Chapter Text
Waking up enveloped in a comfortable warmth wasn’t something that Rohan was used to. It wasn’t common for him to wake up to the comforting smell of hair spray and cologne, either. Rohan groaned, his eyes still closed, and cuddled closer to his pillow. Wait… His pillow felt different today. It was larger than usual and… he brought one of his hands up in front of him and felt skin under his fingertips. Not only skin, but muscle… very well defined muscles.
Now that he thought about it, there was an odd weight on his waist, as if someone was holding him close. He must have fallen asleep with someone last night. Rohan gently squeezed at one of the other person’s pectorals and hummed in appreciation. It felt… really nice in his hands.
Oh well, he was still quite tired. It was supposed to be Sunday and he didn’t really have anywhere to go… Rohan snuggled close to the wall of muscle as he slowly drifted back to sleep.
Not even three seconds later, Rohan’s eyes opened wide and he tore himself away from whoever he’d been sleeping with. In the process of getting himself untangled from the person, Rohan fell off the side of his bed and landed on the floor with a thud.
“R-Rohan?”
The voice sounded familiar, but Rohan’s dazed, hungover brain couldn’t properly identify it. At least not until he felt a soft hand on his back, and the other man spoke again. “Rohan? Are you hurt?” Josuke’s voice was gruff, heavy with sleep. Hearing him like that… it made Rohan’s insides feel oddly warm.
“I-I’m…” Rohan trailed off, his head pounding and his vision blurry. He groaned, sitting up on the floor and holding his head on one hand. Rohan had definitely over drank last night. He should have stopped once he had felt tipsy, but he’d just had to go for blackout drunk. He looked up at Josuke, who was looking back at him with wide eyes.
Josuke’s pompadour had been destroyed at some point during the night, so half of his hair fell over his face, while the other half stuck up at odd angles. Despite how messy it was, because it was Josuke, it still looked nice. He looked more youthful like this, less guarded.
It took Rohan longer than he’d like to admit that this probably wasn't a sight many people got to see. His face heated up at the realization and he looked away from Josuke immediately. He looked… he looked too good like this too.
Wait.
No, wait. None of this made sense. Koichi’s party had been last night, and Rohan vaguely remembered making up with Josuke, but…
Why the hell was Josuke in his room, on his bed? More importantly, why were they both naked?
From what he could remember about last night, he and Josuke had made up and then Josuke had come into his room. After that… the officer confessed to him. Then… Rohan felt his face heat up as the memories from the night before slowly surfaced. They had… They had made out with each other.
Had they had sex? Rohan’s eyes jolted up to Josuke, who was still looking at him with a dazed expression. No, Josuke had stopped it before it went that far… right?
Josuke got up from the bed and crouched next to him, sneaking a hand under his knees and another on his back. Before Rohan could even process what was happening, Josuke effortlessly lifted him and gently placed him down on the bed.
"Do you want me to bring you anything? Coffee? Water? Painkillers?" Josuke asked, his eyes lingering on Rohan's nearly naked body. Rohan felt his face heat up and he quickly pulled the covers over himself, snapping Josuke out of it. "Sorry."
Instead of answering, Rohan turned over and draped the blanket over his still aching head. This all had to be a dream, right? He really hadn't woken up next to Josuke. It was all a big misunderstanding. It had to be. There was no way in hell any of that could have happened. “Go away,” he muttered, though he wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to Josuke or to his ‘dream’.
He could hear Josuke sigh, then the sound of the officer looking around for something. Josuke was probably dressing up, Rohan thought, only mildly regretting the fact that he hadn't taken his time admiring his physique again.
"I'll get you some painkillers and then I'll get out of your hair, alright?" Josuke said, his voice soft. He started walking towards the door before seeming to hesitate. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, by the way. At least not right now."
