A/N: Alright, so I didn't get a chance to reply to reviews last time. Sorry about that. I'll just say a real quick thank you to all of you. THANKS! I'll reply to you this time around – promise. So here's the next chapter, named after "Better Now," by Rascal Flatts. God I love their songs, except when they sound really hick-like. Eh. So I'll end up using probably one or two more songs of theirs. Anyways! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I know, I know.

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Chapter 15: Better Now

She lay on her bed with her arms stretched out to her sides and her legs spread out as she stared up at the ceiling with a blank stare. She tried to balance her laptop on her stomach as she breathed in and out. 'Still nothing,' she thought in annoyance with a sigh. After her conversation with her brother in the kitchen, she found herself in this position. Being the way she was, she refused to think she needed this get together in order to do what she was passionate for. 'I can handle this on my own,' she told herself. 'I can do this.'

Two, maybe three hours later, she found herself lying there with an empty word document shining onto her face. She didn't need any inspiration. But how much had she gotten done in the past week? She was in need of help whether she admitted it or not. The raven haired woman exhaled in aggravation.

"Whoever said people look best by candlelight obviously haven't tried a computer light before," a voice came from the opposite side of her room. She jumped slightly from surprise and then shut the lid of her laptop slightly. Rukia squinted from the light in order to see into her pitch black room.

She saw an image of a man leaning against the wall of her bedroom, his arms crossed over his chest and a possible smile on his face. Her eyes began to adjust more and they only revealed what she should have already known. "You think you can just come in my room whenever the hell you want, Kurosaki?" she said with a flustered attitude as she tried to get rid of the flush on her face.

Rukia then turned her laptop around so that the light shined on Ichigo. He flinched, turned his head away and put his hand up to shield the light. "Jesus, blind me why don't ya!"

"That was my plan," Rukia said bitterly with a glare in the dark room that he could only predict she was giving. "You're early," Rukia stated simply as she sat her computer on the bed so that the light wouldn't bother either of them.

"I told you I was gonna to be," he said leaning back against the wall casually.

"I thought you were joking," she said not looking at him as she began to get up off of her bed and walk around her room as she threw random pieces of clothing into a pile on a chair.

"You think I'm joking when I talk about pissing off ole Byakuya? Geez, Rukia, I thought you knew me," he said with an amused tone.

"He's not even here. He left to hang out with your father and them tonight," she said as she continued to move around in an agitated manner.

"Wrong again. I passed him through the front door," he corrected. "I got the glare I was aiming for. Gave him my signature grin too," he added with a smirk.

"Why are you such an ass?" she asked with an exasperated huff as she examined a shirt and then threw it in the same pile.

Ichigo shrugged, "You like me this way."

Rukia froze in the middle of her movement and then turned to look at Ichigo as if he had three heads. "Feeling a little bold today, huh?" she asked incredulously.

"What? It's true," he defended.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, it's true that I like you randomly showing up in my room and scaring the hell out of me. It's true I like having you call me 'midget'. Or how about liking you piss off my brother? Oh yeah, I love that." She began to go through the pile of clothes again.

He smirked, "Oh, I know you do."

She turned her head back slightly to show her glare and then turned back to the clothes she was riffling through. "Why are you so damn cocky today?"

He raised an eyebrow from the remark. His easy going attitude was beginning to crumble. He furrowed his eyebrows with his arms still crossed over his chest. "Why are you so pissed off today?"

Rukia exhaled loudly as she stood up straight and turned to look at Ichigo. "I'm not pissed," she said in a tired tone.

"Bullshit! You've been throwing bitchy remarks at me since I showed up!" he defended.

"Well maybe it's because you showed up!" she yelled back.

He rolled his eyes as he began to walk out of the room. "I'm not arguing with you over this," he said calmly with his back facing her as he walked away.

Her mouth fell open. 'Was he seriously being mature about this?' she thought in complete astonishment. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with my Ichigo?" she said with shock still on her face, but her tone more amused.

