Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the Fake characters and I'm not making any money off of this. I'm just having fun! Lots and lots of fun! He! He!
Warning: Yaoi, male-male relationships. (Ain't it beautiful?) Lemon, angst. True love! Language
"Idiot! Stop being such a pig!"
"You're the pig!"
"You are!"
"No, you are!"
"Boys!" Ryo cut in, exasperated. Ryo and Bicky paused in their fighting, food poised on forks to fling at each other. "I just want a quiet meal, okay? Dee, act your age!"
"He started it," Dee grumbled and dumped his forkfull of noodles back onto his plate with a clatter. "I don't know how you put up with him, he's so obnoxious, selfish, irritating...."
Dee had just described himself. Ryo hid a smile, not really angry. He liked the bickering, though he would never admit it. It made him feel like he was part of a real family, something he hadn't had since leaving his aunt's house to work in New York. Yes, the noise was comforting. He liked the small apartment to be full of life.
Dee leaned his chin on one fist, poking idly at his food as he gave Ryo an intense look. He was handsome, tall and slim with wide shoulders and a devilish smile. His black hair was rakish, always hanging in his eyes... those intense, green eyes that made Ryo shiver when ever they rested on him for too long. Ryo smiled back, showing Dee that he wasn't really angry. Dee warmed at once and he ran a tongue over his lips, unconsciously sensual.
Bicky watched the exchanged looks with anger and resentment. Part African American, his dark skin was a sharp contrast to his blue eyes and blonde hair. That dark skin hid his flush of temper. He felt threatened, pure and simple, by Dee and Ryo's budding relationship. He had grown up on the streets with violence on every corner. Ryo had given him a clean home, a firm hand, and hope for the future. Dee could all too easily end that, Bicky thought. The man disliked him. If Dee were to have his way with Ryo, the next step would be for him to move in with Ryo. The step after that was obvious. Two's company, three's a crowd. Bicky didn't want to live on the streets again. He was determined to fight for his place with Ryo and thwart Dee's intentions any way he could.
They finished dinner. Dee helped Ryo take the dishes into the kitchen, but then he went to stretch out on the couch, long legs crossed and hands behind his head. He sighed. "That was good, Ryo."
"Thank you."
"Don't want to get your hands dirty?" Bicky growled as he shrugged into his backpack.
"What?"
"He's not your stinking wife!" Bicky clarified, blue eyes snapping fire.
"Oh, you mean the dishes?" Dee realized. He sat up. "He hates when I go in the kitchen. He told me to stay out hundreds of times."
"You come over," Bicky continued, "eat his food, lay around, and mess up his place."
"Hey, that's sounds like you," Dee snarled back. "Just can it, kid! Don't you have somewhere else to go?"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"As a matter of fact, I would!"
"Well, I'm not goi-"
"Bicky! You'll be late for your tutor! Get going!" Ryo called from the kitchen.
Bicky seethed as Dee smiled and stretched out on the couch again. "You heard, 'Dad'. Get going!"
"You'd better not try anything or I'll- I'll have you arrested or reported, or something!" Bicky stammered.
Dee frowned, suddenly serious. "We're adults, Bicky. You're sticking your nose in our business. All you need to worry about is bubble gum and report cards."
"I'm going to kill you someday."
Dee grew very serious now. "That's not even a joke, kid. Don't say that ever again. I know you're mad at me for trying to be with Ryo and I know you don't like me personally, but that's stuff you have to learn to deal with. Hell, what's wrong with ending up with two 'Dads' instead of one?"
Bicky stared.
Dee had a sudden insight. "What's wrong? Hey, you didn't think I was going to try and have you thrown out with the bath water or anything like that, did you? You did, didn't you?" Dee sighed and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "When are you gonna start trusting people, Bicky?"
"Bicky! I said to get going!" Ryo shouted from the kitchen.
"Okay, Okay! I'm going!" Bicky frowned down at Dee. "It's you I don't trust."
"I know," Dee replied. "I wish you would."
"Not going to happen." Bicky turned on his heel and stalked out of the apartment. The sudden quiet, only interrupted by Ryo washing dishes, was a relief.
Ryo came into the living room, drying his hands off on a towel. He brushed at Dee's legs with one hand. Dee obliged him by moving them so he could sit down. Ryo sighed and stretched his legs out in front of him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He looked so beautiful and trusting, but Dee knew that was deceptive. Inside, Ryo was as distrustful as Bicky, so Dee just sat, enjoying the view, knowing better than to startle Ryo with any physical overtures.
