A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm quite thrilled that so many of you are enjoying it. Unfortunately, we have arrived at the end of the story. Thanks for reading, it is much appreciated! XD

Warnings: Thar be adult content in this here chapter. Turn back while ye still can. . . (no, wait, don't do that, that wouldn't be good. . .)

The remainder of the school day seemed to lag on at an excruciatingly slow pace. Shino hadn't seen Kiba since lunch, so he assumed he must have been sent home. By the time the dismissal bell rang, Shino was so nervous he could barely keep his grip on his books. The bus ride home was horribly unsettling. There was fear eating away at the back of his mind that Kiba might be sent back to Alabama. They couldn't do that, it was far too soon.

When the bus finally came to a halt, Shino was the first one out. He found himself practically sprinting in his desperation to get home. So quickly, in fact, that he tripped on crack in the sidewalk, barely catching himself before landing face first on the concrete. He felt a slight stinging pain where he hit his knee but didn't even acknowledge it, and just stood and continued home at a slightly slower pace. The anxiety was so intense, he found himself feeling extremely fatigued and nauseous.

He bolted through his front door, only to find his mother sitting on the couch, sipping coffee, with Kiba sitting across from her, a frown upon his cherubic face. Shino tentatively approached Kiba and sat beside him. His mother let out a sigh.

"Shino," she said, setting her coffee on the table, "I told you to help Kiba adapt to school in the city. I'm very disappointed in you. You should have kept him out of trouble." Shino nodded curtly. "Now, I've already called Tsume, she is very cross." Kiba's eyes widened in fear

"Ya' called mama? Oh boy, is she gonna be sore. . ." Kiba muttered, glancing out the window, covering his left eye with an ice pack.

"Well, of course I called her. Kiba, you're not blameless either. You know better. Now, if this happens again, I am sending you straight home, I mean it," she huffed.

"Yes ma'am," Kiba replied sorrowfully.

"Very well. You boys are dismissed," she said, grabbing her coffee cup and wandering off towards the kitchen. Shino took Kiba by the hand and led him upstairs to his bedroom. Once there, they both remained silent, neither of them really knowing what to say. After a few minutes, Shino broke the silence.

"Why did you do that?" Kiba stared at him with one glassy brown eye.

"What? Ya mean stick up fer ya?" he asked, Shino nodded, "Well someone's gotta do it."

"You shouldn't have. It wasn't a big deal. You should have ignored him," Shino said robotically. Kiba scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"It is a big deal Shino! Bullyin' 's a problem everywhere. But just 'cause it happ'ns don't mean ya gotta put up with it. Ya need to stick up fer yerself, else everybody gonna walk all over ya fer the rest o' yer life! I dun wanna see that happen to ya!" the southerner retorted, his accent growing more exaggerated the louder he got. Shino sighed as he began to remove his cumbersome jacket, revealing the black tee shirt he was wearing underneath.

"Listen. It may be true that I don't stand up for myself as often as I should Kiba. However, I have my reasons. One being, that if I were to fight off anyone who made fun of me, I'd be kicked out of school for getting into too many fights. Second, it would affect my permanent record, and I can't afford that right now. Third, I would only be signing myself up for extreme physical harm. It is unlikely that I would be victorious in any of those fights," Shino explained, feeling quite uneasy about having spoken so much. "So, I am sorry if it offends you, but it is a personal choice. Please accept that."

Kiba seemed a bit floored. Though Shino couldn't tell if it was because of what he said or how much he had spoken. After a brief moment of silence, Kiba let out a low growl.

"A'right. If ya say so Shino, I can accept that. But it was my personal choice ta stick up fer ya." Shino closed the distance between them, encircling his arms around Kiba's waist, and placed a gentle kiss on his love's lips.

"You're hurt," Shino mumbled after they parted, placing his fingers gingerly on Kiba's left temple.

"Eh? Oh, this?" Kiba questioned, removing the ice pack from his eye and gesturing towards it with one tanned, slender finger, "This is nuthin'. One time, I got inta this brawl with a feller 'n' he beat me clean out. Couldn't hardly even move fer days. Doctor said I's supposed ta stay in bed 'n' rest. But I was up 'n' plowin' again 'fore the week was up." He broke out into a fit of laughter once he was finished, giving his knee a hardy slap like he always did.

