Title: Things change
Chapters: 6/6
Author:
limaccia_san Genre: angst, romance, fluff
Warnings: none
Rating: PG-13
Band: the GazettE
Pairing: Reita/Ruki/Reita
Disclaimer: Dun own them, blah blah blah..
Synopsis:”Ruki knew that beat was meant for him”
Comments: at the bottom
The day passed very quickly, everyone was so busy and they all concentrated on the things they had to do. Both vocalist and bassist had to force their gazes on their music sheets every time the other was passing by.
Ruki couldn’t wait to finish his work and drag Reita somewhere to talk.
He actually felt the bassist’s confusion and he didn’t want anything but make everything clear.
They were almost done, he was watching his band mates, as they began to stretch and yawn, with some soft of excitement, sparing a special glance to the bassist, when he felt his phone vibrate.
He took it out of his pocket. Mao was calling him.
Oh. Right. He had to take care of that too.
With fast movements he sneaked out of the room, making sure that no one noticed and picked up the call:
“Hey” he replied in a hushed tone.
“Hey there, hard worker! Have you done for the day?” was the cheerful reply.
Ruki’d not help a smile: “Almost done, we were just about to finish”
“Perfect timing! Mind hurry up to the parking lot of your so called studio? I’m waiting for you for quite a while now” Mao whined.
Ruki’s eyes widened: “Wait, what are you doing here?”
Mao laughed: “Waiting for my little diva, of course, so I can take him out to dinner.. don’t you think that’s odd to use the words “diva” and “him” in the same sentence, referred to the same person?”
“I gave up trying to understand your lame sense of humour ages ago Mao” replied Ruki, but he was actually laughing “Ok, I’ll be right there, hang on”
He closed the call and with a last glance over his shoulder he run toward the stairs to join the other. Mao was waiting for him leaned against the trunk of a car that, Ruki noticed, was just Reita’s one. With a silly smile, that the thought of the other brought to his face, he approached Mao.
“Oi, you did it! Ready to go?” he asked with a big grin, noddind toward the exit.
Ruki hesitated a moment: “Mao, I.. I’ve to tell you something”
Mao turned toward him with a surprised expression: “Oh? Ok, you can tell me on our way, come on I want to take you to eat the best Hitsumabushi in town”
“Mao” Ruki’s tone was resolute now.
“What?”
“I can’t come with you” he smiled apologetically.
“Huh? Why not?” he tilted his head in confusion.
“I.. I followed your advice and.. and now I know there is still a chance for me and the person I’m in love with” he explained quietly.
Mao looked taken aback, but quickly recomposed himself: “Matsumoto of all the advices I gave you this is the only one I didn’t want you to follow, what the hell, have you done it on purpose?”
“Probably this happened because it was the only good one you ever gave me” grinned smartly Ruki.
Mao groaned.
The vocalist smiled and walked to Reita’s car, slightly stroking the metal with his fingers before turning to look at the other again:
“I won’t say that I’m sorry Mao, cause I’m not. I'm happy actually and I hope you understand” he looked at him in the eyes, knowing that the other’d understand the meaning of his words.
Mao looked right back at him and then sighed: “It’s ok Matsumoto, you’ve been very clear and you didn’t raised my expectations or something, so we’re good, don’t worry” he was smiling.
Ruki smiled back in appreciation. We was going to miss the other somehow.
“Though if you two’d ever broke up try to keep me in mind, ok?” the mischevious glint was back in Mao’s eyes.
“Mao” laughed the other, rolling his eyes.
Mao walked closer to him, put his hands on Ruki’s hips: “He’s lucky” he whispered.
“And you’re cheesy” smirked the other.
“Maybe..” Mao chuckled “..but I kinda envy him” he confessed.
“Oh come on, you can have whoever you want, you’re smart and sexy..” he pouted playfully “..you’ll forget me in no time”
“Don’t say that Taka, I really care about you” he replied seriously.
Ruki put his hand on his shoulders and squeezed them gently: “I know and thank you for everything you did for me”
Mao looked in his eyes and saw how sincere he was: “You’re welcome, I guess” he smiled before asking “Hey, can I have a last kiss?”
Ruki laughed but nodded: “Sure” before wounding his arms around the other’s neck and pulling him closer, their lips touching sweetly.
