Chapter 4: "The bitter taste of love"

A/N: Hello x) Sorry about the late update – if you checked my profile you would be aware of the massive amounts of homework that ate (and is still eating) most of my spare time.

I wondered about this chapter for a long time, keeping in mind that I wanted to continue with more chapters after this one. You have good reason to look forward to chapter 5. It's not gonna be pretty xD

Enjoy reading ^^

She blinked her eyes a couple of times, nervously tripping from side to side as she looked out from the curtain. The hall was almost full, only a few seats in the back were still empty, and people had gradually grown silent by a simple piece of information – the performance would start soon.

Orihime was wearing her 'costume' already, a white frilled dress showing a good amount of cleavage and black high-heeled shoes she already felt sore from walking around in. To top it all off with, they gave her an expensive looking necklace to wear - Supposedly made of silver and with a red gemstone as pendant.

She felt kind of weird. Not that she found the clothing ugly or anything, it was just too beautiful! She was more worried of ruining the white fabric of the dress than trying to walk in the ridiculous high-heeled shoes.

She once again allowed her eyes to wander around the audience from the safety of the big black curtain – Feeling how nervousness once again crawled up her spine.

What if she screwed herself up? What if she stumbled? What If she…

"Don't worry, you're gonna do great"

She turned to look at the owner of the voice. Daniel. She sent him a soft, rather forced smile, before even thinking about saying anything.

"But… there are so many possibilities of making a complete fool out of myself!"

She stated, waving her hands in the process to show her growing frustration. Maybe acting just wasn't her subject? After all, it only seemed to make her life more stressful and complicated than it already was.

A soft laugh could be heard from Daniel as he placed a hand at her head, padding her lightly.

"Don't worry!"

He repeated, while she instantly puffed her cheeks up to show that she did not liked the whole 'padding thing' she was receiving from him – it only made her feel like some sort of pet.

"You look so beautiful right now that any mistakes you'll make are just gonna be forgotten in no time"

Beautiful?

She blushed lightly as a reflex, quickly turning around to hide her red cheeks from him.

The words she wanted to speak came out in small uneven breaths, and not even close to understandable, so she chose to just keep quiet.

While slowly making some distance between them and dodging his hand when he tried to pad her head once more, she lifted her feet and walked away from him – completely ignoring the confused look he was sending her.

Somehow she felt uncomfortable in his presence.

"It's almost time, get ready"

She inhaled a good amount of air as she followed the big black curtain while it was slowly pulled away to reveal the scene.

It was now. There was no way back. She just had to do it.

The spotlight hit her as she stepped out on the scene, a strange sensation spreading in her stomach as many hundred eyes were directed to her.

And even so, a special pair of eyes clearly stood out to her - the bright green eyes in the front row.


His eyes immediately found Orihime as she entered the stage with small insecure steps. And his jaw almost hit the floor.

Even though they had been together for a long time now, he felt like a young teenager in love once again when he saw her fragile figure standing completely exposed in the sharp spotlight -fragile but breathtakingly beautiful none the less.

The way her long red hair cascaded along her shoulders and the way the white frilled dress complimented the curves of her body to the extent that he almost felt jealous of the audience seeing her like that.

He slowly diverted his eyes from Orihime to notice that a lot of the male audience around him were practically drooling – not exactly helping the growing jealousy that slowly crawled up his spine.

But even so he endured it, quickly looking back at Orihime as if to seclude his eyes to just her and not the outside world.

He just had to keep in mind that he was the only one who could have her. Not the hungry eyes around him.


As the performance progressed and Orihime slowly got used to the many eyes on her and the bulge in her stomach got lessened her performance got better and she honestly felt great on the stage.

Not the fact that she had so many people's attention, but because the feeling of getting drawn into a fictional characters universe fascinated her - making her feel like a completely different person for just a couple of moments.

"I have to leave"

She gazed at the person in front of her – searching the brown depths of his eyes and desperately trying to express the deep feelings her character had towards the soldier in front of her. Daniel.

"You mustn't! The war will only kill you! I can't live without you!"

The words came out with much ease taking into consideration that she had been extremely nervous when she practiced them at home. After all, it had to be done with much more feeling than she thought her body could muster.

Daniel closed in on her - his tall figure invading her personal bubble in the process as he placed his hand at her cheek. She froze for a moment, feeling how his brown eyes were searching for something in return.

It was now. It had to be now.

She had an overwhelming need to divert her eyes form Daniel and look down at Ulquiorra instead. To see how he was taking the whole situation and to follow the advice that had been given to her – to imagine that Daniel was Ulquiorra.

She took a deep breath before tilting her head to the site, trying to gather the courage to initiate the fateful kiss that had haunted her for so long.

However, she never found the courage. Instead the pressure began to build up in her stomach again, and the horrible feeling of guilt towards Ulquiorra washed over her.

Small sobs played across her lips and her voice began to shake before she even had the chance to stop it – tears soon followed, running down her pale cheeks, messing up her stage make-up in the process.

"Don't cry for me… I will be back. I promise"

Her eyes widened. They had never practiced that line? Was he trying to save the scene?

In what seemed like a second Daniel bent down towards her and initiated the kiss that Orihime was supposed to initiate.

