Love's Closure
A/N: Sorry, I know I have a million things to finish and I wasn't expecting on starting something new but I don't expect this to be too long at all, maybe 3-4 chapters at most, I mean how long can a story about getting over someone be? LOL. But now that the weather is much cooler, I am more inclined to write again so updates for everything will be forthcoming (hopefully soon but now I no longer promise dates because I can never keep them!) As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, obviously.
The aroma off the freshly steamed milk and espresso wafted over Mimi as she carefully drew a heart into the froth of both cappuccinos.
A tiny frown wrinkled her smooth forehead. The one, for her significant other, had been ruined and the 'heart' came out more like a squashed egg. It was as pity she took hers with soymilk because her own heart came out perfect.
It was fortunate, then, that Jyou Kido did not care for such trivial matters as messed up froth art.
Mimi placed the steaming mugs onto a tray along with a plate of freshly baked madelines and a few leftover macarons from her thriving bakery-cafe.
Jyou was seated at his desk in the study, looking over charts and signing off on orders remotely. His dark navy hair fell softly over his dark eyes and her heart softened as he removed his horn-rimmed glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Jyou? Come here, take a break," she called out, carefully setting the tray upon a cluttered coffee table.
He turned around in his swivel chair, leaning back as he thoughtfully chewed on the ends of his glasses.
"Just a little break, honey. You've been at this all evening." Mimi smiled as she walked over to him, draping her arms around his shoulders, nuzzling her nose against his neck.
The familiar scent of his aftershave, soap and rubbing alcohol washed over her and she sighed contentedly as she closed her caramel eyes.
"You know I don't like it when you touch me before I change," Jyou sighed as he shrugged out of her arms, stretching his arms over his head. It must have been a busy shift- he hadn't even the time to take off his white lab coat (which, admittedly, Mimi loved seeing him in. Something about that stiff white jacket, especially with his name stitched on in his left upper corner, was so sexy).
"That's your fault for not changing, silly." She grinned as Jyou peeled off the coat, leaving his dress shirt and trousers. Since ending his residency, Dr. Kido as he now called himself entered into the family practice and was steadily building his patient base.
Thank god for that- those god-awful scrubs were now a thing of the past. Mimi hated those things. They were so unflatteringly loose and in all the most unattractive colors, too.
"I wanted to take a shower first." Jyou frowned slightly.
Mimi cupped his face in her hands before kissing him lightly on the lips. "But your drink'll get cold. Take a shower afterwards. Maybe we can take it together, even," She winked, grinning wildly.
It had been too long since they'd done anything and she felt like she was dying from the dry spell. The work at the clinic and the hospital was killing him and he was always so tired, always working overtime.
Sure, they'd been dating for fifteen years but come on. When was the last time they did anything beyond cursory greeting kisses?
Now that they were both in their thirties, Mimi liked to think they were secure enough in their relationship that they didn't need to be around each other all the time and she'd always prided herself on being a modern woman but still.
After Hikari and Takeru got engaged a month ago, she'd felt a raging jealousy that fired in the pit of her stomach. And Mimi quickly figured out that there was nothing she could do to quell that fire.
So she figured she'd get a ring of her own.
The only problem being Dr. Jyou Kido-and his incredibly dense sense of reading her signals.
Mimi had tried practically everything, short of going to those embarrassing love coach seminars that would "get him to commit"-or so they claimed.
She'd place wedding magazines around his apartment, leave his phone, ipad and computer browser open on engagement ring websites (with the ring of her choice in her size already selected, of course), talk incessantly about Hikari and Takeru's engagement and one occasion mentioned she'd like to have a child. With him. And preferably not out of wedlock.
(That discussion hadn't ended well, unfortunately. Jyou had choked on his mashed potatoes-who even chokes on mashed potatoes?!-and she had spent the remainder of the evening rubbing his back as he hacked and coughed for hours. The next morning she found him counting her birth control pills and he'd made her promise him she was taking them as ordered. Not that it even mattered, as they haven't even done anything in ages.)
