A.N.: heck yeah another chapter! i'm sticking to my promises this time. i love the fact that i'm excited about writing again. I'm not too sure how many chapters this story has left before i finish it, but i suspect not a whole lot. which means i'm going to start thinking about my next story…. i'm also open to requests :) i think it might be a cool thing to help me get back into the swing of things. anyways, on with the chapter!

Chapter 9: The Reception

The ceremony had been beautiful. Sora looked radiant. Yamato truly felt like he was the luckiest guy on the planet the second he saw Sora enter the hall where they had the ceremony. Now they were up in their suite, freshening up before going back for the reception. This also gave all their guests a chance to make it to the reception and settle in before the bride and groom arrived. Sora came out of the bathroom adjusting her dress. "That was not as easy as the movies make it out to be." She said, referring to using the washroom while wearing all that crinoline.

"You can't always believe everything you see." Yamato chuckled. Sora walked over to Yamato to straighten his bow tie. "You seem a little preoccupied today. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing really, just nervous about today. It's not every day you marry the girl of your dreams. Kind of a big deal." Yamato grinned.

"Well the hard part is all over with now. It's all easy and downhill from here. Come on now, let's go down and get this party started!" Sora said, returning Yamato's grin and pulling him out the door.

Mimi managed to speak to Koushiro as little as possible for most of the day. She was still pretty embarrassed from running out on him this morning without so much as a sorry. She even managed to work it out so that Jyou sat between them during the ceremony. If he was hurt, Mimi couldn't read it on his face. Sometimes he was way too hard to read which is pretty infuriating considering she had no idea how he truly felt about her. Was this just him getting his rocks off? Was this him just making sure she got her money's worth? Mimi snaked her way through the dance floor making her way to the bar. She needed something to drink. Fast. She desperately tried to flag down a bartender, but the party was already in full motion so they were extremely busy. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she managed to grab someone and finally order herself a drink. She brought the dirty martini up to her nostrils and deeply inhaled the piney scent of gin. Mimi instantly felt her muscles relax and her stress float away into the cosmos. Her first sip was heavenly. The second was orgasmic. Next thing she knew, she had downed 3 martinis and made her way on to the dance floor.

Koushiro watched Mimi from his table as she made her way to the bar. She was avoiding him. All day. Maybe I was wrong, he thought. Maybe she doesn't actually feel anything for me and just didn't know how to let me down easy. Koushiro reached for his scotch and took a good sized drink from it. "Scotch? Really? I never pegged you as a scotch man, Koushiro." Jyou stated as he sat down beside him.

"I've grown to appreciate good liquor." Koushiro said staring into the bottom of his tumbler.

"Something on your mind?" Jyou asked, trying again to probe his childhood friend's mind. Koushiro glanced up briefly to Mimi, "No… yes… maybe… I don't know anymore."

"If you need to verbalize your problems, you know I'm here. No judgement." Jyou clapped Koushiro on his back. Maybe I could at least get all the Mimi stuff off my chest, he thought, but where do I even start. "I think I'm having woman problems for the first time in my life." Koushiro started.

"Oh you're seeing someone back home?"

"Not exactly. She's an old I wouldn't say we're seeing each other. More like exploring our options" Koushiro said, knowing that he already gave it away but not caring at this point. He needed clarity as soon as he could get it. "I see." Jyou nodded.

"We've had some physical contact, nothing too serious. But we haven't actually spoken about anything that's happened between us. I'm pretty sure she's still hung up on the last guy she dated." The words were just pouring out of Koushiro at this point, he needed to get his frustrations out. "I wasn't even supposed to be the guy she met that afternoon. She was waiting for some douchenozzle and got me instead. I can't tell if it's actually me she's attracted to or if she's just looking for someone to fill the empty hole her last boyfriend left in her. It doesn't help that I've had a pretty big thing for her since we were kids, but I was always too chicken shit to actually do anything. Back then a nerdy guy like me never had a chance with someone like her." Mimi meeting another guy wasn't quite a lie, she was expecting some debonaire and extremely handsome alpha male when she contacted the agency he worked for. She definitely wasn't expecting Koushiro to be her escort. Jyou took a swig of his beer before he answered, "I don't think Mimi would use you like that." So he did pick up on that, Koushiro thought, good old Jyou could always read my thoughts. Jyou could feel the tension between his two friends all day. He could tell something had happened when he sat between them during the service this morning but he didn't know what. He thought maybe it had to do with the girls' dance the night before, but it was much bigger than he expected. He knew Koushiro had a thing for her when they were all growing up, they all had at some point. It wasn't that hard to deduce that those feelings never went away, especially after watching Koushiro watch Mimi grind against the stripper pole last night. "Thanks man," Koushiro mumbled, "I just don't know how to approach her. Things this morning were a bit awkward and now she's avoiding me. I wouldn't be surprised if she locked me out tonight."

