~ Day 15- Morning ~

Takane blinked her eyes open. The room was already filled by the first few rays of sun, some of those fabled early birds' were chirping away outside and the wind blowing through the leaves of the trees could be heard as well.

Next to her, the sound of calm, steady breathing made her roll onto her side with a small smile. It was still way too early to get up and frankly, Takane was surprised that she was already awake. As she glanced back over her shoulder, the alarm clock read 6:18AM, meaning that it wouldn't go off for twelve more minutes.

Lazily, she wormed her way across the mattress and slung her arm over the sleeping form that lay with its back to her. "Haruka", she mumbled into his back and closed her eyes again, feeling sleepy again because of the usual smell and warmth she now held onto.

Most days, she'd wake up when the alarm rung and the first thing she did was feel for Haruka and check his temperature, pulse and breathing to make sure he was fine. But waking up like this was much more pleasant, she decided and squeezed the man a little tighter, making him stir slightly.

Soon, they'd have to get up and go about their day on their separate ways. They wouldn't be able to come and cuddle up and not mind anything. That wasn't the life that society wanted of them. Despite their illness, they'd still have to put up with stress and the like. Takane was constantly worried about Haruka's well-being when they weren't home together and she could keep close watch on him.

"Takane... your arm is pressing into my bladder...", came a groggy voice and snapped the girl out of her thoughts. She quickly lifted her limb off Haruka and moved back a few inches so he could turn around to face her.

"Hey", she said with a soft little smile when they were face to face, resting her hand on the man's hip.

"Hey", he said back and yawned after that, allowing Takane to smell his morning breath.

"Don't you kiss me with that mouth", she told him and covered her nose and mouth with her hand, feeling a little sick to the stomach.

Haruka laughed a little, turning his head so that the puffs of air wouldn't get to Takane. "Sorry. After breakfast, it'll be gone", he said and ran a hand through Takane's hair. Then, he looked at her again. "Did you dream something nice?"

"I wouldn't remember", she replied and puffed out her cheeks, doing that more for the sake of routine than anything. "But I woke up too early."

"It's not too early. This is great", Haruka said with a smile and hugged Takane close to him. "We get to start the day off way nicer than usual. And cuddling Takane is the... um...", he paused and looked thoughtful for a second. "Third nicest thing in the world!"

Takane looked taken aback by that. "Then what are the first and second best things in the world?", she asked him, offended.

"Well", he began and smiled uneasily. "The second best thing is kissing Takane, but I can't do that because my breath is smelly and the best thing is..." Takane stared at him in irritation. "The best thing is sleeping with you", he finished and hid his reddening face in Takane's hair.

The girl went rigid for a second before chuckling lightly. "If it weren't for the fact that I know you well enough", she said and turned her head so that Haruka was forced to look her in the eye. "I would believe that you were talking about sex. But that's not what you mean, is it?"

"Of course not. Saying it like that is rude and makes it nothing special", he responded and looked like a fearful little child for a second. "Ah! But it's not like I didn't like doing it with you, either, it's just..."

There was a second when they just looked each other in the eyes, both blushing madly at the topic. Well, at least until Takane started laughing. Haruka joined her, then. "This is so stupid", she said and wiped her eyes. "That happens when you're not completely awake, you doof!"

"But it's just that it came up that way and-"

The alarm cut him off.

Takane pressed the snooze button.

A/N: I'm not sure if they're supposed to be married or whatever, but screw it. Hey, we're halfway through!

Now the results of my drunken rampage: so, I ended up spilling my beans. Like, not just that crush thing (I was rejected, by the way. "Getting like that would just be a waste since, when you break up, you start getting weird around each other. I don't want that with you, so for now, I'll put you in the friendzone", he said. "Ain't the girl friendzoning the guy, usually?", genius drunken Allie asked him. "Well, yeah", he replied. "That's deep, man", friend said.), but also something that got him seriously worried. Yeah. The voices in my head. He's thrown a shit-fit over that, then, but... well, I was kinda out of it, so it's somewhat hazy. Basically, he made me say the things that happen in my mind that I push away and enforce that way. At least he's really caring in that aspect. It ain't a matter of how you like someone, in the end. If they care for you, its enough.
But at least I now know that I'm the "in vino veritas"-kind of drunk.