“Goodbye Matsumoto” he whispered on his lips.
They shared another hug and Ruki felt a mix of sadness and affection thinking that he’d not see the other anymore.
Mao pulled out of their hug and placed a last, soft kiss on Ruki’s lips before smiling at him and walking away.
Ruki sighed and stared at his back as he walked away but a strange sensation at the nape of his neck made him turn his head toward the studio exit. He smiled brightly seeing Reita standing there, looking lost in thoughts and in a wave of happiness he began to jump and calling him to catch his attention.
"Hey Akira!"
The time had finally come!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ruki wasn’t sure why the other looked so hurt, but he took a decision and was resolute to solve everything that night. He finally wanted to be complete and happy again:
“I won’t let you go again Akira”
Reita couldn’t deal with Ruki, neither with his eyes, his warm voice, his comforting touch, he just wanted to be alone, to pretend there still was a chance.
He squeezed his eyes tightly to block the other’s presence and with quick moves he hopped down the car, almost running toward the parking lot exit.
He heard Ruki calling him, but he didn’t stop this time. He heard his footsteps quickly approaching but he kept walking, his head low.
When Ruki finally reached him and spun him around, pulling a his wrist he was at the verge of tears.
“Akira, please, talk to me.. what the hell is going on?”
Ruki’s expression was so worried and confused at the same time.. Reita couldn’t help but think, again, how beautiful he looked. He bite his lip, trying to calm himself and rubbed his eyes to get rid of those annoying tears that made Ruki’s face all blurry.
He searched for the right words but he didn’t find any:
“Taka.. I.. I’m sorry, I’m being a kid.. it’s just that.. I miss you.. t-this morning, when you jumped on my back all I’d think was how m-much I missed you.. I’m sorry if I f-fucked up everything between us, I-I’m sorry if I hurt you, i-it took me so long to figure out what I wanted but I g-guess it’s too late now” he chuckled breathlessly.
“Akira, if you’d just listen to me for a second..”
“I love you Taka, more than anything, I love your strong character, I love your voice, I love the way you make me feel.. I-I don’t want to let you go and if there is still a chance for us I’ll do everything I can, b-but right now I- I don’t have any strength left, I..”
It seemed like he didn’t even had enough strength to speak further.
Ruki looked at him with wide eyes for a moment. It wasn’t the situation nor the place he imagined when he thought about the other’s confession, but it still melted his heart and he had to bite back a smile.
He understood that Reita was too agitated to have a proper conversation so he took his hand and turned, pulling him along.
“W-where are we going?” he asked hesitantly.
“I’m taking you home, you can’t drive like this” said Ruki without turning to look at him.
The bassist wanted to protest but he actually didn’t trust himself to arrive to his place safe and sound at the moment, so he just let the other do as he decided. They reached Reita’s car again and got inside, Ruki at the driver’s seat. They didn’t exchange a word during the ride, both lost in their thoughts.
When Reita’s apartment complex came into view he began to feel nervous again. He hoped Ruki’d finally leave him alone now. But the moment the other parked the car and unbuckled his safety belt he knew he’d not be that lucky. He hurried to follow the vocalist outside the car:
“R-Ruki it’s ok now, I can manage to go inside on my own”
“I know” the other replied simply with a gentle tone, opening the main entrance with his key.
Reita’d not do anything but follow him until they get in his own apartment, awkwardness eating him. He knew there was no point in arguing with Ruki, so he just let him do what he wanted, he’d just go straight to his room and ignore him as best as he’d.
He was actually surprised when he succeeded in his plan. Ruki didn’t follow him.
He closed his bedroom door and lied on the bed, curling on his side and finally letting the tears fall silently.
His peace didn’t last long though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ruki kept his gaze on the other’s back as he walked away, toward his bedroom.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He didn’t expect it to be so exhausting, but at least it’d be over soon. He let a small smile stretch his lips and decided to give the bassist few more minutes to let it out on his own: if he didn’t calm down a bit it’d be useless to try to talk to him.
It was a strange sensation, to have his love there, close at hand, but he still couldn’t touch him
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reita wasn’t feeling any better when he heard a soft knock on his door. He didn’t reply but Ruki entered anyway, without a word. Reita’d not see him, cause he was facing the opposite direction but he’d feel Ruki’s slow steps approaching. He squeezed his eyes, still not ready to face the other.
