Hello, everyone! Um... Surprise! I bet you guys were worried I wouldn't update. Weren't ya? It's okay. You can tell me. But I have arisen from the depths of not writing to bring you an update! There will probably be only one more update. It'll be an epilogue of sorts. Anyway please enjoy Chapter 26!

"Natori, glad you could make it. What did Natsume say?"

Just the name alone was enough to bid memories to come to the surface. Specifically, everything that happened this morning. It wasn't pleasant.

"He…" He didn't want to come. He didn't say it but he definitely didn't want to. If I would've left him alone and I hadn't assured him he didn't have to do it, he probably would've. I'd never forgive myself if I let that happened. I can't ever forgive myself for not letting it happen.

"He said no. He didn't want to do it," Natori said looking at the floor. His hands were in his pockets. He kept them there, afraid what they might do if he freed them.

He heard Endo sigh. "Well, that's that then."

If it had been any other situation, Natori might have reacted more. He probably would've ranted and raved at Endo for letting their lead actress take off. He probably would've called his agent and discussed how unhappy he was with her for even suggesting this bound-to-fail project. He would've called his publicist and told her that he really wasn't responsible for what he would let slip out in regards to Yukiko after today.

But given the situation, he just didn't care. He just wanted to go home and forget about this… whole thing… The project. The script. The hotel room. The cake. The birthday party. Just this… what? Nightmare? Most of it was too sweet to be a nightmare. Dream, then.

Just a terribly tragic dream.

"Natori?" Endo called.

"Yes, Endo?" Natori said without looking at him. He was watching the costume designer look through a rack of clothes.

"… did something happen? Between you two? Is that why Natsume won't do the scene?"

Natori fixed a steely glare at Endo. "No, Endo. Nothing happened. Not that it's any of your goddamn business but nothing happened. Absolutely nothing."

"No need to be so goddamn touchy, Natori. Jesus."

Natori just continued to glare at Endo before he let out bitter laugh. "You would not be saying that to me if you even had one goddamn clue, Endo."

Endo just turned and stared at him. Mouth open and eyes wide.

After a few beats of silence, Natori sighed and tried to reign in his emotions. Again. He was getting so tired of doing that lately. He asked, "What do we do now?"

Endo rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "We either wait and see if any of the actresses I've contacted get back to us or I convince the writers that we can't do the last scene and have them come up with a different ending where it's just you. Or we wait until the deadline and the project is cancelled."

Endo sat down in the nearest chair and didn't move for awhile. He just kept rubbing the back of his neck and looking at his lap.

"There's not a whole lot we can do right now. Why don't you go back to the hotel… maybe you could-"

"If you're going to tell me to try and convince Natsume to reconsider, I will seriously consider the possibility of punching you in the face."

Endo shut his mouth with an audible click.

"Good," Natori said.

He turned and walked out of the studio not knowing what to expect in terms of his and Natsume's relationship. Had it changed? He hadn't really stuck around to find out.

After Natori had assured Natsume that he didn't have to do the scene if he didn't want to, Natori disentangled himself when he was sure he wasn't going to break down in front of Natsume. He smiled as convincingly as he could while giving Natsume's shoulder a couple pats. Then he turned and quickly got dressed and then left the hotel room in a flurry of movement.

They needed to talk about this morning more in depth. Natori sensed that there was something else to the whole thing. Something deeper. He didn't want to get his hopes up though. He didn't think he'd be able to recover if he built himself up only to be knocked down again.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

As soon as Natori left, Momoka had her feathers all ruffled up and she shrieked angrily.

"Humans are so stupid. Why don't either of you see? You love each other so much you won't even admit it to one another."

Natsume just stood in the middle of the room trying to suss out if Natori could actually have the kind of feelings for him as he had for Natori.

"Am I reading too much into things?" Natsume said out loud to no one in particular.

Momoka whirled toward Natsume and said, "You do not read enough into things. Why would you say no? Why would you not want to kiss Natori in 'shooting the scene'? Now he thinks you do not want to kiss him. But you do want to kiss him because you love him!"

Natsume smiled at Momoka. It wasn't a bright smile and it was a little sad. He held out a finger for her to perch on. Momoka fluttered and settled herself onto his index finger feeling less angry now. Only sad.

"Why don't you want to be happy, Natsume-sama?"

Natsume looked away from her and said, "It's not that I don't want to be happy. I do. I also want Natori-san to be happy. I want everyone to be happy… but this isn't the way to do it."

"Why not?" Momoka asked. Her voice broke. She looked about ready to cry. Whether from defeat or frustration Natsume couldn't tell.

Natsume's heart wrenched for her. She was just doing her best to help him. She sincerely wanted to see him happy and together with the person he loved.

