To live without her...

Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own BSSM or Haruka. WAHHHHH! Why must the world be so cruel!

Well, here I am. Finally updating. I've been kind of busy trying to out run the lawn gnomes. (Looks from side to side) So for those actually reading this story. I apologize-AHHHH! They found me, gotta run!

Chapter 3

Falling for her...

"Whoa, Haruka! Whose the hottie?" The blonde loosened the hold on her friend, and nervously coughed into her hand. The shorter girl glared at the guy causing him to back up in fear. "This is my friend Mesa. Don't worry. I'm certain that she is updated on her shots-ow!" Haruka began rubbing her arm where Mesa hit her. " Don't talk about me as if I'm a dog, you big meanie!" Haruka laughed. "Not a dog. I was thinking more along the lines of, cute puppy." Haruka prepared herself for the next blow, instead found her smiling. "You think I'm like a cute puppy!" Everyone sweatdropped. --' Harukas friend began to laugh.

"Haruka, your friend sure is cute." He crept up loser to her ear and whispered, "Hey, is she single?" A sudden feeling of anger began to take form, Harukas eyebrow began twitching in irritation. "That my friend is none of your business." The young man laughed. "Ok, ok. By the way, my name is Ben. Ben Foster." He extended his hand to her and she shook it. "Nice to meet you. Haruka! Let's do something, I missed you so much!" She wrapped her arms around her waist once more and looked up with a pouty face. "Actually, we were just on our way to the track. Wanna join us?" Mesa thought for a moment. "Sure, let's go."

At the track, Haruka was winning all of the races. Even though they were just for practice, she was still putting her all in. Mesa cheering for her in the back round and threatening her opponents helped too. Everyone was in awe of her speed. Wondering how anyone could run that fast. Mesa pulled a sandwich from the icebox they had brought and sat down. Haruka was setting up for her next race when she saw Ben sit down next to her. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling in her gut and kept stretching. "So. How long have you known Haruka?" She took a big bite out of the sandwich and chewed. "Since I was seven. I fell on her from her aunts tree, want some?" She answered, her mouth still full with food. He hesitated at first before taking a bite off of the girls sandwich. Haruka looked up just in time to see her wiping mustard off his face with a napkin. The gun sounded and she lost her footing, falling to the ground. Mesa rushed down to her to see if she was alright. When she reached down to help her up, Haruka shrugged her arm away. "I don't need any help." She gave one last look to Mesa, who was already looking like she was about to cry, and started walking towards the gate heading home. Ben, feeling in some odd way responsible ran after his friend.

"Hey, hey Haruka wait up." She stopped and leaned up against the gate and wiped the sweat from her brow. Allowing Ben to catch up to her. "Yo, man. What's up. You just bit her head off there for nothing." Haruka rolled her eyes. "Look dude, just don't worry about it. I was embarrassed about falling in front of everyone. I'll apologize to her and she'll be fine." Ben gave him a stern look. "You sure?" Haruka shook her head, a little worried that it may take a lot more then a mere apology to make it up to her. "Yeah, I'm sure." Ben smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Good, cuz she told me how she looked foward to spending time with you again, plus tears don't suit a pretty girl like her." She nodded. 'No,' she thought. 'Tears don't suit her at all.'

Later that evening, Haruka heard a light tapping on her window. She opened the curtain and found Mesa holding onto the branch of a tree. Haruka smiled to herself and opened the window, helping the other girl in. "So, does George know that our trying to steal his title for hitting and falling out of trees?" The other girl just half smiled. Haruka ran her hands through her messy blonde hair and sighed. Usually, the other girl would have just written off what happened and laugh at the remark. She had changed in the last three years since they've hung out. She had grown taller by a few inches, making her almost five feet tall, her hair was still long, but now had dark streaks of pink and purple through them. Her style of dress had also changed. Not as conservative as she used to be. She took the time to put makeup on and style her hair. She took the time to pick out clothes that would make guys give her more then second glances. She went from the literal 'cute little girl next door' to a beautiful young woman. One in which made Haruka feel uneasy and nervous. They had both changed. They weren't kids anymore. Mesa looked into the tall blondes eyes and sat on her bed. She then looked down to her hands, trying to think of to say.

