Toshiro woke up to warmth. Extreme, suffocating warmth. He groaned as he tried to push back the comforter that was nearly killing him in heat, only to find something heavy preventing him pushing the material away. Cracking an eye open slowly, he found himself trapped between an arm, the comforter, and a familiar hard body behind him. He groaned slightly as he continued his attempt to push away the heavy arm. Ichigo stirred in his sleep as he felt the constant nudging on his body. Slowly but surely, he was pulled out of his dreams and awoken to a bed of flatten white hair. Instinctively, he clutched the body closer to him.

"Let go of me, bastard." Toshiro lifted his hands to push down on the arms.

Ichigo grunted as he reluctantly removed his arms from Toshiro's torso. He sat up slowly, leaning against the headboard groggily as he watched Toshiro move across the bed, his eyes hardening at the sight of him. He winced slightly at the moving of his lower body, and hoped that Toshiro didn't notice. Unfortunately, Toshiro knew his roommate well, and noticed the flinch. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the younger male. His eyes instantly landed on the brown bruise that had formed on the male's neck. His eyes widened at revelation.

"Toshi-" Ichigo was quickly cut off by Toshiro.

"Is that…" he narrowed his eyes at the mark, "Is that a hickey?"

"It's not what you think." Ichigo's eyes widened at panic. He could see the anger radiating off the small body in front of him.

"It's not what I think? I think that is a hickey, Kurosaki." Toshiro crawled towards the edge of the bed, standing hastily as he pulled on the jeans that were located on floor. "Get out of my room Kurosaki."

"No."

Toshiro turned around at the defiance. "NO? Did you just say 'no' to me?"

"Yeah, I did." Ichigo stood up as well. "I'm not leaving."

"Get the hell out of my room." Toshiro was practically seething as he tried to walk calmly towards the door. He threw opened the door, waiting for the younger male to follow his order.

Ichigo walked towards him calmly, he pressed the palm of his hand flat against the door as he pushed it closed, his body dangerously close to the smaller male. "I'm not leaving."

Toshiro was seething. These past two weeks he had wanting nothing more than to be around the orange-haired youth, but now that they were in the same room, he wanted nothing more than to have the kid leave him. He did not want to put up with whatever shit Ichigo had gotten himself into. Not knowing what to do with his anger, Toshiro did the first thing that came to mind. He punched Ichigo. He watched as the younger male flew back in surprise by the impact, his hand instantly going to his mouth where his lip was split. He stared down at his roommate in complete and utter shock.

"Did you just fucking punch me?" Ichigo withdrew his hand from his mouth to see the blood that was staining his finger tips. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Yeah, because you're a fucking asshole!" Toshiro tried to control his breathing.

"What the hell is your problem, Toshiro?"

"You don't talk to me for two weeks, then you come into my room in the middle of the night after sex!" Ichigo tried to say something. "And do not try and deny that you didn't have sex. I can tell, Kurosaki."

"So you punch me because I have sex with someone?" Ichigo was seething now, as well. "What, am I not allowed to have sex with someone? Because last time I heard, you had no feelings for me. All I am is: A. Good. Fuck."

"Shut. Up. Kurosaki."

"No, I won't. Because that's what I am right, Toshiro? You're the one who keeps telling me that there's nothing between us, but you know there is, damn it. You wouldn't be standing here getting jealous that I slept with someone else, if you didn't have the slightest idea of feelings towards me."

"You don't know what you're saying," Toshiro didn't know why he was still denying it. This was not how he wanted to tell Ichigo about his feelings.

Ichigo shook his head, his anger getting to the best of him. "You can run away and play dumb do your feelings all you want. I know better. I know you better than that. As much as you deny it, you like me. But you're too full of pride to realize that. You run away like the scared, pathetic man that you are."

"So, what if I was scared?" Toshiro threw his hands in the air in anger. "I'm scared, so fucking what! Kurosaki, you've been sure of your feelings for years and I am just now realizing them. I've never liked anyone before. Do you know how hard this is? How confusing everything is! I have no experience in this department. I'll I know, all I've ever known, was to not get attached. And here I am, here we are. Somehow, you out of all people, had managed to evoke some god damn hidden emotion inside of me and cause my life to spiral out of my control. So, sorry, I was scared. But what the fuck do you expect?"

