All I'll say is: please take advantage of this sudden and unpredictable surplus of creativity that I've been experiencing for the past couple of weeks until it runs out and I disappear for half a decade again. Feedback is always appreciated!

Chapter 29:

"Sanctuary."

There are some things about someone you can only know when you live with them. Actually, I'd also say there are things about yourself you can only know when you live with someone or multiple someones. I'll narrate how each of these revelations came to me as I go along.

Now, despite knowing Killua Zoldyck for a solid year, I realized I had barely scratched the surface with him; there was always something to be added to whatever I already knew of him. For instance, I knew Killua liked to wake and get his day started in the earlier hours of the morning. What I didn't know was that Killua worshiped discipline to the point of being up and ready even before the sun had properly made an appearance.

Whether he had a long night or barely managed to get an hour of sleep in, I would find this man freshened up and ready with a cup of coffee as I groggily exited my room, resembling a feral goblin. The sight of him looking up at me from his newspaper, giving runway models a run for their money, had become a silent morning ritual. This takes me to my next point; Killua Zoldyck, an eighteen-year-old boy, read the newspaper religiously every morning. I can't remember the last time I saw anyone alive and under the age of fifty do that.

"It's wise to keep informed," he told me when I brought his dinosaur-dated habit into a conversation. "When was the last time you read anything other than the cereal box?"

Moving forward, it was no secret that Killua had a luscious regimen for his hair, but what I had been shielded from was that he also had a seven-step skincare routine that put my lousy apricot scrub to shame (a fact that Killua liked to remind me every so often too). This man put in some serious effort into his appearance and he wasn't the least bit concerned about letting it show (a fact that secretly made me pine for him more). Everything from his attire to the way he smelled was thought out and curated.

"It's basic psychology," he enlightened, running a comb through his hair. "People with a better appearance get their way more." My eyes were having a hard time following the way he made sure every strand was strategically positioned. "And I'm used to getting my way."

"Is it also basic psychology to have the compulsion to look at yourself in the mirror a dozen times a day?" I countered, trying to outsmart him.

"Sure, if you have a face worth looking at," he mused, putting the hair tool down and admiring his appearance.

I simply pursed my lips when I could not come up with a clever remark in what was designated the appropriate timeline to deliver a comeback.

Killua Zoldyck could cook; I already knew as much because of the few times I had the distinct honor of having him fix meals for me. But I had been oblivious until date of just how seasoned of a cook he truly was. In the past week, I had seen him create an assortment of complicated spreads when time was in his favor.

"It comes with the territory," he explained when I had expressed my awe at a particularly spectacular batch of cupcakes, he had served me. "When you're traveling a lot, and all over the place too, there's no given where your next meal is coming from. I like good food, and the only way I can make sure it's always going to be available is when I'm the one making it," he detailed with a shrug while taking off his oven mitts, a simple motion that created some very complicated emotions inside me.

While all these little details and then some surprised me, I figured they made a lot of sense with who Killua was as a person. However, the one particular piece of information about Killua Zoldyck that truly bewildered me was that he wore contacts.

"How?" I demanded, absolutely appalled at how my mind could not fit this into the inventory of information I had slowly collected about him over the past year. "How can you even— why?" I phrased incoherently as I hovered around him while he was screwed shut his lens case.

He arched an eyebrow in confusion, placing the container in one of his vanity's drawers. "Personal vendetta against sight aid?"

"I mean, weren't you practically raised to be superhuman? How does weak eyesight fit into that?"

"Come to think of it, this could definitely send my family into a fit," he said pensively, walking out of the bathroom as I followed him as my life depended on his current explanation.

"So, it's not genetic?" I investigated with way more interest than could be deemed societally appropriate.

"Of course not," he confirmed, now heading for the kitchen with me still in tow. "A couple of years ago, while Gon and I were looking for Ging, we ran into a nuisance in the form of a girl who had learned to transmute her aura into pure light; I kid you not," he recounted, the distaste more than evident in his voice.

"There was definitely potential there," he mused while rummaging through the refrigerator to pull out a soda can. "But she really had no sense about how that ability could be polished, so taking her on wasn't something I'd deem worthy of reminiscing. But she did fuck my eyes up; I'll give her that."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" I jested, taking advantage of the situation.

He just flicked me off and then tried to convince me that he was gesturing out the digit 'one' when I had actually taken offense to that.

