Yeah nope no idea where this came from. The idea hit me and demanded to be written and twenty minutes later here we are.

Friends in Low Places

He should've been prepared for this.

Seriously.

He was the one who invited them after all.

"Ichika won't be able to make it, but Renji and I will be there!" Rukia had said with a smile when he invited her family to Kazui's birthday party, and it was all Ichigo could do to keep from grimacing. He had considered Renji one of his closest friends...once. Once before he had married the love of his life and had a kid with her and all that dumb shit that transpired in the past twenty or so years.

(To be fair he had married Inoue around the same time -fuck Orihime, but it was after them. Something about the whole situation would always just sting, especially after Rukia had been trashed at the last get-together and admitted she had just married Renji because the clan needed an heir and then Ichigo admitted he had fucked up big time by never telling her he loved her.)

At this point, seeing them act (because that's all it was on her part, an act) all coupley and shit sucked even more. Just a constant reminder he let the girl who was probably his true love end up with his friend all because he was too chicken to confess how he felt.

"Why don't you make it a little more obvious you're checking Rukia out you idiot?" A low voice hissed behind him, and Ichigo whirled around to see Tatsuki glaring at him.

"I wasn't…" But the words died on his lips. Tatsuki had been his friend for more than half his life; lying to her would be useless. Instead he simply shrugged and sighed; he was too tired to pretend at this point.

"Orihime didn't see, did she?" His concern was honest. While he wasn't in love with his wife, he was still loved her dearly as a friend and would hate to hurt her with his wishful thinking.

"Nope, you're lucky she's showing Kazui how to blow up balloons." She pointed over to where Orihime was knelt over in the opposite direction of Rukia, face contorted in a frown that only Orihime could make endearing, trying to teach their son how to properly inflate the rubbery mass.

"I thought I was being more discreet," He confessed, looking down, "I would never actually…ya know…do anything. It just sucks." He finished, feeling too guilty to meet Tatsuki's gaze and not knowing how else to explain himself.

"You're more obvious around Renji," Tatsuki retorted with a dry laugh. "Whenever we're all together you always get so cranky."

"But I get it," She continued, looking away from him too quickly for him to instantly follow her eyes, "I know what it's like to watch the person you love marry your best friend."

Her voice sounded so broken and sad he didn't know how to answer her and didn't really get what she was talking about until he saw what -or who she was looking at. Her eyes fell on the same person his previously where and he couldn't stop the sharp, surprised inhale when he realized what she meant.

"Don't ever tell her," Tatsuki said simply, voice taken on a tone he can't quite read.

"I won't, I promise." And he means it. Tatsuki's been a loyal friend far longer than he's deserved. She nods, satisfied with his response, and lets out a long sigh.

"I'm sure we'll move on eventually. It's not like they were our soulmates or any dumb shit like that."

They both know she doesn't mean it.