"It would be pretend. It wouldn't be real. It would only be real to me. Trying to make something out of a kiss that was staged isn't the way to go about a romance."

Momoka blinked and tears started running from her eyes.

Natsume leaned down and pressed a kiss against her tiny head.

"Please don't cry, Momoka. I'm so grateful to have a friend like you."

Momoka looked up at him and smiled. Then she said to him, "Just tell him."

Natsume considered it for a little and figured Natori was going to ask him about the kiss this morning anyway. Might as well tell him then.

"I will, Momoka."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Natori arrived back at the hotel a little later.

When he opened the door, Natsume was sitting in the middle of the floor cradling an unhappy Momoka to his chest.

Momoka heard him come in and shot a glare at him.

He smiled apologetically and then looked up at Natsume. Natsume was watching him with a gentle smile.

Natori returned the smile as best he could. The only thing he could think about in that moment was "I love him. He deserves to be happy. I love him. He deserves to be happy," repeating over and over again like a broken record.

Natsume turned to Momoka and said, "Momoka, do you mind if you could give us a few minutes?"

Momoka gave Natsume a meaningful look then shot a glare at Natori. Without another word, Momoka took off. Natori couldn't help but feel a distinct prick of dread.

"Natsume," Natori began hastily. "You don't need to say anything. I get it. I do."

Natsume looked at Natori and that look stopped him short. Well, it was more like he searched him. It didn't move across his body. It was stationary and it was trained directly into his eyes.

"I don't think you do. Not really, anyway."

"What… what do you mean?"

Natsume began to blush but his gaze didn't waver. It did seem like he desperately wanted to look away and not have this conversation however. His hands twitched and fidgeted.

After a moment of holding his gaze, Natsume did look away. Toward the direction that Momoka flew off in. He clenched his hands and returned his gaze to Natori.

"Do you remember when Jenny came and taught us all to dance?"

Natori nodded slowly and not quite understanding where this conversation was headed. "Yes."

"And remember when you told me that you two used to work together and be really close friends? But you avoided her because she thought that you had feelings for her because of the kiss for that commercial. But it wasn't that you had feelings for her. It was that she was letting her own feelings cloud her judgment and that those feelings led to her seeing something that wasn't there."

Natori felt his heart speed up. He was also getting really hot. Was it always this hot in here?

"Um, yes, I remember, but, Natsume, what –?" Natori started but Natsume soon cut him off.

"You also told me that you should never take an actor seriously when he's on stage or when there's cameras around. You said that someone who can't or won't accept that has no place acting. It's not acting unless it's pretend. And…"

Natsume was shaking by this point. He took a deep breath in then out. He was trying to calm himself down but to apparently no avail. Eventually Natsume just clenched his fists at his sides and looked Natori dead in the eye.

Natori felt frozen. Time had stopped. The world had stopped spinning. He didn't know why at the time but he felt that his whole world was hanging on whatever Natsume was going to say. His world had gotten knocked off its axis and only the next few words from Natsume would put it right again.

When Natsume finally spoke, Natori felt his knees weaken and about to buckle.

"…it wouldn't have been pretend for me."

Natori's heartbeat quickened. It got to the point where Natori would've been afraid he was getting a heart attack if he wasn't so preoccupied with what Natsume had just said to him.

Not pretend? The scene wouldn't have been pretend? The scene with the kiss? The scene wouldn't have been pretend? The kiss wouldn't have been pretend? The kiss…

Natori reached out a hand and clutched at whatever was closest which was apparently Natsume's forearm. He felt real. This felt real. Even if it wasn't, fuck it.

"What do you mean it wouldn't be pretend Natsume?"

Natori didn't know what expression he had on. He just hoped that it was full of relief and happiness. Full of everything good about their relationship. The trust, the friendship, the teasing and love. Most of all love. Definitely love.

Natsume was looking at him with an expression he hoped to have on his own face. That look made him feel like he was the sun and the stars and the moon and the whole world and just as beautiful too. He was a miracle and a blessing. He was a cool breeze that gave him reprieve from the blistering heat of the world.

Natori wanted to make Natsume feel like that.

Natsume smiled as he opened his mouth. His eyes clouded over with tears as he said the one phrase that Natori has been dreaming about for ages.

"I love you, Natori-san."

And Natori dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around Natsume's waist and pulled him closer. He rested his forehead against the boy's stomach.

He wasn't going to cry. He absolutely wasn't going to cry.

He let out a sob.

Dammit.

"Natori-san," Natsume said. It sounded like he didn't know whether to be incredibly happy about this new physical attention that Natori was giving him or be extremely worried that Natori had just buckled like that. Natsume rested his hands on Natori's shoulders and Natori sighed at the contact.

