Sorry this took so long -_- I was having a lot of trouble trying to pin down these characters in this one.

Also, this is not the last chapter. I wanted to give it a yaoi ending but I didn't want to rush into it so the next chapter is going to end it. I hope people don't mind it being in Usagi's Perspective. Thank you all for reading!

Chapter 17 (Misaki)

'This is all my fault...'

Misaki was afraid to say anything. He sat silently, watching Usagi work through the knot on his wrists, and worried. Usagi hadn't spoken to him yet, he wouldn't even look at him. He didn't know what that meant, but he didn't like it.

He also didn't like being wrapped in a sheet with no clothes. It was only wrapped under his arms so his chest and shoulders were still naked.

Thinking about it made Misaki glance at his shoulder and the red marks that speckled it. He could feel his chest tighten and his eyes fill with water and tried to look somewhere else. He turned his eyes back on Usagi, still trying to tear the knot out, but it made his chest tighten up more.

Looking away again, something caught his eye. There was some kind of dark smudge on the side of the sheet. Was he bleeding? He didn't remember getting scratched by anything...

He turned his head back to Usagi.

'Is it...Usagi's bleeding?'

Misaki opened his mouth to speak.

"Got it," Usagi said, his head still down.

The knot gave way, and the tie was thrown on the ground.

Misaki could feel Usagi's hands trembling a little looking over the the red, raw marks left behind. Or were his hands the ones that were shaking? Usagi's head was still down.

"...Usagi-san?"

Usagi stood up,closed Misaki's door and walked to the other side of the car. He stood outside his door for a while, leaning against it. Misaki didn't know what was going on; this wasn't like Usagi. Why was he standing there? Did he not want to see him?

'Does he hate me now...?'

Misaki hung his head, nearly about to cry again.

Finally the door opened and Usagi started driving. He didn't say anything, and Misaki couldn't help but think his eyes were avoiding his. He wanted to say something, to thank him...or apologize...anything to stop this silence! He wanted Usagi to say something.

'Just say something,' Misaki pleaded silently, 'Anything...

...please.

...

Misaki woke in Usagi's arms. He flailed in surprise, about to yell at Usagi to put him down, but remembered what had happened and stopped.

He must have fallen asleep in the car because they were just down the hall from the apartment now. He looked up at Usagi expecting a smile now that they were home, but was surprised to see how red and puffy his eyes were.

'Was he...?'

Usagi looked down at him and Misaki quickly dropped his eyes. The way Usagi was acting was making him uncomfortable. He didn't like the way their eyes weren't meeting, and Usagi wasn't talking. The silence started to feel like that room he was stuck in, dreading that Haruhiko was coming...

They were inside the apartment when Misaki realized he was shaking again, and fidgeted a little in Usagi's arms.

"Uh...Usagi-san, you can put me down now.." he said, trying to break the silence.

"...no," he murmured.

Usually Misaki would be angry with this, but after the long silence, he was just happy to hear Usagi say something.

He carried him up the stairs and to the bathroom before putting him on his feet.

"I'll get your clothes," Usagi sighed before turning away and walking down the hall.

Misaki watched for a second, and guessed he should take a shower. He closed the door behind him as he dropped the sheet and turned on the water, but decided not to lock it.

As he turned he caught sight of himself in the mirror, and immediately wished he hadn't. His skin was a mess, there were the red specks that covered his chest and neck, the dark circles around his eyes, and traces of purple bruises on his arms. The reflection was a serious shock. He had felt like the whole thing was like a dream, like it hadn't really happened at all, but now he could really see it.

No wonder Usagi wouldn't talk to him. He must be disgusting to look at...

He spent his time in the shower sitting under the water hugging his knees to his chest. Every couple of seconds he flicked the temperature from each side, letting it turn ice cold until he was shivering and then to scalding hot until his skin turned red. Each time he did he thought of the marks on his skin, and hoped they would go away.

The door creaking open snapped his out of the trance. Misaki watched the door open a crack, and for a second held his breath thinking Usagi was going to come in, but then saw a pile of his pajamas dropped next to the opening and the door close again.

