Chapter 24: Pizza Time

Ulquiorra had someone call in sick on Friday night and had to pull a double, so they decided to skip a day between seeing each other. Not that they really didn't see each other; Orihime stopped by for coffee while she was at work.

On Saturday, he was still a bit tired, but wanted to see her, so they decided to hang out at his place and order a pizza.

It took Orihime about seven minutes to walk from her place to his. When she turned the corner toward Coffee & Sadness, she stopped. She watched him smoke his cigarette and studied him. He looked just like a figure from a movie or a graphic novel to her. Something sad. Something vulnerable. Something very beautiful and interesting.

When the smell of the clove cigarette hit her nose, she decided she had had enough waiting and watching. She stepped out of the shadows and said, "Hey, you," in a sweet voice.

Ulquiorra turned his head and blew out the smoke and then smiled before he put the cigarette out and then threw it into the bin. The occupants of the other two apartments smoked, too, so Ulquiorra made sure there was a trash receptacle that didn't need to be changed too often. "Hey," he said. "I'm waiting for the pizza; you like sausage pepperoni?"

"I do," she said, stepping up beside him and leaning against the building. "It's a nice enough evening to wait outside. Mind if I wait with you?"

"Says the woman who walked over here," Ulquiorra replied, giving her a side-eyed glance. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, holding one up and giving it to her. "Go on up; I'll be there in a minute."

She took the key and held it in front of her face for a minute, the brown of her eyes drawing closer together to focus on it before they widened to look back up at Ulquiorra's face. "Really, I don't mind keeping you company," she said, smiling.

Ulquiorra drew her into his arms, and looked down at her. "Really? I just gave you a blank check to go through my drawers and find my embarrassing underwear and you're not taking it?"

She blushed, looking down to the side. "I totally didn't think of that," she teased, before chancing a look back up at him out of the sides of her eyes. "I wouldn't take it even if I thought of it, though," she admitted.

"Wow. I bet most women would have snatched that key out of my hand and run up those stairs," he said. Just then a car pulled up to the curb with the name of the local pizza place emblazoned on the side of the vehicle. "Open the door and go in to wait for me. We can walk up together."

She nodded and opened the door, waiting for him to join her so she could open the door for him, which he eventually did. Once he was inside and the smell of pizza hit her nose, she sighed. "Oh dear god is that calling my name."

"Have you eaten a proper meal today? I hope you at least ate some of the soup I sent home with you from the other day," Ulquiorra replied as they started climbing the stairs. "Every time you come over, I will feed you. Today might not be the most elegant or the most nutritious thing, but it's food."

"Are you trying to tame me like my angry bird?" she asked, chuckling. "I snarfed that soup for breakfast."

He chuckled. No, he wasn't trying to tame her. He was trying to show her that he was better than Grimmjow by a mile. "Why would I want to tame such a rare and magical creature?" Ulquiorra asked.

Orihime shook her head. "I'm not magic."

"You're a forest fairy, red hair and a cute face," he argued playfully. When they reached the third floor, Ulquiorra motioned for Orihime to open the door with his key.

She did, avoiding his gaze. The fairy comment was too cute. She might do something embarrassing like squeal. "After you, my fine sir," she said softly, holding the door open for him.

He smirked and entered his apartment and then headed straight for the kitchen. The pizza was put on the island and Ulquiorra went around it to rummage in a cupboard on the other side. He smacked down two paper plates and a stack of napkins. "Want a beer or water?"

"Oh, oh, oh. A beer and pizza sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time," she said, not even worried about how unladylike it sounded.

Ulquiorra nodded and went to the fridge. "I've got ale from an indie brewer. It's a friend of mine's project and it's pretty awesome, or I've got a nasty IPA," he said looking back at her. "The IPA was Grimmjow's idea. I've never drunk the stuff before."

"I prefer awesome to nasty, not gonna lie," she said, chuckling. "Or do you only have one good one? We could split it," she offered.

