"Tsu-kun, why don't you ever bring him over?" Nana asked, lifting her head briefly from her cooking.

Tsuna looked up from the homework that he was obviously never going to finish, blushing a little. "Um, who?" he stalled.

"Gokudera-kun. You two are dating now, aren't you? You should bring him over for dinner!"

Tsuna's peach skin disappeared under a barrage of ruby red blush and he banged his head against the table in shame, wishing he would disappear. But still he tried to hide it, "Um, I don't know what you're talking about?"

"That settles that, then. He'll come over for dinner of Saturday. And what luck! Your father is coming home on Friday!" Nana said cheerily.

If you think it was hard telling his family that his boyfriend would be coming over on Saturday, think how hard it was to tell the actual boyfriend.

Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera were all eating lunch on the roof as usual, munching mildly on their lunches. Yamamoto, being the mutual third best friend in the group, of course he knew that they were going out.

"Um, Hayato-kun, um," Tsuna couldn't seem to get the words out. He knew that Hayato loved him, but he was still scared of him just a little bit.

"Tsuna, what's wrong?" Hayato suddenly looked worried and slightly angry. "Someone hurt you, didn't they? I will kill them!"

"No, no, Hayato-kun, its just that, um… what are you doing on Saturday night?" Tsuna finally said.

"If you want to do something, Tsuna, I'm always free," Gokudera flashed his famous smile, which had been oh-so-rare before they had started dating, but after they started going out, it was almost always plastered to his face.

"Okay, because my mom wants you to come over for dinner," Tsuna said it all in one breath. There was a heavy silence after that, a few seconds after which Yamamoto started laughing.

"That's gonna be a tough one," Yamamoto said, chuckling.

But surprisingly, Gokudera just shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is. I've eaten at Tsuna's house before. Nothing's really different except that we're dating." He leaned back against the wire fence that surrounded the roof of the school and took a long swig of his can of green tea.

"Yes, but…" Tsuna had a feeling that Hayato would misunderstand in this manner, so he had prepared himself for having to explain it, but he really didn't want to say it.

"Well… um, actually, Hayato-kun, it won't be just my mom. My dad is home too," Tsuna said, twiddling his fingers nervously.

"So? Your parents already know me, there's nothing different except that we're dating," the Storm guardian said, shrugging.

"B-But still, even if you say that, my dad…" Tsuna said.

Tsuna was trying to think of a way to explain to Hayato that even though his father was almost never home; he had always relayed one thing on his son.

"That's right, Tsunayoshi! You're gonna grow up to be quite a lady-killer," his father had slurred drunkenly. Tsuna was about eight and his father was home from one of his trips but he was drinking heavily, although it didn't matter. Tsuna was too young to understand and Nana just found it amusing. "So you have to bring home a pretty, little lady, okay?"

"Lady?" the young Tsuna asked, looking up at his father with an adorable, confused look.

"Oh, dear, leave him alone, he's so young," Nana said, looking up from her cooking just to glare teasingly at her husband.

"Don't be like that, Nana, you know its true," he grabbed Tsuna and hoisted him up from under his arms, holding him up to display to his wife. "Look at this face. He's so cute he'll be bringing girls home to us in no time!" He chortled heartily.

"Dad," Tsuna whined a little. "Put me down, that hurts!"

"Don't start crying! That sensitive side will kill the women every time!"

"I don't understand what you're saying, Daddy!" the little Tsuna squirmed, tears forming in his eyes.

"Now, son," Iemitsu turned his son around and placed the young boy in his lap. "Do you understand what this means?" He held up four fingers.

"That's the number four!" Tsuna said, feeling like he understood.

"Yes, but it also means to fu-" but instead of finishing his lecture, he received a rather hard smack on the head, courtesy of Nana and her ladle. She started to scold him, but he didn't hear him, he'd fallen asleep in a matter of seconds.

How the hell do I tell him something like that? Tsuna ran his fingers through his thick, chocolate locks and sighed heavily.

The bell had rung and the three boys started to make their way back down the hallway and they started to intermix with the crowd of kids in the hall. They started to blend in, their selves and their own worries and problems all melting and molding together.