"I love you, Natsume," Natori said into his stomach. He couldn't get up. Even if he wanted to he was quite happy with their position right at that moment.

"I love you so much. I don't even remember when I started to fall for you. I just think back and all the time we've spent together I probably loved you."

There was a pause.

"So we loved each other this whole time?" Natsume asked.

"Yes," he replied.

Then Natsume laughed. Natori looked up at Natsume and saw him wipe at his eyes.

"Natsume, what –?"

"So Momoka was right? I think I owe her an apology."

Natori smirked up at him. "You and me both."

They laughed together and Natori went back to nuzzling Natsume's stomach. After awhile, Natsume asked, "Natori-san?"

"Yes, Natsume?"

"Um… do you think you're going to stand up anytime soon?"

Natori, thinking that Natsume just wanted to get him off, said, "No, I'm quite happy down here. Don't think I could get up even if I tried though."

Natsume sighed. "Well, that's too bad. I was thinking that if you'd just stand up then maybe…" he trailed off.

Natori looked back up at Natsume and said, "'Maybe' what?"

Natsume shrugged but couldn't keep that guilty smile he got when he tried to tease to slip on his face. "Well it doesn't matter either way, right? Because you couldn't get up even if you tried?"

"That's right," he said. "But what were you thinking?"

"Well." Natsume tapped his chin thoughtfully but Natori saw through that in a second.

"I'll bite that finger off if you don't tell me," Natori warned.

"No, you wouldn't."

"Oh, yes, I would."

Natsume just laughed. It was the kind of laugh you let out if and only if you're incredibly, unspeakably, belligerently, and deliriously happy. Natori's heart melted and he clutched Natsume closer still.

But as soon as he felt Natori clutch him closer, Natsume began to try and wriggle free. Natori put up a show of struggling until he finally let him go, wanting to see what he'd do.

Natsume giggled and stumbled all the while saying, "You can't bite my finger off if you can't catch me!"

Natori smiled for a split second before he put on a dramatically hurt expression. "But, Natsume, how am I ever supposed to find my legs again after such a heartfelt confession of love? I may never walk again, Natsume. I guess you'll just have to take care of me for the rest of your life, won't you?"

Natsume scoffed. "I already have to take care of you, old man."

Natori gasped. "Natsume, you're not supposed to talk to your one and only true love like that. You're supposed to call me 'honey' and 'baby.' Don't you know anything about romance?"

Natsume shook his head. "Nope."

Natori sighed dramatically. "Then you leave me no choice, Natsume."

He slowly pushed his knee out and planted his foot on the ground. He put both hands on the ground and pushed himself up so it looked like he was a runner on his mark at the beginning of a race.

Natsume looked at him like he'd just done a miracle.

Natori then pushed off the ground and chased after Natsume who was desperately running away and giggling the whole time.

"No!" Natsume shouted.

"Yes!" Natori shouted in turn.

They ran around the room and it wasn't until Natsume almost knocked over a lamp that Natori was able to catch him.

He caught him around the waist and hauled him up.

"Now give me your finger!" Natori said as he tried to bite at Natsume's hands.

Natsume was laughing and snatching his hands away just as Natori was about to bite him until Natori actually was able to get him on his thumb. Natsume still snatched his hand away and said, "Gross!"

Natori laughed. "Aren't you glad you fell for me?"

He meant it as a half-tease but when he looked in Natsume's eyes he found that he really wanted to know the answer.

Natsume seemed to take the question just as seriously and he said, "Yes."

"Natsume…"

But Natsume wasn't done. What he said next was sort of rushed but painfully earnest, almost as if he wanted to get these feelings out before he realized what he was doing and got too self-conscious to say any more.

"I… I think you're amazing. You're able to balance your acting job and your exorcist job really well. You're amazing at both jobs. I like your smile. You're always there for me. You're willing to listen to me. You make me feel really good about myself. At first, I didn't know what to think or do about these feelings. I didn't want to inconvenience you. I thought that I knew how that confession would've gone if I ever actually did try and confess to you. You'd probably be shocked and you'd politely turn me down. But I was wrong. I've never been happier to be so wrong."

Natsume was blushing and had his arms wrapped around Natori's neck.

Before Natori could stop himself, he could only think of one thing to say to that.

"Am I handsome?"

Natsume didn't seem to be expecting that question as he said, "What?"

"Is that one of the reasons that you love me? Because I'm handsome?"

After a few beats of silence, Natsume laughed.

"Yes. That is also one of the reasons that I love you."

Natori couldn't help but laugh along too.

"Do you want to know why I love you?"

Natsume nodded vigorously.

Natori rested his forehead against Natsume's as he spoke.

