Romantic Seclusion- the GOOD version.

A Love Lies Bleeding Story, but you can still read it if you haven't read Love Lies Bleeding. Just know this is an AU with vampires in it. Om nom nom.

By Inuyoshie

From Orihime's eyes

For some silly reason I've always associated the low hum of my old TV set with popcorn, Tabasco sauce, cilantro, Tamarind soda and Rukia Kuchki.

The Tabasco sauce and cilantro went in the popcorn, of course. (Where else would they go?) Tamarind soda is something Rukia found that both of us really like. It's all sweet and sour at the same time… I remember one time Kurosaki came over and thought the soda was Cola… the look on his face was amazing!

Anyways. The popcorn, soda and Rukia all came together when she'd come over with scary movies. It was a Thursday night thing. The teachers- oops, I mean professors, sorry, they give their big tests on Thursdays, and Friday is usually a relaxing day, so Rukia can stay up as late as she wants to on Thursday nights. It's kind of a reward for her, ya know? She's really well off, her big brother Byakuya is from a really nice family, but his occupation is weird. I've only been inside of their house once- aside from all the shiny statues and busts and marble that you'd expect in a rich house, there were an odd amount of weapons, crosses and stuff. Ironic, because both Kuchki's are so pale and don't like to go out during the day… they're almost like vampires they are, but their weapons seem to be pulled directly from a Hellsing movie.

Oh well. It really isn't my business. I'm just glad I have such a nice friend like Rukia. She's just so… amazing. She's short and skinny but guys really like her! And she's so strong, she won't let anyone do anything to her. She'd just stand up and punch the poor fellow in the gut and send him reeling.

I really wish I could be more like her…

Tonight we were watching "The Dorm that Dripped Blood". Slasher flick, but that's okay. We both sat on my little bed, in front of the TV with the popcorn between us and all the lights out.

By the end I was hugging Rukia. She didn't seem to mind, she just continued watching the movie with an amused smile on her face. She's really mysterious… she hasn't been scared by a single movie we've seen.

As the ending credits rolled on, Rukia turned to me.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked.

"How'd what go?" I replied blankly. Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Your confession! To Ichigo, remember?" she prodded. My eyes widened.

"Oh yes, that…" I could feel my face heat up. "He was in the hospital-"

"Really? Why?" Rukia frowned.

"Uh, he got attacked. By some crazy dog I think, judging by all the bandages on his arms… and the doctor- you know, Ishida's Dad? Yeah him, he was talking about keeping the bite wounds clean…"

"Hm." Rukia's face seemed to darken slightly. I watched her quietly.

"You… you like Ichigo, don't you," I mumbled quietly. Rukia looked confused.

"No… I mean, he's a cool guy, but he's not my type, trust me," she shook her head. "It's okay,"

I sighed heavily, hugging my knees.

"Well, I confessed… but he was unconscious…" I bit my lip. "Did you know Ishida's been missing too?"

"Yeah, I noticed he hasn't been around," Rukia frowned. "Did his dad say anything?"

"I asked him… but he… he talked about Ishida like he was already dead," my throat seemed to swell with tears. I liked Uryuu, I liked him a lot. (Well, not like that obviously). He was a really nice friend, and the idea that he would be dead just… felt like a stake in the heart.

"Don't cry silly," Rukia gave me that same chiding tone she used with Ichigo, lifting my chin up. I stared into her wide grey eyes and suddenly felt better. It was odd really… she always knows what to do to make me feel better. I sighed and smiled weakly, and Rukia smiled back. Was it just me or were her teeth…

Naw, that's not possible. It's just residue paranoia from the horror flicks.

I glanced at the clock, and the numbers 11:52 blared back at me. I sighed.

"We should hit the sack," I remarked, yawning. "I have to get up early tomorrow to make Pettis fours for my French class,"

"Do you want some help with that?" Rukia offered.

"Uh… sure!" I grinned. Cooking with friends is really fun.

"Cool. I'll just… sleep over and then we can work on it tomorrow morning!" Rukia decided, giving me a nod. I giggled back and set my alarm clock for five o'clock.