"Hey, Haruka. Have you, I mean... do you not want to be my friend anymore." The blonde just looked at the girl, stunned. She now started to realize just how much the incident earlier that day hurt the other girl. She once again ran her hand through her hair, searching for words to say. She never expected to ever be in this sort of position with anyone, let alone her. How could she tell the girl about the unusual feeling in the pit of stomach when she thought of her. Was it fear? Or something else? Whatever it was, it was causing a big rift in their friendship. A friendship that had been put on hold for so long. She couldn't even look at the other girl. What was wrong with her? She was so happy earlier and now, just to make herself feel more comfortable she wanted to tell the girl to leave. But did she really want her to leave? Questions and obvious answers just kept swimming through Harukas' head. She wanted things to go back to the way they were before. When time was simple. But then looking back, she felt the same way back then as well. It just was not as intense as it just now recently became. Their friendship was a lot deeper then it appeared. Deeper then she expected it to ever become. But it was very obvious to the other that her feelings were completely one sided. They probably always were and will continue to be. She looked at Mesa, who sat looking down at her hands, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I do. I'm sorry about earlier. I was embarrassed, and I took it out on you. You were just there to cheer me on. I'm sorry." She slowly reached for Mesas hand, fearing that the other may pull away. Instead she stopped herself. The other looked at her and smiled. Obviously happy to have the matter resolved. "Great! Do you want to walk to school with me tomorrow?" Haruka swallowed hard, even answering simple questions was getting harder and harder for her. "Sure." Mesa smiled. "Great! I can't wait. I gotta go. Homework. I'll see you then." She walked over to the window and began to climb down, giving Haruka one last smile. One that caused her heart to jump into her throat. Before her very eyes, her feelings for the girl had begun to deepen. She didn't know what to do or say. Or who she could possibly talk to about it. She had a crush on her best friend, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The next day, Haruka somehow managed to walk with Mesa to school without letting her secret known. They no longer attended private school, so they were able to dress casually for school instead of uniforms. Haruka just listened as the other prattled on about anything and everything under the sun. She looked unusually beautiful to her today. She had her hair down, which she always loved it when the girls hair flowed freely. And was wearing a simple babytee with a geisha on it under a cherry blossom tree, and some jeans with strategically placed holes and sandals. There was really nothing special about the outfit. But she found herself blushing each time she looked at her. School wasn't any better. She insisted following Haruka around and managed to get placed in some of her classes, making it harder for her to concentrate. At lunch, every time she waved at another guy it caused her heart to sink. It especially pissed her off whenever her friend talked to Ben. The way she would gently touch his arm when she laughed at something he said, or would playfully slap him. They looked like they would make a good couple. Others did as well, constantly asking either one or the other if they were seeing each other. Reality slapped her in the face continuously. The only kind of peace she seemed to have that day was at track practice. On the field, she saw a group of guys talking to Ben. She shook her head and began to laugh. He was being bombarded with questions from the earlier assignments given to them that day. However, when a certain name popped up, so did her ears.

"So Ben, are you going to take that girl you were flirting with today to the homecoming dance or what?" The guy seemed a little uncomfortable with the question and just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She may already be taken. Who knows." A guy with red hair and freckles laughed and gave him a playful punch in the arm. "You're gonna ask her anyway though, right. You'd be dumb to pass a piece of ass like that up." Haruka tried to hold back her anger, balling up her fists. Resisting the urge to just go and lay the punk out. When he heard Ben. "Hey man, don't talk about her like that. If you do, I'll have to kick your ass." "Yo, man sorry. I was just sayin." "Well don't. She's a nice girl." Haukas blood suddenly began to run cold. Ben liked Mesa. Her Mesa. And there was a good possibility that she liked him too. She began to realize that her feelings were in vain. She left practice early that day. All she wanted to do was be alone.

She found herself wondering into a park. Kids were running around playing tag and hide and seek. It made her think of the days when her and Mesa were kids and played those games. How simple life was then. She felt something hit the side of her leg. She looked down and picked the frisbee up. A kid with short brown hair and a girl with curly blonde hair rushed over. "Sorry mister. Can we have our frisbee back please." She simply smiled and handed it back to the kid. "Here ya go." The boy ran off and the little girl smiled, "Thank you." and ran off. "Well, at least I now know that you being nice isn't just an act." Haruka turned and saw Mesa sitting on a swing. "Now come over and push me." She laughed and grabbed the girls waist, pulling her up. Against her will she let go of her, sending the girl into the air. She gently pushed on the girls back, causing her to go higher. Shrieks of joy escaped the girls mouth, causing a smile to form on Harukas face. For some odd reason, she had the courage to ask about the dance. " Hey, Mesa. Are you going to the homecoming dance next week?" Mesa giggled and looked back to Haruka. "Sure I am. Why wouldn't I?" Haruka decided to press her further. Afraid and excited all at once. This could be her chance, she thought. "Are you going with anyone?" Mesa fell silent for a moment and a sly smile crossed her face. "Yeah I am, why?" Harukas heart fell. "So, who are you going with?" "Someone from the track team." Her fears were realized. She was going with Ben. She lost her chance to let her friend know how she felt. She forced a smile onto her face. Pushing her into the air once again. "That's good. I hope you two have fun." Mesa laughed. "Of course we will."

