A/N: Hello again, minna-san!

Thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows!

Song-fic time!

So here's a one-shot that came to me when I was listening to Start a Fire by Ryan Star.

Rating: T/T+

Disclaimer: Bleh Bleh… not mine… Bleh Bleh Bleh…. Tite Kubo….. You get the picture.

Enjoy!

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Too soon?

Too long.

Too fast?

Too slow.

And time repeats.

Until she is ripped from him again.

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There is a small sound of a stone hitting her bedroom window. But she doesn't need this warning. She's been awake all this time.

She sits up in her uncomfortable bed, the single, thin and useless sheet falls off of her to reveal legs clad in dark blue jeans and black knee-high boots. She zips up her jacket and slings her bag over her shoulder as she opens the window.

Her father will be furious, she knows. But she also knows that she doesn't care. She won't let him control her life. Not anymore.

Her long, honey-caramel hair whips against her face as the cool night wind whispers against her skin and something sticks in her throat at the sight of him.

He waits for her, his tall, black jeans and T-shirt clad frame leaning against his bike.

His spiky orange hair is ruffled by the passing breeze and his intense amber eyes are focused on her as she clambers out the window, trying to find her footing on the pipe on the side.

She manages not to yelp as she loses her balance those few feet above the ground and then his hands are there, wrapping around her waist as he gently lifts her and sets her down.

They look at each other. And a look is enough. They don't have time for extended pleasantries.

He mounts the vehicle in a single graceful and soon she is seated behind him, her fingers clenching in the soft material of his shirt as he begins to gain speed.

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He feels disgusted even letting her enter such a place but thankfully, the room the get shown to is in good condition. People like her, girls like her, should never be in motels like this. But he is left to grit his teeth because they don't have a fucking choice.

He is pulling the blanket off the bed and to the floor when she stops him.

'Don't. You don't have to.'

'I don't want to make you uncomfortable.'

'You won't.'

She walks up to him and in her eyes is a fierce burning light. And tonight, tonight, she wants to give a name to that feeling they share but won't name for the fear of being rejected, for the fear of losing friendships and all those other reasons. But she is beginning to find that she doesn't care, because she has learnt that all she can trust is that she has today.

She pauses and there are fleeting questions.

Too soon?

This started when they were fifteen. Tonight at twelve, it'll have been about three years since then.

Silvery-grey collide with molten amber.

'Aishiteru, Kurosaki-kun.'

His eyes widen for a second.

Then his lips are meeting hers in a hungry, torrid kiss as one of his hands tangle in the fine curtain of her lustrous auburn hair and his other spans the slim expanse of her lower back, tugging her closer against his hard length.

No, not too soon. Too long. Too long has he waited for those words.

And she is overwhelmed.

She could never have expected.

There are no flimsy fireworks, no gaudy stars.

But she feels him, feels his scorching heat that drowns her, his musky, masculine scent that makes her light-headed.

And then his lips trail down to the soft column of her throat, leaving a flurry of kisses in their wake.

Both his hands are at her waist now, as he pulls her impossibly closer and her fingers run through his brilliant orange locks.

Soon, her knees hit the side of the bed and they both fall into it.

Auburn and grey.

Orange and amber.

They look, they gaze, they stare.

He finds his voice.

'Arigato, Inoue.' He says sincerely.

There is a frown on his face as he struggles and she knows this, so she doesn't pressure him for more. She doesn't need to hear him say it to know that it's true, because she can feel it in every gentle caress that his battle-hardened hands brush against her delicate skin.

Her smile steals his breath and this time he slowly, lowers his head to drop a sweet kiss against her cherry lips.

A kiss becomes two and then that chasteness is lost as their tongues meet in an intertwining dance. They part for breath, his lips finding the place where her pulse beats at the base of her neck and suddenly tossed into this new, wonderful sensation, she gasps.

'Ichigo.'

He pulls back, chocolate eyes so sharp, so deep, and when he kisses her again, her mind is devoid of coherent thought. Once again, they find that their hands are roaming in a flurried state as they take in the sense of having each other so close.

And yet, he finds the strength to hesitate.

'We don't have to.' He says, though his possessive touch and hooded eyes signify otherwise.

'I want to.' She says simply, as her chest rises and falls with every heavy breath.

She peers up at him with nothing but affection in her beautiful silver orbs and he feels stupid for not saying it before.

'Aishiteru, Orihime.'

An achingly magnificent smile is his answer and she has never looked more perfect to him.

Their lips meet again and for once, they allow themselves to live for their own sakes' and for each other.

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Tomorrow, they will face her deadbeat father who'd returned from prison, used the excuse of parental custody to tear her away from her previous life and made this past year hell for her. Tomorrow, she will tell him flat on his face that she's eighteen, of legal age and she doesn't ever want to see him again. The horrid man will threaten her with gang connections and she will give the police his accounts book that contains evidence of drug deals, putting him behind bars once more.

And her orange-haired protector will stand beside her, her hand firmly clasped in his as he vows to himself that even if time repeats, he will never let her be ripped away from him.

Tomorrow, when they fall asleep in each other's arms, they'll wake up with new dreams.

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But today and now, this is their moment, hidden away from the rest of the world. They don't need the judgment and the prying eyes of anyone telling them that they are two reckless youngsters acting on lust and desire.

Today, they are Ichigo and Orihime, and they are in love.

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A/N: Tada! There it is! I hope you liked it!

Also, Aishiteru = I love you.

Lemme know your thoughts and please review!