Ohtori and Shishido lay curled up together, legs intertwined with Shishido's head on Ohtori's chest. Shishido was half-asleep, eyes closed and looking more than a little miserable. Ohtori didn't look much better with eyes that were puffy from crying as he ran his hand through Shishido's purple and black hair.

"We should take a shower," Shishido murmured sleepily, one hand moving up and down Ohtori's chest idly.

"Bath would probably be better," Ohtori said softly, kissing the top of Shishido's head. "Are you okay now?"

"I…" Shishido sighed. "No, I'm not okay. It's not fair, none of this is fair."

"What isn't fair?" Ohtori asked, standing up a bit and stripping off the pants he had pulled on earlier in the day.

Shishido sat up and stripped his shirt off before standing and letting Ohtori lead him into the bathroom. "Chole showing up wasn't fair," he said, sitting on the sink counter as Ohtori drew the bath, adding in bath salts and oils. He was glad the apartment had a Western style bathroom with a large tub that doubled as a Jacuzzi. "He had to bring every bad thing back in with him, and he's not going to just let it lie. Neil's good at getting rid of him, I'm not. He knows how to get under my skin and stop any protest I'm going to make."

"Because he looks like me?" Ohtori asked quietly, turning the water off when the bath was full. The bathroom was filled with the scent ylang rose, a scent Ohtori remembered as being one of Shishido's favorites. Both ylang and rose were used to reduced stress and helped alleviate depression and anxiety. Shishido used them almost religiously and had them for his hair and numerous bottle of lotion. The even had ylang tea, which Ohtori had teased him over years ago. Ylang and rose always reminded him of his lover, and possibly always would.

"That has something to do with it, but no," Shishido said softly, thumping the cabinet under the sink with the heel of his foot. "Chole knows my weaknesses. He was an old friend from Boston, when we used to visit my uncle. My brother and I played with Chole and a few other kids and wrecked some havoc. Chole also went to Oakland with me and Neil. He's a writer, but unlike Oshitari, he's got his head permanently in the clouds. Probably sees our relationship as ‘m the damsel-in-distress and you the Black Knight, or dragon, and he the one who has to save me."

Ohtori picked Shishido off the counter and carried him over to the bath, grinning at his protests and mock-sulking. "So, you're my damsel, mm?"

"Choutarou," Shishido said tiredly.

Ohtori's smile faded a little bit as he set Shishido back on his feet and stepped into the tub. "I know," he said with a sigh, offering his hand to help steady Shishido as he stepped into the tub. "What are we going to do about him then?"

"Honestly?" Shishido asked, standing still as Ohtori sat down and relaxed against one wall of the tub before immersing himself in the water as well. "I don't know. Chole won't believe a word I say, and he'll just make you out to be the enemy because you hurt me before."

Ohtori pulled Shishido between his legs and kissed him along his shoulder. "We don't have to let him in," he said softly. "How about after we soak a bit, we pack some clothes and go to my apartment? He doesn't know where that is, and we can rest a bit without worry."

Shishido leaned back against Ohtori and sighed, letting his head fall back against the other man's shoulder, baring his throat. "I like that idea," he said tiredly. "I haven't been to you apartment before."

Ohtori kissed along the line of Shishido's throat and ran his hands over his chest, letting the water run down Shishido's torso. "We'll fix that," he murmured, nuzzling the side of Shishido's neck. "You okay with this?"

"Mm…stop and I'll break something," Shishido moaned, arching against the hand that toyed with his nipple.

Ohtori laughed and continued to suck at Shishido's neck, marking him as he rolled and pinched at Shishido's nipple. One arm was wrapped around Shishido's waist to keep him up against him, but Ohtori wrapped his free hand around Shishido's cock, grinning against his lover's skin as he arched his back and moaned softly.

"Maybe we should move this to the bed," Ohtori suggested as Shishido squirmed against him and turned around, straddling Ohtori's lap in the water.

"I think right here's good," Shishido said, voice hesitant but strong. He ran his fingers lightly along Ohtori's cock in the water, smiling with a tired sort of enjoyment as Ohtori moaned, pulling Shishido closer.

"I want to see you smile," Ohtori whispered, trying and failing to think as Shishido's hand enveloped his cock in a tight grip. "None of this jaded expression. A smile, true emotions."

Shishido looked pained and went to pull away but Ohtori caught him around the waist and pulled him closer. "Ryou, will you listen to me?"

Shishido nodded numbly and sat in Ohtori's lap, the idea of sex forgotten for the moment.

"I love you," Ohtori said softly running a wet hand over Shishido's lips. "What happened in the past is not going to effect what we are now. I refuse to act like a callous and jealous fool again; all that will do is drive you away from me. I love you, I care for you, and I won't loose you over something so stupid as who you slept with before we got back together. Yes, Chole knocked me off guard, because I hadn't expected someone to show up and claim to be your lover."

