Sorry for the late update again, guys.. Everything is starting to come up at the worst times and I'm getting a little overwhelmed… Sorry to make you all wait!

Anyways, here's chapter 14!(BTW: Please remember that this story is under the TRAGEDY category… Just warning you that this story might not have a happy ending..)

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara or any of the characters!

"I love you."

I gasp as the words escape his mouth, my face turning red as a shiver of random excitement runs up my spine. I pull away from Ikuto's warm body and stare at him, embarrassment clearly displayed on my face, "W-What!?"

He blinks for a moment, confused by my actions. I mean, I can see why he would be. After all, I'm the one who told him to tell me he loves me…

He loves me… Ikuto loves me!

My stomach erupts with butterflies and happiness spreads throughout my body. I try my best to not show my emotions to him, but I can't help my eyes from becoming a bit brighter.

"Amu," he mumbles as he stares at me. The look on his face is strange.. It's almost as if he's surprised he said what he did too! The expression soon changes, however, to a gentle gazing. I blush and avert my eyes, finding this to be extremely awkward but really amazing too. Ikuto leans forward a little and slowly takes my face in his hands. As our skin makes contact, I can almost feel the electricity and heat between us. My eyes drift back to his, wanting nothing more than to live in this moment.

"Amu," he repeats and pauses, letting his right hand snake its way to the back of my neck, "I love you."

My eyes open just a bit more as he says the words again, my heart beating like crazy. He immediately pushes my face closer to his and he catches my lips in a soft kiss. My palms start to sweat, and my cheeks grow even pinker. I allow my eyes to flutter closed as I begin to kiss him back. Every one of my senses mutes except for touch as I concentrate on our lips. I haven't got any experience with stuff like this, but I try my best to kiss him back with as much passion as he's kissing me.

Suddenly, another crash. I gasp, but Ikuto doesn't budge. He holds me close to him and continues the warm, passionate kiss. I quickly recover from shock and close my eyes again, returning to the wonderful world of him and I.

Another crash.

I don't jump this time, but when more crashes follow I begin to get irritated. How could this stupid ghost ruin such a wonderful moment? I try my best not to let the noises bother me as I continue the kiss. Ikuto doesn't seem bothered, so I shouldn't either.

I almost take his face with my hands and pull his lips back to mine when he finally pulls away, but I reason with myself and decide that it's a bad idea. I blush as I open my eyes again, but when I notice his expression I realize that he looks somehow ashamed with himself… My eyebrows tilt upward as I look at him. He averts his eyes from mine and lets go of my head.

Suddenly I start to feel extremely insecure. Did he not want to kiss me? Did I not kiss right? Was kissing me not worth it? Did I somehow turn him off? And why didn't he use tongue? I mean, it's not like I wanted him to or anything! It's just that I imagined… No never mind.

Wait, maybe he looks ashamed because he's guilty he kissed me? Maybe he thinks I'm too young? What if he's ashamed that he loves me!?

My happiness vanishes as worrying takes its place. I need to know what he's thinking! "I-Ikuto…," I mumble softly, my voice cracking in embarrassment.

He turns toward me again, but he doesn't make eye contact. He reaches down right next to me and grabs the suitcase I dropped, "Come on," he turns and starts walking toward the living room. I blink and hesitate, then follow him slowly.

What was that? Was I just rejected? No, Ikuto is the one who kissed me and told me a loves me… But what was that ashamed face?

I stare at the floor as the awkward silence engulfs us. Ikuto sets my suitcase down on the coffee table, then takes a seat on the couch. I stand for a moment, then sit down on a chair. Ikuto turns on the TV again and begins flipping. I look around the room and blush at the thought of what just happened, then frown at the thought of what happened after that.

Ikuto finally stops changing the channel and keeps it on some random show I've never seen before. I here Ikuto sigh and I look over to him. He makes a gesture as if to say, 'Come here.' I hesitate, not really sure what to do.

"Amu," he makes the gesture again, and I slowly get up. I stand awkwardly and look at him, unsure if I should actually go over to him. Ikuto suddenly flashes an encouraging smile and my cheeks turn pink again. My gaze fixes on the ground as I scurry over to him then sit down, cuddling up close to him. I have no idea how I got so brave all of the sudden, but hopefully he just thinks I'm scared by the noises or something. Ikuto wraps his left arm around me and smirks, causing me to blush more. I duck my head and bury it in his chest, suddenly getting really tired and drifting off.

xxx

"Amu," I open my eyes to find Ikuto just a couple inches from my face, smirking.

I blush and smile, "H-Hi…" I sit up and look around, but something doesn't feel right. I decide to push the thought away as Ikuto leans a bit closer to me. I blush and lean back a bit, nervous.

"Come on, don't be shy," he smirks and leans down even more, causing me to be lying down flat again. I blush and look up at him.

"W-What is it?"

"I love you," he mumbles and I gasp just in time before he presses his lips to mine. He begins the kiss, but I soon join in with synchronized motions. I reach up and run my fingers through his hair, and he smirks against my lips.

Wait, something doesn't feel right. Actually, I don't feel anything. I remember how yesterday when Ikuto kissed me my insides were going crazy, but right now I'm completely calm. Wow… Is this how your second kiss is? Cause if it is, then second kisses are kinda boring…

Well, I love it anyway!

