When Ohtori stepped out of the airport, he shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him. Winters in London were cold! Hefting his bag up a bit more on his shoulder, he waved down a cab. After giving the driver directions to his hotel, he settled back against the seat and concentrated on getting warm.

Ohtori knew he had a few things he had to do before letting Ryou know he was in London, but he really only wanted to tell the taxi driver to go over to the studio and surprise his lover. Ryou didn't even know Ohtori was planning on coming to London, but it was hardly like Ohtori was going to let Ryou spend the holidays without him.

After checking into his room and flopping onto the bed, Ohtori grabbed the phone and dialed the number that Atobe had given him before he had left.

"Hello, Neil? It's Ohtori."

~

"Hey, Neil!" Shishido called, watching as the other man started changing into street clothes hurriedly. "You coming to the bar with us?"

"Nope, sorry! I've got a date, doll," Neil said with a wolfish grin.

"Date?" Shishido frowned, pausing in his own dressing. "Who? Haven't seen you around anyone but Shiva lately."

"Oh, found some bloke in a bar a few days ago when you were being the bell of the ball. We're just getting together for a few drinks," Neil grinned, kissing Shishido's forehead. "No worries, all right?"

"Why would I worry?" Shishido asked with a frown. "It's just unusual for you to have a date. You haven't had one in, what, four years?"

"Bite me!" Neil shrieked in outrage. Shishido grinned and made to bite him, but Neil jumped back a bit. "On second though, no biting. You'll give me rabies."

It was Shishido's turn to shriek in outrage now before Jesse pulled them apart.

"Okay, okay, break it up. Ryou, we need to meet up with Tobe before you can go anywhere," Jesse said gently.

"Ooh yeah," Shishido grinned. "We have to finish talking about the terms, don't we?"

"Yes, and we're meeting with the agency's rep tomorrow," Jesse sighed.

Neil narrowed his eyes, "Could you at least tell me what you choose?"

Shishido laughed and hugged Neil, "Nope! The first one who gets told happens to be in Japan. I'm going to call him later and tell him."

Neil looked a little edgy, "All right. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, Ryou."

"Have fun on your date," Shishido grinned.

"Date?" Jesse asked, blinking in shock.

"Oh, for the love of…" Neil groaned, grabbing his jacket and wallet and walking out of the studio.

Shishido grinned, "I think we tormented him a little too much."

"'We?'" Jesse echoed, eyebrow raised.

~

Shishido flopped back on his bed in his flat and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed Ohtori's apartment number and laid back in wait. It was enough of a differed that Ohtori would probably be awake. Four rings later, Shishido was worried and wondering what was going on.

"Hello, you've reached Ohtori Choutarou. I'm out of the country for the next few weeks or so, so if you could please leave your name, number, and the time you called, I'll call you back when I get the opportunity. If this is an emergency, please call my manager—"

Shishido hung up the phone.

~

Neil got to the restaurant a few minutes late and sat down next to Ohtori in the booth. "Ugh, I hate public transit. Takes forever when you need to be somewhere."

Ohtori grinned, "That's public transit everywhere."

"So true. Oh, before I forget, you might be dealing with an irate Ryou soon," Neil said, grabbing the menu and looking for someone yummy.

"Why?" Ohtori asked, a note of worry in his voice.

"Said he was going to call you after he finished making his lawyer and Jesse twitch and spaz some more and probably after he and the rest of our crew went out for drinks," Neil said, giving his order to the waitress.

"Shit," Ohtori whispered. "And my cell phone number isn't working here."

"You have a cell?"

"Atobe gave me a Blackberry before I left and set the number up for me. I gave it to my manager so that if there were any emergencies, he could reach me but I totally forgot to give it to Ryou," Ohtori whispered.

"Give me the number," Neil said quickly. "Ryou's cell hasn't been working right for the past two weeks or so, so you can say you called him and left him the number n his voice mail, but when you never got a call back, you called me. That way it becomes my fault he doesn't have your number."

"You sure that'll work?"

