Shion nearly jumped off of the couch the moment consciousness hit him, and he looked around in confusion and sharp disappointment. He had only meant to close his eyes for a moment as the puppies curled around his chest for warmth, but ended up falling completely asleep, and missed his chance, yet again, to talk to Nezumi! Shion felt disgusted with himself and his inability to stay up just for a few hours more, and he petted the puppies against his chest to try and calm down.

One of Nezumi's rats squeaked, drawing Shion's attention to under the pathetic tree. Shion frowned when he saw Cravat and Croissant trying to unwrap something paper-like under the tree. Careful not to wake the puppies, Shion got up to investigate what they were trying to do, and with a flash of warmth, saw that Nezumi had left him yet another gift. This gift was round and flat, and wrapped tightly in brown paper. By now, Shion had figured that Nezumi would keep his promise of leaving him something every day until Christmas, but it still didn't dampen the warm, fuzzy feelings that he got when he saw something new under the tree every morning.

Shion picked up the gift before the rats could tear it apart, and turned it over in his hands curiously, wondering what was inside. This was the first time Nezumi had wrapped his gift, and Shion was overcome with a sort of childish excitement as he unwrapped the small gift with nimble fingers, an excited grin upon his face. The paper fell to the floor, making a toy for the rats as Shion beheld what Nezumi had left him.

Shion smiled at what he saw. Nezumi had somehow been able to find him a cookie. One of Shion's favorites, he noted, as he brought it to his nose and sniffed, smiling softly. Chocolate chip. The smell reminded him of home, back in Lost Town, when his mother would wake early in the morning to start baking bread and sweets….

A sudden, sharp pang of homesickness hit Shion, and he sat down next to the puppies, his earlier happy mood disappearing in a flash. For the first time in a while, Shion remembered that his mother would be spending Christmas without him, and this was to be Shion's first Christmas away from his mom and friends. Shion sighed as a wave of deep sadness and longing descended on him, and he hung his head, the cookie forgotten on his lap.

He missed his mom.

One of the puppies next to him stirred and opened its eyes, then began pawing at his leg affectionately. Shion turned his attention back to the small pup and attempted to smile.

"Do you miss your mother, too?" Shion asked, and placed a hand on the puppy's small head. Shion's vision went blurry, and he realized that he had been crying. He quickly swiped the tears away with his free hand, only to realize that more tears had taken their place. Shion shook his head roughly, trying to clear his thoughts. Nezumi had told him to forget about his past, and to not feel so clingy when he thought of his mother, but no matter how hard Shion tried to obey, he couldn't help but cry. The tears spilled from his eyes as he tried to hold himself back, and the puppy crawled in his lap, gazing at him in confusion and pity. The puppy licked Shion's hand and laid its warm head on Shion's arm, and Shion, touched by the kind gesture, smiled sadly and pulled the puppy against his chest.

For the first time this week, Shion found himself wishing, more than ever, that Nezumi was home.

After a brief encounter with that annoying woman, Nezumi was able to start on his way home. Now that he thought about it, the woman's strange advances had started to become less and less frequent, as if she had finally caught the hint.

It was about time!

Nezumi couldn't wait to get home to place Shion's gift under the tree. Nezumi felt rather smug about this gift, almost thinking that Shion wouldn't be able to handle the awesomeness of this gift. The director had decided that he was sick of the same Christmas music playing on the old, nearly broken phonograph. The director told one of the backstage members to start playing different music on the old, off-key piano that someone had dug out of a dump somewhere, and the director was about to throw away the records when Nezumi told him that he would take them. The director looked at him funny before giving them to Nezumi, but Nezumi ignored the strange stares, knowing that he had an old record that still worked somewhere in his cluttered library. He now had a chance to show Shion how to work something from such a long time ago, way before the city of No. 6 was created. Nezumi knew that Shion loved learning about those types of things so, in Nezumi's mind, he was giving Shion two gifts at once—the gift of music, and the gift of learning something new.

Nezumi walked into the cold night air, a smug smile on his face and his breath fogging before his eyes as he made his way down the icy sidewalk. The moon was almost full tonight, and freshly fallen snow scattered the street in white puddles that contrasted against the black asphalt. Nezumi could feel the large records bump against his back, as his pockets were in no way big enough to place them. Nezumi had put them on his back right before putting on his coat to leave. It felt a little awkward, but he never knew if Shion would suddenly bring him in for a hug if he was awake, and he didn't want to risk Shion finding them before the next morning.

Of course, he was just excited because he was a friend giving another friend an awesome gift. Nothing more than that.

Right?

Nezumi's cold, numb fingers struggled with unlocking the door, but he eventually got it, and opened the door to find a fire in the hearth, but no Shion on the couch. Luckily, the dogs Shion had been taking care of seemed to be gone, which was a nice plus.

He must've slept on the bed today, Nezumi mused to himself as he shrugged off his jacket to place the records under the tree. They didn't quite fit under the young, dying sapling, but he managed it by quietly moving the branches around, so the records were pretty much lying on top of the tree, impossible to miss.

Nezumi was just about to settle down on the couch to sleep when he swore he heard something coming from the bedroom. Nezumi lifted his head off of the arm of the couch and looked toward the direction of the bedroom in confusion. It sounded like a…sniffle?

The sound came again, and Nezumi got off of the couch, worrying. Was Shion alright? The last thing he needed was Shion catching a cold in this weather….

He entered the room to find Shion lying on the bed, facing away from him. Nezumi would have thought Shion was just sleeping if it wasn't for the sniffle/hiccup that came from Shion's figure.

