Notes: Last exam is next week; so looking forward to it! Freedom! *does a little celebratory dance* And I'm really sorry about the lack of updates lately, I've just been feeling kind of down and it's been effecting my drive to write. I'm really sorry about it.
Title: Fragility
Pairing: Shizaya
Part: fourth part
Words: 3693 words
Prompt: Shizaya, cuddling... Just any IC fluff. ;_;
Disclaimer: It's not mine. It all belongs to others who I am in no way associated with and I make nothing from writing this, got it?

part four

The next morning, Shizuo woke up to find Izaya curled up around him. Their legs were tangled together and, at the very least, he was relieved to find that they were still fully clothed. Izaya needed his support and, maybe, his love; what he didn't need was exposure to Shizuo's hormones.

No. He wouldn't take advantage of Izaya like that.

His phone vibrated on the night stand. Huh. He couldn't remember leaving it there...

The brunette who was sharing his bed cuddled closer to him, hands fisted in his shirt and looking so peaceful and innocent and beautiful. Shizuo paused for a long moment to watch him, momentarily forgetting about his phone.

Eventually the annoying vibrations of his phone on his night stand won out. Shizuo reached out and grabbed it, flicking it open to find no less than three messages. One was from Celty, the other two were from Tom.

[ Sorry about yesterday. How is Izaya? I hope that he's feeling better... ]

He sent her a message that basically amounted to: Yeah, he should be fine; don't worry about it.

The two from Tom were asking where he was and if he was late because of whatever was going on in his personal life. Oh, Shizuo felt guilty about withholding information from him, but if it meant protecting Izaya... he would do anything for him.

He told Tom that he would be there shortly and apologized for being late.

The only problem was that he really didn't want to get out of bed. He was entirely too comfortable where he was.

Replacing his phone on the night stand, Shizuo sighed and settled back down next to Izaya. He knew he'd have to get up soon and get ready for work, but right then he just wanted to hold the brunette close to him.

It was just a little startling for him to realize just how small and fragile Izaya felt in his arms. His fingers cared gently through the other's hair as he watched him sleep; his features were relaxed and he looked so much younger than he actually was. Despite the yellowed bruises and solitary visible eye, he was still, well, beautiful.

Slowly, he reached up and traced the bottom of the bandage with his thumb. His skin felt soft and smooth under his fingers.

Izaya hadn't been back to his apartment in god knows how long and neither Shizuo nor Celty wanted to wander over there. So instead Shizuo had pulled out some old clothes from the back of his wardrobe for the informant to wear. Not that Izaya was complaining; that morning he was wearing an old shirt of Shizuo's and a borrowed pair of boxers that the blond had never worn. Given the differences in their heights and builds, Izaya was practically swimming in the clothes.

The collar of the shirt kept slipping off his shoulders, revealing bandages and an expanse of pale skin that was marred with bruises.

His observations came to an abrupt halt when he noticed that a sleepy red eye was watching him.

"Did I wake you up?" It was only a little past nine; not too early. Still, Izaya did need rest.

The brunette shook his head slowly and cocked his head to the side, looking up at Shizuo even as he snuggled just a little bit closer. His hands were fisted tightly in the wrinkled fabric of the blond's shirt and he probably wasn't going to be letting go any time soon.

"Have you been awake long?"

Izaya shook his head.

"I've got work today you know."

The brunette's hands tightened their grip on his clothes but he nodded nonetheless.

Still, Shizuo felt like he had to ask, "Are you going to be okay? I can–"

He felt the brunette nod, and dear god, he fucking missed his voice so much. Almost instinctively, he tightened his arms around Izaya and pulled him closer. The informant relaxed, practically melted, into his arms.

With some effort, and a lot of reassuring and gentle touches, he managed to extricate himself from Izaya. The brunette gave him a sad sort of look before curling back up in the blankets and watching him as he went about getting ready for work in a rush. He chucked his clothes in the vague direction of the hamper in the corner of the room before pulling out fresh clothes from the closet.

"Do you need anything? I could make the couch up for you if you wanted to watch some TV while I'm gone."

-If it's not too much trouble.-

"Alright."

It took a few minutes to arrange pillows and blankets on the couch along with a big glass of water and the antibiotics that Izaya had to take on a nearby table. Then it was just a matter of picking up the brunette and carrying him the short distance from the bedroom to the living room. Shizuo could have managed him with one arm, but it was simply safer to use both.

