AN: I didn't expect so many reviews in one night but I am grateful for them nonetheless:) Anyway, here is the next chapter, enjoy! I do not own Bleach or any of its characters.

Chapter 3 Orihime's Point Of View

"Ichigo,"I say his name once again as he takes a step forward, closer to me.

I stand still, so still that I do not tense up when he hugs me. Eventually, I realize what is happening and hug him back. I get lost in his scent, that is all too familiar, but quickly come back to reality when he asks, "What are you doing here, Orihime? Wait, come inside, we can talk once we're inside."

I nod, letting him pull me into his apartment. I look down at our hands, blushing at the fact that he is holding my hand. Then I catch a glimpse of a grocery bag in his other hand. At least I was right about him not being home earlier.

I apologize as he sets his groceries down on what I presume to be the kitchen counter, "I'm sorry, Ichigo, I didn't mean to drop by unexpectedly bu-"

"Hey, don't worry about it, Orihime. Here, come sit at the counter while I prepare something to eat."

"Oh, no, don't worry yourself with that, I'm not hungry," I lie as I think of the cookie I didn't get to eat at Rukia's place. Suddenly, my stomach growls a bit too loudly.

I blush profusely as I cover my stomach, smiling nervously. He chuckles lightly as he accuses, "Still the same I see. It's fine, I'm hungry as well."And as if to make his point, his stomach lets out a small rumble as well.

I smile at him and sit at the counter, like he suggested, as he begins to cook something. I stare at him with curiosity as he looks for the necessary ingredients and begins the process of cooking whatever dish he plans to cook up. I don't remember him being a cooker.

I find myself staring at his shoulders and back; the way his muscles tense up or contract when he cuts up vegetables. Or the way his hair covers his eyes as he looks down, concentrating on whatever part of the recipe. I almost sigh out loud but stop myself and instead point out, "Your hair is longer than I remember. The longest I've seen it too."

"Ah, so you finally noticed. Yours seems to have gotten pretty long as well."

I blush lightly as I resist the urge to grab my hair and look at it to confirm what he had just said about it. Then he asks, as he dumps the cut up vegetables into a pot, "So…after all this time, why have you returned now? How's Sora?"

"Sora is doing fine, that's not why I left though. I'm old enough to live on my own and make my own decisions now. I'm back because I got a job at Karakura high as a schoolcounselor. I'm still working to major in psychology so I can open up my own practice though."

"I see, it all seems to be working out for you and that's great."

"I guess so…what job do you have? Or what are you majoring in?"

"Me? I have an internship at a hospital. I'm a few years away from becoming a doctor."

"That's so cool, wonderful news!"I exclaim cheerily.

"Yeah, I'm so close to fulfilling the future I told you about."

I tense up as the memory floods my mind. He remembers that day? I swallow nervously as I change the subject, "I bumped into Rukia earlier. It was nice seeing her after such a long time. She has become such a beautiful woman."

"Well I'm hurt, Orihime,"Ichigo says as he clutches his chest.

"Eh? Why? Did you hurt yourself while cooking?"

He chuckles again as he turns to look at me, "Not that but the fact that you saw Rukia before me."

"But…it wasn't my fault. She found me by the river and then told me to go to her place, I couldn't say no."

"You were by the river?" He asks, changing the subject slightly.

"Y-yes…I just like looking into it…"I respond, averting my gaze as I stare at the counter instead.

That's when I remember why I even came here in the first place. I'm about to tell him about what Rukia told me when he suddenly sets down a bowl of curry in front of me. It looks so good that my mouth begins to water.

Then he sets down another bowl and sits in front of me. Ichigo then starts some small talk as we eat and I forget all over again as to why I came to his place.

When we finish eating the curry, he offers to start a pot for tea. I nod my head and start to gather my thoughts once again. Right! Rukia. As he starts boiling some water I say, "I almost forgot, the main reason why I'm here is because Rukia wanted me to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Well you see…I didn't want to be nosy and all that in your relationship but she really wanted me to tell you a few things about it, your relationship."

"Like?"

I gulp rather loudly as I continue, "You see, she thinks that sometimes you seem disinterested in her and the entire relationship for that matter and sometimes she feels the same way."

"Well how can I not be disinterested when she is as well?!"

I tense up and meekly apologize, "I'm sorry, I really didn't want to do this but I couldn't say no to her."

"I'm not mad at you, Orihime. Look, since she seems to want to talk through you, I'm going to ask you for the same favor. Tell Rukia, I don't plan on breaking up with her."

I felt my heart shatter all over again, but why? I thought I was over him, I hadn't thought about him like this for a while, so why now? Did I still like him and just deny it all this time?

I manage to nod to his request and survive a bit longer with him before heading to my apartment. Once there, I call Rukia, which I got her new number from Ichigo. I tell her to come over the following morning so we can talk.

She agrees and bids me a goodnight before hanging up. Once that's all over with, I cry silently in my futon. It shouldn't hurt but it does. I'm a grown woman and shouldn't be crying over something silly like this.

I cry and cry until I fall asleep.

AN: So here's this chapter, I hope you liked it. (I wrote this chapter in class so I don't know how good it'll turn out). Please review, but be NICE, I have feelings too:3 P.S., I know that they get out of character and I'm sorry but I'm not good with keeping them in character, but I did give a slight warning in the summary.