He stopped in mid-step and turned to look at her. She couldn't breathe from his piercing stare. Her lungs had failed to work as her brain processed his appearance in front of her. He stood with his body slightly turned back to her. His faded jeans fit in all the right places and his aqua t-shirt revealed the toned muscles underneath the thin cloth. His amber eyes seemed so inhuman at that moment; not in a frightening way, but instead in a godlike way; like he was looking upon her and seeing all her truths.

He didn't know what to say, so he just tried to figure out what she meant by her words. 'My Ichigo.' It sounded so good in his ears to hear her say those words. And by the way he looked into her clueless, violet eyes, he knew that she didn't realize the significance of her words. What she did happen to realize was the impact it had on the receiving end of her question.

"What?" he said in a whisper.

His voice was soft and questioning. She didn't know how to approach this. So because of her confusion and fear, she did what she first thought of doing. "You're not mature enough to walk away from a fight!" It came out a bit too loud.

Then, Rukia saw something she would have never expected. His piercing eyes softened. They now possessed the caring gaze of what she would have only imagined to belong to an angel. The corners of his lips twitched up into what she thought could have quite possible grown into a smile. "Maybe I was wrong," he said with the same whisper.

Her throat began to close off. What was happening? She tried to swallow as her eyes stared wide.

Ichigo turned around completely and put his hands in his pockets. His head tilted slightly to its side as he let that smile grow on his lips. "You do know me."

Rukia didn't know how to proceed with the situation. This wasn't the Ichigo she knew. He would have fought her like so many other times they had fought in the past. He would still be fighting her at that moment. But he chose to walk away without a second come back. Who was he?

That's exactly what she wanted to find out. "Who are you?" she asked in a whisper with a curious stare.

He squinted in confusion. He didn't know how to respond.

"There are moments when I feel like we're sixteen again and we're arguing like we live for it," she began in a tone where he could tell she was trying to understand. "But then you have these moments when you surprise me."

"Surprise you?" he questioned.

She took a deep breath. "Yeah," she agreed. "You leave me… speechless," she said the last word with amusement and a chuckle.

Ichigo couldn't help but let a smirk take over his facial expression. Shivers ran up his spine. He loved hearing her saying that. He tried to calm himself down, but he couldn't help it. She was saying all the things he wanted her to say; only she didn't see it in the same way as he did. He admitted it wasn't healthy for him to harp on this, but how could he not? He was in love with her. How could he forget her claim him as her own and tell him that he leaves her speechless?

Rukia rolled her eyes while her smile remained on her face. "I just boosted your ego way too much."

He smirked, "Now how couldn't you have seen that one coming?"

"I really don't know," she said with a chuckle and finally breaking the eye contact. She went back to the pile of clothes.

"What are you looking for?" he asked finally.

"Nothing. Just a piece of clothing," she said firmly as she continued to look through the pile in the dim lit room.

Ichigo looked around the room on the floor for anymore garments. "Where the hell is it?" she mumbled to herself as Ichigo's eyes landed on something on the floor.

His cheeks heated up a bit and then he began to smile. He cleared his throat in an effort to get her attention, but she didn't seem to notice. He put more emphasis on his cough, but she wasn't getting the hint. He took a step towards the piece of clothing and tried to kick it towards her, but it wasn't moving easily on the rug. As he continued to try to kick it towards her, he spoke her name in a mumble to get her attention, "Rukia."

She continued to huff as she stopped and scratch her head in wonder. "Rukia," he mumbled again, this time getting her attention. Timing was terrible because once she turned to look at him, his foot caught the lavender panties and kicked them into the air as they landed on her head.

Rukia's eyes grew wide. She reached up after a second of shock and pulled down the underwear into her hand and then her face immediately heated up. "Ichigo!" she yelled as she threw it deep into the pile of clothes on the chair.

"What?!" he yelled in confusion. He just helped her out and this is how she repays him?

