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mypunkpansexualtwin · 3 years

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Here we come with day two of pegoryu week, and it's gonna be the last one I post on time. I'll still be trying, don't get me wrong, I'm just not the kind of person who can write a fic I'm happy with in one day.

Yet.

As always, bulk of the fic is under a cut, link is in the reblogs, and I will daydream of baking you cookies if you share it.

“I did warn you.”

“Not even an arcade, dude?”

“Not unless you wanna get on a train for forty minutes.”

“Ugh. Laaaaame.”

After nearly a month of planning, Ryuji was visiting his boyfriend for Golden Week. One whole month of bargaining with all of their parents, putting aside every last yen they could spare, studying their asses off to earn the trip, and, of course, long phone conversations that were probably about eighty percent “I miss you”s and “I love you”s and “I can’t wait to see you”s. With Akira’s help via video call study sessions, Ryuji even managed to get into the top thirty percent of the class in their latest exams; a new record for him that effectively guaranteed the visit. But they’d been so busy celebrating and planning getting him out to the country that they may have completely forgotten to figure out what they were actually going to do when he got there. So now they were on the Kurusus’ living room couch, Akira cross-legged on one end and Ryuji stretched out across the rest with his head on his boyfriend’s lap, trying to scrape together a date idea.

“I’ll say it again. I warned you. Several times,” Akira repeated while he ran a hand through Ryuji’s hair. “There’s nothing to see here.” Ryuji caught Akira’s free hand, tangled their fingers together, and kissed the back of his hand.

“Yeah there is. You’re here, so I say it’s worth it.” Ryuji grinned as his boyfriend turned pink at the tips of his ears and wrinkled his nose.

“Sap,” Akira grumbled like there wasn’t a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Like they both didn’t know full well how much he liked hearing how happy Ryuji was that they were together, in every sense of the word.

“You love me,” Ryuji said, his grin widening just a little further. Akira’s expression melted into something almost embarrassingly soft as he went back to playing with his boyfriend’s hair. He curled and combed his fingers gently through the short strands, and huffed out a quiet laugh as Ryuji went boneless when he grazed his nails over his scalp.

“Yeah. I really do,” Akira sighed happily and got another kiss pressed to his knuckles. “You’re kind of my hero, you know.” It was something he’d tried to make a habit of telling his boyfriend, even before they were dating. Ryuji still sputtered and objected like it was his first time hearing it.

“You-- I-- that ain’t…” He sat up and shoved a pillow into Akira’s face with a groan. “Now who’s the sap?”

Akira draped himself across Ryuji’s shoulders and planted a kiss on the side of his neck, then smiled against his skin at the shiver that got. “You just have that effect on me, sunshine.” Ryuji grunted in response. “You like it.” Another grunt. Akira blew a puff of air at the back of Ryuji’s ear and laughed when he got swatted away. “Don’t pout. You were right, a date sounds nice. But you gotta help me figure it out.”

His boyfriend sprawled back out on the couch after pouting for a few more seconds, then looked up at him with those big brown eyes he’d been a sucker for since day one.

“Aight, what kind of food you got around here?” Akira could have been exasperated at his boyfriend’s predictability, but a dinner date was more feasible than a movie date, and a lot more pleasant than a gym date. He may have loved Ryuji Sakamoto with all his heart, but he didn’t plan on running again on the regular unless it was for his damn life.

“There’s only like ten places total around here. We’ve already visited three, two of them won’t serve me because the owners don’t like me anymore--”

Ryuji’s head jerked up at that, knocking Akira’s hand free. It was ridiculous how cute the guy was when he was offended. “What?! Why the hell not?”

Akira shrugged and went back to petting Ryuji’s hair in an attempt to soothe him. “Didn’t exactly bother to ask, but probably my record. Cleared of charges or not, my reputation mutated while I was gone and I haven’t really been able to fix it.” Not that he’d tried very hard when he didn’t plan on staying for even a second longer than necessary.

The frown that wrinkled Ryuji’s features was almost comical, but he probably wouldn’t appreciate being laughed at while he was already agitated. Especially when it was on Akira’s behalf. “Ugh, this town sucks, can’t wait to get you out of here. Wait, only probably your record? Why else would they dislike you?”

