pat Ichigo's cheek, hard, until he woke, and then just thumb over his own shoulder.

Ichigo was disturbed, at first, at the ease with which he could tell whether or not Grimmjow had a bad day just by looking at him. At first. And, conversely, Grimmjow enjoyed being able to read his rival so well. Or, once-rival. He'd so far avoided thinking about what this was that they were doing, or what it was that they were to one another now.

He tried not to think about the warmth Ichigo made him feel . The way his presence chased away the darkness. The fact that in the park, in that oasis of rest, Grimmjow felt no urge to destroy those eyes that looked on him as though they were equals. It didn't mean anything except that Grimmjow was going soft. Starting to feel things no self-respecting Hollow of his power would ever let himself feel.

Of course, this peace could never be allowed to last long.

It was about a month into the Arrangement, as Ichigo had been calling it in his head. The routine had been simple; get through his day, go to the park, lay pressed back to back with his enemy-turned-cuddle-buddy (Ichigo hated to call it that, but he didn't exactly have a better term, either), catch some z's, and get home before the sun rose.

And then the thing with the Fullbrings exploded, and Ichigo was positive that everything was shot to shit. He barely had time to think about Grimmjow, let alone meet up with him.

All this unbeknownst to the ex-Espada, who initially waited for Ichigo. Grimmjow sat in the grass at the park in their usual spot and did his best not to seem too eager for the redhead's arrival. When Ichigo never showed, Grimmjow was irked, but not enraged. It had happened before- for one reason or another, sometimes one of them couldn't make it. Not a big deal. But when Grimmjow was left waiting the night after that, and the night after that, he was forced to concede that maybe Ichigo had been the one to come to his senses and admit that their meet-ups went against every principle he had. Grimmjow stopped waiting. It was over, nice while it lasted, but it had only ever been a temporary thing anyway. He absolutely did not feel jilted.

Eventually, things calmed down enough to where Ichigo could find the time to go to the park again. He knew it was foolish, but some part of him had expected to see Grimmjow's shock of blue hair there in the darkness, and was disappointed when he didn't see it. Berating himself, he laid down in the grass anyway. This had been his spot first, and he wasn't about to give it up just because now it felt like something was missing.

He told himself that Grimmjow, or the lack of him, rather, had nothing to do with the way he couldn't sleep, even though this had always been such a peaceful place before.

Ichigo kept coming back, for weeks, stubborn and a little bit hopeful. But it had been long enough that he was genuinely surprised to feel a familiar predatory reiatsu enter the area one night, before it quickly disappeared.

It didn't take long to spot him, kneeling on the grass some ways away. He looked just as bad, maybe worse, than that first night.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo called out cautiously. He had to be sure.

He got a grunt in response, and then Grimmjow was standing and approaching. He looked royally pissed off, but he didn't say anything as he lowered himself to the ground beside Ichigo. He turned his back to the redhead, crossing his arms over his chest. The silence was heavy, but Ichigo could hardly believe it; was almost smiling with said disbelief.

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, feared Espada, blood-thirsty Hollow- was pouting.

Ichigo kept his amusement to himself, laying down and pressing firmly against Grimmjow, like they had before. Like nothing had changed. After a while, he felt the other relax back into him. They'd never had a real conversation, but Ichigo decided to risk it.

"I wasn't gone because I wanted to be." He said quietly, watching someone jog along the track several hundred feet away.

"Does it look like I fuckin' care?" Ichigo felt Grimmjow twist around on an elbow to stare at him, but he didn't stare back or say anything, and Grimmjow lay back down. "'S what I fuckin' thought." Ichigo heard him mutter.

Definitely mad and pouting.

Ichigo felt a mischievous smile curl his lips. Grimmjow was so going to punch him, but he just couldn't help himself. He turned to look at Grimmjow over his shoulder, much the way Grimmjow had looked at him only a moment before. The Arrancar had one arm under his own head, elbow bent, the other draped over his side, hand curled in a fist. His eyes were determinedly closed, a scowl firmly on his face.

"You missed me."

"Bullshit." Grimmjow answered before Ichigo even finished speaking, scowl deepening.

Ichigo lay back down, smirking, content to let that one be. It was nice just to lie here again, to have Grimmjow's back against his own.

