Gokudera groans as he enters the waking world and cracks his eyes open to see an unfamiliar ceiling. His eyebrows furrow as he turns his head around, trying to remember where he is, and his eyes land on the girl laying beside him. Hayato smiles softly as he sees Phoenix's head and arm splayed across his chest. Now that he was fully conscious Gokudera was aware of just how warm Phoenix's skin felt against his. The feel of it worried him until he remembered the Irish girl saying that this was her normal temperature. Gokudera wrapped his arm around Phoenix's shoulders and pressed his lips to the top of her head.
'She looks so cute asleep.' Gokudera shifts slightly as his body calls his attention. 'Shit. I have to pee.'
The Italian frowns down at Phoenix, loathed to disturb her rest, but eventually his bodily needs win out. Gokudera grabs a pillow and slips it under the girl's head as he quickly gets off the bed without disturbing her. The silver-haired teen freezes as Phoenix shifts a bit in her sleep and murmurs.
"Nicky..."
Gokudera mirrors the smile on Phoenix's face before heading into the bathroom, unaware of the terror that suddenly grips the pale teen's mind. The red-haired girl flinches slightly and turns over murmuring in her sleep.
"No...don't..." Her head snaps to the side. "Don't...you have to...run..."
Her head snaps to the other side and she moans in her sleep. While Gokudera does hear some murmuring he doesn't think much of it.
"She's probably missing the body heat."
"No...Nicky...You have to...Run..." Phoenix turns over completely. "No...Nicky...Run..."
She thrashes a bit in her sleep and Gokudera realizes that something is wrong. He quickly washes his hands and goes into the room to find out what's happening just in time to see Phoenix bolt up straight screaming.
"NICKY RUN!"
The young girl looks around the room slightly, her eyes not seeing the room but whatever terror had hooked onto her mind. Gokudera's eyes widen at the look of pure terror on Phoenix's face.
"A-Aydan? What happened?"
A worried expression fills his face as Phoenix grasps onto the sheets tightly, her knuckles white. The girl doesn't answer but hugs her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth slightly.
"Just a dream...it was just a dream." Phoenix closes her eyes tightly and Gokudera crawls onto the bed and wraps his arms around her, stroking her hair.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. If I had stayed then you wouldn't have had that nightmare."
Phoenix seems to just realize that Gokudera is there. "H-Hayato?"
The Irish girl wraps her arms around Gokudera and he can feel her shaking in his arms.
"Shh, it's okay. It was just a bad dream." Gokudera hugs Phoenix tightly and tries to calm her down. "Don't worry Aydan. I'm right here. I won't leave you."
"It wasn't a dream...it...it was a memory." Phoenix takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "People always leave Hayato. It's what people do. They die, they move on, or they just don't care enough to stay. It's a part of humanity." Phoenix manages to get her breathing under control and holds onto Gokudera tightly. "But I'm glad you're here now."
The girl's Italian lover kisses her forehead, holding her close to him.
"I'm still sorry. I should've waited until you woke up. I didn't know that I really do take away your nightmares. I thought it was just a theory..."
"You really do. I don't know what it is about you...but you calm my demons." Phoenix rests her head against Gokudera's chest. "I thought I was done with that nightmare though..."
Gokudera hears the pain in his girlfriend's voice and runs his fingers through her hair.
"Well it's over now. I'll never let it happen again." The silver-haired teen kisses the top of Phoenix's head. "Come on. I'll cook you some breakfast in bed or something. How about it?"
"I'm not hungry."
Gokudera frowns as Phoenix rejects his offer.
"Fine, then I won't fucking cook."
Phoenix looks away from Gokudera and shakes her head, trying to dislodge the images left from the nightmare.
"Hayato...did...did you mean it when you said you won't leave me?"
The bomber sighs, "Yeah, I meant it. Even if you say that everyone you love leaves, I won't. I promise."
"Everyone leaves Hayato, there is always something that takes people away." Phoenix holds Gokudera close to her, as if she fears he will disappear and closes her eyes. "And there always will be."
The green-eyed teen finally loses his cool and grabs Phoenix's shoulders, forcing her to look at him.
"I'm tired of you always saying that! I won't ever leave you, damn it! Why can't you just accept that I love you and I won't ever abandon you? Not even death can separate us, Aydan. Nothing can."
"I accept that you love me, even though I don't understand why, but we live in two separate countries, Hayato. You won't leave Japan and I can't leave Chicago."
