Chapter 13

(A.N: Alright, so it's been almost two weeks since I last updated…I've been trying to update my L x Light fanfic…I'm almost done chapter 2 – chapter 3 is written in full already – I'm just kind of…Stuck. It's on its way though. But of course, I've become distracted by KuroFai…Again. I have more ideas for this on the way, but for now, here is chapter 13…I hope this is enough for now. TT means scene changes or time passing. 'These are thoughts.' So this chapter is in dedication to Rose – because she and I agree that Tomoyo is a rabid yaoi fangirl. –nod- R&R? I appreciate it).

TT

Fai had been doing rather well.

He'd gotten the scars on his back, transformed into a tattoo – and it looked surprisingly like a phoenix. The blonde had reveled in the new design on his back, and had even become less self-conscious about being shirtless.

Kurogane had been with him the entire time – every Doctors appointment, every tattooing session, every sick day, good day, bad day…All of it.

But there had also been days where he'd been missing, and Fai wasn't sure where he went on those days.

He'd be gone for an entire day, and when questioned, he never gave a decent answer. It was always: I had something to take care of.

Fai was afraid on those days. Afraid that he was going to lose Kurogane…Afraid that the male didn't want him, and was planning some way of getting rid of him…

But he never did.

Today was one of those days. Rather, it was one of the many days this week. It was so frustrating when he didn't get to see the male…He'd come to his house, and the raven wasn't even here…

But his things were rather packed up, and it was horrifying to the blonde. Kurogane had apparently been boxing things up for a while now…

'His lease was supposed to be up in May, but he got an extension…And he's been gone basically all of this week…He isn't answering his cell phone…I can't get a hold of Syaoran, or Tomoyo, or Shogo, or even Fuuma…' His friends were busy today – Sakura had a small project to do, and Doumeki and Watanuki were out on a date. And he didn't want to call Chi down, in case she was taking a day to herself with Hideki.

So he was simply sitting in his own pit of misery, curled up on his boyfriends couch. And what else was he meant to think about, besides the fact that they weren't meant to get as close as they had already become? He spent almost ever waking moment with Kurogane. It probably wasn't healthy to be tied to his hip like that, but Fai needed him.

When you're told all of your life how worthless and disgusting you are…It's kind of nice when you find someone who loves and appreciates you…Who treats you exactly how you want to be treated…

He clung to the pillow he'd brought out of the ravens room.

Was this really going to be the end of everything he'd come to love so much? It couldn't be…

He thought back to Christmas, and how Kurogane had gotten a Christmas tree. He'd never bothered with getting one before…But Fai had merely mentioned it in passing, and the raven had hauled off and brought one home. He'd taken hours fixing the lights so that they were perfect, and the blonde had hugged him as tightly as he could when he'd come back to find a tree in the apartment.

They'd stayed up all night decorating it, and Fai had woken up to the sound of the kettle whistling. Kurogane had taken the time to heat up the water for his tea before the blonde had even opened his eyes.

And – when the blue eyed male had freshened up and gotten dressed – he'd been met with another surprise. He'd walked out into the living room, and found his older sister, and her boyfriend – Hideki. Tomoyo was also there. It had turned out that Kurogane had invited Chi and Hideki over because he knew they were Fai's only real family.

The blonde had almost cried at the thoughtfulness of his raven.

And when Fai thought back to New Years, he couldn't imagine why their relationship would end.

New Years had been chilly to most, but not to him. He was so used to the cold…And Kurogane had been right beside him through all of it…

The raven had invited all of their friends and family over for New Years, and Fai had been so surrounded by love and friendship, that he actually had cried – though it was in pure joy.

He'd never known so much happiness in his lifetime. He'd never been so happy. Sakura had been rather cuddly with Syaoran too – he'd noticed, and by Valentine's day, the two had ended up together. Fai remembered cheering.

Hideki had pulled out a surprise at New Years as well. Pulled it right out of his pocket, got down on one knee, and asked Chi to marry him.

Fai had been so happy for his sister, and yet he'd envied her. She had Hideki, who was a sweet guy, who took care of her, as she took care of him. They were there for each other, and ready to commit to one another for the rest of their lives.

The blonde smiled as the memories passed through his mind. Christmas, New Years…And then of course, there had been Sakura, Syaoran, and Watanuki's birthday…How odd, that they were all born on the same day, and yet in no way were they related.

That had been a rather big event, as there were three people – all friends, and all celebrating at once. It had been as big as New Years. And there had been a lot of cake…And some alcohol…But Kurogane was there to control his drinking.

So much time had passed since he'd met the raven…And the male had clearly impacted his life. He'd made him happier…He stressed a lot less…And he was being taken care of.

It was already the end of June, and he wondered if things would improve again. If these absences would stop, or at least, let up.

