A/N Hello all,
Please don't kill me. I can explain why it's been so long since I decided to update. I was away for two weeks, then I came back to school last week and had to catch up on missed work. I also had to deal with stuff via the play and quire and Teen Health which made me a busy woman! Now's the time for updating though and I made this one long and worth the wait I swear! I hope my long wait hasn't pulled any readers away. Please hit the happy button and review! They keep me modivated!
SabenBallZ: Thanks for the review!
Anrea: I'm really glad you got the chance to read, Hope you'll continue to do so and thanks for reviewing!
Inda: It's so nice to see you readings this! I'm really glad you're enjoying it and thanks for the nice review!
Trace: You always have something nice to say. Thanks for the nice review! Night of the ravin: Glad you're still liking it. Here's the next chapter for ya
Spirit0 Hahahahaha I looooove your reviews! Sorry for taking so long to update this., Hope you've been thinking your happy thoughts lol!
Chibi Usagi: Fireworks? You just never know! grins evilly lol thanks for reviewing girl.
Avelin Larren: Thanks for all your brilliant suggestions and such! You just might be write on your pridiction lol. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read and review.
Tha goes for all of you and now, on with the loooooooooong awaited story!
Chapter 13
Hitomi ran up the stairs and sat alone sobbing loudly in her room. Van had also been in his room and could hear the cries of a girl. He to was highly upset and wasn't sure what to do. Part of him was angry with the emerald eyed beauty and part of him wanted to make sure that the cries he was hearing weren't hers. He sat up on his bed and bit his nails in frustration. For once a simple decision or a decision that seemed to be simple was making him frustrated. How couldn't he figure this out. He was a music star for goodness sake. He had to make harder decisions than this before. He finally got up the nerve and went outside of his room: trying to hide his anger from the outside world. He pushed all of his emotions inside of him and slowly walked down the hall. He stopped abruptly when he realized exactly where the cries were coming from. Sure enough it was her cries. Now what would he do?
After a long period of pondering, he decided to go check on her. The part of this that he couldn't comprehend was why she had been crying. She had just kissed Allen. Wasn't that something good for her? He knocked quietly on her door. She got up from her bed and flung it open. She dropped to her knees when she saw who it was. She sobbed very loudly: the sobs echoed through the third floor. Lucky for Van and Hitomi there was no one upstairs. Van couldn't believe his ears and eyes. Was she ok? He wanted so badly to come over to her and hold her. He wanted to console her and tell her he had forgiven her even though it didn't matter if he did or not. They weren't together and what right did he have to make her cry. He just stood, watching her cry on her knees. When her cries subsided a bit, he began to walk toward her. She scowled and yelled at him loudly.
"Van don't come over here! I don't want you to see me right now. I have done you wrong, I've done everyone wrong!"
HE couldn't understand what she was talking about now. He tried to ask her and all she did was get up and slammed the door in his face due to her shame and frustration. He stood outside the door dumbfounded. Had she gone crazy? He knew that now wasn't the time to go and try to bother her this late at night. Tomorrow was his big day to start shooting the movie. He knew that rest was the best option right now. If it was possible he would attempt to talk to her in the early morning.
He walked across the hall to his room where he climbed in to bed. He tossed and turned for a while, trying to focus on sleeping. It was no use. Even if he tried to sleep he would never get there. HE couldn't keep his mind off of Hitomi. He wanted to understand what was wrong with her and why she was so upset with the kiss. After about two hours of intense thinking and trying desperately to focus on sleep he gave up. He would go and wake her up and the two of them would get to the bottom of this together.
He got up and got dressed in to a pear of Pajamas. Hardly anyone had ever seen him in these because he felt that people wouldn't think of him as manly as they would if he was dressed in his pop star clothing. He walked across the hall and put his ear to the door; trying hard to hear any activity in the room. When he heard nothing, he slowly turned the doorknob, checking if it was locked. He had noticed that it was. This posed a problem for Van. He knew that he would have to resort to knocking and waking her up. He didn't want to do this, but he knew that he had to make sure that his beauty was alright. He knocked quietly on the door and received no response. He tried a bit louder and could hear footsteps approaching the door. She opened it to be surprised by who she saw standing there. Van was also surprised noticing that all she had been wearing was a night dress that went down to her knees. It had spaghetti straps on it and he had noticed that she looked as beautiful as ever. Her hair was messy and she was wearing no make-up. Her face was smudged with tears and her eyes looked sleepy but still to him, she was the goddess of his dreams. She blushed when she noticed him staring at her. Van noticed her blush and averted his gaze to the floor.