"I can't believe you just did that!" she yelled back with her face flushed.

He frowned, "I helped you find what you were looking for! What are you getting so bitchy for?!"

"I was looking for them because I didn't want you to see them lying on my floor somewhere!" she yelled back. She was quite embarrassed.

Ichigo opened his mouth to yell back, but then he closed his mouth. Then, a smile grew on his face. He then began to laugh. This only pissed the female Kuchiki off more.

"What the hell is so god damn funny?!"

He continued to laugh until he finally was able to speak. "You're such a prude!" he said before he continued to laugh at her still very red face.

"I'm the prude?" she asked incredulously. Her confidence was coming back. "I was the one to make the first moves!"

He rolled his eyes, "You were completely red when you did."

"And you were completely frozen. You didn't even know how to react!

He shook his head, "Whatever. The point is you shouldn't be trying you're hardest to keep me from seeing you're very scandalous looking lingerie. I mean it's not like I haven't seen you before…"

Her face heated up again. She let out a yell, "Uh! I cannot believe you just said that!"

His eyebrows furrowed as a smile was very clear on his face. "What? It's not a secret between us. I think it's pretty clear that we've ha-"

"No!" Rukia yelled as her pointer finger pressed against Ichigo's lips. "No, no, no," she added once she thought it was safe. "Let's not say it out loud. It'll be less awkward if you go along with me and pretend we never took part in… activities like that."

He began to laugh. "You can't even say what it is. Besides, I don't see what's so awkward about it," he shrugged as her hand fell from his lips to her side. He looked at her curiously with a serious face. "I can accept that you were my first and only one for a while. Why can't you?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but she stopped. Why couldn't she? It was a fact. But something else was holding her back from admitting it.

"Talking about this is stupid. I have a boyfriend. He'd probably beat the crap out of you for talking about me in that way," she said to avoid the question.

He let a chuckle escape his mouth as he looked away from her, "Beat the crap out of me for having you first?" he said with a sly look as his eyes met hers again.

She frowned and opened her mouth in a shocking way. "I don't even know how to respond to that! I should punch you in the face for that!"

Ichigo's eyes went wide. "What? You totally loved me first!" he said in a defensive, yet very childish way. He didn't really realize how immature that sounded until it came out.

Rukia's mouth opened slightly in understanding and then closed. "Oh," she said softly. "I thought you were being…"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. "I wasn't talking about you like that."

Rukia smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

Ichigo looked away and began to rub his neck, "Ugh," he let out. "Now you made it awkward. I was completely fine with it before."

Rukia raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "I definitely saw a blush on your cheeks before I realized my underwear was on my head."

Ichigo began to smile, "It's amazing how you can say that with a straight face."

Rukia pushed his chest and rolled her eyes, "Shut up." She started to walk towards her computer again. She sighed as she began to close the laptop for the night.

"What's up with you anyway? You never answered me seriously before," Ichigo asked curiously as he stood with his hands still in his pockets.

She looked up at him and saw just how much he seemed to care. "I haven't been able to write for about a week and my editor is hounding me. I need to be shooting these chapters out like bunnies have babies," she said with a sigh.

Ichigo laughed, "Figures you'd compare it to bunnies…"

"Shut up," she said quickly. She continued, "This has to be in stores by fall. That's supposedly what my contract says." She let out a groan as she began to rub her temples.

He smiled at her sincerely. "Don't kill yourself over it. You'll be fine."

She continued to rub her temples. "You don't know that," she moaned.

"You always pull through. Now stop moping around and do something about it," he commanded more than suggested.

"And how the hell do I do that?" she asked with a slight attitude.

He walked over to the door and held his hand out motioning her to go through the door. "It's inspiration time."

"I can't believe it! Did you even see it coming?!" Rukia asked with excitement as Rangiku, Tatsuki and Orihime gushed beside her.

"No. Not at all, actually," Momo giggled as Orihime held Momo's hand in hers.