I also learned a huge deal about one Gon Freecss as his roommate. For instance, Gon sleepwalked, a fact I had come to know of when I tripped on a broad lump at the foot of my bed when I was heading to my bathroom at three in the morning. A swollen lip and an apologetic Gon later, I was being instructed by an annoyed Killua that locking my door was a must.

"Don't worry, I'll sneak in no problem," Killua whispered to me as this entire ordeal was happening.

I gave him a deadpan look while holding an ice packet to my mouth. "Yes, that's exactly what I was worried about just now."

Gon was also one hundred percent the kind of roommate that dragged in mud and dirt every chance he got, courtesy of his growing up a wild child in the confinement of a very nature-driven island. A tendency Killua had adapted to countering by developing the habit of running the vacuum at least four times a day, which wasn't ideal when one was trying to read for leisure.

Despite all of these pleasant little discoveries, I had to admit that I, one Claire G. Ajibana, was the sloppiest roommate of them all. It took a little over two days for me to come face to face with the realization that I was equipped with no life skills whatsoever.

When house tasks were up for distribution, my susceptibility to setting things on fire didn't make me the best candidate for kitchen duty, which Killua gladly took over. Moreover, one particular incident where my doing the laundry resulted in one of Gon's green co-ord sets coming out bright pink, and also yielded tears from both me and him, excusing me from ever even being considered for laundry duty again.

At long last, after a heavy week of trial and error, Killua set me aside to put dishes in and out of the dishwasher. He was nice enough to teach me how to operate it too, and even though I accidentally broke two china plates on the very first day and one particularly nasty shard from a disintegrated glass almost made its way into Killua's foot, my man was still incredibly graceful about it.

"At least these are things we can replace, unlike humans… or limbs," he reasoned while sweeping the kitchen floor after another one of my casualties.

"You're the best," I said in a small voice, watching him right my wrongs for me.

"Well, you don't love me for nothing," he reminded me, and I swear every day that I lived with him, I could physically feel myself falling more and more in love with him. Even though I had heard quite the opposite about situations where living with a partner was concerned.

On a side note, this was a very self-reflective period in my life for me. It was occurring to me that my parents had truly instilled in me very little of what lay in the responsibility department. Having been adopted by them was truly the best gift my life had given me, but if I didn't say they definitely had overcompensated on more than just a few fronts while raising me, I would be lying.

"Your parents did what they thought best. Sure, they did go overboard in coddling you." Killua gave his take on the matter when I discussed it with him on a late-night ice cream run. "But there might still be hope for you."

"You speak as if I'm a science experiment."

"Well, that's definitely what my parents thought of me as," he revealed with a grin that shouldn't have been there. "You got the longer end of the stick, my friend. In more ways than one," he added obscenely.

"You're an asshole," I declared right as he bent down and bit a huge chunk off of my ice cream scoop, and ran off.

I knew better than to chase him when he had those long legs at his disposition, so I retained my pace, waiting for him to slow down and match it.

"What's the verdict for your first week away from home?" Killua asked as we eventually made the turn for our place.

"You barely let me go anywhere, so I'd say pretty similar to being on house arrest."

"Just wanted you to myself for a bit before things go crazy," he revealed, reaching for my hand as we made a beeline for the elevator. "Besides, you'll be going out plenty in a couple of days as you start classes."

"And my job," I sneaked in casually, but trying to get things past Killua unnoticed was like trying to carry raw meat unbeknownst to a lion.

"I thought we discussed this," he responded while we waited for people to file out of the elevator so we could go in.

"You telling me no does not count as a discussion," I reminded, having to step to the side because of an elderly lady that needed room for her walker.

"It's not a job. It's you just resuming your internship but with a fancier title."

"It's paid, and it's work, so it's a job," I pressed, stepping into the lift and heaving a sigh of relief it was just the two of us inside.

"It's unnecessary trouble and a way to actually put yourself more on the radar for danger, which is exactly what we discussed you would be avoiding." What he said wasn't too bad in itself if it wasn't for the stern finger he was shaking in front of me.

"Killua, didn't we just have a conversation about coddling and helicopter parenting?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest for more effect.

He took his time to answer, focusing instead on the button panel that indicated floor numbers. This was a fairly pathetic way to delay acknowledging my words. As if the guy who probably even knew the number of dust specks around the apartment needed time to recall which floor we lived on.

