Sakuya could hear the loud beating of his heart in the small room.

He was breathing fast, facing the wall on the other side of the room, while trying to sleep.

He tried to sleep.

He really did.

But it was impossible.

How could he sleep when Mahiru was with him in the room, lying within arms reach?!

The green haired boy could hear the other's faint breathing behind him and it took every bit of his willpower to not turn around.

He shouldn't have accepted the brunet's invitation to stay over, but he wanted to.

He wanted to spent as much time as possible with Mahiru, even if it meant that he wouldn't sleep that night.

He could handle that much.

Still, it was risky. Sleeping so close together just made the Sakuya want to hold the other in his arms.

With a barely audible groan, Sakuya covered his face in his hands, trying to focus.

He was just staying over at his friend's place for the night.

Just this one night.

At his best friend's place.

After lying awake for what felt like an eternity, switching between staring at the wall and closing his eyes in an attempt to sleep, Sakuya decided that he wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

As quiet as he could, the green haired boy got up, crossed the room and made his way to the bathroom.

After searching for the light switch and turning it on, he had to blink a few times while his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

He turned the water on and splashed the cold liquid in his face. It succeeded in cooling him down and he was able to think properly again.

He could do this.

Only a few more hours.

With the bump at the back of his head, sleeping was difficult anyway, it wasn't solely because of Mahiru.

Sighing Sakuya turned around, on his way to go back to his friend's room.

Maybe he could just wait until it was morning.

It wouldn't be that hard, would it?

He entered the dark room and walked over to the mattress Mahiru had placed on the floor for him.

Just wait until it was morning.

He checked his watch and a groan escaped his lips. 3 am. Three or four more hours to go.

He slipped under the thin blanket and turned so he faced the wall again.

For the next minutes Sakuya was lost in his own thoughts, occasionally shifting under the covers.

He just couldn't find a position that made him feel comfortable. He was getting more and more frustrated as time passed, cursing his inability to sleep, the pain in his head and his feelings for the boy next to him.

Suddenly he felt a hand grab his shoulder and the shock made him nearly jump.

His heart was beating louder and faster then ever when he turned around and came face to face with a sleepily blinking Mahiru.

"What's wrong? You can't sleep?"

The brunette slurred the words a bit, a sign of him still being half asleep.

"Uh..."

Sakuya wasn't able to form an answer. His heart was still beating like crazy. Partly due to the shock and partly because he was so close to Mahiru. Too close.

"You've been turning around so much. Is something wrong?"

Though it was still evident that he wasn't completely awake yet, the concern in his voice was obvious.

"Everything's alright, Mahiru. Don't worry. I just couldn't sleep."

"Are you sure? Does your head still hurt? Should I get a new ice pack?"

The brunet moved to stand up, but ended up losing his balance at the edge of the bed.

His reflexes were low due to the sleepy state he was in, which resulted in the boy falling onto Sakuya's mattress before he even realized what was happening.

Now he was basically lying in Sakuya's lap, his head pressed into the green haired boys right thigh.

With a barely audible yelp, Sakuya tried to frantically shove the other away without hurting him, which proved to be rather difficult since Mahiru made no attempt whatsoever to help him.

Moreover the brunet seemed rather comfortable with the position, which he confirmed only seconds later.

"Sakuya, stop moving. It's so comfortable just lying here..."

He trailed off and the green haired boy almost thought he fell asleep again, when the boy continued.

"If your head really doesn't hurt as bad anymore, then why don't you just lie down now? When we were kids you would always sleep better when I was lying next to you..."

Mahiru lifted himself up, his face inches away from Sakuya's. He gently pushed the other down and when the green haired boy was finally lying, he lay down as well, resting his head on the other's arm.

Sakuya was sure that the brunet would hear his rapidly beating heart.

He was too close.

Way too close.

Again.

He was about to say something that would get Mahiru to move away, but the other boy, who had been watching him the whole time, quickly interrupted him by laying on hand over his eyes.

"Just sleep now, Sakuya." He murmured, already about to fall asleep himself.

Mahiru retracted his hand from his face, but he let it fall down onto Sakuya's chest, right over his heart.

"Your heart's beating too fast..." he commented, but seemed no longer able to think about the reason for it.

Sakuya was glad when the other finally fell asleep only seconds later.

He waited for few more minutes until he was sure Mahiru wouldn't wake up again before he tried to gently push the other off of him.

But every time Sakuya moved, the brunet would stir a bit and he just couldn't wake him up when he was sleeping soundly like this.

After a few more futile attempts the green haired boy finally gave up and just lay still again.

He cursed inwardly at the situation he was currently in.

What was he supposed to do now?!

Mahiru was basically lying on top of him while sleeping and his heartbeat just wouldn't slow down, no matter what.

The worst part was that he was enjoying it. Sakuya was happy being this close to Mahiru, being able to feel the other's heartbeat right next to him.

He hated himself for it.

If this continued, he would destroy their friendship and loose his best friend since kindergarten as a result.

Why, just why did this have to happen to him?

Why did he have to fall in love with his best friend?

Sakuya didn't want Mahiru to find out about it, but it felt horrible keeping it a secret. It wasn't exactly a lie, he was just hiding something, but it felt as if it was one.

He always hated lying since the whole incident with his father and the feeling he had right now was awfully close to the one he felt back then.

He had hidden his feelings for Mahiru for several months, but right now the weight of this secret was almost crushing him.

If someone asked him how he felt when someone was lying, he wouldn't be able to describe the feeling properly.

