A/N: Welcome everyone! PLEASE NOTE that Ichigo in this story will not be the same incredible hero that he is in the series! That goes for Rukia as well. Also this is an UlquiHime fic! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I sincerely hope everyone has a good time with this story. Rating may change due to mature themes. Hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any other copyrighted material.

Lie To Me Chpt.1

In the beginning of everything, some might have called us a fairytale romance. A girl falls in love with a boy at the start of high school and said boy comes to love and return those feelings to said girl. Then, said girl marries said boy and they live happily ever after. That's how it was supposed to be. That was supposed to be our fate. Two high school sweethearts living out the rest of their days together. But that's not how it went.

I still remember the feelings I had that day when I walked into our little apartment after a long enduring night shift at the clinic. With too many people to care for and stitch up from a crazy Friday night where they were no doubt, dumbed by the alcohol rushing in their veins. I'd remembered that Ichigo had, had an enormous presentation that had gone tremendously well and before coming home purchased some white wine to celebrate his success. That was what any stereotypical good wife was supposed to do. I was so happy, humming cheerfully without a clue in the world on that last beautifully oblivious stroll home what I was about to stumble into. Ignorance was the truest bliss, and knowledge brings nothing but pain.

I unlocked the door to our apartment, room 173, on the third floor. It was quiet as I entered the spacious area, and I walked in sliding off my shoes carefully, because I wanted to surprise him. I laid the bottle of wine on the dining table slowly so it would make the least sound possible and began to walk back towards the bedroom in search of my orange-haired husband with a smile glued to my face in joy.

That's when I began to hear the moans.

The sounds that fall from lovers lips when affirming their affections. I remember feeling panic in my racing heart as I took those last steps to cover the distance to our bedroom. Who is here? The door was cracked open slightly allowing for a sliver of light to peer through from the softly illuminated room. I silently pushed open the door and my blissful, happy, ignorance was shattered. I remember in that moment that I felt like I was drowning. It was like all those euphoric, enchanting memories we'd created together were slipping away one by one with every creak of our bed, and being replaced by the burning image of my beloved Ichigo and sister-in-law Rukia. Rukia my friend. One of my best friends since high school. Why? Was all I could think. As I felt myself slipping out of my body, suffocating in the harsh reality and confusion at the scene before me. That beating thing inside my chest stopped. It was like I had died a slow grueling death. Every sigh, every gasp between them, was just another knife in my chest. I remember my body, which was not my own anymore, going into a kind of autopilot; stepping back from the scene returning the door to its previous barely cracked state. It was rewinding my steps, taking back the bottle of wine, Putting my shoes back on, and grabbing my purse and jacket. It quietly slipped outside of the door, and walked to the nearest dirtiest roach-infested motel it could find. Its feet moving of its own accord.

It checked in and once it came inside it sunk down on the floor in the sparse room returning to myself I felt the sting of betrayal nipping at my eyes eliciting stinging tears as I began crying. Tears stained the floor, the bed, the curtains, everything around me turned into to nothing but a blurry mess of salty water. I lost it, destroying the pillows in an attempt to recreate the pain I was feeling, and letting the feathers fly around me. I wanted to inflict this pain on something else, even if the only thing near was an inanimate object. The brokenness washed over me like ocean waves, stealing my breath. I'd lost everything.

I popped open the wine wanting relief from this pulsating wound that was skin-deep, and so I began drinking myself into a stupor. How could he do this to me? I thought downing another gulp of the wine. Was I not enough for him? I clawed at another pillow stumbling ungracefully. What would Sora think? Would he be disappointed in me? His little sister who couldn't even hold together a marriage? A failure, I am nothing but a failure.

The worst part of it all was that neither my unfaithful husband nor his mistress realized I'd caught them in their scandal. They were too absorbed in each other to realize that stupid and naïve woman falling apart at the doorway. The woman standing there breaking slowly at the sight of her Ichigo, whom she'd loved since she was 16, having an affair with a girl she'd considered family and known for the most of her life.

So here I am now, Orihime Inoue. 22 years old. Living in Karakura Town. Working as a nurse in Kurosaki Clinic and living with an unfaithful man.

