Okay my lovely friends. I'm changing the tense in this one because dear lord and the heavens above the tense I used in Conflicts of Interest was a mess. I'll go back and change the tense in that story as well as soon as I have the time (I say this as I put off studying for a midterm just to write the sequel). I'll also make edits because I know it's not the best that it can be.

Anywho, thanks a bunch for coming back for more! You all inspire me to keep writing!

No pressure.

chapter one.

One day

Name: Natsume Hyuuga

Age: 25

Occupation: Lawyer – Legal Partner; Assistant Professor – Self-Proclaimed

The day she barreled into him, both her and her papers falling to the floor, was the day he knew something had initiated. He didn't know what it was, but the way she asked him "Are you lost?" sent him reeling. The look of pure confusion, of not knowing who he—Natsume Hyuuga—was. The look of humor, and joy, and excitement. Followed by complete and utter awe when their gazes met. The way she subconsciously leaned toward him when she felt the pull of attraction just as much as he did. Except he stoically held his ground, while she seemed so small and so delicate. That, and the grip of her hand left him frozen. Dazed, even. He knew he squeezed her hand a little bit too hard, but what else was he supposed to do? He didn't want her to go.

Natsume watched her as she hummed softly to herself, highlighting legal notes she managed to collect from his coffee table without him noticing. She lay beneath the sheets, her thigh exposed to the cool night air that wafted into the room from his open window. Mikan normally didn't stay this late, Natsume didn't fail to notice, but he wasn't making any moves to bring her attention to the time. In fact, it had been quite some time since the first time they had met—a year, perhaps—and Natsume was sure that tonight was the night Mikan would finally stay over.

You see, the two had yet to label their relationship. Mikan had made it very clear from the beginning that she had wanted nothing exclusive, except she knew Natsume wasn't seeing anyone else and she, now going onto her final year of college, hadn't the time to see other men. Matter of fact, Natsume made sure he himself was part of this reason as well. Mikan's personality did not allow her to reject experience when it was given to her, so Natsume often gave her many of his legal cases to look over, only for her to present to him how she would construct her legal argument. It would serve to be useful, he had told her, when she had to do the same in front of her graduate school professors. He knew, of course, that Mikan would see through his guise yet he found it intriguing that she still accepted the proposal.

And so Natsume would often find Mikan in his apartment, where he would display his affection until she eventually gave in. After which she would lay amongst his sheets and look through the pages of information she had obtained from Natsume's possession. Eventually, though, she looked up. Confused. "What time is it," she suddenly asked, and Natsume cursed silently to himself for this was the part where she would insist on going home until he took her home. What? You thought he'd let her go home alone at this time of night?

But, this time, Natsume wasn't so willing to give. "It's late, Mikan," he said simply. "No."

"No," she scoffed in response, collecting the sheets so she could throw her legs over the side of the bed. Natsume swiftly reached out and looped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her back into him. "Natsume, we talked about this."

He almost shivered when he heard his name. She had only recently begun to call him by his first name, and he felt like it was a great start to her becoming comfortable with their relationship. "I'm aware," he told her, his lips brushing her shoulder. "But I wasn't listening." Mikan sighed almost threateningly, but she simply pushed him away and stood to find her clothes. "Just start a relationship with me."

Mikan turned, holding the shirt she had found on the floor to her chest, must to Natsume's displeasure. "We talked about this!"

"How many times are you going to say that before—"

"Until you realize it's not going to happen," she hissed.

Natsume's feelings, in this moment, were not hurt in the slightest because it was true: she had told him time and again that a relationship just would not work. Aside from the fact that he is occasionally an assistant professor at work, he had way too many professional contacts with which Mikan was affiliated for things to smooth over well should it get out that they had relations. Plenty of people could argue that Mikan "slept" her way into her internships and legal clearance when… that wasn't the case.

