Dino Cavallone.

What is there to talk about him?

He was blonde, clumsy and nearly always smiling. He was open, persistent and loyal. He talked too much and often got into trouble. He was naive and trusting. His mere presence was enough to brighten any atmosphere. And though he annoyed the heck out of Superbi Squalo, he was his best friend. A best friend that Squalo happened to be in love with. Not that Dino knew, of course. Nor would Squalo ever admit it either. Squalo would rather dig his own grave than to confess such a thing to Dino. At least for now. Right now, he was perfectly happy keeping it a secret from the blonde.

When did it happen? Squalo sighed as he proceeded to doodle all over his book.

He did not know how to explain it. Maybe he had fallen for Dino from the very moment he set eyes on him, or maybe it was a gradual thing. All he knew was that about two weeks ago while he was studying together with Dino and looked at him, he realised that what he felt towards Dino may just be a little more than friendship. What made matters worse was that this was the first time Squalo felt this way towards anyone, so he really did not know how to handle it. So instead of acting normally, he got nervous around Dino Cavallone. Which was utterly ridiculous.

Why, before that realization he was able to act normally around Dino.

"SQUALO...!"

"VOOOI...! STOP HUGGING ME!" Squalo tried to push Dino away, only to have him hug Squalo tighter.

"Don't be so cruel, Squalo," Dino said happily. "It has been ages since I've seen you! I missed you."

"That does not mean that you can hug me, stupid! And I didn't fucking miss you so you can piss off." But instead of being offended, Dino only laughed, which served to annoy the silver-haired male even further. "The hell is so funny?" Squalo growled. He was not amused.

"Squalo is so cute when he's angry."

"I ain't cute!"

"Yes, you are!" Dino insisted. "You're like an angry kitty."

Squalo narrowed his eyes, irritated at being called, of all things, a "kitty". How degrading. He opened his mouth, about to make a biting comment, then closed it, deciding against it. It was not like anything he said would get Dino to let go of him. He had known the idiot long enough to know. The blonde was a persistent bastard like that.

"Tch. Fine. Whatever," was all Squalo said before returning to the book that he was reading, completely ignoring the happy blonde and his endless babble.

Not once did he look Dino's way and thought, "Oh, Dino looks so cute today," before. Never. Squalo had never noticed the way Dino's smile reached his eyes. He did not notice the way Dino's expression lit up whenever he saw his friends. He did not notice the habit Dino had of tucking his blonde hair behind his ear. He did not even notice how attractive Dino looked in his school uniform. But now, now all of those things and more, were as apparent to him as day.

Ever since then, Squalo had started avoiding Dino. He stopped walking with Dino to and from school. He avoided the places that he knew Dino usually hung out at. He even stopped eating with him during recess.

This was fucking retarded.

Why now, of all times, when they already had a close bond of friendship, did he have to suddenly fall for that idiot? The bigger question was, though, why, of all people, did he have to fall for Dino Cavallone?

Squalo groaned inwardly.

He lifted his eyes from his book, risking to take a look at Dino. Dino was currently talking to one of their classmates, his usual smile on his face. They seemed to be having a lively chat; Dino looked like he was enjoying himself. And he would be lying if he said that he did not feel a twinge of jealousy upon seeing that sight.

His face set into a scowl, Squalo was just about to return to doodling on his book when he noticed something that made him stop; Dino's shirt was pulled down slightly so that he could see the other's collarbone. The way it was pulled down was almost seductive. Dino's skin was perfectly unblemished, and it made him wonder what it would feel like to place his mark on him.

Squalo took in the sight of a flushed Dino with tousled blonde hair and love bites littering his skin hungrily as he pushed Dino against the wall. Cavallone did not seem to mind this, and seemed to be encouraging him to go on if the way he pushed Squalo's jacket off of his shoulders was an indication. Hazel eyes looked up at him from under dark lashes and said, his voice breathy, sending a shiver of excitement up Squalo's spine, "Squalo, I want you..."

Holy sh-

Did he just think that about Dino?

The blonde was twisting below him, panting and moaning as Squalo pleasured him. Dino wrapped his arms around Squalo's neck and let out a particularly long moan. "Nnn... M-more, Squalo..."

Squalo's eyes snapped open.

Oh, for the love of God.

He should be concentrating on mastering the sword, not on mastering Dino.

Squalo cursed under his breath, and quickly looked back down at his book, red now staining his cheeks. This is fucking ridiculous- His eyes widened. It was then that he realised what he had been doodling.

He had doodled Dino's name all over his book. Everywhere he looked he saw the words "Dino Cavallone" jump out at him.

What. The. Hell.

This was getting out of hand. He knew that he had it bad for Dino, but he did not know that he had it this bad.

"SQUALO!" came the voice of the last person that Squalo wanted to talk to at that very moment. The excited cry was promptly followed with Squalo being hugged from behind.

"Ack!" Squalo yelped in surprise. When he realised who it was that was hugging him, a blush spread across his cheeks. "Let go!"

"No," Dino answered simply. He pouted. "You've been ignoring me lately and it makes me feel lonely."

Squalo's heart skipped a beat at that. It was true that he had been avoiding Dino, but only because he really did not know how to deal with him. Things were different now. Nonetheless, though he would like nothing more than to lean into the hug, he tried to put up a front. "The only reason that I've been ignoring you is because you're so fucking annoying!" He struggled. The proximity that they shared was making him nervous. "LET GO!"

