"Riku, please, you have to be okay."

Iori clasped his hands tightly as he waited in front of the hospital room. He prayed for a miracle. He pleaded with fate to give his partner more time in this world. Riku's breathing stopped when the ambulance took him away, but Iori still held on to hope that the doctors would save him.

Tenn sat far away from Iori in a dim hallway, feeling detached from reality. This can't be happening. Why was Riku's attack suddenly so severe?

"Tenn..." Gaku moved to sit beside Tenn and touched the business owner's shoulder. Gaku had not heard the details about what happened during their conversations. He felt sympathetic for Tenn. Stress at work was already swallowing the boy and now, he had to face this painful moment.

"Why...? I don't understand. I was doing all I could to look after him so that he would get better. So why..?" Tenn spoke to Gaku, looking down at the ground. "I've really been wrong all this time. I did what I thought would protect him, but it turns out that I shut him out. You have been telling me. Izumi has been telling me. I am such an idiot." Tenn would not stop blaming himself.

Iori heard what Tenn said and walked over to the boy with the soft pink hair. "Riku always, always says how much he admires you." Iori spoke with a shaky voice. "Somehow, you are so admirable that he feels like he cannot reach you." Iori's whole body shook. It took everything in him to keep standing and not feel like the ground would crack and consume him. He started sobbing. His mind was filled with so much sadness and frustration. He had to fight hard to not give in to despair. "Why didn't you try to listen to what he said, what he was trying to tell you, Tenn-san!?!" Finally, the boy shouted and broke into tears. Falling to his knees, he grabbed hold of Tenn's trousers.

"Riku is dying! He hasn't even got 10 months and he has been trying so hard to tell you that!" Iori pounded Tenn's leg. Gaku hugged Iori and helped him stand up. He held onto Iori's weak body as the boy let himself flop onto a chair. Gaku was trying to calm him down. Tenn gasped, his body trembling in total shock.

"R-Riku is..." His heart, instead of feeling the intensity of sadness, regrets were burning it. "And I said all those things. I said I would do this and that with him when he got better. I said those and he... just smiled." Tenn could never cry. All these years, he went through everything without crying. Right now, he wished he knew how to cry because he could only scream. That was hardly enough to let his emotions out. "WHY, Riku? Gaku? Izumi? WHY WERE YOU ALL HIDING THIS FROM ME!?!"

Still sobbing, Iori forced out his words. "Tenn-san, it was just too hard to say..."

~~

The hospital clock was ticking too loudly because the whole hallway was so quiet. No one moved. No one spoke. No one cried.

"Izumi," Tenn spoke in his hoarse voice. It was so quiet that it almost went unheard. Iori looked at Tenn without knowing what to expect.

"You know that Riku is running out of time, but you still proposed to him?" Tenn asked knowing that if it was him, he would not be able to do that. He thought he was strong when actually he was running away from reality, unlike Iori. Iori nodded. Tenn could see determination through Iori's eyes even though they were all going through a tough moment. "You truly are a brave man, Izumi." Tenn said honestly, finally coming to acknowledge the young boy.

"I just want to make Riku happy. He also made me really happy. If I hadn't met him, I would never have learned to break out of my shell. My life would always be so mundane and meaningless." Iori took a deep breath. "I said to myself that I am prepared, but I am not so sure anymore. I am afraid, terrified even." Iori thought Gaku and Tenn were going to tell him he was half-hearted when Tenn moved closer to him and grabbed his hand.

"Thank you for being there for Riku," said Tenn.

"It's normal to feel that way. It doesn't change the fact that you are courageous, Izumi." Gaku smiled a little and patted Iori's head lightly.

~~

Maybe fate saw some light in this family's life. Riku was saved. It took two weeks for him to recover from a critical condition and be allowed to leave the hospital. Iori was packing his and Riku's belongings that they had in Gaku's house. Tenn bought the couple a lovely little house in the city for them to move into. It was around a 5-minute drive from Gaku's and right next to Tenn's.

"I will miss having a lovey-dovey couple in my place. Enjoy your time together. Hopefully you will invite me over sometimes, hm?" Gaku spoke after he finished helping to load the stuff into Iori's car. He gave the usual modelling-style charming smile to the couple.

"Of... *cough* Of course, Yaotome-san! You can come anytime, okay?" Riku beamed as he went to give Gaku his best hug.

"Thank you for everything you have done for us." Iori bowed. After a few minutes, Iori drove off to his and Riku's new home.

Stay strong, Izumi. And you too, Nanase.

~~

The house was in a quiet area of the city with clean air and green space. The size of this wooden house was perfect for the couple. A little larger than Riku's house in Sinra, but small enough for Riku to get around without using too much of his effort.

"UWWWAAAHHH, a king-sized bed!" Riku went into their bedroom with wooden walls and yellow lights. The bedsheet was soft pink with a thick darker pink blanket, looking very lovely. The redhead lay on the soft, comfortable bed. "Now I can sleep with Iori~"

"Fwah!?! W-what are you saying, Riku?!?" Iori's mind may have drifted to a naughty place. Riku tilted his head in confusion. "Do you not want to sleep with me?"

Iori sighed and went to join Riku on their lovely bed. "Of course I do." He pinched Riku's cheek a little.

Iori left Riku to take a nap while he started unpacking their things. The two did not have a lot of stuff so it only took around an hour. Iori thought it was time to start preparing dinner when he heard the doorbell.