"You'll have to share a bed with me," I warned Rukia.

"Oh that's okay," Rukia replied cheerily. I began to clear the soda and popcorn off of the bed and found some more blankets. Together we built a little fort of blankets and pillows, even though we were too old for that kind of shenanigans. Oh well. Once we were properly exhausted, both of us fell back into the blankets and fell asleep.

I woke up later with… ah, what do they call it… it's French- oh yeah. Déjà vu. The room was too dark, shadows glared gloomily at me. I felt an odd terror squeeze my chest, like something was going to come out and hurt me. I tightened my grip on what I was holding, only to realize it was Rukia's arm. That made me relax a little. There was a pale stripe of moonlight from my window, cut into uneven slices by the maple tree in front of the window. I sat up a bit, staring at the cool moonlight, not sure what to think of it. It was pretty, but also eerie. Kinda like Rukia I guess… only there was more of her, unlike the small scraps of moonlight left because there was a-

Oh. There was a shadow. Was it? There was a man-shaped shadow on the bed. No, it was just the leaves. Was it? It was so… I could always look. But… for some reason my neck was stiff with fear. Could I… just look… I slowly forced my eyes over to my right…

Yeah, someone was in the window. Okay, he was on the tree near the window, watching us.

I grabbed Rukia's arm tightly, squeezing. I heard my window click open, and something that sounded like a tired sigh from outside.

Rukia's eyes snapped open and she was up in an instant, crouched and facing the window in an oddly animal-like stance. The shadow was in my room properly now- a tall man with wavy dark hair and a white uniform. He was… slouching, odd for an intruder.

"Hey… which one of you is Orihime Inoue?" he asked in a sleepy, deep voice.

"Eh?" I uttered, confused.

"Orihime. Run," Rukia said slowly, shifting between me and the man. I scrambled back and fell off of my bed as Rukia jumped at the man, who stepped aside elegantly.

"Oh jeez, do we have to fight?" the man… was that a whine? If not, it was pretty close. Rukia stood, obviously angry.

"You're one of Aizen's men, aren't you," she growled.

"I don't see why that matters- ach," the man sighed as Rukia attacked him again. Was it…

Rukia had fangs.

I caught them glittering in the moonlight. The man had them too, but his didn't hit me in the gut as much as Rukia's did… I backed away and began running. My house wasn't really big, so I made it to the stairs down to the sidewalk quickly. Unfortunately, I had left a plastic bag from our earlier shopping and slipped on it, tumbling down the stairs. It hurt so much… I caught my head on the corner of a stairs and landed on my face. Cheek stinging, I picked myself up, steadying my shaking legs. I looked around, but everything was too dark, I couldn't see anything except for the soft glow of streetlights but that wasn't nearly enough I could feel my pulse thudding in my neck was Rukia okay it didn't matter to me that she had fangs anymore she was nice to me oh God please don't let her die-

She said to run.

I began running.

I got pretty far (I think) until my ankle gave out on me and I fell. When trying to get up again, I saw a hand offering me help. Instinctively, I took it. Once I was standing, I realized that the guy who had helped me up was the same guy from before, the strange guy dressed in white. I tried to step away, but my ankle hurt too much, I could barely move my leg.

"I'm going to have to carry you the whole way back, aren't I," the man sighed softly. I looked away. He pushed my chin up lightly, not harshly but insistently and stared me down

Was he…?

No, that didn't make sense. Vampires don't actually exist…

I t was 3 in the morning, and I was tired. Really tired.

Too tired.

Sleep…

LINE BREAK HERE

Inuyoshie's after the chapter special

I'M BACK

Yeah. Sorry for the wait. It's just been… a little crazy. Yeah.

So here's Romantic Seclusion! StarkXHime, with a side of RukiXHime and others.

So yeah. Aizen and co' now have a lovely party of kidnapped humans~ Hooray.

Oh, and Orihime will have some cool abilities, but that will be for later. Much later.

Yum.

Anyways. Please review and enjoy!