Disclaimer: I do not own any of the WK characters or names. This fic is a little sappy, a little angsty, a little dramatic... a little bit of everything that Yoji and Omi would have to go through in a real relationship. Please enjoy reading this fic!

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Sweet Summer Nights: Part Four

Yoji awoke and was immediately aware of Omi’s naked body touching his own in a most uncomfortable way. The boy’s buttocks rested lightly over his thighs, pressing into his crotch. He flushed and drew away slightly.

Omi groaned in his sleep and pushed back into Yoji, even harder than before.

“Omi, you little tease,” he whispered, running a fingertip lightly down his comrade’s slender neck and over one narrow shoulder. “If you would let me, I’d take you right here and now. I don’t care if you are a guy.”

The boy rolled over and faced Yoji, lashes falling over his cheeks as he slept. His expression was one of peace and contentment. The smallest of smiles curved on his parted pink lips. He shivered and moaned.

Yoji wrapped his arms around Omi and drew him close. “So lovely.” He took in the scent of his body. It was sweet and masculine at the same time, a heavenly combination. The fever was still high in his cheeks. He felt his forehead and found it burning hot and glazed with sweat.

“Yoji.” He snuggled into the man’s chest, sighing.

Smiling, Yoji let his hands run down the youngster’s firm back and rest on his waist. He could almost circle that tiny waist with his hands. “Omi...” he whispered, shaking him very gently.

The boy’s large blue eyes fluttered open. “Hm?” he asked sleepily.

“I’m going to buy you some medicine, okay? I’ll be back in a little bit.” He began to slide out of the bed.

He was suddenly being restrained by two powerful little hands. “No.”

Yoji looked into those determined eyes. They were not helpless or frightened, only commanding. “Why not? You’re sick.”

“I’ll be okay. I just need some sleep and warmth. This happens all the time.” He seemed to know what he was talking about. His tone was serious and professional. “And some food. A boy needs to keep his strength up, right?”

“Alright. Come on.” He helped him climb out of the bed.

“I feel better now. I think I’ll get dressed.” Body flushed, he walked to the bathroom.

Yoji restrained himself from throwing him back in the bed and taking him right then and there. He took a deep, shaky breath and went to find some clothes of his own. He shook his head and zipped up his pants. *Careful, little Omi-chan. I just may decide to take you tonight.* His pants were suddenly too tight in a certain area as he imagined a panting, screaming Omi underneath him.

“Oh no. Don’t start thinking like that, Kuduo Yoji.” He watched Omi walk out of the bathroom and almost doubled over laughing.

“Pink? Why the pink sweater? You’re not funny.” He glared at the man.

“But it’s so kawaii.” Yoji drawled. He noticed how it caused the red highlights in the boy’s hair to stand out. “Looks good on you.”

He crossed his arms. “Yeah right.”

“Oh, come on Omi. Lighten up.” Sliding an arm around his waist, he led him into the kitchen. He drew out a pan, butter, eggs, cheese, onions, and bacon. “Would you like an omelet or something? It’s about the only breakfast food I know how to cook.”

“Sounds delicious.” It was only two o’ clock in the morning. Omi shivered in his sweater and curled up on the couch, his feverish body seeking rest.

Yoji sang loudly to himself as he dropped the bacon into the pan and mixed it with the eggs and butter. He rocked his hips from side to side with the imaginary beat and stirred sharply. Warming up some water to boil for more tea, he continued his solo. “La la LA!!!” he finished, and scooped the omelets onto a plate.

He sat down beside Omi, who has fallen asleep once again. “Omi, your food is ready.”

“Hm? Oh.” He sat up, rubbing his eyes adorably.

“Here.” Yoji held a forkful up to the boy’s mouth.

“I can do it myself,” he insisted.

Yoji frowned. “Please?”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

The man wached him take the bite carefully, blowing the steam from it. He chewed through a wan smile. “Very good!” he complimented.

“You’re too kind.” Yoji leaned closer as he forced more food in. “Eat it all.”

“Of course.” He looked into his caretaker’s exotic eyes. “Thank you, Yoji-kun.”

“It’s the least I can do for you, Omi.” He reached over to cradle the boy’s head. “After all the warmth you’ve shown me the past couple of days, I seem to have lost my interest in dating. I just want to share my evenings with you.”

Sapphire orbs turned to him, shimmering with happiness. “Really?”

“Yes.” He leaned down to kiss his forehead.