"You are the kindest person I have ever met. Sometimes it frustrates me to no end but other times I have to hold myself back from just wrapping my arms around you and never letting go. You're smart. You're funny. You're… God, you're perfect, Natsume. Aaannd… you're very handsome. I'd say beautiful if I weren't afraid you were going to kick my ass for it."

Natsume giggled but tears were leaking out of his eyes. He brushed them away with one of his hands as he muttered an apology.

"Don't," Natori said. "Don't apologize for that, Natsume."

"Okay," he muttered.

Natori had an urge to kiss Natsume on the cheek and instinctively held himself back. Then he caught himself. He could actually kiss Natsume though… right? Yeah.

"Hey, Natsume?" he said.

"Yeah?" Natsume answered.

"I want to kiss you now… if that's okay."

Natsume blushed and fidgeted with his hands. "Um… okay. That's what I wanted to do before too."

Natori smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

They inched a little closer to each other.

"Alright, then."

"Uh-huh."

A little closer.

"Here I go."

Natsume laughed.

"I'm gonna kiss you now."

"Okay."

"Um, Natsume?"

"Yeah?"

A little closer still.

"If you want to stop, just say so, okay?"

Natsume looked a bit confused but nonetheless happy. "Okay."

"So –"

Natori was cut off as Natsume seemed tired of waiting. He grabbed Natori's shirt collar and yanked him until their lips clashed in an awkward kiss. It got a little better once they were able to compensate for noses. Natsume was happy to leave his hands where they were while Natori couldn't pass up the chance to explore. One of his hands rested on the small of Natsume's back while the other came up to rest on the back of Natsume's neck.

Natsume was a little tense. His lips and his body not really moving.

Natori pulled back a little so he could look at Natsume. "Hey, relax. I'm not going to bite or anything." Not until later anyway.

Natsume nodded and seemed really determined to get this right. Natori gave him a smile and leaned back in.

Natsume still remained a little tense until Natori rubbed soothing circles into the boy's neck with his thumb. Then Natsume relaxed a little more.

Once Natsume was relaxed and ready to enjoy himself, Natori began gently moving his lips against Natsume's. Natsume made a questioning sound in the back of his throat. When Natori tried to lean back away from the kiss and ask Natsume what was wrong, Natsume held him there with a steady grip that his skinny stature belied.

Natori couldn't help but smile.

It wasn't long after that Natsume tentatively kissed back. Natori encouraged him with pleased sighs and hums. He nearly let out something far dirtier when Natsume moved one of his hands from Natori's collar up the nape of his neck but was interrupted by a familiarly grating voice.

"Finally!" the voice said. "But you two better cut that out quick. Natsume, get me some food."

They both turned to see Nyanko-sensei sitting on the window sill with a look of perpetual boredom.

Natori was annoyed at the intrusion and also the rudeness of the remark but Natsume just laughed.

Then he ran over and picked Nyanko-sensei up and hugged him close. Nyanko-sensei freaked out yelling, "Unhand me, you brat! I am the great Madara! Don't you touch me!"

Natsume mumbled something to him and the cat calmed down almost instantly. Natori was content to just stand there until Natsume glanced at him and gave him a smile. Natori took it as an invitation to join in and he couldn't resist. Natori bounded over and wrapped both Natsume and his cat familiar up in his arms. Nyanko-sensei began to squawk his protest again.

"Hey, Natori-san?" Natsume asked.

"Yes, Natsume?"

"I think I'll be able to do the scene now. I mean, since we've already kissed. And it wouldn't be pretend anyway, right?"

Natori stopped. He thought about it. He considered the drop in his stomach at Natsume's words. Then shook his head.

"If it's all the same to you, Natsume, I'd rather keep these kinds of moments to ourselves."

Natsume blushed and smiled but still felt he had to push the subject once more.

"But what about the movie? Won't it not get finished? And then everyone would lose a lot of money? And –" Natsume was interrupted when Natori kissed his cheek.

"I really couldn't care less about all that, Natsume. As far as I'm concerned, this –" – he kissed Natsume on the lips, short, warm, and sweet – "is just between us."

Nyanko-sensei renewed his protestations with vigor. "Unhand me, you brat! I will not subject myself to this torture any longer!" With that he wriggled free from between them and waddled away to sulk in a corner.

Natsume and Natori didn't pay him any mind. They were too busy gazing into each other's eyes and being altogether a very disgustingly lovey-dovey couple.

So there you have it my lovelies! Once again, I'd just like to thank everyone for supporting this story by reviewing and favoriting and subscribing! Every one of those things makes a huge difference for me and I love seeing them in my email. So thank you everyone! Hopefully I'll be able to get the next one to you soon. *kisses*