I finally updated!! I won't bother giving you guys any lame excuses as to why I didn't update sooner. Let's just say it boils down to writers block and word count lol. I have standards when writing now. I will NEVER post a chapter that is shorter than 1,000 words EVER again. I get extremely pissed off when writers do that so I don't wanna do that to you guys. This chapter is short, lame, and merely transitional, but trust me it's necessary. I can't jump into the plot just yet. But just hold on a bit things will get better. I promise

Chapter 2: What Now?

So here I am. Lying on my bed on Saturday night just thinking. Not hanging out with people like a normal person would do, but simply thinking. So basically now I've transcended from being sick to just being pathetic. And speaking of pathetic, I gotta wonder why it's taken me so long to realize that the love of my life was right in front of me all this time. It's like me trying to find a shirt and searching my entire room from top to bottom, only to realize I've been wearing it the entire time. Am I really that moronic? Apparently yes.

I got off my bed. I didn't understand what I was doing. Why was I sulking? It's been a whole week since I finally realized how I feel and I've avoided seeing both she and Ruka like the plague. Of course I still woke Mikan up every morning but I didn't walk with her to school, and I didn't talk to either of them much other than that. I felt angry and bitter toward Ruka. I had to wonder if three years of friendship could really turn sour so easily. It just made me feel like a horrible friend.

I could tell Mikan was confused. The messages she left on my cell phone had ranged from worried, to guilty (she assumed she did something wrong), to angry. Her angry messages made me laugh. Her threatening me was like a little kitten trying to scratch me. I felt guilty for making her feel this way but what more could do?

I walked out my door and decided to go for a run. I'd learned over the years that running is magic. It can help you forget all your problems and just let instinct take over. I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going; I just went wherever my feet led me to. Unfortunately my damn feet seemed not to care about the qualms of the rest of me, because they let me to where Mikan and Ruka seemed to be on a date.

There they were in the middle of the park snuggled up in the middle of the grass. I had an internal battle with myself. The evil side told me to go right over there and interrupt them. The good said to be the bigger man and just walk away. I decided to follow the better advice and began to walk away when Mikan called out to me.

"Natsume? Natsume wait up!" she said running to catch up to me. Tsk Tsk. She should no better than that. She has enough trouble trying not to trip on flat, level surfaces, let alone in a park.

Like I predicted she tripped and landed on her face. I found myself smiling at the familiarity of it all. I went up to her and pulled her up. "Owww. Thanks Natsume." she said while rubbing her sore head. I let out a small laugh at her. She had leaves all throughout her hair. I began busying myself with taking all the little leaves out. She then began talking.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" she said with hurt eyes. I steered away from her eyes and focused on getting the leaves out. "I haven't." I said simply. I instantly felt bad. I had never, ever lied to her before. "Yes you have," she asserted, "we haven't spoken to each other all week, and every time I try, you power walk to get away from me." Power walk? More like walk really fast. Wait are those the same thing? "I haven't been myself lately." That was perfectly true. "Are you sick?" she asked putting a hand on my forehead. I turned slightly pink. "Not in the way that you think." Oh yea I'm definitely sick all right. "Well you could have told me." she said with sad eyes, "We're not best friends for nothing." My hands suddenly stopped moving in her hair. I hid my face under my bangs. I had just been indirectly rejected. Then I resumed untangling her hair and muttered, "Sorry."

I didn't realize that her hair no longer had any leaves in it and that I was absentmindedly running my fingers through it. "Umm Natsume?" she questioned. I quickly gave her hair a tug. "You should go back to Ruka now." I said. He had been watching us for some time and seemed to have an unreadable expression. Mikan's eyes widened as if she had totally forgotten that she was with Ruka before. "Okay, but do you want to join us?" she asked. I said no. As If I wanted to be the third wheel. Ruka turned away from me. As he looked at me from the corner of his eye, the look in them was evident. It was a combination of jealousy and anger.

After much threatening and pestering I had finally agreed to go to a movie with the two of them like we used to. Things were different now though, I couldn't watch the movie, which by the way was one I had been looking forward to for months. I was too focused on sharpening my interrupting skills.

Right when it looked like Ruka was getting a little TOO comfortable I would do something to divert her attention. All I really had to do was offer some of my food really, the glutton. Ruka had been giving me a glare the entire night and I had to fight a huge smirk that threatened to come on my face.

I was breaking all the rules in the guy code. I was being a horrible friend. I was being a horrible person. All those arguments didn't seem to matter anymore. I was being selfish, but I couldn't bring myself to feel guilty for it.

The movie was over and Mikan continued to gush over how great it was. She would've gone on all night if not for my subsequent bop on the head. "Oww! Natsume what was that for." she said gripping her head. "Stop acting like a baby." I said with a small smile. She stuck her tongue at me. "Well we'll see you later Natsume." Ruka said in an obvious attempt to get me to leave. I shot him a glare. "Fine. See you later." I said. Mikan looked back and forth between us confused. "Let's go Mikan." he said pulling her arm. She looked at me with a furrowed brow. "O-Okay. See you later Natsume." she said with a small smile.

As soon as I got home I had an expression that screamed bloody murder. Only an absolute idiot would think of messing with me now. And of course that idiot was my brother.

"Whoa Natsume! Who died?" he snickered. I gave him the full extent of my glare but he didn't bat an eyelash. "Hmm. Very interesting. You seem to be having a girl problem." Tsubasa said. I looked at him in disbelief. How he was able to interpret that was beyond me. He turned around and began walking out. "Let me know when you're done venting your frustration." he said walking away.

Although it was said in a low whisper I could here him say, "So he finally realizes."

Okay I know that this chapter was lame but this was a transitional chapter, you can't expect much. It's short too but I have done shorter chapters in the past so all I can say is… well….GET OVER IT lol. This fic gets a lot better. I have the whole storyline in my mind now. But I'm going to need some help. I'm not exactly good with revenge plots and rivalries. I'm an EXTREMELY laid back person; if someone considers me their rival I kinda just ignore them. Kinda like Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei in Naruto. And I never mess with anyone so I've never needed to concoct a revenge plot. Give me any ideas you can cook up ;)