Akira huffed out another laugh, wry and joyless this time. “My uncle’s a pretty conservative guy, I heard he didn’t react well when he found out I was dating some guy from the city.” Quite literally heard it; he’d been getting ready to visit his cousin and could hear the old man shouting inside the house from the sidewalk. He’d opted to text Yuuta to meet up somewhere well away from their house instead when that happened. And, naturally, the news had mysteriously spread to the rest of town by the end of that week.

Ryuji sat bolt upright and twisted back around to face Akira with a scowl. “Your own effin’ family won’t serve you? What the hell?!” His expression was thunderous, made worse by the doomcloud over his head when he asked. Ryuji almost never got pulled into fights these days and was very proud of that fact--they both were--but Akira was certain that he was ready to deck the old man on sight on his behalf. He’d never encourage it, but the thought still made something in his chest swell a little.

“Just my uncle when I try to sit in. If it’s my aunt or my cousin taking delivery calls, they’ll still take the order. Plus a discount and extra desserts, if Yuuta’s the one who answers.” Akira shrugged, then tugged at Ryuji’s shirt to coax him into laying back down in his lap. He did, albeit begrudgingly, and Akira went back to running his hands soothingly through that remarkably soft shock of bright blond hair. “Anyways, the other five restaurants in town are fast food that you could get back home. So…” He trailed off and watched Ryuji’s scowl soften into an annoyed frown.

“Yeah, pass.” Ryuji closed his eyes, either to think or soak up Akira’s touch as he played with his hair, then cracked one eye open after a moment. “How ‘bout a picnic? You’re a pretty good cook and I bet we could find us a nice spot to just chill.”

That... was a pretty solid idea. Actually, that sounded perfect, and Akira knew exactly the spot for them to set up. He opened his mouth to agree, but was cut off by a low rumble of thunder outside. “...Maybe later this week? The weather should clear up before you have to go,” he said instead. Ryuji pouted up at the ceiling, or more likely up at the sky beyond it for ruining his brilliant plan. Then it was Akira’s turn to pout when Ryuji abruptly sat back up out of reach, but not for long.

The next thing he knew, he was being crowded up against the arm of the couch by one blond bombshell of an ex-track star. Ryuji was suddenly determined to pour himself into his boyfriend’s lap, all mischief and heat as he crawled across the couch towards Akira. He couldn’t think clearly while facing down that wicked grin curving across Ryuji’s face like Haru’s favorite battleaxe cleaving through the air. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d made out. It wouldn’t even be the first time Ryuji had taken the initiative and left Akira a flustered wreck when they did. But since it had been over a month since the last time he’d seen that look face to face, it was having more of an effect than usual, and Akira was left frantically trying to cling to his cool.

“I have an idea, babe.” Ryuji said lowly and Akira’s mouth went dry. Hands bracketed Akira’s hips on the couch as his boyfriend crept closer. “Y’wanna hear it?” Akira nodded and felt heat flare across his skin when he realized Ryuji was keeping that hooded, heated gaze fixed firmly on his lips. “Since your folks ain’t supposed to be back before tomorrow afternoon,” Ryuji’s tone was as light as his body was heavy as he straddled Akira and looped strong arms around his neck, “I was thinkin’ maybe… we could…” Akira was desperately trying to focus on the words being whispered into his ear over his boyfriend kissing his way up his neck and leaving his skin prickling in the wake of every touch.

“Y-yeah?” He couldn’t help the nervous flutter in his stomach. If Ryuji was implying what he thought he was implying... They hadn’t done… that... yet. Even with the house to themselves all day, they hadn’t actually talked about it, in part because Akira hadn’t even thought about it seriously yet. That nervous flutter hadn’t subsided and was starting to feel a little more like an anxious lurch.

Ryuji continued, oblivious to his boyfriend’s nerves with his face tucked against his neck. “We could maybe…” Akira’s hands flexed involuntarily around Ryuji’s hips. He didn’t dislike the idea, just-- His unsteady train of thought was thrown off again when soft lips brushed over his ear. “...watch One Piece together?” After a beat where Akira was left blinking stupidly for several seconds, Ryuji sat back on his legs with a grin that had gone from sultry to shit-eating on a dime. Oh. Okay, he could handle that. “I gotta get you caught up to me, plus I wanna see how much we can get through in one sitting.”