"I'll come back around one or so with lunch." Shizuo settled the slighter man onto the couch, making sure that he was comfortably tucked in. "Do you need anything else?"

-No, I'm fine.-

"Do you want me to bring back anything?"

-No. And whatever you want for lunch is fine with me.-

"Okay, if anything happens you'll let me know, right? Celty can't stop by today so..."

-It's fine. Tell her... I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. It didn't have anything to do with her.-

"Yeah, I let her know that you're alright but I'll pass that along." Shizuo frowned, "But you'll text me if something happens or you need me, right?"

-I will.-

"Promise?"

Izaya pouted but acquiesced quickly enough. -Promise.-

"Good, I'll see you later."

He leaned down, gently cupping the back of Izaya's head so that he could press his lips to his forehead just as he had every morning.

This time, though, Izaya tipped his head back and managed to catch the blond's lips with his own in a short, chaste kiss.

It was more of a brush of lips than an actual kiss but it still left Shizuo pulling back, eyes wide. He could feel his cheeks burning – did he actually...? Was that me? Oh god, fuck! Did I mess this up?

Izaya's cheeks were a pale pink and Shizuo watched as he shakily pressed his fingers to his lips and, much to his shock, smiled just a little. Wait – what?

"Izaya – you–"

The brunette grinned and then almost seemed to giggle silently to himself before quickly typing up a message which he flashed at Shizuo. -If you don't leave now then you're going to be late~!-

"Huh? Ah, fuck!" Shizuo yanked on his shoes and snagged his keys, rushing out the door and not even pausing to say a proper goodbye to Izaya; just calling over his shoulder that he'd see him later and that he'd bring lunch.

As he left his apartment building and made a beeline for the stairs, he couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of Izaya's face. He hadn't seen him look so young, so... beautiful and, dare he say it, innocent. For him, it was a relief to see and it made his heart swell in his chest in a way that it hadn't for days. It felt... like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that the ID attached to it was Izaya's. Frowning, he opened the message, wondering if maybe he'd done something to upset the brunette or if he'd forgotten something at home.

That, though, wasn't the case.

-I think I love you too.-

He was still grinning like a love-struck idiot and re-reading that message on his phone when he met up with Tom. Maybe the perps would be in for a bit of luck today; he was in a pretty good mood. Though, giving that a little more thought, he doubted it.

Tom raised an eyebrow when he saw him, but said nothing about the stupid grin that he was wearing. It was something to be glad for, Shizuo wasn't exactly sure how he could explain it.

Luckily, the morning passed by smoothly and Shizuo managed to escape it with his good mood intact. If he was a young girl then he probably would have been skipping down the street and giggling for fuck's sake, but since he wasn't instead he just settled for the little dopey grin as he went off to grab something from Russian Sushi for lunch.

Maybe a little celebration was in order.

Screw it, he'd pick up some cupcakes and candles on his way home too.

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

"Something up?" Tom asked when Shizuo rejoined him after lunch.

Izaya had still been awake when he'd returned home with food and to check on the brunette. He'd been a little flustered about that morning, but in the end the two of them had wound up cuddling together on the couch and eating lunch. And yeah, it was a little bit awkward since they had to be careful because of Izaya's wounds, but Shizuo didn't mind so much. Izaya was alive and that was all that mattered.

He hadn't realized just how big of a stupid grin he was wearing or the strange bounce in his step. And okay, it was really hard to admit that it would probably only get worse if he and Izaya actually went any farther with their relationship.

Maybe he did look like a guy who'd just gotten laid – even though that was the farthest thing from the truth.

"Huh? Not really..." Shizuo gave a sheepish little shrug.

"Bull, I've known you for years; something's up." Tom smiled just a little, "Finally find a girl?"

"Tch, no."

Tom shrugged, "Well, so long as you're in a good mood..."

Shizuo was glad that the subject was dropped; he wasn't sure how to go about explaining that Izaya was living with him and that they'd very tentatively started a relationship together. He didn't want to explain whatever hell the brunette had suffered through, just because he didn't want to drag up memories – and also partly because he didn't have all of the facts himself.

Yeah, he knew Tom and trusted him, but this was just something that he wasn't ready to share. Not quite yet.

It was late in the evening, close to the end of his shift, when his phone went off in his pocket. And, of course, it was from Izaya. He had to suppress a grin when he saw his name flash up on the small screen.