"This ring is beautiful!" Orihime said with awe.

Rangiku crossed her arms over her chest, "I can't believe the twerp actually got the nerve to propose. I thought he'd never do it," she said with a smirk.

Momo's smile beamed as much as the rock on her finger did. Toushirou was wealthy after all…

"Do you have any idea when you want it to happen?" Rukia asked with excitement.

"Well, Toushirou didn't really want to wait that long. He said we've been dating long enough so we might as well just make it soon," she explained as her eyes remained on the glittering diamonds. "So I suggested August."

"It's already June!" Orihime exclaimed.

Momo continued to smile. She nodded, "I know."

Tatsuki smiled at her. "Congratulations. You guys are perfect for each other."

"Thank you," Momo said before their little circle went into a comfortable silence. Then, the four girls threw themselves onto the engaged young woman and went into a squealing group hug.

From a distance, the men looked on with a smirk. "So you finally became a man, huh?" Renji asked taking a drink and then spitting it out. "What the hell is this shit?!"

Ichigo shook his head. "I guess you never heard of that kind before. It's called Root."

Renji looked at him like he was an idiot, "What the fuck is Root?"

Ichigo's eyes showed amusement as his face remained nonchalant, "It's the kind of beer you should be drinking…"

Chad added caringly in his deep voice, "Yeah, you have been having a lot lately. It's bad for your health."

Toushirou smirked from his remark. Renji saw this and glared, "What the hell's so funny, little boy?"

Toushirou rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the wall. "When you have a promising career, a promising relationship and a promising liver, then you can attempt to prove that you're better than me."

Ishida chuckled, "Burn."

"Third degree," Ichigo chimed in.

Renji growled and mumbled something that sounded close to "little son of a bitch."

"Speaking of bad livers…" Toushirou added casually as the man walked up with his usual nauseating grin.

"Hey Gin. What's goin' on?" Renji said in diminutive interest.

"Nothing really. It's been a long week, but what can you do about?" he said, sounding so carefree.

Renji gave a nod. Ishida continued, trying to make the tension as small as possible. "How's the architecture business? Heard you're putting in a big plot over by North Avenue."

He continued to grin. "Ah, yeah. Should bring in a lot of profit. Don't know why I didn't think of it before. I just finished the plans for it. Construction should start soon."

"Really?" Chad piped in. "I've been looking for a new place. How long until they're finished?"

Gin just shrugged, "No idea. Depends on how many we can get to work. Complicated stuff finding people to actually do their job," he said with a chuckle. Toushirou remained in his leaning position with his eyes closed. He refused to acknowledge this man.

"I know what you mean. Ichigo hasn't played a song in a few weeks. I'm surprised his manager hasn't lost his mind," Ishida said with a smirk.

Renji raised an eyebrow, "Have you met Urahara?"

This caused the small group to laugh; all except one.

"Ichigo? You okay? You didn't add another insult after I cracked on Urahara," Renji said in his own manly concern.

The orange haired man continued to stare off in another direction. His eyes were completely focused on something else and the corners of his lips twitched upwards.

"Ichigo?" Chad asked as the men looked to see what he was staring at. Across the room they saw the girls. Toushirou opened his eyes as the curiosity finally got to him.

Momo and Orihime both blushed furiously at something. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow; not seeming to see the reason for the conversation. Rangiku flailed her limbs around in an attempt to describe something, in which she was in deep concentration for. Rukia was left laughing very hard, although a slight blush was seen on her cheeks as well, but she seemed to find it all amusing.

For Ichigo, it all seemed to be in slow-motion as well as the world going incredibly silent. He didn't know what Rangiku was saying, but he wished she didn't stop. The way Rukia was laughing; the no worries aura coming off her eased his soul. He wanted so badly to be a part of that moment, yet he would gladly sit back and watch her smile like that for days.

"Easy there, Tiger," Ishida began with a smile, "You might burn holes into her with those laser eyes."