“...you’re truly a romantic for the ages, sunshine,” Akira responded flatly as his heart rate slowly returned to normal. He was teasing back now, because honestly that idea sounded just as good as the picnic, with a lot less effort to set up.

“I know,” he answered confidently, but his smile slipped a little. “Is that a no? I just thought maybe I could buy us dinner from your shitty uncle, and we can cuddle while we take advantage of that big TV with the fancy sound system.” Ryuji gestured hopefully to the flatscreen behind them that was nearly as big as Akira’s bed back at Leblanc.

“Sounds good. Netflix and chill, it is,” Akira declared. When he caught the way Ryuji’s smile and shoulders tightened slightly, he added, “y’know, in the most literal sense.” It wasn’t as though he was happy to see Ryuji nervous, but when his boyfriend relaxed at the reassurance, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that the two of them were on the same page as far as that was concerned.

---

Aki hadn’t been kidding when he said his cousin would hook them up. There was probably double what they’d ordered plus desserts in the bags the guy handed off.

“So, you must be the boyfriend, huh? He talks about you a lot. Y’know, for him.” Yuuta asked as he leaned on the doorway. Ryuji just grinned, because yes, that was him, he was The Boyfriend. Akira’s boyfriend. Akira’s boyfriend. It’d been months and Ryuji still got all giddy about it like it was brand new. Yuuta interrupted his thoughts when he called out past Ryuji to where Akira was sitting and watching TV, “Man, talk about punching above your weight!” Ryuji blushed and opened his mouth to object before Akira could start bragging on how amazing Ryuji was.

Apparently Akira had other plans, because before he could, two sharp whistles rang out behind Ryuji and he reacted basically on instinct. It was the signal Akira had always used to mean duck or you’ll get hit in the Metaverse, and Ryuji’s knees buckled with almost no input from his brain. He had just enough time to worry if he’d spilled the food--thankfully he hadn’t--when one of the couch throw pillows whiffed past his head and nailed Yuuta in the face.

“ACK! The fuck, dude?! See if I give you free dessert again, jackass,” the guy yelled and hucked the pillow back--and missed, from the sound of Akira’s laughter. Ryuji straightened up with a grin as Yuuta turned to him. “How the hell did you two even do that?”

“We’re just cool like that, I guess.” Ryuji shrugged. No need to explain how many times he’d accidentally taken a Lucky Punch or whatever in the back of the head because he got signals mixed up. “Seriously though, thanks for hookin’ us up, dude.” He held up the food and then added a little more quietly, “and, uh, thanks for havin’ Aki’s back while he’s here. It’s easier to not worry if I know there’s at least someone here talkin’ to him besides that damn cat.” That got a snort of laughter out of the delivery guy.

“No problem? I’d say obviously, ‘cause he’s family, but… Well, I’m sure he told you. Our family kinda sucks sometimes.” He frowned, shook his head, then brightened back up. “Anyways, sweet of you to worry. He really did luck out when he found you, huh?” Yuuta said as he stepped back from the door.

Ryuji shook his head. “You got it backwards, man. I’m the lucky one.” He turned back to where his boyfriend was watching TV, now fully absorbed in the show even if he didn’t really look like it. Ryuji couldn’t help the contented sigh that escaped him; he had his boyfriend again and he was going all in on one of Ryuji’s favorite things just because it was one of Ryuji’s favorite things, and it looked like he was actually enjoying it, too. When he turned back, Yuuta was halfway to his scooter, still loaded down with bags of food.

“You really believe that, huh?” He called back. “You keep that attitude, Sakamoto. Even when he’s bein’ a menace, alright? ‘Cause he’s a menace, but he’s my menace, and I’ll serve you up as dumplings if you hurt him!” The scooter rumbled to life and Yuuta added over the noise of the motor, “And you tell him the same thing. I like ya, so he’s gonna be the next lunch special if he’s an asshole to you!”

Ryuji waved in acknowledgment as he sped off, then closed the door and dropped the bag of takeout next to Akira. They paused the episode long enough to sort through the food; a double order of dumplings, pork miso for Akira, spicy vegetable ramen for Ryuji, ginger pork with rice that he was pretty sure they didn’t order at all, and half a goddamn cheesecake for them to split. It was an impressive spread that Akira was already calculating how much was going to be crammed into the fridge at the end of the night.

