Chapter edited April 18th 2016.
A week had passed by since Yamamoto last saw Gokudera. He felt so horrible for what had happened, he hadn't even had the motivation to play baseball. He wanted to go to Gokudera's home and talk with him – to work things out – but he knew that would make everything worse; he knew the silver-haired male well enough to know Gokudera would react badly.
Tsuyoshi had noticed the strange behaviour in his son; even during the younger's depressive moods, he had still played baseball, so to know that Takeshi couldn't even do that was very concerning for him – but no matter what he did, his son wouldn't open up to him.
"I think it would be a good idea for you to get out of the house and play with your friends, Takeshi," Tsuyoshi tried when he found Yamamoto curled up in his bed, staring wistfully out of the window.
"Tsuna and Gokudera are busy, dad," Yamamoto lied, not wanting to explain things just yet.
"But don't you have other friends?" Tsuyoshi could be persistent when he wanted to be. "I see you talking with that blond boy who comes to eat here. You two seem friendly."
"That's Bel, but I'm not sure if I…" Yamamoto trailed off before he sighed; he knew no matter what he said, Tsuyoshi wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed to go out with some friends. "…I'll see if Bel and Mukuro are busy…"
"Good work, Takeshi." Tsuyoshi smiled brightly, glad that his son was finally going to get some fresh air; he hated seeing the younger moping around all the time.
"Be back later, dad," Yamamoto said as he sat up and started getting ready to depart the house.
It didn't take the black-haired teenager long to leave but, when he did, that strange feeling of being watched seemed to follow him everywhere he went. He glanced behind him as he picked up his pace despite not seeing anyone ; this feeling had been coming and going a lot over the past week, and no matter what he did he couldn't shake it.
~~Tsuna and Gokudera~~
"I still think you should talk to Yamamoto," Tsuna said as he sat on the floor by his friend's desk. Gokudera was sitting at it, fighting with his cat over who got to do what with his homework sheets. "He's been pretty upset."
"I don't – oww! Damnit, Uri, this is my homework! – I don't know what to say, Tenth!" Gokudera didn't mean to snap at his best friend, but with the stress of everything that had been happening and now trying to avoid Uri's sharp claws, he was ready to explode.
"You should be honest with him." Tsuna reached up and grabbed the cat from his friend's hands. "He knew from the start you probably wouldn't return his feelings, and so he just wanted to be friends."
Gokudera ran his hand over the fresh cuts Uri had inflicted on his arms, sighing as he did so. "Tenth, I… I-it's not just that… I finally started letting him in, and just when I thought… I could trust him like I do you… He drops a bombshell on me, Tenth… I don't know what I'm feeling anymore. I've never… questioned myself… you know?"
"That's why it'd be a good idea to talk to Yamamoto and explain that you're confused," Tsuna pointed out. "He doesn't know what's going on – all he knows is that he's upset you, and he doesn't know what to do."
"…I don't know how to act around him anymore, Tenth…"
"I imagine it would be just like when you didn't realise he liked you," Tsuna said softly as he patted the cat that was now curled up in his lap. "He tried to hide it as best he could so he didn't make you uncomfortable. You should ask him to keep doing that until you work things out."
"…" The Tenth's right… Surely things don't need to change…? If he were going to do anything, he'd have done it before I knew, right…? Maybe… he really is trustworthy… "Tenth, do you think you could come with me if I talk to him?"
Tsuna smiled as he nodded. "Of course."
"Can you text him and ask where he is?" Gokudera flushed as he looked away and scratched his chin nervously. "I kind of… deleted his number…"
Tsuna hummed as he pulled his phone from his pocket and his nimble fingers worked quickly against the keys. They only waited a few minutes before Yamamoto sent a text back, saying he was with Bel and Mukuro in town and that the two could join them.
I don't even know if it's a good or bad thing there'll be two others around… Gokudera bit his lip as thought about it. I'll probably be the laughing stock if they hear what happened… That fucking Mukuro will be the one to spread it around and everything...
Gokudera stood up to grab his phone and wallet. H e was quiet as he followed Tsuna, really not looking forward to this, but knowing he really needed to do something to fix things – he had been the one to stuff up, after all.
~~XX ~~
When Gokudera pushed open the door to the cafeteria Yamamoto and the others were supposedly at, he tensed as he saw the younger male sitting in a corner booth with Mukuro. Tsuna went over first and slid in to sit across from the two as he greeted them happily. Gokudera sat next to the brunet and looked anywhere but at Yamamoto.
"Where's Bel?" Tsuna asked, noticing that the blond wasn't with them.
"He took Fran to the bathroom," Mukuro said before he took a sip of his water. "Nice of you to join us, Tsunayoshi."
Gokudera shifted uneasily beneath both Mukuro's judging gaze; he felt exposed, as if he were being picked apart in search of his flaws. He felt small, like a young child would after being reprimanded by a stranger. He knew that Yamamoto had told the blue-haired teen what had happened between them, and the other clearly wasn't impressed at all with how Gokudera had handled things. He wanted to speak, to ask Yamamoto if they could talk privately, but he didn't want to speak in front Mukuro; not when the other looked so ready to give him a verbal lashing as it was.