Ichigo broke his gaze and saw the guys staring at him. He then registered what the spectacle wearing man said. "Screw you, Comic Book boy."

"Is that supposed to offend me?" Ishida asked with attitude. "You still have my Superman collection, dipshit."

"Get over yourself, ass wipe," Ichigo threw back.

"Can someone tell me why we're divided like a damn middle school dance?" Rukia said walking over to the guys as the girls continued to talk in the distance.

Ichigo looked at her with surprise from her interruption. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapping on the floor from impatience. "You supported this thing. The least you could do is get everybody together so maybe it can work a little on my non-working brain."

He raised an eyebrow, "Well maybe you could put some music on so we don't stand around with an awkward silence all around us."

"Why on earth would I do that?" she asked.

"Have you ever thrown some sort of party before?" he asked incredulously. Before she could respond he answered for her, "Nevermind. You haven't."

She huffed. "That's not my fault. I don't do this kind of thing. I show up when I'm supposed to. I don't plan!"

He rolled his eyes. "You suck… a lot."

"Screw you, Kurosaki," she glared.

"Hey! Kurosaki! What kinda mood you in?" Rangiku grinned.

Ichigo looked hesitantly. "Not the streaking kind…"

"I only did that once! Besides, I noticed you've done that recently yourself," she said with a wink.

Ichigo immediately turned his head and glared at Renji, who began to laugh as he put his hands up beside his head to show fake innocence.

"How about a little karaoke?" she asked with an amused tone as she strutted towards the piano.

"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked with a smile coming to his lips. Then he felt a little push on his back forcing him forward a step. He looked back at the one who pushed him.

"Guess I'm lucky to have you here, huh? Who needs music when I got you?" Rukia said with a grin like she planned this all along.

'Those are not the right words for me to hear come out of her mouth,' he thought in agony. He knew his mind would run wild with the possibility of her meaning more than what she actually said. His heart jumped for joy, while his fist clenched by his side; ready to punch that idiotic organ in his chest.

He looked at the piano again and then at Rukia. "No one has probably ever played the damn thing. I doubt it's even tuned. What's the point of you even having it?"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Shows how much you know. I took lessons like two years ago," she estimated.

He looked at her with disbelief, "For how long?"

"Like four months," she estimated again.

"Like how far did you get?" he mocked her.

"I hate you," she said hearing his mockery.

He began to smile, "Answer the question."

"No," she said stubbornly as she turned her head to look away.

The rest of the group just looked on, both baffled yet entertained by the exchange.

"Tell me or I'll yell right now what I told Kaien about you and a pool's filter…"

Her eyes went wide and she turned to look at him as she practically yelled the answer, "My fingers were too short!"

Ichigo laughed at her urgency to stop him from proceeding, but then her answer sunk in and he laughed more. He was almost falling down laughing now.

She frowned and put her hands on her hip, while a few of the men smirked, but refused to get the raven haired woman's rage directed at them. The other women knew Ichigo was dead.

"What the hell is so funny, Ichigo Kurosaki?" she yelled almost in a reprimanding manner.

He continued to laugh. In between gasps of breath he tried to get words out, "Noth- Nothing. You're- You're just," he let out a loud laugh, "You're such a midget!"

Rukia glared at him. Then, she found her resolve. "Ichigo slept with a stuffed lion until he was thirteen," she said with her glare still penetrating through Ichigo.

Then, the room fell silent. Ichigo heard the words and felt like the world no longer held humor in it. Then, the guys began to laugh extremely hard. Too hard, in his opinion. He peeked over to see how the girls were taking it. Tatsuki laughed like the guys on the other side of the room, while the rest held their hand over their mouth to hide the laughter.

His eyes met Rukia's. She now had a malevolent smile on her face. She was clearly pleased with the result.

Ichigo stared back into her eyes, "Rukia lost her swimsuit top in a pool and had to beg me for my shirt. That was only after two younger boys saw her and our English teacher."

