Hey everybody! So now I must announce that the story will be winding down! Yeah, the story is coming to a close really soon.

Koji: You repeated yourself

Me: no one asked you

Koji: -_-

Me: anyway, so yeah, I would like to thank blackandblood, dontchaknowme4life, and hEaRtBrEaKeR19 for reviewing the past few chapters! You guys are awesome!

And that's all the important stuff….I really don't have much to say now…

Koji: maybe we should start the story, before you repeat yourself again

Me: I just came from beating Takuya up, do you want to be next?

Koji: *backs away slowly*

Me: that's what I thought. Oh one last thing! This chapter is a little long, so yeah, I warned you! Review alright! Thanks! And Enjoy! ^_^

Chapter 10

For the next few days Zoe had been trying to avoid any contact with Takuya. This, however, was not an easy task, especially considering the fact that they both live in under the same roof.

Everyday was a routine, a very painful routine. In the mornings, Zoe would get up as early as she could. It always depended on whether her husband had gone away the whole night drinking and he was hungover as to when she would wake up. But most of the time, she would wake up as early as 5 am. She did this to avoid any possible contact with him. For breakfast she would go to any coffee shop. Then she would go to work.

Although she tried her best to hide it, a lot of the other employees were noticing a depressed mood coming from their colleague. She smiled when she was spoken too. She lifted her head and got out of her daze when someone approached. But once she thought there was no one there…she would ponder on what has happened. The many changes Takuya has gone through.

For lunch, she would try to avoid Sophie, because she knew her friend would ask her about everything. Knowing Sophie, she already probably knew Zoe had problems. Zoe never felt hungry anymore. At times she felt sick and nauseous. But she set those feelings aside.

Then Zoe, continued the whole afternoon like the mornings. Until she had to return home. She tried to avoid him as much as possible. Sometimes she was "lucky" and Takuya would not get home until very late into the night. TO her surprise, Takuya got the message. When he did arrive, Zoe knew, especially that his heavy footsteps and clumsiness would wake her up. Takuya would enter and just fall into the couch and stay there. Then her painful day would start over again…

-Almost lunchtime

Zoe was sitting in her office trying to calculate some equations, but to no avail. She just couldn't concentrate.

"Come one, Zoe! Get over it…or at least do your work properly!" she would tell herself.

She clicked the same button she had been clicking the past 10 minutes on her computer.

"Hey Zoe!"

"AHHH!" she yelled and hit her knees onto the table.

"Oh, are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you!" It was Sophie. She placed her arms on her friends shoulder and asked her again, "Are you okay?"

Zoe, who was now, breathing heavily, started to calm down. "Uh, yeah, yeah, I am…"

"Oh, okay, anyway, I want you to come to lunch with me. We haven't gone out for a really long time! Do you want to come?" insisted Sophie.

"Um…I don't know, I think I will-"

"Nope, no excuses you will come with me young lady and you will eat with me and a Justin! You got that!" commanded Sophie with a playful smile on her face.

Normally, Zoe would have played along with her and made some playful excuse, but this time, there was no such reaction and Sophie took note of that.

"Um, alright…" said Zoe somberly and returned to her screen.

"Zoe…" started Sophie, "…is everything okay?"

"Yes! Don't ask me questions, alright?" yelled Zoe, getting the attention of the nearby engineers. She pointed her finger into her friend's face with a hurt expression.

"Alright, alright…let's go to lunch then, I think someone is hungry!" said Sophie as she took a hold of Zoe's hand and dragged her out of the office.

"Wait! My purse! I need to log out of the computer! Hey!"

-Lunchtime! (I'm hungry….wow, random.)

"…So I told him I couldn't go, but he insisted! He can get on my nerves sometimes and agh!" laughed Sophie as her aquamarine eyes were filling with tears of laughter.

"Oh, shit, that's Koji for ya'," replied Justin.

The three friends were at their favorite restaurant enjoying their meal outside. The whole time, Sophie was telling a story of her and Koji, but only entertaining half of her audience.

"Zoe, why haven't you been speaking?" asked Justin after sensing an abnormality from the woman.

"Huh? Oh, uh no, nothing is wrong with me…okay?" she answered.

"Obviously there is," he said. "I asked you why you were speaking, not if there was something wrong. But now I know. What's wrong. Look you haven't even eating half of your food!"

Zoe looked down at her plate and glared at Justin, whom was pointing at the food with a serious face.

"Yeah, Zoe. You've been acting so weird lately, and don't say you haven't because I've been watching you…well, you know, not the stalker-ish way, or then I would know," urged Sophie. She was chuckling at her own joke.

Justin glared at Sophie and she immediately composed herself.

"Anyway, what's wrong?" he asked again.

Zoe looked at him. Justin's face was full of sincerity and friendliness. Then she looked at Sophie. Worry was obvious in her face. Then, Zoe looked at her food; she hadn't touch most of it.

"I-" she started but was cut off by Sophie.

"Hey, their towing my car. Why are they towing my car? Wait, what the fuck?" cursed the red-head as she got up and started running towards her car, which was being hooked to the towing truck.

"Wow. Now you can open up with more confidence," announced Justin, "I know that because Sophie was here, you wouldn't want to say much."

Zoe was amazed at how much Justin was a sage. But she looked down again.

"I….I-I don't know what's wrong. Takuya…he's been acting weird…" she started.

"Takuya? What? Since when? What happened?" he asked straightening his posture.

"I-I don't know! He started acting so weird. Then he started to just get drunk. For the past few weeks it's the same," she said in a low voice. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. "And then…he-I-I think he cheated on me."

One by one, the tears rolled down her cheeks. Justin held one of Zoe's hand and patted it.

