Ritsu was hesitating, fingers twitching and hands clenching and unclenching at his side. He shifted from foot to foot, peeking at his door out of the corner of his eye. His apartment was right there, so close that he only needed a few steps, a few steps and he would be safely locked away within his own home. It would be so easy to do, so what was stopping him?

His eyes drifted back to Takano and the man's outstretched hand. Words didn't pass between them and they didn't need to, the air was thick enough already with the unseen electricity that sparked between the bodies, linking their minds and souls together.

Ritsu felt as if he was naked as he stood there before the other, the other who looked at him so openly.

He felt as if he was on fire, his whole body being licked by flames just from the man's gaze.

He tried to resist the whispering voice in his head that told him to look up, to move his gaze from Takano's hand to the face of the one that he once adored.

What would he see when he looked up? Would it be those dark yet glowing eyes gazing at him so deeply? Would it be a soft expression on his face that showed no sign of anger or ulterior motive? Would Ritsu once feel the same flame burning in his stomach that he once did?

He saw and felt all that and more once he finally gave in. He gave into the urge, letting his eyes roam higher and higher until emerald met gold and all at once his mind was a storm.

A sharp gasp was pulled past his lips as he took in the other's expression. His eyes were so deep, so dark and mesmerizing, and yet there was a light hidden inside those topaz orbs that the longer he looked into them the brighter the light seemed to get. He felt as if he was being pulled in, as if he was falling deeper and deeper.

The voice that was once telling him to run had grown deeper and steadier, murmuring new suggestions to stay. To place his hand so gently in the other's and to feel his strong grip upon him once more. Takano could keep him safe from anything he feared, from anyone who intended him harm. Takano could fill that aching hole growing within him.

His mind was clear as he finally acted. His legs were weak as he took a step forward and then another, hand slowly raising from his side, his fingers still trembling softly.

His eyes were still taken by the other's, the light within them growing stronger the closer they got.

"Take my hand, Ritsu."

The smooth voice saying his name sent a chill down his spine and through his body, from the tips of his fingers to the soles of his feet.

His body was trembling as his hand moved closer, mere inches between his palm and the one of the other. Even without touching he could still feel the chill of the other's body, contrasting against the heat that was spreading throughout his own.

His hand finally fell and all at once it was as if he was burning and freezing at the same time. His body was being licked by ice like flames, touching every part of him and truly making him feel alive.

A smile curved Takano's lips, not a grin nor a smirk but a true expression of the joy that he felt filling his once empty heart.

The warmth that he was finally feeling in his chilled body was one that he hadn't felt in years and one that he never wanted to let go of, and so he wouldn't.

He gripped the hand tighter and took a step back, pulling the brunette along with him. He gazed into those emerald eyes as he led him back into his apartment slowly, taking step by step backwards as Ritsu took step by step forwards, following him over the threshold and into the front hall of his apartment.