-Who else besides Celty has a key to your place?-

Shizuo frowned before typing in his response and sending it, -Kasuka, why?-

-When do you get off shift?-

A quick glance at the clock on his phone told him that, -Twenty minutes, why? Is something wrong?-

-I'm pretty sure your brother is giving me what amounts to a dirty look. Coming from him at least. I don't know what to do...-

Well fuck. He hadn't expected that Kasuka would stop by. Usually he'd either call or text or something before he stopped by, but sometimes he didn't. Maybe that was a Heiwajima thing; unexpected visits.

His phone went off again.

-Will you be home soon?-

-Yeah, I will. Did Kasuka say anything?- He paused before sending off another message, -Are you alright?-

-He hasn't really said anything – he's ignoring all my questions. But he won't stop watching me. I... I'm fine, just... I want you here.-

Well, that just sucked. He'd kind of hoped to put off telling Kasuka about this for as long as possible just because he was pretty sure that his younger brother wouldn't take it too well. Kasuka could hold a grudge for a long time when he felt it was warranted. And besides that, he was as stubborn as a mule. Another Heiwajima trait.

There went his good mood for the day. The last twenty minutes of his shift seemed to drag on, leaving him uncomfortable and stuck imagining the possibilities of what could be going on back at his apartment.

Shizuo wasn't stupid; he knew that Izaya could do nothing to defend himself at that moment, and if he wasn't careful than he could actually injure himself further. And while he was confident that Kasuka wouldn't actually do anything to physically harm Izaya, he knew that his brother could be much more cruel with his words.

The moment his shift was finished, he bid Tom a hasty goodbye before turning on his heel and practically racing home.

Oh yes, his mind was far too cruel; furnishing him with all sorts of horrible snippets of what Kasuka could say to Izaya. He would know all too well how to tear the ex-informant apart. His heart was thudding wildly in his chest and he was breathing heavily.

He had enough sense left to send Izaya a quick message to let him know that he was on his way home.

When he got home, he was practically on the verge of a panic attack, although he managed to maintain an outwardly calm demeanour. The only sign of his panic was the wild thudding of his heart and the slight tremor of his hands.

Unlocking the door, he quickly toed off his shoes and chucked his keys onto the small table.

Izaya was sitting exactly where he'd left him, much to his relief, but the bandages around his neck were pooled in a heap on his lap. Without them, the scabbed, torn-up skin of his neck was visible, ugly in how it was only half-healed and a reminder of the hell that he'd been forced through. His hands were in his lap too, trembling as they held his phone.

On the other end of the couch was Kasuka, looking as impartial and uncaring as ever. He'd turned his head towards Shizuo when he entered.

"I didn't think you were going to stop by," he addressed Kasuka as he slowly walked over; step measured as he carefully took a seat between the two brunette's. It didn't escape him that Izaya shifted closer to him, pressing against him. "You could've called. Or at least sent a message."

"It was a last minute visit. I didn't think that you would mind." Kasuka blinked, his voice dropped just a little as he continued, "I didn't think that you'd have... company."

"Oh." Shizuo turned to Izaya, frowning at him – although the expression was gentler than usual, as was his tone. "You weren't supposed to take those off, do you want them to get infected?"

"He took them off to prove that he couldn't speak," Kasuka interrupted. "They look self-inflicted."

Both Shizuo and Izaya froze.

Shizuo's voice was almost deadly when he responded, "Did he shatter his own leg too?"

"He could be faking it," Kasuka reasoned, all in that same placid tone of voice. "Or he could have paid someone to do it. You know how he is Shizuo; always manipulating people for his own ends."

Izaya was shaking and tears were very visible in his eyes as Kasuka continued to speak. He bit his lip, trying to keep himself from crying as his shoulders started to shake as he tried to suppress his own sobs. His fingers were violently trembling as he tried to type out a message.

-Shizu-chan... you don't–-

He was interrupted as the blond placed his hand over both Izaya's and his phone, squeezing them comfortingly as he smiled.

"He didn't."

Kasuka's lips twitched into a very tiny frown, "You can't possibly believe that."

"I do."

"After everything he has put you through over the years – framing you for crimes, provoking you into fights, and being exceptionally cruel to you – you actually believe him?"

"No one would ever let anyone do what was done to him."

Shizuo could still remember all of the blood, all of the wounds, the list that Shinra had given him when he'd asked of all of the wounds that Izaya had been dealt... all of that was burned into his memory. He couldn't forget that broken look in Izaya's eyes, or the way he'd curled instinctively towards Shizuo's body whenever he slept.

"You can't possibly know that."

"I know this. He needs me."

"Even after everything he's put you through, you think that he deserves this?"

