:( Nearly a week for this chapter! I'm supeeerrrrr-sorry, but hopefully I'll get some good stuff done over the weekend.

Just as a heads-up, many M-rated fics are heavily about sex and feature a lot of lemons, and as you all must be aware by now this fic is not so much like that. Sex is a theme, but it is not a large part of the narrative. That said, the last few chapters seem to have been quite explicit in content, and I want to reassure the readers that I am not going to go off into lemon-every-chapter-land. That land sucks, IMO.

I write things as I feel they need to be written, and I also hope at this point that not too many people are shocked by my writing :P

Enjoy!

The place they went to was dark, crowded and loud. Natsume and Ruka found the concept of constantly having to push past and touch other people to move rather unplesant, although everyone else didn't seem to be bothered by it. Within half an hour both of them – not really caring about any of the bands – had opted to hang around the back where the venue was less crowded and equipped with a bar.

Drink, Natsume argued, was good for numbing out the noise.

"You won't notice it so much," he bellowed in Ruka's ear, who continued to resist the concept of drinking - he did not hold it well. "Go on!" Nastume shouted, moving towards the bar. "I'll buy one for you anyway."

Ruka chose not mention it, but Natsume would not have done something like this before he met Mikan – there was something ever-so-slightly more social about him, even if it was only with his best friend.

Natsume tried to keep an eye on Mikan in the crowd – he wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of people being able to do things to her without them close at hand to beat the shit out of them, but he didn't bother to argue; he'd have to trust that she'd tell him if anything happened.

"Sorry you had to suffer this," Natsume said as he handed Ruka his drink. "It was the only way."

"I know," Ruka replied. "I don't mind. They're all right really." Natsume froze up when he spotted Mikan with an arm slung around her neck, but a second look confirmed it was Sumire's.

"Has her friend been annoying you?" he inquired.

"Who?"

"Sumire," Natsume said, reminded by spotting the girl in question in the crowd. "She digs you, right?" Ruka shrugged.

"I can't tell with them anymore," he replied. "She was talking to me, though." Natsume grinned and pushed Ruka's arm lightly.

"You could have her, easily," he remarked.

"Yeah, I guess," Ruka said humbly.

"She's not bad," he said cheekily, and Ruka gave him a suspecting look. "Hey, I mean no one's better than Mikan, but I was just saying. In general terms, she's not bad at all." Ruka rolled his eyes and raised his eyebrows.

"Are you really into her that much?" he asked, almost reluctantly.

"Seems like it," Natsume answered unashamedly. "Who knows how long it'll last, but right now it's pretty good." He shot a glance at another girl with a short skirt near them. "Not bad, right? I'd still rather have Mikan." The girl was hot, and it was enough to surprise Ruka; he wasn't used to Natsume talking like this.

"Sometimes I can't believe it's you actually saying this stuff," he admitted.

"Me too," Natsume chuckled. There was more he could say, but he didn't see the point. There were no words he could use to describe it that weren't spelled 'l-o-v-e' and he was not prepared to start thinking like that... just yet.

He went to the bar for another drink, getting an extra one for Mikan when she turned up – which she did – sweating and very much in need of refreshment. He pointed to the heavily iced-up beer he had already allocated for her, and she smiled and took it. Simply going off to dance with her friends had chilled her out a lot – she was a bit annoyed with Natsume, but going off and dancing it all away (if you forgive the metaphor) made his small offering of a drink seem much sweeter.

"Why don't you come and dance?" she yelled above the din. She never was good at staying mad with him, and dancing together would be even better for cheering her up.

"I don't like it," he protested.

"I did something for you tonight, you do something for me!" she said with a grin. He laughed and his petulant, sulking-face broke into a crooked grin.

"That's what you want me to do?" he said sarcastically. "You're in credit for just about anything, and you want me to dance?"

"You better believe it," she said, grinning, and then without much fuss finished her beer, finished his, and pulled him by the hand to the main crowd. There was a band getting ready to play, but while they set up there was a DJ keeping the crowd excited; so it was a nondescript dance tune that Natsume first danced to.

This was the first time he'd danced with a girl, ever. He'd never used these places to pick up girls, and he'd never had to resort to dancing to gain favour – he'd never wanted to.

The beat was plain and uninteresting, but everyone around them burst into animation as the music fluctuated and pulsed. Mikan's hands were knotted with his, and she bounced and span around him, barging into people and jostling their bodies together. Natsume didn't know what to do, so he looked around and attempted to copy what everyone else was doing – jumping up and down in time to the music. That was it?