Omi unexpectedly lifted his face, and their lips touched. He gave Yoji a soft, chaste kiss on the mouth. It was warm and affectionate, not sexual in the least. “You make me feel so wanted. It’s something I’ve never experienced before,” he breathed as they parted.

Yoji could feel his heart trying to leap out of his chest. His body was flushed with a sudden molten fire. He set down the plate and grabbed Omi by the shoulders, pulling him roughly against him. “And you make me feel needed. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, either.”

“Then you know what I mean?” His thin fingers weaved their way through the man’s long wavy locks. “You understand?”

Yoji ran a thumb along the boy’s cheekbone. “Omi...” he whispered.

“I love you, Yoji.”

Yoji felt like he had just been stabbed through the chest. *Omi loves me? No, it isn’t possible. He’s so beautiful, and I’m so... so unworthy. Yet when he looks at me, I can see it shining there in his eyes...* “You love me?”

He blushed and dropped his gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry.” He stood and walked to the door.

“Sorry? What for?”

“For telling you something I shouldn’t have. I...” he choked back a sob and placed his hand on the doorknob. “You’re probably disgusted with me now.”

Yoji still couldn’t move. He stared at the boy, shocked. “Why would I be disgusted with you?”

“Because I’m gay, and you don’t like guys.”

“Omi. Don’t leave.”

“I’m sorry, Yoji-kun.”

“Stay!” he cried, standing in a flash and approaching his comrade. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be alone for the rest of the night. Please, stay with me. You’re still sick.”

“I’ll be fine.” He turned to leave.

Yoji grabbed him by the waist. “Omi, I love you!”

The boy froze. Slowly, he turned to face his companion. “Do you really, Yoji? Or is it just loneliness? Am I a replacement, just like all the others?”

The man cast his eyes to the floor, suddenly unsure. “I want you.”

“I see.” Before Yoji could respond, he left.

“Damn it!” he yelled, punching the door with a fist. “I am such a bastard. Lusting over a little boy. I should have known this would happen. He’s just confused. He thinks he’s in love with me. It’s a crush that’ll pass within a week.” Yet the look in the boy’s eyes haunted him. So warm, so compassionate, so... needing. He felt tears cloud over his eyes and forced them back.

~*~

Omi curled up in his bed that night, teeth chattering. He remembered how warm it had been with Yoji.

*Why did I have to tell him? I guess I just couldn’t hide it back any more. I want him so bad! I need him here with me. Yoji, I’m so sorry that I had to ruin our relationship.*

After an hour of shivering beneath the covers, he could take it no longer. He got up from his bed to find Ken. He needed someone to talk to. Someone who could give him some advice. He knocked on the young man’s door.

“Who is it?” Ken called from the other side.

Omi could hear the rustling of cloth as someone dressed hurriedly. “Omi.”

“Just a sec!” Ken opened the door. His hair was rumpled and his clothing thrown carelessly on himself. “What’s the matter?”

“I need to talk to you, Ken-kun. It’s about... Yoji.” He blushed.

Ken noticed that the boy’s face was red with fever and lined with stress. “Come in, Omi-chan. You’re always welcome here.” He led the boy into the apartment and closed the door behind him. “But don’t be freaked out by what you’re about to see.”

Curious, Omi let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He was able to make out a slender silhouette against the window. Aya stood with a sheet wrapped around his waist. “Oh, um, hi Aya. I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was interrupting anything.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Ken chuckled slyly and sat Omi down on the couch. He sat beside him and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “So what’s up with Yoji?”

“Well, I...” He let his voice trail off as he searched for the right words.

“You love him?” Aya blurted, sitting in a chair across from them. His amethyst eyes glowed in the darkness as if they produced a light of their own.

“Yeah. I love him.” He hung his aching head in his hands. “But he doesn’t like me. He likes girls, remember?”

Ken rubbed Omi’s back affectionately. “Did you ask him?”

“Did I ask him? I don’t have to ask him to know that he likes girls.” Omi replied angrily.

Aya smiled and grunted disbelievingly. “Did he say that he loved you back?”

“Well, yes but...”

“He never tells any of the women he dates that he loves them. Never.” The red head grabbed a glass of water that lay on an end table and drank it thirstily. He was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. “He only says what he means.”

Omi stuttered when next he spoke. “But when I asked him if I was only a replacement, like the rest of them, he wouldn’t answer. He just stared. He said that he wanted me. I don’t want lust. I want love.”

“Omi, want and love go together.” Ken looked at his lover and winked.