Ryo was a true beauty, a mixture of American apple pie and Japanese porcelain. His eyes slanted, just slightly, and they were as black as midnight, but his hair was a russet brown and his eyebrows looked like they had been made with a fine brush stroke. Those features were almost feminine, Dee thought, yet his body was definitely masculine. He was everything Dee had ever dreamed of, both of his desires satisfied in one man. If only Ryo could understand how he felt, Dee thought, things would be so much different. Dee had never been good at words. His attempts to show Ryo physically always landed him outside the locked door of Ryo's heart.
It wasn't as if Ryo didn't feel the same way, Dee thought miserably. He constantly felt the man 'looking' at him and, once or twice, he had turned to find the sweetest of smiles on his partner's lips. Yes, Ryo definitely had a thing for him, Dee thought, but he was just too frightened of the sex part of the relationship to go any further. Dee couldn't blame him really. His first time had been quick, painful, and almost dirty. Groping another, older, boy behind a building, and being taken up against a hard brick wall, hadn't given Dee the taste for more. It was his nature that had made him try again... and then again, until he had learned what he liked, who he liked it with, and how not to get hurt when he did it. How he wished someone kind and experienced had been there to show him, to teach him with love instead of lust. Yes, Dee understood completely what Ryo was afraid of. The gentle, loving man beside him wanted love and gentleness in return, not a quick bang in the sheets by someone who only wanted to use that beautiful body of his.
When was he going to realize, Dee wondered, that he didn't want that either? How many years, how many wasted days and nights, had to pass before Ryo understood what was in his, Dee's, heart? If only he could say the right words. If only Ryo could see how he felt in his eyes. If only Ryo could understand that he, Dee, was worthy of his trust and worthy of being his first.
"What are you thinking, Ryo?" That's not what he had wanted to say at all! Damn his slow tongue. He was just too stupid! Why couldn't he just... say it!
Ryo opened his eyes, stretched until his bones popped, and then sat up and looked at Dee. "I was thinking about that Johnson case."
Work! It was always work with Ryo.
"I still don't have any leads," Dee replied.
"I know," Ryo said, "It's strange that we can't find one witness to the murder. It was in an alley with open windows. Someone had to have heard something."
"Yeah. Well, you know how it is. Most of them in that section are illegal immigrants or just plain leery of the law. Something will come up. They're still going over the evidence collected at the scene."
Ryo nodded. His dark eyes were distant and Dee suddenly realized that it wasn't the case he was thinking about. Dee was a good judge of character. Ryo was definitely screwing up the courage to say something. Dee's heart skipped a beat. Could it possibly be... could this be the night?
"Dee..."
"Uh, yeah, Ryo?"
"It's nice having you here most nights, having dinner, talking."
"Yeah? I like it too," Dee replied and cursed himself again. What a stupid thing to say! Stupid! Stupid! He should have said something slick, like, 'I just want to be close to the man I love.' or something like that!
"I've always hated being alone," Ryo continued and he was really tense now, fiddling with his hands in his lap. He was frowning, his beautiful features very serious.
"Me too." Dee winced. His voice had almost cracked. What was he, twelve?
"So... this is very hard for me, Dee." Ryo swallowed and then stabbed Dee straight in the heart. "My- My Aunt Elena is coming to visit me for a few days. I... I don't think you should come over while she's here. She's very open minded, but I don't know if she's open minded enough to accept....," Ryo trailed off, groping for words. He finished lamely. "She might get the wrong idea about us."
"Wrong idea?" Dee stood up, stumbling a little as he turned away from Ryo and wrapped his arms around his aching chest. Tears stung his eyes and he bit his lip. He wouldn't cry! He wouldn't! he thought to himself. Oh, God, but he wanted to! He felt like he was dying! He had to get out of there before Ryo saw him... saw him... Leave! Leave now! he shouted to himself.
"I-I guess I understand, Ryo... uh, I'll see you at the station."
"Dee! I'm sorry!" Ryo shouted after him in anguish. "I didn't mean..."
"Yes, you did!" Dee snapped and then just shut up before he broke down completely and sobbed. He made his way to the door, jerked it open, went through, and then slammed it shut behind him as hard a he could. He heard glass shattering as a picture jumped off the wall with the force and hit the floor. He didn't care. Let Ryo's things get smashed, as smashed as his heart!