He didn't think he saw the point of it at all, until he suddenly picked up the riff from a song he'd been aware of on the radio recently. It didn't matter whether or not he liked it on the radio, he knew it, and so did everyone else. The entire crowd exploded, bashing into each other, jumping, screaming and generally going nuts. As the song really got going – now remixed with a heavy drum and bass beat – Natsume tested an idea and put his free hand to his mouth and yelled. A meaningless scream that meant nothing, except possibly 'I know this song'. Around him people started screaming as well, and he could hear Mikan as one of those voices beside him.

It was stupid, but it was somehow liberating, and he shouted again, then when someone pushed him and he roughly shoved them back, he was mildly surprised to see them grin like a maniac and give him a thumbs up. This was dancing?

They had picked a good time to enter the crowd apparently, because just as they stopped moving the band came on stage – he assumed they did, everyone started screaming, himself included – and people poured from the less-packed areas right into the middle of the floor. He and Mikan were subsequently absorbed into the thick of the crowd, and when a mashed-up electric guitar riff ripped through the air like tearing fabric, Natsume's ears rang; virgin to such a sound.

The funny thing was he didn't really care – perhaps it was the couple of beers, but he didn't mind that he couldn't hear anything except the band: he didn't need to. People stuck their hands up in the air and Mikan's dragged his up with it, he laughed and shouted, hearing her scream next to him. He put the fingers of his other hand in his mouth and whistled. People barged, shoved, elbowed and generally manhandled each other, but for some reason it was all treated as a big game.

If someone fell down, you could guarantee three people would help them back up, and although he caught a blow on the cheek that had a good chance of leaving a bruise, this was surprisingly fun. Roughousing for adults.

When the set finished and it was deemed acceptable to leave the crowd in search of more to drink, Natsume flicked a number of glances over at Mikan with a curious look on his face.

"What?" she said bluntly.

"That was..." he said thoughtfully, "not that bad." She grinned.

"It's good fun, even if you don't know the band," she remarked. She looked even more amazing in this setting – sure her makeup was running and she was drenched in sweat, probably smelling less than favourable if he got close enough, but she had the similar sort of satisfied air that she had just after they'd had sex. Oh how he'd missed having sex with her.

"Although," Natsume said slyly, darting forwards to nail her against a supporting pillar, out of the flow of pedestrians. "I can think of some things that are more fun."

Mikan didn't bother to reply – this was not a situation that required a response.

Apart from snogging his face off, obviously.

Their ears rang, feet ached, head pounded, but none of that seemed to affect the sensations. If anything, they made it more intense. He pushed his own weight against her and felt the pressure build up between her and the wall; his mouth lashed over hers and hands tangled in her hair and clothes. If people sniggered walking past them, they didn't notice.

"Why does it feel like ages since I fucked you?" he growled in her ear, and he could tell she felt the same way – she hadn't already come already once today as it was.

"It has been ages," she replied. Yes, she found the fact that he always called the shots annoying. Yes, he was controlling and demanding. Yes, it sometimes felt like she was sex-on-tap for him. However, she was also as hot-blooded as he could be, and she wanted sex a lot right now too.

"What do you think then?" he posed.

"I think not without a condom," she fired back without hesitation, and he scowled. "I also think no more public places." All of the above said, she still had a few rules, and she still knew that he wouldn't properly force her to do things.

"Your place?" he suggested.

"But what about my friends?" she protested.

"Well you can't have both," he put plainly. He didn't dig sharing. She looked him in the eyes and smiled, the lights of the club flashing red, blue and green across her face, lighting it up in every colour. He knew what her answer would be.

"I'll wait," she said, and his predictions backfired like a bad engine. He scowled; she laughed. "Waiting will make it even better, won't it?" she said seductively in his ear. Already he could feel things coming to life down there, and he wasn't sure how much he'd enjoy this game.

"You're fucking with me," he stated, and she gave him a toying look.

"Am I?" she giggled, and he shot in for a heavy kiss, lightening to trail along her jaw and neck. He bit her; right where she liked it, and she squealed, "Ow!"

"You play dirty, I'll play dirty," he said hoarsely, and then grabbing her by the hand, hauled her back to where the rest of their friends were gathered. They all eyed him and Mikan knowingly, except for Ruka, who still looked surprised at the fact that Natsume had actually gone to dance, and even more so that he was dirty and sweaty, but smiling. He wondered if a girl like Mikan wasn't a bad idea – it certainly seemed to be doing a lot for Natsume's happiness.