Rohan peeked out at Josuke, who was now fully clothed, while he carefully opened the door and stepped out. He frowned, sitting back up on the bed and staring at the now closed door. For some reason, he was angry. He couldn’t really identify why he was angry, though. It might have been something in the way that Josuke phrased that, but he had a feeling it was the fact that he had left without protesting at all first. Rohan had almost expected him to complain, to try to convince Rohan to let him stay with him a bit longer. But he didn’t.
True to his word, Josuke brought him some painkillers and a bottle of water from the fridge. He handed them to Rohan with a small smile before turning around and walking back out his door. Josuke paused, turning towards him and waving. “I’ll see you around,” was all he said before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him.
Silence fell over Rohan and his surroundings as soon as Josuke was out. He glanced over at the clock, realizing it was just seven in the morning. It was too early for him to be awake. He needed to get more sleep. Rohan reached over for his phone, idly scrolling through his missed messages before putting it back down. He'd reply to them later. For now… Rohan turned on his bed. His bed, which had been perfectly adequate for him for as long as he'd had it, suddenly felt too empty.
Too late, Rohan realized that he didn’t actually want Josuke to leave him. He wished Josuke had fought back a little, cuddling up to him for a little while longer. His bed now felt unbearably cold without the other man in it. Rohan groaned, throwing himself back on his pillow and pulling his blankets all over himself.
His whole bed smelled like Josuke.
-
The café that Reimi had decided they should meet in was not somewhere that he would typically hang out. The atmosphere was too bubbly and the drinks were all ridiculously sweet. Still, getting to hang out with his friend after such an… interesting night was good. It had been a while since just the two of them hung out.
Unfortunately, due to his still lingering hangover, the bright lighting made his head ache. But that wasn't anything Rohan wasn't used to dealing with.
"So, Rohan," Reimi started, leaning her face on her hand, looking at him with a small smirk playing on her face. "How did it go with Mr. Hunky Police Officer Higashikata?"
He nearly choked on his sugary coffee at her forwardness. They hadn't even been sitting together for two minutes, and she was already bringing Higashikata up in conversation. Rohan frowned, feeling his face heat up as he recalled the events from last night. Should he tell Reimi about it? Rohan shook his head. She would probably just say that she told him so, because, really, she had told him how Josuke felt about him. That didn't mean she was right about Rohan liking Josuke, though.
Last night had purely been a moment of weakness, he'd been lonely and that had been why he'd given in to Josuke so easily. That was all it was, wasn't it? It made sense in theory, but… Rohan knew he wasn't the type to just give in to his craving for physical intimacy. What made Josuke different from everyone else who had come onto him in the past?
Reimi waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his thoughts instantly. "Helloooo? Earth to Rohan?" She grinned once he turned his attention back to her, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. "Was it that good? Just how far did you two go last night?"
"Nowhere! Nothing happened!" Rohan answered, just a little bit too fast. He mentally slapped himself for his immediate switch onto the defensive. He took a sip of his drink and sighed, his lips curling down. "I mean… we made up but…"
"That's great!" She exclaimed, looking far too happy upon hearing this news. Rohan raised an eyebrow at her, making her chuckle softly. "You were so lonely without Josuke, Rohan. I'm glad you're on speaking terms again is all."
Rohan frowned, shaking his head. "That's not true. I was not lonely without him; he's merely an acquaintance. Well… maybe he's become somewhat of a friend," he admitted, feeling much too flustered to just be admitting that. "But… I don't know if we're on speaking terms anymore." Rohan hated the way his tone had shifted entirely as he said that, he almost sounded… disappointed. Was he? He wasn't sure.
She frowned too, tilting her head to the side just a bit. "Why? What happened?"
He took a deep breath, tearing his gaze away from her, staring off to the side instead. "He… confessed to me." Reimi gasped at that, but Rohan still refused to look her way. He wasn't done speaking. "And we might have drunkenly kissed… then fallen asleep together."
"Oh my god, Rohan! I'm so happy for you two," Reimi said, leaning over the table to hold on to his hand. She paused, scrunching up her face in confusion. "Wait… why wouldn't you be on speaking terms after that? Aren't you dating now?"