It was raining when Dee reached the street. Just perfect! he thought, and headed for the nearest bar. He needed to stop the pain. Drinking was the only way he knew how. He had never in his wildest dreams imagined that Ryo was ashamed of him.
Dee had two bottles in a bag under one arm. Vodka and whiskey. Enough to get him numb and forgetful for a little while. He had changed his mind about passing out drunk in a bar. He didn't want company when he finally broke down and cried. Now all he had to do was keep it from happening until he reached his lonely apartment.
It was late. The streets were almost deserted. Slick with rain and a slight, persistent drizzle, the city looked stark, bleak, and cold; just how Dee felt. It was almost comforting as he strode along the sidewalk to the subway. He felt that he was hidden in the low light and the rain, safe from any stranger's scrutiny or judgment.
"D-Don't, please!"
Ryo stopped and fumbled for his shoulder holster. He snapped off the safety of his gun, as he put down his bag of liquor, and then slowly approached a dark ally. Two shadows were struggling.
"Hold still, pretty slut! I'm gonna give it to ya good!"
"G-Get off!"
"Damn you! You punched me! Stinking fag!"
There was the sound of a kick and a sickening crunch. "Freeze!" Dee jumped into the ally with his gun drawn and came face to face with Ryo, who was poised to kick the man on the ground again. Ryo's clothes, what Dee could see in the darkness, were half off of him and ripped.
"God! Ryo! What's gong on?"
"This, filth," Ryo choked, "tried to rape me! C-Call for assistance!"
Dee felt himself boil. He was almost blind with rage. "You- You piece of shit! You tried to take, by force, the greatest gift Ryo has to give besides his heart; the gift I've waited more than two years to have!" Dee didn't realize that he was shouting those words out loud as he kicked the prostrate body of the rapist, hard, twice, before Ryo managed to pull him off.
"You're a cop, Dee!" Ryo shouted at him. "Do that again and I'll have to arrest you too!"
Dee felt an adrenalin reaction washing over him. While Ryo called on his cell phone for assistance, Dee leaned against the ally wall, panting, gun pointed at the rapist. He wished that he could just pull the trigger. Ryo finished his call before Dee could get any further with those thoughts, and bent to handcuff the man's wrists behind his back. The man began to moan, just now coming to.
"Don't say anything!" Dee warned. "I won't be responsible if you do."
The man wisely kept quiet..
Dee wiped at his forehead, hating how his hand was shaking with emotion. "What were you doing here anyway, Ryo? You don't even have your gun!"
Ryo was trying to put his clothes back on himself. The buttons on his shirt were gone. He hid it with his coat as he retrieved it from the ground and slid into it. Dee could just make out Ryo's angry, emotionally charged face as he turned towards the lights coming from the street and zipped up his pants. The man had gotten that far... Dee felt like vomiting.
"Ryo," Dee breathed.
"No, let's not talk here. We have a job to do." Ryo turned away and paced to the other side of the ally. He leaned against the wall there, arms wrapped about himself, a dark, lonely shadow waiting for help to arrive.
It took a long while to give the arriving police officers their statements, to hold still for evidence to be collected, and to have the usual conversations with men and women that both Ryo and Dee knew. They were all concerned for Ryo, but procedures had to be followed. They apologized again and again for the time and the questions, but Ryo was a professional. Dee ached for him. He completely forgot that he was supposed to be angry with the man. After what had just happened, that sort of thing didn't matter anymore. Even if Ryo was ashamed of him, Dee thought, they were still partners and friends.
At last they were allowed to go. Dee paced beside Ryo as they made their way back to Ryo's apartment. He looked over at his partner, worried. "All right?"
Ryo looked sideways at Dee. He didn't smile, but he shrugged. "The situation was a little tense, but nothing I couldn't handle."
Dee tried again. "I meant, how are you feeling?"
"Good," Ryo replied quietly. "We put a rapist in jail tonight."
"Ryo... You know what I mean. That guy had his hand down your pants. He was going to-"
"But, he didn't!" Ryo snapped. He was silent for a long minute and Dee became afraid that Ryo would tell him to leave. "I'm a detective, Dee, I've been in rougher situations. If I'm upset, it's only because I let that man get the drop on me. I knew I was in a dangerous area of town."
"Yet you didn't take your gun!"
Ryo nodded, looking guilty as charged. "That was stupid, but.... I wanted to find you."
