Catching Up

Nnoitra stuck his hands in his pockets and hunched over a bit as he walked into the wind that happened to start the moment Shinji slammed the door in his face. What the fuck was the bitch's problem anyway? Threatening to call the cops on him when they hadn't seen each other in so long. Sure, he wasn't exactly expecting a warm greeting, he was pretty sure that had maybe happened twice in the time he'd known the blond, but he certainly hadn't expected that. He pulled out his near empty pack of smokes and shoved one in his mouth, lighting it up before pulling out his cell phone. It was late but he figured he really only had two options to find a place to stay right now. The kitty bitch might get mad but he didn't really care much about that. If he wasn't going to get to fuck Blondie and crash at his place he had to sleep somewhere and the streets weren't an option. He wasn't a teenager anymore and that had definitely lost its appeal.

As he dialed he thought about how good Shinji had looked. He hadn't looked that good in his dreams; not by a long shot. His hair was so much longer than it had been two years ago, almost down to that tight hot ass he had been hoping to get a piece of. The fact that it had been in one long thick and slightly damp braid had just made everything that much better. Even in that fruity as fuck pink fuzzy bathrobe he was too damn fuckable. He should have just pushed his way inside like he always had in the past but for some reason when he saw him his body hadn't been able to move. His mouth on the other hand, he hadn't had any trouble with that of course.

The phone was on it's forth ring when Grimmjow finally answered in a sleepy voice.

"What?" He growled.

"Yo."

There was a moment of silence, then a rustling of fabric and movement before Grimmjow spoke again. "Nnoi?"

"Yeah, how's it goin' Grimm?"

"The fuck you been? You get locked up again?"

"Heh, I'll tell ya later. I need a place ta crash tanight."

Grimmjow grunted. "Don't really have much room here. Guess you could stay on the couch if ya keep quiet."

Nnoitra frowned. "The fuck ya mean ya don't have room? Ya got someone else stayin' with ya?"

Grimmjow rubbed his hand over his face and realized that Nnoitra knew nothing about the kids. He grinned through his sleepiness and decided to have a little fun with his old friend. "Yeah you could say that. Knock quietly asshole." He said before hanging up.

Nnoitra glared at the phone before shoving it back in his pocket and waiting so he could hail a cab. He really didn't want to spend any more of his limited funds but he wasn't about to walk all the way across town in this cold and if he wasn't mistaken those had been raindrops he had felt a moment ago. Fuck that shit. The entire ride to Grimmjow's place he was thinking nonstop about what he wasn't doing at that moment. Thinking that there should have been a pair of long thin legs wrapped around his shoulders while he buried himself as deep as he could go, his face pressed into that gorgeous thick hair and smelling that stupid shampoo Shinji loved so much. He wondered briefly if he still used the same kind before frowning at himself. If he kept thinking like that he'd end up sounding like some love sick asshole; the kind of guy whose ass he kicked.

To his surprise Grimmjow was waiting outside his front door for him, shirtless, disheveled and on the verge of sleep. Nnoitra smirked and hitched the heavy bag he was carrying over his shoulder.

"Am I interuptin' somethin'?" He asked, not that he cared much.

Grimmjow's head popped up and he grinned at his friend. "Nope. Dude you cut yer hair."

Nnoitra fingered his roughly cut almost shoulder length locks and sneered. "Not on purpose. Looks like yer lettin' yers grow."

"We gonna stand in the hallway after midnight and talk hair like a coupl'a bitches or are we goin' in?"

Nnoitra almost laughed. "Whatever. So who's stayin' with ya that I can't have a bed?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll introduce you in the morning. But be fuckin' quiet alright. Ichigo's gonna be pissed enough that yer here and I don't wanna fight with him right now about it."

Nnoitra rolled his eyes. "Fuckin' pussy whipped."

"Least I'm gettin' laid." Grimmjow shot back, sleepy grin still on his face as he opened the front door and let them inside.

"Ass fuck." Nnoitra grumbled. He didn't know how Grimmjow could tell, but he always seemed to know when it had been a while for him and he always seemed over eager to point out that he was getting some.

"Just shut up and take the couch. I grabbed you a pillow and blanket. Just don't make any noise." He started to head for the bedroom before stopping when something occurred to him. "And sleep in some clothes please."