It just felt like something was definitely wrong and as if he was dragged to the dark bottom of the ocean.

And this was how he felt right now.

Maybe it was his mind telling him that by hiding this from Mahiru and denying his feelings, he had been lying to the other boy and himself.

He shook his head slightly as he felt the crushing feeling intensify at the thought and immediately pain shot through his head.

Groaning silently, Sakuya turned his head sideways so the back of his head where he had hit the ground the earlier wasn't touching anything.

With one hand he began searching for his watch on the floor next to the mattress he was lying on and after a few seconds he was holding it in his hand.

Sakuya pressed one of the buttons on the left side and the numbers on the little screen lit up, blinding him momentarily.

When he was able to make out separate glowing digits instead of a single glowing rectangle, he almost threw the watch at the wall out of frustration.

It was 3:30 am and Sakuya would have to hold out for 2 hours and 30 minutes until Mahiru would get up.

He wasn't sure if he could hold out this long. The way he felt right now was killing him and if he wouldn't fall asleep he would surely go insane.

Thinking about everything again, Sakuya finally made a decision.

He woul to tell Mahiru how he felt in the morning.

Even if their friendship would brake apart, he just wasn't able to endure this any longer.

He really hoped it wouldn't come to that though. Sakuya wasn't sure if he could handle living without Mahiru.

Not only that, but he really didn't want to live like that.

Looking down at the sleeping brunet, Sakuya felt the sudden urge to touch the other's hair.

Illuminated by the moonlight, Mahiru's normally chocolate brown hair had a slight silvery tint to it which amazed the green haired boy.

He extended one hand and gently brushed some silvery - brown strands of hair out of the other's face.

Mahiru really looked peaceful when sleeping. During the last days, he had been really stressed out because of all the work he had to finish before the holidays started. Now the boy was finally a to relax a bit.

There had also been a lot to do for Sakuya, but Mahiru had volunteered to help others and all that work had really taken a toll on him. He knew that the brunet had only slept a few hours each day for at least two weeks because he couldn't do everything during the day.

Of course Sakuya had helped him whenever he had the time, but it still had been too much for his friend. Now the holidays had started and they both could use the time to relax and, most of all, sleep.

Maybe going to the cinema last evening hadn't been the best of ideas, but it had been fun anyways. Mahiru had seemed to like the movie and when Sakuya had actually paid attention he thought it was great too. All in all the evening had been great, despite the two of them being rather tired. Or at least it had been great until he had spilled that coke...

Sakuya had been so lost in his thoughts that without him noticing, he had started to stroke his friend's hair.

"Sakuya..."

Startled, Sakuya drew back his hand.

Did Mahiru wake up?

He quickly looked at the other's face, but his eyes were still closed. Mahiru shifted a bit and uttered Sakuya's name again, more quiet this time.

Mahiru... Mahiru was dreaming of him?

Sakuya couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

He was feeling so happy right now, butterflies dancing tango in his stomach and the crushing feeling he felt before finally gone. He twined his arms around Mahiru and hugged him tightly.

Without really realizing what he was doing, Sakuya leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on top of Mahiru's head.

"I love you."

Before he could even think about what was going on, these words had left Sakuya's mouth in a whisper. His body stiffened when he realized that he had really said these words, knowing there was no going back.

Maybe Mahiru didn't hear them, he was asleep after all.

There was no way he could have heard him say it.

Suddenly the boy in his arms moved and in a matter of seconds his face was in front of Sakuya's, brown eyes shining bright in the dim room, his arms on either side of his head.

The green haired boy was to shocked to do anything when Mahiru leaned down so that his mouth was almost brushing against his ear.

"Took you long enough..." the brunet half whispered, half laughed, while leaning back so he could look at Sakuya again.

"You... You knew?"

Sakuya's voice was shaking slightly and he felt shocked, uncertain and confused.

Mahiru had known about it?

And since when?

He heard a barely suppressed laughter coming from the brunet.

"Of course, silly. I don't think anybody wouldn't notice someone staring at them every day."

He paused as if remembering something, before he continued.

"Well there is one exception, namely you. You really didn't make things easy for me..."

He flashed a smile at Sakuya and it was one of those smiles.

Sakuya didn't really care that he didn't get what Mahiru meant with that last sentence, he was already captured again by his smile.

He just had to clarify one thing.

"So you mean-"

He was cut off by Mahiru who leaned down again, their foreheads touching.

"Yes. Yes, Sakuya, I love you. I was for quite a while already, but you didn't seem to notice it. I thought that you weren't interested and just wanted to stay friends, so I didn't say anything. But during the last months your behaviour towards me changed and I was unsure of what you were thinking... and now you've finally said that you like me and..."

He stopped, a look of concern crossing his features.

"Sakuya, why are you crying?"

Surprised, Sakuya loosened the hold he still had on Mahiru and touched one of his cheeks with his fingertips.

He didn't know when he started crying, but he wasn't able to stop now.

He looked up at Mahiru and smiled while tears still continued to roll down his face.

He pulled Mahiru down and hold him close, face buried in his shoulder.

"I love you."

It was merely a whisper, but Mahiru heard it. He smiled and sat up, pulling Sakuya with him.

When the green haired boy looked up, Mahiru was sitting in his lap, his hands cupping Sakuya's face.

"I love you too" was all he heard before he felt a kissed being placed on his forehead and a warm body snuggling against him.

Smiling slightly, Sakuya embraced Mahiru and wasn't going to let go for a long time.