Sorry this took so long, but here it is. The last chapter. I hope you guys like it :)
The next time Nagisa woke up Makoto proceeded to give what felt like the longest lecture of his life. Nagisa smiled as Makoto continued to express how important it is to tell them the next time he doesn't feel well. Makoto cared so much for his team and it warmed Nagisa's heart.
Soon Nagisa's parents came clamoring into the hospital room, Mrs. Hazuki already in tears before she even crossed the threshold. Mr. Hazuki tried to calm her as she just profusely apologized to Nagisa for leaving for such a long time. Nagisa tried to assure her that Rei had taken care of him the whole time but it still took a while to calm her down. His parents vowed to never leave him when he got sick ever again, no matter what.
Nagisa was released from the hospital after a week in the hospital, there were a few ups and downs but nothing life threatening since that night. Rei of course visited everyday and was now helping Nagisa get all of his stuff together to go back to his house. Luckily there wasn't much since they had rushed here.
"Rei?" Nagisa called out to him, after they had collected all of his stuff and was about to head out the door.
Rei just looked at him with a smile, waiting for what would come next.
"Thank you, you didn't have to do all of that, and I know that I was stubborn about some things before but thank you for making the right call." Nagisa said looking Rei in the eyes but absent-mindedly playing with his shirt hem.
"I'm glad I did too, I don't know what I would do if you were gone." Rei admitted, trying to too think too hard on the dream he had. He hoped that dream would never become a reality.
Nagisa felt his heart get caught in his throat.
"What's with you Rei, being so sappy." Nagisa teased as he tried to pretend that he his heart wasn't beating wildly in his chest.
"I mean it Nagisa." Rei said seriously looking deep into Nagisa's eyes.
Nagisa felt everything stop, Makoto had just said something very similar to that to him just a few days ago, but for some reason when Rei said it was different. Like he meant it in a different. Instead of it being ' I don't want to loose you because you're my friend' it sounded more like, 'I don't want to loose you because I love you'. Nagisa shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking down at his feet.
"You should be careful with how you say things Rei." Nagisa said feeling his cheeks flush, and for once in his life he knew it wasn't the fever, "Someone might think you were confessing."
Rei stared at Nagisa for a while; Nagisa didn't have the courage to look him in the face. Nagisa opened his mouth to say he was just kidding, but Rei spoke up before him.
"Maybe I am." Rei said with a gentle smile before leaving the room to put Nagisa's things in his parents car.
Nagisa stared at the doorway it wasn't possible was it? It had to have been some kind of hallucination right? As soon as his brain caught up with him he was hurrying down the hallway to catch Rei. Darn those long legs of his.
Nagisa found Rei in the parking lot, the world looked a lot different than it had. All the snow had melted and there were leaves on the trees. The world seemed a whole lot brighter but Nagisa couldn't help wondering if that was just him.
"Rei!" Nagisa called out.
Rei turned around a little surprised that Nagisa had seemed to have run all the way to him.
"Where you serious?" Nagisa asked, hoping that he hadn't just heard things.
"Nagisa, how long have you known me? When am I not serious?" Rei responded with a little bit of a laugh in his voice.
Nagisa didn't remember crossing the rest of the distance between Rei and him, but he did remember jumping into his arms. Rei let out a surprised sound and dropped the bags in his hands so that Nagisa wouldn't end up on the asphalt. Arms wrapped themselves around Rei's neck and Rei curling his own around Nagisa's waist.
"So can I take this as a sign that you're accepting my confession?" Rei asked with a smile that he could tell matched Nagisa's.
Nagisa pulled back a little so that he could kiss Rei, standing on his tiptoes so that he could react. It was a small and short kiss, but to Rei it felt like bliss. Like his whole life had been leading up to this moment.
"What do you think?" Nagisa asked with a sweet smile after they had parted.
"I'll always protect you, and I'll always be there for you." Rei said looking into those magenta eyes that now seemed to sparkle.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Nagisa said before going in for one more kiss.