Nnoitra almost laughed again but he was pretty sure that if he did he'd have to listen to the Bitch whine so he kept his mouth shut. Setting his bag on the floor by the couch he took off his heavy coat and tossed it over the canvas, reaching for his belt. He'd keep his pants on but he wasn't sleeping in his belt. Once he had ditched everything but his blue jeans and emptied his pockets he grabbed his iPod, sticking the ear buds in his ear and turning the volume up to a barely tolerable level. He settled in and covered himself with the over large blanket, closing his eyes and drifting off almost immediately, not realizing just how tired he was until that moment.

When Shinji was sure that his legs would support him he stood and made his way to the kitchen. This was the worst dream he had had in a while. It had to be a dream because there was no way Nnoitra was back. There was no way that he had hunted him down like that and talked to him like nothing had happened. He reached for a small glass and filled it with amber liquid from the bottle on the counter. Shinji's entire body felt numb and a part of him kept trying to remind him that if this was a dream he wouldn't feel the need to drink. He wouldn't feel so drained or numb. He snorted at his thoughts and muttered out loud for them to shut up. He was enjoying his denial. Without bothering to turn off the television he walked straight to his room, reached for the pill bottle on his nightstand and dropped a few in his hand. He knew enough about what he was doing and how his body would react to what he was doing so that he wouldn't be hurt by the combination of drugs and alcohol. He wasn't trying to kill himself by any means. He just wanted to sleep and forget. A cup of Jack Daniels and three sleeping pills should work just fine for him. He set the empty glass next to the pill bottle and slipped between the sheets, letting his eyes fall closed and the medication take effect.

"Who was at the door?" Ichigo asked through his thick fog of sleep as Grimmjow crawled back into bed.

He grimaced and sighed. "Don't worry about it. Go back to sleep."

Ichigo frowned and opened his eyes. "Grimmjow." He said, his voice still thick but now full of warning.

"It was Nnoi. I let him crash on the couch."

Ichigo sat bolt upright at that. "What!"

"Shh! You'll wake the kids." Grimmjow hissed and pulled Ichigo back down to the bed.

"After what he did to Shinji you just let him in here like nothing happened?"

"Ichigo, can we talk about this in the morning?"

"No damnit. Did he stop by Shinji's place already?"

"I have no idea. Let's just go back to sleep and talk about this in the morning." He kissed Ichigo's temple. He understood why Ichigo was upset, but it was too late to talk about it all.

"If he did anything else to Shinji I'll fuckin' kill him, you know that right?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "I know."

It took a total of five minutes before Ichigo was up, reaching for his cell phone. Shinji answered on the last ring before it went to voicemail.

"Hmm."

"Are you okay?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"Huh? Yeah, 'm fine."

"Are you sure? Nothing… strange happened?"

Shinji was quiet a moment before he yawned and slurred, "Nope. Sleep. Talk 'morrow."

Ichigo sighed and hoped everything was okay. He really was going to kill Nnoitra if Shinji was upset over anything else he did.

If he knew it wasn't going to wake up the kids he would have pulled Nnoitra off the couch and told him he could leave right when he woke up. He was sure that he had stopped by Shinji's first and that meant that he was probably pretty upset about it. But the kids were finally sleeping through the night and he couldn't bring himself to make Grimmjow's day any harder than it already was. So instead he glared at the tall thin man spread out on his couch and quietly left for work.

Grimmjow had gotten Ichigo his own car for his twentieth birthday, saying that since he was a man now he should have his own ride. Ichigo had been too excited to be pissed off about the dig at his manhood when he saw the vehicle and had instead jumped in the driver's seat with a wide grin as he looked expectantly up at the man he loved and asked him if he wanted to go for a ride. As he slipped into his car that morning he pulled out his cell phone and called his father to let him know he was going to be running a little late. He worked at the clinic his family owned one day a week so that he worked a total of five days. But this morning he had something to do before he went anywhere else.

By the time Ichigo pulled up to Shinji and Tesla's apartment it was barely five in the morning and the sun had yet to rise. He pulled out his cell phone and called Shinji, only half expecting an answer. When he of course didn't get one he stepped out of his car and walked straight to the front door, finding it unlocked. With a roll of his eyes he stepped inside and went directly to Shinji's bedroom. Shinji was sleeping somewhat soundly but Ichigo's eyes went directly to the pill bottle and empty glass and his brow scrunched together in a deep scowl. That confirmed his suspicions that Nnoitra had stopped here first. He knew Shinji wouldn't do anything stupid, well nothing that stupid anyway, but he still needed to know how many pills he had taken with how much alcohol. He leaned forward and said his friend's name, not at all surprised when he didn't move. A minute later he was sitting on the edge of the bed shaking Shinji awake and the blond was blinking up at him with a frown on his face.