"I expected you to talk to me! To confide in me! Toshiro, we aren't strangers anymore. You can talk to me." Ichigo tried to step forward, but that only caused Toshiro to step back, pressing him self against his closed bedroom door.

"You expected me to talk to you, Kurosaki? When the hell have I ever done that? Huh? When?" Toshiro rubbed his hands across his face. "I don't know how to control my emotions. I have no idea what to do with these feelings."

"Follow them." Ichigo's voice was quiet and Toshiro knew that he was standing close to him again. He quietly berated himself for not hearing the other man's soft footsteps. "Just go with what your heart is saying."

Toshiro did that. Though, it wasn't the reaction that Ichigo was expecting. Toshiro punched him again, this time the blow hitting him in the jaw instead of the mouth. Ichigo stared at Toshiro with a bewildered expression. Toshiro shoved Ichigo away from his body before turning around and leaving the room. Ichigo quickly followed him out, breaking out of the daze that the second punch had put him in. He caught up with Toshiro at the end of the hallway and grabbed his arm, forcing his roommate to turn around and look at him.

"Let go of me, damn it." Toshiro attempted to tug his arm away, but Ichigo's grip held firm.

"We're not done talking. Why the hell do you keep punching me?"

Toshiro smirked, pulling his arm free with one hard tug. "You said to follow my heart. My heart happened to tell me to punch you." Toshiro made to turn away, but he felt a firm hand lock onto his shoulder. "What, Kurosaki! What the hell do you want?"

"Talk to me! Tell me what's on your fucking mind for once before running away and locking everything inside of yourself. You like me and you're scared, I get it. But damn it, if you like me don't push me away!"

"Fine, you want me to talk? Okay, then. I like you, you happy, Kurosaki, I said it. You're an idiot, and you're sloppy, and you and your stupid friends annoy the fuck out of me. But I like you regardless. And you like me back, so why the fuck did you go sleep with that stupid Grimmjow Neanderthal."

Ichigo was slightly baffled. "How did you know I slept with him."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed. He only assumed that Ichigo had slept with him. "Well considering he was fucking courting you two weeks ago, I wouldn't be fucking surprised." Ichigo couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you laughing?"

"Did you really just say courting?" He laughed again at the image. "Who the hell still says that!"

"Kurosaki, this is not a laughing matter!" Toshiro rubbed his temples slightly, listening to the laughter subdue.

"You're right its not." Ichigo took a step forward, wrapping his arms around Toshiro's waist, holding him in a lose embrace. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for ignoring you. I'm sorry for using Grimmjow to make you jealous. And I'm sorry for sleeping with him."

Toshiro freed himself again. "Why did you sleep with him?"

"I was mad and I was angry. I wanted attention and he gave it to me. They're stupid reasons, but that's why I did it. I wanted to convince myself that I didn't want to be with you and that someone else could make me happy. But after being with him I know I want to be with you."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Toshiro paused, but started again before Ichigo even said anything. "Because, it doesn't. Is that what you're going to do every time we have a fight? I'm not giving you the attention you want, you're going to go run off and sleep with someone only to realize then that you want to stay with me? That's not going to work Ichigo, that's not how it works."

"It was a stupid decision, I know!" Ichigo was getting frustrated. But he couldn't tell if it was directed more at Toshiro or himself. "I already said I'm sorry, what more do you want? Toshiro, I've liked you since high school. That's nearly three or four years now. So, sorry I've had a lot of pent up anger."

The two simply stared at each other, neither one of them really knowing what to do about the situation. Yes, they were both angry at one another, but at the same time, they didn't want to lose what they have. Despite Toshiro's ever present need to push Ichigo away, he knew that if he did one more time, the orange-haired youth wouldn't be coming back. And in all honesty, the thought of that scared him. Toshiro looked up at his roommate, his calculating eyes running over his face and his body before roaming upwards to latch onto his eyes. He saw it there, that omnipresent fire that gave Ichigo a constant look of passion.

