***AN: When I looked this chapter over for grammar I added over a thousand words to it - which means not much grammar got fixed. So I really should let this sit for a month and then go back to it when I'm more likely to see the mistakes and then and only then post it, but I'd feel bad waiting that long between chapters. Instead, let's pretend I'll come back to it later and edit it . . . that may or may not happen, but let's pretend anyway.***

"Your skin like dawn
Mine like musk

One paints the beginning
of a certain end.

The other, the end of a
sure beginning." ~Passing Time by Maya Angelou

The next morning the tray sat on the coffee table with fried eggs and toast made from Kek's bread. He ate and washed his dishes. On the fridge Ryo had a envelope with money and a shopping list and asked if Kek would do him a favor and go shopping and that he'd repay him with dinner before he left. Kek smiled at the note. He didn't plan on leaving, not unless Ryo wanted him to. He finally gotten Ryo to make some sound, how could he leave?

The store made Kek nervous. People stared at him like he was going to steal something and crowds had a way of making Kek feel like the world was on the verge of caving on top of him. He ignored the clerk and the other shoppers and focused on his list. Kek smiled to himself when he put another bag of flour into his cart, remembering their fight in the kitchen. He bought things at the store before, but it was weird paying for the groceries with money he didn't steal. It felt even stranger when he walked back to Ryo's apartment and put the groceries away in the cupboards and the fridge. He stared in Ryo's pantry, at the bags of rice and noodles and way too many cans of the sweet, red bean paste Ryo used to make desserts. Ryo felt bored, and Kek understood why, but he felt jealous. All the power of the Millennium Items couldn't compare to the power of a washer, a dryer, a refrigerator, or a shower. It was the hard, grimy truth he'd learned sleeping behind trashcans. True, if he had the Rod he could manipulate people into giving him the money he needed for food and expensive hotel rooms – just like Marik used to do – but that was no different than mugging people in the park. As always, he and Marik were the same, only Marik gilded his actions with glamour and Kek allowed the tarnish to show.

What if the kissing went too far and Ryo wanted him to leave? He didn't want to go back to alleys and mugging and always wondering if he'd have to kill someone in order to keep himself from being hurt. Once killing made him feel invincible – alive – but screams weren't near as intoxicating as the soft, needful sounds Ryo made each time Kek used his tongue to trace the corner of Ryo's mouth. Nor did killing feel as liberating as putting groceries away in a pantry, odd as that was. Everyone always said he was crazy, and he supposed it was true.

Kek reached over his shoulder and rubbed the top of his scars. He couldn't get a job, didn't have a birth certificate or visa for travel, and even if he somehow made it to Egypt, Marik and the others wouldn't help him. They'd probably scream in terror and attack him, and he didn't blame them, but it made him feel sick and alone. It wasn't as simple as not wanting to go back on the streets – Kek didn't want to be alone. He liked seeing Ryo walk through the door and smiling. He'd miss that the most. That smile. The smile of an angel. His angel. His angel. His angel, Ryo.

Kek spent the day flipping through the dessert section of Ryo's favorite cookbook. The pictures and recipes blurred out of focus as his thoughts spun in his head like a tornado of razor blades. He put the soup on the stove on low to heat for lunch, but never ate any of it. Instead, Kek rubbed his temples and closed his eyes, but nothing soothed the headache gnawing at the edges of his head.

That's how Ryo found him – at the table with closed eyes and fingers circling his temples. "Kek, are you okay?"

Kek looked up and nodded. "I'm fine. Headache."

"Here." Ryo disappeared and returned with two aspirins. He poured a glass of water. "Look, I know you were going to leave tonight, but if you don't feel well you should stay one more night."

The corner of Kek's mouth turned up. He'd worried all day about how he'd try to stay another night, but now Ryo was asking him to stay. Only, he didn't want to manipulate the situation; he didn't want Ryou letting him stay because he thought Kek was sick. That's what Marik would have done. "I feel fine. It's just a headache. I'm fine."

"Still, still, maybe you should stay." Ryo's voice dropped to barely a breath and he looked away. "You should stay."

Kek noticed Ryo's hand resting on the table. He placed his tawny hand on top of Ryo's. "I don't want to leave if you don't want me to."

Roses bloomed against Ryo's pale cheeks as he stared at their hands, but he wouldn't look at Kek. "Please stay."

Kek nodded, hoping Ryo couldn't feel the racing pulse coursing through the palm of Kek's hand.

Ryo noticed the pot on the stove. "Oh good, you heated up the soup. Thank you."

