Author's Note: Just thought I'd update something before I leave for NYC in 2 weeks. Sorry it's been so long! :/

Head Over Heels

Chapter 11: Thump

Mikan bulldozed her way through the throngs of party-goers in an attempt to get to the bathroom.

"Ouch, that was my toe!" a woman screeched as Mikan accidentally stepped on her foot. She couldn't even bring herself to mutter an apology; the pain was still too raw, too new.

"Mikan?" Natsume sounded surprised. Mikan glanced up to see the dark-haired gorgeous man staring down at her with a questioning look in his eyes. She looked down quickly, hoping that he didn't see her tear-streaked Her eyes darted to his arm, which was curled around the sequinned waist of the woman whose toe she just stepped on. Her impressive body, clothed in a red clingy sequinned number, was pressed tightly against Natsume's side and her perfect hand was placed on Natsume's chest, staking claim. A jolt of pain and jealousy struck Mikan's heart and she suddenly felt the urge to throw up, which was ridiculous. Of course Natsume was still the big womanizer he was, screwing anyone who had boobs and was breathing. But that didn't stop Mikan from thinking subconsciously, 'Back away, he's mine.'

Mikan slapped herself mentally. What the hell? The sane part of her brain chided. He is not yours, and will never be. That kiss he gave you was just a joke. It wasn't anything special. You are nothing special to him. Just one in the many women he kissed. Somehow, that thought just made more bile rise up in her throat and more tears spill down her face.

"You know her, sweetie?" the redhead questioned, giving Mikan a I'm-better-than-you stare. "Who's she?"

"Nobody," Natsume replied coolly. Coldness trickled down her spine, chilling Mikan to her bone. Nobody. That was what she was to him.

"She stepped on my toe and didn't apologize!" The girl whined softly, giving him a sappy puppy-eyes look, running her blood-red nails down Natsume's shirt. Turning to Mikan, her eyes hardened. "Look at me, little girl," she whispered in a low, dangerous voice. "Now tell me, why didn't you apologize? Do you know how much I spent on my pedicure? And my shoes? They're Christian Louboutins!"

Mikan stared at her own feet, feeling like a fool. First, her fiance announced that he had knocked up his lover. Just five minutes later, the man she was getting to understand and even like better blanked her and called her a nobody. And now this little redheaded bitch was trying to put her down. Just what was with her luck tonight, anyway? She grabbed the hem of her dress tightly, so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Look at me, you bitch." Before Mikan could resist, the redhead hooked a finger under Mikan's chin and tilted it up roughly.

"Mikan?" Natsume stepped away from his companion's grip, a hint of concern in his voice. "Why are you crying?"

In the short span of time he'd known Mikan, Natsume had never seen her look so weak, frightened and heartbroken before. She always had that stupid smile on her face, that mischievous glint in her eye when she bickered with him. Her pale face was now streaked with badly smudged mascara and tears that were still dripping off her cheeks. Her normally bright, melted-chocolate eyes were now dead and sullen. It scared him that at that moment, he would have given anything in the world just to put that cheeky, goofy smile back on her face and the shine in her eyes where it used to be.

"Sorry," Mikan forced herself to say, wanting to get away from Natsume's burning gaze. She didn't think she could deal with pity or fake concern from him. Not after what she had been through tonight.

Before Natsume's toy for the night could say anything else, Mikan pushed her hand away and ran for the bathroom as fast as she could in her heels, mumbling apologies as she knocked into people. Thankfully, the bathroom was empty. Mikan stared at her pathetic reflection in the mirror and took in a deep breath. She hated herself for being so weak. For being so gullible. For still loving Reo, even though she knew he was a bastard who deserved to burn in hell.

"Waaah!" She promised herself that this was the last time she would cry over Reo Mouri. Looking at her reflection bawling like a baby in the mirror, she felt strangely relieved to let it all out. After about 5 minutes of crying, shouting and sniffing, she sighed and grabbed a wad of napkins from the dispenser on the wall and held them under the tap. First things first. She had to at least sort herself out and not look like a deranged panda with her running mascara.

She was applying some Maybelline mascara (waterproof, this time) when the door crashed right into the wall with a loud bang.

"Damn!" Mikan jumped in shock. She looked in the mirror to see Natsume stalking towards her, an angry expression on his beautiful face. "You!" she spluttered. "What the hell are you doing? I almost poked my eye out with my mascara wand! And... this is the ladies!"

"I'm perfectly aware of that," he answered, still glaring at her.

"Okay, spill it. What's up?" Mikan scowled at him.

"Is that any way to treat the man who made sure no one took a step into this bathroom to give you the privacy you needed to cry your eyeballs out? I literally had to sell my body to seduce those women who wanted to take a leak." Natsume pretended to be outraged, slapping a hand over his heart. "Oh, you break my little heart."

Mikan gave a sound that sounded like a cross between a sob and a giggle. "I bet you enjoyed that."

"Um, excuse me, but please find me someone who would enjoy five little grannies with prune-like skin, orange-y hair that must have been the outcome of a bad dye job, rubbing their shriveled old saggy parts against me. They were practically raping me. Well, not that I can blame them, really. I mean, having a hot young stud in his 20s like me so near to them must have made their haven't-been-touched-in-20-years, dried up boobs and you-know-what tingle." Laughter leaked from Mikan's mouth as she imagined the scene in her head.

"Oh, and not to mention that woman who practically took the bathroom door down, wanting to throw up. Too many tequila shooters, I think. I had to haul her away from the door physically. Then she mistook me for her husband and was screaming about why I was screwing their housekeeper. Guess where that pent-up bile and frustration and alcohol went." Natsume wrinkled his nose.

"Oh God, she threw up on you?" Mikan giggled.

"On my $2000 Gucci shoes. Brogues, I think they were. Gobbets of puke were stuck in the little perforations," he said, poker-faced.

"I'm so sorry," Mikan managed to say through the gurgles of laughter escaping her mouth as she looked down at his feet. Indeed, there were no shoes there but just a pair of plain white socks.

"Aw, I was hoping to see some Hello Kitty socks or something."

"Oh, I would," he deadpanned. "When you take off all your clothes and swing around on a giant metal ball, licking a sledgehammer."

Mikan grinned. This man was surprisingly funny, in a crude kind of way.

"You're smiling again." To her surprise, Natsume gave a genuine smile of his own, showing a flash of his white, even teeth.

"You made me," she smiled, feeling more tears well up in her eyes. This time, though, they were there not because she was sad, but because she was touched. Touched by the effort he'd gone to to make her feel better. She looked up at the man who was willing to abandon a big-breasted gorgeous redhead who looked like she was mindblowingly amazing in the sack, get molested by a gang of crazy, sex-deprived old biddies, get his $2000 shoes thrown up on, get mauled by a deranged woman and wear Hello Kitty socks, all for her. Mikan felt her heart swell with a strong, warm feeling for him.

"Let's go," Natsume said, snapping Mikan out of her thoughts.

"Where?"

"On a mission to cheer Mikan Sakura up." He gave a her a tiny wink which sent her heart fluttering, her knees melting and her toes curling. Thump. Her heart went. 'I think I just fell a little in love with Natsume Hyuuga.' Ba-thump.

"Hurry up, slowpoke. God, I swear those dotty grandmas react faster than you do. And what shitty lipstick are you wearing? Your lips look like those huge sausages. Take it off, for the love of God."

Okay, maybe not.

Sorry if this was crappy! I've had writer's block for literally months and this is the first thing I've written in a long time. Review! :)