Tonight, she was going to insist that they move in together. And if he wasn't going to pop the question then tradition be damned, she will.
She was a modern woman, after all.
"I suppose I could take a break." Jyou sighed as he settled himself down on the old saggy couch in his study. Most of the furniture in the apartment he shared with Taichi and Koushiro were from their days in college. Yamato had moved out to live with Sora about a year ago-no talks of engagement there either, come to think of it。
Although rumor had it that Koushiro was thinking of moving out to live with his longtime girlfriend (no ring there either but still, a step ahead of Mimi and Jyou and they've been dating twice as long as Koushiro and the pretty little blonde he'd met while studying abroad in the US. And they even went apartment shopping-she saw them in her own complex walking hand in hand).
Mimi quickly snuggled down next to him, handing him his mug. Jyou slid an arm around her and she smiled.
This felt right. This was comfortable and warm and she could envision herself getting old with these arms around her.
"Jyou?"
"Hmm?" She twisted her head up to look at him. His fingers were lazily playing with her chestnut curls. God, she loved him.
"I was thinking," She started, reaching up to meet his hand, entwining their fingers.
"Hm. Ok, let me put this down first before you make me aspirate coffee this time." Jyou snorted as he placed the mug back down onto the table, picking up a macaron instead.
Mimi playfully swatted at his arm as he chuckled before pulling his arm tighter around her.
"This is serious, Jyou. I'm being serious here."
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. You have my attention, what's this about?" Jyou shifted so that he was facing her, his dark sharp eyes gazing in her own. A slight blush spread across her cheeks as she felt the heat burn her face.
"So um, you know Kou's moving in with Amy and Yamato and Sora's already living together and oh god, Miyako and Ken are on their second child and Hikari and Takeru just got engaged, right? So I was thinking-" she took a deep breath to ready herself, "whydon'tyouandImoveintogetheralready?"
Jyou blinked. Twice. And his eyes got a vacant look, like he was trying to process what he'd just heard.
An uncomfortable silence followed.
"Um, Jyou? Honey, did you-did you get that?"
He shook his head slightly before refocusing his eyes on her.
"Um. Yeah. Yeah I did. Mimi, that's...That's a big step."
"Yeah it is. But Jyou, we've been together for fifteen years. We're practically married at this point, don't you think?" A bit of her confidence returned as she heard her own statement. Afterall, it was true, wasn't it? Most marriages don't even last fifteen years nowadays!
"Well I wouldn't call our relationship practically married-"
"JYOU! You know what I mean! I mean, don't you want it too? Don't you want to marry me? Don't you want to finally settle down, make it official and have a ton of mini mes and yous? Because I do, I want to get married, I want to be able to call myself Mrs. Kido and I want to be yours and I want-I want," She hesitated, seeing the look in his eyes.
It wasn't surprise, it wasn't agreement…
A horrible gnawing started in her chest as her pulse rang loudly in her ears.
"Um, well, I guess we can start with living together, yeah?" She whispered.
Jyou slightly shook his head while reaching for her hands.
"Mimi, yes I eventually want to settle down, get married and have kids. But you and I…" He bit his lip-not a good sign. Mimi's bottom lip began to quiver as she watched him scratch at his neck, his dark eyes averted from hers.
"We've, well we've been growing apart the last few years and I feel like we've overgrown our relationship.
"Yes, we've been together for 15 years and those were the happiest times of my life. I loved you-I love you still-but I think we're just too different now, we want different things from life." Jyou finally finished, his voice thick with emotion. Mimi stared at him, stunned.
He traced his index finger along her jawline as Mimi struggled to keep her composure.
Blindsided-completely blindsided.
"What do you mean we've overgrown our relationship? Relationships can grow with people, Jyou, I don't feel we're too different!" Her voice wobbled and she hated herself for it, especially since he was so damn calm about the whole thing.
