It had been two weeks since Shizuo had spent the night at Atsuko's house, and he could still recall what happened after the two of them walked Hideaki to school, while he held his big sisters hand and tried to hold onto Shizuo's hand. For the first time in his life, Hideaki felt like his family was complete. His sister seemed happy, truly happy, for the first time in a long time, and Shizuo was the coolest big brother Hideaki could want. And walking to school with them made him feel just like all the other kids whose parents walked them to school.
In the two weeks since that night, Shizuo had spent almost every night having dinner with Atsuko and Hideaki, often sleeping on the couch after watching TV with Atsuko, and every so often Atsuko would fall asleep on top of him, not even bothering to sit up and forcing Shizuo to lie down with her. Hideaki would often come in sometime during midnight after a nightmare and squeeze between the two, and when they woke chaos would ensue. In all, walking Atsuko home from her brand new job as a waitress and then joining her and her brother for dinner had become something like a routine, and a rather pleasant one at that. But both adults were still a bit unsure of what it was they had, and still they had yet to kiss, something that plagued Atsuko's dreams at night, especially with him sleeping right by her.
And now, Shizuo was dreading the weekend. Shinra had called saying that it was his and Celty's anniversary of living together all these years. Shizuo did have to give it to Celty-anyone who could put up with Shinra for about twenty years deserved a trophy of some sort. And since it was a party for friends of the "couple", Shizuo was told to bring someone, or, as Shinra had put it, he would be stuck being the only one without a date. When Shinra said that Shizuo was dateless, Celty made it a little worse-or better, depending on your point of view-and told Shinra about Atsuko. This prompted Shinra to go on about there being someone out there for everyone, and how some people always thought that for Shizuo it would be Izaya, which, in turn, made Shizuo try to murder one of his few friends. So now, Shinra and Celty gave him an ultimatum, either ask Atsuko to the party, or Celty would personally drag the two of them to the party, and tell Atsuko all the wonderful things Shizuo's told them about her, including how he enjoyed watching and listening to her while she was asleep, or how he liked to fall asleep with her beside him. Now, all of that was true, but that didn't mean Atsuko needed to know all that.
Shizuo thought all of this over as he waited outside Atsuko's small diner just before her shit ended. He pulled out a cigarette, and, lighting it, took a glance inside to where Atsuko was patiently waiting for an elderly couple to pay before she could leave for the night. On her face was that small smile she used whenever she was tired, and just barely hanging on to reality. She caught his eye and her smile broadened, and slightly mouthed to hold on, to which Shizuo flicked his cigarette down, ground it with his shoe, and walked inside.
"Hey, Shizuo," Atsuko said after thanking the elderly couple for the generous tip, and wishing them a good night. She walked over to him and reached up to give him a slight hug.
"You ready to go home, then?" Shizuo asked after hugging her back with one arm. He had long since gotten used to her hugging him, in fact she hugged him whenever he came to pick her up, but he had only just begun reciprocating even a little.
After Atsuko grabbed her usual sweater and pulled it over her uniform, the two began to make their way home, hers and what Shizuo considered to be his now, too. He seemed his usual self on the outside, but in his head he was trying to figure out how he could ask her, and what would happen after he was rejected. Finally he figured it was time to stop being an idiot, and just ask. "Atsuko, this buddy of mine, Shinra, and his girlfriend are having an anniversary party or something like that. They said I need a date, so do you want to come with me?" As he said this, Shizuo looked the other way, not wanting to see her face when he asked, because if he had the way her grin reached all the way across her face would have made him turn beet red.
Instead of the rejection he expected, Shizuo was side tackled by a girl one-third his size, making him stumble for a moment before grabbing onto her waist to steady them both, with her squeezing on tightly to him. He felt all the air escape from his lungs at the sight of her, for once, her hair was completely out of her face, her cheeks tinted pink, and her eyes were brighter than he'd ever seen before. And Atsuko's view was just as breathtaking. Shizuo's mouth hung slightly agape, his eyes wide with shock and slightly covered by a few stray locks of blond. His glasses were sliding further down the bridge of his nose, but what really caught her attention was his smell, a slight scent of smoke permeated from him, with a stronger smell of his aftershave. It was all him, and it had become her favorite smell ever.
They stayed like that for a while, until time caught up with them and they realized that they were still on a busy sidewalk, and that they were getting a few odd stares here and there. When she realized this, Atsuko nodded her head enthusiastically, and Shizuo breathed a sigh of relief.
The two continued their walk in a companionable silence, both had one arm still wrapped around the other, and they were close enough that Atsuko was able to close her eyes and trust Shizuo to lead her home. Neither had ever felt so content in life, and if they could, they would make the walk last forever. But all good things must come to an end, and once more they found themselves in front of her apartment door. It was understood that Shizuo would again stay for dinner, watch a movie or two with her, and then he would sleep on the couch, either alone or with her, however, was still unclear.
So they entered her-their-apartment, and went through the motions all the way to the two of them putting Hideaki to bed as he insisted they do together, and now it was her night to choose the movie. She decided to go with one of her favorites, Kung Fu Hustle, and as they sat down, Shizuo couldn't help but notice as she snuggled close to him, and, feeling as though he was on a roll put his arm around her shoulders, lightly rubbing in small circles, and making Atsuko sigh and melt even more into him.
The movie came to an end, and Atsuko took the movie from the player and moved back to the couch just as Shizuo began to get situated. Usually when they slept together, they would lie diagonally across, side by side, but this time Shizuo pulled her on top of him, and she willingly-happily-obliged. As she moved down she whispered to him a quiet thank you. And the look she gave him, her eyes half lidded with sleep, a small content smile playing on the corners of her mouth, was the straw that broke the camel's back; he leaned up to her mouth and lightly ghosted his lips over hers, to which she applied more pressure, allowing them to move rather clumsily against each other. Hands fisted in hair both blond and black, minds flew out the window as mouths parted for only seconds at a time, and eyes closed as the world around them dissolved and all that mattered was that the two of them were now receiving in abundance what they had each been wanting for what seemed like ever.
Though the kiss was for only a moment or two, for them, for now, it was enough to let them finally sleep easily, in each other's arms, each with a smile and red cheeks. To the both of them, this was happiness, but they wondered if it would ever be fully developed love? She needed her Knight in Shining Armor, and he knew he needed his energy packed oddity. Maybe by the time of the party, their thoughts and feelings would all be clear, and they could spend more moments like these, and perhaps a few with even more passion, but for now, only time would tell. And at the party, he'd be able to say all that he could to her, and hopefully he would get his quiet life that he'd wanted since high school. Hopefully, a life with this type of happiness everyday.