Disclaimer for this story: the chapter titles are titles of songs from Rob Thomas' CD … Something to Be. (The story title itself is mine.)

Three Parts of Love
Written By: Jill Annette

PART ONE
This Is How a Heart Breaks

Usagi made her way to the second floor of the Crown Arcade. The first floor was littered with arcade games, some which dealt out tickets for prizes at the desk in the side of the arcade, while others just ate quarters as one person after another slipped them into the machines. The second floor however, was what Usagi loved about this place. The second floor was a café of sorts. A long bar was placed across one side of the room which had an old-time feel to it. Behind the bar was a simple deli for sandwiches and all kinds of contraptions for different types of coffee and ice cream. The Crown Arcade was one of the most interesting places she had found in the area. It was also where she met the man of her dreams: Chiba Mamoru.

She took a seat in her regular spot whenever she knew she was just meeting Mamoru. It was a small round table that seated two which sat by a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the busy streets below. Being able to watch people coming in and out of the arcade-slash-café and those just making their way to or from home was another advantage of the second floor café. Crown Arcade had quickly become a second home after her first visit years ago.

Glancing at her watch, Usagi noted that Mamoru was almost twenty minutes late. It seemed a bit peculiar seeing that she was almost fifteen minutes later than they agreed on and she was expecting the brunt of a lecture from him. Instead he was the one who chose to be tardy. Sighing, Usagi looked over the simple menu that she had memorized a hundred times over.

She would take turns looking out the window and then around the not-so busy parlor and back to her menu only to repeat the process over again as Mamoru still did not show. Time seemed to slow down and she had to reassure the waitress, whom she knew as Unazuki, over and over that she was in fact waiting on someone and that everything would be okay.

After thirty minutes of waiting, nearly an hour of their scheduled time, Usagi took out her cell phone and dialed Mamoru's number. He did not pick up, growling with mild frustration, Usagi hung up and redialed the number. After another five rings Mamoru finally answered.

"Hello?"

Usagi put on a cheery voice to hide her frustration, "Is that a way to answer the phone when your girlfriend calls?"

"Does it matter?" He asked bluntly.

Usagi's shoulders dropped. "No, I guess not. At least you answered the phone."

"Yeah," she heard Mamoru sigh, "Hey look, I'm kind of busy can I call you back?"

"Did you forget?"

Mamoru hesitated, "Forget what, baby?"

Shaking her head Usagi replied, "Nothing, don't worry about it. Call me back later."

Her phone beeped as the connection was broken before she could even finish her sentence and she once again peered out the paned glass window, slipping the phone into her bag. This time whenever Unazuki walked by, Usagi ordered a caramel frappuccino to go.

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These were the moments Usagi loved. The times when she and Mamoru were tangled together and she could not distinguish one body limb from another. These moments, however, were few and far between. Mamoru was not much of a cuddle-buddy and once he was done with her he was back to doing whatever it was before she had distracted him from.

At the moment however, she bathed in his warmth and memorized how his skin felt against hers. Usagi was pressed along his side and she had tilted her head just so that she could watch his face as he slept, as a slight snore escaped his mouth. She felt extremely lucky to have him to hold onto at times like these and she wished that they were never ending. But like most things, even good things didn't last forever.

Mamoru started to stir. The arm that had been wrapped around her slim body moved; his long fingers trailed up from the small of her back sending shivers down her spine. The snoring had stopped and his piercing blue eyes met hers as they opened. He gave her shoulders a slight squeeze before he gently pushed her off him as he sat up. No matter how subtle it was, the movement stung like rejection.

Usagi turned her back to him. She could sense him looking for his clothes. "Leaving already?" She mumbled into her pillow.

"I have to go to work early," was his easy reply - a ready excuse.

"You could just stay the night here." She knew her attempts were useless but she had to try from time to time.

"I'd have to get up even earlier to get home and ready than if I just went home now."

Moving to face him again, Usagi watched as he dressed. She did not even begin to explain to him that he was using just as much of his time leaving now as he would if he left in the morning, if not more. "Will you call me when you get home?"

"What's the point in that?" Mamoru asked. He sat on the end of the bed to put his shoes on. "I'll just be waking you up."

"Call me tomorrow then, when you know I'm up." There was a slight bite in her words but they went unnoticed by the man in front of her.

Mamoru stood up and turned around to face his girlfriend. "If you insist."