"He's not!" Shishido moaned in pain. "He's not my lover! I dated him for six weeks and let him fuck me for a little bit longer. There was nothing but sex involved there!"

"Ryou," Ohtori said, placing a finger against Shishido's lips and kissing his nose, "shush. It doesn't matter to me. If you want us to share who we were both with before we got back together, I'll gladly go first. If you think it will help, then we'll do so. I don't want you to feel guilty about it, because we weren't together. You didn't know if you were going to see me again, and I certainly didn't know if you'd ever come back to Japan."

Shishido leaned forward and kissed Ohtori, hands cupping the other man's face as they kissed desperately. "I love you, Choutarou. I love you so much, and that's all I care about. I don't want to lose you. I can't go back to how it was without you. It hurt too much."

Ohtori wrapped and hand around the back of Shishido's neck and rubbed at the hollow spot at the base of his skull, smiling as Shishido moaned and let his head fall forward onto Ohtori's shoulder. "Do you want to clear the air? No more surprises?"

Shishido moaned, "Yes."

"I'll go first," Ohtori murmured, sucking and nibbling on Shishido's ear lobe. "Taki, Atobe, Hiyoshi, two women who's names I forget, and three men who weren't really memorable from college."

"Atobe?" Shishido blinked, then smiled. "Heh. That's why you called him ‘Keigo' earlier."

"He took me out for my twentieth, got me drunk as hell, and confessed a few things. I don't remember how, but we ended up in bed together. It was one night, but any issue we had was settled after that."

"Good," Shishido whispered. "I never liked you two snarking at each other."

"Well, we won't anymore, unless it's over something besides you."

"I'm glad Hiyo and Taki took care of you too," Shishido said softly, nuzzling Ohtori's neck.

Ohtori smiled and nipped lightly at Shishido's jaw.

"Neil, Chole, Jesse… a few other models at some parties, one of the previous photographers, and this one amazing woman, Kaitlyn, who you should meet. She's a singer now, but had been a model. She'd bust your balls for breathing if she was in the mood to do so," Shishido laughed softly. "You'd love her. Hellfires, that reminds me. Next time I go to LA, I'm dragging you with me."

"Any particular reason why?" Ohtori asked, kissing the corner of Shishido's eye.

"Kitty and Vic will want to meet you," Shishido said with a small smile.

Ohtori listed all who Shishido had slept with in his head and then paused. "You slept with your agent?"

Shishido flushed hotly. "I was drunk! And it was with Neil too."

Ohtori started laughing. "No wonder he's so possessive towards you."

"No, the reason for that is that I make him lots and lots of money," Shishido said smartly.

Ohtori grinned and gripped Shishido's chin in his hand to look at his lover. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah, actually," Shishido said with a small smile. "I don't like keeping things from you, especially ones like this that have the tendency to blow up on me."

Ohtori kissed him sweetly. "Is there anything else? Any more worries?"

Shishido shook his head.

"You going to let me heal the wounds I caused?"

Shishido nodded slowly and rested his forehead against Ohtori's. "I don't want to hurt anymore. We were good, lover, real good. Somewhere along the way, though, we lost it, both of us. And we're fixing it."

Ohtori stroked Shishido's left hip, tracing the scars with a wet finger. "I can promise you, Ryou, that this will never happen again. Never."

Shishido nodded and nipped at Ohtori's chin lightly. "You gonna finish what you started?" he asked coyly, one hand slowly stroking Ohtori's hip.

Ohtori grinned and kissed Shishido, wrapping one hand around Shishido's cock tightly, causing the other man to moan sweetly.

~

Atobe arrived home to an empty apartment and sighed. He wanted Jiroh to come home now. It wasn't fair that Jiroh had this effect on him, he was too used to being self-sufficient and then Jiroh, damn him and bless him at the same time, went and turned his world upside down.

Atobe could admit to himself that he cared deeply about his lover, loved him, even. What he refused to admit was that he needed Jiroh. He wanted Jiroh to be with him always. Otherwise, the was no real reason to come home at night.

And Atobe liked coming home at night. He liked coming home to smiles and hugs and giggles and laughter. He enjoyed having a warm body curl up with him at night, and he enjoyed the sounds Jiroh made as Atobe slowly fucked him into the mattress.

Pouring himself a glass of scotch, Atobe took his jacket off and sat down on the couch, undoing the cuffs of his shirt and loosening the top few buttons. Staring into the amber depths of his drink, he sighed and looked away. Jiroh's eyes and hair reminded him of the color of scotch.

Taking a long pull of his drink, Atobe set it down and set his fingers to his face and looked into the mirror. Snorting at himself, he looked away. Jiroh had gotten under his skin more than Atobe had wanted, but now that he was there, Jiroh wasn't going anywhere.

Atobe was well and truly in love.

The End

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