"Mimi, you've got your bakeries and cafes and your television shows. And I have my clinic and at the end of the day, there's no common ground for us to talk. I know you don't like to hear about my patients and I don't blame you but at the moment, it is what it is."
She grabbed his hand, pulling it away from her face. "No, that's not fair, Jyou. I'll be better, I'll try to be more interested, and besides, you're interested in my work, aren't you? You-you're always asking questions and you love to try out my new recipes and we have the same circle of friends!" He swallowed hard and Mimi watched his Adam's apple bob from just above his collar. If this had been a regular conversation, she'd have kissed it.
"Mimi, that's...kind of the problem. I see you as my friend, a dear friend that I've always had a crush on but still, a friend. And that's not fair to you. Or me."
"So you're friend zoning me after 15 years?! You're going to dump me?! What the hell, Jyou!" He leaned in and placed his forehead against hers, and she closed her eyes at their proximity.
"I'm sorry, Mimi. You're an amazing girl, beautiful and smart and successful. You can do so much better than me." He drew her into a hug as her large eyes welled up in tears. Jyou placed a hand over the back of her head protectively as he felt the hot wetness of her tears hit his shoulder.
"But I don't want to do better. I want you," her voice was small and weak and pitiful.
Mimi pulled back after a moment, wiping her eyes and nose with her sleeve rather ungracefully and glared at the navy haired man before her with determination flashing in her eyes.
"Ok then. We take a break. I can live with that. I'll give you as much time as you need, but you know, don't take too long. I mean I still want to have kids, yeah? And it'll be...ok."
He bit his lip as he fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose to release the tension. This conversation was a long time coming but he just hadn't the nerve to tell her, especially since she had been so excited about the upcoming wedding.
But now that she was talking about moving in together, the nagging guilt that he'd been stringing her along had culminated in this last minute, unplanned and ungraceful conversation and the awkwardness of it all was just eating him up to bits.
(In hindsight, he should have broken it off with her before the engagement especially since TK had warned all the guys beforehand. But he had wanted her to have someone as her plus one. He'd no idea she'd get wedding crazed and now it was just messy. sigh.)
"Mimi, I…"
"Oh god. Don't tell me. There's someone else-you-you're cheating on me?" Mimi paled as she stared at him aghast.
There's got to be reason he's doing this so suddenly, it just doesn't make sense!
I mean, even if he had been planning to break up with me, I know Jyou. He'd have everything planned out, every single possible scenario thought out with an answer for evertyhing.
This? This is too sudden. Unless...
"Oh my god, don't tell me she's pregnant, too! That's why you want to break up with me and don't want to father my future babies!" She covered her face with her hand, loud sobs muffled only slightly.
Jyou sputtered, his eyes wide in shock.
"GOD NO! Mimi, what are you even talking about?!"
She peaked an angry eye at him, her face flushed red with emotion. "I thought you were reliable, Jyou."
"I am reliable-I never cheated on you! I swear to God! I just, I just know this is the end. For us as a couple, I mean. Of course we will always be close friends but I just don't feel the way I used to. That's all."
He reached for her shoulder but she recoiled.
"Don't touch me. Why did you touch me and treat me so nicely if you didn't even love me?! How long has this been going on?!"
Jyou winced at her tone but held his own. He fiddled with his glasses instead.
The tension between them only grew as the silence stretched out into minutes. Mimi resented that fact that he didn't even deny that he didn't love her anymore.
"I would say...about a year now."
A year. The words hit Mimi like a freight train. Going at least 500 miles per hour. Carrying explosives.
"A year…" She echoed thoughtfully before abruptly standing up.
"We're done. Goodbye, Jyou. It was...fun while it lasted." Mimi rushed out of the room, grabbing her coat while Jyou chased after her.
And that's how it should be, after all, NO one in their right mind dumps Tachikawa Mimi. Not even if it's the love of her life.