The week seemed to drag by in slow motion. She had debated wether or not to even bother going, but when Mesa began to whine and become tearful, she couldn't refuse. She decided on a light blue suit in which the jacket extended down past her thighs and a dark blue collard shirt and some black dress shoes. She examined herself in the mirror before walking downstairs, where her mom had the camera waiting. She looked down on her dresser at a purple orchid corsage. She had gotten it for Mesa, but was sure that Ben had already gotten one for her. She decided to take it anyway, just in case. She made her way down stairs. After about twenty minutes of pictures and comments on her pick of wardrobe from her aunt, she was out the door, heading to Mesas. She stopped herself when she remembered that she was going with Ben. She ran her hand through her hair and let out a nervous breath. 'Let the night from hell begin' and began walking to the school.

The night air was refreshing and Haruka had began t calm her nerves. The stars shone bright, giving an ethereal glow. The trees danced as the wind gently danced among the trees. Haruka stood for a moment, letting the wind calm her thoughts. She loved the wind, it always had a calming and peaceful affect on her. It made her feel more confident about tonight. Not caring if she would get sweaty or not, she took off running, as the wind blew it seemed to follow her. At the dance, hundreds of dressed up teenagers started entering the gymnasium which had been transformed into their little 'slice of heaven'. Which just happened to be the theme. The gyms decorations turned into an ivory pearl gates version of heaven with thick drapes hanging from the wall. White lights laced in sheer fabric hung from the ceiling. White cotton was used on the floor in areas off from the dance floor to add an effect of clods and to top it off, a fog machine as well as bubbles completed the look. But no dance is complete without the good ol' disco ball. Haruka looked around, amazed at what the committee had accomplished. It was a good little set up.

After walking around for a few minutes, she got a glass of punch and found a spot close to the entrance to stand and wait for Mesa and Ben. Twenty minutes had passed, then forty. Finally after looking at her watch for the millionth time, she saw Ben. She had to say that he looked nice. He had his hair up in a small ponytail and wore a nice white dress shirt, tie and dark dress pants. Sh waited for Mesa to show up beside him, but she didn't. Instead, she saw Ben walk over to a blonde with a blue cinderella type gown. Confusion and anger started running through her. 'Where was Mesa? I thought she was his date?' Haruka became startled when a pair of hands covered her eyes. Her nerves suddenly calmed when she heard the voice behind the hands. "Looking for me?" Haruka smiled and turned around. In that instant, Harukas resolve had left her completely. Before her stood what would define an angel. Her long hair had been softly curled, cascading down her dress which was white. The top fabric hugged her breast as the rest of the dress flowed from beneath her. Her makeup was soft with a hint of glitter causing her features to glow in the dim light. She looked positively breathtaking.

"You're beautiful" was all Haruka could manage to mouth. And that came out barely as a whisper. Mesa just stood, smiling as if she was holding a secret only she had known. "I thought, I mean..wow. I thought you were coming to the dance with Ben." The other giggled. "What in the world gave you that idea?" "Well, you said you were going with someone on the track team." Mesa nodded her head. "Yep, that is what I said." Haruka became confused and lightheaded. "Well, Ben is on the track team. So I thought..." She ran her hand through her hair and looked down at her feet. Not wanting the other to see her embarrassment. "Well, there was someone else on the team who I would rather go with." Harukas hope seemed to fall again. "Who is that then." She kept her head down, afraid of the answer when she felt the others arms gently go around her neck. Haruka looked up and met Mesas eyes. She gave the Haruka a gentle smile. "You." It was at that moment, Haruka finally understood. Her friend had felt the same way for her. She pulled her angel close and placed her lips gently on Mesas. At that moment, friends had become lovers.

YAY! Chappie 3 complete. We are getting closer to the apperance of Michiru people. So stay tuned. Same anime time. Same anime channel. Oh, and don't forget to press that button down there and let me know what you think. Je ne!