"Hitomi, can I talk to you?"
She sighed and tried to pretend like she wasn't expecting this to happen. She knew in her heart that it was going to because of her previous actions earlier during the night. She smiled a smile of hesitation and told him to wait while she changed. Van closed the door and waited for her patiently. When she reappeared, she was wearing a pear of Winnie The Poo PJ's. Van giggled when he saw her. She let him in her room and they went to sit on her bed and talk. When they sat down, Hitomi instantly started to cry once again.
"Van, I I did something wrong."
He looked at her quizzically.
"What did you do wrong Hitomi?"
"I kissed Allen. I don't even like him like that. He was standing down there talking to me and he gave me a big speal. Then he grabbed a hold of me and kissed me on the lips. It was well it was my first kiss and I didn't want it to be like that!"
She was telling him her story, she began to cry loudly. Instantly Van understood what he had saw. He convinced her to go on after he had calmed her a bit.
"After he kissed me, I slapped him in the face. I didn't want to see him ever again and I told him that., He had offered to go on a date with this girl to try to get with me but I don't want that. I want to be, well I want to be alone. I'm not ready for this sort of thing. As specially not with barby boy Allen. He's so damn prim and proper. It really bothers me. I also know that he's a little player and I don't want that in my life."
Van listened intently until she finished her story. If she still not wanted to be with him either. IF so, then why was she telling him all of these things. And here he thought she was getting closer to him. HE wasn't sure how to feel about the situation but he knew that he had to leave it alone. He had to help her figure out what was happening in her own life before he worried about a relationship with her or anything else that was his wishes. He wrapped his arms around her quivering body and began to hush her. His arms around her made her feel warm inside. It was the same warm feeling she had when ever he touched her. A warm feeling that she was beginning to long for. Finally, Van decided that now was his time to speak his mind.
"Look Hitomi, I know he's your friend but, he's evil. I can't believe he's done this to you. I'm going to find him and kill him. He's so mean to girls. I hate guys that are players. I knew he would do this to you because from the moment I met him I could tell what kind of guy that he really was."
Hitomi wasn't sure what to say to him. She wanted Allen to go away and she wanted him to pay for making her feel so sad. He had ruined what she wanted to be a perfect first kiss and turned it in to a huge, spiraling feeling of sadness that had taken over her. Van kept holding her there; letting her talk all of her feelings out. He knew that eventually this would make her tired. She had stopped crying and the two of them sat there in silence. Both's eyes were trying to close, but the two of them fought off the feelings of an approaching sleep. Hitomi moved out of his arms and looked him in his eyes. Van thought something was wrong so he looked away from her.
"No Van, look at me please?"
He turned his eyes back to the girl.
"Van, I want to thank you. I was afraid you would hate me because I know how you feel about me. It's very obvious to me, but you have to understand that I can never love again. I can't care about you like that. I don't want to loose you. Please don't argue and object to my wishes now. I've had enough of that in the last few years. For once in my life I want someone to understand my feelings."
The thought crossed Van's mind to try to think of reasons why she could love him but he just let it go. He smiled down at her and said, "I understand Hitomi."
She smiled back at him. She was happy that now he understood her. She looked at her watch and realized that it was already 2:30 in the morning. Instantly she remembered that Van had to wake up early for his first day of movie shooting. She took his hands and pulled him off of her bed; causing a thud on the floor.
"What are you doing?!"
Hitomi laughed loudly. Van loved that laugh. IT made him feel warm knowing that it was still possible for her to do that.
"Well Mr. Fannel, you have a busy day in the morning so it's time for you to go to bed now. Every super star needs his rest and because of you dealing with my bitching and wining, you will only get a few hours of that. I advise you right now to march off to your own room, get under the covers and go to bed emedetly!."
Van stood up on his feet and looked is if he was standing at attention in the army. His last words to the girl were, "Yes Sir! I mean mam…"
She giggled at him again and walked him to her door. She stood at the door; making sure that he went directly to his room. When he had reached his own door she said "Good boy, glad you know how to listen."