So, yes, Mikan had admitted that there was something more than just a physical attraction between her and Natsume, and Natsume thought that that was all that he could ever want. But, a few months after the fact, that was not the case.

"So, we wait until you graduate to make it public," Natsume insisted, also standing to find his own clothes. He saw his pants sitting a small distance behind Mikan who, when Natsume beckoned, tossed the article of clothing to him. "And by that point I will have already pulled out of all of common connections." Mikan bit her lip. "Or you can hope to find something like this again which, if you could, it would have happened already."

Mikan's shoulders dropped. "Just take me home, Natsume."

Natsume stood his ground. "Stay the night. Stay with me."

Mikan refused to stay, and Natsume took her home. The car ride was painfully silent and terribly awkward, because it was obvious Natsume wanted to initiate some sort of physical contact but he had already made her uncomfortable by expressing everything that he wanted from her that night. When they reached her apartment, her roommate—Hotaru Imai—was leaning over the balcony having a smoke, to which Mikan expressed her anger and shouted at her from the car window. "She's supposed to be quitting," Mikan meekly explained to Natsume before reaching for the car door.

Natsume, on the other hand, let her go. What else was he supposed to do? Make her stay? While he was the type to get what he wanted, he wasn't the type to force something onto Mikan that she didn't want and it was clear that she didn't want a relationship with him. So, yes, he let her go and he waited until she was safely inside the apartment complex's lobby before driving away. And, normally when this happens, Natsume goes home and has a glass of whiskey before picking up the unfinished notes Mikan had left behind but, this time, Natsume sent out a text to his good friend Ruka Nogi to see if he wanted to go to a bar.

Adam's, Ruka responded, knowing that a drink from their favorite spot in college would help his friend. Natsume approved of the suggestion, and announced that he'd meet him there.

By the time Ruka arrived, Natsume was already a few drinks in. Two to be exact, because he still had to confer with Ruka to see if he was okay with driving him home. Ruka wasn't big on drinking, and often drank club soda whenever he was at the bar, he mostly showed up just to discuss Natsume's problems. Tonight's problem? Mikan.

Natsume voiced every problem he had with the current relationship, even the fact that Natsume wasn't completely driven to sleep with her anymore. Was it great while it lasted? Of course. But Natsume wanted something more. He wanted to take her on dates, to buy her things, to take her to meet his parents, to meet the people she considered family. These were all very intimate things that even Ruka knew Natsume had never wanted to do before and, if he had the means to contact this girl, he would try to scold her for wrapping his good friend around her little finger only to complain that he wasn't bending far enough. Natsume was a lost soul for the majority of his life, and he had finally felt like he had found something concrete… except that it wasn't.

"If she doesn't want a relationship," Ruka began, knowing Natsume wouldn't appreciate what he was going to say next, "then you have to move onto someone that will."

Natsume scoffed into his drink before drinking the last of it. "Right, because I'm very open with women." That was spoken sarcastically as everyone knew Natsume wasn't open with anyone.

Ruka shrugged, "Well what can you do? Force her to marry you?" Pausing, Natsume looked at Ruka. "What the—no Natsume you can't do that why are you even considering it?!" Natsume shrugged. "Look. Call her up, tell her it's either you have a relationship or call this thing off."

"Absolutely not," Natsume flagged down the bartender, this time asking for water. "I'd rather have something than nothing."

Ruka laughed through his nose, shaking his head. It was admirable, but also at the same time it was very pathetic. He watched as Natsume opened and closed her contact in his phone, weighing his options.

"You'd rather have something than nothing, huh?"

Alright guys, that was super short but I started it and I really needed to finish it. I've been forcing myself to go to sleep at a certain time so I can start myself on a good schedule, but the downside to that is that I start getting tired around nine o'clock and it's five minute til.

So!

I'm going to make sure the next chapter is extra great and I hope you all loved this one even though it wasn't the greatest I've done.

Thank you all! I love you all!

Goodnight!