...

Sousuke grumbled to himself under his breath, he wanted to blame Rin for dragging him to this ridiculous Christmas meal, he wanted to blame Gou for bringing her idiot of a boyfriend to the event as well but he knew there was only one person he could blame.

Momotarou.

He was the real reason Sousuke was in such a bitter mood, it was nobody else's fault. Just over a year ago they'd been a couple – in private as neither one was ready to announce their new status just yet – and almost exactly a year ago they'd split up.

So, he did what any normal, scorned ex-lover would do, spend the entire year hiding from said person and their soul of ice.

He did not then expect to have to spend the holiday with him, sat next to him at the table no less. The red-head being his usual bubbly, laughing self. Almost as if he hadn't even noticed the sulking man next to him.

But he'd be an idiot to not have, everyone else had done. Hell, even Rin had kicked him under the table and mouthed at him to lighten up but it was ignored.

He'd much rather sit there and stew in his own anger for the whole evening.

…

Sousuke carefully wrapped the present he'd got for Momotarou – some stupid bug catching kit he'd been eyeing up in the shops the other day but didn't buy due to the cost. So Sousuke had gone back when he'd been alone to buy it for his boyfriend.

Once he'd finished wrapping he looked at it in disgust, it looked like a child had wrapped it and a very young one at that. But he was sure the other man wouldn't care, he'd just be pleased with his gift.

They'd decided to spend Christmas together and see family members on Boxing Day. It was a struggle to explain to them when neither family knew of the relationship but it was worth it to be able to spend the day with each other.

Right on cue there was an excitable knock at the door, easily recognisable as Momotarou's.

"Sousuke!" He cried once throw the door, practically climbing the other man to get a kiss.

"Calm down Momo." He managed to get out before his lips were claimed.

He moaned slightly as he felt Momotarou's tongue slip inside his mouth, eagerly exploring and caressing.

"I got you something." Sousuke whispered between kisses.

"I thought we agreed no gifts." He pouted, pulling away from him.

"You did, I never did." He grinned

"Way to make me feel like a shit boyfriend." He groaned, dropping back down so his feet were firmly placed on the floor. "I'm going to have to get you a New Year's present now."

"That's not a thing." He shook his head.

"That's what you get for being a dirty cheat." Momotarou stuck out his tongue. "Now what did you get me?"

"It's under the tree." He pointed as the man ran with a flash in that direction, dropping to his knees.

"What is it?" He asked, shaking the gift as Sousuke sat down next to him.

"You'll have to open it and see." He laughed, watching him shake with excitement.

An extremely unmanly scream escaped Momotarou when he finally uncovered his gift – although he would furiously deny it.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed, jumping on top of Sousuke who barely moved with the added weight.

"You're welcome." He smiled as Momotarou showered his face with kisses. "But you didn't even read the card."

"Oh right." Momotarou said.

He clambered off him and searched for the tag in the pile of paper, smiling with satisfaction as he found it.

"Momo. Merry Christmas. I l…" He trailed off slightly shocked at what he was reading.

"Go on." Sousuke nervously urged.

"I love you. From Sousuke." He read, a grin breaking out on his face. "I love you too!"

Once again he threw himself forward, this time pressing his lips firmly against the others in a claiming kiss, finally sharing the feelings that had been between them for all of their relationship and most of their friendship.

They only separated briefly to head towards the bedroom where they joined once again and remained that way for the best part of the day.

...

Sousuke awoke the next morning blissfully happy, stretching out every muscle in his back as his body uncurled. He glanced towards the empty side of the bed in confusion.

"You're awake." A voice said, Sousuke turning over to see Momotarou stood awkwardly in the door, nervously playing with his fingers.

"I didn't realise you had to leave this early." He yawned, sitting up in the bed.

"I got a call." He said, ignoring Sousuke's earlier statement.

"From who? Is everything okay?" He asked.

"It was Gou." Momotarou told him.

"Is it Rin?" He pried, not thinking of any other reason Gou would call him.

"No, she wanted to talk about us. Me and her." He clarified.

"But there is no you and Gou." Sousuke said, very confused.

"There wasn't but… Christ. I don't know how to say this." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Just spit it out." He growled, already very sure of where the conversation was headed.

"She told me she keeps thinking about me and that she'd been a bit hasty flat out rejecting me. She thinks we could work together." He explained. "I can't… I can't miss my chance with her."

"Get out." He hissed.

"Sousuke, please. We can talk about this." Momotarou pleaded.

"Get the fuck out!" He shouted, grabbing the stupid bug catching kit from the floor and throwing it in his direction. He felt immensely satisfied as he watched it shatter with the force that it collided with the wall.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before fleeing the room and disappearing from Sousuke's life.

At least until now.

…

Never before had Sousuke felt so angry, so hurt, so used. Never before had he wanted to hate someone so much but never actually was able to. Instead, still be ridiculously in love with them.

Even after a year he still had feelings for the twat. The way his smile could brighten up a room, the way his laugh sounded like a pure melody, the way his ass looked absolutely edible in his skinny jeans.

He didn't know what the man was playing at, many times Sousuke told him how irresistible he found in that particular pair but yet he insisted on wearing them today. What was he trying to prove? That he'd won the break up? Because he sure as hell had, he was happy, he'd moved on with an absolutely amazing girl. While Sousuke was still living in the past, wishing he could have stopped everything from going wrong.

He made the decision to force two more forkfuls into his mouth before claiming he was feeling a little queasy and head home early.

But as he was bringing the fork up to his mouth he found himself suddenly frozen, eyes widening as he felt a hand land on his leg just above his knee.

It had to be some kind of mistake, his girlfriend was on the other side, he was just confused. He would realise he had the wrong person soon and embarrassedly remove his hand.

