Gokudera's back hurt like hell.

His partner hadn't gone too rough; Gokudera had felt much worse with a lot more pain. No, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Gokudera hadn't been sleeping around as much as his sexual tension probably required and he wasn't as stretched as he liked to be.

He couldn't really help that, though. He'd had to work through weekends for the past month to make sure he'd had enough money to pay the rent on his small apartment. His drainage pipes hadn't been working, either, and throwing a wrench or two down the toilet while he'd tried to fix them probably hadn't helped. So he'd spent a good chunk of his money paying for a plumber. And his job didn't pay as much as he would like either.

Beside the point, he'd really needed to get out last night.

His one night stand had been nice about it, though; letting him use his shower and borrow a few clothes, giving him painkillers and food. He hated McDonalds, but he would take any food he could right now. Struggling with the rent didn't let you eat well.

And, also, he'd gotten a phone number inviting him back.

That had surprised Gokudera. No one he'd ever slept with ever wanted to see his face again and Gokudera usually felt the same way. But this man wanted him to come back. He wanted to sleep with Gokudera again.

Gokudera wasn't modest; he knew he wasn't that good in bed. There wasn't much you could do when you were on bottom except make apparently very sexy noises. Hell, Gokudera knew he was better before they took clothes off because at least then he could grind and do other teasing things.

Yet, this man wanted him again. Gokudera wondered if he wanted the man back.

As he finally was able to leave the other man's apartment, Gokudera only made it a few steps down the stairs before he bumped into someone. He'd thought for one sweet moment that he'd actually left before his partner's father could show up and find out about his son's hobby. But that was short-lived.

"Huh? Did you just come out of Takeshi's apartment?" The man Gokudera had bumped into asked. Gokudera, wondering who Takeshi was, looked the man over and almost nearly had a heart attack.

The man was well into his fifties, maybe older, but other than that he looked almost exactly like the man Gokudera had just slept with. Not only was that way beyond creepy, but Gokudera knew with a sinking feeling exactly who this man was.

Something told him he would be getting home late today.

"Uh…" Gokudera stalled, finally responding to the elderly man's question. His mind went on over-drive as he tried to think of a response that would let him pass the father with no questions asked. He couldn't say he hadn't come out of the son's apartment; he was walking down the stairs that only led to that door.

He was about to say something stupid about delivering fast food (which was an obvious lie because he was holding a McDonald's Happy Meal) when the father spoke up again.

"I swear my son is so rude sometimes. Kicking out his friends just because his father's coming over! We can all celebrate Takeshi's birthday together!" The father said happily before briskly turning Gokudera around and pushing him back up the stairs. Gokudera was so shocked by the man's abruptness that he couldn't even react fast enough to maybe jump over the railing.

So, looking absolutely ridiculous with the Happy Meal and a bag of painkillers and clothes, Gokudera reappeared in his one night stand's doorway.

Though he felt pretty much the same way, he had to bite back a snort of laughter at his one night stand's dawning look of horror. The whole situation was rather funny. After all, it wasn't his father that was about to find out what his hobby was. If only Gokudera wasn't in so much pain to enjoy it.

Because, dammit, the father pushing on his back and forcing him to sit in a chair at the dining room table was not doing wonders on his pain. He'd been using muscles he hadn't used for a while last night, and it hurt to just stand up and sit back down. Hell, he'd had trouble getting out of bed that morning!

"Kicking out your friends just because I'm coming over, sheesh, Takeshi where are your manners?" The father scolded, stalking into the kitchen where his teasing mood took a total 180 degree turn. "Oh my, you didn't need to make me breakfast! Aw, Egg Benedict and bacon, you know it's my favorite! You didn't make enough for three, though. Here, I'll make the rest and you go out there and apologize to your friend!"

And, with that, the man Gokudera had slept with came almost literally flying out of the kitchen. He stumbled over to where Gokudera was sitting and sat next to him. He seemed to be pale, as if he was still freaking out about Gokudera being forced back into his apartment.

Gokudera took this time to swallow his painkillers with a glass of water that had come flying out with the other man. His one night stand shifted uncomfortably before speaking up quietly.

