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All the crying had exhausted
the pudding head to the point he
had eventually fallen asleep in
the older's arms and Kuroo
couldn't blame him.

He couldn't even imagine how
stressed and scared Kenma must
have been before telling him so
the last thing the ravenette would
do now was leaving while
the blonde slept.

There was no way he'd let the
younger boy wake up alone in
his bed after that talk.

So he only carefully readjusted
his sleeping boyfriend in his arms
so he could lay down with him and
pressed a soft kiss on Kenma's head
when he immediately snuggled
close and rested his head on
the older's chest.

“You're so pretty when you sleep.”

Kuroo smiled softly as he ran his
fingers through the younger's blonde
hair, carefully stroking a strand
away from his cheek and tucking
it behind his ear.

But Kenma was way too far into
dreamland and only sighed softly
in his sleep before he pressed himself
closer to his boyfriend's tall body.

He had always been quite clingy
in his sleep without intending to,
but Tetsuro really enjoyed that.

Since Kenma wasn't normally
too affectionate, having a sleepy,
cuddly kitten in his arms at the end
of the day was always something
special for the ravenette.

A soft knock on the door made
Kuroo look up but when his
boyfriend stirred slightly in
his hold, he immediately returned
his gaze to Kenma to pull him back
to sleep by pressing another

kiss on his forehead.

“Hey there.”

Mrs Kozume peeked inside,
a soft smile appearing on her
face at the sight of her son
sleeping so peacefully in
his boyfriend's arms.

It seemed like everything had
gone well considering that there
wasn't a clear definition of ‘well’
in such a situation.

“There's dinner waiting for you
two downstairs. But Kenma..”

“He hasn't been well at all
the past days, hasn't he?”

Tetsuro asked quietly as he looked
down at his boyfriend's sleeping face.

The small boy looked so peaceful
at the moment, as if he had found
some inner peace for the first
time in weeks.

“Yeah. First he was so sick
and then the news..
He was so scared how you'd react too.
You should have seen..
How he was when he told me.
It broke my heart to see him like this.”

Alone talking about it,
remembering how her son had
broken down in front of her,
brought tears into her eyes again.

And Kuroo could feel his heart
sting at Mrs Kozume's words.

“Please let him sleep a bit more,
he hasn't slept well at all lately.
But he needs to eat something
later too. Could you.. Stay the
night and take care of him?
I know it's sudden and you
really don't have to but..

Having you here with him
means a lot to him.”

It was easy to tell how much
this whole situation was affecting
the woman too.

There were dark bags under her
eyes and she looked so worn out
as she spoke quietly, her voice
laced with exhaustion.

“Of course. I'll text my parents
to let them know I'll stay over

for the night. I'm pretty sure
they won't mind. And I.. I don't
think I could leave him alone
right now. He looks so..
..so fragile.” 

“Hm..”

Kenma hummed softly as he
shifted in his boyfriend's hold and
rubbed his cheek on the older's
chest while Kuroo watched him

with a small smile.

“What time is it..?”

“Close to 10pm.”

“Urgh.. I feel like I got run
over by a bus.”

The pudding head whined,
making his boyfriend chuckle.

“I can imagine.
Your mom made dinner for us,
let's heat it up again and eat, okay?”

“Hm.. Can we stay like
this for a bit longer?”

A pair of big, feline amber eyes
was staring up at the ravenette,
quietly asking him but it wasn't
like Kuroo would have ever said
no to such a request anyway.

“Of course.

Anything you want, kitten.”

But Kenma only hummed as
he readjusted his head so he could
lay it back on the older's chest
and wrapped his arm around
his boyfriend's tummy to
hug him slightly.

“My mom always frowns
when she looks at me.
Ever since she knows..
She's always frowning.”

“She's worried about you.”

“I think she's disappointed.”

The blonde sighed softly and
closed his eyes, hand subconsciously
clenching onto the fabric of
his boyfriend's hoodie.

But when a big, warm hand
grabbed his to squeeze it gently,
he looked back up at Kuroo.

He was smiling.

“She's worried.
You're her everything,
that's why she could never
be disappointed in you.”

It was hard to believe the older's
words when he himself thought that
he was the biggest disappointment.

Kuroo's words, his actions.

It was too calm, too gentle,
too good to be true.

He must be so disappointed too.

“I already told you.
The people who love you will
always worry about you.
I worry about you.
Because I love you.”

“You always say that.”

“Does that make it less true?
Does it mean less just because
I always say it?”

But instead of giving an instant
answer, Kenma only hid his face
in the crook of the older's neck
and nuzzled the soft skin gently.

“Love you too.”

It was quiet and much more
hesitant than usual but it meant
the world to Tetsuro.

Big changes were bound to happen,
there was still so much they haven't
talked about yet and this whole
situation was still so unbelievably
hard to grasp.

But right now they were right there,
cuddled close to one another on
Kenma's bed with the cat plushie
squished between them and the
older's lips pressed on his
boyfriend's head.

Because it was okay.

They'd take one step after another.

Together. 

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