Ichigo looked at his roommate, his heart telling to him to grab the fool before he had a chance to run away again. He wanted to, but he was scared of Toshiro's reaction. So he took a small step forward instead. Then another, and another, until he was standing right in front of Toshiro. He could feel the body heat radiating off the small form in front of him. He wanted nothing more than to latch onto the body and never let go. But again, he took slower actions. Ichigo reached forward with one hand, grasping on to slim fingers so that he could fully close the distance between them. Using his free hand, Ichigo wrapped it around his roommate's shoulders, pulling him into a hard embrace.

Toshiro stood dumbstruck. He was no stranger to hugging Ichigo, but even through the simple embrace, he could feel Ichigo's emotions pouring through. With hesitant hands, Toshiro brought them around Ichigo's waist, trying to push all the negative space out so that there was not even a centimeter between them. Toshiro felt Ichigo's body relax at the touch, their forms molding against one another to become one. The two exhaled at the same time, releasing whatever negative thoughts were currently going on in their minds. Toshiro turned his head so that his forehead was resting against Ichigo's chest, his lips brushing against the heated skin.

"I'm sorry." Toshiro felt his face heat up with a flush. He presumed that no matter how many times he apologized, he'd still feel embarrassed.

Toshiro could feel Ichigo's body shake as he shook his head. Full lips pressed against the crown of his head. "No need to be sorry. I'm sorry too."

They stood there, their breathing in sync as they felt the warmth radiating off each other's body. It hit him then, everything that had occurred between the two over the past year. No, everything that had occurred the past three weeks, to be more precise. Toshiro wasn't one to voce his feelings, it's not in his hardwiring. So why am I standing here hugging this idiot. Toshiro mentally shook his head, just as his voice of reason began to speak. Because it's time to let someone in. It's time to completely give yourself up to someone for the sake of not being alone. Because you actually like this idiot.

Ichigo felt Toshiro sigh in his embrace, the warmth of his breath fanning across his chest. Then he felt resistance. Slowly, the arms that were wrapped around his waist fell away, as the body he had been holding began to back up. Ichigo allowed the arm that was wrapped around the smaller male's shoulders to fall away, but kept a vice grip on the hand he had been holding. Toshiro looked up at Ichigo. He couldn't tell what kind of emotion was being expressed through the eyes, but when he noticed that it wasn't hate, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Just because you hug me, doesn't mean that I'm going to drop the subject." Toshiro was staring at Ichigo with hard eyes.

Ichigo slowly smirked. "I know." He tugged on Toshiro's hand. "Let's go back to bed."

"I'm not sleeping with you, Kurosaki."

Ichigo watched as Toshiro's eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't expect you to. Just, let's go lie down. We didn't have the best wake up." He tugged again, feeling a little frustrated when Toshiro refused to move.

Toshiro glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's already noon. I have to meet up with Shuuhei to go over some paperwork and then I have to go to the library to study."

A mischievous glint made its way into Ichigo's eyes. "I'm sure I can call Renji to distract Shuuhei, if you don't want to meet up." Ichigo took a step closer to Toshiro. "And I can help you study."

The husk in Ichigo's voice sent a tremor down Toshiro spine, but he held a firm position. "Thank you for the unwanted visual of my colleague and his lover. But our meeting is important." Toshiro removed his hand slowly from Ichigo, his movements thoughtful and deliberate so that he didn't give the youth the wrong impression. "And I really need to study. Finals are coming up, you should be studying too."

Ichigo let out a sigh as he watched the smaller man walk away into his bedroom. When he heard the sound of the shower go on, he walked into his own room and brought out his books. He figured that if Toshiro was going to spend the day doing work, he might as well too. Ichigo sat down at the coffee table, looking through various textbooks on biology and anatomy. Even while he was study, Ichigo could hear everything that the other male was doing: the soft sounds of small feet pattering across the room, the opening and closing of drawers, the rustling of clothes being put on. When he heard Toshiro's door open, he quickly looked down at the book in front of him, pretending he was reading. He looked up when Toshiro stepped into the living room.

Ichigo caught his eyes and smiled slightly. "Bye."

Toshiro stared down at Ichigo. Things weren't completely right between them, but they were better than before. They still had to discuss what they were. Plus, Toshiro wanted to know the full story between Ichigo and Grimmjow, sans the sex. He stared into chocolate eyes and felt his heart tug him in the direction of the man. Without thinking Toshiro ducked his head and kissed Ichigo quickly on the lips. They both pulled back in surprise. Ichigo noticed that rather apparent flush that was painted across Toshiro's cheeks.

