It was a relief for Gokudera to be held in Yamamoto's arms just hours after what had happened between he and the blond; for reasons he didn't entirely understand, he felt shaken and the only thing that had been able to soothe his distress was his boyfriend's loving hold.

"Hey… Yamamoto…" Gokudera sighed as he turned to look out of the window and across to the beach that had been shadowed by the setting sun. His eyelids felt heavy as exhaustion crept up on him, and even though it was nowhere near his bedtime, he felt ready to turn off all the lights and go to sleep.

"Hmm?" Yamamoto tightened his hold on the younger. He could sense that something was bothering his boyfriend, but he wasn't going to pry; he knew Gokudera would tell him when he was ready.

"…" The smaller male chose his words carefully. "…That blond brat… He said he's… jealous... He said that… Well… He thinks you love me a lot…"

"That's because I do, Gokudera." The taller male couldn't help but chuckle. "Of course I love you. And he knows that because I've told him before."

"Why would you tell him something like that…?" Gokudera frowned. He felt uncomfortable knowing his boyfriend was going around talking about him to other people, even though he wasn't entirely sure; perhaps it was his self-consciousness blowing the situation up, but still…

"He asks about it all the time. He's really curious. He likes to know what we do together; I think it helps give him ideas about what he can do with Mukuro, because his adoptive family only fight all the time and he doesn't know who else to learn from."

"Oh, god; don't tell him that stuff!" The silver-haired male gave a shudder. "I don't like him knowing so much about us; it makes me feel… really…"

"Embarrassed?" Yamamoto frowned when he received a nod in response. He was gentle as he asked, "Why do you feel embarrassed?"

"…Because…" The younger male looked away. "…I… I don't think I'm… a very good boyfriend…"

"Well, that's not what I think. I think you're doing a really good job for your first relationship. You don't have reason to be embarrassed."

"Yes, I do… I mean… We haven't even had sex yet… And that blond brat already has…"

"Only because that's the only thing he knows in a relationship. He really doesn't have the best role models, Gokudera; that's pretty much the only thing Squalo and Xanxus do together; he doesn't know any better. But you do, and that's okay. I love you, Gokudera."

Gokudera accepted the kiss that was planted on his lips. He returned it as he felt familiar hands running up and down his sides, but tonight, he didn't mind them; he allowed them to do what they wanted with minimal resistance. He still wasn't ready for the main course, but he did allow them to wander a little lower than usual, much to Yamamoto's excitement; he had waited so long for this, and he was going to take full advantage of what he was being allowed to do – who knew if Gokudera would let him do it again?

~~XX~~

When it finally came time to leave the resort and go back home, Gokudera couldn't have been happier; he was really starting to lose his patience being stuck at that place, and he just wanted to go back to his apartment and recuperate from what he had been dragged to. He was glad that the ferry had just docked back in Namimori; it meant that the safety of his apartment wasn't far away now – but first, he had to survive lunch with his boyfriend.

Their small group was quiet as they left the ship and looked around for Squalo, and as expected, Bel was the first one to see his guardian; with a happy squeal, he tore his hand from Mukuro's and ran to the long-haired man. The younger males took their time in approaching, watching as the two gave each other tight hugs for a few moments before Squalo released his charge and instead grabbed Bel's wrist in a tender motion, most likely questioning the white bandage the hotel staff had wrapped around it the night of Bel's and Gokudera's misunderstanding.

By the time the others had reached Squalo, the man stopped talking to his charge so he could instead look at the youngest males. He glanced back at Bel for a few seconds, but he said nothing about the fact that his charge had just whispered to him how he had cut his wrist because he had gotten upset and Mukuro had called the hotel reception for help. Instead, he said, "Voi, you brats coming back to ours, or do you want me to drop you all off somewhere else?"

"Gokudera and I were going to go back to mine for lunch, but if you guys want to come with, that's okay." Yamamoto's eyes crinkled with happiness when he received agreement from the others; he always loved spending time with his friends. "Squalo, could you drop us off at Takesushi if that's alright?"