TT

"That is the sixth time he's called you today," Sakura noted, sighing. She knew Fai was dependent on the raven in question, but she also knew that he would love his reason for being away so much – when he was allowed to know.

"Yeah…" Kurogane was slightly distracted. He'd been at this all morning, all afternoon…All week. With a few of his spare days in throughout the months…Days, and weekends, when he had forced Fai to go off with Sakura, or Chi…Just so he and the others could get some work done.

"Have you even mentioned any of this in the slightest?" Sakura's voice questioned him, as she worked on covering a patch of white. She knew how much he would have hated to see white on the walls.

"Nope." He was currently working on changing the light bulb in the ceiling light. Doumeki was being helpful in holding onto the ladder.

"You haven't mentioned anything to him at all?" Chi questioned, stepping back into the room. Hideki was in another room, supporting the ladder for Shogo, so that the male could change a light bulb in another ceiling light.

"Nope." Kurogane was on his way back down now.

"You don't think he'll worry?"

"He will. But, I don't want him to know about it. It's meant to be a surprise. How surprising will this be if I tell him what I'm up to?"

"That's the last of the paint job!" Sakura announced cheerfully.

They'd been working on this for so long now, she was happy that they wouldn't have to paint anything more. The bathrooms were completely done already – those had been their first concerns. The plumbing was perfect, and the fixtures were all already set in place. It was painted, everything was set…

The kitchen was also done. That had been the second thing – along with soundproofing the bedrooms. And today they'd been painting the living room, and fixing the light fixtures up. They'd also set up the bedrooms. Most of them just had the basics of being comfortable. Beds with fresh sheets and side tables. Fairly sized closets for clothes…

"It's hard to believe that everything is basically done…Well, minus some details here and there," Chi's surprise showed on her face.

"Yeah, you know, you're still missing your clothes, and your living room needs to be set up…Food in the fridge would be a good thing too…" Sakura teased.

"Speaking of food, when they're finished making the beds upstairs…Can we go eat? I think everyone needs a break from hauling all of these things around all day." Chi looked worn out. She'd been helping with moving around the heavy stuff all day.

Kurogane checked his phone for the time,

"I guess so, yeah. We need some time for this paint to dry before we can bring in the stuff for the living room anyway."

"More heavy lifting?" She looked tired just thinking about it.

"Not for you," Tomoyo told her, coming downstairs,

"The boys can handle it."

Kurogane smiled a bit at this, as the rest of the group came back downstairs, and out from various locations in the house.

"What's left?" Fuuma's voice was heard this time.

"Setting up the living room, and getting rid of the floor covers. Carpets and all of that are already laid out, so we just have to get rid of the plastic coverings…But first; we're going out to eat."

"Maybe you should call Fai. He'll probably want to see you…And the rest of us…" It was Chi again,

"And you know we all left out good clothes in the bathrooms, so that we could paint in these ragged things," she gestured to what they were all wearing. Paint covered t-shirts and pants.

"We'll leave the housework clothes here, and he'll never know we were all here together, or what we were up to," Sakura shrugged.

The raven didn't see any harm in that, so he nodded, and told everyone to go change, while he made the call.

TT

His cell phone was going off, so he picked it up in a hurry.

"Kurogane?" He was a little annoyed at being left alone all day.

"…Hey."

Well, that couldn't be good.

"Where are you?"

"I had something to take care of." Yeah, like he didn't see that one coming.

"…"

"Listen, the gang and I were thinking we should all hook up for dinner. How does that sound?"

"…The whole gang?"

"Minus Seishiro, Kamui, and Subaru – they're out of town. Seishiro's still away visiting whoever, and Subaru's still off visiting his parents – Kamui went with him."

"I thought that Doumeki and Watanuki were on a date," Fai's voice was firm, accusing…

"They were – earlier. Then I called them because Chi called me. She knows we haven't seen much of each other lately, so she figures it's a good idea."

Fai sighed, exasperated. There was no need to put up a fight. He would get to see Kurogane for the first time this week…And his friends – who had – suspiciously enough - been missing this entire time.

"Fai?"

"…Yeah, okay. Alright. Are you going to pick me up?"

"Of course I'm going to pick you up. Just give me a few minutes – I have to pick up Syaoran and Sakura." It was a lie, because they were already with him – but it would explain why he was taking so long.

TT

It wasn't hard to separate people into two cars. In Kurogane's car, he had the drivers seat, with the front passenger seat wide open for his boyfriend. In the middle two seats, were Syaoran and Sakura, and in the back, Shogo, Primera, and Tomoyo. In Doumeki's car – he had the drivers seat, with Watanuki sitting with him up front. Chi, Hideki and Fuuma were sitting the back.

It also didn't take long for them to reach their destination. Sakura had been texting the blonde the entire time – so he was waiting outside when they got there.