Gokudera suddenly realizes exactly what getting out of the torture house will mean. While they would be free and safe, Gokudera would have to go back to Japan to fulfill his duty to Tsuna.
"Why can't you leave Chicago? It's not safe to be this close to the O-Loughlin's. There's nothing left for you here Aydan."
"My family's graves are here Hayato! I can't just leave them!"
"We can come back, we can visit them as much as you want."
"Hayato...I can't leave. Not yet."
"Why not? Don't...don't you want to be with me?"
"Of course I do but...I swore that I wouldn't leave Chicago until the people who killed my family have paid. I swore on my family's grave, Hayato."
This causes Gokudera to pause, he knew what it meant to swear something on someone's gave and he knew what it meant to break it.
"We'll...we'll figure something out. I'm not going to leave you, Aydan. I swear it."
"Give me a few years to find the bastards who killed my family...and get Benny used to planes, and I'll move. But before that..." Phoenix looks up at Gokudera sadly. "What are we going to do? It's not like we can be in two places at once..."
"What if we use the CEDEF to locate the assholes that did it? I'm sure that have all the files on them and who knows, it won't even take a few years. Maybe it'll just take a few days!"
"Yes, let's abuse your family's resources for a revenge killing involving someone in your family." Phoenix laughs slightly. "Somehow I don't think they'll help."
"Juudaime's father is a very forgiving man, Aydan. If we tell him your circumstances, I'm sure he'll overlook the fact that one of those men is a part of the Vongola. Hell, even he himself was set up! So of course he'd be likely to help you out."
"You still have that stupid code to work with."
"Screw the code! If they deserve it, then it'll happen."
"Either way, it's too early to be thinking about killing."
Gokudera sighs, "Okay then. So what do you want to do? You don't wanna eat, and we just woke up..."
"Can't we just talk?" Phoenix smiles slightly and looks down blushing slightly. "Talking to you helps me forget the past."
The Italian teen flushes slightly at Phoenix's confession.
"S-Sure, but I'm not exactly an interesting person."
"Sure you are," The blue-eyed teen smiles at her European lover. "I'm the boring one."
Gokudera frowns as Phoenix puts herself down. "No you're not. You're an amazing person. Probably the only interesting woman I've ever met."
Phoenix laughs slightly, "Trust me, I'm not interesting. I do the same thing day after day and sleep...that's about it."
"Same shit I go through."
"Okay so we're both boring idiots who don't ever do anything different! You're still more interesting than me."
"Bullshit. How am I interesting?"
Phoenix looks at Gokudera and says pointedly. "You are the right-hand man to the next boss of the most powerful mafia family in the world."
"And? That makes me important, not interesting." Gokudera laughs and Phoenix smiles.
"Trust me. It makes you interesting." Phoenix lays down, her head in his lap. "The things you've seen..."
Gokudera smirks and begins to play with his girlfriend's long hair.
"You wanna hear some crazy shit that's happened to me since I've joined the Vongola?"
"Sure, then I can list off the reasons you are interesting."
Phoenix shifts into a move comfortable position and looks up at him expectantly and Gokudera laughs.
"Well, with in the first few weeks of becoming Juudaime's right-hand man, there was this crazy douche-bag who could produce illusions and possess people. He was such an asshole. Now he's Juudaime's mist guardian."
"I thought the mist guardian was a girl? Chrome something..."
"She's just his host while he was in prison. But he's out now. Much to my dislike."
"Why don't you just kill him? Or if you can't, I'll do it for you."
"He's a necessary asset to Juudaime's Famiglia. But trust me, I would if I could."
"Okay, so you have a jerk for a guardian who also used to be an enemy. What else happened?"
"The assassin division of the Vongola kidnapped the Ninth and instigated a battle between Juudaime and us guardians for the title of Decimo."
"Well that sounds stupid. Why would they even care?"
"I don't even fucking know. But I was not about to just stand by and let some asshole take away what was rightfully Juudaime's. Xanxus ended not even being the Ninth's real son so he couldn't even inherit the rings, much less the title of 'Decimo.' Anyway, there was that and we also got shot by that stupid cow's Ten-Year-Bazooka and ended up traveling to the future for like six months."
Phoenix sits up quickly. "Wait, what? You went to the future?"
"Yeah but while there I probably went through the toughest shit of my life."
"You've been to the future and you say you're not interesting! Hayato, a person could write a book about you!"