"I have two of them. I'm going to have to call Starrk and have him give me some more." Ulquiorra pulled both bottles from the fridge and popped the tops off. He took a drink and sighed. "Starrk dabbles in homebrew. He loves his bar, but has other hobbies. I told him he should open a real bar, and not just an absinthe one."

Orihime smiled at that. "I like Starrk. He seems to have his head on. I really like Starrk's. It makes me feel like I've gone back in time. Even with creepy Nnoitra there… You know, before-" she paused to glance at him and smile, just to let him know that she was okay talking about this in context- "It added to the spooky ambiance. I kind of wish I could go back once in awhile, but it's not worth it." She took a sip of the beer he had given her and her brows shot up. "Wow, this is really good!"

Ulquiorra's eyebrows furrowed but he smiled and plated the pizza for them. He sat beside her at the kitchen island. "I have no clue what he does, but his beer is… it's an alcoholic symphony of taste and flavors in my mouth."

"Listen to you, being all eloquent," she teased, leaning over to nudge his shoulder with her own. "I would say it tastes like beer with a hint of Froot Loops and probably an alcohol content over six percent." She laughed at herself and took another sip before saying, "Just kidding."

"Do you want to watch a movie after we eat? Is there a television show you want to watch?" he asked, taking a bite of pizza.

"Movies, TV, whatever. I'm not too bothered either way. I could just sit while you do your thing and sketch, too. I just like hanging around you."

"Well, I do need to go over inventory sheets and fire up my computer to do some work stuff. You're more than welcome to make yourself at home," Ulquiorra said. He took a sip of beer. "I like hanging around you, too."

"Well, cheers to after-hours productivity," she said, clinking her bottle to his and focusing on her pizza. Somehow she had managed to make things just slightly awkward. "Oh! We could listen to some music, if you want."

He thought about it for just a second. Ulquiorra wiped his hands off and got off the stool, walking over to the bookcase. He queued up some music on his phone before plugging it into the sound system. "It's a random playlist of songs. If you don't like something let me know. I can change it."

She spun around in her stool to watch him after wiping her hands, taking another sip of beer. "I'm sure it will be good. I like what you play at the shop."

The haunting sounds of the synthesizer came through the speakers as the familiar song started playing and then Robert Smith's voice started crooning. "Not a bad song," he said, coming back to the kitchen island. Ulquiorra picked up the beer bottle and took another drink.

"Nice," she cheered quietly, drifting into the song a bit, lowering her eyes and mouthing along the lyrics to The Cure's Lovesong.

Ulquiorra's foot bobbed up and down to the beat which then turned into another eighties song. "Joy Division, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah. Too dark?" she replied, recognizing that both of these songs had come from the recommendations on her blog.

Ulquiorra shook his head. He finished his pizza and beer, listening to the song and then the next. He was beginning to notice a trend. This was the third song that mentioned love in the title. This playlist was one he used in Coffee & Sadness all of the time. All of these songs were from Orihime's blog. "You have excellent music tastes," he said as there was a small break between songs.

"Well, it takes someone with good taste to notice another, so I tip my hat to you," she said, watching him as she tended to do. "If you want to start working, feel free," she said, putting her bottle to her lips and watching him while she took a long sip.

Ulquiorra gave her a small smile. "It won't take me long. It's just normal stuff I do every week," he explained. The touch of his hand on her shoulder was brief as Ulquiorra stood and walked to where his desk sat next to tall windows.

Orihime watched him move over there and waited until he had his computer fired up before quietly putting the rest of the pizza into the fridge and cleaning up the scant mess left in the kitchen. When she was done with that, the music had switched from eighties synth to modern synth, with a distinctly dancier, breathier, sexier sound. Orihime finished her beer and rinsed the bottle in the sink, her shoulders swaying side to side to the beat as she did, and by the time she had the bottle in the recycling bin and was making her way over to the couch, her whole body was into it, swaying and twisting slightly until she got to the large piece of furniture and sat down onto the plush surface. She closed her eyes and let the rhythm continue to move her head and shoulders, keeping her seat firmly planted. It wasn't until that song segued into another more modern one that was more lyrical and lacked a strong beat that she stopped moving, took out a sketchbook, and started to draw.