"Um… I'm really sorry about this… Could I ask you for a favor?"

Gokudera thought it over. He hated doing favors for people, because they were usually something he'd rather not do, but his one night stand was different, right? Besides, it couldn't be too bad since the other man was just trying to hide from his father the fact that he slept with men he didn't know.

"Depends on the favor," Gokudera replied.

"Do you mind if we make up a story of how we met? I don't want my dad knowing about… you know…" The other man coughed before starting again. He seemed really uncomfortable about the whole thing. "It'll just be for today… this shouldn't happen again if you come over for another night…"

Gokudera didn't really need to think about his answer. The man had been really nice to him ever since they met at the bar and this was the least Gokudera could do to make it up to him. Gokudera hated owing people, so it was best to get the repayment over with.

"Yeah, sure, I don't really care. It's the least I can do."

The other man beamed.

"Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me!"

"So what's the story?" Gokudera sipped on his water, wondering about something the other man had said. It shouldn't happen again if you come over for another night. What was that supposed to mean? It sounded like the other man was practically begging him to come back!

"Well… I play professional baseball, so maybe you're my teammate?" The man suggested.

"That will never work. I know nothing about baseball and I don't care for it, either." Gokudera knew he was being rude, but it was better to come up with a reasonable excuse right?

The other man made a pouting face as he thought.

"Then how about we met were you work? Where do you work, anyway…? Aw man, my dad was right! I haven't even had the courtesy to introduce myself!" Was Gokudera imagining it or was the other man blushing? "I'm Takeshi Yamamoto!"

Gokudera took Yamamoto's hand and shook it, having a strange feeling about this. He never bothered to learn the names of his one night stands, since he knew he'd never see them again. The fact that he was learning his name gave him a forbidding thought that he would see this man again.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he introduced himself anyway.

"Hayato Gokudera."

Yamamoto wondered why his heart was beating so erratically as he took his one night stand's hand. They were just two guys meeting each other, right? They'd just had sex before; it wasn't that big of a deal…

But Yamamoto couldn't help but feel connected for the first time to someone he'd slept with. He'd never asked any man for his name and when he had they had just laughed at him. Gokudera hadn't, though. And just that was an amazing fact to Yamamoto.

Suddenly Yamamoto realized that Gokudera was staring at him funny and Yamamoto realized that he was still awkwardly holding Gokudera's hand. He took his hand back quickly, a dark blush forming on his cheeks. Why was he such an embarrassing idiot?!

"U-um… That's a really pretty name…" Yamamoto stuttered. He'd meant to say it as a mesmerized compliment, but it seemed creepy now that he'd held the other's hand like that.

"Thanks, I guess…" Gokudera was eyeing him funny again.

An awkward silence fell over them, then, and Yamamoto cursed himself. Everything had been going so well until he'd gone and been an idiot! Yamamoto sneaked a peak at his one night stand, embarrassment coating his cheeks pink.

Gokudera was slouching into his chair, a slight grimace on his face as he took small sips of his water. His silver bangs crawled along his porcelain cheek bones and his bright green eyes were unemotional as he stared off into space. He seemed like he was still in pain, by the tenseness of his body, and Yamamoto wondered how long it would be until the painkillers kicked in. Hopefully not too long, Yamamoto didn't want their night of pleasure giving so much pain to Gokudera…

Why did he care so much?

Yamamoto realized he was staring and looked down at his lap. Why did he feel so awkward around Gokudera? It hadn't been like that last night, but ever since he'd woken up this morning he'd been so embarrassed and awkward around the man. He'd never felt this way with his other one night stands…

A sudden clattering of pots hitting each other snapped Yamamoto out of his thoughts and reminded him that he needed to come up with a story; and fast.

"So, Gokudera, where do you work, then?" Yamamoto asked, trying not to sound embarrassed or awkward. He didn't want another weird stare from the other man.

"I'm a cook at the Italian restaurant just down the street, actually," Gokudera replied. He glanced at Yamamoto for a second before leaning his head over the back of the chair. He continued speaking to the ceiling. "How about you're a regular at the restaurant and you wanted to compliment the chef? Then we talked, you wanted to repay all the times I'd cooked a meal for you, and invited me over here for dinner. Then I fell asleep on the couch and you didn't have the heart to kick me out."