"Anyway, class is over," Dino said conversationally, ignoring what Squalo had just said, "We can go back now. Wanna walk home together?"

"No! Let me the fuck go!"

Dino Cavallone placed his chin on Squalo's shoulder, ignoring the discomfort that he was causing to the other and the amount of cursing Squalo was doing. He was used to his noisy friend and the curses that slipped out of his mouth all the time. He knitted his eyebrows together, trying to make out what Squalo had written all over his book. "Hey. What are you writing there, Squalo?" he asked.

Fuck.

"Nothing!" Squalo said quickly. He closed the book with a snap, thoroughly surprising the blonde. He stood up, trying to hide his expression from Dino. He could not let him see the blush on his face. "It ain't anything important."

Dino blinked, watching in bewilderment as Squalo began to quickly pack his bag. "Eh, why are you-"

"I need to go back home," Squalo said hurriedly, still not quite meeting his eyes.

"But-"

"I'm busy and-"

"Wait, Squalo!" Dino reached out then, pulling on Squalo's sleeve. "Stop," he said. He furrowed his eyebrows once more. "What is going on?"

Squalo looked back at Dino then, and felt his heart stop. Dino had a hurt expression on his face, and sad hazel eyes looked into his own, as though searching for an answer.

Aw, shit. Not that face. Squalo hated that face. Dino knew that he could never say no to it. He looked like a kicked puppy, for crying out loud. This was not fair.

All thoughts of escaping flew out of his mind as soon as he saw that expression. The classroom was completely empty now, seeing that their classmates had all already left, and this only made the tension in the air even more obvious.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Dino asked quietly. "Did I do something wrong?"

No, you didn't, Squalo wanted to say, but the words would not leave his lips. He simply stared at Dino, shocked.

"Do you hate me?"

Was his mind playing tricks on him, or did he just see tears start to form in Dino's eyes?

Shit.

Squalo's mind was reeling. What was he supposed to do now? Dino was looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer. He could not simply ignore Dino this time, that would be too cruel. After making his decision, Squalo took in a deep breath, trying to still his fast beating heart. He curled his hands into fists. This had to stop. Well, here was to digging his own grave.

"Dino, I-"

He was not going to hide anymore.

"There is something I need to tell you."

He was going to tell Dino.

"Listen, I realised something two weeks ago that-"

He was going to tell him everything.

"-made me think differently about you and-"

"Made you think differently about me how?" Dino interrupted.

He scowled. "Don't interrupt me, idiot!" Squalo scolded. When he was sure that Dino would not cut in again, he continued to speak.

He was going to tell his feelings to Dino.

Consequences be damned.

"I-"

Squalo swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I-"

If he was going to tell him everything, why was it that the words simply refused to leave his lips?

Dino tilted his head as he watched Squalo continue to babble to himself. The sad expression on his face was long gone and was now replaced with one of curiosity. When Squalo noticed that Dino was staring at him, he cursed under his breath. Great. Just great. Now he looked like a total lunatic. Congratulations, Superbi Squalo.

"Wait. Dino, I-"

But he was cut off when he suddenly felt a pair of lips press against his. Squalo's eyes widened, disbelief flooding throughout his body. Dino Cavallone was kissing him. However, the kiss ended as soon as it began, much to Squalo's chagrin, when Dino suddenly decided to pull back and smiled. Squalo simply stared at him.

"There. Do you feel better now, Squalo?" Dino asked cheerfully.

Squalo could feel his face grow warm.

"Voooi...! Who said that you could just kiss me like that?!" Squalo spluttered, covering his mouth with his hand. His lips tingled from when Dino had kissed him mere seconds ago.

"Ah, was it your first kiss?"

The way Squalo spluttered a few unintelligible words only confirmed Dino's suspicion.

Upon realising that, Dino smiled his sunny smile. "Well, I'm glad to be your first kiss then," he said happily.

This! This guy...! Squalo opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish. Finally, when he was able to form a coherent sentence, Squalo choked, "You can't just go around kissing people like that!"

"Eh, I can't?"

Squalo nearly smacked his hand against his forehead.

"Of course not!"

"Oh." A pause. Dino thought for awhile. "But isn't that what you wanted?"

"What?"

"Well," Dino said, "I thought that was what you wanted."

Squalo was stumped. "The hell are you talking about?"

He shrugged. "You were, after all, doodling my name all over your book just now."

FUCKKK.

He actually saw that?

If possible, Squalo's already pink blush turned several shades darker till it turned red. He felt like dying. At that very moment, he wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up beneath his feet and swallow him whole.

When Squalo did not say anything, Dino shouldered his bag and held out his hand to his silver-haired friend. He smiled brightly. "Well, now that you're feeling all better, want to walk home together?"

...!

This... this... IDIOT!

"Sh-Shut up!" Squalo swatted Dino's hand away, still completely embarrassed with what had just transpired between them. "Who said that I feel better? You can fucking walk home by yourself!"

"But-"

"Shut up!"

Dino watched in amusement as an embarrassed Squalo stomped out of class, the blush still apparent on his face. Squalo looked ahead, determined not to look back at Dino. He even ignored the way his heart still fluttered from the thought of what had just happened. He would be damned if he was going to admit that that was probably one of the best things that had happened to him in a very long time.

Dino scratched the back of his neck, confused, and then laughed. He shook his head.

Squalo really was cute.

DIOR: My entry for the 3rd round of the Dino Pairings Writing Contest. Pairing and prompt we received were SD and "First". Just a short, fluffy crack fic. Reviews are appreciated.