"Mature of you," I commented when I realized he decided not to even bother with a response.

"I'm thinking," he said, tapping his temple with his finger.

"About?" I questioned, shaking my head to display my lack of patience.

"About conditions that would make this fair."

The elevator came to a halt and dinged. I actively suppressed thoughts about the last time I was in an elevator and with what company.

Killua walked out, putting his hands in his pockets. Being in close proximity to him for some time now rendered me perceptive enough to know this meant he was flustered.

"I don't follow," I said, doing just that.

"I need you to respect some rules if you want me to let you go ahead with this," he spoke slowly, weighing each word as he stuck the key and gradually turned the door knob.

"Let me?" I asked, enraged by his choice of words. "I wasn't aware that I was asking permission."

He closed the door behind me as I stepped in after him and turned to look at me with challenge clear in his eyes. "Claire, don't complicate this for no reason at all. We talked the other day; we are going to have to do some things differently now. Remember that little conversation about making things work?"

"How did that talk translate into me being unable to have any semblance of a life?" I demanded, my volume rising as I walked up to him. The motion might have worked better if I were able to level eyes with him. Unfortunately, my head hardly made it a little above his shoulders.

His stare got hard. "Don't raise your voice," he warned coldly. "Gon's in his room; I want this to stay between you and me."

I felt the anger flush my face at this point, but I knew this fight could take a turn for the worse if I didn't keep a check on myself. I took a deep breath to reset, while Killua simply turned around and made his way into his room.

Never in a million years could I have pictured myself as the collected one in any argument the two of us might have, but I suppose not having Killua for a chunk of time really did change something in me.

I went and stood in his doorframe. I could muster up the niceness to try and manage a rift I had started, but going into his room and apologizing was still something that was beyond me. After all, I didn't want Killua to die of cardiac arrest on seeing my suddenly, too suddenly, evolved ways.

He was already surprised enough when he saw me materialize where I was. "I was just saying," I began slowly, not being quite able to meet his eyes.

"Yes?" He sat up better on his bed and tossed his phone to a side, which I appreciated as a gesture of encouragement.

"I just want to do normal things that an eighteen-year-old should be able to do," I clarified simply. "I didn't announce that I was heading to the Dark Continent, did I?"

Killua sighed at my poor attempt at humor. "If you had cared to let me finish five minutes ago, I was just getting around to saying that making a pact not to keep anything from each other could make this fair."

"Let's not even talk about fair," I mumbled to myself, feeling the brat in me take the reins.

"For the sake of my peace of mind?" he bargained with the most persuasive look on his face.

"I don't keep things from you," I said, digging my foot a little too aggressively into the hollow of my boot.

He raised an eyebrow at me. It was a little unsettling to realize that Killua knew very well the extent to which I had concealed things from him. My reasoning was that I would eventually get around to telling him everything someday but someday wasn't right now.

"I won't keep things from you," I conceded, feeling the pit of defeat in my stomach be immediately replaced by something warm when I saw the almost relieved expression on his face. "And neither will you," I added, trying to keep up the pretense that I was very much on par with his ability to read me.

"Only fair," he agreed with a sideways nod. "Just remember that I won't be as open to being this forgiving if I find you're not following through with this promise."

"This is forgiving?" I countered, simultaneously realizing that I had just actively and unnecessarily prolonged the dispute.

He looked at me silently for a moment, completely unreadable to me. I came to the discovery that I absolutely detested this side of him; when he became thoroughly out of reach.

"Claire," he called, his tone calm, inviting even. That was when I thought to myself that maybe I was paranoid. Of course, if I had gotten a little better at keeping my emotions in check, then Killua would have outgrown his silent moping tendencies too.

"Yeah?" I responded, pondering whether I should show some resistance or not when he asked me in.

"Close the door while you leave," he instructed instead, and it came as a confirmation to me that this was how Killua Zoldyck did war.

The next morning I was seated in Killua's car right in the student parking lot of my new college. The owner of said car was in a much better mood now and had even made me an incredible bagel as a peace offering this morning, which I accepted with silent grace.

I realized that with Killua, you had to let some things marinate to be effective; a piece of information I believed would come in handy as someone who was now living with him.

"I have to admit I feel like a proud parent," Killua said in a poorly rendered emotional voice. "My girl's off to college."

"Thanking the heavens that you didn't put little anywhere in that last sentence."