"You did?" The pain of the argument came back to Dee full force. He choked it down deep within him. Ryo needed him, he reminded himself, even though he, Dee, seemed to be the only one getting upset that Ryo had nearly been raped. Ryo, his gentle, innocent Ryo, was showing just how tough he could be. Dee knew that he wasn't lying about how he felt. Ryo had done his job. He was proud of himself. He had saved some other unfortunate from being that man's victim. It's what Ryo lived for.
They reached the apartment building. Dee put his hands in his coat pockets and looked down at his feet as he stopped at the door. Ryo faced him, his black eyes wide and concerned.
"Come up, please?" Ryo begged softly. He reached out and touched Dee's big, calloused hand and took it in his softer one. "You're cold, wet, and upset. I think we should talk."
"You were pretty clear earlier," Dee replied tightly. "You don't want me around decent people. You're ashamed of me."
"No!"
Dee looked up at Ryo's shocked face.
"Dee!" Ryo's hand tightened on his. He looked around them anxiously. "Let's... please, come upstairs. Let's not talk here."
"Because you're ashamed of me," Dee snapped. "You don't want anyone to hear us talk about the fact that I'm bisexual!" he shouted the last and people passing by looked at them curiously. Ryo's face turned red in embarrassment. "See?" Dee said. "You are ashamed of me."
"I'm ashamed that people think you're drunk!" Ryo snapped back and pulled Dee towards the door. He was beautiful and a little effeminate looking, but Ryo was definitely a man in the muscle department. Dee found it hard to keep himself from being forced through the door. He planted his feet and leaned back.
Ryo faced him again, not letting his hand go. He swallowed hard and then said quickly, as if he were afraid of losing his nerve, "It's me I'm ashamed of, not you, Dee."
"What?"
Ryo looked away, his dark eyes reflecting the light coming through the glass front door of the apartment building. They looked wet, luminescence, as if he were about to cry. "I don't want Aunt Elena to know."
"Know what?"
"Please, Dee," Ryo begged. "Let's talk about this upstairs."
"Know what?" Dee insisted, refusing to budge.
A rapist hadn't shaken Ryo, Dee thought to himself in confusion. A man had stuck a filthy hand down Ryo's pants and tried to rape him and he had chalked it up to just doing his duty. Brave... so brave, his sweet Ryo, but now, with just emotions and truths to deal with, Ryo was floundering and afraid.
"Know what?" Dee asked yet again. He raised a hand and gently touched the gentle curve of Ryo's cheek. Ryo's eyes darted about them uncertainly, but Dee didn't care who saw them. He stroked Ryo very softly and then leaned close, hovering inches from Ryo's trembling lips and shimmering eyes. "Tell me."
Ryo licked dry lips nervously. It was so sensual and he was totally unaware of it. Dee slid his hand down Ryo's cheek and gently caressed those moistened lips. Under that kind of pressure, Ryo gave up a small bit of his secret. "I don't want her to know... know how I feel about you. If she finds out and... hates me because of it, I'll lose my family. I couldn't stand that. It's so very important to me Dee. I just can't take the chance...."
"Ah, I get it." Dee did understand. He could sympathize.
Ryo relaxed suddenly and began to smile. "You do understand, Dee? You aren't angry any more?"
"You just admitted that you have feelings for me," Dee replied, still caressing Ryo's lips. "That's more than you've ever done before. Still, I can't forgive you."
Ryo's smile fell. "Y-You can't?"
"I want an open relationship with you. I can't let you hide me under the bed every time you have company. What kind of life is that?"
"Relationship?" Ryo reached up slowly and brushed off Dee's hand. Dee let it fall to his side reluctantly. "I was talking about- about friendship, Dee. You know how I feel about-"
Ryo wanted to back track now, deny what he'd just said. It had made him too uncomfortable and afraid. Dee clenched his fists and turned away. "Thanks a lot!"
"Huh? Dee?"
"You just kicked me in the gut again, Ryo. How many times are you going to do that tonight? Are you trying to set a record?"
When he felt Ryo touch him lightly on the back, Dee felt a shiver travel through him as if Ryo's fingertips were full of electricity.
"Those things you said... to that rapist... about my vir- about the two most special things I have to give... I feel that way about them. I'm not going to give them to just anyone. I was glad to know that you felt the same way, that you didn't expect me to.... but now you want to force me again, just like you always do. I don't want ultimatums, Dee. I don't want to have to lose you, but I won't let you force me to make a decision I'm not ready for. Please understand."
"It's been almost two years, Ryo!" Dee protested, hunching away from that hand, that touch that he wanted more than anything in the world. "When will you trust me? When will you finally make a decision about us? When will you stop tearing my heart out and give me an answer, one way or the other?"