Why didn't Usagi come in? It's not like he cared about him being naked...

Misaki lowered his head back into his knees and turned off the water.

Why did he want Usagi to come in...?

A few minutes later Misaki stepped out of the bathroom in his pajamas. Usagi was leaning against the wall waiting for him. He looked a little better to Misaki, he had different clothes on now, which he didn't really understand why, but it made him look a little bit more like himself. It wasn't much, but it made Misaki feel a little more relaxed.

Usagi held up some bandages and motioned awkwardly, "we should wrap up your wrists so they don't get infected."

Misaki looked at his swollen wrists, and nodded a little. He followed Usagi into his room and sat down on the bed next to him. There was still an awkward silence between them, and as Usagi worked on wrapping his wrist he fidgeted a little.

'Come on, say something,' Misaki scolded himself.

"Uh...Usagi-san..."

Usagi looked up from his hands and Misaki blushed embarrassed.

"U-uh...thanks for coming for me," Misaki fidgeted more.

"I-I mean...I guess it gave you a reason to slack off on your deadline," Misaki gave a weak laugh, and scolded himself more for how stupid that sounded.

"Misaki..."

"Haha, I-I bet Aikawa-san going to have a fit about this," he continued, just trying to stop Usagi. He fidgeted nervously again.

"Misaki."

"B-but its okay now. I'm fine, and you can finish your work now," his voice was shaking a little now, and he started to regret that he said anything. He was making a fool out of himself.

"Misaki, what's wrong?"

He kept his eyes moving, avoiding Usagi's.

"I told you I'm fine. No problem. Nothing-"

"Misaki," Usagi touched Misaki's cheek softly, "you're crying."

He was? He hadn't noticed, but he could feel the wetness now. When had he started crying? He looked up at Usagi's eyes and saw that redness again.

Usagi leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the boy, squeezing him gently.

"I'm sorry, Misaki," he said, "this is all my fault."

'Huh?'

"Thats...not true," Misaki said, "it's not your fault, Usagi-san."

Usagi only squeezed him tighter.

"I couldn't protect you."

His voice was wavering, and Misaki could feel small drops on his shoulder.

'Usagi-san was really...worried?' Misaki eyes lowered; he brought his arms up and gripped Usagi's back in a hug. Usagi raised his head.

"That's not true,"Misaki clung tighter, "I'm sorry I worried you, Usagi-san."

They locked eyes for a second before Misaki blushed and looked away. Usagi took the opportunity to catch his lips in a kiss. It took no time at all for him to deepen the kiss, bringing his hand up to tangle in the brunette's hair. Misaki kept his grip on Usagi's back as he was tipped backward. Usagi moved in closer, filling any space between their bodies, easily dominating Misaki tongue. Misaki felt a pleasurable shiver down his back; it felt good.

It wasn't till Usagi pulled away from the kiss for air, that Misaki found himself lying on the bed with Usagi hovering over him. Usagi gently pinned him to the bed to kiss him again. His chest started to tighten up for some reason. His lips grazed his cheek before trailing down to his neck to nip and lick his skin. What was going on? He felt like he couldn't breath. A cold hand slipped under his shirt and found his nipple.

"S-stop...!" Misaki yelped.

Misaki flinched back, eyes shut tight, his trembling fingers digging into the mans back.

"Misaki?"

Misaki's eyes shot open as the weight of Usagi's body suddenly lifted off him, pulling out of his grip. Why was Usagi looking at him like that?

"I'm sorry, Misaki."

Before he could move, Usagi stood up, pulled the bed covers over him, and hurried out of the room.

Misaki stared at the closed door, his chest heaving. What happened? He didn't know why he reacted that way. It was just Usagi, he had done this before. Misaki sighed. It had almost felt like Usagi was back to himself, and now...Why did he do that? What was wrong? It was just Usagi after all so...

Why was his body still shaking?

He sat up and looked toward the door again.

"Usagi-san..."