Phoenix smiles and laughs slightly as Gokudera guides her down to lay her head on his lap again.
"I guess it was fine but..." Gokudera sighs. "You would not wanna be in that future. It's just...No, I'm still not interesting. Seriously. I'm not."
"You are stubborn as hell! You are interesting. If you were boring I would have killed you and gone on with the job. But you peaked my interest and now look where we are."
"Wow and here I thought it was because of my good looks." Gokudera smirks and Phoenix smiles.
"Well that may have helped a little."
Gokudera laughs. "Oh please. I'm fucking hideous."
Phoenix sits up so she can look him in the eye.
"No you are not!"
Phoenix looks at him for a second then looks down smiling.
"H-Hey! Where do you think you're looking perv?" Gokudera smirks and Phoenix scoffs.
"You're the one with your mind in the gutter! If you're going to be like that, then I'm mad at you." Phoenix turns away from Gokudera and crosses her arms.
"Aw come on. Don't be like that. You know I'm just kidding."
"Hmph."
The Irish teen closes her eyes while still looking away from him. Gokudera frowns as a sense of worry fills him.
"You never usually get mad. Why now?"
"Because I love you and you keep putting yourself down." Phoenix looks at him, something close to anger, but not quite covering her face. "And I don't like it!"
Phoenix looks away again and Gokudera sighs.
"Well...it's the truth though. I'm not attractive."
"Yes you are! At least you are to me..." Phoenix blushes slightly and Gokudera smiles softly.
"You only think that because of your hormones."
"Or there is always option B that says you are one of the most attractive people on the planet. Now accept it!"
Phoenix's stomach growls loudly but Gokudera doesn't seem to notice.
"I can't accept it, damn it! I don't...I don't think I'm good-looking in the very least."
The redhead sighs and leans over, kisses Gokudera on the lips.
"You're an idiot." She kisses him again. "Now, help me down to the kitchen. I'm hungry."
Gokudera smiles and pecks Phoenix on the lips.
"I thought you said you weren't hungry."
"I wasn't. Now I am." Her stomach growls again and she points to it smiling. "See?"
The Italian teen sighs for the umpteenth "Fine." He gets off the bed and crouches on the floor. "Get on."
The silver-haired teen motions to his back and Phoenix hesitates for a second.
"I can walk, you know." Despite her words, Phoenix climbs onto Gokudera's back. "And besides I know that this has to hurt your ankle."
Gokudera slips his arms under Phoenix's knees, taking the majority of her weight on his arms.
"I'd rather you not fuck up your ankles anymore. Mine's already getting better, so don't worry about it."
Phoenix leans against Gokudera's should and kisses him on the cheek.
"My stubborn idiot."
Phoenix shakes her head, her hair tickling Gokudera's cheek. Gokudera walks towards the kitchen and carefully walks down the stairs.
"I'm not stubborn. The stubborn one here is you!"
"Oh shush. At least I admit I'm stubborn! And besides, you know you love it."
Gokudera almost says that he doesn't but then smirks as another idea comes to him. "It's not like I have a choice."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"You'd kill me if I didn't like it." Gokudera laughs and Phoenix finds she likes the way his body feels under her when he laughs and the vibrations that flow out of his back into her chest. She smiles and rest her chin down on the silver-haired teen's shoulder.
"True. But you are allowed to be annoyed by it."
"Why would I be annoyed by it? I wouldn't admit it regularly but it's kinda cute."
Gokudera smirks as Phoenix considers his words.
"So you think my stubbornness is cute?"
"Okay fine, sometimes. But usually, it's frustrating as fuck."
"Well is there anything else that I do that is frustrating to you?"
"Your teasing. It leaves me sexually frustrated." Gokudera lets go of one of Phoenix's legs and grabs her wrists, which are crossed in front of his neck. "Don't hit me. I'm just being honest."
"I'm not going to hit you, I can see your point." Phoenix hugs him around the neck. "Anything else?"
Gokudera shrugs and shifts Phoenix farther up his back since she had been slipping down.
"Nothing much really." His face morphs into a grin. "You're just perfect."
"I'm really not though."
"Perfect to me I mean. And be happy. I usually think everything's less than satisfactory."
"Oh I am happy. I'm happier than I've ever been." Phoenix grins as they finally reach the table. Gokudera had been going slowly to keep Phoenix from worrying about his ankle too much.