“Well. Anything we don’t finish tonight can go with us on the picnic?” He suggested as he started on his soup and turned the show back on. They hadn’t made it very far in just yet, and definitely had an uphill battle ahead of them.

Ryuji nodded, mouth already full of noodles. “Shoundsh good to me, dude.” Akira made a face at him like he always did when he talked around a mouth full of food, and Ryuji washed it down with some of the broth. “Family recipe?”

Akira hummed a confirmation around his own food, but paused to actually finish his bite. “Yup. Not as good as the place you took me, but I could just be biased.” Ryuji could hear the smirk in his voice that always cropped up when he was thinking about saying something sappy. Ryuji cut him off before he could, though. Butterflies wouldn’t leave much room in his stomach for ramen.

“I was thinkin’ the same thing. The Ogikubo thing, not the bias thing. Didn’t wanna offend, though.” Ryuji said and took another sizable bite. Even mediocre ramen was still pretty good in his opinion.

Akira chuckled. “Nah. Actually, the ramen there’s always been a little lackluster. I could’ve offered some advice to improve it once I got back, but now? Fuck that guy.”

Ryuji tried not to choke on his food with the laugh that threatened to escape. Scalding, spicy broth shooting out of your nose kinda sucked, especially if you got a noodle along with it. That was an experience he wasn’t keen on repeating. He swallowed down his bite and rasped, “could always pass it on to your cousin. He seems pretty cool when he ain’t threatenin’ to cook us.”

“Ah, you got the shovel talk, then--wait, us?” Akira nodded, but then froze partway and whipped his head around to Ryuji, who nodded in return after clearing his throat.

“Mhm. Said he likes me, ‘n if you break my heart you’re gonna be a lunch special,” Ryuji grinned.

“Asshole. He knows I can’t stand most of what’s in the rotation.” Akira grumbled and pouted into his soup. “What’d he threaten you with?”

“Dumplings.”

Akira’s eyebrows disappeared up into his bangs at that. “Damn, I think he likes you better than me. Uncle’s place is famous for its dumplings,” he explained as he picked the last bit of pork out of his bowl.

“I’m… honored? So is all your family this weird, or is it just you two?” Ryuji asked around another mouthful of noodles. The broth was definitely missing something, but the vegetables were pretty damn good; still pretty crisp but not undercooked. Good flavor on their own, prolly locally grown, too. “Also, how is a place in the middle of nowhere famous for anything?”

“Hey, we still have several other towns nearby, and folks will come here specifically for those dumplings. So you should be honored.” Akira huffed as he popped one of said dumplings in Ryuji’s mouth. Shit, it was pretty killer. Leagues better than his ramen. And of course his boyfriend looked as smug as Morgana when he caught the look on Ryuji’s face. “As for the weirdness? No idea. Around here it’s just me and Yuuta, but I don’t really know much about the ones that don’t live here. Might be because we’re in the middle of nowhere, might be because the ones who live here make a habit of cutting off any undesirables.” Aki shrugged and leaned up against Ryuji. “Maybe I’ll see if I can find any of them when I leave. I dunno.”

Ryuji leaned right back into him and planted a kiss against Aki’s temple, earning himself a pleased little hum from his boyfriend that he felt more than heard. “I’ll be right there with you if you do. I always got your back, babe.” Akira finished his soup and curled up against his side, tucked under one arm. It was nice, even if it meant now Ryuji had to figure out how to eat his ramen one-handed. Eh, he’d figure it out, it’s not like there was much left in the bowl anyway. “So, uh, earlier. You seemed a little tense when I was teasin’ you? And not like usual. I didn’t, like, push too much, did I?”

Akira had suddenly gone very still under his arm. Not the best sign.

“No. But, uh don’t take this the wrong way or anything, I was definitely glad you just wanted to watch One Piece with me. For a second there, I thought you wanted to…” He buried his face against Ryuji’s shoulder. God, his boyfriend was stupidly cute when he got all shy. “...y-y’know. Anyways, I was relieved when you seemed just as nervous about it? Not to be an asshole, but I’m kinda glad it isn’t just me who isn’t ready.”