"Trust me, I know how to lie to Ryou. I told him tonight was a date, completely distracted him from who I might be meeting with. Ryou's got that kind of attention span that if you don't give himself something else directly after the information you don't want him remembering until later, he'll nail you and you'll be screwed."

Ohtori winced, "I'm well acquainted with that line of Ryou's thinking."

"I'm sure you would be," Neil grinned, taking a sip of his wine that had just arrived. "Anyway, our schedule's pretty light this time of month, so it should be easy to kidnap Ryou. Here's the dates and times we're utterly busy as hell, and the studios we're at. I say the best time is the twenty-first. We have very little planned for that day, and if I drag Jesse and Shiva along with me to meet you, then they'll be in on it too."

"Shiva?"

"A mutual friend of ours. She designed the French maid's outfit and the schoolgirl thing. She's a kinky bitch, but she loves us. And since right now we're playing in her clothes, getting her on your side would be a good idea."

Ohtori took a long drink of his water, "This is getting complicated."

"Our world is complicated, darling," Neil laughed. "Now, if Ryou would finally tell us which way he's jumping concerning his contract, that would make things so much easier."

"Do you have any idea?" Ohtori asked, frowning.

"I'm leaning towards he didn't renew," Neil sighed, playing with his fork. "But that's how he is around us models. Around the management, I'm almost positive he did renew, but I truly haven't the faintest. You will soon, though. He's not telling any of us until he tells you."

Ohtori sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Lovely."

"Isn't it just? Oh, goody. Food's here!"

~

"Keigo, give me a straight answer," Shishido growled into the phone.

"Ryou, honestly, I don't—"

"Liar!"

Atobe sighed, "It's a surprise."

"Where is Choutarou, and why didn't he tell me he was leaving the country?"

"Choutarou is…fuck. Look, let me give you his cell phone number."

"It doesn't work."

"He has two now! So, shut up and write the number down," Atobe snarled.

Shishido wrote the number down and hung up on Atobe before sitting down and calling the number.

The phone picked up on the second ring, "Hello?"

"Choutarou?"

"Ryou!"

"So, you're not in Japan, Atobe's playing coy, and you have a new number," Shishido said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"You didn't get my voice mail?" Ohtori asked, sounding dejected. "I was wondering why you didn't call back."

Shishido frowned, "No, I've been having issues with getting voice mails."

"Ah! Well, I called Neil a few days ago when you hadn't called back to give you the new number, but he must—"

"So where are you if you're not in Japan?"

"I'm…uh…I'm in Hong Kong."

"Bullshit."

"Vienna?"

"No dice."

"New York?"

"Yeah, right."

"Boston."

"Bzzt. Nice try."

A sigh. "London."

Shishido blinked, "What?"

"I'm in London," Ohtori sighed.

"Choutarou, what are you doing in London?" Shishido asked, confused.

"I'm not at liberty to say at this point in time," Ohtori said slowly.

"You sound like a lawyer," Shishido muttered.

"My father is a lawyer. I picked up some useful things from him," Ohtori laughed.

"Tch. Anyway, I guess it really doesn't matter where you are. Remember how I told you that my contract was up for review?"

"You did mention something along those lines," Ohtori said casually.

"Well, mine went up a few months ago, and Jesse and Tobe have been having fun with it and me to create a looser one."

"You renewed?"

"Under certain terms," Shishido grinned.

"Is it what you want?" Ohtori asked seriously.

"Mmhm," Shishido hummed. "It's looser so that I do get vacations when I need them, and I get to spend time at home with you, but I still get to do my job. It's not like I have much time left anyway. A model's career is generally over around thirty-five."

"You'll still be able to do whatever you want when your thirty-five."

"Yep, so why not continue what I love doing?"

"So long as you're happy, I don't think anything else really matters."

"No, it doesn't," Shishido sighed, grinning. "Now, why are you in London?"

"Ryou, it's half past midnight and jet lag's catching up on me," Ohtori said, sounding weary. "Could we continue this tomorrow?"

