This was originally posted on LJ, so if it seems familiar, that's where it's from.

Anyway, this is my first Bleach fanfiction and I wrote it approxamately 3 hours after first meeting Ishida. (I WOOOVE YOU I-SHI-DAAAA!) It pretty much chronicles their lives together as a couple and how they overcome challenges and all that jazz. Except I shall be adding as much ANGST!!! as I possibly can, because I just love the ANGST!!!

Well, that's it for the explanation. Please enjoy and review when you are done.

The closest AC has ever come to owning Bleach is the Clorox in the basement.

The three words that came from his mouth were probably some of the most shocking things Uryuu had ever heard. So shocking, in fact, that he couldn't help but just stand and stare at the orange-haired boy. He felt his heart beat blood into every pore and pocket of his body, making his finers tingle and ears heat up. Thank God they were under his hair. He didn't want Ichigo to see what his confession was doing to him.

"What...did you say?" Uryuu asked.

Ichigo shuffled uncomfortably. "I...uh...I said that I love you." There was a blush growing on Ichigo's face. His eyes were focused on the floor.

Uryuu blinked. "Oh..." he said. "I thought that's what you said."

There was silence.

"So..." Ichigo said, leaving Uryuu's end open.

"So" Uryuu repeated. He honestly had nothing to say to Ichigo. Which was weird. Uryuu put his hands in his pant's pockets and turned around, his back facing Ichigo. Uryuu didn't make it five steps before he was pulled back by Ichigo, who then shoved the Quincy against the nearest wall, hands balled in the collar of his shirt.

"What the hell? Aren't you going to say anything?" Ichigo asked.

Uryuu could feel the emotion riding out on the same waves as Ichigo's spirit energy. It felt like worry, anxiety, and fear. Uryuu kept his face as emotionless as he could. Uryuu just stared at Ichigo, not wanting to respond, not willing to respond, to a question he had no answer to.

Ichigo's expression softened, the enternal wrinkles in his brow dissappearing. His hands unclenched and fell from Uryuu's collar, instead falling and sitting on the thin, blue-eyed boy's chest. Ichigo closed his eyes and leaned in close, nostrils flaring at the scent of the Quincy, hands burning at the feeling of his even breathing and increasing heartbeat, and ears flushing at the sound of Uryuu whispering his name before Ichigo's lips brushed over his, questioning. Then, he pressed their two mouths together in an action that Ichigo had once seen as a far-away dream.

Uryuu froze, his muscles not reacting to the messages that his brain was sending them. Though, he wasn't sure if his brain was sending them any messages in the first place. That must've been why he just stood there, feeling a shinigami kiss him with such a tenderness that made Uryuu completely speachless.

After a few more seconds, Ichigo slowly parted their lips. He moved his face away from Uryuu's and stared at him.

They didn't break eye contact for almost a minute. They didn't move, they didn't think, it seemed like they didn't even breathe.

Then, finally, Uryuu made the initiative to say something. "Ichigo..."

Ichigo felt his heart skip. Uryuu never, if ever, used his name. "Uryuu..." Ichigo whispered back. He spread his fingers over Uryuu's chest, feeling the warmth that was trapped under the white shirt he was wearing.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo felt himself be pushed away by the boy he had trapped against the wall before the Quincy sprinted off in the direction opposite of Rukia's calls for the substitute shinigami. Ichigo watched as the boy ran off, before looking back for Rukia.

(----------)

Uryuu pressed his back into the door of his apartment. His hands were covering his mouth. His entire body was shaking and his chest heaved to catch the breath he couldn't claim when he had been running. Uryuu's back slid down, slowly sitting himself down on the floor in front of the threshold to this private sanctuary where he all the time in the world to figure out what had just happened.

He knew the basics. Ichigo found him afterschool and convinced him to stop and talk to him. Uryuu obliged. He listened as Ichigo rambled about something that made absolutely no sense, until he stopped, restarted, and confessed. Not sure how to respond, he tried to walk away, but Ichigo brought him back and...

Uryuu's face turned crimson. His lips were trembling from the feeling of cold as he pulled his hands away. At least, that's what he told himself. His lips weren't the only things on his body trembling, though, and he was perfectly warm. Maybe even a little over-heated.

He gripped his head. Ichigo kissed him. Ichigo kissed him. Ichigo kissed him...

He couldn't seem to get that out of his head. He had been kissed by someone he had once considered an enemy. Of course, that was long ago. They had definitely become closer since their first meeting. Close enough, apparently, for Ichigo to become attracted to Uryuu and to...fall...in...

Uryuu clenched his eyes. He whimpered. What's going on with him? What's he going to do? He didn't understand anything anymore. He didn't understand what was going on between him and Ichigo. He couldn't help but admit that, yes, at times, he would look at Ichigo and reflect on how handsome he was. He would sometimes find in the crafts store a thread that was the same color as Ichigo's hair and buy it, even though it was almost completely useless to him. He would sometimes find himself become angry whenever Rukia pulled Ichigo away from him, even if all they were doing was fighting.

Something cold rose in Uryuu's stomach. His eyes snapped open as his hands fell from his head. He didn't push Ichigo away from him until he heard Rukia's voice. And he was completely conscious of what was happening around him, too. So he could've, if he wanted to. If he really, really wanted to, he could have told Ichigo to go find another boy to slobber over.

