*bows very low to the ground* Oh my god, I'm so sorry. This took way longer than it should have, and I think this chapter is a little short, but hopefully the event that happens in this chapter will be enough for now! I want to write chapter four quickly and get it out to you guys sooner than the last two were!

It had been two weeks since Rin and Ai's first meeting. That night, Rin had decided to take up Ai's offer to give him an employee discount as a thank you, causing him to buy more than he'd planned in an effort to take full advantage of it. Ai had apparently gone to the police station that day to act as a witness, but ultimately the police decided he wouldn't be necessary after making a statement.

Rin had been going to the convenience store every night he could since, only missing a few days when he'd gone for dinner with his friends, or if he'd had a lot of schoolwork to do. By now he'd memorized Ai's schedule completely by chance, Saturday to Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday being his weekend. He'd stop by, and if he didn't have to wake up early, he'd stay to keep Ai company and talk, remembering hearing Ai once complain about working nights being extremely boring on account of slow business.

It was a Friday night, he was out to dinner, although, it felt more like a double date.

Haruka and Makoto, Rei and Nagisa. They were his friends, but he could feel the slight sting of the fifth wheel pressing his mind. However, the conversation was about to be generously weighted towards him.

"So, Rin, any luck with that shop clerk?" Nagisa asked, leaning on the table towards Rin.

"Shop clerk?" Makoto questioned, saying out loud the question everyone else had kept in their heads.

"Nagisa! Why did you bring that up?" Rin tried to hide his embarrassment with anger towards Nagisa, but it was obvious now that this topic wasn't going to drop very easily.

"C'mon, Rin, if you can trust me, you can definitely trust everyone else here!"

Rin dropped his head to the table, groaning audibly and hoping that Rei or Makoto would convince Nagisa to let it go for now.

No such luck.

Makoto was uncharacteristically interested.

Nagisa turned to the rest of the group, "Rin has a crush!"

"A crush? Rin?!" Rei asked, leaning with Nagisa. Makoto and even Haru took the opportunity to get closer to Rin, suddenly especially interested in Rin's love life.

"He's just...he's just a teller at the Family Mart near my apartment."

"What about when he gave you your wallet back, did you invite him into the apartment to talk?!"

"No…but…"

"But?"

"But, he came back because someone was…following him."

"A stalker?" Makoto gasped, "What happened?"

"He was being followed, he came to my place to wait for the guy to leave, it got late, and he stayed the night…"

"STAYED THE NIGHT."

"No-nothing happened, Nagisa!"

"That's not the face of 'nothing happened', that's a 'something happened' face."

"How would you even know the difference?!"

No one answered, all eyes of the table focused on him.

"So," Rei started, "Did something happen?"

"I…" Rin didn't want to tell this story, it was embarrassing, and he really didn't want to look like even more of an idiot than he already did.

He did it anyway.

"You guys cannot laugh."

Heads shook to say "No, of course we won't laugh." Rin wasn't convinced, but he'd already revealed so much that he felt like he had nothing to lose.

"I…I accidentally got into the bed with him in the middle of the night…kinda…forgot he was there."

Rin looked up, ready to hear the hysterical laughing, ready to sit through at least five minutes of relentless teasing from Nagisa…

…not ready for bright eyes and gaped mouths.

"How did he react?!"

"Did he push you away?!"

"What position did you wake up in?"

"Was he blushing?!"

The questions were not teasing, more encouraging, curious, and Rin tried to answer them to the best of his ability. He reacted fine, nothing over the top; no, I fell off the bed (they laughed there); I had my arm on his waist…; well, he was very red.

The questions continued late into the meal, answers coming between bites of food, the conversation turning to tips for Rin to sweep the clerk, they now knew as Ai, off his feet. Buy a snack for him, shake his hand really firmly after making a purchase, be extra grateful after purchasing something, buy those huge condoms for guys with monster dongs. It was all terrible advice, but Rin had to appreciate their misguided attempts to help. Once he mentioned that the stalker was caught bothering someone else, and how he'd been going to the shop periodically since then, the group calmed a bit, but Rin no longer felt so embarrassed by the ordeal. They'd all wished him luck, and finally gave real advice, and Rin realized that they were probably some of the best people to talk about it with. After all, with all of them in relationships, they probably knew something he didn't. When they finally parted ways that night, the group made sure to wish Rin luck in his endeavors.