The two had now gone their separate ways; leaving Van to think of everything that had just happened. He kept wondering how Allen could just violate her like that. How he could just not think of Hitomi's feelings and only his own. Wasn't he raised right at all? Here Van was a huge pop star and even he understood the difference between right and wrong. He had plans for Allen, big big plans…
Morning came quick and Van had overslept for about twenty minutes. He woke up and instantly jumped out of bed. He quickly went down to the kitchen and scarfed down three granola bars and two glasses of cool refreshing milk. For a strange reason, when ever he drank milk he could remember the commercials from each country. They had almost all seemed the same. Thinking of this made him giggle. This was Van's first movie and he hadn't been nervous for a long time. Today, he was nervous. He was hoping that Hitomi was going to go to the set with him. He felt that her presence would make the experience less nerve racking. Sure enough, she appeared in to the kitchen causing him to jump. She giggled at him., When he had jumped, his third glass of milk sprayed everywhere. She had gotten a kick out of this but managed to help him clean it up during all the laughter. When all of the chefs found out about it they laughed along with the two teens. Van ran upstairs and got showered and dressed. He knew he would have to change again, but there was no way he was wearing his costumes to the set. Hitomi met up with him shortly after and they both jumped in to the limo. Van knew that today there would be lots of fans and lots of press and before going, he had warned Hitomi of this. She didn't care and they were on their way. They had made it two blocks before their destination when instantly people were coming out of nowhere. Girls had been hiding in bushes and now were attempting to climb on top of the limizine. Hitomi couldn't believe how many of them their were. The driver slowed down to an almost complete stop due to the amount of girls flocking Van's limo. They were tapping on the windows and throwing flowers on top of the slowly moving vehicle. Some of the braver ones were holding on to it; trying desperately to open the doors. Hitomi thought they were all crazy. Van was no different than any of them. She had noticed him tensing up.
"Van, are you afraid?"
Not necessarily for me. I'm afraid someone's going to get hurt. I have seen experiences like this before where some girls got trampled and even died. I don't want that to happen here."
Hitomi put her arm around him in a friendly hug.
"Van, that won't happen. Your driver is being very careful."
"I know, I just worry is all. It will be loads of fun for us trying to get out of here you know. They're all going to attempt to chase us inside. It's going to be a lot like that day in Tokyo."
Hitomi instantly looked worried and Van noticed it. She remembered the look on Van's face when that girl had a hold of his sweater. She had never felt so afraid of anything until she nearly saw him being choked to death by a stranger. Van patted her shoulder and re assured her that things were all going to work out fine.
"Hitomi, it will all work out. I just have to make sure no one grabs my sweater again. I want you to wait until the crowd dies down before coming inside. I don't want them to mob you to. You don't deserve that. I also don't want the press taking pictures of you because I know how you feel about that."
Hitomi made no effort to disagree with him. She knew he was right. After what seemed like hours of driving past, they had finally reached the set. Girls were everywhere. Hitomi was instructed by the security people to stay low in the limo as well as to wait until things hadn't been so crazy before going in. From her low hiding place, she could see cameras flashing everywhere. Van had only been out of the limo for twenty seconds and already they were mobbing him; wanting answers to god knows what questions. He ran past them all; not stopping to give any information. Girls tried desperately hard to get inside the doors only to be cut off by Van's strong security. Eventually, they all began to retreat away from the set. The cops had been called in to make them all move off of the property. Hitomi got out of the vehicle and began to walk toward the building that Van had previously gone inside when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to see who it was. Her worst fears had come true. There was Allen, standing over her.
"Hitomi, please let me talk to you. I wanted to apologize for last night. I really am sorry Hitomi. Please don't hate me, please!"
She tried to walk away from him when he grabbed her from behind. She gasped in fear. She wasn't sure of what would happen next. She couldn't help but think what should I do now. She screamed loudly and Van flew out of the doors in front of Hitomi and Allen. His eyes grew wide when he saw the sight before him. He focused an evil glare Allen's way and loudly instructed him to let go of Hitomi. Allen refused. Van ran around the two and up behind Allen. He let a punch go from his right fist and Allen's grip lessened on Hitomi until she could walk away from him. She knew there was going to be a fight so she made her way inside; not wanting to see what was going to happen next. Van wrestled Allen to the ground; cursing loudly at him. He punched him in the nose as well as in both eyes. He stood up once he knew that Allen was down and said words that frightened the girlish boy lying on the ground before him.
"Touch her again and you'll get what's coming to you. The only difference being, next time I won't be so nice."
Allen only groaned in pain at Van's remarks. Van walked inside, leaving him sprawled out on the ground with no help. He knew that he wouldn't get in trouble by the cops due to the fact that he was protecting a lady. He felt proud of himself for being in the right place at the right time. Goodness knows what would have happened to Hitomi if he hadn't have been there to save her from that monster. He found her sitting in a chair in the hall leading to his dressing room. He kneeled down in front of her and noticed their were tears on her face.
"Hitomi what are you crying for?"
"I'm sorry Van, I'm just a little shaken up. I don't know what he would have done to me if you weren't there. I was so afraid. I am more afraid now. What if he tries to come after me again?"