Thankfully, Tsuna was the one to handle things, always the knowing friend. "Mukuro, when Bel and Fran come back, can I speak to you all about something outside?"
Mukuro raised his eyebrow in curiosity before he nodded; he knew the brunet wanted them to leave Yamamoto and Gokudera alone, and though he disagreed with it, he wasn't one to fight others' battles for them. He picked up the toasted sandwich he hadn't eaten and took small bites out of it as he waited for the two to emerge from the bathroom.
Yamamoto was almost too scared to look at Gokudera left he ruin his chance to patch things up or he accidentally made the older male even angrier with him; it wasn't until he sat here with his interest did he really understand just how badly Gokudera's rejection had affected him.
But before Yamamoto could think too deeply on his fears, he was snapped back to reality when he felt someone jump at his back and wrap their arms around him. He saw the golden locks that were tickling his cheek from the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but smile when he felt a warm cheek rub against his; Bel may have been older than they were, but he truly was just a child at heart.
"Ne, ne~ Takeshi~ You can make out with Hayato now, ne~? Ushishishi~" Bel's obscured eyes watched Gokduera, and he couldn't help but smirk as he saw the way the younger bristled as Yamamoto allowed him to hug him like this. He could see that they still hadn't made up, so he instead moved to clamber onto the booth seat next to his new friend and give the younger a hug as he nuzzled in close to the warm body. He smiled sincerely when he felt strong arms return the embrace; was he doing this just to make the other more jealous than he already was, or because he wanted affection? He wasn't sure; perhaps it was both. "Ne, Takeshi-chan is so warm~ Not that Hayato would know~"
"You little shit!" Gokudera stood up to rip the blond away, but before he could do anything more, Tsuna grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. It was Mukuro who spoke to him.
"That is exactly the reaction he wants out of you, Hayato." Mukuro rolled his eyes as he heard the blond giggle at his words. "He will get bored if you ignore him."
"You're no fun, Mukuro." Bel pouted, but he made no move to pull away from Yamamoto; he was quite comfortable in the other's arms and he hadn't had his fill of affection just yet.
Mukuro stood up and fixed his friend with a stern glare. "Belphegor, we are going outside to talk to Tsunayoshi about something."
Bel's pout grew further. Before he stood up, he looked directly at Gokudera and licked Yamamoto's cheek for good measure before he laughed like it was the funniest thing he had ever seen and quickly left to follow the younger males out of the café.
"Were you really jealous of Bel, Gokudera…?"
The silver-haired male, who had been watching the group leave to stand out the front of the café, looked back to Yamamoto. He cleared his throat awkwardly before he shrugged and avoided eye contact; how was he supposed to explain that whatever he had felt was foreign to him? It wasn't quite anger, and it wasn't quite jealousy; perhaps something in between?
Yamamoto didn't want to put the other on the spot, so he changed the subject and said, "I-I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable… It wasn't… intentional… I just wanted us to be friends… I swear…"
Gokudera shook his head, still avoiding eye-contact. Damnit, why is it so hard to look at him all of a sudden…?
"I understand," the silver-haired teenager spoke softly. "Maybe I… Maybe I overreacted… I just… Well, I… I've never… thought about who I'm attracted to before… I never thought I could possibly be attracted to males… I'm just… confused… And if possible… at least until I work things out… I want us to go back to pretending…"
Yamamoto frowned. "…I was… kind of hoping you wouldn't ignore me anymore…"
"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Gokudera raised his voice before lowering it, mindful of the eyes that were turning to face them. "…I meant… I don't want things to change between us because of your feelings…"
The younger male smiled lightly in understanding; this, he could work with. "I see…"
It fell silent between them all of a sudden as neither of them knew how to proceed from there. The silence was broken only by the sound of a plate scraping against the table and, when Gokudera looked down, he noticed the other's food was in front of him, the pie waiting patiently to be eaten.
"What…?" Gokudera blinked at Yamamoto, not knowing what to say – he had just… given him his food…?
"You looked hungry…" Yamamoto turned to look away from Gokudera as he felt as if he were being scrutinised by the other. "I-I haven't touched it, if that's what you're worried about…"
Without a word, Gokudera picked up the knife and fork that were sitting on the plate beside the pie. He grunted slightly as he stabbed the pie with the fork, holding it still so that he could cut through the middle.
Dark eyes watched in confusion as Gokudera separated the two halves of the pie and placed one on a napkin beside them before he slid the plate back over to Yamamoto.
"You paid for it…" Gokudera mumbled as he started picking at the pie.
Yamamoto was silent for a second before he laughed happily, feeling as if the tension between them had been lifted by those words. He smiled and nodded before he started eating at his food, feeling relaxed once more.
Gokudera, likewise, felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted and, in comfortable silence, the two ate their half of the pie with a simple understanding between them; until Gokudera could work things out for himself, things didn't have to change.