Shishido eyed the phone, "You are such a bad liar, Choutarou. But, yeah, fine. Where are you staying?"

"It's not important."

"I'm going to make you regret those words later, Choutarou."

"I'm sure you will," Ohtori chuckled. "I'll see you soon."

"Hunh?

"Night, Ryou."

"Choutarou!"

Shishido stared at the phone as it went dead on him.

"That little bastard!" he said, staring at the phone in shock. "He hung up on me!"

~

"NEIL!" Ryou yelled the next morning upon seeing the blond.

"Oh shit, he did call," Neil whispered, getting up out of his chair and trying to get away.

Ryou stalked over and grabbed Neil's ear, pulling the taller man down to his height. "You gave Choutarou a very nice story to tell me," he said acidic. "I suppose that date last night was with him?"

"Uh, possibly?" Neil said, wincing. "Let go?"

"No. Where is he staying?"

"Why are you so mad at him?" Neil asked, tilting his head a little to relieve some of the pain in his ear; Ryou changed tactics and used his nails. "What the fuck, Ryou?"

"Why is he here?"

"He didn't tell me!"

"Bullshit."

"Ryou—"

"You gave him that crock of shit he told me, didn't you?"

"Maybe?"

"Neil," Ryou growled.

"Fine! YES! I told him your phone wasn't working and that he could blame it all on me that he forgot to tell you the new cell number!" Neil shouted. "Now let go of my ear!"

Ryou did and put his hands on his hips as Neil rubbed his ear. Looking up at him from his spot on the floor, Neil wanted to run and hide in a corner. "Now then, Neil. You want to tell me what all this is about?"

"I can't," Neil said, cringing away. "Not only Ohtori, but almost all your friends would kill me if I ruined this."

Ryou tucked hair behind his ear before lifting an eyebrow in suspicion. "So, Keigo, Jiroh, Yuushi, and Gakuto are in on this?"

"Uhm, and two others…"

"Taki and Hiyoshi?"

"Yeah…"

Ryou sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Oh, this is fucked up. Do you know where Choutarou's staying?"

Neil shook his head.

"Dammit!" Ryou cursed viciously.

"What happened?"

"Fucker hung up on me last night," Ryou muttered. He sat down next to Neil and sighed. "I really want to know what he's planning."

"You'll find out soon enough," Neil said, petting Ryou's hair hesitantly. "It'll be okay."

"I hate surprises, and he knows this," Ryou grumbled, leaning into Neil's touch.

Neil sighed, "Look, it's the tenth, right? Whatever happens will happen on the twenty-first. Trust in me, and in him, okay?"

Ryou grumbled in Japanese for a few moments before reaching up and rubbing Neil's ear. "Sorry," he offered softly.

"It's okay," Neil murmured.

~

"Choutarou—"

"Ryou, I can't talk right now."

A sigh, "You can never talk lately. I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

"Tell me why you're in London, Choutarou. Please?"

"I have to go, Ryou."

"Choutarou, don't you dare—"

The line went dead.

"Bastard…"

~

"You're driving him mental," Neil said, sipping his martini easily.

Ohtori glared at him, "You think I'm not aware of this?"

"How are your friends?"

"Wondering if I need to be committed," Ohtori muttered. "They think I should just ask him."

"It's only, what, a week away from the twenty-first now? I say ask. It'll do us all a favor. I don't think I've ever seen Ryou this frustrated."

Ohtori sighed, staring at the contents of his drink. "I know it has to be frustrating him. I refuse to tell him more than I have to, and always get off the phone before he can weasel something out of me. He's too good at getting me to say things I shouldn't."

"Ohtori…"

"Gods, this better be worth the hell I'm putting us through," Ohtori sighed, downing his drink in one go.

~

Shishido felt awful. He could barely keep his eyes open during the shoot and he felt like the room was a sauna, even though he was dressed only in a pair of designer jeans. He rubbed his left eye, which was stinging and ached as he tried to suppress a cough.

