Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rei sighed as he drank some of his vanilla milkshake through a straw. Is he coming? Rei wondered, looking through the crowds, trying to find the one he was waiting for.

He's probably not going to come A traitorous thought ran through his head. It's been too long. He probably never got my message…Rei's inner voice told him. Thankfully, before he moved on to a full on pay out session for himself the man he had been waiting for sat down across from him.

“Johnny!” Rei said happily, smiling at the redhead.

Johnny smirked at the neko-jin. “Hey. Long time no see.”

Rei grimaced and set down his milkshake glass “You're telling me. It's been over a year, hasn't it?”

Johnny nodded to confirm Rei's suspicions. “Yeah. About that.” He said before eying Rei's abandoned milkshake. “Is that nice?” He asked.

Rei nodded and held out the glass to Johnny, “Try it. I think you'll like it.” Johnny accepted the glass and drank some, ignoring the straw and putting his lips on the side of the glass. He closed his eyes, savouring the taste, before swallowing and putting the glass back on the table. “Nice.” He said noncommittally.

Rei smiled and took the glass back. “I remembered that you told me you liked vanilla once.” He said before drinking some more of the beverage through the straw.

Johnny nodded before looking away from Rei, out to the street. “Why did you call me here?” He asked quietly.

Rei's eyes widened and he set down his drink. “I heard you were in town to talk to Tyson.” He told the Scotsman. “So I thought I'd call you so we could… catch up…” He said, a small blush dusting his cheeks. “It's just that I haven't spoken to you for a long time… not since the last time I saw you and…” Rei looked down at the table, studying the wood grain of it with great interest. “And we didn't talk very much then.” He said.

Johnny's eyes narrowed. “You called me about that?” He asked incredulously. “I thought you would have moved on by now. Didn't me not calling you give you a clue?” He asked, continuing to look out at the crowd and tapping the table with one finger, irritated.

Rei blinked and continued to look down at the table. “I thought you had lost my number.” He said quietly. “And I never had yours. The only reason I found you is because someone told me your hotel and room number.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Robert?” He asked sceptically, making Rei look up, shocked. “He’s always messing with things he doesn’t understand.”

“But how did he know to tell me about you being in town?” Rei asked.

Johnny shrugged. “I don’t know. He just did. He must have known about that night and dredged it up from his memory or something. b*****d has more memory than I give him credit for.”

Rei frowned. “Do you even remember that night Johnny?” He asked.

Johnny waved a hand dismissively. “Barely.” He said, glancing over at Rei to gauge the neko-jin’s reaction. When he saw the look of hurt pass over Rei’s face he added. “It was one night. Get over it.”

Rei sat back in his chair like Johnny’s words had been a physical blow to him. “What if I can’t?” He asked quietly.

“Can’t?” Johnny asked, “Or won’t?” He looked out at the crowd again for a second before turning to meet Rei’s golden eyes with his own violet ones. “Rei. It was over a year ago. You were nervous about the finals and I was… hell, I don’t know what I was thinking. It just happened.”

Rei looked away from Johnny, down at the table. “Is that really what you think?” He asked the redhead.

Johnny considered the question carefully before answering. “Yes. If you were hoping for something else you aren’t going to get it. It was a long time ago.” Johnny looked up at the sky. “Is that all you called me for?” He asked.

Rei bit his lip and looked up at Johnny. “I-“

“-Was hoping that I would tell you I loved you and wanted a repeat performance of that night? Wanted us to play happy couples forever?” Johnny interrupted.

Rei frowned angrily. “No. I called you to find an answer to a question.” He told Johnny.

“Do you have it?” Johnny asked, looking up at the sky boredly.

Rei’s eyes hardened into a glare. “Yes. I think I do.”

Johnny looked once again at Rei before nodding curtly and standing up. “Then I won’t take anymore of your time.” He said firmly before walking away from the neko-jin.

Rei watched him leave. When Johnny’s figure had been lost among the crowds he looked upwards, trying to find some solace in the unfeeling sky.

He knew that it probably hadn’t meant much to Johnny. He had known it and yet he had always hoped that it had. He didn’t know why he hoped that.

Johnny certainly hadn’t been his first and definitely not his last, either. But it was the Scotsman who stood out from all of the others.

And Rei didn’t know why.

He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the lump in his throat but refusing to do anything about it. He had never made a habit of crying and he wasn’t going to start now.

“That bad?” Lee asked as he came to sit in the seat Johnny had abandoned.

Rei opened his dry eyes and nodded silently as he looked at his best friend. “That bad.” He confirmed.

“b*****d.” Lee said comfortingly.

Rei shook his head. “No. He was right.” He said flatly.

“Right to make you like this?” Lee asked sympathetically.

“Right to tell me I shouldn’t have hoped.” Rei replied. “He was right to say no. It was too long ago. And I should have known.”

“He wasn’t right to be such an arsehole about it.” Lee interjected.

“He’s Johnny. How else does he act?” Rei asked with a half smile

Lee sighed and helped Rei to stand up. “I guess you’re right. Anyway, at least you know now, don’t you?” He asked gently.

Rei nodded slowly. “Is it a bad thing if I wished I didn’t?” He asked quietly to himself as he let Lee lead him out of the café.

Lee shook his head. “Rei…” He said reproachfully.

“I know.” Rei said, pre-empting anything Lee was going to say. “Can we just drop it?” He asked louder. “I just want to get back to the team.” Rei began to walk faster before pausing in his step and turning around to Lee and smiling. “Thanks for coming with.”

Lee noticed that the smile didn’t reach the other’s eyes. “No problem.” He said slowly as he watched Rei continue to walk away. Weird.

_-=-_-=-_-=-_

Johnny scowled at Robert as he walked into their shared hotel room. “Why did you call him?” He asked accusingly.

“Hello, Robert! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk to Rei again.” The German replied flatly, not looking up from the paper he was reading. “I know how hard and long you looked to find him.”

“You shouldn’t have wasted your time.” Johnny all but snarled as he stormed out of the room.

Robert rolled his eyes and continued to read his newspaper. “I’m so grateful for you going out of your way to make me happy Robert.” He murmured to himself, turning the page.