Disclaimer: See profile.

A/N: I'm back!

And Happy Valentine's Day!

So this little piece is more for me to get my juices flowing again. I have just had it sitting on my hard drive for more than a week now and wanted to post something on Valentine's Day for my favourite couple (however short it may be). It is, of course, nowhere near finished. In fact, I think this will be the first of three parts, delving into Nowaki's childhood.

Also, sincere thanks to the lovely X for your reviews on the previous chapter and also the one before that. I'm simply sad that I couldn't reply and thank you sooner.

Nightmares

Sometimes, Nowaki had nightmares.

He tended to always be silent about them, though Hiroki knew when they occurred as usually during those nights, Nowaki pulled his lover on top of him so that his Hiro-san lay like another blanket on him, covering and shielding him from the world.

Sometimes, they talked. Other times, silence was enough.

Tonight was one of those nights, and it was Hiroki who started their midnight tête-à-tête in bed.

They lay nestled under the sheets, legs tangled, snug and comfortable in the warmth and darkness surrounding them. Nowaki was relaxed under the pleasant weight and warmth of his Hiro-san, one hand buried in his lover's umber strands, the other placed on the brunet's bare back, and was beginning to be lulled into a slight drowse himself. Meanwhile, Hiroki was nicely sprawled on top of his lover, his head lying in the crook of Nowaki's neck, his breath puffing warmly against his lover's ear, his whole body rising and sinking with each of the raven's inhales.

"Want to talk?" Hiroki murmured, his voice groggy with sleep and just soft enough to bridge the minuscule abyss between his mouth and his lover's ear.

Nowaki stayed silent for a long while. But Hiroki was patient. After all, the brunet had nowhere else he would rather be. Hiroki had almost dozed off when the reply did come.

"Hiro-san, please don't ever leave me," Nowaki whispered, tightening his arm around his lover's waist.

Hiroki blinked and was startled out of his doze at his lover's words. Frowning, he raised himself up on his arms and looked down at Nowaki, scrutinizing his lover. Nowaki had that sad look on his face.

Something inside Hiroki softened in response. Growling, he bumped his forehead against Nowaki's and looked down hard into those blue-gray eyes. "Don't you ever leave me," Hiroki replied fiercely.

Instantly, some of the despondency left Nowaki and he smiled. Though his Hiro-san hadn't openly given him a surefire declaration of never-ending love nor a promise of eternity together, Nowaki thought that his Hiro-san's own admission of insecurity was much more precious.

However, it still hadn't dissipated the feeling of melancholy remaining from his dream, loitering at the edges of his consciousness.

Nowaki didn't often think about his life at the orphanage now. Even though he believed that he had as many good memories of his childhood as the bad ones (if not more) his dreams sometimes had a knack for drudging up those unpleasant moments of his childhood, and couple it with his fears, unsettlingly creating nightmares.

Hiroki gazed down at his lover's smile. Though some of the sadness receded from Nowaki's eyes, Hiroki thought that still enough of it lingered to dim his lover's usual bright smile. He pressed his lips against Nowaki's in a simple kiss, pulling back after a moment.

Nowaki thought that his Hiro-san's shoulders may not be as broad as his own, but they were broad enough to make him feel safe. He wondered if this was what his Hiro-san felt sometimes whenever the brunet gazed up at him, seemingly so helplessly, when Nowaki was in the same position.

His reaction to that unexpected awareness was to bury both hands into his lover's messy strands and bring him back in for a blazing, intense kiss that had Hiroki fisting his own hand into the sheets and clenching the other hard around Nowaki's hip. Nowaki flipped them over, reversing their positions, in the small moment that it took to pant in some much needed air as they broke their kisses.

"Hiro-san, let's visit my orphanage on the weekend," Nowaki gasped out amidst breathless huffs after another burning tongue wrestle.

Hiroki's kiss-addled mind was slow to process his lover's unexpected words, but his eyes widened slightly when he did fully comprehend. His response came immediately and he answered with a simple, "Okay."

Hiroki didn't ask the questions running through his mind then from Nowaki's sudden request. Nonetheless, he was now curious as to how much Nowaki was actually reconciled to his title as an orphan and what his childhood was like specifically. His lover hadn't ever much talked about the orphanage in detail or about his childhood days and he had always seemed happy enough whenever there was a mention of childhood, youth, and infancy related topics. And Hiroki had always remembered to make those days like Christmas and such (which would be usually spent with family) special, considerate of Nowaki's orphanhood. But Hiroki now wondered.

His curiosity was peaked.

TBC

A/N: And that's it for the first part of this.

Enjoy Valentine's everyone!

Thanks, Black.