"Shion? Are you okay?" Nezumi asked as he made his way over to the white-haired boy. When Shion didn't respond, Nezumi shook Shion's shoulder, and to his surprise, Shion smacked his hand away.

"Hey! Are you okay? Shion?" Nezumi said, even more worried when he saw Shion's shoulders shake with a sob.

"I'm fine," Shion replied in a shaky voice, his back still turned to Nezumi. Nezumi frowned and furrowed his brows as he bent around to grab Shion's chin.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Shion."

He brought Shion's face gently but firmly to face him, and Nezumi's heart nearly broke at what he saw.

Shion's eyes were rimmed in red from crying, and his face looked puffy. Nezumi could see fresh tear stains covering Shion's face, and he looked so miserable that Nezumi nearly panicked. He didn't know what to do!

"Shion, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Nezumi asked as Shion hiccupped and tried to turn his face back to the wall. Nezumi held Shion's chin firmly and brought his face a bit closer. He was going to find out what had made Shion so upset, even if Shion hated him for it.

"It's nothing, really," Shion murmured, averting both his eyes and the question.

"Shion, if something is bothering you so much that it makes you cry, then you should tell me about it," Nezumi tried to reason, and Shion looked at him, his ruby eyes sparkling with tears.

"It's just…I miss my mom. I felt so homesick all day, and no matter what I do, I can't stop crying! I just want to go home," Shion mumbled miserably before another hiccup hit him. Another round of tears threatened to come about, but Shion held them in, desperate not to cry in front of Nezumi. He knew that Nezumi would be mad at him for being so clingy to his past…

Much to Shion's surprise, Nezumi brought him in for a tight hug, Shion being picked up and held close to the warm black-haired boy. Pressed against Nezumi's chest, Shion couldn't help but feel so safe and secure, and he nearly closed his eyes. He felt as if his heart had been iced over and broken, but with that simple hug, Nezumi had warmed up the pieces of his heart, and slowly put them back together.

Nezumi realized with a sudden sense of urgency that he was warmer than Shion—and Nezumi had just gotten out of the cold. Maybe Shion really was sick….

"It's okay to cry about it," Nezumi said softly into Shion's hair, and he heard Shion make a noise of acknowledgement. "It's the first time you spent Christmas without your mother or your friends. It's okay to feel bad about it."

Instead of answering with words, Shion pulled Nezumi closer until their bodies were so close that not even a slip of paper could come between them. Nezumi was surprised at this sudden gesture, but didn't question it as Shion began to shake with sobs and bawl into his chest. Nezumi felt his heart breaking at how Shion was feeling, and he brought his arms around Shion's back and patted him as Shion cried. Although what Shion was feeling had never been what Nezumi had to feel before, it made Shion hurt, which in turn, hurt Nezumi.

Enveloped in Nezumi's warmth, Shion couldn't help but let go and cry. He could feel his tears soaking in Nezumi's shirt, but he couldn't help himself as Nezumi wrapped his warm arms around Shion's cold body. Shion clung desperately to Nezumi, and Nezumi talked at him softly while rubbing his back. It felt so good and comforting, so much that Shion's tears only lasted a few short minutes before he lost the energy to cry any more.

They stayed like that, just hugging, with Shion's face in Nezumi's chest, and Nezumi's head on top of Shion's silky hair. Shion could hear Nezumi's heartbeat pulsing against his ear, and it formed such a hypnotic, rhythmic beat. Shion could feel himself beginning to fall asleep to the rhythm of Nezumi's heart when he felt Nezumi's hand gently cup the bottom of Shion's chin. Nezumi gazed at Shion with a strange expression before slowly leaning in.

With a jolt, Shion realized what Nezumi was about to do. However, the moment Nezumi's lips touched Shion's with a featherlike grace, bolts of electricity erupted between them, and Shion slipped his eyes shut, unable to fight the electricity between them.

Nezumi didn't think. When he saw Shion's sad face as he began to drift off to sleep listening to the sound of Nezumi's own heart, Nezumi's mind went blank as a fuzzy, intense feeling filled him, making him warm. He cupped Shion's chin and brought his lips to Shion's, unable to control himself. He pressed against Shion's cool lips gently, trying not to startle the ruby-eyed boy. He had the unspeakable need to kiss away those tears, to hold Shion close as he hurt and cried. He slipped his eyes shut and deepened the kiss slightly when Shion began to softly kiss him back, his cooler lips molding softly with Nezumi's warm ones. Shion's arms wrapped around Nezumi's shoulders and pulled him in close as Nezumi's free arm came up behind Shion's head to trap him there.

Electricity crackled between the boys as they deepened their kiss, Nezumi's tongue slipping into Shion's mouth. Shion moaned softly and did the same, electing a soft groan from Nezumi as he pulled the white-haired boy even closer. This was much more intense than their last few kisses….

Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Nezumi opened his eyes with a startled noise and pulled away from Shion, both boys breathing heavily.

"Shion, I…I didn't mean to," Nezumi started before his face became bright red with embarrassment. How could he be so stupid?! He just took advantage of Shion's pain and kissed him, without a care for how Shion would feel about it! Nezumi could feel the intense heat spreading up his face, and he looked down.

But Shion did kiss him back…

"I'm so sorry about that. It won't happen again, I promise. I'm just tired, is all. I'll go to bed now, I should be better by tomorrow," Nezumi stammered incoherently, and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Once Nezumi got to the couch, he crumbled down into a ball, holding his face in his hands. What the hell did he just do?

Wow, this chapter is really long…

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully I'll have the next one up in an hour or two, considering how I skipped a day a while back.

Thanks to all those who faved, followed, and/or reviewed! It means a lot to me! :D