He fished out his phone and held it up. "Let's get a nice happy photo for your mom," he suggested, putting a bit too much-unneeded stress on the word happy.

I put my best fake smile on display and threw in a thumbs-up too, for good measure. "This happy enough?" I asked through clamped-together teeth.

"Put that thumb away you'll hurt yourself," Killua teased, shaking his head in glee. "Do that chin on your hands thing you do to annoy me."

I followed his instructions, and a real traitor smile sneaked its way onto my face. "I knew you secretly love it."

"Mm, that's what I'm talking about," he approved, snapping left and right. "I secretly love everything about you, and not-so-secretly too."

And there went a rush of blood straight to my face on those words. "No chance you could join me as a mysterious last-minute enrollment?" I tried again, making a commendable effort to hide the heat I felt in my face.

"Claire, for the millionth time, I have no use for pursuing a college degree. It's not going to happen," he finalized, referencing the many instances in which I begged him not to let me go to college on my own.

"Well, you got nothing out of doing high school either, but you did do that," I attempted, knowing what a desperate loser I sounded like and not caring one bit.

"I got you out of it, so it turned out to be a very nice situation for me," he boasted, grinning before going in for a kiss.

I knew he could feel the stiffness in my reaction before he pulled back to arch an eyebrow at me. "Alright, so I'm going to ask this straight up. What is it going to take for this fight to be over?"

I just stared at him soundlessly.

"I mean, what do I need to do as compensation for my awful behavior last night?" He rephrased, looking like he was trying very hard to find a breakthrough.

I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and looked around.

"I'll make you breakfast for a week," he offered, twisting the same lock I had just pushed back around his finger.

"A month," I corrected, still not quite looking at him.

"You're going to seriously milk this, aren't you?" He asked, inching his lips closer to my ear. "Say what, how about we don't taint your first day of college with a meaningless argument? I don't even recall what it was about anyway." He placed his hand on my thigh, and I knew he had no immediate intentions of removing it.

"Well, I recall perfectly—" The motion of his hand grazing my cheek and his own offer made my words stop short.

"How about we make this a memorable day instead? The day we had steamy, hot sex right here in the c—"

I should have been conferred a medal for the speed and willpower with which I unfastened my seat belt and bolted out of the car. "Can't risk running late," I covered lamely.

Killua wasn't bothered; instead, if I was reading this right, he looked quite impressed with my feat. "So you can move quickly, just not when it's for something productive."

I chose to simply ignore his dig at my body's natural aversion to physical activity and made my way around the hood of his car.

He motioned me towards him with a finger, which I decided to act on to keep some semblance of the ceasefire we had just established. He gestured once more; this time indicating that I should lower my head to his level, which again, I did.

He bent his elbow and rested it on the frame of the car window; the picture of unbothered cool. "I'll be in and out of the apartment today, but check with me when you're free, I'd like to pick you up myself."

"Killua, you can't avoid leaving me to fend for myself forever, you know."

"Yes, but I can try."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "And why, may I ask, will you be in and out of the apartment today?" I interrogated, gesturing air quotes with my fingers.

"No, you may not."

"Oh, so it's just you that gets to keep tabs on my life, doesn't work the other way around," I mocked.

"Glad we got that all sorted out," he brushed off with the slightest of smiles on his face. He was enjoying this way more than he should.

"You're the worst."

"Hm, I distinctly remember you telling me the exact opposite of that the other day," he reminded, exaggerating with a couple of finger taps on his chin.

"Are you done?" I countered, trying to appear unaffected.

"No, give me a kiss," he diverted.

"That offer has never sounded less appealing," I announced meanly.

My words didn't discourage him the least bit. "Baby, you have to learn to move past things; otherwise, they tend to keep building up."

I considered that for a bit, understanding that I must not be Killua's favorite person in the world right now either. But he was more than trying, I had to give him that.

I put a hand on his cheek and looked him straight in his glorious blue eyes as I told him I loved him.

His eyebrows went up in surprise and his cheeks burned bright pink. It was good to know that these words still had the same effect on Killua as the very first time I said them.

Locking my lips with a still-stirred Killua made me realize that telling him how I felt, true and simple like it was, had the power to end any conflict between us. And I could tangibly feel in Killua's shaken breath as he kissed me back that all was forgiven and forgotten from his side.