Usagi nodded and smiled as he bent down to kiss her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Mamo-chan."

"Goodnight, Usagi."

She listened for him to exit the main door to her apartment and lock it before she rolled over once again in her bed. Usagi brought the covers up to her chin as a sudden chill found her skin.

Whatever happened to Usa-ko?

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She felt it in her gut that something was not right. Usagi knew that before she left Mamoru's tonight her heart would be broken. Mamoru was going to feed her to the wolves and she was going to allow him to. She didn't know which part of the situation was worse. Was it the part that Mamoru was giving her up and their years together? Or was it the part where Usagi was not even going to fight back?

Maybe it was because she had accepted the defeat so long ago. Usagi knew that they had been drifting apart for a while now, ever since that fateful day whenever he forgot their anniversary while she waited nearly an hour for him. Maybe Usagi thought she would still have a little more time before the final day in their relationship. How should she have known that the end was so close she could grasp it? Now that the end was upon her, Usagi lost her will and even her energy to fight.

She had been fighting for so long now to get closer and Mamoru just kept pushing her away. She bowed her head in acceptance of her loss as Mamoru opened the door to his apartment and allowing her to brush past. As she faced Mamoru, Usagi decided it would be best to just get everything out in the open now instead of waiting any longer.

"Can we just get this over with?" Usagi asked—the dull ache evident in her voice. "I'm tired of being led on."

Mamoru closed the door and looked at her incredulously. "What?"

Usagi sighed, "You know what Mamoru. It doesn't feel the same anymore."

He rubbed his eyes, "Usagi, I don't want to do this."

"Well you should have thought about that before you let it happen!" The frustration that had been building up for months was evident in her eyes. "I've been hanging on to a piece of string desperately and you haven't even tried to help me sew things back together."

Mamoru sat on the couch. "I'm not going to break your heart Usagi, I promised I wouldn't."

The blond scoffed at the man in front of her. "You're not going to break my heart? Mamo-ch… Mamoru, you've been breaking my heart, little by little for a long time now. Every phone call you say you'll make that you don't and every call I make you choose not to answer. Every time you leave me in the middle of the night in a cold bed alone… Mamoru that's rejection and it hurts."

He ran a hand through his thick black hair. Mamoru was at a loss for words.

"I mean, what's so important that you can't just call me to tell me you're thinking about me. Hell, an 'I'm just calling 'cause I said I would. I can't really talk; I just wanted to say hi.' That would be perfectly fine. But no, I don't get that."

"I'm busy Usagi; I can't just stop in the middle of surgery to call you."

"No, I understand that. I can't stop in the middle of rehearsal to call you. But I find time to call you. More than likely you won't answer and if you do, it's just to make sure we'll be getting together later for a nice fuck."

The harsh word stung both of their ears. Mamoru hung his head in shame, Usagi standing a few feet from him, towering over him. "It isn't like that," he whispered as he ran his hands along his thighs and then against the cushions of the couch. Louder he said, "I just don't know what to tell you."

"You break me," Usagi caught the tears in her hands as they started to fall. "I could have loved you for the rest of my life."

Mamoru reached out to grab her, bring her to him and hold her but she moved from his grasp. The tears were falling easier now leaving light stains down her cheeks. He stood up trying to get her to let him comfort her, calm her, but she would not have any of it.

"No," Usagi shook her head, stepping back. "You're too late."

"Usagi-"

"See," Usagi looked up at him, letting him absorb the pain in her eyes, "You don't even call me Usa-ko anymore."

The dark headed man dropped his hands to his sides. He felt like he could do nothing as he watched the blond, the love of his life, turn around and let herself out of his apartment. The door shut quietly leaving no trace of Usagi ever being there. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let this happen?

Looking back at things, he realized where he messed up. Where he could have been misunderstood—where things were seen differently to Usagi than they really were. He should have been more careful but now, like Usagi said, it was too late; he had just lost the most important thing in his life since his parents.

He walked into the kitchen where he had placed a single blood red rose above a black velvet box. Mamoru picked up the rose by the petals and squeezed, letting the juices of the rose color his hand red, then let go and watched as the crumpled petals fell back to the table. Bruised and broken, the petals no longer held the beauty they had just moments ago. This was exactly how he felt. Taking a breath, he picked the box up and opened it revealing a single diamond set in a silver ring.

Frustrated, he threw the thing across the room.