"When I'm comfortable with letting a man fuck me in the ass and everyone knowing about it!"
Dee went white as a sheet and turned, completely stunned, never having heard anything like that from his partner, even in the worst situations.
Ryo was crying, openly and helplessly, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, completely embarrassed, but forced to the truth by Dee's hurt and his own disgust at himself. "You see," Ryo finished in a small voice. "I-I do love you, but... I'm so afraid of that, of letting another man have me that way. I have to know... I have to know that I can trust you with that, that this won't be just- just a fuck for you and goodbye for me afterwards. I'd die if that happened, Dee. I would just die!" He swallowed and sniffled, looking like he wanted to curl up and do just that, die of embarrassment. "So, now you know, blunt enough for even you to get. Happy? Happy that everyone else on the street heard me to? It's what you wanted, right, to be open and honest to the world? Like it? Well, I don't like it at all!"
"You're the one who's drunk, aren't you, Ryo?"
Ryo swayed and then laughed. "Yeah, finally figure that out, Dee? I was so disgusted with myself that I crawled out of my apartment like the worm that I am and went to a bar. I don't remember what I had, but, there was a lot of it. I was actually feeling better right before that- that stinking bastard tried to do- do what I've always wanted you to do! I-I was saving that for you!"
Ryo suddenly went green. The emotional turmoil was too much for his stomach. He turned and threw up. Falling to his knees, the effects of the alcohol hit him like a hammer between the eyes. The adrenalin surge of danger, and the numbing effects of the alcohol, were leaving him at last. He felt very, very sick.
"So, you didn't come looking for me," Dee said with a sigh as he hooked a hand under Ryo's arm and helped him to his feet. He wrinkled his nose at the smell. Ryo hadn't managed to avoid all of it. Some of it was on his jacket. "You went out to experience your first drunk. It is your first, isn't it, Ryo?"
Ryo nodded, but it hurt his head. It felt good to go inside the apartment building. The air conditioning caressed his hot skin.
"I never thought you'd be a nasty drunk, Ryo. I don't think you should do it again. You talk too much. I hope you don't remember what you said in the morning. I don't want to remember it. Ryo saying the F word and talking about... that's not the Ryo I know or want to get to know, okay?"
"Soookay," Ryo drawled. "I did look for you," he said at last, thinking hard as they went into the elevator. "I looked and looked in the bars. When I didn't find you, I just thought, 'Great! I'm in a bar now, I don't have to go anywhere else to make the pain stop.' " He squinted at Dee. "It didn't make it stop though, Dee. People lie when they say it does."
"I know," Dee replied tightly, thinking about the two bottles of liquor that he had left behind at the crime scene.
They reached Ryo's apartment. Dee took the key from Ryo, fumbled with the lock as he supported Ryo on one arm, and then swung the door open. The neat, comfortable surroundings of Ryo's apartment was like welcoming arms. Even Ryo, as drunk and sick as he was, sighed in relief as they went inside.
Dee carried Ryo to the bathroom, sat him down on the toilet and patiently took off his coat and ripped shirt. Wetting a washcloth in warm water, Dee took up bar of soap and began washing the sickness off of Ryo's skin. Ryo watched him intently, despite his drunken state, and shivered a little whenever Dee ran the washcloth over his sensitive nipples. They quickly turned rock hard and red. Dee tried not to look. He tried to keep his mind on helping his partner, not on the fact that he was doing what he had filled many wet dreams with, touching Ryo's bare chest.
Ryo was having a hard time too. He was reacting to Dee's ministrations. The alcohol was knocking down all of his inhibitions. He wasn't afraid at all to reach up to Dee's face and touch him, touch that strong chin and those sexy....
Dee pulled Ryo's hands down firmly and lifted him up off of the toilet. Confused, Ryo allowed Dee to help him to the bedroom and into bed. Dee pulled the blankets up around him after removing Ryo's shoes and socks. He leaned close and smiled at Ryo.
"You're drunk and you are going to be very sick in the morning, Ryo," Dee told him calmly. "I want you, you know I do, but it's more than that. I want both of your greatest gifts, Ryo, together at the same time, given freely. I don't want you to be ashamed. I don't want you to be afraid. I want you to love me and love what we are. I'll wait for that. It's worth it. You're worth it."