“Right.” Well, that was that question out of the way, but now he’d paved the way for a new one that’d been rattling around in his head for a while now. God, best case scenario, Akira was probably gonna laugh in his face. Him? Ryuji Sakamoto, of all people, not interested in that? “What if…” He hesitated and tried again. “Well, how long would you be okay with that?”

“What do you mean?” Akira tipped his head up to look Ryuji in the eye. That really didn’t help things, ‘cause even on a good day Ryuji tended to feel small when Akira looked at him like that.

“Like…” Ryuji took a deep breath and steeled himself. “WhatifI’mneverready?” His stomach clenched. There it was, he’d finally said it. Years of wondering if his friends were just exaggerating what they wanted to do with the girls in their class; months of internet research and arguing with himself even when it was the only answer that made sense and trying to backtrack or minimize it with ‘well maybe I’m only kinda like that, maybe I’m that demi thing, maybe I’ll find someone’ to try and soften the blow; a whole year of slowly coming to the realization that that just wasn’t something on the table for him, no matter how attractive Ann was or how close him and Akira got, he just wasn’t wired for wanting that kind of thing, even if he wanted the rest of the sappy, romantic couple shit for as long as he could get it, ideally the rest of his life. All of that had built up to one rushed confession that could make this trip out to the country really effin’ miserable when he still had four more days of crashing at his boyfriend’s place.

“Didn’t... quite catch that?” Akira said after a moment of trying to process what Ryuji had just blurted out. Goddammit. Of course he didn’t.

Ryuji took a deep breath and tried again. “What if… I’m never ready for that? Would that be a dealbreaker?” His heart was hammering as he forced the words out a little more slowly this time. And Akira already looked annoyed. Shit. Shit. He couldn’t look him in the eye and instead stared down at his feet, trying desperately to swallow the queasy feeling in his stomach that threatened to bounce his lunch back up onto the floor in front of him. Ryuji opened his mouth to backpedal, to assure him that if he really wanted to then Ryuji would try for him even if the idea was kind of completely terrifying--

“Of course not!” The sharpness of his tone was what registered first and Ryuji was already braced for a breakup when the words actually hit him. It wasn’t a dealbreaker. It was okay. They were okay. They were... actually okay?

“Wh-- forreal?” Ryuji’s voice cracked embarrassingly and Akira shifted against him, one hand coming up to his chin to make him look at him.

“I already told you, you’re my hero. You…” Akira opened and closed his mouth a few times, like he was looking for the right words and couldn’t find them. One hand cupped Ryuji’s jaw and ran a calloused thumb across his cheek, and Ryuji couldn’t help but press into the touch. “You’re everything to me. I could write books on all the things that make you amazing; your compassion, your kindness, your loyalty, your smile, all of it. So what if we never…” Akira blushed a little, but he seemed determined to power through the embarrassment. “So what if we never have sex? What do I care? I love you, Ryuji Sakamoto, I’m not giving up my sunshine, the best thing that ever happened to me, for anything.”

Ryuji swallowed hard around the lump forming in his throat and buried his face against Akira’s neck. Even away from Leblanc, he still smelled like coffee and curry, still smelled like home. Akira had called it home too, and had told him once that he made Boss’ recipes whenever he was homesick for the cafe, or his team, or… Or for Ryuji. Ryuji wanted to believe him so badly. “It’s easy to say that when you still ain’t ready for it, but--”

“I won’t change my mind,” he insisted so vehemently that no part of Ryuji could even think of an argument. Even the part of him that had been certain for months that even admitting he was asexual to himself would ruin everything. “It’s not like I can’t take care of things myself. And that just means more time for everything else.” Akira paused and pressed a kiss to Ryuji’s forehead. “More time to cook your favorite foods,” kiss, “more time to cuddle,” kiss, “more time to watch our favorite shows, all of it.” Akira dropped one last kiss on his temple and went back to running his fingers through Ryuji’s hair. Then he added, almost too quietly to hear, “for the rest of our lives if you’ll let me.” Let him? He’d fuckin’ beg him if he had to.