Confused, lonely, and out of tears to shed I picked myself up that night. Unable to continue lying down on dirty, now vomit-stained floor of cheap shag carpet. I managed to make it into the searing hot shower, washing away all the evidence of tears and vomit laced with wine away, watching it all spin down the drain just like these last two years. I changed into the spare clothes I always kept with me just in case I needed to go somewhere after a shift in the clinic. I even applied make-up, looking the part of the dutiful ignorant wife, yet I couldn't recognize myself when I looked in the mirror. Those dead, fish-like eyes were not the ones that belonged to Orihime Inoue. But nobody knew yet about what I had seen, no one except me. And until I had a better grip on the reality of it all I would keep it that way. How do you go from loving someone for so long to not at all? Should I throw away what we had just like that? Or should I forgive him? Could I forgive him? These were the pathetic questions circulating in my frayed mind as I paraded myself to the lobby.

I pressed the 'L' button in the elevator and pulled out my phone as it screeched into movement. Seeing the missed calls from Ichigo, which were 5 in total as well as several texts, I ignored them placing my phone back into my purse and pulling out the battery. I would need an excuse. Maybe I could tell him I'd worked overtime and crashed at Rangiku's, that seemed believable enough. Rangiku. I could tell Rangiku, but…should I? She had enough relationship troubles of her own, certainly she didn't need me to add to that mess. I sighed unable to stand still, plagued by the scandal burning in my mind like a broken record stuck on its last note. Her small desperate hands on him…His heated lips smothering hers. The droplet of sweat rolling off of them in unison. Why? I covered my face with my hands. How was I supposed to confront something like this when I could barely walk without collapsing in memory? It was times like this when I really wished I had a mom. Someone to spill all my secrets to. Someone to love me unconditionally and hold me while I fell apart like moms do. Except I would never have that.

I checked the clock as I strolled out of the elevator straight-faced. 7 am.

It was time.

I thought solemnly. I felt more nervous than I had in a long time, no, maybe anxious was the better way to describe it. What would he say when I walked in the door? Would he treat me the same or differently? Was that even him and Rukia's first time? And what about Renji? My marriage certainly wasn't the only one in shambles now. Rukia was a married woman too. How could Ichigo do that to his stepbrother? He was supposed to be a better man than that. The man I married wouldn't have done that. I wondered if Renji even knew, if he'd had the same cold experience as I had. I felt the cold morning air swish through my long auburn hair, making it sway as I approached the apartment complex that I knew as home.

"Good morning Mrs. Kurosaki." The attendant at the front desk greeted me cheerfully. That title had used to fill me with an elating joy but now it didn't sound quite right. It seemed kind of out of place. Just like me. But I was playing a part. I'm Orihime Kurosaki, the ignorant dutiful wife.

"Good morning Chizuru-san!" I smiled trying to look as upbeat as possible so she wouldn't see through my precarious façade.

"Did something happen Mrs. Kurosaki?" There it was again, that meaningless title accompanied with fake concern.

"Mr. Ichigo was extremely concerned and asked me to call as soon as I saw you." Really? Was he that concerned? He was sleeping with Rukia now wasn't he? He could just bury all that concern right between her thighs if he was that worried.

"Oh no, I'm fine really! Just a late night at work, my phone died as well so I guess it did seem like something was wrong haha." She smiled and let a small bogus giggle escape her lipstick smeared lips.

"Mrs. Kurosaki you're always doing things like this haha, you should be more careful! I can see why Mr. Ichigo was so worried." Her laugh was obviously insincere but her words made me upset. Why couldn't things just have stayed the same…

"Well please excuse me Chizuru-san I should probably go and reassure Kurosaki-kun." I smiled, again, tilting my head trying to look apologetic.

"Take care Mrs. Kurosaki!" I decided to take the stairs to prolong my ascent to the third floor. I felt like I was going to vomit. There was a hard rock in the pit of my stomach and seemed to be getting heavier with each step. Oh crap and there was the door to the third floors hallway.