But, if he had, then he would've had to see Ichigo's handsome face twist in heartbreak. He would've had nightmares of Ichigo sobbing away his pain, as loud and clear as if he was lying right next to Uryuu. He would've had to suffer through day after day of knowing that Ichigo wasn't the person he used to be. There wouldn't be anymore arguments, no hearing Ichigo's voice.

Uryuu held a hand over his heart as he came to a conclusion: he lo--...had equally as strong feelings towards Ichigo.

Uryuu sighed. Now that he's figured that out, what was he going to do with Ichigo?

(----------)

It hurt so much to see him like this. It made his heart feel like it had been ripped from his chest. No, worse. It made him feel like he had just seen him die in the most pathetic, integrity-stealing way.

But, it had to be done.

It had taken Uryuu a long time to come to a conclusion about him and Ichigo. Whether or not to pursue these feelings, what these feelings could actually mean, what it would do to his and Ichigo's life, so on and so forth, all went under Uryuu's microscope. But everytime he thought of these things, his emotions would cloud his judgment. His heart would urge Uryuu to follow this passion, saying it was probably one of the few chances he could ever find that would lead him to happiness.

But Quincy pride stepped in. It told him that the idea of a relationship with another male was dirty, disgusting. It would betray his roots. It could possibly bring the end of his people.

So that's why, the next day, with as cold a face as he could create while his heart was falling to pieces, Uryuu told Ichigo the most lies he had ever told anyone at once.

"That...love...you say you have for me has to be the most repulsive thing I've ever imagined" he started off, almost spitting at the word "love". "It's perverse, disturbed, and wrong." He had to look away now, so as to look at him, which would break his mask and release his almost-uncontrollable sobs. "You're probably the last person I could ever imagine loving."

He waited then, exposing himself to torture, half as punishment and half to make things a little more realistic. He didn't stay long, though. Uryuu tried to quickly make an exit, but it was fruitless.

"No."

Uryuu stopped walking. He wanted to turn around and see what Ichigo was denying.

"No, you're lying" the orange-haired boy insisted. "You liked what happened yesterday."

Uryuu's lips pursued together. He stayed silent, then tried to walk away again. That's when he felt his a tug on his shirt, pulling him back to face Ichigo. The temporary shinigami was crying, though Uryuu doubted that he knew he was crying. His brow was scrunched in anger, and he was baring his white teeth. Ichigo's hands closed around Uryuu's shoulders. The boy's lips trembled as he said softly, hotly, "You liked yesterday, dammit! You liked it."

Uryuu felt his heart plummet. Ichigo wasn't saying that to convince Uryuu, he was saying it to convince himself. He must have reasoned that the reason Uryuu had stayed was because he had liked the kiss between the two of them. He must have been so sure in that dream of his that they were meant to be together that this blow, this massive lie, must've shook him so much that he was groping for even the tiniest strings of hope. Because if he believed, then that meant that it was true.

"Kurosaki" Uryuu said, a little frightened.

Ichigo bent his head, body still shaking. "No" he repeated. "Ichigo." He lifted his head, and said, "You called me Ichigo yesterday." Then, the orange-haired boy smashed his mouth into Ishida's.

This kiss was nothing like the one from the day before. Far, far from it. The one from the day before spoke to Ishida the immeasurable amounts of passion, emotion, love that Ichigo had towards Uryuu in just one simple, soft action. It was a true, loving kiss. This, though, was nothing like a real kiss. This was forced, angry, painful. This mock-kiss was the stuff of rage and denial and desperation. It did not say, "I love you." It said, "I love you, please love me back." It was a pathetic excuse of intimacy.

It made Uryuu cry.

The Quincy made the effort to push Ichigo off of him. He wiped his mouth and his wettening cheeks. "That was..." Uryuu said, truthfully, "horrible!"

He heard Ichigo fall to his knees. Uryuu looked, though it went against what he was supposed to be doing here. He shouldn't show compassion, just indifference and disgust. Looking meant compassion, care. Not looking meant hate.

Ichigo was still crying, though he still didn't know it. He was mumbling to himself the words that Uryuu supposed were keeping him sane. "You liked yesterday. You liked it when I kissed you. I saw it in your eyes. I heard it in your voice. I...I couldn't have just made all that stuff up. There was something there, something real. I know there was..." Ichigo looked up at Uryuu. "You liked it. I know you did."

There was a pause between the two, then, "Uryuu...you're crying."

Uryuu shook his head. "No...I-I'm not" he said, voice cracking.

Ichigo got up, brow furrowed but otherwise, his expression was loving. He reached out to Uryuu. Uryuu took a step back, but once Ichigo placed gentle hands on him, the retreat stopped. "Stop lying, Uryuu." The tip of Ichigo's nose brushed against Uryuu's. His hands moved to Uryuu's shoulder blades. "It's not working anymore."

Uryuu's body worked on its own from that moment on. He didn't control his arms as they raised, placing themselves around Ichigo's neck. He didn't control his head as it rested against the orange-haired boy's shoulder. He didn't shy away as Ichigo lifted his head. He didn't push the other boy away as he felt Ichigo softly press their lips together in that same paralyzing kiss that Uryuu had melted under the day before.

Well...that did not go as Uryuu planned, but he doubted he would be complaining later.