Ryo stood up and gathered bowls and spoons. Kek felt like he did it just to stop holding hands. He propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on the platform of his hands. He watched Ryo ladle the soup and set the bowls on the counter, but he didn't put them on the table. He stared at the stream rising from each bowl, not moving as if he became a statue like he did their first night together. "Where will you go?"

Kek grinned and shrugged. When Ryo finally grew bored and kicked Kek out, he'd go back to the streets and alleyways, of course, but he wasn't going to worry Ryo about it. He'd probably drift to another city. At first one city was as good as another to him, but once their current arrangement ended, it'd probably be better for both of them if they didn't see each other.

"What will you do?"

Mug people for enough money to buy store-bought onigiri. Survive.

He shrugged again, unable to tell Ryo the truth. He felt something gnawing at him. An emotion he'd never experienced before – shame. He was ashamed that he'd stolen from people. There was another emotion he didn't understand, a stronger feeling, but that one made Kek want to cry so he refused to think about it.

Ryo walked up and knelt next to Kek, resting a milk-white hand on Kek's shoulder. "You know . . . you don't have to leave until you want to."

Then he'd never leave. Who in their right mind would leave the home of an angel? But he feared he was a distraction, something for Ryo to use to pass the time, and one day Ryou would tire of him and ask him to leave.

They ate the soup and pocky in the living room and watched movies until it was time for bed. When Kek entered his room that night he noticed the condom and lube on the bed again, but he'd rather kiss and hear Ryo moan then have sex with a statue. He took the items and set them on Ryo's night stand. Ryo looked at him, a desperate expression on his face. "Why?" he asked.

Kek thought the question ironic, coming from Ryo. "Why not?" he answered, pulling Ryo up to sitting and kissing him. Kek wasn't shy this time, remembering what to do from the night before. At first Ryo sat straight with rigid shoulders, but as they kissed, his shoulders relaxed and his chest sunk against Kek's. Ryo released a bitter-sweet sigh that froze the breath in Kek's throat when he heard it.

Kek allowed his fingers free reign through Ryo's hair. Ryo dug his slender, white fingers deep into Kek's shoulder bones as if Kek may try to escape if Ryo didn't hold tight. Kek grunted, he hadn't realize how physically strong Ryo was until he felt the strength in those fingers piercing into him. Ryo's grip made Kek feel like perhaps he wasn't a distraction after all. He wrapped his arms around Ryo's torso and pulled their bodies as close as he could. He held Ryo as if holding could explain how badly Kek wanted to stay.

Kek found that the best way to kiss Ryo was soft and deliberate in the center of Ryo's bottom lip. Each time he did it Ryo shuddered. Another favorite spot of Ryo's was the corners of his mouth. Ryo sighed and moaned when Kek kissed him there, so he did it often. Kek preferred running his tongue along Ryo's lips so he could taste Ryo.

On the third night of kissing Ryo didn't bother setting out the lube; it stayed on the nightstand where Kek last put it. He seemed resigned to their new game, wearing boxer shorts to bed and leaving the light on for Kek. As Kek gave the bottom of Ryo's lip one last lick before he pulled away for the night, Ryo slipped his tongue from his mouth to meet Kek's tongue.

Kek moaned deep in his throat at the unexpected touch of Ryo's tongue. They dabbed their tips together for a moment before pressing their mouths together in a proper and deep French kiss. Kek forgot that he was about to go to sleep. Ryo's hands slid up from Kek's shoulders to the nape of his neck and then to the base of his skull. Kek's hands untangled from Ryo's hair and he brushed his fingertips along Ryo's back. Ryo arched into Kek's fingers, writhing in his arms, sighing, gasping, and purring, making all the movements and noises Kek ever wished of him and they still wore their clothes.

A week later, as they moved together like sea foam and sand, Kek remembered that he wanted a taste of Ryo's throat. He brushed the white ribbons of hair off Ryo's shoulder and nestled his nose into the crook of Ryo's neck and collarbone. He started with a soft kiss on Ryo's collarbone and licked his way up the hallow of Ryo's throat. It wasn't what he planned that first night when he intended to frighten Ryo. Now Kek was trying to please Ryo and considered his efforts a success when Ryo tightened his grip and hiked his body close to Kek's while crying out. Kek kissed and nipped different areas of Ryo's throat, enjoying the new territory to explore. He settled at a spot near the collarbone and began sucking. Ryo's hips jerked forward at the sensation and he called out again. Kek sucked a long time, and when he finished, he kissed the center of Ryo's bottom lip, slow and deliberate, before disappearing for the night.