"Where'd ya go, anyway?" Grimmjow grudgingly asked after a long silence.

"Long story short?" Ichigo asked. Grimmjow grunted an affirmative. "Getting my powers back. Getting stronger."

Ichigo had been expecting Grimmjow to jump up and demand a rematch. When that didn't happen, he couldn't resist turning again to see Grimmjow's face.

His eyes were open now, and he was staring out at the park with an unreadable expression.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo tried to get his attention.

Grimmjow rolled onto his back, hands resting on his chest, looking up at the once again Shinigami. Those god damn eyes of his. That sensation rose suddenly in him, not for the first time. He didn't know whether he hated or loved those eyes anymore- the line was so fine, and Grimmjow was just tired enough not to care. With a growl, he pounced.

They wrestled, struggling against one another without words. They were so close that the punches they tried to throw were mostly ineffectual. The moment one got the upper hand, the other would overpower him and take it back. There was a pause in their fighting, with Grimmjow coming out on top. He was out of breath, but Ichigo knew he couldn't possibly be tired from a little scuffle like that.

"Fuck ya, Shinigami." Grimmjow snarled down at him, fire in his blue eyes. "I'm not lettin' ya leave me behind."

And then Ichigo was being kissed. Hot, hard, and violent. Grimmjow bit down on Ichigo's lower lip, and the coppery taste of blood flooded their mouths. Ichigo didn't have time to think about it- he just did what he did best when it came to Grimmjow. He fought back.

Now there were bloody kisses added to their fighting, and when they stopped again, it was Ichigo on top, holding Grimmjow's wrists against the soft earth.

"Do you see me walking away?" Ichigo demanded.

Grimmjow didn't answer, struggling ferociously but without success. Ichigo pushed harder, forcing Grimmjow to go still and pay attention to him.

"Does it look like I'm walking away?" He growled again.

"… No." Grimmjow admitted, still furious. "But it doesn't mean ya won't."

"You know me, Grimmjow." Ichigo softened his tone. "You know I don't break my promises."

Grimmjow kept still, looking up into Ichigo's eyes, searching. All he saw was clear determination, and all of Ichigo's focus concentrated on him in its entirety, like when they were fighting to the death. He felt the air go out of him then, and he looked down, down at Ichigo's bloody lip, his dirty, rumpled clothes, back up to his mussed hair. He doubted that he looked much better himself. It was true, Grimmjow did know Ichigo. Better, in some senses, than anyone else. He understood the fire in him, the urge to fight and relish the resulting bloodshed.

After all, in Hueco Mundo, where you had to fight for every breath, every step, what else was there to do but enjoy it? When surrender, as long as you could move, was an option that also meant death, Grimmjow refused to even entertain the idea of it. The thought of losing, of being weak, terrified and angered him in equal measures.

He struggled against Ichigo again. The first person to make him doubt, make him question. It was just something about Ichigo, perhaps those eyes, his words. The fact that Ichigo had set boundaries for this place, gained Grimmjow's trust when no one came to surprise him in the night with the intent to capture or kill him. That for the first time in months, Grimmjow was getting some sleep, was beginning to feel like a predator again-

So why, right now, did he feel so much like prey?

Ichigo leaned down, kissing him again, until Grimmjow had no breath left and his head was getting fuzzy. He could taste blood, and judging by the way his lip was smarting, it was probably both of their's. Ichigo's hands were tight around his wrists, even though Grimmjow was so turned around he didn't know which way was up, let alone have the faculties to fight back anymore.

The worst part, or maybe best- see not being able to tell up from down- was that kissing Ichigo felt natural. Kissing Ichigo felt like an extension of this… whatever they'd been doing. It was violence and power and some strange softness that Ichigo carried with him into everything. A reassurance of a kind. Like everything would end up in their, or his, favor.

Ichigo's hips brushed Grimmjow's, and Grimmjow realized with a jolt that they were both hard. Mindlessly, Grimmjow rolled his hips up, chasing the friction. He missed Ichigo's cock, but got his hip instead. His back arched, a groan spilling from his throat. Sex was something Grimmjow was only vaguely familiar with. He did not remember his human life, and barely recalled anything before being a Menos Grande. After that, it was a life or death struggle every day. There was no room, no time for anything but survival and gaining power.