"Bye." Toshiro muttered the work quickly before turning away and quickly walking towards the door. Before he opened it, he stopped and looked over at Ichigo again. "If I leave, will you still be here?"

Ichigo's eyes widened at the words. His mind was confused at first until he realized what Toshiro was referring to. The last time Toshiro left for work before a discussion of theirs had ended, Ichigo was gone. Ichigo's ego was stroked a little when he thought about how much Toshiro didn't want to leave. Something elated within him in glee. He smirked again.

"Yeah, I'll be here."

Toshiro stared at the orbs across the room. Without saying a word, he pursed his lips and nodded his head and left. Ichigo watched as he disappeared behind the door, feeling a large since of satisfaction. Toshiro hand him were talking Toshiro didn't completely hate his guts for sleeping with another man, though he wouldn't be surprised if he had hated him. Although the two had a long discussion waiting for them, he was pleased at the pace they were going. Finally.

Toshiro met up with Shuuhei in his uncle's bar. Toshiro's uncle Jyuushiro placed drinks down in front of them as the two went over various paperwork. The two had been working for about an hour before Toshiro decided that it would be a good time to bring up his and Ichigo's conversation. He sighed as he put his pen down, leaning back into his chair. He brought the drink to his lips as he thought of a way to bring up the conversation. Not that he hasn't heard me talk about Ichigo.

"Why do you keep sighing?" Toshiro looked up at the sound of Shuuhei's voice. The man seated across him was staring at him with a cocked eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"

"No, not really." Toshiro furrowed his eyebrows. For some reason he felt difficulty trying to bring the words forward. "Its, it's quite the opposite really."

"What is?"

"Ichigo slept with Grimmjow."

Hisagi's eyes went wide in confusion. "And that's a good thing?"

"No, of course that's not a good thing!" Toshiro narrowed his eyes before continuing. "It's just that, after sleeping with him, he came back to me." Toshiro saw Shuuhei's watchful eye. "And that means we talked…"

"Did you tell him?"

"Yeah." Toshiro rarely blushed, but he could feel the heat quickly flood his cheeks. "I also punched him. Twice."

"You punched him?" Shuuhei was chuckling slighty at the thought of the smaller man punching his roommate.

"I was just so mad; he was being such a bastard by ignoring me and then coming back like nothing."

"So, what's happening between you two then?"

Toshiro sighed, bringing the cup to his lips again. "I'm not sure really."

"Do you want to be with him?" Shuuhei cocked his head as he looked at the white-haired male intently.

"Of course I want to be with him!" Toshiro took a deep breath. "Whenever I think about him leaving my heart…my heart hurts. I'm always anxious about what he's doing and who he's with. Like, I want him by me at all times just so I know he's not out doing something stupid." Everything came out in a rush and Toshiro found himself needing to take another breath. "I want to be with him, but every time I think about him being with Grimmjow, I just get so angry. Like, I want to be mad at him for making such a stupid decision to be with the guy. But I feel like if I do that, I'll just push him away."

"I don't think that he'd leave you for getting jealous." Toshiro watched as Hisagi relaxed in his chair with his ever present clam demeanor. "I'm still with Renji after all of our arugements of jealousy. And Ichigo is a lot more levelheaded than Renji. Just, talk to him. That's all you can do really."

Toshiro merely nodded his head. The more he thought about it, the more confused he seemed to be. He and Ichigo were too similar in the way that they kept things to themselves. Well, Ichigo voiced his emotions a lot better than Toshiro did, but that didn't meant that didn't mean he made everything apparent. Toshiro was pulled out of his thoughts that when he felt a heavy hand drop onto his shoulder. With an agitated look, he turned to who ever was touching him. His eyes widened in shock when he saw a blue-haired devil.

"My, my, look what I found: a snowflake in tha middle of summer."

Toshiro glowered as he pushed the hand off his shoulder. "Don't touch me, kitty."

Grimmjow's own eyes narrowed as he smirked. "Someone's a lil' touchy. Is that why tha berry left ya for me? Huh? He didn' want to put up with yer cold attitude?"