He only glanced at her from time to time, catching himself from staring too long. Orihime was entrancing to him. She was like a forbidden fruit. She was something he couldn't touch yet. They needed to get over the awkwardness and the newness of their relationship. He needed to get over the hurt he felt about her initial rejection of him.

"Shit," Orihime hissed, as the tip of her pencil broke. She watched it roll down the front of her sketchpad and into her lap. She managed to pick it up without getting any of the graphite on Ulquiorra's furniture, then stood up. "Excuse me, I need to wash my hands," she said, holding up a finger smeared with the dark gray substance.

After washing and drying her hands she returned to her spot and started to sketch, but she wasn't into what she was doing anymore. She turned so that she was facing Ulquiorra's desk and just watched him work while she lounged. She liked how his brow twitched or his lips pursed. Just like before, he was a story waiting to be read.

"What are you looking at?" he asked as he moved the mouse to submit his orders for next week. After he was sure they went through, Ulquiorra turned and looked at her.

"You," she said, her chin resting on her knees.

He gave a slight chuckle and stood up, turning the monitor off. "I'm not that interesting, Miss Inoue. I'm boring. I'm predictable."

She shook her head and smiled. "Predictable? Boring? Try dependable. Steadfast. Language choices do a lot to change the color of your existence. And personally, I think you're pretty interesting," she said, as the next song on the playlist turned on. It had been one that Orihime heard while browsing YouTube and put on her blog; a piano and male vocalist cover of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. The lyrics had been modified to change the tone of the song drastically with only swapping a few words. "This is a perfect example. Listen," she said, a challenging smirk on her face.

"Is this Teenage Dream?" Ulquiorra asked, looking concerned as he moved towards the couch. Well… Katy Perry was better than Taylor Swift or Nikki Minaj.

Orihime shook her head. "Almost. Listen. It's different," she said, grinning.

Okay, he listened. The male singing the song had switched it from teenagers being sex-crazed lunatics to an actual song about innocence and love. She had made a lot of playlists with love songs in them. Ulquiorra gave her a smile before he sat down on the couch. "It's an okay song," he said.

"So what are you saying, five, six out of ten?" she asked, raising her brows.

He gave a one-shouldered shrug and nodded. "Yeah pretty much," Ulquiorra stated. "I heard it too much as a kid. Living with Nel… She was all about pop stars and celebrities. I heard that stupid Call Me Maybe song a lot."

"Ew," Orihime said with a laugh.

"Right? It was a hell of a time," he said, before laughing. "I like most of the songs you post on your blog. They're refreshing from the music found today."

She shook her head. "Thanks, but today's music isn't all bad. There is just so much of it to wade through. And wading always seems like a word you'd use when you're talking about unpleasant things, so…" she interrupted herself with a tiny yawn. "I guess the beer made me a bit too relaxed," she said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Do you want me to get you an Uber? Do you want to take my bed?" Ulquiorra asked, glancing over at her.

"Um," she bit her lips and looked around. She really didn't want to leave yet. "Do you think, maybe, we could watch something mind-numbing and just, um, be together a little longer?"

"Does Keeping up with the Kardashians sound mind-numbing enough?" Ulquiorra asked and smiled. "For the record, I hate that show."

"That actually sounds a little too off the dial. Maybe pull it back to a late-night talkshow or the weather news or something with a bit less nasal whining and Kanye West?"

He shook his head and used the remote and found some documentary about Madagascar.

There were lemurs. They were cute. Not nearly as cute as the guy sitting next to her with the green eyes she kept falling into and the black hair she wanted to lose her fingers in. After he sat down on the cushion beside hers, she watched him watch the television for a moment.

Yeah, she needed more of this. She scooted towards him and slipped her hand between his elbow and his body, then slid it down the inside of his forearm until their palms met and their fingers entwined, then rested her head on his shoulder.