They were all melted together, but obviously not forgotten. Tsuna's mind was reeling and he knew what a serious problem it was for him to keep this to himself. There was no way he could get out of it; his mom was determined and Gokudera seemed indifferent. He was jittery and unfocused through the rest of his afternoon classes, his mind only came back into focus when his teacher scolded him for not paying attention and getting yet another question wrong.

When school ended, signified by the usual sing-songy bell, Tsuna exhaled with a mixture of relief and exasperation.

"Tsuna," the familiar husky voice woke him up a little more. He felt a long, slender hand slide in between his fingers and squeeze his hand playfully.

"Hayato-kun," Tsuna said, smiling.

"Come over to my place today, okay? Let's hang out, just the two of us!" Hayato's grin was incomparable and it was believable to say that that might be one of the reasons Tsuna fell for him to begin with.

"O-Okay!" Tsuna said happily. But inside, he was having a vicious mental argument with himself.

This is a good time to tell him.

But he's so happy to hang out with me! I could never crush his feelings by bringing up something so…

Maybe if I just find a way to slip it into conversation.

Would he really appreciate a warning like this?

But I couldn't possibly keep it to myself! What kind of boyfriend would I be if...?

Tsuna hadn't even noticed it, but somehow they'd ended up in front of Gokudera's house already. Tsuna had been so lost in thought that he didn't realize that they'd arrived until Gokudera took back his hand to unlock the door to his apartment.

When they were inside, Gokudera had started up a kettle of tea and Tsuna had started setting up their homework on the table in the silverette's bedroom, but their schoolwork wasn't exactly at the top of their list of priorities.

He heard the door open and close behind him, and then he heard footsteps bounding toward him. The next second, he was pulled around quickly and his lips were sandwiched between another pair. He felt a slender pair of arms wrap around his neck and pull him close.

He grunted a little, not annoyed but kind of relieved and excited. He placed his hand on his boyfriend's face and caressed his cheek a little.

Gokudera broke the kiss and placed his forehead on the brunette's, staring into Tsuna's chestnut eyes with his own stormy green orbs. He was grinning like a small child.

"You know, I didn't want to say it in front of Yamamoto because it would sound so lame, but I'm actually really excited to go to your house for dinner," Gokudera said brightly.

Swell, Tsuna thought, suppressing a sigh as to not confuse his lover. Instead, he swallowed and said, "Yeah, I'm excited too. My mom said she's going to be cooking for it all day Saturday."

"I'm more than happy to try anything she makes," Gokudera said, snuggling his face against Tsuna's cheek lovingly.

"Y-Yeah," Tsuna said.

Gokudera distanced himself, but only a little, his arms still around Tsuna, but still close enough that their noses were practically blushing.

"Are you okay? It seems that whenever I bring up the dinner, you get upset. Do you not want me to come? I know we just started going out, so if that's too much…" Gokudera muttered, blushing.

"No, no, no!" Tsuna started shaking his head vigorously. "No, that's not it at all! I-I love you, Hayato," he blushed. "Its not me, i-its my dad."

Hayato was blushing a little, still caught off guard from what Tsuna had said, but then he regained himself. "Your father?"

"Yeah, its just that, well, my dad…" Tsuna went through the entire story of what his dad had said when he was younger and why he was worried.

The two boys had separated by now but they weren't very far apart, they were sitting right next to each other.

"So you think your dad will have a problem that you and I are-" it seemed that he couldn't say the word 'gay', they'd never really thought about it that way, they were always just happy to be together; it never really mattered to them that they were both guys.

"I can't say for sure, but I'm almost positive that he'll be a little… surprised," Tsuna said, looking away. This is so not fair to Hayato, Tsuna thought. It's so unfair that he has to worry about this.

"Its okay, right?" Gokudera said, surprising Tsuna. He looked over and saw that his boyfriend was smiling happily. "If it's us, its okay, right? We love each other a lot, so it'll be okay no matter what happens, right?"

Tsuna's face turned a deep red, but he was feeling so happy inside that he could barely stand it. He threw his arms around the bomber and squeezed him tightly.

"Yeah!" he said, digging his chest into Gokudera's chest excitedly.