I took some secret glee in registering the twinkle in his eyes as I pulled back. There was a lot in that little detail; gratefulness for meeting him halfway and then some, and then the pure happiness of being told he was loved. I promised myself I would never stop saying that to him, no matter how used to it he might get.

"About that offer you just declined when you were in here," he circled back, transitioning away from the silent weight of the moment we had just shared. "I know where you live."

"Then I'll meet you to resume the details of that offer in said place," I answered; now that I felt okay again, I could actually tell how bitter my tone had gotten before.

He sighed dramatically in approval. "You drive me wild honey."

I pulled back, giving him the tiniest smile at that.

He reversed the car and took a brief pause to stare at me some more. "Go get 'em, tigress," he said with a two-fingered salute to compliment the phrase.

I kept watching as his car drifted more and more out of my life of vision until I could no longer see it. I decided relationships were definitely complicated, but I would be okay navigating the messiness if Killua was the one holding my hand through it.

I thought about a lot of things as I made my way around campus to scout for something that might resemble an administrative building. I had ended up missing orientation because Killua and I couldn't quite get ourselves out of bed that day, for reasons I wouldn't prefer unpacking.

I thought about life away from home, being an adult, being in love, just being— you name it. I couldn't find it in me to worry over something as minute as losing my way across a college premise or showing up late to a class. The truth was that these were very much things that sent me into fits of crippling anxiety just a little over a year ago.

My no-fret policy worked in my favor because I ended up finding just the right edifice that held just the right office where I collected my student id. A look at the little map that came with it was enough to tell me that it would be little help with my stunted sense of direction.

I really impressed myself by finding my way to the exact room my class was scheduled in without having to make any sort of social contact. Five minutes into the lecture, I realized I had been holding my breath for a really long time.

A fact that a male voice to my right informed me of in sync with my own introspection. I turned to see an unnervingly handsome guy looking at me with the most amused expression on his face.

This was a joke, I figured because no way would it make sense that the person I was facing was actually there.

"Caden—you here?" I stumbled through my incoherent sentence.

"Uh, yes. I, right here," he responded with intervals, thinking his way through the wittiest reply to my spectacular question.

I shook my head a little, my eyes taking a lap around the room before turning back toward him. I just wanted to make sure the room was closing in on everyone else too. "What are you doing here?"

"I go here," he notified, his hand grandly gesturing around him.

"How? If I recall right, you live at least three thousand miles from here."

"By a miraculous human invention called the airplane, which I believe you used to get here as well."

I considered all of the odds of this situation right here. The fact that the universe plotted to make it so that Caden Nakamura and I ended up in the same college across at least fifty perfectly reputable ones in the entire country, and more so, in the same class at a campus where you could easily miss people you know on a daily basis, was something to think about.

Caden and I had technically grown up together. He would come over to Mr. Domoto's for the summer, and one of those summers when our parents forced us to make friends, we somehow actually did. But it was quite inevitable that one among two ten-years-old was bound to develop a crush on the other fueled by hormones and whatnot. Unfortunately, I qualified as that one.

My infatuation was short-lived and silent, where pushing him off the swing counted as an expression of love, and his pointing out that I had a mustache marked the end of our short, one-sided romance. I still clearly remember crying to my mother about this particular incident, and her and I plotting ways for me to deliver an ultimate wedgie as payback.

In real time, I gave him a poorly constructed smile as acknowledgment for his joke and went back to my silent contemplation.

The ritual of his coming over on summers was as good as over by the time we were fifteen, and the last time I saw him was at said age, except for the time when he tried to kiss me while Killua furiously spectated somewhere out of sight. One look at Caden and one recall of that moment was all I needed to know that this would be the very first instance (and not last by a long shot) of me keeping things from Killua and breaking my promise. This would just be too much-unneeded drama and would cause nothing but trouble.

By the time class ended and the next started, it became very apparent to me that we were enrolled in all the same courses, and avoiding Caden was simply not an option. Moreover, the fact that he kept trying to pursue some kind of conversation made it clear that polite and brief answers weren't going to cut it for very long.

When the day eventually ended, and I saw the spring in Caden's step as he walked next to me (uninvited), I knew I had to make some decisions. For one thing, I figured I knew this person for a long time so retaining cordial contact with him during classes wasn't wrong at all.

Yes, he did kiss me and it was awkward, but who wasn't to say I wouldn't have done the same thing were I in his position or were I still an acne-ridden, braces-laden, desperate teenager?