It was already late, and Rin had to sprint to get to the station to catch the last train of the night, relieved that he'd bought his ticket back ahead of time. The car that he'd gotten into was mostly empty, save for…

"Ai?"

The boy looked up, he was sitting right by the doors of the car, reading a thick novel.

"Oh! Rin, hi!"

Rin planted his body next to Ai, placing his bag on the free seat next to him, "What are you doing taking such a late train?"

"Ah, uhm…" Ai was hesitant, "I'm coming from the hospital…" His voice was low.

"The hospital?! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! It's, uh, I was visiting my father…"

"Oh…I'm sorry…I mean…" Rin didn't know whether or not to express that he knew exactly how Ai felt. Losing his father had been the worst experience he'd ever had, and it couldn't have been easier for Ai to have to see his father in a hospital bed.

"I know how you feel."

"You do?"

Rin never expected to have this kind of conversation on a train. When they passed a station with nobody waiting, he noticed that it had started to rain. Good thing I have my umbrella.

He looked back to Ai, still curious to how Rin understood his feelings. Rin took a deep breath.

"My father died in a boat accident when I was a kid."

"Oh my god, Rin, I'm so sorry…"

"Thanks, I mean, it was really terrible for me at the time, and I've moved past the mourning period, but I can understand what you're feeling."

"Thanks, Rin, it means a lot. I haven't really had…anyone to talk to about this."

"None of your other friends would listen?"

"No, well…I didn't have a lot of friends in high school, maybe one or two people I was close to. I was planning to move away for college, thought I would make more friends there, but…my dad collapsed a month before graduation."

"Is that why you're working?"

"Yeah. Even though we've never been poor…I could tell that my mom was struggling with the situation. She stopped working after I was born, to take care of me, and so my dad made the money in the house. I couldn't make my mom work to pay for the hospital bills and college tuition. So, I gave up going to college and started working instead. This way, I'm able to pay for whatever I need, so that my mom can focus on more important expenses."

Rin was amazed, Ai was possibly the most selfless person he'd ever met. The entire time he was talking, a small smile was on his face, as if giving up college to work while his dad was in the hospital was no big thing.

"Well, you know, if there you ever need anyone to talk to…about anything, you know, you can talk to me."

"Thanks, Rin, that means a lot to me. It's nice…I feel really comfortable around you."

Rin was still turned towards Ai, who had a light blush on his cheeks.

"I fell the same way. You're easy to talk to, Ai."

Ai laughed a bit, looking at Rin, "That's good! I'm really glad that we-"

A sudden slow down, a blackout, and the train stopped completely. A flash of lightning lit up the car, Ai's face was extremely close to Rin's.

"…met."

The sound of the rain was deafening to Rin, and Ai was still so close. He didn't know what to do at all, his heart was racing, and his mind couldn't come up with anything to say.

Then he felt a soft pair of lips on his own, and the lights turned on. It was Ai, of course, who was kissing him, and he was so surprised that he didn't even think to kiss back, no matter how much he wanted it. After another second, Ai seemed to realize what he was doing, and pulled back quickly.

"Our apologies passengers, there's been a blackout in the surrounding areas, in the interest of safety, the train will not run until all the stations have regained power. Any inconvenience is regretted."

Ai jumped from his seat and began to apologize profusely.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done that…I mean, I should've told you how I felt before kissing you, but I just-ah!"

The train lurched forward suddenly, and Ai lost his balance, falling into Rin's lap.

"I'm sorry!" He began to lift himself up from Rin before he felt an arm wrap around him and keep him there.

"How…how do you feel about me, Ai?"

Ai was blushing to his ears, he couldn't bear to look Rin in the face, completely mortified by the entire situation.

"Ai?"

"I…I like you, Rin. I really, really like you."

He must hate me now.

However, much to Ai's surprise, Rin felt quite the opposite.

"I really like you, too, Ai."

Ai's head snapped upwards, nearly hitting Rin in the process. "Really?!"