"Still, you were hurt on my account," Shino said once Kiba began to settle, "Personal choice or not, I do not want to see you get hurt because of me. Besides that, if you get into another fight, you will be sent home. I couldn't bear that. Thank you for caring so much, but please promise me that you won't do it again." For once, it seemed, Kiba was speechless. He stared up at Shino, his left eye slightly swollen, with a captivated gaze that was unmistakably love.

"I promise," he whispered finally. Shino held him closer, leaving a light kiss on his forehead. They swayed lightly for a moment, as if dancing to an apparitional love song. Shino backed away slowly, keeping his arms wrapped around Kiba's slender waist.

"Kiba?" he muttered, averting his eyes, staring at the floor as if he'd discovered something in need of his attention in the beige carpet fibers. Kiba tilted his head, flashing a smile in Shino's direction, despite Shino's brief distraction. "What's going to happen to us?"

The question was one that had been weighing heavily on both of their minds for a long time, though neither wanted to dwell on it for too long. It was frightening. Admittedly, Kiba had wanted to think about it, to talk about it even, but Shino's prosperous future plans prevented him from opening his mouth. He wanted Shino to have that life that he'd worked so hard for. Truth be, Kiba didn't have it in him to leave home, it was all he knew. And Shino certainly couldn't live in the country. So where did that leave them?

"I dun know," the smaller boy choked out after a moment, "Honestly, I dun really wanna know. I'm too scared ta think 'bout it." He sighed and buried his head in Shino's neck.

"Me too," Shino replied, bringing his hand up, only for it to get lost in Kiba's silky brown hair, "I can't imagine going to college without you." His voice is lacking it's usual calamity. It's quivering almost. Kiba can feel it through his tenuous throat.

"I know. Neither can I. But. . . that's how 's gotta be." He feels tears attempting to find freedom, but he fights them back the best he can. "Ya know. . . I think we're gonna hafta get used ta not bein' tagether. I like the city 'n' all, but I can't leave home fer good. Ya got a nice future laid out fer yerself. I. . . dun think 's possible ta make this work, ya know?"

There, he said it. The very thing they had both been thinking ever since this farce began. It was so hard to swallow. That this beautiful connection could be severed by simple means of geographic location. Could Shino throw his plans away for the sake of a relationship? Would he really even be throwing away his own plans for himself, and not his father's plans?

"In all my adolescence, I have never had any sort of bond with anyone. . . at all. A bond like this is not easy to come by and it would be foolish to abandon it. I can't. . ." Shino said softly, his voice wavering, "I won't allow it to be relinquished so easily." It was clear to Kiba, that Shino was serious, by the way his eyes glazed over when he pulled away, to stare directly into his companion's, equally moist, eyes.

"So, what'a ya think we should do then?" Kiba added, flashing a small, fanged smile. As always, it was enough to make Shino melt and only validated his 'flight of fancy' decisions.

"Once high school is over, We'll both be eighteen," Shino hints, as though the intent should be plainly obvious. Kiba nods, but waits for him to continue explaining his plans. "I propose, at that time, we go back to Alabama. Both of us. We'll start a business doing odd jobs. Not only will that give us an opportunity to make some of the money we'll need to survive, but it will also give us a cover. We can be business partners. That way, we can at least spend an ample amount of time together and the townsfolk will be none the wiser."

Kiba's right eye widens, while his left eye remains swollen. Was this really Shino talking? It didn't sound like him. Certainly they couldn't do that. It would be foolish. It's too sudden and spontaneous.

"You take a hit ta the head when I wasn't lookin' er somethin'? That's crazy Shino," Kiba laughed. Shino's face remained completely still.

"I'm quite serious. I never liked the city anyway." Kiba stared, still not believing that it was Shino speaking.

"What. . . what about yer future?"

"My future? Here in the city? That is a future I was told to pursue. I've only been aiming for it because I had no other option. It seemed like the best thing to do at the time. Now, it does not." Every word Shino spoke seemed well thought out, but Kiba knew better than to believe they were. Could they really do this? Should they do this?

If Shino was willing to abandon his life in the city for him, Kiba would be a fool to refuse him. After all, it would be nearly too good to be true if they could just flee to the countryside.

"We can think 'bout it some more. Let's not make no rash decisions, I dun want us to regret nuthin'," Kiba replied. Shino nodded.

Shino glanced over at the clock resting innocently on his bedside table; 4:15. His mother would undoubtedly be doing yard work right now, as she always does. She, like her husband and son, was a meticulous individual. A creature of habit, one might say. His father worked until 8.

