Love's War (Tendershipping)

Truth

It was now morning. It wasn't a very happy morning, though - I could practically feel the cold as the frost outside grew, despite my window being closed.

I opened my eyes and let out a small yawn. I was a bit drowsy, but I managed to wake myself up without any tea.

I then started to wonder why I wasn't shivering by now and hiding under my covers. That's what I usually did on cold mornings, especially cold Sunday's.

It took me a while to figure out what was going on. I moved my head to the side of me and was met with a peaceful face.

I almost jumped, until I realised it was Bakura.

I was confused, to say the least. Why was he in bed with me? I liked his warmth because it shielded me from the cold, but I wanted to know why he was there. Maybe it got really cold at night and since his room is practically freezing no matter the weather, he decided to come into mine. But he would have woken me first...I'm sure of it. But his arms were firmly wrapped around me, did he try to wake me up but I was so deeply asleep that he couldn't?

 Sighing, I shifted my body a little to face him, being careful so he didn't wake up. I was starting to feel a little more aware of the cold around me, and I wanted to be with at least something warm. Is that so bad?

Once I was facing Bakura, I didn't realise that a small smile escaped my lips. He looked so peaceful and content lying there with me - I couldn't help it.

But then I began to blush. I was only now processing how close our bodies were...how close our lips were.

Without thinking, I gently raised my arm up and traced his lips with my middle finger. They were softer than I thought. 

I then saw his face twitch and I began to panic. I didn't want to be caught feeling his lips; that would be embarrassing. 

So I lay my arm beside my head and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. I could hear a small yawn as Bakura woke up. My heart was racing and my blush almost uncontrollable. What if I was caught?

I suddenly felt something warm on my own lips. They were soft and gentle, and I got a feeling that the intention was to be sweet and sneaky at the same time. I wanted to open my eyes and see if something had happened, but Bakura pulled my head close to his chest and began stroking my hair. 

Now I was even more confused than before. I opened my eyes slowly, as if I had just woken up. I felt too embarrassed to try and speak, but I knew that I would only be more confused if I didn't. 

I finally brought up the courage to talk to him, and my voice was a little shaky. 

"...Bakura...?" I murmured.

"Hm?" He replied, sounding casual.

"...Is something wrong?" I looked up at him.

Bakura's eyes seemed more tired than I felt, and they were more relaxed and focused than what I wanted to be. 

"No," He responded, still soudning normal, "I just got cold, is all."

Ah, so my assumption was right.

"Oh, I see. Why didn't you turn the heating on?" 

He stared at me for a moment, as if trying to come up with an answer. "I was going to ask if you wanted the heating on...but you were asleep and looked cold..."

"...So you decided to join me?"

Bakura simply replied with a nod and then proceeded to hold me closer. I was about to ask with all the hugging, but then decided against it. I actually preferred his warmth to that of the heating installed in the house; although I didn't actually understand why. I hoped I would soon, I don't think I could stand much more confusion.

"Ryou..." Bakura muttered after a long moments silence.

"Yeah...?"

"Are you comfortable with this?"

I smiled a little, "Yes...I'm fine with it. I like it."

I think I could feel Bakura smile, but I didn't say anything as he didn't either. He was being so kind.

That was just it, though. Bakura seemed to be really nice since he told me how he felt about everything a couple of days ago. I remembered the snow glistening down the street as I held him close. I was sure he whispered something to me that night, although...I wasn't really sure I actually heard something, so I pretended that I didn't. 

Now I was pretty sure that I wanted to figure out what he said. From what was happening to me right now, to what had been happening a couple of days ago, I felt like I already knew what he whispered to me. I just wanted to make sure, but not now. I didn't want to be exposed the cold if he moved.

I unconsciously shuffled closer to Bakura and was about to hug him to be closer to warmth, when the door bell rang. I mentally cursed, but I knew I had to get up and answer it. 

"Don't, I'll get it."

I stared at Bakura for a minute. He said that he didn't like answering the door when we first began living together - and he hasn't answered it since. He just grew even more confusing by the minute.

I was kind of sad that my warmth had been taken away like that, but I wasn't too said; I still had the covers to keep the cold at bay. But there was still a large, warm space where Bakura had been. I moved my hand around that space, just to test how warm it actually was. It was really warm...

Before I knew it, I had already moved into that space and began to relax. Now that I had a chance to think for a bit, it seemed that Bakura was always really warm, no matter the weather. Maybe that's why his bedroom was always so cold - he was always warm.

Wait a minute, I thought, if he's always really warm...how did he become cold last night? You don't just grow cold because of one winter night...Strange...

I could hear some slight yelling from where the door was. It must have been Marik and Malik, as usual. Poor Bakura...answering the door to them. Suddenly, there was silence. I didn't really panic, but I did feel kind of weird. Maybe Marik and Malik had done something to piss Bakura off and had finally gone away.

I heard the footsteps of someone - more than likely Bakura - approaching the bedroom. I couldn't be bothered sitting up, so I just stayed where I was. It was comfier that way.

I was right by saying it was Bakura. He walked into the room and sat down on the bed, letting out a heavy sigh. 

Guessing it was my cue to get up, I slowly sat up and yawned. Bakura didn't seem sad, to say the least. He was more troubled than anything else.

"Bakura?" I looked at him.

"Ryou, I have to tell you something. I lied."

"About what?" I tilted my head to the side.

"About...everything. Marik doesn't annoy me, I'm not that depressed, although I do hate being the joke of the group-"

"Wait, Bakura, what...?"

He looked over at me and then shuffled along the bed, getting closer to me. For some odd reason, my heart started to beat faster.

"I lied about everything these past few days." As he spoke, his rusty eyes still seemed uncertain. 

"Why...?" I was sort of hurt. What kind of joke was he pulling now? 

"Because, I wanted to ... get closer to you."

"To...me?"

"Yes." 

"Why...?"

His face slowly edged closer to mine as he slowly traced my cheek with his finger. A blush slowly grew on my cheeks and my heart fluttered and flapped violently.

"Because...Ryou," Bakura planted a perfect smirk on his lips, "I love you."

He sealed the gap between us after he spoke.