Ignorant dutiful wife…Ignorant dutiful wife…until you figure things out…I repeated over and over in my head until I reached the door engraved with the numbers 173. I held up a fist to knock but felt afraid to touch it. The tanned wood seemed like the only thing that could protect me from what was on the other side of this door.

Knock..knock..knock..

"Come in." His voice called from the other side. I took a deep breath preparing the script in my head for the conversation we were about to have. My heart was beating faster and faster the closer my hand got to the door handle. I turned the knob slowly.

I allowed the soft light to engulf me as I stood before him awaiting his reaction. Ichigo was perched at the bar with a pensive look on his face, and his interlocked hand resting below his chin. He raised his intense stare to me, his face immediately flooding with sickening relief.

"Orihime." He stood immediately and rushed by my side as I hung up my accessories, avoiding his gaze. He pulled me into an uncharacteristic hug.

"Are you okay? Where were you? I called you but you didn't answer." I knew what I was supposed to say but the words wouldn't come. It was like my lips were sealed shut for fear of spewing out questions I wasn't supposed to ask yet.

I could smell him. His musky scent that left me in so much heartache that I felt like crying. I used to find comfort in this scent but now that Rukia knew that smell now too it felt like poison in my lungs. Rukia had seen Ichigo the way I was only supposed to see Ichigo. My hands remained dangling at my side like stiff dead tree limbs.

"Orihime?" He released me and pulled away to look at me, with a concerned expression that made his brows scrunch together. My heart hurt looking into his dark brown eyes. Why wasn't he saying anything about it? Why wouldn't he come clean? He always told the truth. Honesty was one of his greatest virtues.

Finally I tore my gaze away and looked at the floor, forcing another apologetic smile to hide the overwhelming desire to cry.

"S-sorry! I got caught up late at work and I was just so tired that I stayed the night at Rangiku's. I would have called but my phone died." I said straining to keep my voice from breaking.

"Alright." He said cautiously but I knew that he sensed something was not quite right between us.

"Sorry I'm just really tired." I said leaning back against the counter of the granite-top bar. I didn't sound like myself. I didn't feel like myself for that matter either. Who would? Honestly who could have done what I just did without being off? Ichigo walked towards me I kept my stare at the floor, knowing if I took another long meaningful look into his eyes I would start to come apart and begin tearing apart everything in sight. He stood right before me bending down to reach my forehead and placing a swift kiss on my pale skin. All I could think was about how much I had wanted this to work out, and about how many feelings were swirling around inside of me right now. Betrayal. Love. Confusion. Everything was upside down and turned around and I felt like a dumb hopeless female character inside of the Twilight saga.

"You should get some sleep Orihime." I held steady breathing in his torturous scent again. Why did I love this man in front of me so much that it was breaking me in two?

"Ichigo…" Was all I could manage to say. In every syllable it held so much more meaning than he would perceive. What I wanted to say was something along the lines of 'how could you?' or 'why am I not enough for you?' Yet, instead I stood there paralyzed in a traumatized state of affliction.

When he finally backed away from me I went and laid on the couch while he brought me blankets and pillows like he actually cared and asked me why I insisted on being on the couch instead of the bed. My excuse was that I just didn't want to make him sick in case I was coming down with something to which he teased me saying 'Inoue you're so strange'.

Ichigo went to work around 10 am. Leaving me in our home, alone. I sat there for a while holding myself together literally. Swaddling myself in a white comforter trying to hide the way I felt from even myself. But the memories poured over me in rushes and suddenly I had the urge to pull out the scrapbooks of the journey I'd had with Ichigo so far, as well as all our friends. I walked with eyes closed towards the master bedroom braving myself. And as I walked into that once comfortable room and felt nothing but anguish. This was the very spot that I was standing was where I had lost myself. I paced along the sides of the bed, biting my lip. It was made neatly as if nothing had ever happened on it. How ironic that the color of the bed was white, a color that stands for purity and faithfulness. It should've been red. I thought as my mind ran through all the sinful acts that had been committed here. I stripped away my clothes placing them in a lifeless heap beside the bed and pulled out one of Ichigo's long white button downs, shrugging it on in sadness. All the whimsy and pleasure I'd felt in this room was now stained with hurt. A hurt that was continuing to grow bigger inside me.