The room took the new news well as it blended with the previous. Rukia's gaze burned into Ichigo as he felt successful.

"Alright, alright. Enough, you two. Settle down," Tatsuki said after catching her breath. "Don't get your panties in a bundle," she said.

"Or your swimsuit top…" Renji added with a laugh causing the rest to start laughing. Rukia shot a glare at Renji and was about to charge over there when she felt Tatsuki's hands on her shoulder's from behind. Rukia looked back at the orange haired man with a glare.

"Come on, Carrot top. Let's do this!" Rangiku said with excitement as she pulled on Ichigo's forearm . He sent a final glare at the petit raven haired woman and then walked over and took his seat at the luxurious unused piano.

"Alright after that, I definitely need a break," Ichigo said with a chuckle.

"Pure skill, right there," Renji commented on his turn. The redhead had just sung his own version of Titanic's "My Heart Will Go On." Celine Dion would be wishing she had never sung that song right about now. Sadly, he thought he saw Tatsuki swooning over him.

Everyone began to get into conversation. Ichigo didn't stand up, but instead just turned so that he was sitting on the piano bench from the side. Rukia came walking up. He began to smile, "You haven't done anything yet…"

She raised an eyebrow as a smile came to play on her lips. "Are you serious? Since when do I embarrass myself on purpose?" He began to shake his head, but she continued. "Besides, why would I join in song with someone who betrayed me?"

Ichigo couldn't help but flinch at the words. He took them much deeper than they were meant to be. He was taking everything the wrong way lately… He gave her a confused look.

"Have you seriously forgotten already? You just threw out one of my most embarrassing moments ever!" she said incredulously. Strangely, she no longer seemed mad, but instead in disbelief by his forgetfulness.

His eyes went wide, and his emotions relaxed. He laughed at himself in his head. 'Always thinking the worst,' he told himself. "You told them about Kon," he said through his teeth in more of a whisper as to not strike up another fit of hysteria throughout the room.

"And you laughed at my lack of height," she said with a pout as her arms crossed over her chest and her head turned to the side.

He couldn't help but smile. She always had the ability to turn into a child and she always had the ability to take him back to the days where they'd been inseparable. 'She looks adorable,' he thought and then mentally slapped himself. He sighed, "I know. Sorry. I might have gotten a little out of hand there."

She looked back at him and then smiled at his attempt at an apology. He always sucked at them. "Whatever, Strawberry. What's done is done."

He gave a single nod, knowing that their little dispute was over. "So tell me, what song would you like to sing?" he said with a grin growing across his face.

She rolled her eyes and then took a step towards the piano. She turned around and leaned her back against the instrument; her elbows resting behind her on the piano. "I'll tell you what. If you can write the rest of my book for me, then I'll sing a song," she said sarcastically.

"Deal," he said turning towards the piano keys. Rukia let out a hearty laugh, "Hah! Dream on, Kurosaki."

"What? Tell me what it's about and I'll finish it for you," he pushed. She noted that he looked almost serious.

Rukia found herself not knowing what to say. She stuttered to get words out and he watched curiously. Then, she spoke. "It's complicated."

He began to chuckle, "Complicated, how?"

"I -," she cut herself off. She took a breath. "I haven't told anyone what it's about."

Both of his eyebrows rose. "No one?" She shook her head in agreement. He blinked a few times, "Then I guess we're all in for a big surprise, huh?" he began to smile sweetly.

She smiled at him sadly and gave a single nod; not knowing how to reply. He noticed the sadness in her smile though and something inside him began to hurt. "Rukia, what's wrong-" he began but was interrupted.

"Where's my girl?" a voice came from the room entrance. Everyone turned and saw the man with a huge smile on his face. Rukia's eyes went wide and she grinned. "Shuuhei!" she yelled as she pushed herself off the piano and ran for the said man.

Ichigo began to feel like it was hard to breathe. He watched as she threw her arms around his neck and he picked her up and swung her around; Shuuhei's head in the crook of her neck. Then Rukia leaned back in his arms and placed her lips on his.

