Free-Falling

The silence was nearly unbearable. Haru could barely breathe, could barely even think.

"I love you."

Rin had said he loved him. But despite every fiber of his being screaming at him to say something, he had no words. Rin sat in front of him, a violently serious expression on his face. Haru felt like he was gonna pass out.

It was the end of their senior year and Haru had asked Rin to come over after he packed his stuff from the Samezuka dorms. He wanted to talk; see where Rin planned to go, what he planned to do. But when they met up and he asked what Rin wanted, he hadn't been prepared for the answer.

It was no secret that the two were drawn to each other, always had been. Hell, they flew to Australia together on a whim. But now that Haru was sitting face to face with the realization that Rin would probably leave again to follow his dream of being in the Olympics, he had no idea how to feel. He had asked, expecting to be told that Rin would go back to Australia to train. He'd prepared himself for the pain of being abandoned again. So when Rin spoke, it was all Haru could do not to implode.

"I love you." Rin had said it before Haru had even finished asking his painful question. The room went dead silent.

Haru wanted to run away. He wanted to curl into a ball and pretend this never happened. But Rin just kept staring at him, patiently waiting for Haru to say something... anything.

Words had never been either of their strong suits. Especially when it really mattered. Rin knew Haru would do this. He knew and yet, he wasn't ready to give up.

Slowly, he reached out and put a hand on Haru's knee. He took a deep breath and started speaking again.

"Haru... I've been in love with you since I was thirteen years old. I know I have really shitty ways of showing it, but I can't pretend anymore. I'll wait. I'll wait as long as it takes for you to give me an answer. So please. Please just say something." His eyes were glistening with unfallen tears, but they were so damn determined that Haru's breath caught in his throat. There were so many things he wanted to say, needed to say, but he just couldn't make his voice work.

Just when Rin was starting to worry that he'd really messed things up, Haru lurched forward and wrapped him in a ferocious hug. It was the only way he could think of to give Rin an answer. But it did the trick. After the initial stun of nearly being tackled, Rin mirrored Haru's tight hold, pressing his face to the crook of the raven's neck.

The walls that both of them had been holding onto came crashing down. Rin held him close, so close it was hard to breathe, but Haru didn't want him to let go. It felt like a dream.

It took several minutes of soft touches and desperate hugging for Haru to finally find his voice.

"I love you too."

It was barely a whisper and his voice cracked halfway through the sentence, but it was enough.

Rin pulled Haru into a searing kiss. Five years of pent up frustration, anger, pain... love. All of it poured out into that kiss. It was desperate and salty from long-overdue tears, but it was perfect.

When Haru pulled away to breathe, he cupped Rin's face in both hands. "You're such an idiot." He was smiling. Rin smiled back.

"I know."

And then they were kissing again. Haru tangled his hands in Rin's long maroon hair, holding him close as he tried to convince himself this was real. Neither of them were good with words, but words weren't needed.

Their kisses gradually grew deeper, slower. With the initial surge gone, pent up emotion gave way to new feelings. Rin's fingers found Haru's. Their hands locked. When they parted for air, Haru opened his eyes to find Rin already staring at him, crushingly beautiful smile plastered to his swollen lips. He reached up with his other hand and stroked Haru's bangs out of his face. Haru couldn't help but lean into the touch.