“Babe, you’re gonna make me cry,” Ryuji said thickly, as if they couldn’t both feel the wet spots forming on Akira’s shirt from where tears were already streaming down his face. Part of him was still scared he wasn’t going to be enough, and it probably always would be for one reason or another. But for now it was easy to relax into his boyfriend’s embrace and trust that he planned on sticking around a little longer.

Akira kept playing with Ryuji's hair the way he knew he loved and wrapped his other arm tightly around him. He pressed a few more kisses to the top of Ryuji’s head and then asked, “do you need me to stop?” Ryuji shook his head and got another kiss. “Alright. Take all the time you need, sunshine.”

“Thanks, babe.”

“We’re gonna need to restart the episode after, though.”

#persona 5 #pegoryu #pegoryu week 2021 #my writing #had the idea for ace ryuji halfway through this prompt and couldn't resist giving favorite characters the tenderness I have yet to find #so if you clown here I will physically fight you

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the-fangirl-way · 5 years

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3: Blush

I stood there in shock, my mind racing, my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest.

"H-Harry, what..what are you doing here?" I finally asked, my mouth catching up with my mind.

"I got bailed out." He said casually as if we were talking about the weather rather than how he had gotten out of prison.

"Bailed out? Your bail bond was set at two hundred thousand.." I said and he nodded.

"Who..what..."

"My father bailed me out, are you going to let me inside?"

"Wha- I don't think that's a good idea-" I started but he pushed past me inside the apartment.

"It's freezing out there." He said plopping down on the couch.

"Nice place."

"Harry you can't just be here, in my apartment, I could get in trouble.. Oh God." I said realizing at any minute Tristan would arrive and there was no telling how he'd react to finding Harry in my apartment.

"Relax, I'm just here to talk." He said crossing his ankle over his leg.

"Harry no really, you can't be here." I emphasized and at that moment the door buzz went off again.

"Are you expecting company?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "Who is it?"

I ignored him and pushed the button.

"Uh, hold on one second." I said into the speaker.

"Avery? Everything alright?" Tristans voice asked and Harry's expression changed from a smirk to an irritated glare.

"Officer Dick Head? You invited him here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. "Oh my God, are you two fucking?" He asked then and I widened my eyes.

"Harry! That's none of your business! You've got to go!" I said grabbing his wrist to pull him up but he protested.

"No, I want to stay, thank you."

"Well you can't stay!" I said irritated.

"You've got to- oh you can't go down stairs he'll see you! Hide in my bedroom!" I said pushing him to the stairs.

"You've got to be fucking kidding." Harry protested irritably.

"No Harry I'm not, you hide and I'll get rid of him." I said and in a flash his expression changed from irritated to cocky again.

"Okay." He agreed before retreating up the stairs.

My heart was pounding wildly and I couldn't control my breathing.

What the hell was I going to do?

Thinking quickly I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, ruffled my clothes and grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around myself.

"Come up." I said weakly into the buzzer and within seconds I heard a knock on the door.

"Tristan." I said opening the door and instantly felt like the worst person on the entire planet.

He was dressed in a nice button up dress shirt, a pair of nice jeans and boots. His five o'clock shadow was shaved and he was holding a bottle of wine with a ribbon around it in one hand, and a bag of takeout in the other.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes filling with concern.

I wanted to go upstairs and punch Harry in the jaw for doing this to me, ruining my night with Tristan.

"I- I think I'm coming down with something, I've been throwing up all evening." I lied, hoping it sounded convincing enough.

His face dropped and I instantly felt a million times worse.

"Oh."

"I'm so sorry, I was going to call you about five minutes before you showed up." I said trying to sound sincere.

"No, it's fine. I understand, you can't help being sick." He said dismissingly.

"I really am sorry. I'll call you tomorrow?" I offered and he smiled a small smile.

"Sure, yeah, okay."

I reached up and kissed him on the cheek lightly.

"Goodnight." I said before closing the door, looking at his sad expression made me feel like the worst person in the world.

"That was touching." I heard Harry's voice from behind me, causing me to jump, he was leaned up against the doorframe smirking at me.

"I should kick your ass for that." I said and he laughed.

"Or you could kiss my ass.." He said flirty and I rolled my eyes.

"Why the hell are you here Harry?"

"I told you, I got bailed out." He said reinstating what he had already told me.