The next morning a large bruise marred Ryo's white skin. Blue and purple and gray, like the Shadows. Ryo tried to cover it up with his clothes and hair, but if he moved wrong, Kek could see it. Ryo still didn't talk about their nights together, but he did look at Kek when he got home from work, saying, "not where it shows."

He said it like the mark was embarrassing, and maybe for him it was, but for Kek it was beautiful, a love note he wrote on Ryo's skin with his mouth instead of a pen. He thought about explaining to Ryo, but lost his nerve and asked him to play a game of Duel Monsters instead. They played five games. Kek won three and Ryo won two.

The next day, when Kek woke up, he decided he wanted to make something for Ryo. Since Ryo loved desserts the most, that's what he wanted to make. He flipped through the cookbook Ryo kept in the kitchen, getting mad when he saw something that looked tasty but they didn't have the ingredients for. He finally found a recipe for puff pastries with choux cream that looked good and had an easy ingredient list. He read the instructions six times before gathering up everything he needed. Kek decided to measure everything before hand, so he didn't get pissed off in the middle of cooking and trash Ryo's kitchen in a fit of rage caused by a missing measuring cup. By the time he filled the pastries with the custard, Kek regretted his decision to do something nice – even for Ryo. He was hot, sweaty, dusted in flour, sticky from spilling a little of the batter on himself, and ready to burn the kitchen to the ground if the damn things didn't taste good. He refused to taste one until Ryo did. He knew the choux creme was good because he licked the spoon he used to stir it, but he could only hope that Ryo liked the little cream-filled balls that Kek stacked high on a plate. He walked towards the coffee table, wanting to have the plate somewhere Ryo would see the moment he stepped inside. Kek found himself smiling as he imagined the look on Ryo's face when he saw dessert already made. Kek's favorite part of the day was the moment Ryo walked through the door when he returned from work. Ryo always looked happy to see Kek and that was an experience Kek never thought he'd know in his life. However, before Kek reached the coffee table, the door opened and Ryo walked in, half an hour early. Kek looked away. He'd wanted to shower and change before Ryo saw him, but there was nothing to be done about it. Kek's heart beat hard in his ribs as he waited for some kind of acknowledgment, but Ryo never spoke.

Kek looked back and saw tears rolling away from the curves of Ryo's ivory cheeks. He almost dropped the plate when he saw Ryo crying, but managed to set it on the table. Ryo's tears made Kek's chest hurt. He walked up to Ryo and reached out a flour-dusted hand to wipe the damp off of Ryo's cheek. "Did I do something wrong?"

Ryo didn't answer. He ran off to his bedroom.

Kek heard the door slam. He stood frozen in place near the door, shattered inside. He couldn't breath because his lungs were shattered, couldn't move because his bones were shattered, and couldn't think because his brain was shattered. His first real effort to do anything good in his life and he got tears from the one person he never wanted to see sad. What was the point being nice if being cruel was easier and produced the same results? Kek crept to Ryo's room and knocked on the door. Ryo didn't answer, so he knocked a second time.

"Ryo?"

After he didn't get an answer the second time Kek ran down the hall, blind from emotion. He stumbled and dropped to his knees, clenching his fists into the thick carpet. His hands shook. That feeling in his chest, the one that made him want to curl into Ryo's arms and weep for things he didn't understand, threatened to tear apart his mind in a way the Shadows never could. He gnashed his bottom lip with his teeth, refusing to succumb to the tears threatening the corners of his eyes. He bit so hard into his lip that the sharp, tangy flavor of iron greeted his tongue and that calmed him down. Blood he understood. Physical pain he understood. It was the hurt in his chest and stomach that he wanted to hide from.

Kek grabbed his backpack and stood in front of the door. He had his hand on the knob, but something wouldn't let him leave. "Go," Kek whispered to himself. "Go. Go. Go."

Not matter how many times he said it, he couldn't do it. Not with Ryo crying in the other room. He didn't know what he did to make Ryo cry, but he knew leaving wouldn't fix it. Some of the fragments of his shattered mind sewed themselves back together enough for Kek to think. Not only did Ryo smile everyday when he came home, but there was some other emotion in Ryo's eyes each time he walked through the door. Kek had to ponder a moment, emotions were still a complicated subject for him, but after thinking he realized it was relief. Every day Ryo came home he was relieved to see Kek waiting for him in the living room.