Maybe it was his desperation to not lose Kiba, or perhaps it was a bottled up desire that drove Shino to be so forward, when he gently guided Kiba back until the backs of his knees collided with the edge of Shino's bed. He stumbled backwards, Shino kneeling over him with an enchanted smile gleaming down at the southerner. Then, without warning, he leaned down to steal a long, passionate kiss from his smaller counterpart. It felt different than the venturesome make out sessions they had so often. There was something else there, manifesting in their needy hearts. Something, that was almost singsong, telling them both that they had already made their decision.

Shino brought his knee up to rest on his bed, between Kiba's legs. Suddenly, the wound he'd received after his collision with the sidewalk earlier began to sting as it was pushed further into the mattress. It was easy enough to ignore given the circumstances.

An urgent desire clawing away at Shino's body led his fingers to the zipper on Kiba's grey hooded sweatshirt. He struggled to pull it down at first, but with a little extra effort it slid down quite easily. Kiba pulled his lips away from Shino's briefly to remove the unnecessary garment, revealing a white tank top that hugged his tanned shoulders like a second layer of skin. Shino briskly lifted it over his head, relishing in the sight of his love's bare chest. The same sun kissed chest he remembered from those particularly hot days on the farm, when Kiba would remove his shirt and wrap it around his head to keep sweat from dripping into his eyes.

Kiba felt it was a bit unfair that he'd never seen nearly as much of Shino's flesh as the city dweller had seen of his. That in mind, he reached up and removed Shino's black tee shirt. This seemed to slow Shino down a bit, as his skin abruptly turned slightly more pink than Kiba was used to. It had never occurred to him that this must be the first time anyone's really seen this much of Shino's body. He takes every precaution he can to ensure that he is covered from head to toe most of the time. Even his eyes are usually covered.

Shino's skin was a stark contrast to Kiba's; pale and almost translucent. His gaunt frame left little room for his blue veins, which ran, like a road map, down the teen's frail arms. His torso appeared much longer than Kiba's, given the fact that he was quite a bit taller. Despite that, mostly due to this past summer, Kiba guessed, Shino's skin wrapped tightly around taut muscles. He was stunning, Kiba mused.

Only a few seconds passed before the momentum had returned. Shino bent down once again to claim Kiba's lips, gradually moving down to his angular jawline, then to his frail neck. Though Shino wanted to take this slow, there was a sense of urgency. He didn't really know how long it would take for his mother to finish the yard work.

So, swiftly, he ventured lower, leaving trails of kisses along Kiba's sternum and down to his navel. Kiba grunted quietly, so as not to alert anyone who may be nearby, burying his hands in Shino's hair.

In very little time, Kiba's pants were a past hindrance, discarded at the foot of the bed. Shino ran his hands along Kiba's smooth thighs, eventually resting them on his sharp hipbone. Shino thought he heard a small whimper escape Kiba's lips, but then thought it may have been his beds cry of distress. Regardless, he could no longer ignore his, almost painful, desire to taste his partner's arousal.

With little more thought on the matter, Shino took hold of Kiba's manhood and tentatively licked the tip, finding the taste bitter, yet somehow sweet.

"Mmn. . ." Kiba moaned, though still with enough sense to keep his volume low. Shino, feeling as though they may be caught if they don't hurry, enveloped as much of Kiba's shaft into his mouth as he could. Kiba brought his hand up to his mouth and bit down on it hard, still moaning through his teeth. Shino kept an excruciatingly slow pace at first, still trying to get used to the feeling. Progressively, though, he began to speed up, stopping for a moment to breathe, still working Kiba's arousal with his hand.

"Shino. . ." Kiba growled through his teeth, his hand still buried in his mouth, "Ah!" In a flash of white, Kiba came, falling down from his high moments later to see Shino wiping his mouth free of the excess evidence, his eyes still glazed over with lust.

Oh, how he wanted to take Kiba right there. But could he? Would his love let him do such a thing. And would it be too soon for something like that?

He crawled back onto the bed and kissed Kiba heatedly. Kiba could taste himself on Shino's tongue but found, oddly, that he didn't mind it. Within minutes, Kiba felt his blood rushing back down to his groin. When they parted, Kiba gazed up at Shino, heat rising to his cheeks.