She felt how his arms wrapped themselves around her slim waist when she out of instinct was trying to pull away – the feeling of his lips making her tears spill completely.

Too many thoughts rushed through her head in that moment as she halfheartedly were trying to reply the kiss that was threatening to choke her.

It was not Ulquiorra…

-------------------

He had almost rushed up to the stage when Orihime began to cry.

The audience around him simply enjoyed her fabulous abilities as an actor, but Ulquiorra knew the truth after many hours of practicing with her.

That was not planned, and Orihime was indeed standing on the scene completely bared and crying her heart out.

He clawed his hands down into his lap as if to distract his mind from thinking too much. To stop the play would only make things worse… Deep down he just wanted to shove the unknown actor away and comfort Orihime until no more tears were spilled… but he knew that was not an option.

He couldn't do anything… and even though he had a burning need to just look away from the display in front of him he couldn't help but keep staring either.

Staring at Orihime, his! Orihime, while she gently replied a kiss from another guy.

He felt stupid for even feeling a little bit of jealousy at that moment. After all it was a simple theatrical kiss. There were no emotions. It was supposed to be 100% professional.

But even so a little detail was making the jealousy surface none the less.

Not the way Orihime replied the kiss, but the way the actor was running his hand through her long soft hair and the way he held her close by a grip around her waist.

It was too close. That wasn't supposed to be a necessity when making a professional kiss?!

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat when the kiss began to drag on for too long - or more precisely way too long for his taste. Maybe he shouldn't have insisted on coming?

His green eyes lingered at Orihime's face as her crying seemed to stop – at the same time the kiss was finally ended – much to Ulquiorra's relief.

However, before the dark descended upon the stage, he noticed how Orihime gazed down towards him with what could be perceived to be an apology in her gray eyes.

What was she apologizing for? Was this not what she wanted?

A deep sigh escaped his lips before he smiled softly to her.

You're a moron sometimes… It's not your fault

-----------------

They walked home in complete silence but none the less holding hands.

Orihime walking with her eyes at the ground, while the cold winds swept across her body – making her shiver once in a while.

She felt embarrassed, guilty, toady and most of all not worthy of the affectionate squeezes Ulquiorra gave her hand once in a while. She shouldn't have taken that role… not after what kind of feelings it had brought to her.

"You're alright?"

She jerked her head upwards when she heard his voice - her gray eyes neatly covered by her bangs.

"Ye-yes, I'm fine… thanks"

"You're sure?"

She blinked her eyes a couple of times by his quick remark.

A gentle smile adorned her lips as she finally looked up to meet his eyes completely

"No, I'm not sure"


When they entered their apartment everything escalated very fast.

At one moment they were simply taking their jackets off, and in the next moment they were over each other as if they hadn't been together in eternities.

If it wasn't because Orihime had been the one to initiate the intimacy, Ulquiorra would never have done it in the first place.

Not because he did not want to, that would be a big fat lie, but simply because he thought she would prefer to be alone after what happened.

Orihime tugged impatiently at his shirt when he seemed to stop for a moment – making him quickly grab her by the waist, lifting her slightly from the ground and walk backwards so Orihime's back eventually hit the kitchen's wall.

He was just gazing at her for a moment – gazing at the beautiful woman in front of him who was practically begging him to continue.

Before he got the chance to react to her impatience however, Orihime had already put her hands at the back of his head and pulled him down into a deep kiss – a kiss that made his mind drift back to the kiss Orihime and Daniel had shared.

Because of this he replied her kiss more demanding than he thought he would do – pushing her further towards the wall behind her so their bodies were closer.

She did not seem to mind but simply allowed her fingers to dance across the back of his neck while eagerly enjoying his actions.

Maybe he was just a bit paranoid but the smell of the actor from earlier still lingered at certain parts of her bodies… Making him a bit uneasy but still only enforcing his need to claim her once again. Take her back.

"I'm sorry…"

She suddenly murmured as he allowed his fingers to wander down until they found the edge of her skirt. He felt how she shivered slightly when he teasingly ran his fingers down one of her thighs.

"You have nothing to apologize for"

He whispered calmly back as he gave her a very short kiss of reassurance.

"It was not your fault…"

His words were cut short when he moved down to the crook of her neck, kissing the warm skin when she allowed the access he needed. Because of how close their bodies were, he felt every small shiver her body made.

Ring

He continued to caress the top of her thighs, pretty much undisturbed, when the sound of the doorbell rang through the apartment.

"There's someone… at the door…"

She murmured between harsh breaths.

"Let it ring"

The doorbell rang again shortly afterwards – making Ulquiorra sigh in annoyance.

"It could be important…"

Much to Ulquiorra's discomfort he slowly removed himself from Orihime and the comfortable warmth of her body. He was amazed at how great timing the ringing had been.

Without any further words he walked to the door, and opened it with a somewhat grumpy attitude towards the slightly taller guy that stood at their doorstep.

He seemed strangely familiar… but he chose to just brush the feeling off

"We're not interested in buying anything"

But before Ulquiorra had the chance to close the door once again he was stopped by Orihime's voice and the feeling of her hand at his arm - clearly a sign for him to wait.

"Daniel?"

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter *Cliffhanger Cliffhanger* xD

Reviews make me happy so please tell me what you think of the story so far ^^