He eventually pulls away and pushes himself off the couch. I blush when I realize he doesn't have a shirt on and quickly look away. How did I not notice that before? "I'll make breakfast." He says then leaves the room. I smile stupidly to myself and blush as I bury my face in the couch. I hear the soft noise of Ikuto moving things around in the kitchen and I sigh, relieved I slept well last night.

Hold on! I know what isn't right! Where did the noises go? Where's the ghost?

I uncover my face from the couch and look around, confused. The second I stand up I hear noises coming from the kitchen, but they aren't from the ghost. They're from Ikuto. I panic and run to the kitchen, afraid of what I might see.

As soon as my feet touch the cool kitchen tiles, I feel like I'm going to collapse. The image-it's just like before! Ikuto is clutching his chest, breathing hard. The muscles on his arms and back are tensing together, and he's groaning with pain.

"Ikuto!" I try to run toward him, but my legs suddenly stop working. I fall to the ground and look up to Ikuto, who's now also on the ground. He makes one last effort to clutch the part of his chest where his heart is, then his limps go limp and his weight presses against the cold tile.

I stare in horror at the scene before me, my eyes filling with tears. I shut my eyes closed and start punching the ground out of anger and sorrow.

"No, Ikuto you can't!" I scream and punch again, but this time my fist doesn't hit tile- it hits skin. I gasp and open my eyes, desperately trying to wipe away the tears so I can see clearly. As soon as my vision is cleared, I stare in shock as I see Ikuto lying right next to me on the couch.

"Would you stop punching me? And I can't what?" He looks at me confused and amused at the same time.

D-Did I miss something?

I suddenly comprehend what just happened and my body fills with relief. I smile and allow the tears to flow again, hugging Ikuto tightly.

"Nightmare?" he asks softly and I nod.

I hug him for a moment or so, then suddenly realize what I'm hugging; bare skin. I gasp and pull myself away from him, staring at his bare chest.

"W-Where's your shirt!?" I ask, blushing.

Ikuto shrugs, "I got hot, so I took it off at night."

"It's the middle of winter!"

Ikuto makes a face and my face turns bright red. I quickly avert my eyes from him, "Y-You p-pervert!"

"How am I the pervert? You're the one thinking that stuff just cause I took my shirt off."

"P-Put it b-back on!"

"Fine, whatever," he gets up from the couch chuckling under his breath and reaches for his shirt that was on the floor. He picks it up and pulls it over his head. I can't help but stare and blush as he does this, just making me feel even weirder than I already do. Maybe he's right. Maybe I am a pervert…

"I'll make breakfast," Ikuto turns and starts walking to the kitchen. I come back to reality as I hear his words and quickly jump off the couch.

"No wait!" he turns around and I blush again, embarrassed, "Uh, I'll h-help!"

He laughs, "Whatever you say," He turns and continues to the kitchen. I glare at him, but quickly follow him out of the room right as a crash sounds from the living room.

No matter what, I can't leave Ikuto's side. Yesterday, I thought that to save Ikuto, I would have to leave him, but now that we're closer, I can't leave him. I'm to- afraid… My dreams, they-they seemed so real…

Ikuto makes the eggs, and I put the toast in the toaster. A simple job, but one just easy enough for me to do successfully. While waiting for the bread, I walk over to Ikuto at the stove. He puts a lid over the eggs and looks at me, "What?"

"Nothing!" I say quickly. He nods and grabs two plates. I blink and look at him, then just decide to ask him, "Uh, Ikuto?" He glances at me again and I continue, "Y-Yesterday after we uh… yeah… Why were you… um…," I look away, searching for the right word. I would use looking ashamed, but I don't what to offend him or anything somehow.

"Because," he answers before I can find the right word, "I'm 17 and you're 12."

I blink and stare at him, slightly confused. That's his answer? Yeah, it's a big age difference, but does that… does that matter, really?

"I-I know…," I murmur and look down.

"Besides," he takes the lid off the pan and puts the eggs on the plates, "You've got kiddy-king."

"Huh?" I look up at him and gasp quietly when I remember Tadase. Dammit, I was supposed to call him to make plans for another day when he's free… But wait, if I like someone else, then why would I bother dating Tadase?

"Toast."

"What?"

"It's burning."

I turn around and groan in frustration as I look at the burnt toast that just popped out of the toaster, "Dammit," I curse and grab the toast, throwing it into the trash and cursing again because I burned my fingers. Ikuto chuckles and I glare at him, "Whatever." I grab the plate of eggs and bring it to the table.

"Aw, I wanted toast."

"Too bad!" I start eating the eggs and sigh. Ikuto takes his plate and sits next to me. We eat in silence until we're finished, then I finally say quietly, "I thought you told me not to bother with Tadase…"

"I did." Ikuto gently grabs my chin and pulls my face to his. This time, when he presses his lips to mine a huge electric shock goes up my spine. I close my eyes and happily kiss him back.

So he was just worried that I was too young… I guess that's not unreasonable, but at least it doesn't seem like he's grossed out by kissing me! I smile against his lips.

No, I definitely don't want anything to happen to Ikuto.

~Chapter End~

Yay I updated! I gotta wrap this up quickly, so a quick thanks to all my readers again and now I gotta get to bed! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

Arigato gozaimasu!

~AmuletFortune98