Hide rearranged the pillows behind Kaneki, he carefully leaned him back.

"Is that okay, maybe I can get Touka to run to the store later to get more." Hide offered, fixing the blanket around his friend.

"You don't have to do that, I'm okay." No sooner had he said these words,Kaneki moaned in pain.

"What's wrong?" Hide brushed away a strand of white hair from the ghoul's face.

"Everything still hurts, this illness is never ending."

"It just seems that way." Hide chuckled. "Remember when we were kids and I had that bad cold,you brought me my homework and ended up catching it,we passed it back and forth for how long, we just couldn't stay away."

"It had to have at least been a month." Kaneki smiled faintly at the memory.

"I'm surprised it went away at all, the way things were going."

"Yeah. That had to have been some kind of record. Are you ready to drink?" Kaneki sighed.

"I could take a little." The ghoul said reluctantly. Hide reached over to the bottle on the nightstand, he moved close to Kaneki helping him to drink the warm liquid. Kaneki slowly began to relax.

"I'm proud of you." Hide praised. "I know it was hard for you."

"It still is." Kaneki admitted, pushing away the container.

"You didn't finish it this time. Are you okay?" The blonde pressed a hand to Kaneki's head.

"I'm just not- I'm more tired than hungry. I took enough to ease the pain. You can put the rest of it in the fridge for later."

"I won't force you, but you'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"

"Of course I would. It's not like I could really keep anything from you anyway."

"I guess your right. I'm just worried. You drank it all last time. It's not just for you not feeling good, it has half of that cube in it so you have whatever you need to-"

"I'm okay." Hide nodded.

"Okay." He said. "But remember your promise to me."

"I know, you don't have to worry." Hide kissed his head.

"I'm trying not to be." Hide placed the bottle back on the stand and lowered himself onto the chair.

The two sat in silence, Kaneki settled back on his pillows. The blonde picked up a newspaper that Touka had dropped off earlier in the day.

"You don't have to sit here, you can go watch tv or something."

"I'm good here. Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"How is telling you you don't have to sit here, in a room you've been stuck in for over a week trying to get rid of you?"

"Don't know,maybe you're tired of seeing my face. I mean it has been-"

"You know better than that." Hide grinned.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"I know I'm tired of being in one room, maybe you-" Hide put the paper down.

"You're tired of being stuck in bed. Tell you what Kaneki, you get a little stronger and I'll take you into the living room. We'll sit on the couch and watch TV like we used to. For now, I got you something...well, Touka went to get it, but you get the idea." Hide reached under his chair and pulled out a gift bag. Purple paper was just visible from the opening as the human slid onto the bed sitting cross legged facing his friend.

"I was going to wait but I thought you might need some cheering up now." He held out the bag.

"You didn't have to do this. You're already giving me a lot."

"Yeah well, what's one more gift then. Can you open it?"

"I think so." Kaneki took the object, he reached in feeling a thin object pulling out an envelope.

"Read that first." Hide instructed excitedly. Kaneki felt his own mood improving as a result of his friend's expression. The half ghoul turned the envelope over and lifted the card from it. The design was of a bright red rose with the words 'While you recover' printed in elegant letters. He opened it to find yet another gift. Instead of the uplifting message for the card company, he found a touching note in Hide's own handwriting.

Kaneki,

You amaze me. You're brilliant, caring and the most precious person in this world to me and I wouldn't trade you for anything. I've never loved anyone the way I love you. You were my first friend and my only love. When I need you, I know you'll be right there for me. You've shown me that time and time again. You always put others before yourself. It's your turn to be first now. I want you to know that it's okay to let yourself be taken care of and..I'd like to be the one to do that...always. I also wanted to say...for everything you've done for me and everything you continue to do...thank you. So while you don't feel good, just relax and take it easy. I'll take care of everything all you need to do is get better and be the beautiful person you are.

I love you more than you know,

Hide

Ps: Dude, sorry I made you cry.

Having read the final line, Kaneki realized that tears were in fact beginning to fall. Hide shifted himself to wipe away the tears.

"Hide-" Kaneki began feebly, he couldn't seem to find the right words to describe what he felt. The blonde rested his forehead against the ghoul's.

"Can I ask you something?"

"O-okay."

"Can I keep you...forever?" Kaneki smiled.

"Forever and always." The ailing ghoul replied, receiving a soft kiss on his head.

"There's something else in there for you." Hide reminded, pulling away slightly. Kaneki turned back to the bag pulling out a larger, heavier object.

His smile widened as he turned it over in his hand.

"Hide, this is the new book i-"

"Open it and look inside." Kaneki did as he was told to find a personal message from the author.

"Touka told me about it and I asked her to stop and get it. It was her idea to stay and get it signed. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's great. Thank you."

"I'm just glad to see you happy. It's been rough, you deserve a little break." Hide leaned closer until he was a mere inch from Kaneki's face.

"Don't" the ghoul warned. "I'm sick and I don't-" Hide pressed his lips softly to his friend's.

"I'm not afraid." He replied kissing him once more.

"If you get whatever made-"

"Don't worry about it." Hide insisted. "Do you want the rest of your drink?" Kaneki gave a slight nod.

It didn't take long for him to empty the bottle.

"You're just frustrated, aren't you?"

"It's not a great feeling to be stuck in bed and having to depend on everyone else to do things for you that you can normally do yourself."

"I've been there, believe me I know. Tell me what to do to help you."

"Nothing more than what you're doing now. "

" You're on getting there i think. We'll do what we have to. Like Touka said it takes a little longer than being completely human. You'll be up soon." Hide promised. He had every intention on keeping if.