However, as the hand just seemed to travel higher he could no longer brush this off as a mere mistake. Nobody could confuse Gou's slender legs for his thick, muscular thighs.

His fork fell from his hand with a clatter as the hand comes to rest on his crotch, cupping in a slightly possessive manner.

"What are you doing?" Sousuke hissed, going unnoticed by others at the table.

"Nothing." Momotarou smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Slowly the hand began to move, gently stroking and bringing a part of Sousuke back to life that had been dead all year.

"Did you miss me?" Momotarou cooed, leaning closer to keep their conversation private. "I missed you too."

Abruptly Sousuke threw his napkin on the table, earning everyone's attention and stopping Momotarou's actions.

"I'm going to the bathroom." He announced, standing up and shuffling awkwardly to hide the bulge that was forming in his underwear.

…

Sousuke took deep breaths in the bathroom, trying but failing to calm his body. His heart stopped as he saw the handle turn.

It couldn't be Momotarou, he was stupid enough to follow him when his girlfriend was in the house, when he was in her parent's home.

But as the door opened he saw the infuriating red-head he couldn't get out his mind.

"I thought you might need a hand." Momotarou purred, locking the door as he shut it behind him, an action Sousuke wished he had thought to do in the first place.

"Get out of here." He warned, the other man taking no notice of him. "I mean it."

"Your body is telling me something different." He said, walking closer as Sousuke was forced into the wall.

He knew he was a fool for still loving Momotarou but if he kissed him now he wouldn't be able to keep saying no, his resolve would break and he'd be putty in his hands. And what made the situation worse was he was sure the other man knew it.

Once closer he pressed his body against Sousuke, raising up onto his toes and waiting patiently as he'd done many times before. He didn't look worried that he was going to get rejected, he didn't look cocky that he knew he had the taller man wrapped around his finger. He looked innocent, waiting for Sousuke to confirm that their loving flame still burned, even if it had dimmed.

God, Sousuke wanted to walk away, he wanted to say no but instead he found himself leaning down and pressing their lips together after a year apart.

Without thinking the kiss was deepened, wet moans filling the room as arousals were freed, held together in Sousuke's strong grip and pumped.

"Shit." Momotarou panted. "I really did miss you."

Sousuke didn't respond, he was too far gone, too wrapped up in the passion to even think about the consequences, to think about what he was doing was wrong.

"Ah! Sousuke." Momotarou cried as he came, Sousuke quickly following as the familiar moan of his ex's release reached his ear.

Almost as soon as it was over a bucket of cold water was thrown over Sousuke, abruptly pushing Momotarou away as he tried to snuggle into his chest. The realisation of what he'd done to Gou hitting him at full force.

A girl that he'd known since she was only four, a girl that had once shyly told him she loved him and would marry him one day when she was only ten, a girl that had nervously kissed him in a game of spin the bottle at fifteen – much to Rin's disgust.

"I have to go." Sousuke said.

He pushed past the man to the door, groaning in frustration as he struggled with the lock before finally escaping. He didn't tell anyone else he was leaving, he left that responsibility to Momotarou, to weave whatever lie he felt fit.

"Fuck!" Sousuke shouted as he dropped his keys in the snow.

He dropped to his knees and searched, hands shaking with anger and regret.

"How dare you walk away from me after that?" Momotarou yelled as Sousuke retrieved his keys.

"Excuse me?" He asked, standing up again.

"Do you realise how embarrassing it is to be left like that?" He snarled, walking towards him.

"Probably on par with being dumped the day after you tell someone you love them." Sousuke snapped back, heading for his car.

"That's right, just walk away. Give up like you always do." He called after him.

"Oh, piss off back to your girlfriend." He muttered, climbing into his car.

He'd barely got the keys in the hole before Momotarou appeared in the passenger's seat.

"Get the fuck out!" He shouted, his parting words from the first time around.

"No, wherever you're going I'm coming too until you listen to me." He calmly told him.

"I'm not leaving with you in my car!" He yelled, only angered further by Momotarou's suddenly relaxed attitude.

"Well then, I guess we're at a standstill." He grinned, he wasn't stupid, he knew if Sousuke wanted to he could quite easily man handle him out the car.

But he knew Sousuke better than that, better than anyone, and he would never hurt somebody he loved.

They sat in silence for a while, Momotarou waiting for his ragged breath to calm before speaking again.

"I wanted you to fight for me." He said softly.

"What?" Sousuke asked, turning to look at him.

"When I told you about Gou I wanted you to fight for me, tell me you couldn't live without me. But you just let me go." He admitted.

"Because I thought that's what you wanted."

"I didn't know what I wanted, I was confused. I needed you to reassure me that we were meant to be together but you didn't." He cried, Sousuke rolling his eyes at the water works.

"Well sorry I couldn't read between the fucking lines!" He shouted.

"I kept waiting, thinking this was going to be the day when you told me that you wanted me back but it never happened." He bawled.

"Christ Momo, why did you make everything so difficult?" He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Why play all this games?"

"Because I knew you! I knew what a dick you could be!" He slapped him on the chest. "I'd been your friend seven years, I'd seen you butter guys up with 'I love yous' just to leave them a week later. I needed to know I wasn't just another joke to you."

"You obviously didn't know me then if you couldn't see how much I loved you. Fuck. How much I still love you." He admitted.

"You what?" He asked, wiping away the stray tears on his cheeks.

"You heard me you dork." He affectionately teased.

"I love you too." He smiled, throwing himself into Sousuke's arms just like he had done that fateful day, pressing kisses to every patch of skin he could find. "Don't ever let me go again."

"Never." He agreed, pulling the boy onto his lap and kissing him lovingly.

Neither one noticed the snow beginning to fall around them, far too wrapped in each other, trying to forget the stupid mistake they'd made last Christmas.

...