Yamamoto just opened and closed his mouth for a second. How could Gokudera have come up with such a realistic story in just a few seconds? Yamamoto didn't have a single brain cell in his head that could do that.

"U-uh… yeah, that'll work really well…" Yamamoto laughed. "How did you come up with that so fast? That was amazing!"

Gokudera shrugged.

"It wasn't that hard."

Yamamoto laughed again and shook his head. Admiration started to flood through him and he found himself staring dreamily at Gokudera. He was really something…

"Takeshi and friend! Breakfast is ready!" Tsuyoshi tore through Yamamoto's thoughts as he shouted loudly. Yamamoto flinched and looked up as his dad came in with three plates of Egg Benedict and bacon.

"Ah, let me help you with that, dad!" Yamamoto yelled in a flustered state. He started to stand up, but Tsuyoshi gave him a look which made him sit down again. Yamamoto could only watch as his father set the plates down in front of the three of them before grabbing a chair for himself.

"I may be getting up there in years, Takeshi, but I can still set the table!" Tsuyoshi said indignantly before staring down at the food. "This smells great! Thanks for the food!"

The three started on their food, but Yamamoto found he couldn't focus. He kept staring at Gokudera out of the corner of his eye, feeling a little bit of pride at how much Gokudera seemed to like his cooking. Warmth spread through him. It made him indefinitely happy for some reason that Gokudera liked his food.

"Well boys," Tsuyoshi started as he put down his fork and wiped his face with a napkin, "I really want to know how you've met each other, but my bladder isn't as good as it used to be."

Yamamoto felt immense embarrassment flood through him as his father got up from the table. Who the heck said something like that?! No one talked about their bladder while someone else was trying to eat!

"Dad!" Yamamoto whined and pouted as he heard Tsuyoshi chuckle. His dad started to go into the bedroom; you had to pass it to get to the bathroom from the kitchen, when Yamamoto thought of the bed in there.

His face paled. The sheets were ruffled, and on those very sheets was white evidence of how Gokudera and he had met and exactly what they had been doing last night.

Yamamoto stood up so fast that he knocked his chair over. He ran over to stand in front of his dad, smiling to cover his pure horror and panic.

"Dad, you don't want to come in here quite yet, the covers on the bed are all messy and my clothes are strewn everywhere…" Yamamoto swallowed and hoped Gokudera didn't find him too embarrassing as he finished. "Your bladder should be able to hold for a little while longer, right? Just long enough for me to clean up?"

A faint snort could be heard from the kitchen, and Yamamoto shot a glance behind his dad to see Gokudera covering his mouth. His body was shaking and his eyes danced in amusement, causing Yamamoto's cheeks to flush as he realized that Gokudera was just barely containing laughter. He couldn't help but pout a little. Gokudera wouldn't be laughing if it was him in this situation!

"Takeshi, I've lived with your messy room my whole life. I don't care what it looks like, and it's not going to prevent me from using the bathroom!" Tsuyoshi claimed, pushing past Yamamoto, who could only look on in horror, and going into the bathroom.

Yamamoto looked down, sudden shame flooding through him. How would his dad react when he found out that his only son was gay and had been sleeping with men he didn't know? Maybe he wouldn't mind the gay part, but Yamamoto was sure he'd be disappointed in his son for giving away his precious virginity to a stranger.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for the shout of shock to come.

But it never did.

To Yamamoto's complete astonishment, it didn't sound like Tsuyoshi stopped in the bedroom at all. The sound of his footsteps just kept going before they stopped and a door opened. Tsuyoshi had walked right past the bed and was already at the bathroom door!

"I think something must be wrong with your eyes, son. There are no clothes on the ground and the bed is made perfectly! Are you just used to seeing a messy room?" Tsuyoshi's voice was distant, but Yamamoto could hear the amusement in his father's voice. A sudden creak of the door closing signaled that Tsuyoshi was now safely in the bathroom.