"Mom, what time is Dad coming home tonight?" Tsuna asked through a mouthful of his breakfast. It was Friday now and he had settled down about the dinner party. Gokudera's reassurance had completely dissolved any worries he'd had about Saturday.

"Oh, he called me yesterday night. Something came up and he won't be coming home until right before dinner," Nana said lightly, turning around from her cooking to look over at her son.

"Oh, well, did he say anything about dinner?" Tsuna asked casually, taking a sip from his tea.

"He doesn't know," she said simply, turning back to the stove.

Tsuna coughed and gagged, spilling tea all over his food and the table.

"Heh-heh, Tsuna can't even drink tea right," Lambo taunted. "Ba~ka!"

Tsuna ignored him and turned to his mother. "Mom! Why didn't you tell him?!"

"It never came up," Nana said, grinning like not telling her AWOL husband that her son's boyfriend was coming over for dinner was something all mothers did.

"What kind of answer is that?" Tsuna yelled, not believing his ears. He blushed and looked down at his hands, which he had been twiddling nervously since his mother's first announcement. "D-Does he know about Hayato and me?"

"No, that never came up either," she said, smiling and tilting her head innocently.

"Of course it never came up if you never mentioned it!" Tsuna said, clawing at his brunette locks angrily.

"Oh, its no big deal. Your father's always been excited for the day when you bring a 'special friend' home!" Nana said, cupping her face with her hand and grinning nostalgically. "He always said that he'd rush right home when that day came."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure he never expected my 'special friend' to be…" he trailed off, too embarrassed to say anything in front of the kids, who had been eavesdropping for some time now.

"Well, why can't you call him now or something? I really think he should know!" Tsuna insisted.

"Oh, Tsu-kun, you know how busy he is with that job of his," Nana said.

Yeah, more than you do, Tsuna thought, annoyed.

"He said that we wouldn't be able to contact him from the time I stopped talking with him to when he got home, anyway," she said.

"Perfect," Tsuna moaned.

Nana giggled and hugged her child. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about, Tsu-kun," she said. "Iemitsu likes Gokudera-san. He won't have a problem with him staying for dinner."

"That's not what I mean," Tsuna sighed exasperatedly.

"I'm leaving," Tsuna grabbed his bag and walked out the door, shutting it behind him a little harder than he'd meant to, but he couldn't help it. Ever since he'd talked to Hayato he'd felt much better about it all, but now…

He'd never really thought much into it, but he'd sort of been counting on his father knowing in advance. No matter how many people reassured him, he was still really nervous and he thought that if his father beforehand it would cushion the blow. He groaned and turned the corner out of his house's gate and walked down the street, only to run into a soft, fleshy wall.

"Good morning, Tsuna!" A cheerful voice sing-songed the greeting and the young Vongola didn't need to look up to tell that it was his boyfriend.

"'M-Morning," Tsuna muttered.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Gokudera asked. His expression changed to that of anger and concern in an instant and he said, "Wait, what happened? Did someone do something to you? I will kill them!"

"No, no, no one did anything, Hayato-kun," Tsuna said. "I'm just a little worried about tomorrow."

Hayato's face relaxed again and he smiled reassuringly. He intertwined his slender pianist fingers with Tsuna's small, delicate ones. "I thought you were okay with this now. Why are you so worried?"

"Its just that-"

Gokudera smirked at him teasingly and said, "I understand." He turned around dramatically and said, "You just don't have faith in our love."

"No!" Tsuna said seriously, even though he couldn't help but smile. Gokudera had adopted quite a sense of humor since they'd started going out. "No, that's not it! Quit misunderstanding me," Tsuna said, pouting. "Its just that my mom told me that she never really told my dad about the dinner… or us." They'd finally started their walk to school, still hand-in-hand, but that made Gokudera stop. The look on his face made Tsuna wince.

"Hayato…" Tsuna sighed and let go of his boyfriend's hand. "Let's just cancel it. My mom will understand if I tell her you have something to do and my dad will never know about it."

"No, no!" Gokudera said quickly. "I'm fine with it. Just fine, see?" He smiled, as if it would prove his point, but it was weak and meaningless, empty.