"Let's just get it out of the way; the last time we saw each other was pretty mortifying," he initiated, breaking the ice quite nicely for a conversation that I planned on beating the bush around.

"Yep," I agreed with a popping sound on the last letter of the word.

"But we've known each other forever, so I believe one mortifying incident can be excused," he suggested, scratching his head.

I admired his approach and bravery, which I expressed through a passionate nod.

By now, we were walking out of the building where our last class had been and were aimlessly moving toward an unfrequented courtyard nearby.

"So, you live on campus?" he asked, which was just the right question to put forth for him to obtain the answers to everything he really wanted to know.

I took a couple of seconds to word my response the right way. Eventually, a dry 'no' was all I could manage.

"Your mom let you live alone?" he questioned with undiluted shock.

This made it pretty evident to me that everyone and their grandmother knew well of my mother's trust in my ability to live on my own and my lack thereof. "I don't live alone."

How was one supposed to go about looking effortless by giving out answers and yet not revealing too much? Killua did this on an hourly basis and made it look like it was as easy as walking. Come to think of it, walking didn't come easily to me either, so that could offer up an explanation for my lack of finesse.

I decided that instead of offering half-witted answers that made it seem like I was ashamed or hiding something, I would just go about this my own way. "I live with Killua," I added, just a second before putting that in would seem awkward.

Caden's eyes popped just a little before he composed himself. "The… silver-haired guy?" He asked, pretending to actually have to place him. "So, you guys got back together?"

"Yes." I forced myself to keep my tone collected, almost biting the word 'obviously' between my teeth.

He wisely chose not to say anything on the matter other than a slightly bitter 'huh.' If he'd given me his two cents on the matter, this would have quick-paced into the second mortifying moment we would share.

I decided I would regroup (with myself) and take a better approach to this tomorrow. "Look, I have to get going, but I'll see you around."

His piercing green eyes had questions, but he soundly decided not to word any one of them out. "Sure."

I had just accelerated both the goodbye and my fleeing steps as soon as I turned around when my face bumped straight into someone for the second time this week.

This someone, however, had broader shoulders and was courteous enough to hold me still by my shoulders after the impact, in contrast to my other perpetrator.

With my nose between my fingers once again, I mumbled another lame 'ow' as Gon looked down at me with a blinding grin.

"Let me guess, Killua sent you," I translated, steadying myself.

He confirmed my postulation with a guilty nod. "He had to meet some important leads, so I'm the next best thing at your service," he explained, being really nice about the whole thing. But if Gon Freecss wasn't a nice guy, I don't know who was.

"I appreciate you taking the shift, but I'm not a ticking time bomb. I could have made my way home myself."

"That's so strange," he revealed in an amused tone. "Killua used the exact same words."

I pursed my lips. I guess I should be more surprised if Killua refrained from referring to me as a time bomb. "He's so thoughtful and romantic."

"This place is massive, Claire!" He declared, gawking around him. "I really had to strain my nose to find you."

I looked at him, taken aback by his words even though at this point I shouldn't be at all. "You tracked me with your— nose?"

"Oh yeah, you have a very recognizable scent; it's some notes of lilies and a lot of Killua," he disclosed, with not the tiniest hint of an afterthought.

My boyfriend's best friend was probably the most naïve and transparent person on the planet, which is how I could tell he didn't make anything of the rush of warmth that I could feel creeping to my face. "You know what, since you're already here, let's make a day out of it," I suggested, shaking my head to dissipate the blood that had definitely gathered in my brain in surplus. "I'll buy you dinner."

His eyes gleamed in agreement. "Sounds like a plan."

We sauntered across to the closest exit, me briefing him on what little I knew of the campus and providing him with censored details of my day. We decided to get takeout on the way home owing to the dissociating passion with which both of us liked to enjoy our meals.

The fact that Gon ate for eight people was not surprising to me; I had had the distinct experience of stocking up on groceries for these two teenage men. My verdict was that they consumed in a week what fifty people would in a month.

Gon was a very invested talker, and I believe it would be very unlikely that anyone didn't enjoy his company. While he spoke, I thought to myself how obvious it was why someone as guarded as Killua was so devoted to the boy in front of me.

"… It's fox bear cub territory," Gon was in the middle of detailing when I zoned back into the conversation. "The marks on the trees are how you can tell."