Ulquiorra glanced at her as he looked at the television. It was nice being touched like this. He liked her companionship.

"Let me know if you want some space," she murmured, settling in. She was just enjoying this closeness. She never did this with Grimmjow. Even after sex they would go their separate ways, despite sharing a bed. They'd almost always have space between them. She preferred it.

Not with Ulquiorra. She didn't mind the space. She didn't mind watching him work or whatever, but she much preferred this closeness with him. She let her eyes fall off of the television and study the way her hand looked in his. She liked his nailpolish. She liked how much bigger than hers his hand was without looking like a baseball mitt. His hands were elegant.

He looked at her and nodded. "Believe me, I will let you know if I feel crowded," Ulquiorra said. "You seem really interested in my hands. Why?"

"Um, because they look nice. I like them on their own. I like ours together."

They did look pleasing together. "I have always felt I had strange hands," Ulquiorra said.

"What makes you think so?" she asked, tilting her head a bit so her voice would travel more easily to his ear without raising her volume.

"Long thin fingers. My cousin always said that they looked like spider legs." He gave a contented sigh.

"Spider legs?" she asked with an amused, disbelieving scoff. "I'll be the judge of that. Do you ever wear shorts? Go swimming? I've seen you in like, two or three variations of the same outfit, " she said, jumping to an adjacent subject.

Ulquiorra shook his head this time. "Nope. Not even when it's sweltering outside. I burn easily, so I try not to go outside too much. Like ten minutes outside in the summer with sunblock and I still get bad sunburns. One time I actually had to go to the hospital for it because Grimmjow wanted to go to the beach."

"Oh no," she whispered. "That's awful."

It was a part of his life he had to deal with. It was just like breathing or sleeping. He had to stay out of the sun or make sure he was covered. "It's kind of awful. I have this awesome balcony and a rooftop set up and I can't really use them unless it's at night," Ulquiorra commented. He could feel his eyes getting heavier as he turned his attention back to the documentary.

Orihime put her other hand around his elbow and cuddled into his side. "Well, I like it at night; I can keep you company." She yawned again and closed her eyes, just for a second.

"C'mon. You can take my bed for tonight," he said, turning the television off and standing up. He pulled Orihime off the couch. "I'll just grab my pillow and you can sleep in there."

"I don't want to push you out of your bed, again. I don't have any pajamas…" she protested weakly, following him anyway.

Ulquiorra led her to the bed and made her sit down. He gave her a pair of flannel pajamas that looked very dad-like and were not his style at all. They'd been a gift from Nel and he never wore them. "Go change and then go to sleep. You look exhausted."

She couldn't argue. She was exhausted. The past few days had been a whirlwind of emotions and they were catching up to her. "Thank you, Ulquiorra. I owe you," she said, holding the pajamas on her lap and smoothing them out a bit.

"No, you don't," he said before he dimmed the lights in the room and grabbed one of the pillows from the bed. Ulquiorra took a deep breath as he walked over to the couch and sat down. As much as he wanted to crawl in beside Orihime, he knew he wasn't ready for this.

"Are you and your friend coming or not? I'll grab someone off the street if I have to," Lucy said, on the phone with her betrothed as she stood on the Courthouse steps. Her pregnancy was starting to show. They were both busy people and they didn't get around to setting up an appointment with the Family Court Commissioner until nearly the end of October. She was cold.

"I'm driving over right now Lucy. Ulq is right behind me," Grimmjow said. "I'll be there soon to make you a proper wife."

Ulquiorra and Orihime saw each other almost every day. They would spend time together and have meals at each other's houses. He would text her, but other than that, he kept his space. He knew he was falling hard and falling fast. He wasn't ready for it, though. He wasn't ready to give her his heart. He wasn't sure if he could handle the rejection if she found someone else or decided that he was too much to deal with.

Then Grimmjow texted him. The blue-haired man needed his best friend.

