“One, two, three, four…”, Daiki felt heat radiating from his face and soon, three consecutive hiccups escaped his mouth. He pointed at every empty bottles of alcohol he killed in just a single session. “W-Where’s Yamada Ryosuke when you need him?”, he uttered, struggling to collect his own thoughts.

The boy gulped another bottle of beer and hissed at it after realising that he had finished the last drop. He stood up from his sofa and felt lightheaded from the amount of alcohol in his system. However, he denied the fact that he is intoxicated. “Is Chinen with Amu right now?”, he whispered into the air, with the image of the girl he likes with his own best friend. “I haven’t even told her that I like her”, he buried his face on his palms and cursed the situation he is in.

After a few seconds of contemplation, his eyes landed on the piece of jewellery on the table. Images of Amu continually flashed on his mind, “I-I have to at least tell her. I’m going to tell her!”, he proclaimed inside his empty living room. With the remaining composure he has, he took the necklace and dashed outside his apartment.

--

Daiki slapped both of his cheeks to stop getting double vision. It must be the alcohol currently giving him courage to even take a step towards Amu's home. It was a miracle that he reached Amu and Rio’s apartment building. He pressed button on the old elevator shaft and heard the machine whirl and soon, the double doors opened.

“Dai-chan?”, Daiki’s timing couldn’t be better. As soon as the doors separated, it revealed a very confused Amu Kitagawa. 

Amu was not given a chance to question his sudden visit when the boy suddenly collapsed and received some of his weight. “E-Eh?!”, she felt Daiki’s head slumped on her shoulder and immediately noticed that he could barely stand.

In panic, Amu guided his body inside the elevator and pressed her floor. She sensibly thought to bring Daiki inside her apartment to make sure he’s okay, “Mou, what have you been up to?”. She held Daiki tightly when the old elevator jerked, making sure the boy would not stumble “How much did you drink?!”.

Amu wasn’t really expecting an answer, but Daiki just kept mumbling incoherent sentences, “I want to see Amu-chan”, he uttered, unaware that the same girl he's yearning for is standing right in front of him and currently struggling to support his weight. She was only going out to get her flight tickets back to New York but now, she’s stuck with the same boy she promised not to associate herself with inside an old elevator.

She waited patiently for the lift to reach the 7th floor when she felt an abrupt stop. The lights inside the elevator blinked and she noticed the numbers indicating the floor stopped moving, “No way”, Amu cursed her luck after seeing an ‘Out of Service’ message on the small digital message screen inside the elevator.

The poor girl struggled to manoeuvre around Daiki’s body still clung to her. She slowly guided him on the floor and rested his head comfortably on the corner. She then pressed the emergency button and found relief when the building’s keeper answered.

“We’re aware of the problem and called an engineer over to fix it. For now, please stay patient”, the man apologetically said, leaving the poor girl with no other choice but to wait.

She then had the urge to call Chinen to ask for help. She quickly grabbed her mobile and started dialling his number, “Amu-chan? Why are you calling this late? Are you okay?”, she heard the boy ask in concern.

“I’m okay but…”, Amu struggled to explain, “I’m stuck in my apartment’s elevator with Dai-chan. He’s a bit intoxicated. Do you think you can pick him up?”, she requested.

“I’ll be there”, Chinen immediately answered and just could not help but mentally face-palm at the troublemaker, “What have you been up to, Dai-chan?”, he thought before starting his car.

--

Amu knelt  down and watched Daiki’s sleeping face. Noticing beads of sweat on his forehead, she pulled her handkerchief from her pocket and gently dabbed the piece of cloth on his face. It only took Amu’s touch to wake the latter up. With this, he raised his hand and placed them over Amu’s warm ones.

Within seconds, Amu felt herself unable to move when her gaze met Daiki’s eyes, “Amu-chan… a-am I dreaming?”, the boy smiled and sent multiple chills on her spine. She already decided to move on from him, but why is her heart beating this fast?

“If I am, then I don’t want to wake up”, his hands crept up on her face and caressed her left cheek using his thumb. Amu felt a warm sensation diffusing all over her body just by Daiki’s mere touch.

“Dai-chan, Chii is on his way to pick you up. Just try to stay awake, okay?”, Amu reassured but it seemed like nothing is getting past Daiki at the moment. His head is still in the clouds, with eyes never leaving Amu’s face.

“Why did you return the necklace I gave you?”, he asked, leaving Amu surprised. She watched as the boy sat forward and leaned closer to her face. Noting his nearing distance, her body involuntarily leaned back, making her sit on the floor. Daiki took this chance and placed one arm on the bar, trapping Amu underneath. Amu gulped at Daiki’s face so close to her – too close in fact, she could feel his breath touching her cheek. “The necklace… why did you give it back?”, Daiki repeated the question, dedicated to find an answer.

“I-Uhm”, Amu struggled to speak. She could smell a tint of alcohol in his breath, but for some reason, she did not mind this. Every bit of Daiki was so addicting that she found herself being captivated by his every move.

“Was it to forget about me?”

“Dai-chan, I-”, not wanting to be swayed by how she feels about Daiki, she tried her best to shake the boy back to his senses. However, her effort was gone futile and was interrupted by the same boy.

“Then… I won’t let you”, Daiki gently lifted her chin and brushed his lips on hers. Amu froze at the addicting sensation on her lips and felt her whole body tense up when Daiki’s hand travelled to her nape, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss.

--

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds but Daiki longed for more. He was ready to pull Amu for an embrace when both heard a loud thud near the elevator door. The couple noticed whirring cogs which soon revealed a man holding his tools. Behind him was Chinen, anxiously waiting for the elevator door to open.

“Are you two okay?”, Chinen asked in concern. He was expecting a decent answer from the two, but one is too intoxicated to even utter a sensible word, and the other is currently in a state of shock.

Chinen approached Amu and shook her arm slightly, “Amu-chan?”.

“I-I… I need to go!”, Amu abruptly said with her face painted crimson. Chinen furrowed his brows upon seeing the girl running out of the scene as if guilty about something. He then turned to Daiki and found him only half-conscious.

“Hey, Chii… I dreamt about Amu-chan. You should’ve been there. It was great”, the intoxicated boy grinned at his so-called dream.

“He’s really out of it”, he thought before placing his arm over his shoulder and headed towards his car.

--

As the vehicle began to descend, Chinen heard nothing but silence from his friend. He assumed that he had fallen asleep but was surprised when the boy suddenly spoke his mind, “Chii, promise me you won’t hurt Amu like I did”. With the amount of alcohol in his system, Daiki might not even remember this tomorrow, but Chinen was pleased that he is able to voice his feelings out. These past few days, he’s been like a close book – always keeping all his troubles to himself.

The younger boy stayed quiet and allowed him to voice his heart, “I realised that even if Amu was the one who wrote that article, I still want to be the person by her side”, he sighed and allowed his head to fall back on the head rest of his seat, “But I’m too late. She has you now”.

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