"The fuck ya doin'?"

"Making sure you're okay." Ichigo said shortly as he prevented Shinji from rolling back over and going to sleep once again.

"By shakin' me ta death?"

"I wasn't shaking you that hard." He smacked Shinji on top of the head. "And lock the door asshole!"

"Ow." Shinji complained quietly and rubbed the top of his head.

"You lied to me by the way."

Shinji sighed and rested his tired head in Ichigo's lap. "Did not." He said feebly.

Ichigo sighed. "I just need to know how much you took and then I'll decide if I can leave you alone."

"Baka. I just took enough to sleep." Shinji yawned and closed his eyes, his arms wrapping around Ichigo's waist.

"How many Shinji?"

"Three. And a mouthful of Jack. Nothin' I can't handle."

"No one should be able to handle stuff like that." Ichigo muttered. "Are you okay?"

Shinji sighed but nodded his head. "I take it he went there then?" Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Kinda threw me off a bit but I'll be fine." He rolled over on his back, untangling his arms from Ichigo's waist, and looked up at him. "Thanks fer worryin' 'bout me though."

Ichigo snorted. "It'd be better if you didn't make me worry."

Shinji chuckled and closed his eyes. "Can I go back ta sleep, Doctor?"

"Yeah. Call me if you need me."

"Yes mommy."

Grimmjow had his coffee in hand, relieved that the kids had yet to wake up, as he looked down at his old friend. Sometime in the night the blanket had fallen part way off Nnoitra so that his bare chest was exposed. He had one arm draped lazily over his eyes and a hand sneaking into the waist of his loose jeans. Grimmjow shook his head and kicked the side of the couch. Nnoitra's hand dropped from his face and he glared up at Grimmjow.

"The fuck time is it?"

"Time for some explanations." Grimmjow said as he took a seat in the recliner that sat near the couch.

"Well shit, let me wake up first. Damn."

Grimmjow sipped his coffee and looked fleetingly towards the nursery. He had checked on them before making coffee and part of him hoped they slept at least long enough for him to get some information to of Nnoitra before he had to explain what had happened in the last year for him and Ichigo. Nnoitra yawned and stretched, sitting up and eyeing Grimmjow's coffee hungrily.

"There's more in the kitchen." Grimmjow said as he jerked his thumb in that direction.

"Yeah, yeah."

He chugged one cup of the steaming liquid before pouring another and returning to the living room. He would have liked to have gotten bit more sleep but now that he was awake he wanted to know why he couldn't sleep in the guest room.

"Where you been?" Grimmjow asked before Nnoitra had a chance to say anything.

"China mostly. Spent some time in Shanghai and Hong Kong."

"You hate China."

"Yeah well I didn't go 'cuz I wanted to. I had a job." When Grimmjow cocked an eyebrow Nnoitra rolled his eye. "Yer boss is the one that sent me on it so I'm surprised ya don't know.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Aizen sent me off ta find a couple kids. Paid a butt load 'a money so I took the job. Didn't realize it took so long though." He scratched the back of his head and took another drink of his coffee. "Have I really been gone two years?"

"Yer such an idiot. Leave it to you to lose track of that much time."

"Little fuckers were hard ta find. And there's a lot of fuckin' people in China."

"So that's it? You were hunting and lost track of time?"

Nnoitra shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

Grimmjow was just about to say something when the first cries were heard from the nursery. He watched Nnoitra's body stiffen and a deep frown pull at his mouth as his eye widened.

"The fuck…."

"Oh yeah, Ichigo and I have three kids now."

Why was he here? Shinji sighed and looked across the table at the pink haired man and again wondered if he had been hypnotized. As soon as their tea was served Szayel smiled up at him.

"So, how have you been?"

"What do you want?" Shinji asked, but it lacked his usual hostility.

"Oh come now. I wanted to see how you were. We haven't seen each other in a while."

"I'm fine."

"You seem put out." Szayel pointed out as he leaned back in his seat.

Shinji sighed. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

Actually he had been sleeping just fine and having wonderfully blank dreams until Ichigo had woken him up. After he had left that morning Shinji had been unable to get back to sleep and unwilling to take any more pills. He did have to work that night after all.

"So I take it you know that Nnoi is back in town."