He had to go down to Chicago in October to meet with Grimmjow. Apparently he had gotten this Lucy pregnant again and they wanted to be married as soon as possible. He told Orihime that he'd see her soon before he left.

They were going to have lunch and then Grimmjow would take him to meet Lucy.

"Hey, Ulq," Grimmjow said, wearing a suit and tie.

The restaurant Grimmjow had picked was nice. It was better than a lot of the places they had frequented in Evanston. Ulquiorra looked around before he sat down. "Hello Grimmjow. Why couldn't you bring your bride here?"

"Because I've told Lucy all about you, and while she doesn't approve of your choices, she doesn't want Nnoitra anywhere around me. Besides, I heard what the asshole did to Orihime and I can't stand him. I'm gonna be a dad," Grimmjow said.

"You've been a father."

"Tch, you know what I mean."

Ulquiorra nodded, then sighed. "What made you decide to impregnate someone?"

"I didn't decide it the first time. The condom broke," came the reply.

The dark-haired man nodded and the two sat in silence until someone took their order. "So..."

"So... what? What have you been doing? What have you been up to?" Grimmjow asked, shifting in his seat.

"Not much, really. Orihime is back in Evanston. We've been seeing each other since I got back into town." Ulquiorra watched the man. The way Grimmjow's jaw tensed and how his eye twitched did not go amiss. "We've had dinner several times and a couple of sleepovers."

"Hmph. Tch. It figures. I knew you two would end up in bed," Grimmjow muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "I fucking knew it."

"Is there a problem with this news?" Ulquiorra asked as he reached for the water glass and took a sip. His expression and face were calm.

Grimmjow's words said one thing. His body language said another. "Nah. I'm just... happy for her, I guess. She finally got what she wanted."

Ulquiorra nodded. "You got what you wanted from her."

"Look, it's not my problem she wanted to throw out-"

The waiter set down plates of food in front of the men, which Ulquiorra was grateful for. He did not want to listen to Grimmjow rant about his relationship with his... his... Orihime wasn't his girlfriend just yet. She was a prospect, though. All signs pointed to the fact that they both wanted to be together.

The two ate in silence with the occasional comment about the event that was coming up. Grimmjow showed him a picture of Brady and the green-eyed man couldn't help notice that the boy held Orihime's book in his chubby hands.

After the meal, Ulquiorra met Lucy, who looked him up and down then nodded as if he passed some test.

Did Ulquiorra care if he met the woman's standards?

Not really.

When it was all said and done, Ulquiorra left, having done his duty for his friend. Grimmjow now had a wife and a son.

While he waited in traffic, Ulquiorra thought about Orihime. He thought about her smile and how she'd look on his arm, her face lit up like Grimmjow's bride had been. Lucy had practically glowed with happiness.

What would it take to make Orihime that happy? Did he want to make her that happy? He shook his head. This was all his insecurities talking.

Hmmm. Maybe he was ready for the emotional part of their relationship. Perhaps the part that was difficult to come to terms with was the physical part. He always said that he would never have sex with a woman that Grimmjow had fucked.

He had fucked Rangiku. She had been with Grimmjow. Maybe that's why Ulquiorra never gave his coworker and closest friend a chance.

Would that happen with Orihime? Would he get cold feet or a mysterious case of erectile dysfunction? He shook his head and narrowed his gaze at the car in front of him. It had a bumper sticker that said, "The Truth Will Set You Free..."

No.

He wasn't lying to himself.

That wasn't it.

He never wanted Rangiku. She had been a body to keep him warm and relieve his needs.

Ulquiorra wanted Orihime. He wanted her attention. He wanted her kisses. He wanted the soft touches and the smiles. He wanted her in every possible way.

The thing that made this scary for him was, what if that wanting went away after they had sex? What if his curiosity would be satisfied?

That's why he wasn't ready. He wanted to get to know Orihime first.

This wasn't a booty call or a one-night stand.

A/N: Thanks for reading, tell us your thoughts!