Kek's leg's folded under him, and he sat cross-legged with the backpack in his lap and his face pressed into the rucksack. He couldn't go. He didn't know what to do, but he knew leaving would make Ryo cry more. He sniffed and his eyes burned, but he refused to cry. Kek fell asleep sitting in front of the door. It was early in the morning, the apartment gray with dawn, when Ryo shook Kek awake.

Kek looked up as Ryo took his backpack away. Red welts puffed around the edges of Ryo's eyes from a night's worth of consistent tears. "Don't leave . . ." Ryo's voice sounded heavy and gruff.

"But I . . ." Kek didn't know how to finish the sentence because he didn't know what he'd done wrong.

Ryo shook his head, hugging Kek's backpack. Kek frowned, jealous of the backpack. "I wanted . . . I just wanted . . . it was suppose to make you smile." Kek he ground his teeth. He didn't like dealing with his own emotions let alone Ryo's, but this was too confusing not to address. "But when I looked up you were crying. Why did you cry?"

"Because . . ." Ryo picked at the straps of Kek's backpack. "They're my favorite."

Kek pulled at his spikes of hair, eyes clenched shut. "That doesn't make any sense!" he screamed. He had to scream or his head was going to explode, or maybe his chest, he wasn't sure which. He stood and paced across the living room, hands tugging chunks of his deranged hair and face wrinkled into a confused knot. After a few frantic moments he tried again. "That should be good, right? If they were your favorite? But you cried. You cried and then you ran away, and I didn't know what I did to hurt you."

Ryo looked small and vulnerable. He stared at Kek's backpack as he spoke. "What you did was sweet. It was so sweet, and it did make me happy . . . but that made it hurt because I don't like getting attached to people."

"I know. I know I'm just a distraction for you because you're bored." It hurt to say. The feeling in his chest started taking form, becoming something tangible that he could recognize, an emotion he could name, but it was an emotion he feared Ryo didn't share.

Ryo shook his head. "No. You think I - no, it's not like that. It's . . . I can't get attached. It hurts too much. Every time I try to love someone they leave. My mom and sister died and then my dad buried himself in his job. All my friends left my old apartment in comas and on stretchers because the Spirit stole their souls. Even when they woke up, I couldn't talk to them. I felt too bad. The Spirit swore he'd never leave, but he did. Even Mai, Jonouchi, Anzu, and Yugi left for New York after Anzu got accepted to a dancing school there. Everyone leaves. And it hurts."

Kek's hands dropped to his sides. "Ryo, I'm not going to leave."

Ryo shook his head. "I've heard that before, but you'll get restless and you'll go away, too."

Kek ground his back molars together, hands gripping into fists. He knew what the feeling in his chest was. He'd always known, but was too afraid to think it or say it out loud. It made him angry with himself. He was acting like Marik, repressing the feelings he didn't like deep into the bottom of his mind. He couldn't take it anymore, better to be heart broken and alone as Kek than continue to act like the host ego that he despised.

Kek uncurled his fists back into fingers, looking Ryo in the eyes. For a second the words caught in his throat and he thought he'd suffocate on them, but Kek swallowed and spoke. "No. I'm never leaving your side, Ryo, because I love you."

Ryo's head shot up. He stared up at Kek, dark eyes wide and unblinking. "What?"

Kek crouched down so he could look eye-level at Ryo from across the room. "I mean, I don't know a lot about positive emotions, but I know I love you."

Ryo blushed. "You love kissing me, maybe. Lust fades over time."

"It can't be lust. If it was, I would have been satisfied just sleeping with you every night." Kek stared at the carpet. He was going to say everything, all the things he'd been wanting to say over the weeks but never would, yet he couldn't look at Ryo when he said the next part. "The truth is, the sex wasn't good enough by itself. I liked it, but I wanted to look at your face and see your expressions. I wanted to hear your voice and listen to your heart pound. I wanted all the little details that belong to you alone, and I wanted you to share them with me. Even out of the bedroom, I wanted to see you walk through the door everyday and smile. When you cook, I want to slip my arm across your stomach and kiss the nape of your neck and hear you laugh. Every night I go back to the couch, but what I really want to do it stay there and fall asleep to the sound of your breathing." Kek gathered the nerve to look back up at Ryo. "I mean, that's love, right? Or did I get it wrong?"

Ryo's cheeks were wet again. He stood up and Kek stood as well. Kek expected Ryo to run back to his room. Ryo did run, but straight towards Kek, crashing against this chest and flinging his arms around Kek's torso. Kek's face went wide in surprise. It took a moment before Kek collected himself enough to slip his hands across Ryo's back and return the hug. He leaned his cheek against the crown of Ryo's hair and sighed. "Ryo, why are you crying now?"