Everyone half expected him to skip joyfully to the car, and hop in, smiling. Everyone expected him to kiss his boyfriend in front of everyone, and then to realize that he wasn't alone in the car, and to blush like crazy.

But he didn't do any of these things.

He walked to the car, opened the door, got inside, and pulled on his seatbelt. After waiting a moment, he turned to see who was in the car.

Everyone said their own greetings, and he smiled and returned the greetings. Kurogane didn't speak. He knew better. His boyfriend was downright pissed off at him – and he was understanding about it. If Fai had been sneaking off for a week, and not telling him the details behind what he was up to…

Guilt made its way through him, as they pulled out of the parking lot.

TT

It seemed so strange to the group of them.

They were sitting in a U-shaped booth, with two chairs pulled up at the open end of the table, so that everyone could sit together. Sakura was tucked in between Syaoran and Tomoyo – as usual. Shogo and Primera, Watanuki and Doumeki, and Chi and Hideki were all sitting as couples…But then Fai was tucked between Kurogane and Fuuma.

That alone wasn't so unusual…However…

Fai had his attention solely on Fuuma.

It was a common knowledge that the two had become best friends over the course of them knowing one another. And – due to Kamui's absence – Fai was using on of his best friends as his scapegoat.

Everyone had ordered their drinks already, and now they were going through the menus, trying to decide on what exactly they wanted to eat.

"You've decided already, Tomoyo-chan?" Syaoran questioned, looking over in surprise.

"I always get the same thing when I'm here," she explained, smiling. He smiled back, and turned his conversation to Sakura. Everyone seemed to be having this discussion of what they wanted.

"What about you Fai? What are you looking at?" Fuuma inclined his head in the blondes direction – knowing full well that the male was trying to irritate Kurogane…And knowing also that it was working.

It was a little concerning to know that the blonde didn't even have to flirt, in order to make the raven jealous. He simply had to ignore him, and focus his attention on another man, and that was more than enough to drive Kurogane absolutely crazy.

"I don't know. I keep flipping through the pages, but I don't know what I want…"

"How opposed are you to spicy food?"

"Hm…I like spicy food." The blonde looked confused, but amused.

Fuuma grinned, reaching over to flip the blondes menu to the pages he was looking at. Spicy was written in flame designed letters, and there were plenty of choices. The two easily became little kids, looking through their menus together, and trying to decide what they'd get.

Kurogane rolled his eyes. He hadn't expected Fai to blatantly avoid him. It was a bit annoying…

Chi met his expression. Her eyes alone clearly said that she wasn't impressed. They both knew that Fai was upset at being left alone so much…But this wasn't a way to seek revenge on the raven.

TT

"…Are you not coming in?"

"I have something to take care of." He knew that the blonde was tired of his excuses. He knew how sick he was of hearing the same things over and over again. But he didn't have to be tired of it much longer. It was almost complete…

"Yeah, I bet you do," Fai muttered, going to open his car door.

"Fai…" His voice stopped him. The blonde waited a moment, before getting out of the car.

The raven sighed and set about changing the cars gears.

"…Is it really okay to just leave him?" Syaoran questioned, his voice breaking the silence.

Before Kurogane could respond, the passenger side door flew open, and the blonde was back in his seat. He didn't waste any time at all, in wrapping his arms around his boyfriends neck, and kissing him as deeply as he could.

Kurogane was taken by surprise, but he didn't hesitate long before he kissed the blonde back. He loved him so much…Sometimes he forgot how much he missed him when he was away…

"Kergs…" His nickname came out on Fai's breath, and the raven kissed him again.

Both males seemed to have forgotten that they weren't alone in the car. Sakura stared – barely blinking. She'd never seen Fai kiss anyone before…And Syaoran – feeling embarrassed for watching – ducked his head – blushing. Shogo and Primera were too far gone in their own little world of one another's embrace to mind in the slightest.

And Tomoyo…Well, she'd taken her digital camera out of her bag, and was currently recording the make-out session.

When Fai and Kurogane finally broke apart for air, the raven murmured that it was just one more night, and then he wouldn't be disappearing anymore. The blonde sighed, but he didn't seem as angry as he had before.

He turned his attention to the back of the car, and swallowed,

"Kergs?"

"Yeah?" He followed his gaze when the blonde didn't answer,

"Oh fuck…"

"Please do!" Tomoyo cheered from behind her camera.

"WHERE DID YOUR CAMERA COME FROM?"

"That make-out session is soon to be the most popular video on Youtube!" Tomoyo giggled joyously.

"YOU GODDAMN FANGIRL! PUT YOUR CAMERA AWAY!"

TT

(A.N: Ahh Tomoyo, you little yaoi fangirl. How I love thee. R&R?)