Squalo nodded. "Sure, brat. The car's back there somewhere. I just need to stop by the real estate on the way first."

Yamamoto didn't mind; the real estate was only a few minutes away from Takesushi anyway. He looked down when he felt Gokudera's hand tighten around his, and he couldn't help but smile. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… Just really tired." Gokudera gave a large yawn.

"You didn't sleep last night; of course you're tired." By now, the group was walking towards Squalo's Mercedes parked neatly at the front of the carpark. "You should have a sleep in the car; I'm sure Squalo wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, I will…" With that said, the silver-haired male got into the back of Squalo's car once the doors were unlocked. He waited until Yamamoto was sitting next to him before he dropped his head to the taller male's shoulder and closed his eyes; he didn't know why he hadn't been able to sleep last night, but it might have had something to do with stress, because now that he was finally back in familiar territory, he was out like a light.

Tsuna and Mukuro squeezed in next to the two, and while Mukuro plugged his headphones into his iPod and turned to look out of the window during the drive, Tsuna, too, fell asleep, leaving Yamamoto to listen as Bel told Squalo all about their time at the resort. He was glad the blond was feeling better; Bel's moods had been very up and down the past couple of days.

Yamamoto's interest was piqued when Squalo gently changed the subject and said, "We might have a new house, brat. I'm going in to organise the inspection. I'll get some photos of it for you to look at."

"Yay!" Bel leaned over the gear stick so he could hug his guardian's arm. "I love you, Squ-Squ~!"

"I love you, too, brat."

Yamamoto couldn't help but smile; it warmed his heart to see such an interaction before him because he knew how much Bel had trouble with other people – to see him so easily convey how much he loved his guardian was great.

It didn't take much longer for Squalo to turn into the real estate carpark and take a spot right outside it, and while the car had been thrown into neutral with the handbrake up so that the man could run inside, Yamamoto busied himself with threading his fingers through his boyfriend's soft hair. He hummed happily to himself as he waited for Squalo to come back, and when the man did, it was Bel who broke the silence.

"Let me see, Squ~!" Bel eagerly reached out for the papers in his guardian's hand.

Squalo dropped the handbrake and pushed the gearstick into first as he asked, "Do you like that one, brat? We're thinking of buying it if the inspection goes well."

Bel nodded. "I do, Squ~ Can we live there?"

"Maybe, brat."

Yamamoto's smile widened, but within seconds it dropped into a frown when he heard his friend make a frightened whimper. He cocked his head to the side, not sure why it had happened, but as if he had read his kid's mind, Squalo spoke.

"It's alright, brat; it's just smoke. Someone's probably got their fireplace lit because it's so cold." As always, Squalo was patient with his kid.

Yamamoto couldn't help but feel a little stressed out himself as he remembered what had happened the day of the attacks, but the rational part of him was trying to keep calm and trust that it was going to be alright – hell, if Squalo was so level-headed after having lost his home… Well, surely Yamamoto could be, too.

But the more Yamamoto tried to not think about it, the more he couldn't help but feel his stomach churn when with each passing second, the smoke got closer and closer to his own home. He could feel his heart starting to race as they turned the corner and found the road further down was blocked off by firetrucks, and all of a sudden, he felt as if he had gone numb; right there in front of him was his family restaurant, nothing but a smouldering mess.

"Dad!" Yamamoto didn't care that the car was still moving; he undid his seatbelt and crawled across Gokudera so that he could open the door and jump out to the cement beneath him. He sprinted as fast as he could to his home, but part of him knew it was hopeless; he didn't know what it was, but something in his gut was telling him that it was over, that everything was gone and for the first time in his life, he was… alone…

Yamamoto wasn't even aware of the tears that were rolling down his cheeks; all he knew was that, no matter how much time had passed, all he could do was stare at the ruins of his home and wish he had never gone to that resort because maybe then, he could have done something.