Hiro looked around him, annoyed that he had to come this far just to track Tamaki down. ‘This idiot.’ He thought as he got out of his car, slammed the door, and pulled the cuffs of his sweater down over his hands.
He was freezing today.
Even more so than normal.
And when he woke up this morning, all he could think about was how he wished to hold Tamaki’s hand and feel some of that warmth again. Only Tamaki hadn’t come home last night.
He had seen him walk the other way, but he had just assumed that he needed to blow off steam.
It didn’t make any sense why Tamaki would be so frustrated, anyway. He had only been being kind. Sure, he had been out of line asking him if he was gay. That really wasn’t any of his business. But why did he have to lose his head over asking about his job? If he didn’t have any steady income source, it’s good to be offered it, right? And for something so easy to do too. He only had to provide a little warmth here or there. Not even that difficult! So why would he choose to hurt himself instead?
Hiro looked up at the hotel with a slight sniffle of contempt.
‘And why would he come back to such a dodgy place instead of mine? Like nothing Tamaki does makes any sense at all.’
Hiro went inside, the door made a small chiming noise as he did and a girl barely glanced up looking bored. Until she caught him in her view, then she sat up and looked at him directly. He smiled and waved used to the attention.
“Sir,” she said, smiling.
He smiled back at her pleasantly. “Would you like our finest room?”
He shook his head. “No, I am here for someone who is already here. Can I leave a message for them?” He asked.
She looked a little bummed out, but then she held out a little pad of paper. He grabbed it and quickly scrawled out a note begging Tamaki to come back, and just give him a chance to apologize.
“Here, can you give this to Tamaki? please.”
“Tamaki!” She responded, “Oh he is in the laundry room right now.” she said with a smile.
He smiled back at her, very gratefully. She pointed to the left, where there was a little sign.
Hiro’s shoes echoed down the hall as he walked to the room, his long coat swishing behind him lightly. His mind still lingering on their heated argument from the previous night. He couldn’t shake off the feeling of regret and the gnawing worry that he had pushed Tamaki away too far. As he approached the door to the laundry, Hiro took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do.
Hiro pushed open the door
Inside, Tamaki was surprised to hear the door, no one had come in here at this time normally. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of who it could be behind him.
He turned around slowly to leave, only to have a hand catch him by the arm. Tamaki looked up from under his dark brown bangs. Hiro was standing there, looking somber yet determined. Tamaki’s heart skipped a beat, surprised that Hiro had come all this way.
“What are you doing here?” He blurted out without thinking.
“I… I’m sorry,” Hiro began, his voice tinged with remorse. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did last night.”
Tamaki’s heart quickened in his chest. ‘He is sorry? But he didn’t even do anything wrong. We just were not made for the same life.’
“Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.” Tamaki said, slowly.
“Of course I did. Tamaki, I disrespected your boundaries. Even though I don’t understand, I should have respected you when you said no.”
“Oh,” Tamaki said, not sure how to process that. His heart fluttered in his chest. ‘He wants us to continue, he isn’t mad at me for losing his temper at him. He is more than just beautiful on the outside, he is kind too.’
“Can you come back with me today? Can we keep our agreement? I promise I will respect you wanting to work other places if you want to.”
“I was… I was scared, Tamaki. Scared that I had ruined something really important to me before it even had a chance to begin. I have waited so long for some progress, any progress with the cold that always consumes me.”
Tamaki listened quietly, his gaze fixed on Hiro’s earnest expression. His stomach twisted at that, a snake of lingering hurt in the pit of his stomach. ‘Oh, it is about what you can do for him… Of course, it is, isn’t that why you went in the first place because he needed you? He needs you when no one else in this entire world does. For once you are not worthlessly floundering in a world trying to actively drown you and your useless dreams.’
“I shouldn’t have assumed things or lashed out like that,” Hiro continued, his voice softening with sincerity. “You… you gave me hope, Tamaki. Hope that maybe things could be different, that maybe I could find some warmth in this cold world.”
Tamaki’s eyes softened at Hiro’s confession, his heart warming.
“I don’t want to lose that hope, Tamaki,” Hiro pleaded, taking a step closer. “I don’t want to lose this chance. Please… please come back with me.”
Tamaki’s resolve wavered like a fragile flame threatened by a gust of wind as he found himself ensnared by the depths of Hiro’s gaze, the raw honesty and genuine remorse reflected in them.
‘He needs you… no one has ever needed you.’ He reminded himself.
For a fleeting moment, Tamaki felt the walls he had meticulously built around his heart over the past seven years begin to crumble, their sturdy facade no match for the sheer force of Hiro’s sincerity. It was a sensation both terrifying and exhilarating.
“Okay,” Tamaki finally whispered, his voice barely above a breath. “Okay, I’ll come back with you.”
A sense of relief washed over Hiro as Tamaki agreed, a weight lifting off his shoulders at the prospect of a second chance.
“Tamaki, who you like or love is none of my business, and if they are of the same gender, there is nothing wrong with that,” Hiro said, hoping that could alleviate some stress for Tamaki.
Without hesitation, he reached out and gently took Tamaki’s hand, offering a reassuring squeeze, he didn’t let go once he was was done squeezing instead his hand lingered in Tamaki’s comfortably.
“Thanks,” Tamaki said, genuinely surprised and touched.
“No, Thank you, Tamaki.” Hiro murmured, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Thanks for giving me another chance, and understanding what this means to me.”
Tamaki nodded. “I want to help, I want to make a difference.”
But he kept the other part secretly locked inside him. ‘I need to make a difference to make up for what I did.’
“Tamaki,”
“Hmm?” Tamaki responded.
“Let’s go to our… the house.”
Tamaki’s eyelashes fluttered in surprise and his heart fluttered. ‘our, to the house.’
Hiro pulled Tamaki along, and Tamaki stared at their still intertwined hands. He made no move to pull away, but Hiro made no move to let go either.
The tension between them slowly dissipated, and Tamaki couldn’t help but feel a sense of optimism stirring within him. Maybe their worlds didn’t have to be so far apart after all. Maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to bridge the gap.
‘No, remember you serve a purpose. He needs you. You are not the same. You need his house, his food, you do not need him, he doesn’t belong to the same place as you do. He needs you, because of what you bring to him. You are a tool Tamaki, nothing more.’ Tamaki reminded himself, but that little flicker of hope inside a person could be so stubborn sometimes, and he found that the little dancing speck inside him was something much harder to snuff out than he intended. His stomach and heart still betrayed him, and in the back of his mind, their intertwined fingers felt warm and comforting.
A feeling he knew he had no right to claim.
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