"I'm happy," Ryo whispered, his voice husky.

"People cry when they're happy, too? What's the fucking point of different emotions, then?"

Ryo shrugged, not having an answer. They held each other for another moment.

When Ryo released the embrace, Kek looked down at his messy clothes. "I need a shower. I'm still covered in flour from yesterday."

Ryo nodded, sitting on the couch as Kek disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, water-heavy, yellow spikes hanging a little low around his head, he saw Ryo eating cream puffs. He turned when he noticed Kek. "These are incredible."

Kek's lips twitched with the beginnings of a smile. "Really?"

"Haven't you had one yet?"

He shook his head, sitting next to Ryo on the couch. "I was waiting on you."

Ryo shoved one up to his mouth. "Try it."

Kek opened his mouth so Ryo could push to pastry inside. It was good. They weren't the sweetest dessert, but the texture made them addictive. It amazed Kek that he was the one that made them; he never made anything good before. Ryo fed him several more, eating one himself for each he gave. Ryo's fingers slipped and smudged choux cream on Kek's lips. "Ooops, sorry," Ryo apologized.

"I got it." Kek used his long tongue to lick the stray cream off of his bottom lip. He noticed Ryo's eyes went wide and dark as he watched Kek's tongue work. He opened his mouth to ask if he missed a spot, but before he made a sound, Ryo had both hands digging into Kek's damp hair and their mouths pushed together. Kek jerked in shock. Ryo never kissed him first. Kek often wanted him to, daydreamed of it, but the only time they kissed was when Kek crept into Ryo's bed at night. Kek closed his eyes and slipped his hands underneath Ryo's t-shirt and held the smooth sides of Ryo's body.

Ryo crawled into Kek's lap to have better access to Kek's mouth. He dropped down to Kek's throat and Kek heard himself moaning in the way he liked to hear Ryo moan. Before Kek could gather his senses, Ryo tugged both their shirts away from their bodies and flung them to the floor. Kek opened his eyes and glanced at the shirts on the floor; they looked out of character in Ryo's otherwise pristine apartment. He couldn't focus on them for very long because Ryo's mouth was back on his, tongue seeking his mouth. Kek moaned and closed his eyes again and allowed himself to disappear into the swirl of lips and fingers.

Kek rolled his eyes into the back of his head, chest rising and falling as Ryo traveled kisses from Kek's neck down to his navel. When Kek heard the clink of his belt buckle and zip of his fly opening, he looked back down at Ryo. "What, what are you—"

Kek's question died as soon as Ryo grabbed Kek's erection. His body jerked in response to Ryo's touches. Kek always finished himself off every night after his make out sessions with Ryo; however, those times alone felt like nothing compared to Ryo's hand kneading him like warm, risen dough. Ryo's sweet mouth sucked on Kek's nipple as his hand worked. He switched to both hands, grabbing as much as Kek as he could hold. Ryo relinquished the nipple to suck at Kek's neck, writing his own love note on the russet skin.

Kek panted and groaned, face flushed and forehead sweating. He held Ryo in a loose embrace, giving Ryo enough room to freely move his hands and arms. Kek pressed his forehead against Ryo's. "Ryo. Ryo. Slow — down — I'm going t-to —" he cried out, unable to finish the sentence as his body tensed. Kek shook and trembled and spilled out onto his copper-plated belly.

Ryo grinned, his cheeks as flushed as Kek's and his brown eyes still hungry looking. He dropped lower and licked Kek's belly clean. A yearning groan slipped past Kek's lips as he watched Ryo's pink tongue and simultaneously felt the warmth of it. Ryo didn't give Kek any time to recover, attacking Kek's mouth with a delirious fever of kisses. Kek shimmied the rest of the way out of his pants. Then he hooked his arms around Ryo's thighs and lifted him up to where Kek stood with Ryo in his arms. Ryo hugged his own arms around Kek's neck to keep from falling. Kek walked naked through Ryo's apartment, carrying Ryo to the bedroom while they still kissed. He lay Ryo down on the bed – his angel spread out across a heaven of white sheets and pillows.

Kek settled on top of Ryo, kissing Ryo's throat until Ryo moaned.

Kek purred a mmmm of approval. "It's much better when you make noise. I hated how quiet you were at first."