When the photographer called a break, Shishido sat down and coughed. He continued to cough until he felt as if his lungs were forcibly trying to get out of his body through his mouth. He could barely breathe with all this coughing and the edges of his vision were sparkling black.

A hand slammed on his back a few times, helping knocking something loose in his chest. He sat limply in his chair, leaning against someone as they rubbed his back, gasping for breath.

"Ryou?" Jesse asked, slowly moving back to kneel in front of him. "Are you okay?"

"No," he croaked, rubbing at his eye. "Feel like hell."

Jesse felt his forehead and swore, "You're burning up."

"It was hot, but now it's really cold," Shishido muttered, rubbing at his head. "Thought maybe it was the lights."

Jesse sighed and stood, "Neil, get him some hot tea with honey. I'm going to go talk to the photographer."

Neil came over with a mug and handed it to Shishido, "Drink it all up. There's lemon in it too."

"Oh, good," Shishido sighed, taking a careful sip of the tea. He winced at the heat but continued to sip at it, knowing it was in his best interest to do so.

Jesse came back over a few minutes later and pet Shishido's hair gently. "Ryou? We're done with you for today, so you can go home and rest. Today's the…eighteenth. So, take tomorrow off as well. We'll just make it up on the twenty-first."

Shishido nodded, frowning as Neil went rigid and cursed softly. "Neil?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Neil said with a smile, kissing Shishido on the forehead. "Poor baby's sick. Jesse, do you want me to call his driver?"

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Jesse said. "We'll get him changed and bundled and you can get him down to the car."

"Good, I'll go do that," Neil said, bouncing up and jogging across the studio to the stairs.

Jesse and Shishido watched him with matching frowns. "Hm…" Jesse sighed. "All right, c'mon Ryou. Let's get you changed, okay?"

~

Shishido stripped out of his clothes slowly and pulled on a pair of loose sleep pants before grabbing his cell phone, a bottle of water, and curling up under his covers in bed. Coughing dryly and viciously, he dialed Ohtori's number and waited for his lover to pick up.

On the third ring, Ohtori answered.

"Choutarou?" Shishido asked miserably.

"Ryou?" Ohtori asked, sounding worried.

"Can you come over?"

"Are you okay?"

"'m sick," Shishido said, coughing away from the phone. "They sent me home today and told me not to come in tomorrow. Have to make it up the twenty-first, though."

"The…oh," Ohtori sighed, sounding disappointed. "That's okay, though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. Was just going to come home and sleep anyway," Shishido muttered, coughing some more. "So, could you please come over?"

"Ryou…"

"Too busy again?" he asked bitterly.

"No, it's just—"

"Fine," Shishido muttered. "I honestly don't know why I bothered. I'll talk to you later; I'm going to get some sleep. Bye."

And, for the first time, Shishido hung up on Ohtori and turned his phone off, tossing it halfway across the room and huddling under his covers, coughing miserably and trying to fall asleep.

~

Neil answered his phone on the second ring as he walked down the hall to his dressing room at the studio. "Hello?"

"Neil, where's Ryou's apartment?" Ohtori asked in a rush.

"Hunh?" Neil frowned. "Ryou's flat?"

"Yes, where is it? Do you have an extra key?"

"Ashley Gardens, near Westminster," Neil frowned. "On Thirleby Road, why?

"Because I fucked up and I need to see him," Ohtori snapped.

"Whoa, hold on. Where are you right now?"

"At the hotel still," Ohtori said.

"All right, get a taxi and come to George Street, you can't miss the building. I'm going to call security now and tell them to let you up," Neil sighed.

"Thank you," Ohtori said desperately.

"Don't mess up again," Neil sighed, hanging up the phone. He stuck his head outside his dressing room and whistled at Jesse. "Oy, agent! Call security and let them know that Ohtori's coming here and that I want him sent right up to us, okay?"

"Did something happen?" Jesse asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing that he hopefully can't fix given some time with Ryou. I'm gonna call him and see if he's awake or coherent enough to have visitors." Neil closed the door to his room again and started stripping as he pushed in the numbers for Ryou's phone.

It rang four times and went to voice mail.