Aya shifted uncomfortably in the chair. “That’s right. Need, want, love... It all goes together like pieces to a puzzle.”

“I’m afraid.” Omi admitted. “What if he doesn’t love me?”

“It’s impossible for someone not to love you!” Ken laughed and hugged him. “You’re so bright and fun.”

“Thanks, you guys, but I think I should go now. You two can... um... continue whatever you were doing before I came.” Omi stood to leave.

“Go to him, Omi. Tell him, and this time listen to what he has to say.” Aya patted him on the back as he left.

“Think he’ll do it?” Ken asked as he wrapped his arms around the pale man’s neck and stood on his tip-toes to kiss him.

“Not yet. But he’ll come around to it.” He slid his tongue seductively across the boy’s mouth and picked him up. “You’re going to bed with me right now. We must pick up where we left off. Right?”

Ken growled as he was thrown roughly onto the bed.

~*~

“Omi, you’re bleeding.”

Omi looked down at his finger, which he had pricked on a rose thorn. Funny. He hadn’t noticed the pain. “Oh.” He placed it in his mouth and sucked on it gently.

Ken eyed the boy worriedly. “Did you tell him?” he whispered.

He shook his head. After he had left Ken’s apartment last night, he couldn’t bring himself to face Yoji again. It was just impossible. “I don’t know what to say. And I haven’t seen him yet today. He hasn’t come in for work.”

Ken wrapped a pink ribbon around a bunch of aromatic lavendars. “Well, shouldn’t you go check on him? That’s what you usually do when he doesn’t show up for work.”

“I don’t know...”

“Come on! Aya and I can take care of the shop while you’re gone. It’s Monday; things are slow.” He gave the boy a reassuring smile. “We’ll be fine.”

“........Okay.” He got up from the table on slightly shaking legs. From the fever or from the nervousness, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he didn’t want to face Yoji right then. *I’ve already told him my feelings. Why can’t he come to me if he really loves me?*

When he reached Yoji’s door, his hand poised to knock. He suddenly stilled as he heard Yoji’s muffled voice from inside.

“No, babe! He doesn’t mean anything to me. He was just sick, and I was the only one around that could take care of him. I’ll meet you tonight, okay?”

Omi’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened. He couldn’t stop the tears that dropped down his face. “You fucking bastard!” he yelled, the rage and frustration taking control. “How could we share so much? How could you!?”

Yoji flung the door open when he heard the voice screaming in defiance. He was surprised to spot a crying, angry, trembling Omi in the hallway. “Omi-chan...”

“Don’t you EVER call me that again!” he cried. He backhanded the man across the face. “You... you are a heartbreaker, Kuduo Yoji! A player!”

Yoji placed a hand on the spot that the boy had just slapped. It hurt, but not as much as his soul did at that moment. He had never felt such pain. He noticed that Omi looked as if he were about to faint. He reached out to soothe him.

“Don’t touch me,” he growled, backing away. “You told me that I was more important than any of your women. You are such a liar.” His angry yells had turned into an icy cold monotone. “Why do I love you? Why can’t I just hate you and leave you alone?”

“Omi...” he whispered, trying once again to reach out to him.

“No!” He stumbled back and hit the wall. “Don’t hurt me.”

“I would never...” He realized then that the youngster meant not to hurt his heart, not his physical body. The boy was so afraid. He had the right to be. “I never meant to hurt or mislead you. I never thought that you could truly love me. It’s only a crush, Omi. It will pass. If I took you today, then tomorrow you would hate me. Can’t you see that?”

“I’ve never been in love before Yoji, so I can’t just ignore the fact that maybe this is a crush. But I can tell you one thing. I have had these feelings for you since the moment I laid eyes on you. I’ve always needed you. If I don’t love you, then why do I feel like I’m going to die with the pain of your rejection?” He wiped at his soaked cheeks with his sleeve.

“You’re still so young. You’re just confused. Someone like you could never be with something like me.” He no longer tried to touch him. He only stood staring blankly at the wall.

“Who are you to judge my heart?”

Yoji’s gaze snapped into focus. “I love you, Omi.”

The shock of those four words nearly sent the boy stumbling down the stairs. He looked up that the man through a storm of tears. “How could you say that after what you just told that woman on the phone?”

“I love you. I love you so much that I’m willing to sacrifice my own happiness to keep you safe. Stay away from me. It will save you a lot of pain.” He turned his back on the boy. “Just leave me alone.”