Tenn appeared with a bag of what seemed like food in his hand. "Hello, Izumi. How are you two finding this house?" The business owner asked as Iori invited him in.

"It is very lovely, Tenn-san. Riku is already asleep on the bed." Iori showed a little grin. He went to find a kettle in the kitchen to make tea. "How are you feeling now, Tenn-san?" It was obvious that Iori did not ask about Tenn's physical condition. He was concerned since Tenn had found out about Riku's illness not too long ago. Plus, stress at work still remained.

"I've been seeing a counsellor, so I'm doing much better." Tenn put the food he got in the fridge. "I still need to apologise to Riku though. What I did was wrong." Tenn turned to Iori and bowed. "And please accept my apology, Izumi Iori."

"Don't worry about it, Tenn-san. We knew you were troubled. Just try to be careful next time, okay?" Iori smiled. Although he did wonder, if Riku did not survive that severe attack, would he be able to forgive Tenn? Then he thought that Riku would because that silly boy was the most kind-hearted person in the world.

~~

"Tenn-nii, thank you for bringing us dinner!" Riku went closer to his twin brother to cuddle him. Tenn gave back a smile that Riku did not know he missed. Finally, Tenn-nii got back his smile!

Iori knew the two brothers probably wanted to talk, so he gathered dirty dishes and disappeared into the kitchen. The twins moved to the couch and sat quietly for a while. Both of them tried to think of what to say first. They had a lot on their minds. At the same time, all those things were difficult to say.

"Tenn-nii, you know, I, uh, haven't got long..." Riku attempted to start. The twins did not look at each other. Tenn could not stand seeing Riku being sad and Riku could not bear to see Tenn's pained expression.

"Yes, Riku, I know." The business owner thought he had forgotten how to cry. Apparently, he could cry so much more. Not now. Please. "I am really sorry I never listened to you. All this time, I thought I could make the business grow, earn a lot of money, and grant all of your wishes." Tenn sniffled.

"But it could not buy your life." Tenn poured some red wine from the bottle in front of him into his glass and took a sip, hoping it would distract him. "Riku, I'm so sorry. I really am. I won't ask you to forgive me. Just, please, let me make up for what I did."

"I was never angry at Tenn-nii. I just couldn't bear to see you becoming more and more distant." Riku stopped to draw deep breaths in. "Let me carry some of your burdens too. You don't need to shoulder mine alone." The red-haired boy rested his head on his twin's shoulder. His little smile was pure.

Tenn did not hesitate to take the first step. He set down his glass and lightly embraced Riku's body. "It's been stressful at work. A certain company tried to sue us for copying their jewellery designs. I was so caught up in it that I forgot to take care of myself. To think I always used to scold you about being professional..."

The twins continued talking. Soon, Iori joined them with a double-layered chocolate cake with white chocolate rabbits on top. If there was anything Riku loved more than his partner, it would be his partner's sweet desserts. Riku was taking his time savouring the taste of rich chocolate in every bite.

Later, Iori went to see Tenn off at the door, leaving Riku to watch some shows on the couch. Tenn was about to step out when he was reminded of something. "Ah, Izumi." He turned back to face Iori and leaned himself forward near Iori's ear.

"Are you two going to hold a wedding?" Tenn whispered. Iori suddenly looked quite down. Tenn started to feel bad for asking.

Iori spoke quietly. "It might be a burden on Riku's health. I'm not sure if Riku wants it. We still need to talk about it."

~~

Iori slowly and quietly sat on and crawled under the blanket of their new king-sized bed. Riku was already there, sleeping peacefully and Iori would not want to interrupt that. All lights were turned off except for the pink lamp on Iori's bedside table. Riku's breathing was relatively loud and unstable, but Iori got used to it. The younger boy turned off his lamp and rested his head on the pillow, whispering, "Good Night, Riku."

"Iori."

It turned out that Riku was not really sleeping. He opened his eyes and reached his hand out to grab Iori's arm. Iori blushed as he slowly moved closer to Riku. Their faces were so close together that Riku could feel Iori's breath. The two stared at each other for a while.

"We don't have to get married, you know?"

Riku's words spoken in a shaky voice caught Iori's attention. "What are you saying, Riku?" Iori lightly squeezed Riku's arm. "Do you not want to?" Iori patiently waited for an answer. If it was his lover's decision, he would accept it no matter how difficult it was to do so.

"It's... not that I don't want to, Iori." Iori could hear sobbing sounds. "It's just... I... I love you so much *huff* and... and I don't want you to be left all alone." Riku wept. "I want to be with you!"

The redhead broke down. His trembling hands held on to Iori's shirt as he cried out. A river of tears flowed down, wetting his whole face. Iori could only embrace his lover softly because he could not help but cry too.

"Riku..." Iori tried to talk as normally as possible even though it was not working too well. "When I asked you *sniff* to marry me, I-I wanted to make you the happiest person ever." The younger boy patted Riku's back. "But it's not just that. I would love, *sob* more than anything, to spend my life with you as your husband." He hugged Riku a little tighter before giving him a kiss.

"I love you with all my heart, Riku."

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The part where Iori told Tenn about Riku's illness was inspired by Final Fantasy X story if any of you recognised the lines xx

The last chapter will be out soon >////< Ah I'm excited to let you lovely people read it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Votes and comments are appreciated ALWAYS <3