"Yes!" Rin was smiling so wide it was starting to hurt his cheeks a bit, but he couldn't stop, and Ai started laughing in relief. Rin let him get off from on top of him and sit back in his own seat.

"So…does this mean we're dating now?" Ai asked, voice carrying his happiness through.

"Yeah, yes, absolutely, we are…we're dating now." Rin was desperately attempting to keep his cool, unable to look Ai in the face because of his blush.

"So…can we hold hands?"

Rin simply nodded, letting Ai take the lead and take his hand, alone on the train, Rin felt comfortable intertwining their fingers, and let a small smile play upon his face. The two were silent, just content being together. It wasn't until they arrived at the station that Ai realized that he didn't have an umbrella to use.

"We can walk together, under mine, your house is on the way anyway."

"Thanks, Rin."

Their station came up, and, not seeing anyone around, the two kept their hands clasped. Rin and Ai walked together in silence only broken by the sound of rain, which had by now let up, but it was comforting. With the loss of shelter from the station roof, Rin opened the umbrella. It was a lot smaller than he remembered, and the new couple had to squeeze close to each other, but neither minded.

Ai's house was not too far from the station, which left Rin slightly disappointed, but with all that had already happened, it wasn't like he could complain. Ai hesitated at his front gate. However awkward it as to be squished beneath an umbrella while rain was pouring down, he didn't feel like going inside just yet.

"Thanks for walking me home…"

"Yeah, no problem, uhm…do you wanna go out…like to eat or something?" Rin finally empathized with the girls who asked him out in high school, even when he knew the feeling was mutual, it was still pretty difficult to spit out the words.

"Like a date?"

"Yeah, a date…cause, you know, we're dating…"

"Wow, yeah, we are…Well, I would love to go on a date with you, Rin."

"That's….that's great." How long was I holding that breath in?

"How about I text you? We can plan around our schedules."

"Cool, well, uh, I guess I'll see you…later?"

Ai smiled, "Yeah, uhm…"

He looked around the area, checking for anyone else outside, and then leaned up to kiss Rin again. This time, Rin was ready, and he returned the action, free hand coming up to gently cradle Ai's head. They separated after a few seconds, Rin taking a mental picture of Ai's face as he pulled away.

"I'll text you in the morning, then?" Rin said, confirming their plans.

"Cool…see ya, then," Ai said, finally stepping away from the umbrella and quickly getting to the awning above his door. He grabbed the door knob, and opening the door turned to Rin and waved, smiling. Rin waved back, letting his lips turn upward into a smile as well. Once Ai had closed the door, Rin began to walk home, not even that bothered when he accidentally stepped into a puddle and completely soaked his shoes.

Ai had practically skipped into the kitchen, where his mother was washing dishes. Always in tune with her son's emotions, she couldn't help but inquire about his cheerful disposition.

"You certainly look happy! Did your visit with your father go that well?"

"Oh! Yeah, it went as well as it usually does."

"Well you're certainly not this cheerful when you come back from a visit."

"I ran into a friend on the train, we had a…a good talk."

Ai's mother raised her eyebrow at him but said nothing more. She hadn't heard much talk of friends from him in a long time, and questioning it probably wouldn't be the nicest thing to do. With the last dish put on the drying rack, she wiped her hands and turned to her son.

"There are still some leftover's from yesterday's dinner. If the rice is dry, heat it up again with some extra water, and clean up when you're done, okay?" She was walking away the entire time, her voice slowly growing into a holler as she got further and further away from Ai.

"Okay mom!" Ai yelled back.

Ai found the leftovers, extra spicy curry and rice, nestled between a nearly empty carton of orange juice and carton of eggs that he knew only had one egg left in it. We definitely need some groceries, I guess I'll go get some tomorrow.

Once he'd eaten, he realized how exhausted he was. He got ready for bed slowly, too lost in his thoughts to do anything with haste at the moment, then curled up underneath the covers on his bed. He felt happy, and excited. He thought he must be the happiest he's been since his father's hospitalization.

He felt warm.

And it definitely wasn't the curry.

Was it cute? I tried to make it cute. I think there's something really...interesting? about the atmosphere of being in a train while it's raining. Maybe have rainy mood on while you're reading this chapter...

R & R, yanno, whatever you wanna do