"Yeah, I got that. But why are you here?" I asked and he was silent.

"Harry seriously we are not in an interrogation, and I can call the police for you just showing up and inviting yourself in my house." I said, my voice more steady than I felt.

"I got evicted from my apartment." He said averting his gaze from my face.

"Okay? So go to your Mother's or your sisters or-"

"No one knows I'm out except my dad and I'd like to keep it that way." He said sternly and I sighed exasperated.

"Well then go stay with him."

"I would like to, only he told me I can't stay with him because he doesn't want a felon in his house the prick." He mumbled and a pang of guilt settled in to me but there was no way in hell he could stay here.

"That sucks, but you can't stay here, I've got a roommate."

"Ah yes, the spunky raven haired nurse." He said and I raised an eyebrows.

"How do you know that?" I asked warily.

"Relax. I got out this morning and saw you two coming out of Wahaca. I wasn't going to approach you on the street." He said walking over to take a seat on the couch again.

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked then.

"The lady at the library desk told me. What was her name, Doris was it? She was quite hesitant to give up your information when she saw me."

"You were following me?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I wanted to talk to you, but I knew you'd probably make a scene like you are now." He said gesturing to me.

"How am I supposed to believe you?" I asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Believe me, don't believe me, I don't really care." He said annoyed, turning his attention to the tv.

"Harry.." I said agitated, taking a seat on the couch, making sure to keep a good distance between him and myself.

"Save it. I came to talk to you about Langston." He said and my that held my attention.

"Now you wanna talk?"

"I'm not being surveillanced and video taped now.. am I?" He asked looking around the apartment warily.

"What do you think I videotape all of my guests and watch it back?" I asked and he shrugged, I rolled my eyes.

"So tell me." I urged.

Harry shifted in his seat to look at me, his expression going from slightly annoyed and smirking to serious in a matter of seconds. His emerald eyes locked on mine.

"You have to swear you won't tell." He started and my heart sped up again.

"Harry I'm a detective I-"

"Swear to it or I won't tell you a thing and I'll leave."

I wanted to know so badly why he had done what he'd done, but sitting here now in this moment I didn't feel prepared at all to find out the truth. And on top of that I couldn't tell Callahan, or record it, or they would file it on Harry depending on the information and possibly arrest him again, and then I would be his target. Harry was a pretty easy going person most of the time, but the fact alone that he had tried to kill someone made my skin crawl with fear of what he would do to me if I told.

"I swear." I whispered and he stared at me a minute before looking satisfied enough to begin.

"Wesley Langston was my sister's boyfriend." He started and I felt myself gasp before I could stop it.

"But, in the interview-"

"She didn't tell anyone except me. Our Mother didn't even know, hell she probably wouldn't have told me if I hadn't found her-" He stopped, his eyes leaving focus, his mind wandering to something in his memory.

"Harry.." I mumbled bringing him back to reality.

"He was an English major at her college, he had graduated two years before her and he was there for the study abroad program." He said and I nodded, urging him to continue.

"They started dating for about two months, she didn't tell any of us I guess because she didn't know where things were going to go and she didn't want him to meet the family and all that jazz if things didn't work.."

"One night she didn't come home, she always came home around midnight or so, she'd say she was out with friends when she was really with him. So that night when she didn't come home I went looking for her. None of her friends had seen her, I panicked worrying if something had happened to her so I called her cell phone. She answered and lied and told me she was at a friend of her's house but I knew that was a lie because I had already been there so I made her tell me where she was, threatening to get the police involved." He stopped, looking down at his hands.

"She was at a hotel, he was already gone when I got there, and I swear if he had of been there I would have killed him." He said through his teeth, I could see him seething, trying to calm himself thinking of the memory.

"What happened Harry?" I asked quietly.

"She was laying on the bed wrapped up in the blanket, she was crying and begging me not to tell mom. She had scattered bruises all over her face, her lip was busted open and bleeding, there was a gash over her eye that was bleeding.."

Harry quit talking, I could see the small tears pricking up in the corners of his eyes, he quickly thumbed them away.

