Lovers in Denial (a Chuuya x Akutagawa fanfic)

Chapter 7: Chuuya and Akutagawa's Conversation

After getting some advice from Q, Chuuya had made up his mind. He was going to ask Akutagawa if he wanted to hang out. Maybe then he and Akutagawa could have another honest, open conversation and he'd get some relief from all the endless confusion that was plaguing him. He just needed to find Akutagawa...which turned out to be a lot easier than Chuuya had anticipated, for Akutagawa was sitting at his desk and doing some paperwork. He also looked...conflicted?

What's up with him? Chuuya wondered, walking over.

Akutagawa glanced up and noticed Chuuya. His expression immediately changed, and now he looked flustered. "Uh...hey Chuuya...?" Act cool, Ryunosuke...

"Hey," Chuuya replied, growing more and more confused. Seriously, what was up? Was Akutagawa ok? It wasn't every day that Chuuya saw him looking the way he currently did.

Akutagawa wanted to ask if Chuuya had heard any of his conversation with Q, but decided against it at the last second. He was afraid of the answer. What if Chuuya had heard? What would he say then? What would he think?

"Are you ok?" Chuuya asked, breaking into Akutagawa's anxious thoughts.

"Erm...yeah. Totally," Akutagawa fibbed, trying to look calm.

Chuuya raised his eyebrows.

"What? I'm fine, really!" Akutagawa insisted.

"You don't look it," Chuuya remarked.

"How so?" Akutagawa questioned, feigning ignorance.

"You look like you're trying to appear outwardly calm but inside, you're freaking out," Chuuya responded.

Dang, he read me like a book. "Why oh why do you have to be so good at seeing right through me?" Akutagawa complained.

Chuuya shrugged. "What can I say? It's called being a good friend."

Friend...right, Akutagawa thought. For some reason, that answer had made him feel slightly disappointed, and he had no idea why. It wasn't like he liked Chuuya or anything...was it? Or did he? Great, here came all the confusion again. Why couldn't it just leave him alone for once?

"Ok Akutagawa, I'm seriously starting to get concerned. What's going on with you?" Chuuya asked, giving Akutagawa a worried look.

Akutagawa looked away. "...I'd say it's nothing, but you probably wouldn't believe me."

"Nope, I wouldn't," Chuuya agreed.

Akutagawa didn't answer.

The quieter Akutagawa got, the more scared Chuuya got. Chuuya put his hand on Akutagawa's cheek and turned his head so he had to face Chuuya.

Akutagawa felt his heartbeat quicken at the action, and he averted his gaze. Calm down, he didn't mean anything by that. He's just being a concerned friend and probably doesn't see you as anything more...but at the same time, I kinda want Chuuya to keep his hand on me... Akutagawa thought, hoping Chuuya didn't see how flustered he looked.

"Akutagawa, look at me...please," Chuuya begged, the worry becoming more evident in his voice.

Akutagawa forced himself to meet Chuuya's eyes, and that's when he saw how scared Chuuya looked. He had never seen Chuuya look this way, and the last thing he wanted was for his dear...friend...to be worried, so he figured he should at least try to answer Chuuya's questions. Normally, Akutagawa hated people worrying about him, but for Chuuya and Q, he could make an exception. It actually felt kind of nice coming from them, if he was being honest.

Chuuya's eyes never left Akutagawa's. "You're really starting to scare me. You seem like something's bothering you. What is it? And don't try to tell me 'nothing' again, because that's clearly not true."