A/N: Like the title suggests, this is a fanfic loosely based on the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn. I watched the movie again this weekend and was astounded by how amazing it was, the plot, the characters and of course, Audrey's superb performance! And Ulquihime, being my OTP, inspired me to write this fic, which will be multi-chaptered (though how many, I have yet to decide).
This is my first time writing a Ulquihime fanfic so please be nice! Feedback and constructive criticism is always appreciated and I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it!
I
She was wearing a slender navy blue dress, sleeveless with no buttons. The material hugged her curves in a flattering manner as Orihime gave a satisfied twirl, her reflection scattered in the hundreds of faces on the beautiful diamonds that lay behind the window pane of the jewelry store.
Tiffany's. She absolutely adored Tiffany's! There was no other place in the world where Orihime would feel so comfortable, so relaxed. Tiffany's felt like home, the one place in the world where Orihime would always be able to return to and feel an unavoidable feeling of nostalgia wash over her. Vivid images would cloud her visions, a phantasmagoria of childish memories. It was silly, a little ridiculous, the way that she would hang around Tiffany's store front for hours,admiring the brilliant diamonds, sapphires, and rubies, the tiny specks like bejeweled stars.
And it was here, at Tiffany's, that Orihime found herself occupied for hours on the past, whispers of moments from so long ago. The images were always blurred, with no decipherable outline and Orihime could never remember the details of any event. But that's alright, she thought as she mused to herself. It was better to not remember things in the past in their clarity, since the details were terrible anyways, and would inevitably bring up this unpleasant taste in her tongue. She stared, mesmerized at the beautiful pearls and amethysts, unaware of her surroundings. It wasn't until the distant sound of a resonating bell that Orihime was reminded of the fact that she had to stop daydreaming and return to her apartment, where she would have to get ready for tonight's ball.
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As Orihime sat on the decrepit suitcase in the middle of the messy room, the sunlight from the bay window bled golden shadows onto her skinny thighs as she fished around the messy pile of clothes strewn around her suitcase for a respectable dress to wear for the dinner. Finally, she managed to dig through the mess to retrieve a strapless black dress, simple but alluring in its design and her favorite wide-brimmed hat, with the gray ribbon at the side that matched perfectly with the color of her eyes.
She sighed softly, a pointy teeth digging into the corner of a Danish that she had bought in haste on the way back home. It wasn't the most satisfying lunch, but it would have to do. Right now, in this moment, Orihime realized how terribly she missed her childhood and its pure simplicity. She found herself yearning for the simple but cozy house with its white picket fence and the blissful years filled with friendly neighborhood dogs and the orderly magnolia grooves that lined the streets like stern soldiers, with the perpetually present lemony smell of yellow flowers and the salty ocean.
She missed being the precocious child of the neighborhood that often made all the adults laugh and basking in the sunlight on her best friend, Tatsuki's porch while covering her eyes with her fingers, so that the gold and crimson bled through her fingers into her eyes. She remembered wistfully when she used to spend the entire afternoon lying in the sunlight, so that her normally pale skin became honey, the color of molten gold and she would lie on the grass until her brother, her wonderful, kind brother, Sora called her in for dinner, where he would frequently surprise her with her favorite dishes.
And her room, oh, how much she missed the old-fashioned pink-floral wallpaper that peeled at the edges and her tiny bed, purchased by her brother when she had just been four years old and she had forever, Orihime thought wistfully as she picked herself up from the ground and trudged next to the window, outside where the crimson and yellow were beginning to coalesce into the horizon.
She leaned to one side against the wall with her shoulders slumped, staring at nothing at all. Her eyes burned with tears that wouldn't fall. Tears that haven't fall for so long. Every beat of her heart seemed to take more effort than it was worth, but somehow, it just kept beating. She was long past pain and well into numb. If only she could stay there, and never feel anything at all, ever again. If everything could just dissapear, and she could let go of everything she had to do.