"I took her to the hospital and they sewed the wound above her eye, I told her I would call the police but she begged me not to, begged me not to tell anyone about it and to leave it alone but she knew I couldn't do that, but at the time I promised her. We were released and she stayed with me for a few days until her face healed, we told our Mother that she was staying with me to clean my apartment and spend time with me, and when she asked about the stitches we told her she fell and hit her head on an end table, Mom never questioned it, Gemma had always been clumsy.." He said, this was the first smile he displayed, it was small, but visible. His eyes were puffy from the tears.

"After that, I sought out to find the bastard and do what he had done to my sister, only I knew it wouldn't do me any good except land me in jail, so I decided if I was going to go to jail for something I would make sure he'd never bother her again.." He said finishing his spew and I sat quietly, it was a lot to take in. I couldn't quite place the feeling inside of me, it wasn't pity or disgust, it was something along the lines of compassion. I would never condole killing anyone else but I knew deep down inside my heart that if that had been my sister, or Devlin I would have done the same thing.

Harry sat motionless for a few minutes and the nurturing side of me came out before I could stop myself, I scooted closer and placed my hand on his arm.

"I wish you would have told me before." I said and his gaze transfigured from the floor to me.

"I couldn't, I made a promise to my sister I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Yeah but Harry-"

"No." He cut me off.

"I promised. If I had told you, you would have gotten Gemma and my mother involved and neither of them need to be involved in what I've done, or didn't do." He said, his jaw clenching and unclenching.

I didn't say anything, instead sat still looking at Harry.

He looked a million times better than he since yesterday, the color in his face was starting to come back. His hair had been trimmed and was clean, I wondered if he had taken me up on my suggestion to get a good shower, I assumed he had by the clean clothes he was wearing.

All in all he looked.. good, considering. And he smelled good.

He smelled like irish spring or something masculine mixed with a subtle hint of mint. It was quite the intoxicating smell, but I wheeled myself away from the thought immediately, dangerous territory.

Finally after what seemed like ages I spoke.

"Harry, you can't stay here, I'm sorry but you can't."

He didn't argue or even look upset he just shrugged.

"I didn't think so."

"I'm sorry, if it weren't for the circumstances."

"Save it again, I get it." He said standing up and stretching.

"I'll be fine."

He headed for the door and I followed to see him out.

I opened the door and he stepped out in the hallway turning back to look at me.

"See you soon, Avery." He said, the tone of his voice sent unfamiliar chills down my spine but I brushed them off.

"Harry." I mumbled and watched him walk away down the hallway and board the elevator before I could breathe evenly again.

I quickly shut the door and deadbolted it, my heart racing and my mind matching.

Devlin returned home sometime after midnight, she had changed out of her scrubs and was wearing a nice dress and heels.

"You're still up?" She asked when she stepped inside and noticed me curled up on the couch with my laptop.

"Yes?" I questioned and she sized me up.

"Your hair is up, you're not wearing makeup, and you're in your pajamas, I'm guessing Lennon didn't show up?"

I thought seriously about telling Devlin what had happened with Harry but decided against it, if she knew she would probably have a conniption and call the police.

"He got called into work." I lied and she nodded believing me.

"How was your night?" I asked shifting the conversation away from my night and its endeavors.

"It was...good actually. Dr. Stevens took me to this really nice Japanese restaurant and a movie." She said smiling.

"Oh yeah? What movie?"

"The one with Kate Beckinsale and Jonah Hill."

"Oh yeah, how was it?" I asked and a cheeky grin broke out on her face.

"I don't know."

"You dog!" I said laughing and she giggled.

"I know, making out in a movie theater how juvenile am I i?"

"As long as you're happy Dev, I'm happy."

"I am really happy, Eric is a great guy. Now we both have good men." She said and I nodded, my stomach feeling in knots knowing I had blown off Tristan for Harry tonight.

"Well I'm going to bed, see you in the morning?" Devlin offered and I nodded, she gave me a quick hug and headed up the stairs to bed.

I flipped off the tv and decided to head to bed myself, I'd had enough excitement for one night.

When I got upstairs I checked my phone before plugging it in.

From: Tristan

Hope you're feeling better, call you tomorrow?

I sighed knowing that I had blown him off for stupid Harry showing up. I quickly texted back.

Sounds good, goodnight.

I laid down in bed and before I knew it I was drifting off to sleep.

I dreamt of emerald eyes and inky tattoos.

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