I knelt beside the bookcase and pulled out the album of our first two years together as well as the one I'd made of high school years. A DVD labeled 'Wedding Day' caught my eye and I pulled that as well. I laid the books on the coffee table and placed the DVD in its slot and walked towards the granite tops of the kitchen. I opened the silver door of the fridge pulling out some more wine. I poured a large glass and went back to the couch. Alcohol rushing down my throat as I pressed play on the tape wanting to relive the glory of that day one last time before I gave it all up. I needed to do something. I pulled open my scrapbook from high school first and flipped through the pages. Me and Tatsuki looked so young. My hair was short compared to now and straight as a board with bangs. I looked like a bubbly care-free teenager, and Tatsuki's hair was still the same as it had been in high school. Purple and spiky. I missed my best friend. She had moved to America about a year after high school. I only saw her on holidays now. I watched as slowly Ichigo began to come into the picture of our little high school clique. As well as Nel, then Grimmjow of course, Renji, Ichigo, Chad, Uryuu, Rukia, and then Rangiku and Gin and…then there was one person I couldn't name right away. His dark raven hair and piercing emerald green eyes seemed so familiar though. Oh! Ulquiorra, of course. Ulquiorra Cifer was the one who was always calm and collected. He faded into the background. He was very quiet and intense, and always seemed indubitably shy with his dark square framed glasses and soft-spoen voice. I wondered if he and Grimmjow were still in touch. They had been best friends after all.

After seeing all the happy faces throughout the album I noticed something. Only in one or two pictures though. Before me and Ichigo were dating there were two instances in which I was looking at Ichigo and when the time I thought he also was looking back at me it seemed now that he was looking at the person right beside me. Rukia. I looked around to make sure I was completely alone and began to cry pitifully. Did this really start all those years ago or was I just being insane? Teary-eyed and a little bit drunk I snatched the photo from the scrapbook and walked over to the trashcan grabbing a lighter from the nearest droor. I set fire to it, watching turn to ashes erasing another memory that had been stained by her with a smirk on my watery face muttering 'good riddance' under my breath. I walked back to my seat seeing that the video had just gotten to the part where we said our 'I do's'.

"Do you Ichigo Kurosaki take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

I felt a single hot teardrop begin to roll from my reddened cheek.

"And do you Orihime Inoue take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Yes, absolutely I do."

Why did that moment seem so far away now? The crowd of all of our loved ones cheered as we had our first kiss as Mr. and Mrs. Kurosaki. A sob escaped the vice seal of my lips. I still loved him. I still loved him so much. And I was only torturing myself even further by flipping through our first years of marriage together dripping tears on a few pages until I couldn't take it anymore. I clutched the albums to my chest crying out loud in anguish and physical pain furiously trying to wipe away tears and images that couldn't be undone by trying to wil it to go away. It felt like my heart was going to burst at the seams, and tear itself apart muscle by muscle. Every fiber in my being was calling out for relief from this horrid agony consuming me.

I called out Ichigo's name over and over falling onto the floor with the comforter's heat sliding away I crawled onto the hardwood throwing a tantrum like a child. And I lost track of time in that deliriously angry state. My fists clenched as I screamed at the ceiling demanding answers.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours as I laid there in deep delirium. I moved an aching hand to my pocket retrieving my phone. I sent Rangiku and Nel a text asking them to meet me for an important discussion. A few minutes later and they both agreed asking if everything was alright. I didn't respond. I shook my head lying there and staring at the shadows on the ceiling. What would I say to them? How could I tell them that some of their best friend's marriages were ruined? Questions circulated in my mind until I fell into an exhausted well-deserved rest.

Later in the night I woke to the feeling myself being uplifted by strong familiar arms. The striking familiar scent of another encasing me as I was held against the hard chest of another, hearing his slow heartbeat.

Badump…badump…badump…badump…

That heart…wasn't it supposed to belong to me?