Ryo was already asleep. Dee kissed his forehead gently and sighed. "You won't remember any of that either. Why can't I say things
like that when it counts? Because, you're just an idiot when it comes to love," he answered himself sourly and went to make a bed on the couch.
A hand poked at Dee. Dee opened his eyes and saw a very green looking Ryo standing over him. Dee sat up and rubbed hands over his face. It was morning. Damn! He had wanted to get up early and make coffee. Ryo needed it now, bad.
"Uh, I'll make coffee," Dee said uncertainly.
Ryo's hand kept him from rising. Ryo's eyes were bloodshot and his face was still green. He looked like he was going to be ill again at any moment. "What," Ryo paused as he caused his aching head more pain. He lowered his voice. "What happened last night?"
Dee replied tentatively. "You proved that you're a good cop even when you're drunk. You arrested a rapist."
"I- remember that, sort of," Ryo said, looking confused, "but, afterwards... it's all mixed up. I only remember shouting at you and... throwing up. Were- were we on the street when that happened? Did-Did anyone see me like that?"
"Not anyone who'll hold it against you," Dee replied too quickly and tried to stand again.
Ryo refused to let him. He sat next to Dee and stared at him, frowning, trying to remember. "I was just terrible to you, Dee. I'm sorry. I-I wanted to take it all back as soon as you left the apartment last night. It wasn't about you at all, you realize?"
Dee was relieved. Ryo didn't remember then. His heart rending revelations were a secret again, a secret that Dee was going to let him keep, for now. "It's okay, Ryo. I should have understood instead of getting so angry. You're just not ready... not ready for anything yet, including having your Aunt Elena think we're a couple. I'll lay low until she's gone." Dee felt a rush of happiness. For once, he had said the exact right thing. Ryo was actually smiling warmly at him!
"Thank you, Dee, it means a lot to me. You-, uh, You mean a lot to me. Dee, I think I can tell you this much now, now that I know how much you really care about my feelings. I think- No, I know I Io-" Ryo cut himself off in mid word, turning very green. He left Dee staring as he ran to throw up in the toilet.
"Lo-," Dee repeated to himself. "Love?" he ran into the bathroom and fell on his knees beside a heaving Ryo. He waited anxiously until Ryo came up for air. "You didn't finish! What were you saying, Ryo?"
"Saying?"
"Oh, no you don't! You were definitely saying something!" Dee exclaimed. "Say it again, Ryo, or I'll make you something so disgusting for breakfast, that you'll be throwing up 'till next week!"
"Dee?" Ryo wailed and leaned the side of his face against the porcelain as he looked blearily at Dee's anxious face. "Can't it wait?" when he saw Dee's hurt expression, he remembered something else from last night. "No, I won't kick you in the gut again, Dee. This isn't like I pictured it. I wanted this to be special. Roses. Wine. candlelight."
"Enough!" Dee retorted impatiently. "You read too many romance novels. Just... Just say it, okay? I'll forget that you said it with your face on the rim of a toilet bowl and just remember your beautiful eyes, okay? Just, please, say it again."
"Okay. " Ryo took a deep breath. Dee could tell that he was scared, scared about what this revelation could mean for the future. "I-I..."
"Yes?" Dee prompted.
"I love you, Dee."
There, it was said! Ryo sighed, relieved of the burden at last. Dee felt as if his heart was going to burst. He hugged Ryo so hard the man protested weakly.
"Sorry," Dee released him and sat back on his heels. "I love you too, Ryo. I'd kiss you, but..."
"It's okay."
"Yeah." Dee grinned. "Say it again."
"Dee!"
"Okay! Okay! Later, but, please, you will say it again?"
"Yes," Ryo managed a smile, but it was wistful and had a little bit of pain in it. "I will tell Aunt Elena too, Dee, just, give me time, okay? There's still so much I have to figure out first. I never thought or imagined that my life would take this kind of turn."
"I can wait," Dee replied and Ryo frowned.
"Wait for my two greatest gifts....," Ryo murmured. "Did you say that last night? Maybe it was just a dream." He flushed, embarrassed.
"No, it wasn't a dream, Ryo. I can wait."
Ryo had tears in his eyes. Dee helped him clean up. When Ryo touched his hand as they both stood up, and looked deep into Dee's eyes, Dee saw a promise there, a promise that Ryo's two greatest gifts would be given to him alone. His patience and his love would have its reward. It was all that Dee had ever wanted and more. He vowed to be worthy of Ryo's trust, to love him and cherish him always, and to make him not ashamed of what they were any longer.
****Owari****