"Hayato, don't lie to me," Tsuna said, clenching his fists. "Please."

Gokudera looked thrown off guard and mumbled, "I'm sorry. Its just that…."

"I'm scared," Tsuna finished for him. He couldn't read his Storm guardian's face, but it was obvious that they were thinking the same thing at that moment.

"I'm scared of what my dad will say about us being together. I'm scared that he's not going to approve and he'll forbid me from seeing you. But most of all, I'm scared that you won't want to be together anymore," he'd only thought about this last point for a little while, but this is thought is the one that scared him the most.

"What?" Gokudera looked surprised.

"No one wants to be with someone that causes them this much trouble, right? Why would you waste you time on someone who makes you worried about stuff like this all the time?" Tsuna said, looking down at the ground.

Gokudera's eyes narrowed, but Tsuna didn't notice, he was still looking at the ground.

"I really wouldn't want you to go through something like that anyway. You shouldn't be with someone whose family doesn't love him as much as much as he deserves," Tsuna said. "As much as I love you."

He felt the tears coming now and he lifted his sleeve to wipe them away, but it wasn't needed. Gokudera had turned around and hugged Tsuna so hard against his chest that the tears were dried almost instantly against the fabric.

"Don't you ever say that!" Hayato was pulling him close. "I would never leave you for something as ridiculous as that. I love you too much to let something like your dad get in the way."

"Hayato-kun…" Tsuna felt touched and he hugged his lover tight, digging his face into his chest.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Hayato said, pulling away from the embrace, putting his strong hands on Tsuna's shoulders, and looking into those deep brown eyes.

"What?"

"That now we have to go through with this," Gokudera said as he started walking down the street towards Namimori Junior High, even though they'd definitely be late by this time. "I have to prove myself and my feelings for you to you and your father. I can't leave this hanging up in the air."

"H-Hayato," Tsuna said. This seemed a little unreasonable, but Tsuna smiled to himself. He loved how Hayato could say what he was thinking even though it was kind of embarrassing and it was almost a little lame (he'd never admit that to Gokudera, it'd break his heart.) "Okay!"

After a long day at school, during which they had to stand outside in the hall for being late and Gokudera beat up only three people (all in all a pretty peaceful day), the bell had rung and Tsuna was gathering his things to go home when he heard a small moaning behind him.

He turned around to see a girl crying softly behind him. She had her face buried in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. He was about to ask her what was wrong when another girl in his class approached her.

"Hey! What's wrong, Natsumi-chan?" the girl ran up to her with a worried look on her face.

The crying girl, Natsumi, lifted her head and looked at her friend. Her face was red and puffy and her face was twisted into a look of absolute pain.

"O-Oh, i-its nothing," she hiccupped. "Its just that… Tadashi-kun broke up with me."

"What? Why?!" the friend asked, astonished. "You two were getting along fine yesterday!"

"Yeah, b-but yesterday, he came over for dinner," Natsumi sobbed.

Oh, I see where this is going, Tsuna thought, rolling his eyes, but feeling worried all the same. Listening to this would probably, no, definitely make him feel worse, but no matter what he couldn't seem to move.

"Oh, no, didn't your parents like him?"

Natsumi shook her head. "They started calling him out about something that doesn't even matter and earlier today he told me that we should break up! Its not fair! Its not even my fault!"

"Aw, don't worry, Natsumi-chan, he's no good for you if he breaks up with you for that anyway," the friend said, rubbing her friend's back.

But by now, Tsuna had run away, his bag slung loosely over his shoulder, the weight of the bag slamming into his thigh with every long stride he took. His face was red and his eyes were swimming with tears, his heart was pounding and he couldn't form a coherent thought.

That's it. I'm going home, I can't take this anymore! I don't want to think about…. I don't want to lose him. I have to tell Mom to cancel the dinner. I'm not… I can't…

His mind was completely obliterated, he couldn't think straight, but there was one thing that he knew. He couldn't go through with this dinner. He was too scared. Being with Hayato was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he wasn't ready to let that go.

He ran all the way through town and somehow ended up in front of Gokudera's house because he had nowhere else to go.

