Krisse and Ryozo, London

She snuggled under the covers, her arm curling under the big, fluffy pillow and propping it up as she buried her head into it.

"So comfy-cozy..." she sighed contentedly. In her lilting, sing-song, baby talk way. Or, in this case, her pillow talk tone.

It was a cold morning outside, and they were now in bed, having tumbled in just minutes earlier.

It'd been a hard night of partying. Then four or so considerably languid hours at the 24-hour cafe near Club Street, sipping hot tea with lemon and making little satisfied noises and giving little smiles.

And here they were. In bed. As intimate as they had been as friends, he'd never hoped to be in this situation. In bed. Waiting for the cool sheets to warm with their body heat, under the same heavy, white duvet. God, they were even sharing the pillow!

"You know, you can use your own pillow, sweetie. The one right behind you."

"Yeah... cold... I like... close is nice." It came out as a sleepy whisper.

His heart skipped a beat. He gave her his best tender smile. Tender. He wished the writer in him didn't keep up the habit of narrating his life, his actions. Tender. He imagined that smile he just forced onto his lips. It'd probably have been closer to weak and strained, than tender.

It didn't matter anyway. Her eyes were already closed, her breathing slow and steady.

He looked at her sleeping face. Ten inches away from his. He wanted to draw her into his arms. And yet, he couldn't move. Not even to brush a hair off her face. As if, if he even adjusted his hand under his head, the spell would be broken. If he even fell asleep, the magic would be gone. Coz he wouldn't be on the alert, if she woke up and suddenly decided it was a mistake for Just Friends to be so close to him, to appease her and assure her that nothing was misconstrued.

Oh please. Who was the one who was misconstrueing here? Who was hoping for more than a very deep friendship? For whom this 'good friends' business had always been a whole sham, because he never wanted to be friends. But at no point had he ever wanted to just get into her pants either. It was different. She was different. And it was unfamiliar territory for him.

How had their fake friendship been so protracted? What fake? Everything was genuine about it. They were so close. Best friends. Yet. The whole premise was a farce. He never wanted to be her best friend. If things had been different, if he had just met her first, he wouldn't be. He'd be her lover. Her husband even.

Suddenly, he had the strongest urge to punch something. But here he was, trapped under a fucking blanket.

He measured his words, then sighed exaggeratedly and put on his best complaining tone. "You know, we can be close without you having to share my pillow," he growled.

She smiled lazily without opening her eyes.

"I mean, you can lie on your side of the bed and I can move in, and we'd still be ..." What was that word she used? "Comfy-cozy. I mean, I only have like, one foot of space before I fall off the bed. I'm practically trapped!"

"Mmm... I like having you trapped." She opened her eyes a little. Bedroom eyes.

Is she flirting with me? Why does she do that? Is she screwing with my head? A flash of irritation washed over him. Only because he didn't have the answers.

He had to get outta here. He needed to go let off steam. Go fuck some girl silly and leave when the sun came up.

He could call on Ajana. She always let him in whatever the time whenever he was in town, he just had to knock on her door. She'd even got it on with him in her guest room once, when he'd stumbled out of a pub at 4am and actually just wanted a place nearby to crash.

But she'd greeted him at the door in some wispy La Perla or something, courtesy of the guy still sleeping in her bed. Nipples all poking through the lace, her slip barely covering half her naked butt. He knew he had to take her as he followed her to the room on the opposite end of the hall. And she let him. She didn't even bother to keep her moaning down in case she woke the bloke in the other room.

Instead, he growled, "If you're not moving over, I am." He raised himself up and started a clumsy attempt to crawl and roll over her.

"Arghhhhhhhhhh!! Ryooo!! Nooooooo! It's cooooo---old! Don't!" she squealed angrily, suddenly wide awake as cold air gushed in as she tried to pull down all the edges of the blanket.

Too late. He was half on top of her. Fuck. He should make her his. Now.

He could smell the lavender scent from the hotel shampoo in her hair. He buried his face in her hair and kissed her on the head as he rolled off her onto the bed.

Lying flat on his back, he stared at the ceiling. How was he going to survive this night/morning? The thought barely formed completely in his head when she turned suddenly to face him. Suddenly wide awake. Like a crazy cartoon character.

"So, what time are we going to get breakfast? Should we order now, while we're awake, then we can sleep till dinnertime? But then I did really want to go check out the new Androssimono collection, they just called to say they're holding my sizes till today only. Maybe we can get up at six and shop for an hour -- oh gosh. I hope they haven't kept too many items for me -- before dinner at seven?"