"Mimi, wait, I-"
He was flushed as well, his hair a mess. His tie hung crookedly and a shirt tail hung out from behind. Jyou was tall and lanky and he'd been awkward as a teenager. But she loved him all the same, all throughout high school, college and beyond. She'd supported his grueling studies, cheered him on through his strenuous internships and residencies and had celebrated his achievements with him.
As for him, he'd been her rock and support, believing in her first little bakery and all the other subsequent endeavors that had followed. He'd given her countless back rubs and foot massages when she was stressed, listened to hours of her chattering about her day and had been a wonderful lover.
He was her life.
What was she going to do without him?
She grabbed him by the collar, kissing him ferociously, for the last time.
Her heart fell when she noticed he didn't return the kiss, although his arms wrapped around her tightly.
"We'll stay close, yeah?" He whispered.
"Mhhmm." She breathed as she pulled away. She had some vestiges of pride left, after all.
A shaky smile played on her lips as she grabbed her purse and made her way to the door. She'd just finished pulling her boots on when the door opened.
A surprised Taichi almost knocked heads with her as made his way into the apartment.
"Hey, Mimi! Leaving so soon?" Taichi grinned a wild cheeky grin, still devilishly handsome although the hair had toned down throughout the years.
"Yes sorry but let's hang out next time," She pulled their old leader into a hug, welcoming the different scent and feel of anyone other than Jyou.
Taichi's hugs were tight but brisk and this time was no exception as he pulled her against him, her cheek rubbing against the stiff collar of his leather jacket. Before she knew it, he was pulling away, kicking off his shoes while throwing his keys onto the shoe rack.
"Ok then. I'm going to change and go meet Yamato, you guys are welcome to join if you change your mind." He gave Jyou's shoulder a squeeze before heading to his room.
It was the two of them alone again.
They shifted awkwardly in the silence before Mimi stepped out of the door. She hesitated with her hand on the door and turned back to see Jyou gazing at her. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed all warmth and affection in his eyes and a horrible ache began to build in her chest.
Goodbye, she mouthed, blowing him a kiss.
He nodded once.
She closed the door.
It was drizzling outside and the weather was numbingly cold. Surprisingly, Mimi found she didn't mind the cold, in fact it was refreshing.
Once she hit the end of the block, she whipped out her cellphone. Her fingers dialed Sora on autopilot-they tended to do that everytime something shitty went down.
It was just the way things had always been and if wasn't Jyou holding her hand when things were rough, Sora was there to lend her a shoulder.
It was like her redheaded best friend had ESP-she picked up before the first ring even finished.
"Hey! I was just meaning to call you!" Her voice rang out cheerily on the other line.
"Sor, I really need to see you." Mimi voice was wobbly again-damn those wobbly emotions! and she could practically see the concern through the line.
"Mimi? Are you ok? What's wrong?! You know what, just give me 15 minutes, I'll be right there. Where are you?"
Mimi let out a shaky laugh. It was so like Sora to just drop everything for her. "I'm ok but can you meet me at our bar in about a half hour?"
"Sure thing, I'll be right there."
Sora was coming. For the time being, everything was ok.
No, everything is not ok. You just got dumped, dummy!
No. No she wasn't going to think of that. She was going to go the bar, have a few very strong drinks and enjoy herself.
Maybe even meet someone at the bar for the first time in her life.
Because for the first time in her adult life, she was unattached, no longer in a long term relationship.
And now she no longer knew what her future held. And it was terrifying.
"Oh Jyou, you're an idiot." She muttered as the drizzle mixed with her tears. She belatedly hoped her mascara had stayed and that Taichi hadn't noticed her red face and puffy eyes.
He probably didn't, she was willing to bet money on that.
Men could be surprisingly dumb sometimes. Actually, scratch that.
Men were dumb. And stupid.
She giggled a little.
And hailed a cab.
She had a girlfriend to go see.
A/N: Next chapter will have Sora, more Taichi, Yamato and Koushiro and it will be back to being funny... Or I hope it's funny, as I hope this was sad and emotional, ha!
Please leave a review and thanks for reading! :)