Frowning, Neil called the main line.

That went into voice mail too.

Scowling, Neil left a message on the answering machine, knowing it would broadcast to the occupant of the flat because it was one of the ways Ryou screened his calls.

"Oy, sweetie, its Neil. Pick up the goddamn ph—"

"Hi," Ryou mumbled, sounding miserable.

"Hey," Neil said, gentling his voice. "You okay?"

"Not really."

"No, didn't think so. Hey, you up to having someone pop by?"

"Depends upon who," Ryou muttered.

"You and Choutarou had a fight?"

"No, more like I'm sick of him not being there when I need him to be."

Neil sighed, "Well, there is a reason for it."

"Oh really?" Ryou hissed. "What? What reason does he possibly have for not seeing me at all in the two weeks he's been in London?"

Neil began dressing in his street clothes, trying to think of an answer. "Ryou, sweetie, he has his reasons. Trust me. I'm not overly thrilled with how he's handling it, but it looked like it was going to pay off."

"You're speaking in past tense," Ryou observed mildly.

"Yes, well, I'm not sure if what he planned is going to happen right now."

"Why?"

"Because you're sick," Neil said frankly.

"Well, excuse me for getting sick," Ryou snarled.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Neil sighed. "We're worried about you."

"Well, don't be. I'm perfectly fine with taking care of myself."

"Ryou, stop being prissy."

"Neil, stop being an asshole."

"That was uncalled for."

"Piss off," Ryou snarled, hanging up.

Neil stared at the phone in his hand and shook his head. Tossing it on the vanity table, he finished dressing. By the time he had finished rearranged his hair into it's normal carefree fly-away manner and done up his boots, Jesse knocked on his door to say that Ohtori was here.

Grabbing his oversized messenger bag, Neil fished out his keys and found Ryou's London flat key. Taking the key off the ring, he dropped the rest back into his bag and grabbed his coat and scarf. He left the dressing room and approached Ohtori, who was looking anxious and worried.

"I'm not sure if you should go over there," Neil said, hesitantly handing the key over. "He's in a bad enough mood that he hung up on me."

"Ryou gets tetchy when he's sick," Ohtori said, taking the key and slipping it in his pocket. "Which is why I'm basically going to wing this."

"You're going to do it now?" Neil asked, blinking.

"I have no excuses for why I've been avoiding him, so I'm hoping that it can serve as my explanation. The other half of it all will just have to wait until he's better," Ohtori said tiredly.

"Humph," Neil huffed. "Whatever. I wish you luck."

"Thanks," Ohtori whispered, looking nervous. "I'm going to need that luck."

~

Ohtori felt odd as he went up to Ryou's apartment, taking in the building and the layout. It was a lovely place, which only made sense because of who Ryou was. Deny it as he might, Ryou loved gardens and often went to them to relax.

Ohtori remembered when they had exams for middle school into high school, and then high school into college; Ryou had found a wonderfully kept garden that was quiet and peaceful in the middle of a museum where he went when he wasn't frantically studying with Keigo, Oshitari, or Jiroh. When Ohtori had asked him about it, Ryou had shrugged and muttered something about the calmness and simplicity of life.

Finding Ryou's apartment number, he stuck the key in the door and opened it, one hand clenching around a box in his pocket.

"Ryou?" he called hesitantly, closing the door behind him and toeing his shoes off.

The sound of a door opening at the end of a hallway and then closing startled Ohtori, who whirled to see Ryou wrapped in a blanket and looking as miserable as he had sounded on the phone.

"What the hell do you want?" Ryou glowered.

"You told me come over," Ohtori said simply, slowly walking over to Ryou. "I came because I was worried about you." He was only a few steps from Ryou, who was eyeing him as if he were a particularly distrustful person. Reaching out slowly, Ohtori cupped Ryou's cheek. "You don't look so good, love."

"Of course not," Ryou said, jerking out of Ohtori's touch. "I'm sick. And you can leave, and tell Neil that he needs to stop meddling before I put his head through the nearest wall." He turned and padded down the hallway back to his bedroom.