If Sora would see her now, he would condemn her, Orihime thought miserably. Sora was so honest, hard-working and never took anything for granted. He worked three jobs to take care of Orihime, and had even forfeited the chance to go to college himself so that he could raise her up. And this is how I repay him back? Orihime thought as she let out a sigh of frustration as she kicked a bright-pink, lone stiletto shoe off the ground, which bounced several times on the grimy hardwood floor before skidding to a stop, a hollow echo.
Her tabby cat, who had been napping for the afternoon, let out a meow of discontent at the sudden sound. Orihime gave the poor animal an apologetic look and walked up towards him, gingerly picking him up, pressing her head into his fur as she closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry Cat, I didn't mean to wake you up. I promise it will never happen again." She whispered into his fur. They stood like that for a while, a girl and her cat in the middle of a messy, cramped room, and the glow of the sunlight hitting Orihime's skin into honey, the moment suspended in an absolute but comfortable silence.
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Her voice was constricted as she blindly tried to push him away.
There were too many things going on, the light-hearted conversations between the elegantly dressed people in the room, the flash of the brilliant lights and the sweaty, disgusting man in front of her, the irrevocably close distance between their bodies and how wrong it all was.
Orihime's voice was soft, desperate and filled with an edge of hysteria as he kissed her neck, his warm, lecherous breath trailing and sending unpleasant shivers of fear down her Goosebumps covered body.
In her mind, Orihime debated whether she should punch him and run or just bear with his indecent groping so she could get her payment. After all, a man in his position couldn't do anything too nauseating in the presence of others. And all she had to do was endure the rest of the night, which was only a few more hours. You do this all the time, Orihime reminded herself as she stopped her body from the struggle it had been putting up.
She felt the thick, blubbery lips pressed against her own, and she clenched at the edge of the tablecloth, her knuckles white as she did her best to restrain herself from screaming outright. Instead, she tried to concentrate on the thumping of the rain against the windows, drumming against the glassy surface that seemed to match her own furious heartbeat. The creak of her back slamming against the chair was hollow as the man moved closer to her, his thick, stump-like fingers brushing against her breasts, trailing down her stomach and dangerously around her hips.
Her rosy pink lips were curled into an unfathomable expression as he finally surfaced for her to breathe. Then, her face broke into the sweetest smile at the man in front of her, who let out a smirk and squeezed the sides of her hips. He wasn't able to see, however, the cold anger in her eyes and her fingers, the muscles taunt, still clutched together into a tight fist.
"Baby, how about you come over to my place tonight?" He whispered into her ear.
Orihime wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered back, "I can't, darling. I've got a big day tomorrow and I need to get home. And I need to borrow money off my neighbor for my electricity bill." She added mournfully as she looked at him, her wide gray eyes set in a pitiful expression, like a lost child.
The man looked at the beautiful girl in front of him with a look of pity and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out several hundred dollar bills and handing them to Orihime.
"Here baby. No girl like you should have to worry about paying for electricity."
Orihime gave him a dazzling smile, rapping her slender fingers around the bills and gave him a playful peck on the cheek.
"I need to go to the bathroom, darling. Be right back."
As she pushed her way across the hall of well-dressed people to reach the exit, Orihime found herself thinking of the rain outside and her favorite colors, raven black, porcelain white, and pale aqua.
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Before long, Orihime found that her thoughts began to blur as she dozed off, her neck slumped against the side of the moldy sofa as she struggled to prevent her eyelids from meeting together. She could already see flashes of dreams in her head, tainted by hues of many colors: the scenes of life that have not yet happened, and probably never come to be realized, a voice reminded her in the back of her head. But really, Orihime thought as she argued with her unconsciousness, it was good enough, just to be able to see beautiful things happen to her, even if they will never come true.
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Downstairs, at the front of her run-down, brownstone apartment, stood a young man with jet-black hair, astonishing bottle green eyes and two beat-up suitcases.
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A/N: So what did you think? And don't worry, Ulqui will most definitely be introduced in the next chapter!