Shinji froze, his cup hanging in mid air part way to his lips, and looked up at Szayel. "How…?"

Szayel smiled. "I have many connections. I heard he was looking for you since you weren't where you were supposed to be."

"You could have told me." Shinji grumbled.

"Would you have believed me anyway? Besides, you seem to be just fine, even if it was a shock to see him after all this time."

Shinji was silent and Szayel took the time to really look him over. In the past four years he hadn't changed much bodily, firming up slightly but keeping his thin frame, his face hardening just a bit. He still looked younger than he was and a bit more feminine since he had grown his hair long. Szayel had to admit he liked the changes in the younger man.

"How about we get together after you get off work and blow off a little steam?"

Shinji rolled his eyes. "No thanks."

"Oh come on. I'll only hurt you if you want me to. You look like you could use it."

"That's beside the point. Didja just invite me out here to try and take advantage of me?"

Szayel smiled and pushed up his glasses. "I would never do a thing like that."

"Liar. What do ya want?"

Szayel sighed. It was so much easier being blunt with this surprisingly shrewd young man but it took so much of the fun out of things.

"I was wondering if you would be up for earning a little extra cash. I need a new performer for my next movie and since you seemed to enjoy working with me the last time I of course thought of you."

Earlier, when Shinji had briefly mentioned his big "fuck up" with Kisuke, he had been referring to a period of time a few months after Nnoitra had left. One of the major issues he had had during that time was sex addiction. Before he knew it he was acting as he had been as a teenager, hooking up with a different guy every night and allowing them to take him to love hotels and sometimes even going so far as to going back with them to their homes. He gave little regard to how dangerous his behavior was until Szayel showed up out of the blue and offered him a safer way to get things out of his system. That safer way was to, in essence, become an adult video actor.

The supplemental pay on top of what he was getting in his managerial position at the club was enough for him to save up what he had for the host club he now owned. A little over six months ago Shinji had finally told Szayel that he was done with it all. He had actually managed to keep that part of his life from Kisuke until they had one night run into each other as Shinji was on his way to a hotel with someone he was set to start shooting with the next night. He liked to "try" his partners out to see how they worked before hand, a habit that Szayel was very supportive of. When Kisuke jokingly asked him where he was headed Shinji broke down on the street, his words coming in a rush and eventually mixing German and Japanese so much that no one present was able to understand him. Kisuke had left his own date, a dark skinned woman who seemed completely okay with being brushed aside, and taken Shinji home. Since that time he had made a promise to himself that he would never do such things again.

It wasn't that he disagreed with the industry, it was that he realized the reasons for him engaging in such activities were not necessarily because he enjoyed what he was doing but rather an attempt to dull and forget what he was feeling. A way to erase Nnoitra from his mind, body and soul.

Shinji shook his head and stood, reaching into his pocket and dropping a few yen on the table.

"I'm sorry, but I already told you I can't do that anymore."

"Oh come now. It's not like I'm asking you back full time or anything. Just one movie."

Shinji took a deep breath and threw his long braid back over his shoulder. "Nope. Thanks for the tea, Szayel." He waved over his shoulder as he left.

He knew he could be weak willed at times, especially when it came to certain things, but this was one thing he was not going to fall back on ever again. It didn't matter how bad things got or how hard up he was, he had made a promise to himself and he was going to damn well keep it.

Grimmjow stood and walked to the nursery, grinning like a maniac as he heard Nnoitra sputter on the couch. Oh this was going to be fun, he thought to himself as he lifted Tomoe out of her crib and kissed her soft cheek. Good lord the kid smelled. He set about changing her diaper and barely acknowledged the man in the doorway when he got there.

"The… fuck…." Nnoitra said, his eye still wide and his mouth now following suit. "When the fuck did this happen?"

Grimmjow finished attaching the sides of the new diaper and lifted a clean Tomoe, smiling at her before turning to Nnoitra. "This is Tomoe." He looked down at her as she wiggled in his arms. "Tomoe, this is uncle Nnoi." Without waiting for Nnoitra to react he shoved his daughter in his arms and went to check on the boys. Surely they would need to be changed as well.

Nnoitra almost dropped the small wiggly human and held her out at arms length with an almost comical sneer on his face. A part of him realized this was quite literally the first time he had ever held a baby.

"You drop her and I'll kill you." Grimmjow said as he lifted Taichi out of his crib. Sorin was busy trying to eat his own foot so Grimmjow let him be for the moment. "And they are four months and three weeks old tomorrow."