"Shut up, Grimmjow. You know nothing about Ichigo and I." Toshiro was standing now, not even noticing as his body made the motion on its own.

"Looks like I touched a nerve there." Grimmjow leered as he towered over the smaller male. "What, ya drowning yer sorrows in liquor since yer little berry came runnin' for me?"

"He didn't leave me for you." Toshiro was practically growling the words.

"Ya sure about that? Is that why he was such a good fuck last night? You know, he really needs ta be tamed. Not like ya can do that for 'im" Grimmjow was almost out righting laughing.

Toshiro smirked. "You couldn't have been that good, since I woke up with Ichigo in my bed this morning."

Grimmjow's eyes instantly narrowed. "Fuck you."

"Tch, no thanks." Toshiro was the one laughing now, knowing he had the upperhand.

"Lil' bastard!"

Toshiro saw Grimmjow's arm reeling back. Utilizing his size, he used his speed to land a punch across Grimmjow's jaw. Grimmjow's eyes went wide before narrowing. He was laughing now as he lunged toward Toshiro. Toshiro was easily pushed to the ground by the sheer mass of Grimmjow. With all of his weight on him, Grimmjow was about to hold one hand against Toshiro's throat as the other continually reeled back to punch Toshiro's face. Toshiro struggled as oxygen was quickly becoming a problem. With a well placed kick, Toshiro was able to kick his enemy in the balls, causing the latter to stop his actions to cup himself and groan.

Using this brief moment of vulnerability, Toshiro was able to reverse their positions. He punched Grimmjow square in the nose before standing to kick the mani n the stomach. Toshiro would have continued if he didn't feel a pair of arms wrapping around his torso and pulling him away from the body. He looked behind him where he found Hisagi holding him. His eyes narrowed as he struggled in his restraint. He looked over to Grimmjow he was on his feet again, a look of murder in his eyes as he made his way to lunge towards Toshiro. Just before Grimmjow was in front of him, two bodies materialized to hold back the larger male. Toshiro was watched as his uncle and his uncle's lover held back the seething brute. Hisagi had to strengthen his restraint as Toshiro pushed against him.

"Let me go, Hisagi." Toshiro was trying to control his breathing. "I'm not going to punch him."

"That doesn' mean I won't punch ya." Grimmjow was growling as he tried to push free of the two mean holding him.

"You will do no such thing." Jyuushiro pulled on of Grimmjow's arms behind his back, effectively holding him in a lock. "You will not fight in my bar."

"Jyuushiro, let me take care of him before you cause yourself to get sick again." Shunsui said as he grasped for Grimmjow's other arm.

Grimmjow felt himself being passed between the two men and escorted out of the building. Jyuushiro turned to Toshrio with a look of disappointment. Toshiro said nothing as he turned to leave. He stopped when he felt a gentle touch on his arm. He turned back again when he saw his uncle's look. Toshiro merely sighed as he walked back to the table he had been sitting at. Hisagi appeared at his side with a first aid kid, promptly started to clean Toshiro's cuts. Toshiro glared at Hisagi's smirking face.

"What?" He was still frustrated from the short brawl he had just been in.

"Nothing." Hisagi smirked again. "Just have fun explaining to Kurosaki why you're all beat up."

Hello Readers!

It's been a while, I know. I'm alternating between writing this and my other story, and with my schedule it takes about a week to write a chapter (first week of college and I'm already swamped D: ) so I think updates will be about every 2 weeks, or sooner, depending if I know how I want the story to go!

ANYWAYS, ABOUT THIS CHAPTER.
How did you guys like it?
I kinda feel like Toshiro accepted Ichigo too fast, but at the same time, I wanted to show that he was relieved that Ichigo came back.
It's a little short on words (4000something in comparison to the almost 6000words from the last chapter) but that's because it's A LOT of dialogue in comparison to my usual "mostly descriptive" writing.
Also, you like that two paragraph fight? HAHA
I'm so awkward at confrontation, so that fight was an attempt, I'm not sure how I like it ;_;
ALSO, the last half of the chapter is like...barely edited because I just read through it really quickly, because I wanted to get this out fast since I felt like I haven't updated in a while. If there are any HUGE mistakes that are bugging you, feel free to pm me or review about it, and I'll fix it!
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it!