Why did she have to talk so fast? He could feel her breath on his bare shoulder as she chattered.

Turning on his side to face her, he said, "We just had 20,000 cookies for supper, remember? I'm stuffed. But if you're hungry, I'll call room service."

Strawberries and champagne. And we can make sweet love afterwards. And chocolate sauce to dribble it on you and I'll lick it all off, sloww-ly.

"Waffles? Omelette?"

"Oh no, no. I was afraid you'd be hungry. I'm ok... I just wanna sleep. Don't pull the blanket up and let the air in." She stretched, then casually laid her arm across his chest, pressing her legs close to his. "Warmy-cosy. Steal your heat!"

"Hey!"

He moved an inch away from her, then more. Boy, was he glad he had his whole side of the bed again. "Krisse, you can't just snuggle up to any guy like that. I mean, what if I'm horny and forget it's you during the night?"

She pouted. "No you won't."

"Yes I would! I mean, may. I mean, how many times do you think I've been in bed with a woman and not... you know... I don't even know what I do in my sleep!"

She started laughing. "Should we get separate rooms?"

"What? No. Maybe. I mean. Fuck. You've made me nervous. You crossed the line. You crossed the line... Now, I mean..."

She was still laughing. Peals of laughter. Screams of laughter. At 5am. God...

"Stop it! It's not funny. You're my best fucking friend, you shouldn't be... No, I didn't mean 'fucking friend'. Arghhh..." he trailed off. He flipped to face away from her. "Good. Night. Fucking goodnight."

She finally stopped laughing. Sometimes she felt like kissing him. "You talk as if I'm some virgin and you're a priest." She giggled. "Or a ho, trying to seduce a priest."

"Mmfffhhhh."

"Take your face out of the pillow and talk to me!"

"What?" He was shouting in his exasperation. He flipped on his back and kept his eyes shut tightly. He felt her cold fingers creep onto his stomach. "Stop it! Are you trying to seduce me? It won't take much, as you already know."

"I'm just trying to warm up. Who asked you to lift the blankie up and make it all cold again!" She paused and stared into his face. That beautiful chisled face. High cheekbones, those hard, blazing eyes framed by long lashes. Long for a Japanese. Heck, long by any standard. Those defined brows -- he actually got them waxed. There was irritation there. And also a hint of apprehension. Fear.

She put her head on his chest.

"WHAT are you doing?!"

"Your heart... is it ok? Or is it your head we should be examining?" She had been teasing. But his heartbeat was loud and fast. Was he... Was he serious?

It was just an affectionate going-to-sleep snuggle, she thought. She thought they were comfortable enough with each other for that, after years of friendship. She'd always snuggle up to him on their cab rides home after she had too much to drink. He'd never stopped her before then. But every once in a while, they'd find out there were still boundaries. And it'd be an awkward week or two before they got over things and their pally best buddy relationship was restored.

Shit. This was bad timing. They were in London for a week! There were still three more days to go. Things can't go awkward on holiday, that'd suck.

He glanced down and saw her frowning. Suddenly, he could act big-brotherly again. He put a hand behind her head and gave it a shake. "Ok, ok. I'm just protecting you. I mean, you know I'm a horny bastard. You're here, in your little singlet, no bra, tiny shorts. I mean, no guy could resist you right now. Or, I mean, or anytime. You're always... you know. But I mean. Any guy in my position right now would be..."

She gave an embarassed laugh. Her head raced with memories of the countless times he'd been dragged into the changing room with her and Riss to give a man's opinion, when they'd force him to face a corner as they tried on some 20 outfits.

His hand behind her head slid down to her shoulders. Warm, strong, comforting. It had always been his arms in which she'd found the most solace, whenever things were going badly for her with Nick. He'd been her best friend and comforter all these years.

It felt so natural when he pulled her closer, their bodies automatically rearranging into an embrace. Suddenly, their faces were less than an inch from each other's, their bodies pressed close, legs intertwining.

She closed her eyes. She felt so safe and peaceful now she could just fall asleep. It felt right, this position. Being in bed with Ryo, the man who always gave her peace.

"Your lips smell like vanilla," he mumbled. He knew she used her favourite lip balm before bed every night.

His nose brushed against her lips and he held his position. If it'd been any other girl, his lips would be on hers now, working them open for his tongue to slide in, or he'd be kissing her neck, his hand up her top.

Instead, he pressed his lips against her head as she eased her face into his neck. Resting his chin on her head, he wrapped his arm more tightly around her, his hand resting on the small of her back.

As he drifted off to sleep, a half-formed thought crossed his mind, a hope that they'd wake up spooning.