He was tired from running and he was panting heavily, so he sat down in front of Gokudera's front door and just sat there. The Storm Guardian must have had something to do back at school, because Tsuna must have been waiting for an hour before he caught a glimpse of the silverette.

Gokudera looked annoyed by something but he instantly brightened (as always) when he saw the small brunette. He jogged down the hall towards Tsuna, smiling that wonderful smile of his.

"H-Hi," Tsuna said timidly, lifting his chin slightly so Hayato could kiss him easier.

"What are you doing here? I was looking for you at home and couldn't find you, so I thought you went home," Gokudera said, putting his arms around Tsuna and pulling him close. "Where did you go?"

"Well, there was… um…" Tsuna tried to form a sentence, even a phrase that made sense but he could feel the lump forming in his throat and his eyes had started to ache ever since Gokudera had hugged him. He doesn't want to hear me whine again. He doesn't want to be bothered by me. He's already tried to console me so many times. He won't…

But Tsuna couldn't take it anymore. His lip started quivering and the tears started again and before he knew it he was blubbering and sobbing into his boyfriend's chest yet again.

"H-Hayato-kun!" Tsuna hiccupped and gripped Gokudera's shirt as he cried into it. "I don't- I can't…" he trailed off and his words were replaced with heavy, violent sobs.

He felt Gokudera's arms leave him, which made start crying harder but a strong arm hooked around his shoulders and another grabbed under his legs and he was swept off the ground within seconds. Gokudera was carrying his in a princess lift. The gray-haired teen opened the door and shut it behind them without so much as having to shift Tsuna's weight.

Tsuna didn't even have time to question him as Hayato swept him through the small apartment so fast that it was all just a blur of color and they had somehow ended up in Gokudera's room so quickly that Tsuna couldn't even remember making the trip there. Gokudera kicked the door shut behind him and then placed his boss on his bed as gently as if he had been handling a porcelain doll.

"H-Hayato-kun…" Tsuna started but stopped when he saw the look that Gokudera was giving him. It was so full of love and happiness and caring that Tsuna almost started crying again.

Without a word Gokudera dove onto his bed, tackling the young Vongola and kissing him fiercely. It certainly surprised Tsuna, but he didn't struggle, he simply laid against the bed as Gokudera wrapped his arms around him.

When Hayato broke the kiss, he looked down at Tsuna with the same look as before, one filled with so much love and passion that one could wonder what kept these two apart for so long. It was obvious they didn't want to be anywhere else besides each other's arms.

"I'm still worried too," Hayato said. Tsuna's eyes widened a little. How had Hayato known? It was almost as if their minds were one. "You're still worried that I'd leave you, right?"

Tsuna bent his head against his friend's chest and nodded into it, feeling the tears start up again. He wrapped his arms around Hayato's slender form and scooched himself closer to him.

"I'm gonna tell you a secret," Hayato said, whispering into his partner's ear even though there was no one else around to listen in on their conversation. "That's exactly what I'm scared of too."

"What?" Tsuna asked, his voice muffled as he tried to form the question against the fabric of Gokudera's shirt. Was Hayato scared of leaving Tsuna too? Was he scared that he'd get so pissed by his family that he'd break up with him?

"I'm scared that you'll break up with me," Hayato said, holding his little brunette tight.

"Why?" Tsuna asked, still muffled and completely surprised.

"Well, you may not have noticed… but I'm not someone that anyone's parents would really like," Gokudera said, obvious sarcasm in his voice.

"What?" Tsuna was really only repeating himself over and over again, but it was really all he could do.

"I'm… a little… abrasive," Gokudera muttered.

That sent Tsuna into a fit of giggles and his shoulders shook, which of course shook both of them.

"What?" Hayato was blushing now.

"N-Nothing," Tsuna said, still laughing a little bit. "You're perfect."

"I was just worried that you would break up with me because I've caused you so much trouble. Not just because I'm a guy, but because of my… nature."

"No, I don't know why I was so worried. I love you, Hayato."

"I love you too, Tsuna."

They stayed there for a long time, not really having to do anything besides lay there in each other's arms. Where else did they need to go?

They had been completely rid of their fears about the next night. They were both completely calm… that is, until they stood together, hand in hand, outside of Tsuna's home.