"Shhhh… Hitomi, he won't come after you again. I promise you that. I took care of him outside."
She wasn't sure what Van had done to him, but she knew it was probably not too good.
"Van, what did you do to Allen?"
"I just put him in his place. We had a little wrestling match outside. Needless to say, I won that one and I will do it again if I have to."
"But Van, if you go hitting him you'll get in trouble. Allen could go to the press with this you know. Doesn't that scare you at all?"
"Hitomi, if you want the truth, no it doesn't. I will just tell them what kind of a guy Allen is and then he will look bad, not me. I wasn't doing that unpurpose. When I saw him holding on to you like that and the fear that was written all over your face, I had to fight him. I had to make him understand that no girl should be treated like that ever. Who says he wouldn't have left you alone and found an other girl to pester. I'm just hoping that this little incident taught him a lesson about how you treat women."
Hitomi was taken back by his words. Before she had the chance to say anything to him, the director rushed over to him.
"Van, we have a problem."
"What's that sir?"
"Susealia is ill. She's in the hospital and I was talking to her agent. They don't think she's going to be able to shoot the movie with you. We have to find someone to do this and fast. This is the third time that this movie has been pushed to a later date and I'm afraid if they push this ahead any further we may loose the rights to it. Someone else may find two other actors who can get the job done faster. I don't want that to happen because I know that this is the perfect movie for you. IT will boost your sales and such. Do you have any ideas of who could help us shoot susealia's seens in this film?"
Van wasn't sure what to do. He decided to go and try to call some of the local actresses in the area to see if they would like to shoot with him. There was no luck. He had called everyone he could think of and they were all engaged in other projects. Hitomi had accidentally went in to his dressing room at the wrong time and heard a conversation that she probably shouldn't have heard. Van was looking quite upset and was arguing with his manager about the movie. She had over heard him begging for a little more time to try to find someone. She had found the script on a bench in the room and began to look over susealia's parts. She thought that they were easy and that now was the time to give Van the surprise of his life. He knew that she could sing but he had no idea what was going to happen to him next. He hung up the phone in a rage; throwing the papers down that were in his other hand. He looked over and saw Hitomi studying the script. He looked dumbfounded at her.
"Hitomi, what are you doing in here and secondly, why are you reading that script? There's no point in even keeping the damn thing you know. We're going to loose the rights to this film at 12:00 tonight if we can't find someone and I know we're not going to."
She pretended to look angry at Van and threw down the script. Instantly he realized that he was being harsh with her and ran over to apologize.
"Hitomi, I'm sorry. Please don't be angry. I'm just having a rough day."
She giggled at him; refusing to accept his apology. She walked away from him, and got in to her appropriate stance. She began to recite lines from the scripts.
"You don't seem to understand do you sir? I'm in love with you, don't you see that? I wanted to stay here in this small town to be with you. Sure I could move to the big city with my folks but there would be no point. I wouldn't be happy with out you. You make me happy Dusten, very happy…"
Van was taken back by her short but amazing performance. He recited the lines after that.
"It means a lot to me Lindsay, I just want you to be happy. As you are, I am in love with you as well. I'm glad you made the decision to stay with me. I was afraid of you leaving. I couldn't have that, I really couldn't. Not after what we've been through with the short war and all."
The two giggled and stared in to each other's eyes. Van was so happy to see her skills. He smiled at her and walked toward her. He reached her and embraced her in to a huge hug; refusing to let go of her until she pulled away. She laughed at the expression in his face.
"Van it wasn't because of you, I just couldn't breath."
He laughed with her and then had a serious look cross his face.
"Hitomi, I know this is asking a lot but will you shoot the movie with me? I know it's a lot to ask of you. I'm sure you're ready to go home, but this is your chance to let go of all of the bad and be what you want to be. It will get you some notice I'm sure of it. Once Mr. Graves sees your performance he'll let you do this I'm sure of it. Please Hitomi, I'll do anything. I'll give you all I have. This movie means a lot to me and I don't want to give it up."
She smiled at him in delight. She knew that she had to do this for him because he had helped her through so much.
"I'll do it Van, but under one condition."
"And that would be?"
"Make sure that I don't fall for you please?"
Van wished that it didn't have to be like that but he agreed with the girl to make her happy. All he wanted was for the both of them to be happy and for a long time he was afraid that they both had never felt that. Now was their chance to shine on the screen. In his mind Van hoped that this experience would teach Hitomi just a little about love. He prayed that this would bring them just a bit closer. Just close enough that maybe just maybe, she'd fall in love with him.
To Be Continued