Shakily, Izaya held up a message. -He's right you know.-

"No." Shizuo's hand tightened around Izaya's. He could feel his anger thrumming below the surface; maybe not completely righteous anger – he hadn't forgotten what Izaya had put him through – but he just couldn't take his brother badmouthing Izaya, not when he was so fragile and broken and needed him so desperately.

Not when he'd only just realized that he loved him.

"He deserves this," Shizuo replied stiffly; his anger was nearly palpable. "I haven't forgotten anything, but that doesn't change the fact that he still needs me and that he does deserve a second chance."

Kasuka's eyebrow twitched upwards, incredulously, "I somehow highly doubt that. He could still be doing this to take advantage of you Shizuo. You're far too kind for your own good."

The younger Heiwajima sibling stood up stiffly, coat slung over his arm. "You should have simply called the police, let him deal with the consequences of his actions; not take him in and treat him as though he's the victim here. He's not. And he never will be."

Next to him, Izaya was practically shaking and he refused to meet Shizuo's eyes, pulling away from him and into himself. Fuck, he doesn't actually believe that, does he?

He couldn't believe that he was about to do this.

"Get out Kasuka."

It was taking all of his strength, all of his self-control to just hold back and not do something that he would horribly regret later, but he just couldn't deal with his brother right then. Not when he was doing so much damage to an Izaya that he was just beginning to slowly patch back together. He was on his feet, taking up a protective stance between the two brunettes as though that would make a difference.

"So that's it. You're choosing him." Kasuka was already heading towards the door, he paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Just remember that I did tell you."

And with that, he left.

Shizuo stood there for several long moments, too shocked to do much else. His mind was trying to catch up and process every single consequence that could happen because of what Kasuka had said, what could go wrong... Izaya had just started to show some signs of maybe being able to regain some form of normalcy, had that all be wrecked now?

A loud thud broke him out of his thoughts and he whirled around.

Izaya had managed to drag himself off of the couch, but since he couldn't support his own weight he'd just fallen to the ground in a heap and was trying to drag himself off with his arms. His face was twisted up in pain – both emotional and physical – and there were tears in his eye, spilling over and running down his cheek.

"Fuck." Falling to his knees, Shizuo reached towards the brunette. His heart throbbed painfully as Izaya tried weakly to push him away, flinching at his touch.

Gently, Shizuo pulled the trembling brunette to his chest; pinning the other's arms against his body. He felt Izaya's hands clench in the fabric of his shirt as he gave in, weeping silently; his shoulders shook violently from the force of his sobs and he clung to Shizuo tightly as though terrified that he would pull away and throw him out.

"Hey, hey... shhh... it's alright." He felt as though he was comforting a small child, rubbing Izaya's back in comforting circles. "It's alright... I'm not going to leave you."

If nothing else, Izaya seemed to cling to him tighter.

The two of them stayed like that for hours, Shizuo simply holding Izaya and comforting him as best he could and hoping that Kasuka hadn't just sent him back somewhere that he didn't want to be. Fuck, no matter what he'd done, Izaya didn't deserve that – no matter how justified it might have been.

Rubbing his back soothingly, Shizuo scooped Izaya up into his arms gently. He pressed his lips to the brunette's temple, whispering, "I love you."

Eventually, Izaya simply cried himself to sleep. But his one visible eye was still puffy and a bit swollen, his cheek stained with tears; the bandage covering the other had probably absorbed all of the escaping moisture. It wouldn't surprise him.

Very gently, Shizuo slid an arm under Izaya's knees and scooped him up into his arms. It never ceased to make his heart flutter and his chest fill with warmth when he felt just how easily the other fit against him, as though they were made for each other. Maybe they were. Shizuo had been harbouring a number of 'cheesy' thoughts for the past few weeks, mostly to keep him distracted from just how close he'd come to losing the brunette.

He was allowed that much, he was sure.

Settling the brunette down in bed, Shizuo straightened up and removed his tie and vest; chucking them in a corner of the room that was relatively close to the laundry hamper. He'd worry about it later. He crawled into bed alongside the brunette, sliding his arms around him as he curled protectively around him.

Yes. They fit together perfectly, of that he was sure.

.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.

What do you guys think? Fragility is currently at 29 637 words, and although I now have the ending in sight in my mind, I've still got a ways to go in terms of finishing the fic. And for those of you following this on the kink meme, I promise that I will try to have updates ready for you in the very near future.

Reviews are very much loved. 3

Twilight.