He felt the mattress move under the other’s weight, but he still refused to open his eyes, let alone turn around. He heard Ruki’s sigh and he felt him shifting closer. He’d felt the warmth radiating from the little body lying behind him and he had to gulp a whimper down, forcing back the need to turn and hug the other tightly.
But he stayed still, no saying a word. Ruki knew he wasn’t asleep so he began to spoke:
“Akira.. I don’t know why you’re so upset tonight, I just want to talk to you..” since the other remained silent he went on “I’m love with you Aki” he chuckled “More than ever actually, I.. I’ve to be honest, I accidentally eavesdropped the conversation you had with Yutaka yesterday. I went to the studio hoping to catch you, even if it was late and I heard what you said to him. You can’t even imagine how I felt in that moment..”
Reita’d almost heard the other’s smile in his words and his heart race when and he felt Ruki’s hand in the middle of his shoulder blades, his touch so.. right. He wasn’t angry at the other for having listened by accident something that was meant for him anyway.. he just felt so confused at the moment. What was Ruki doing kissing Mao just minutes ago?
“I was so happy I felt like I was about to explode any moment” he chuckled again “but now that I knew that there was still a chance for us I wanted to do things properly, invite you out to dinner maybe and talk about us, I’ve waited to heard those words from you since forever and.. I’d finally have what I’ve always longed for.. I-I”
“Why were you kissing Mao?”
Ruki blinked: “Y-you saw? Aki is it because of this that you look so hurt?”
“Answer the question” Reita commanded with sharp voice.
“You know.. he came to the studio to make me a surprise, he wanted to take me out, but I.. hum I kinda rejected him. I explained that I wasn’t interested, since I’m so very in love with a certain bassist” he playfully pulled a lock of Reita’s blonde hair. After a brief pause he said softly: “I was kissing him goodbye Aki”
It was Reita’s turn to blink now: “S-so you’re not with him?”
“What? No, of course not! I told him I’m already taken..” he chuckled nervously before adding “..and hopefully I didn’t lie to him”
Reita finally turned to face his vocalist, few tears still clinging to his eyelashes, but other than that his face held a mix of surprise and happiness
Ruki had to bit his lips hard not to aww out loud at the view, but he’d not hold back a giggle: “Hey, good to see you again” he breathed, cupping Reita’s wet cheek.
The bassist lowered his gaze, suddenly embarrassed, realizing that he made a drama out of nothing. He groaned and launched forward, burying his face his Ruki’s chest:
“I’m such a retard”
Ruki laughed and slipped his fingers in the blond hair, hugging the other close. He placed a fond kiss on his head:
“We both have been kinda retard lately”
Reita snorted and eventually pull his face out of his hiding place to look up at Ruki:
“More like totally blind” he smiled at him “but I don't care, if you're willing to forget too. The important thing is that we’re here now, fixing this” seeing Ruki’s nods he continued “and I think I’ve something to tell you, right?”
Ruki smiled: “I’d love to hear it”
Reita cupped his face, stroking his thumbs over the reddening skin of Ruki’s cheekbones. The tension was so high in the room, they’d almost touch it. They stared for long moments in each other’s eyes before Reita closed the distance between them and placed a soft, chaste kiss on Ruki’s lips. Their eyes instantly felt shut and Reita didn’t even had to think before speaking those words that came from the bottom of his heart:
“Takanori, I’m madly, deeply, hopelessly in love with you”
He breathed them right on his lips with such sweetness and intensity that Ruki moaned. It was so right. This moment was absolutely worth every single second of pain.
He’d not bear being even few inches away from his love’s body so he let himself fall in his arms.. in so many different ways.. burying his face in that warmth and squeezing them as close as he could. He felt his heart thump loudly against his chest and indulged in his need to say those words back:
“I love you Akira” he whimpered in the other’s collarbone.
Reita just smiled and hugged his chibi close to his chest, sharing warmth and his loud heartbeat with the person who would enjoy it the most.
And Ruki knew that beat was meant for him.
Notes ♪ :
The end people! I wanted to make it much longer but when I got to this point I didn't feel like adding anything else. I'll think about an epilogue though. What do you think?
Thank you so much to my dear readers, who encouraged me and commented in each chap, love you <3