I blinked at the sheer passion with which he was letting me know that. "That is… really useful information," was all I could manage to come up with.

He then hit me up full force with questions concerning everything Katie. My little sister was, for some unexplained reason, one of the most important women in Gon's life. One look at Gon's bright hazel eyes and pretty face was enough to explain why that was such a shame for girls all over this city.

The detailing ended with a FaceTime call to the subject of the conversation, who absolutely mesmerized Gon by keeping one of her tiny fingers constantly pointed in his direction throughout the entirety of the conversation.

My mom launched an invasive streak of questions of her own about my day. Simply alternative between the words fine and good in varying decibels did not cut it, though. I eventually quit the call on the pretense of having to do homework, which only someone as trusting as my mother could fall for.

The truth was I missed my mother and sister terribly, and talking to them for prolonged periods of time was a catalyst to activating my tear ducts (a dangerous risk that would incite the same reaction from the other side of the line too). Killua was more than used to my weeping and my mom's dramatics, but Gon still deserved not to be cursed by having the image of us ugly cry for an hour straight burnt into his brain.

By eight in the evening, Killua still hadn't come home, which agitated me. We had been going back and forth over texts all day, which ended in me threatening him with rows upon rows of the dagger emoji to convey how furious I was. In reality, I wasn't mad at all, I just missed him. But I was placing my bets on the portrayal that would have him speeding home faster.

Gon and I decided to watch one of the corniest movies of all time, enjoying the process of dissecting what absolute trash the predictable storyline was far more than the movie itself. After snacking our way through most of Killua's hidden snack stash (the hidden part of it was open to interpretation), we elected to call it a night.

In an effort to smother myself more in Killua's scent (as Gon had very attentively pointed out), I used every single one of his skincare products I could find. I wasn't quite sure what some of them were even for, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to make a random attempt with them.

After this desperate ritual, I was too beat to do anything else, so I dozed off as soon as my head hit the pillow.

A sudden dip in the mattress jolted me awake in the pitch-black state of my room. Killua's hands found their way around me before my slow human brain could even register what was going on or what time the large wall clock was displaying. Even in my partially drowsing state, I remember thinking to myself how much like a sanctuary this man's arms felt around me.

"Honey, I'm home," he joked in a sing-song voice, and I knew that starter was just a safe way of discerning how pissed I was and how much damage control he had to do.

"Are we going to have to set a curfew for you?" I teased, letting him know subtly that he was off the hook. I could see him better now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark, and I took my time to savor how gorgeous he was.

"Anything you say," he assented, kissing my shoulder.

"Yeah, you better suck up to me."

"Well, speaking of sucking, I've had a pretty tiring day and would love—" he began at the slight show of opportunity, but I pinched his lips before he could go further. They stretched into a mischievous smile under the grip of my fingers.

"You dream big for someone who has some serious damage control ahead of him," I commended, and he vibrated with silent laughter, his mouth still at my mercy.

"Alright, I'll be good," he mumbled, and I released him.

Just as I did that, he caught me off guard by rolling on top of me and caging my entire body. "How was the dreaded first day?" he interrogated, placing a kiss on the tip of my nose.

"Fine, nothing special," I recapped quickly, trying to appear nonchalant so the conversation wouldn't be pursued further. My method worked because he moved to another territory.

"Do you have an early day tomorrow?" he asked, straight to the point.

"Yeah," I breathed, feeling my insides get electric. "But I don't care."

"Good, me neither," he admitted, lowering his head to kiss me deeply. "I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up like I promised," he said in the midst of pecking my lips repeatedly.

I pictured for a second how the afternoon would have unfolded had Killua shown to pick me up instead of Gon. My kindest guess was that Caden would have exited the scene bald. "That's okay. I had a nice day with Gon."

"And now, you'll have a fucking amazing night with me," he announced, drawing back to unbutton his shirt while he spoke. "The word of essence here being—"

"Fewer words, please," I interrupted, pulling him towards me.

He relented and smiled at me. "My brand of conversation exactly."

There was a faint pang of guilt somewhere in the pit of my stomach at that very moment as I recalled how earnestly Killua had asked me to be honest with him. The misgiving, however, didn't last too long since Killua was good at preoccupying my mind in its entirety, just as good as said mind was at pushing things into oblivion.

Finding shelter until the pouring rain calms,

Like finding holy sanctuary in someone's arms.