That did it for Ichigo. He turned his head and looked away. It was surprising how much that hurt him. 'What did you think? That she was going to fall into your arms, while she was obviously in love with her boyfriend? God, you're such an idiot, Ichigo,' he yelled at himself in his head.

Shuuhei placed her back on the floor. "Hey, come with me for a second. I have something for you," he said grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the room.

She was startled by this, "O-okay. Be right back!" she yelled to her guests and then disappeared.

Conversation struck up again, but Ichigo paid no attention to it. Instead, his fingers took their place on the piano and played a soft melody. His mind continued to think as he poured his heart into the instrument in front of him.

What could he really do about this? She was taken. For some reason for the past few weeks he had a hard time taking that in. He couldn't picture anyone else in his little world beside himself and Rukia. And now that he thought about it, he didn't realize just how much he wanted to be with her. He knew he had begun to love her again, but he didn't realize how much it had grown. He didn't realize how much it would affect him to see her in another man's arms; to see her lips against someone else's.

His heart clenched at the thought of seeing that display of affection again. His eyes closed as his fingers continued to move with force yet grace. It was only a short time ago that he was ready to have Senna meet his family; that he was ready to go across the world with her for months at a time. How did he find himself back at the beginning? Back to the same person he let go those few years ago? His memory brought him back to that night.

Her hands began to shake as the crossroads in her life was about to come. She reached her arm across her body and grabbed her wrist to steady herself. "I'm going to take the first bus out of here tomorrow morning… but I'm not going unless you tell me to," she stared deep into his eyes and she thought she saw the slightest bit of emotion.

If I had one call to make
I would dial yesterday and warn myself
Tell my lips the words to say
Not let you just walk away
With someone else
With someone else

The beginning of her statement made his chest collapse, but the part that shook him up the most was the latter part. 'She's asking me to choose for her. If I tell her to stay, she'll most likely stay with me, no matter how miserable it may make her. I… don't want her to leave…'

He let out a deep breath slowly and closed his eyes for a few moments. He let it all soak in and took a large swallow. He opened his eyes and turned his head away from her. The word seemed to refuse to leave his throat, but when it did, it was practically a whisper. "Go." It felt as if he had just stabbed himself in what was left of his beating heart.

Next time, I wont suffer this kind of pain
Own my mistakes
Not just pass off all the blame
If you were here, we could figure this out
Then I wouldn't be bitter
I'd just be better now.

'What am I going to do without you?' he thought as her mouth hung slightly open and her chest rose up and down. She stared at his face that refused to look at her.

She gave a slow nod in understanding and wiped a tear that strode down her cheek quickly before he could turn to see her, but he secretly did.

She turned towards the window and stopped before continuing. She looked behind her, over her shoulder at him, who still refused to look at her retreating form. She spoke sweetly; so sweet that once he heard her, he let her words echo throughout his entire body. "I love you."

To be the strong and silent one
A lot of good that has done
Yes, you'd agree
No more tryin' to understand
Or fix these things because you can
Guess it's up to me
Yeah, it's up to me

He heard her exit and without even looking at the window, he returned the favor. "I'll never stop."

He lied there for hours. His mind never letting go of the beautiful sound of her last three words in his presence. His eyes couldn't forget her beauty in the moonlight and his empty, pathetic excuse for a heart began to feel something; the first thing in a long time. It ached. And it only got worse. His fists began to clench and his eyes met the sun coming up over the horizon. Then, his eyes found their way to the clock on his bedside table. He looked away quickly in disapproval, but then; he turned his head slowly back to the time.

Next time, I won't suffer this kind of pain
Own my mistakes
Not just pass off all the blame
If you were here, we could figure this out
Then I wouldn't be bitter
I'd just be better now.

The pain was only getting worse and he knew what it was from. Time was a precious thing and he knew that if he had any regrets from his decision he should act soon otherwise he would be left to live with this ache in his chest.