Yamamoto couldn't believe his ears. The room was… clean? Just to make sure his father wasn't pulling his leg; Yamamoto opened the door to the bedroom and found it spotless. The bed's covers had been changed and were tucked neatly into the mattress, the floor didn't even have dust on it, and his furniture was all neatly arranged.

Gaping in shock, Yamamoto turned back towards Gokudera who wasn't even trying to restrain his laughter anymore.

"Did you do that…?" Yamamoto was still having problems processing what was happening.

Gokudera took his hand away from his mouth, a wide grin on his face.

"Of course it was me, you knucklehead! I made it when I finished my shower just in case your father caught us. Good thing I did, huh?" Gokudera snorted and burst into laughter again. "You should've seen your face! Priceless!"

Yamamoto was starting to wonder if every person in his life's goal was to tease him.

"Gokudera! Why didn't you tell me?" Yamamoto pouted, going back over to the table and collapsing into his chair. He couldn't believe the sudden exhaustion that came with the immense relief he felt.

"And miss out on that face? I wonder!"

The silver haired man kept quietly laughing to himself while Yamamoto sat there feeling embarrassed. He didn't want to disappoint his dad, what was wrong with that? Why did everyone have to tease him about it?

He had to admit, though, that Gokudera looked absolutely adorable laughing, so maybe it was worth it.

Yamamoto flushed as he processed the thought that just went through his head. What was wrong with him? Gokudera was just another person he'd slept with. So what if he knew his name? So what if he'd given Gokudera his phone number? That didn't automatically mean that Gokudera would call him back. Maybe he hadn't even liked the sex Yamamoto had dealt last night.

Suddenly feeling really down on himself, Yamamoto was almost relieved when his father came back into the room.

"That's much better!" Tsuyoshi sighed as he sat back down in his seat. Everyone started eating again, and Tsuyoshi eyed Gokudera. "So how did you two meet?"

Glad to relieve the awkward tension, Yamamoto delved into this really elaborate explanation of Gokudera's made up story; somewhat telling Gokudera of the details so that they were on the same page. Tsuyoshi listened carefully, and Yamamoto hoped that he didn't have any suspicions after how Yamamoto had acted earlier. Embarrassment and self-loathing started to rise in him, but he pushed it down.

"Ah, so you're a cook," Tsuyoshi commented to Gokudera. "Takeshi and I own a little sushi shop that isn't too far from your restaurant. That restaurant is one of our biggest rivals! Maybe we shouldn't even be serving you breakfast; you're one of our rivals!"

Yamamoto gaped at his father. He knew he was joking, but what a thing to say! Was his father trying this hard to embarrass him? He hoped Gokudera wouldn't feel insulted and storm out!

But the man just shrugged.

"Its fine, the food's crap anyway."

Tsuyoshi started laughing, but Yamamoto felt like he'd been stabbed in the heart. Was his cooking that bad…? He had thought Gokudera was enjoying it, but had he been wrong…? He suddenly felt like he was going to cry. All he wanted was to be nice to Gokudera, to treat him to a nice morning after and maybe even treat himself because it was his birthday. What was wrong with that?

It sure didn't feel like his birthday anymore.

Not wanting to embarrass himself further by crying in front of his one-night stand and father, Yamamoto quietly excused himself to the bathroom and tried not to run there. When he got there, he put the toilet seat down and sat heavily upon it. He took sheet after sheet of toilet paper as he blew his nose and tried to dry the tears that were threatening to fall down his face.

He had to admit he cared for Gokudera. He didn't know why, but he wanted to fuss over him and make him feel loved. He'd felt… normal when he was with Gokudera. Like he didn't have to act like a different person or worry that he would look down on him for who he was. Like he wasn't just some lonely gay guy who slept with anyone and everyone. Maybe he'd even hoped he'd get a boyfriend out of it. After all, maybe what he was feeling really was love.

But he had to remind himself that Gokudera was just a one night stand. He obviously didn't feel the same way as Yamamoto did, as he'd shown with his actions this morning.

Yamamoto had to drop the idea of actually being loved this time. And that thought broke his heart.

(A/N) That's the next chapter! Sorry for leaving off on a sad note, but I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter all the same! I split the POV between both of them, so hopefully that wasn't too confusing. I should be able to update soon, so don't worry about that!