"Well?" He nearly giggled, his lips curling up into an amused grin. Shino waited, looking at him in confusion. "Ya gonna fuck me, er what?" Kiba could tell his question had not been expected by the look of sheer shock on his lover's face.

It takes a moment for Shino to process Kiba's request. When he finally does, he gives him a nod, still wearing a bemused expression. He slides off his bed and reaches for the lavender lotion in his top drawer. He is completely unprepared for this type of situation. The last thing he wants to do is hurt Kiba. He has already been hurt enough on Shino's account today.

When he makes it back to his bed, Kiba is sitting up, eagerly awaiting his return. Once Shino is close enough, Kiba reaches for his belt; undoing it and tossing it on the floor. He works Shino's pants off his hips and they fall, carelessly, to the floor as well. After Kiba is satisfied with Shino's state of undress, he grabs him and flips him onto his back.

The southerner crawls on top of him, taking the lotion from his hands. Shino doesn't have too much time to assess the situation, before Kiba is coating his erection with the sweet smelling lotion. Shino can only hum in pleasure at the beautiful sensation it creates.

Kiba takes Shino's hand and covers his fingers with a dab of lotion. Even though Shino was inexperienced in this field, he still knew what it was Kiba was expecting him to do. Without hesitation, he reaches under Kiba's thighs and slides one slick, pale finger into his entrance. The feeling of something being inserted into his rectum is quite foreign to Kiba. He squirms and tries to adjust, but is surprised to learn that it doesn't really hurt.

When it seems Kiba has gotten comfortable, Shino delicately slips in another pale finger. Kiba leans forward, letting out something of a squeak. Eventually, though, he seems to adjust. One more finger is added, this time causing a bit more than just discomfort. The pain is brief before it is replaced by pleasure, as Shino moves his fingers in almost the same rhythm he had used only moments ago.

Kiba pulled himself off of Shino's wonderful fingers, no longer able to wait. Without words, he mounted the taller boy, stopping for a moment to get used to the pain. It began to ease but it did not disappear, so Kiba started to move, in hopes that the pain would be replaced by pleasure once again.

Before long, the pleasure is unfathomably intense and the pain is gone completely. Shino grabs the tan boy's hips and guides him down a bit farther.

"Hmn. . .," is all Shino can utter, his brain no longer functioning at full capacity. Kiba quickens his pace as he becomes more accustomed to the invasion.

"Fuck! Mmn.. . Shino," Kiba calls out, not really caring anymore that someone might hear. He rides him, faster, faster, faster. . . Until they are both screaming out their completion.

After the height of climax faded from their misty eyes, Kiba rolled off of Shino and stood, his body still aching in every conceivable area. He pulled on his pants and threw his hoodie over his shoulder. Shino just laid back and watched, an uncharacteristically huge smile accentuating his angular face.

"What?" Kiba said with a grin, crawling back onto the bed.

"I love you," Shino replied. It was those three words that mean so much. Usually something of a milestone for couples. Not for them, Kiba thought. They didn't need to say it to know how deep their feelings ran. It was a bond that they could feel, like electricity surging through their veins. A need to break free of worldly chains, tying them down to whatever expectations everyone might have for them.

Still, Kiba took his hand and whispered in that rough voice that Shino so admired; "I love ya too, city boy."

"I suppose we should shower," Shino proposed, sitting up and sliding his pants on.

"Yeah, I feel kinda nasty," Kiba chuckled, smelling his armpit. There was that southern charm.

"Why don't you go first then? Mother will be in soon, if she isn't already. We shouldn't go together." Kiba looked a bit put out briefly but then decided it was for the best.

"Alright, I'll try ta hurry," Kiba said, giving Shino a quick peck on the cheek before sneaking out of his room. Shino sighed.

He really will miss this place. But as long as he is with Kiba, he knows he'll be at home. Once the summer arrives, they will have to leave. Going back to Alabama will certainly be nice. After all, it just wouldn't feel like summer anymore without the smell of roast and hash.

A/N: Once again, a HUGE thanks to everyone who stuck with this mess. I appreciate it so much! I know it seems like a cruddy place to end it, but I think it's nice and open. I doubt I'll be continuing this but I am putting it out there that I wouldn't mind a lick if anyone else wanted to continue writing it. I'd like to see where you might take it. Please, link to the original if do decide to though. Oh, and let me know too, more or less because I'd like to read it. XD