Finally, he sat up. He stood up from his bed for the first time in days and he ran; through his bedroom door, down the stairs, out the front door and kept going. The sidewalk was wet from last night's dew and he could smell the humid air slamming into him as he ran.

I'd be much better off
Much better off, maybe
If I could just let it go
With no regrets then

'Around the first corner and only two more to go,' he listed in his mind, not paying any attention to his heavy breathing. Then came the second corner and sooner than he thought came the third. He then stopped dead in his tracks.

Next time, I won't suffer this kind of pain
Own my mistakes
Not just pass off all the blame
You'd still be here, and we'd figure this out
Then I wouldn't be better (I wouldn't be better)

The bus was there and she held a bag firmly in her hand as she took a step onto it and then disappeared inside. He knew he could have yelled; he knew he could bang his fists on the side of the vehicle until she saw him, but time was a precious thing. He had come when she was already halfway through the door; she was already on her way out of his world. He chose to let her go and then he raced time to take it back. But he had to accept it. He was too late. He couldn't take it back.

He wanted her to have a better life and these last few minutes were his selfish instinct to hold on to something he would only destroy. So he took a step back behind the corner and rested his back against the cold, brick wall, not knowing that the girl that was his entire world stared out the window at the corner half a second after he slipped away.

Oh, no I wouldn't be bitter
I'd just be better now.

His fingers hit the last few keys of the first song he had played in almost a month; a song with no words, just feeling; his feeling. His head was bowed towards the keys and his eyes were closed tightly as he tried to lock the memory away. He prayed to be in that old room of his at the moment. He wanted to lie there on his bed in the dark with nothing but the moon staring back at him. He wanted to lose himself in the darkness and bury himself in the silence. All he wanted was to be alone.

"That was beautiful," a kind voice broke through beside him. His eyes snapped open and he noticed that everyone had stopped and listened to his heart's melody. The kind voice spoke again. "I don't think we've ever heard that before," Orihime said.

He looked back at his fingers that were still resting lightly on the keys, "You wouldn't have." He began to stand up, still not looking at his audience. "I just came up with it." He moved out from under the piano, "Excuse me." He walked his way towards the room's exit and stopped before he walked out. He looked over his shoulder, "Tell Rukia I had to go."

"Why are you leaving?" a curious yet sad voice came from in front of him. He almost jumped, but his eyes settled into pools of violet.

It took him a few seconds to reply, but then he noticed something on her neck. It was a necklace with an amethyst butterfly on it. The chain seemed different.

"That… necklace…" he pushed out of his mouth as his eyes continued to stare at the beautiful charm. His hand itched to raise and touch the small symbol of the past.

Shuuhei's voice came from behind. "Isn't it beautiful? I've always loved it. Told her it matched her eyes beautifully. The chain was too flimsy though, so I got her a new one. Been told that nothin' would snap it in two," he said with cheerfulness.

Ichigo took in his words and clenched his hand into a fist. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed with his eyes on the butterfly. He then raised his ambers to meet her wide violets. "Completely beautiful."

Rukia opened her mouth to speak, but she honestly had no idea what she would say.

"I'll see you later," Ichigo said and then looked up to the man behind her. "Shuuhei," he said with a nod as a way of saying farewell. He turned down the hallway towards the exit and Rukia watched, still speechless.

No, I wouldn't be bitter
I'd just be better now…

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Any questions? Well I'm wrecked. These last two months have killed me. But guess what? I'm not as busy anymore and do you know what that means? I'm going to have more time to write! Seriously, I love the summer. I can get so much done because I have so much more time with things. I love it. So I'm going to say that this will be updated very soon and I'm even going to try and get back into These Days (for those of you that hate me for my lack of updating. But don't think it will be in the next few days. I'll have to go back and read it all because I won't know anything that I've written. Sad, I know. But I'm being honest.) Okay. So please review. Later