"It was hard to stay quiet, but I thought." Ryo stopped and gasped as Kek kissed his pale chest. "If I let on to how much I liked it then you'd get bored and leave sooner."

"I'll never get bored of hearing your voice."

Ryo's chest shook with soft laughter. "I would have never guessed you could be so romantic."

"Me neither," Kek confessed. "I sure don't get it from Marik."

Kek kissed across Ryo's body, but always returned to his mouth. When their lips burned from the friction of their kisses, Kek rolled to the side, pulling Ryo with him until their positions were reversed and Ryo lay on top. "Ryo?" he whispered.

"Yes?"

"Let's . . ." Kek lost his voice, feeling stupid and shy. "You know, we haven't since . . . do you want to? Would you like to . . ."

"Yeah." Ryo blushed and looked away. "I'd like to, but you're only half hard because of earlier."

"Well, I know, but you could . . ." Kek shrugged.

The intensity of Ryo's blush doubled, changing from Habanero to Carolina Reaper. "I, um, I've never done it that way before."

"That's okay." Kek chuckled. "I'd never done it at all until that first night."

All the scarlet drained from Ryo's face, leaving his skin as smooth and white as a gardenia petal. "You never . . . not at all?"

Kek shook his head no.

"Not even as, you know, when you were Marik?"

"Revenge is a jealous mistress."

"Oh, Kek, I'm sorry." Ryo shook his head, looking sad. "I didn't know. I should have made it more special."

Kek rolled his eyes. The notion of the first time being different than any other time sounded ridiculous to him. "That doesn't make any sense."

Ryo laughed, bending down and kissing Kek on the lips. It turned into several kisses. Ryo slipped out of his own pants, reaching over to grab the lube off of the nightstand. "I'll do it, if you want me to."

Kek nodded. He very much wanted Ryo at that moment, more so than he knew he could want someone.

Ryo's blush still burned across his cheeks. "I'll try to make it as good for you as you make it for me."

Kek grinned, almost sinister, but happy. "I do a good job? I could never tell."

Lube in one hand, Ryo used his other to draw circles on Kek's belly, staring at the invisible patterns to avoid Kek's gaze. "It was difficult to stay so quiet."

Kek slid his fingers down his own belly until they webbed with Ryo's. Ryo looked up, the same dark, hungry look in his eyes that he had before kissing Kek on the couch. He slipped in between Kek's parted legs and used his body to spread Kek's thighs wide. All Kek could do was breath and watch, transfixed by Ryo's every flourish of movement. His brain only half registered the cold of the gel as Ryo prepped him. Kek's eyes drank in each specific detail; the way Ryo's hair tumbled over his left shoulder, the hollow that sat against his right collarbone like a drift of snow, the way his movements betrayed a certain grace that made him look more spirit than flesh.

When Ryo entered him, Kek's breath hitched and his head sank into the pillow. Ryo exhaled a puff of breath, drawing back and rolling forward like waves breaking the shore. Kek wrapped his legs around Ryo's waist to squeeze their bodies as close as possible. He arms followed, encircling Ryo. Kek loved the way Ryo moved inside him, a sensation more thrilling than when he stood on the Kaiba Corp. blimp and fought Shadow Games in the biting wind.

Ryo's voice was still soft and quiet – that was his way – but it was alive and unsheltered and that was the difference Kek wanted from the beginning. Kek whispered Ryo's name and Ryo moaned. They both moved together-together-together, and then Ryo was calling out loud into the room, as if singing a song only ever meant for Kek to hear. That's when the dawn reached high enough to break into the bedroom window and bath them both with soft, liquid gold. Kek's eyes shifted to the light, moaning as Ryo screamed. Kek remembered his dream – Ryo singing and the dawn washing over them. It wasn't until he felt Ryo's warmth spilling inside them that he realized they hadn't remembered the condom, or maybe Ryo felt like he didn't need them anymore.

Kek lowered his legs, but kept his arms knotted across Ryo's back. Ryo nuzzled into the crook of Kek's neck. "Don't leave."

Kek understood that Ryo meant not to go to the couch like he usually did. Kek squeezed Ryo and relaxed into the mattress. "I'm staying right here."

Neither one of them slept well the night before, so they lay in each other's arms and slept until late afternoon. When they woke up they demolished the entire plate of cream puffs, talking, for the first time, of things they could do in the future, having, for the first time, the hope to dare dream of such things. And when it was time for them to sleep that night, Kek didn't wait for Ryo to go to bed first. They walked together, side by side and hand in hand.

***AN: Review if you want to and thanks for reading.***