"What?" he shot slyly, and no one dared pass comment. Natsume was too confusing for most of them to feel confidant passing judgement on; they couldn't get him.

"I'm skint, do you wanna split and find another place?" Mikan said to Sumire. "The bands are over, after all."

"This place is a fucking rip-off," Sumire agreed. "Why not."

They found themselves in another bar eventually, and Natsume and Mikan seemed to be determined to get drunk faster than anyone else. Why that was no one could tell, but it had something to do with Mikan drinking Natsume's beer-so-he-drank-hers-so-she-got-another-one-drank-his-another-hers-another-theirs-another, or something like that.

Then they proceeded to have an argument about whether or not he checked out the barmaid, who was, in fact, a barman, and Natsume instantly threw the same question back at her. Most people were cowed into silence as they started screaming at each other and throwing drinks, which, within a flash, had suddenly turned into a game and they were both falling about laughing.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Sumire whispered to Ruka behind her hand, as Mikan wrung beer out of her hair and Natsume nuzzled his face into her neck.

"No," Ruka replied. "But I'm a little scared." Sumire was a little drunk herself now, and feeling more confidant. Ruka had only had two, but he was quite a lightweight, and tended to forcefully introvert himself when he drunk, because otherwise he sometimes got a bit... handsy, when he was drunk. Natsume told him so.

"It's quite romantic though, isn't it?" she whispered to him, and, to her pleasant surprise, he jittered in a not-repulsed way.

"I don't know," he murmured, trying not to think about the girl's hands on his jacket. He didn't want to, but he now admitted to himself he was jealous of what Natsume had. Sumire wouldn't be that, though; he could tell. She leant closer and he could smell the beer on her breath. He didn't want to but...

"Hey! Sumire!" Koko snapped suddenly, placing two glasses down on the table loudly as Ruka and Sumire gravitated together forebodingly. "Do you want another drink?"

"Huh?" she replied curtly. "I've got one." She pointed to the nearly-full bottle on the table beside her.

"Oh, my mistake," he said unconvincingly, and Ruka considered himself narrowly saved.

"I think I better go," he announced, standing up. "Natsume," he said, trying to attract his friend's attention without having to watch what he was doing with Mikan too closely. As it turned out he wasn't doing anything at all.

"See her," Natsume said with just a slight slur, pointing to a girl at the bar. "Ten minutes." Mochu's eyes widened.

"How?"

"Nothing to it," Natsume laughed. "On her own, dressed up, drinking. She's gagging for it." There was a smart slapping sound as Mikan attacked Natsume from behind, but in seconds he had dragged her onto his lap.

"But this one," he stated as he lapped an arm around her waist. "Took months, in fact, I'm still trying now." He tipped his face up and kissed the spot just below her ear. "She gets paranoid for some reason, but she's completely different to that girl over there." He looked back at Koko. "I was only advising him; you should know that I don't want anyone else."

"Why?" Mikan insisted rattily.

"Because," he replied emphatically, kissing her again. Koko realized that he'd never stood a chance.

"That's no reason."

"I've never had a reason," he retorted. "I just do." He squeezed her in his lap and Mikan felt herself sulking at his persuasiveness.

"Stop that," she whined.

"What?"

"Making me want to fuck you," she murmured out of others' earshot.

"I couldn't stop it even if I wanted to," he remarked, pulling down her chin to kiss her on the mouth. "You're too into me." Mikan rolled her eyes.

"I'm going," Ruka repeated a little louder, and Natsume looked over instantly. He was supposed to be going back with Ruka, or his parents would bust him even worse. He groaned and gave Mikan an apologetic look.

"Oh hell no," she retorted. "You're not going."

"Just come back with me," he pleaded. "We went out, I talked to people, I waited." He nudged her insistently. "Come back now."

"Go on, girl," Sumire interrupted as Mikan dithered silently. "You know you want to. We'll have more fun without you lovebirds scarring off all the single guys." It was said cruelly, but meant kindly. Mikan bashfully shuffled off Natsume's lap and stood up, naturally slipping her hand into his as they said goodbye and left.

"So, what are we doing about... uh, well," Ruka said as soon as they were outside. "I'd rather it if Mikan didn't... y'nno; it would be hard to explain."