"I'm not going to leave," Ohtori said, standing where he was.

"Excuse me?" Ryou asked, turning around, eyes murderous. "What did you say?"

"I said," Ohtori said, taking off his jacket and slinging it over the back of a near-by chair, "that I'm not leaving. You're sick, and you need someone to take care of you."

"Get out."

"No," Ohtori said flatly. "You're horrible at looking after yourself when you're sick. You'll end up with cold tea with too much lemon and not enough honey, and food that's either half-cooked or over-cooked, and you'll fall asleep everywhere except in bed where you should be."

"How dare you!" Ryou hissed in outrage. "You dare come here after two weeks of hanging up on me and avoiding me, and expect me to just let you do whatever you want?"

"If you would like, I will explain myself and you can decide what you want to do about me, about us, from there," Ohtori said, standing to his full height.

Ryou backed up a bit, wariness in his every movement. "Fine," he said tiredly, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, "explain away."

"Sit down first," Ohtori sighed, slouching a little bit. "You look like you're about to collapse."

Ryou glared darkly at him and made his way into the living, curling up on the sofa with his blanket tucked all around him. Ohtori found the sight oddly adorable. He fished the box out of his coat pocket and tossed it to Ryou, who caught it easily enough.

"Go on, open it," Ohtori said, sitting down on the chair closest to the sofa.

Ryou eyed him for a few second before opening the box and staring in shock at the simple titanium and silver ring sitting nestled in blue velvet.

"That's why I've been avoiding you," Ohtori sighed. "I was making all these plans for the twenty-first, trying to get everything perfect. Everything, though, has been going wrong and now it's completely fallen apart with you being sick, so it doesn't matter if I do it the way I originally planned or not."

"You…" Ryou whispered, still staring in shock at the ring.

"I bought it when Keigo and Jiroh were having their own issues with getting it right, and it gave me a idea. We've been through more than them, and we're both more committed than either Keigo and Jiroh and Oshitari and Gakuto, why shouldn't we have what they have? It's our right, at least it is in my mind," Ohtori sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So, I bought it, had them sized properly and plotted. I had Neil help me so I could find the right day to get you away from shooting, and he gave me ideas of where I could go around London that you would enjoy. We were going to get Jesse and Shiva in on it, but things kept falling apart. Our friends in Japan are in on it, too. Only now, it's all pretty much gone to shit."

"Choutarou…"

"So, that's why I've been avoiding you," Ohtori shrugged. "I knew that if I saw you I'd just blurt everything out and all the planning would be for naught."

Ryou uncurled from his spot on the couch and sat on Ohtori's lap, startling the other man slightly before his arms came up around Ryou and held him tightly against his chest. "You are such an idiot," Ryou said fondly.

"Does this mean you're not mad at me any more?" Ohtori asked hopefully.

Ryou put the ring box in Ohtori's hand, "Do it right, moron."

Ohtori laughed and pulled Ryou more securely onto his lap and into his arms. "Be mine? I promise not to be too much of an asshole." He held the box open to Ryou.

Ryou plucked the ring out of the box and slipped it on his finger. "And I promise not essentially the same."

Ohtori smiled and nuzzled Ryou's neck, "So, how sick are you?"

"A chest cold, probably," Ryou said, letting Ohtori nuzzle him and hold him tight.

"Okay then," Ohtori said, standing up suddenly and holding cradling Ryou in his arms despite Ryou's violent protests. "Into bed with you. I'll make tea and bring some in to you."

"Put me down!" Ryou howled, struggling, setting off a coughing fit. "Ugh, I hate this…"

Ohtori set him on his feet outside his bedroom and kissed the top of his head. "Into bed, we need to get you healthy."

Ryou eyed him, "Too cheerful."

Ohtori kissed the top of his head, "Why shouldn't I be? I have you."

Ryou smiled slightly and padded into the bedroom, leaving the door open a bit. Ohtori grinned widely and made his way into the kitchen, humming under his breath as he made tea.

The End

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