“Yoji, please don’t leave me again! Please!” Sobs racked his tiny body in uncontrollable spasms. “Don’t kill me!” he screamed.

Yoji cried. With Omi unable to see his face, he could let them flow free. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the door frame. “I’m not killing you. I’m saving you.”

Omi whimpered as the door closed in his face. He fell to the floor, unable to bear the pain and stand. He laid there on floor, tears streaming from his face and soaking the carpet. “If you love me, then why are you killing me?”

“Omi?” It was Ken’s voice. He topped the stairs and knelt beside his comrade. “Omi, are you okay?”

“No.” He bit back a cry of frustration. “He doesn’t want me!”

“That asshole.” Ken took Omi in his arms and lifted him from the floor. “I’ll take care of you. Just relax, okay?” He stroked his best friend’s hair affectionately as he half-carried him to his apartment. “You can stay here with me. Aya will close the shop down for today, okay?”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine. Really.” He muffled his cries in a pillow as he was laid in Ken’s bed. Why can’t I stop crying?

“Shhh. It’s okay,” Ken soothed, stroking his back. The dark-haired young man turned as Aya entered the room.

“What happened?” he asked. He sat down beside his lover on the edge of the bed.

“He refused me!” the boy cried, ashamed of his tears. *Stop crying, damn it!*

The red head examined his youngest comrade. “Why?”

He chocked back his sobs. “Does it matter? He doesn’t love me.”

“It matters a lot.” Aya did a very unexpectedly tender thing and lifted the boy from the bed, holding him. He rocked him back and forth, hushing him with small noises. “Yoji is a very complex person. He probably thinks that he’s doing the right thing. Yoji may be an expert on sex, but he knows very little about love.”

Omi stopped crying long enough to lean back and look up into the man’s burning purple gaze. “But he said that I don’t love him. He said that it’s just a crush that’ll pass. I’m not a school girl!”

“Calm down, Omi.” Ken petted his back as Aya held him.

“Thanks you two. You don’t know how much I need comfort right now.” He sighed, exhausted from crying. “Why does Yoji refuse me? What’s wrong with me?”

Ken drew in a breath of exasperation. “There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s something wrong with Yoji.”

“That couldn’t be true. He’s so wonderful.” He began to cry again. “He said that he refused me for my own good, that he was saving me a lot of pain. But it’s killing me, Ken! It hurts.”

“I know, I know. Aya and I had our own problems before we became... lovers.” He blushed and met his pale lover’s gaze. “He had to overcome his darkness. I had to overcome my fear.”

“You two had problems?” he asked, surprised.

“Of course! You think Aya is an easy man to seduce? It took me months of careful planning to get him in the bed with me. It wasn’t a wasted effort by any means.” His voice held a crafty undertone.

Omi looked at the two of them confusedly. “Ken seduced you?” he asked.

Aya smirked. “Yes. It was altogether a very interesting experience. I would never have guessed him capable of such a thing, but he proved to be very capable indeed.”

“You talk too much!” Ken cried, face turning a deep scarlet shade.

“What was that, Ken? Last night you said I wasn’t being loud enough,” he teased.

Omi couldn’t help laughing. He giggled and flopped down on the bed, lying on his back. He could see the love shining from Aya and Ken’s eyes as they gazed at each other. They were so lucky. “What do you think that Yoji and I have to overcome in order to be together?” he asked suddenly.

“Well, that’s easy,” said Ken. “You need to get over your frailty. Stop being so offensive. Go after him! Yoji likes that.”

Aya agreed. “Yoji needs to get over his self-worthlessness. He doesn’t think he deserves you Omi. Did you know that? He’s afraid of your love.”

“Why? He’s so beautiful, kind, and understanding. He took care of me when I needed him the most. He was there when I needed him.” Omi smiled distantly to himself. “He’s so wonderful.”

“Then tell him so,” Aya said. “Tell him these things. Let him know that as long as there’s love, there’s no pain involved that can’t be soothed.”

“Ken, Aya! Thank you so much for understanding. I could never even hope to have better friends.” He hugged them each in turn.

Ken laughed and returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm. “You can stay here and get some rest if you want. Aya and I have to go down and close the shop before someone tries to steal our flowers. Some people are unbelievable.”

“Okay.” He watched them leave, hand in hand. “Yoji, will we ever be able to hold hands like that?” He snuggled into the mattress, and suddenly sat bolt upright. “Oh great...”

The bed smelled like sex. He suppressed a gag and slid out of the bed immediately. He would take a shower and nap in his own room.