Author's Note: This is the second Fanfic the KnightsOfThePentagonalOttoman have published. However, this is a completely independent venture. If you don't like it you can bash me all you want, but please don't bash the others in my group! I did not tell them I was going to do this, so they don't deserve to be the targets of any nasty criticism.
This story is a simple glimpse into the mind of conflicted teenager. Sewing his feelings for Soubi together while admitting a few things to himself, a now 17-year-old Ritsuka exposes himself after dealing with many months of absence. Please read and review! - Editor of KOTPO
(Ritsuka POV)
Stripped.
Sometimes I'll lay awake and think about you.
Sometimes I'll sit here when I should be doing something else and wonder what you're doing.
Sometimes I sit and ponder all of the reasons you captivate me, why you have a hold over me, why I love you.
Then there are the times where I wonder what your lips would feel like, how your tongue would caress mine, and what you would taste like.
I wonder how it would feel to have your hands on me, for us to explore each other, trying to get as close as possible.
So many times I have laid awake thinking of how hard it is to maintain a relationship when we're so far apart.
So many times I have laid awake wondering if we should take the next step; wondering how you would feel about it if I were to bring it up, or how I would broach the subject.
Every time I think about you, I have to promise to myself to tell you how strongly I feel for you then next time I see you.
Stripped.
Sometimes we will have long and possibly intense conversations over the phone, and no matter how sincere or heartfelt, it never compares to speaking face-to-face; talking soul-to-soul.
Yet every time we're together it takes us a few days or a couple of weeks to wear off the funk of not being able to see each other.
And we will remain quiet and peaceful until I have to leave again; only clearing the slate the night before I go.
Every time I see you I want to tell you these things, but it's inevitable that I'll either become too engulfed in something else or I'll be too shy or embarrassed to say it.
Yet here we are.
We've been together for a very comfortable five years, and so far we've managed to overcome everything that's come up against us.
We've had our problems, and while still more are sure to plague us in the future, I am content in the fact that even if there is a falling-out between us, even if we end up taking a few steps backwards, even if we decide to stay friends…we'll always be there for each other.
I love you and I always will, and I know you feel the same.
Even as often as we don't say it with all the meaning it deserves, I know we both understand.
And here I am, uncovering my heart little by little, exposing myself to you.
Stripped.
I only hope that one day I have the courage to expose that piece of myself to you.