He knew, somewhat, how to do it and how good it felt, but he'd only ever had his own hand. So this was new, and so much better than being on his own. Grimmjow felt a foreign, all-consuming fire spark up in his belly. Lust, he realized belatedly. He wanted to devour Ichigo, in every way he could.

Ichigo kept grinding against him, biting at his neck, at the scar on his chest, and it felt so much like a claim that Grimmjow couldn't help but give a loud snarl. Grimmjow knew that obviously, human sex didn't involve eating one's partner, but with Ichigo's mouth on him, it was all Grimmjow could think of, and it made a primitive part of Grimmjow quake.

But Ichigo wasn't eating him, his hot mouth dragging trails of fire across Grimmjow's skin. Grimmjow had barely realized that Ichigo was no longer holding his wrists when suddenly he felt Ichigo's lips and tongue at the rim of his Hollow hole.

"Does it hurt?" Ichigo asked, fingers dancing along the edge and Grimmjow didn't think he'd ever heard the Shinigami's voice pitched so low.

"Yeah." Grimmjow managed in answer, catching his breath and looking down at the redhead, surprised at his own honesty. "It's nothin'. Keep goin'." He demanded, but it didn't come out very commandingly.

Ichigo didn't argue, bending his head and dragging his tongue along the edge. Grimmjow choked, head thunking back to the ground. If he was in his right mind, he might have worried that they were out in the open and anyone walking by might see or hear, but he wasn't, so he didn't.

A hand on his hip urged Grimmjow to turn over, and he followed blindly onto his hands and knees, swallowing a whimper at the hard grip. He was not weak, damn it, he would not let the world hear his weak sounds. Ichigo's hands left him, and Grimmjow turned back, ready to rain all hell on the Shinigami if he was leaving him like this, only to see Ichigo pulling out his badge and hitting himself in the chest with it. In his spirit form, Ichigo seemed so much more strong.

Grimmjow didn't have to remind Ichigo about his own rule- the redhead put Zangetsu out of arm's reach without comment, hardly taking his eyes off of Grimmjow the whole time. The Arrancar rested his forehead against the ground, breathing in the earthy scent lacking in Hueco Mundo. A warmth at his back alerted Grimmjow to Ichigo, laying over him like a blanket, urging him back up.

"Nobody can see us, like this. Nobody can hear us." Ichigo murmured. "Well. Not most people, anyway." He laughed lowly, and Grimmjow was about to throw something back when Ichigo's hand ventured into his pants and curled around his cock.

Ichigo jerked him hard and fast and it was just this side of painful. Grimmjow muffled another cry, elbows shaking before giving out entirely and for the last time. Ichigo did not lose pace, straightening instead and letting his free hand find its way to Grimmjow's jaw, fingers pressing into his mouth. Grimmjow growled, biting down on the meat of Ichigo's palm, in between his thumb and forefinger. He wasn't going to last much longer, not with his world narrowed to his singing nerves and Ichigo all around him.

When he came, he muffled his roar by biting down on Ichigo's hand until he tasted blood. Ichigo didn't pull away, stroking him through it and telling him something he couldn't hear over the rushing of blood in his ears. It left him shaking and limp, and Grimmjow fell to the side, not caring about anything but this buzz. A brief pause, and then Ichigo was lying down behind him, fingers in blue hair, a smirk Grimmjow didn't see on his face. Those fingers started to scratch at the nape of his neck, and Grimmjow let out a purr. The scratching stopped.

"Why'd ya quit?" Grimmjow snapped, scowling.

"I wasn't expecting you to purr." Ichigo was still a little breathless, but he sounded surprised.

Grimmjow let out another snarl. Ichigo started up the scratching again, until the snarl faded into a purr once more. It wasn't until they were dozing that Grimmjow spoke again.

"That. We need ta do more 'a that." He mumbled.

Ichigo didn't answer, and it looked like Grimmjow misjudged, and the Shinigami was actually asleep. There was a warm, solid arm over his waist, heavy and reassuringly there.

Grimmjow heaved a sleepy sigh. Looks like they'd both finally gotten some rest.

Thank you for reading!

I have an idea for a third chapter/sequel kind of? It would be very, very short probably. I could write it, or not, it all depends on how this goes over. Anyway. Thanks, hope you enjoyed. .u.