Nnoitra blinked in his confusion, still trying to piece everything together. "So… men can have babies now?" Again a part of him realized how stupid that sounded but he couldn't seem to make that realization filter any of his comments.

Grimmjow just rolled his eyes and focused and changing Taichi. He was getting so good at this he could almost do it in his sleep.

"Wait a minute, why the fuck you here with'em? Why isn't the bitch takin' care of them?"

"Hold her right stupid." Grimmjow said, seeing the Nnoitra was still holding Tomoe out and away from his body.

Nnoitra gave the little girl an incredulous look before looking back at his friend. "Oh yeah, and how the fuck do I do that."

Grimmjow set Taichi back in his crib and lifted Sorin out, finding him just as bad off as the others. He set him on the changing table and looked briefly over his shoulder at his completely befuddled friend.

"Just pretend she's a cat. You used to hold that one cat I had all the time."

Nnoitra frowned and eyed the baby once again before awkwardly pulling her closer and resting her against his shoulder. He still wasn't sure where to put his hands though and it was very odd doing things the way he was.

"Put one hand under her butt and the other in the middle of her back." Grimmjow offered, hoping that the grin on his face wasn't heard in his voice.

Nnoitra did as he was told but still looked as awkward about it as he ever had about anything. This was humiliating. As soon as Sorin was changed Grimmjow tossed him up on his shoulder and grabbed Taichi, happy that he was only going to have to make one trip to make their breakfast this morning.

"Follow me and I'll explain everything."

Grimmjow spoke while he made three bottles, handing one to Nnoitra, much to the larger man's distaste. Now he had to feed the brat? He sat on the couch and watched Grimmjow lay out a blanket and set one of the boys, he couldn't tell the difference between the two, on it before shoving the bottle in his mouth. Chubby hands gripped the sides and the room was suddenly filled with hungry slurping sounds. By the time Grimmjow was finished speaking, having condensed the story into less than ten minutes, Nnoitra had decided that he was still sleeping.

"Here." Grimmjow said, tossing a burp rag at Nnoitra and then lifting Sorin off the floor. "Do what I do." He set the rag over his shoulder and laid Sorin over it, tapping his back with the flat of his hand.

Still frowning, a look that hadn't changed since he had been handed Tomoe in the first place, he copied Grimmjow and jolted when Tomoe burped loudly.

"Holy fuck." He said quietly before snorting a small laugh. "I can't believe something that loud came outta somethin' this small."

"Tomoe is the best burper. Sorin almost beats her at it though but he spits up a lot so it gets this weird wet sound along with it."

"That's disgustin'." Nnoitra said. "So let me get all this straight. Ichigo's sister offered to have babies for ya so ya said yes. Then she ended up gettin' knocked up with three and ya still have ta have all of them?"

"Nnoi, they're my kids however you look at it. What do you expect me to do? Say, 'Oh sorry, I only wanted one.'?"

Nnoitra shrugged. "I would'a said that."

"Yeah, but yer a bigger asshole than me."

"So how come yer here and not workin'?"

"I am working, I just work from home now. I didn't want some stranger takin' care of my kids. And Ichigo is doing the doctor thing so he can't stay home."

Nnoitra shook his head. "This is fuckin' surreal. What the fuck else has changed since I've been gone?"

Grimmjow snorted and started to burp Taichi. "Depends on what you wanna know."

"What's up with Blondie? He got all pissed and threatened to call the cops on me last night."

"Dude, you take off for two years without saying a word to anyone and you expect to come back and have everything be the same? Yer pretty stupid sometimes, you know that?"

"We…." He stopped and bit his lip before saying anything else. He didn't really want to talk about part of the reason he had been so eager to take the job for Aizen.

"You don't have to keep doing that. Set her on the floor next to Sorin. They're trying to crawl already." He smirked. "It's funny to watch."

Nnoitra set Tomoe on the floor and sighed, running a hand back through his hair and frowning at how short it had become.

"So what, you two get in a fight before you took off?"

Nnoitra shrugged and grabbed his cold cup of coffee off the table, drinking it down and grimacing before he answered. "Somethin' like that."

A/N YAY! Chapter two!! I was hoping to get this out sooner but I got all sick and stuff *sigh* Anyway, I really hope you like this one and I can't wait to hear what you all think! And wow! Already 36 reviews. Thanks so much you guys!

~Penny