"She lives around your way," Natsume replied, understanding Ruka when Mikan couldn't follow a single word. "I'll come back later. We'll hang at hers."

"See, there you go," Mikan said. "You just assume my place is always free."

"Your place is always free," he stated.

"What?" Ruka said.

"She lives on..." Natsume started, but then checked himself. If Mikan didn't tell him, then he didn't know who it was and wasn't okay to tell. "Her parents are away for a week," he explained, and Mikan squeezed his hand gratefully at the half-truth.

On the way back Natsume teased Ruka about being a lightweight, and tried not to think about fucking Mikan too much or he'd lose it. It didn't really work, and he was raring to go by the time they were on her road. It wasn't far from Ruka's, and he assured his friend he'd be back in an hour or two – when Mikan had fallen asleep, he reckoned. Ruka had no objections, naturally, and awkwardly bade them goodbye. He could tell when Natsume had sex in mind, and it made him about as communicative as a pillarbox.

"So," Mikan started as they were finally alone. "Now what?"

"You know what," he replied, speeding up his pace and gripping her arm tightly in his hand. "It feels like forever since we fucked."

"Oh? You hot for it?" she teased. Well aware that she was just as ready as well – she could already feel it in her shorts.

"Fuck yes," he laughed, turning into her house and waiting for her to get the door. They stumbled inside in the dark, and he stopped her going for the lights. "Forget them," he murmured, kicking the door behind them and fumbling into the main room, kicking his shoes off.

"What're you..." she said, her words stunted as he picked her up and dropped down onto his knees.

"Here," he insisted hotly as he laid her out on the floor. "Fuck the bed." Mikan laughed at the irony – fucking was the last thing the bed would get now. Then she simply kissed him.

There was less fooling around at the beginning now, but as he – with a resigned air – threw aside a few precious moments for carefully-stashed contraception, she thought to herself that maybe it would be better to go on the pill. Perhaps she could do it tomorrow. If he was still here, that was; he was supposed to be going, wasn't he?

She couldn't really think about it long, though, because she didn't have time to think about much before he split her legs on his hips and slammed straight into her. It felt, to ignore the irony, fucking amazing.

"Fuck, Natsume," she panted, and he grunted and went again.

"Yes," he growled as they fucked against the hard floor – her ass, when he slipped his hands around to cup it, was cold from the floorboards, and tingled pleasurably against his scorching palms. "My name. Fuck, more..."

"Natsume," she repeated, feeding his desire as he fed hers. She felt completely stuffed, making her back arch and her hips lift to accomadate him, and as she chewed on a lip. "Na–tsume!"

It was hot, it was so hot. Her crying his name as he fucked her too hard to keep quiet – he knew her well enough by now, and she didn't scream out loud unless she absolutely couldn't hold it back. Her nails sunk into his shoulder blades and she tightened around him in the agony of almost-but-not-quite-there. He was going to be soaked down to his balls at this rate, but he did not care. He wanted her to scream her voice out on him.

However, finally banging her over that incline was too much for him to hold back on himself, and he helplessly came just as she did. He hadn't really believed in simultaneous orgasms, but he was obviously going to have to reconsider.

They lay on the floor – still together – until they could breathe normally, and then he blindly made his way to the bathroom; showers aside, they both needed to wash up a little after that. As good as it had been and everything.

"You look out of it," he remarked as he looked at her in the light.

"Whose fault is that?" she retorted; tired, but positively glowing post-coitally. "You're not..." Her face darkened suddenly. "...going, are you?"

Shit, he was supposed to go back to Ruka's.

Fuck it, fuck it all. He couldn't think of one reason to go back; why would he leave a warm, naked body he adored to sleep on his own. What was he, insane?

He shook his head. "As if," he snorted. "Let's go to bed," he suggested, leading the way to the bedroom. He jumped down on the invitingly soft bed and she followed him, rolling on top of him to kiss, while she wriggled under the covers.

They fell asleep tangled together; the smell of each other's sex on their skin and a light film of sweat meeting the cool night air. There wasnt a single place in the world they'd rather be.

Uh, so, yes. Natsume did it :P He's so horned. All the time.

Leave a review please. Floorfucking FTW and gig-age. Also, if it's not too much fuss peeps could go and, well, you know, vote for me on the GARC 2008...

http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/topic/55572/12298922/1/

Not to pressure you or anything, but if you all took like five seconds to vote for me I could, like, actually not-fail against all the other awesomefics out there. For the love of Natsume?