For some odd reason, those words made something inside of Rohan feel warm and his thoughts get jumbled up, almost enough to make him forget how to properly speak. "N-no? Why would we be?" His voice sounded different to his own ears, higher pitched and uncertain. Rohan frowned, gently pulling his hand away from Reimi's. "I kicked him out this morning."
Her eyes widened at that. "What? You guys didn't talk about it afterwards?"
"It was… it was only a kiss. It didn't mean anything," he shrugged, balling his hands into fists over his lap. "There's no need to talk about anything."
The look that Reimi gave him at that made him freeze in place. She looked… very frustrated. "Are you sure it didn't mean anything, Rohan?" He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing would come out. Reimi tilted her head to her side again, her gaze softening significantly. "I think Josuke would disagree with that. Don't you think?"
Josuke… yeah, Josuke would definitely disagree with that. He didn't seem like the type to just go around kissing people, much less making out with them or sleeping next to them like they had. And he had confessed to Rohan just a few seconds prior to the kiss. Could it really have been genuine? Could he trust Josuke's words? Rohan wasn't sure. Thinking about it made him feel… weird inside. He didn't want to feel anything about this whole situation, he just wanted to detach and pretend it never happened at all.
"I… Yeah, I think he would but. I meant that it didn't mean anything to me. It's different."
"Is it?" She asked, stirring her drink. He nodded, hesitantly. "How is it different, Rohan?"
How was it different? Rohan stared down at the table, trying to think it all through. The answer should have been obvious, shouldn't it? He wasn't sure. "It's different because I don't have romantic feelings for Josuke. So that's why-"
Reimi sighed, smiling up at Rohan. "You really are an idiot, aren't you, Rohan?"
Rohan frowned at that, crossing his arms over his chest. "Excuse me, what?"
She shook her head, drinking from her coffee and then sighing. "You're too stupid to realize you're head over heels for this guy. Just… listen to yourself talk about him. You've been into him from the first time you met."
"N-no? That's not-"
"It is," she interrupted with a short laugh. "He's all you ever talk about. You can't tell me your heart doesn't beat faster around him, that you don't feel flustered at the thought of him, or that you don't crave his company. You like him, Rohan."
Rohan's eyes widened at her words and he stared at her for a second, feeling absolutely dumbfounded. What she said was right but… did that all really mean he had feelings for Josuke? He bit his lip, looking down at his lap again and feeling his whole face heat up as the thought about it all.
His heart always seemed to want to burst out of his chest whenever they were together. Josuke was always on his mind, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he really enjoyed spending time with the other man. Kissing him… Kissing him had made sparks go through his whole body. Whenever Josuke touched him, regardless of the context, his skin felt like it was burning up. Did that… Did that mean that Rohan liked him?
Reimi smiled at him, looking far too pleased with herser. "Well?"
"I have feelings for Josuke… I actually…" Rohan brought his hand up to cover his mouth, feeling his heart flip in his chest at the realization. "I like him. Don't I?"
She rolled her eyes, the smile never leaving her face. "Well, duh. I've been trying to help you realize that for weeks." She took another sip of her drink and shook her head. "I can't believe it took you this long."
Rohan ran a hand through his hair, thinking back on all his interactions with the other man. Everything made so much more sense now, and Josuke… Josuke had liked him from the very start too, hadn't he? He had always been so insistent on hanging out, on befriending Rohan. But, at the same time, he had been patient with Rohan. Way more patient than Rohan could ever have been with anyone. He'd never imposed his feelings on Rohan, he'd given him time and space to figure things out on his own.
God, Josuke had probably realized Rohan felt the same way before even he had known. Was that why he looked so disappointed this morning? Rohan… Rohan had hurt him.
Reimi waved her hand in front of him again, catching his attention. "What will you do now that you know?"
"I have to…" he felt his heartbeat speed up at the thought. "I think I need to tell him. Don’t I?"
“Duh.”