"What are you doing?" you woke up to the sound of books being thrown on the bed.

"Oh, good morning Y/N! My sister wants an old book of hers," he kept throwing books on the bed. "Found it!" he quickly ran to the door. "I'll be right back."

You reached and picked up a book, which turned out to be an album, and flipped through it. Kuroo returned and sat next to you in bed. "Is this you?" you laughed, pointing to a photograph of a young Kuroo crying and his sisters laughing.

"Let me see that," he huffed, taking half the album in his hands and placing an arm around you. "Pfft, no," he flipped the page.

"It totally is," you pointed to another photo of him as a toddler.

"Stop making fun of me!" he whined, flipping to the middle of the album. You looked at the photographs. This must have been high school or college.

"Volleyball?" you pointed to a picture of him with a white and grey-haired boy. "Is that..." He nodded. "You didn't tell me you knew famous people!"

"I still do. I can take you to meet him one day."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," he said like it was no big deal. He continued to flip through the album. You noticed he went out a lot with Oikawa.

"Who's she?" you pointed to a girl in almost all the pictures. "Oikawa's girlfriend?"

"Yeah. She was. She's gone now though."

"Gone?" you looked at him.

"We met her in middle school. In high school she and Oikawa started dating. It was probably the closest thing I'd ever seen to true love," he took the picture out of the film. "They dated for years before she got cancer."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"She was strong though," he continued. "Oikawa took good care of her. She was almost at the finish line, just one more minor surgery before she'd be cancer free for good. I worked double shifts covering for Oikawa the week before because he was busy finding an engagement ring for her. He was going to propose the moment she woke up."

"Did the surgery go wrong?" you asked quietly.

"It went perfectly. I remember Oikawa and I walking to the hospital after hearing she was in recovery. We passed by a flower shop and Oikawa stopped to pick some. He told me to go on ahead so she wouldn't be lonely," his voice quivered. You pulled him in a hug and he mumbled into your shoulder. "She was so happy to finally be cancer-free. We talked for a few minutes before she said she felt tired. She told me to tell Oikawa to hurry up. Then she went into a coma and never woke up again."

Your eyes went wide at the plot twist. The way Kuroo was talking seemed like he was desperately waiting to get this off his chest.

"I can't help but wonder what would've happened if Oikawa didn't stop to get flowers that day. Maybe she would have kept fighting seeing him. I didn't deserve to be the last one to see her," he sniffled as you felt tears on your shoulder. "I didn't deserve it." You ran your hands through his hair and told him it was okay and that he shouldn't feel guilty.

"At least you have these memories," you closed the album. "What was her name?" you asked.

"Sarah."

You were silent as Kuroo wiped away the few tears from his face. You'd seen so many sides of him, but this particular side put you at ease. It made you realize he had feelings too and it made you feel safe.

"Y/N," he grabbed your cheek. "Why are we wasting time?" You understood exactly what he meant.

"I don't know," you grabbed his collar and pulled him in. His lips hovered over yours for a second.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do this for," he took a breath before crashing his lips with yours. This wasn't like the last kiss where Kuroo savored every moment. This time, he knew you were his. He had all the time in the world to spend with you.