"Hey, why the fuck are you taking my car? I paid the damn meter!" yelled Sophie at the towing driver man. He was nonchalantly chewing gum and attaching the car to the truck. "Ah!" yelled Sophie.

"Takuya cheated on you? How do you know?" asked Justin sensitively.

"I-it's just that one night he came back to the apartment really drunk. And then when I got close to him he reeked of alcohol. His breath, his clothes, everything. But there was another scent that I smelled…it was perfume-women's perfume," she explained.

"Hm, Takuya, really?" said Justin in disbelief.

"Yeah, and then.." started Zoe, muffled by the tears that continued to fall.

"And then what?" encouraged Justin as he continued to grab her hands. He squeezed them to reassure her that it was okay for her to continue.

"And then….he-he, I didn't want to! He forced me," she said as a new round of fresh tears ran down her face.

"Forced you? To what Zoe? What?" asked Justin. He was worried.

"…he raped me…" she said silently, almost an inaudible whisper.

Justin was speechless. He sat agape and speechless. He had never come across something like this. Sure, he had heard of different marriage problems, but never these such as what one of his closest friends was going through. He couldn't believe that these two lovebirds, as he had known them, would ever experience this. He knew Takuya. He knew he was fun to be around with, a great joker, but never a rapist.

"Takuya…? Raped you…? No, it couldn't-he couldn't-…why?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

And he didn't get it.

Zoe remained silently crying and wiping her tears.

"Ugh, that fucker gave me this to call and get my car when I could have just gotten it there-whoa what happened?" asked Sophie as she reached her table with a card in her hand. She stopped when she saw her friend wiping her eyes and breathing heavily.

-later that night

Zoe arrived to her apartment and placed the keys aside. She slowly closed the door. She sighed as she entered the atrocious apartment that only reminded her of him.

She sighed as she placed her purse on the couch. It was 5:30 in the afternoon and she sat next to her purse. She picked up the remote control and turned the TV on as she took her shoes off.

Then there was a jiggle from the door knob.

Zoe sat up straight and stiffened. "He's here?" she asked with wide eyes.

And the door opened.

She stared. He stared.

She glared. He glared.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

"This is my apartment," he said with the same coldness.

"As is mine," she answered.

There was a troubling silence as Takuya placed his keys next to where Zoe had placed them earlier. He slowly moved from the living room to the kitchen which were connected. Zoe, trying as hard as she could, tried to not shake, to not show her fear. The fear she had for the man she loves.

"So…it's about time you spent some time in this apartment," he said taking a sip at his glass of water.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked turning around in the couch to face him.

"Well, you tend to leave damn early and then I just don't see you…" he explained as he took another sip.

"Don't you think you should be answering that question to me?" she asked proudly.

"Me? Why me? I asked you?"

"Well, I'm not the one who goes who know where in the middle of the fucking night drinking myself to a stupor and returning at 3, 4 in the morning."

"….so?"

"So? What do you fucking do at that time? What would some normal do at that time?" Zoe asked as a new sense of courage was taking over her. The anger building up, she stood up and faced him, standing on the other side of the counter top in between the living room and the kitchen.

"Well, at least I don't kiss up to my boss like you do? Who know what you do to him so that he can say "cheers". That damn fat asshole exulting you for some damn reason! What do you do him some sort of sexual favors or something?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" she shouted placing her hands on her hips. "Are you really fucking asking me if I cheat on you with my boss! You are the one who comes during the night stinking up this damn apartment with you alcohol and other women's perfume!"

Takuya glared and if he was red in the face before, then this extremely surpassed it. He quickly walked around the counter top and took a hold of Zoe who was trying to stay away from his grasped.

"Look here you bitch-"

"Don't you dare call me a bitch you bastard!" she yelled as tears ran down her face.

Takuya's grasp on her arm tightened. " I can call you whatever name I want!" he said, loosing much patience.

"No! No you can't! You are the last person in this earth who has the fucking right to call me whatever you want. You are a damned alcoholic who cheats on your wife for no fucking reason! What do you do with yourself at work? Is that where you have been cheating on me?" Zoe's tears stopped running for now anger had fully taken over.

"At work? What work? I was fired a long time ago!"

"What?" asked Zoe, softening her expression. "You were fired? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't feel like! And because of you! You made the asshole of my boss fire me!"

"Me? What did I do? I never meet your fucking boss!" she said enraged once more. Zoe was trying to loosen the grip around her wrist. She felt a strong pang of pain coming from it.

Takuya had taken Zoe from the counter top to the living room, where the TV was still on.

"Shut up! And leave me the fuck alone!" he yelled into her face and forcefully let her go.

Zoe tripped over one of the legs of the sofa and as she descended, hit her head on the corner of one of the table that held a lamp. She lay on the floor unconscious, next to the lamp that had fallen next to her.

Takuya saw this and smiled. He stood high and tall as he saw his wife on the floor unconscious.

The small sadistic smile planted on his face soon faltered however. After a few moments, she didn't stir. Takuya's angered expression changed into a worried one.

He called for her. "Zoe? Zoe?" he said softly.

After no response, he walked toward her. "Zoe? Hey, Zoe? Wake up," he said and still no reaction.

He kneeled down to pick the woman into his arms. She felt much lighter than before, but only a slightly bit. It had been a while since he had placed his hands over her body. He ran his finger over her arms, feeling the soft skin. A small sting of guilt was running through his body now.

"Zoe, wake up!" he yelled as he shook her fragile body.

No response.

Wow that was a long chapter! I've never typed so much for a chapter before! I feel somewhat accomplished!

So what do you think?

I know it was long, but I really didn't want to split it because I wanted you guys to read some action not like the last chapter with all that fluff, there was enough fluff. Too much of it can get a little boring…at times a little sickening…but that's just me.

So yeah, please tell me what you thought and esta fue utsukushii! ^_^