"Some 'physical contact' this morning?"Jyou grinned. Koushiro returned the grin, "I always knew you were a perv." Jyou chuckled, "Hey you can't blame me for trying. Especially after Taichi's whole speech yesterday."

"Believe me, I want nothing more than to rub it in his smug face in all the things she's let me do to her this weekend." Koushiro uttered, "But I honestly don't think it's going to go any further. Even if for some random reason, she actually wants more out of this, my job is so time consuming that it just wouldn't be fair. I'd have to quit for her." Koushiro let the words sink 's no way Koushiro would be able to continue escorting if she wanted to date. If she wanted to date. Right now, Koushiro would settle just to be on speaking terms. He couldn't even think of what he would do for work if he had to quit. Go back to computers? Most likely as an unpaid intern too. Koushiro suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned around there was a clearly intoxicated Sora behind him. "Hey Koush, you gonna let this newly wed take you to the dance floor?" She smiled at him.

"Of course, I would love to have a dance with you." Koushiro responded.

"To be continued!" Jyou yelled after him.

Takeru has managed to convince Mimi to dance with him, bribing him with his little puppy eyes. She wasn't quite in the dancing mood; more of a drinking mood. "Are you having fun, Mimi?" Takeru asked as he poorly attempted to twirl her. Mimi giggled, "Yes, loads of fun. It's been great catching up with everyone."

"Yes it really has. We really miss you and Koush. It's a shame you can't visit Japan more often."

"I know, I've missed everyone a lot recently." Mimi smiled.

"Anyone in particular?" Takueru smurked.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Mimi gasped.

"Not all of us are that stupid Mimi," Takeru started, "you and Koush aren't as inconspicuous as you think you are. Plus Hikari told me." Mimi groaned, "I am so going to hurt your fiance for that." Takeru chuckled, knowing that he hit the nail on the head so to speak. He noticed that Sora was dancing with Koushiro only a few feet away. He lead Mimi close enough to them. "Hey Koush, mind switching partners? I haven't had a chance to dance with my new sister-in-law tonight." Takeru suggested.

"I don't mind at all." Koushiro said, glazing over Takeru and landing his gaze on Mimi. Her breath hitched.

"Thanks man, I'll make it up to you later." Takeru grinned. Then he leaned into Mimi's ear and whispered, "You're welcome." With that he took up Sora in his arms and swiftly guided her away from their former partners.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Sora asked him.

"You bet your ass I did." Takeru grinned.

Koushiro pulled Mimi in close as they started to sway to the slow ballad playing over the speakers. He dipped his face deep into her hair and inhaled her peppermint bubble bath scent. Mimi surrendered herself into his firm grasp and pressed herself against him. He felt so good. They fit together perfectly as if they were made for each other. "You know," Koushiro finally muttered, "we should really discuss what has been happening the last few days."

"I know," Mimi answered, "it's a little overdue." Koushiro chuckled. He glided them across the dance floor, to a more secluded section. Mimi was still pressed tightly against him, and could feel his arousal beginning to grow again. "However, we should finish our earlier discussion first." Mimi said, a little more boldly that she normally would.

"Earlier discussion?" Koushiro asked, genuinely confused.

"Yes, our 'discussion' from this morning, when we woke up." Mimi said slowly, the passion burning behind her eyes. Koushiro's eyes widened with recognition when he realized what she meant by 'discussion'. His pants grew tighter at the memory of her on top of him this morning.

"I'm sure no one will notice if we disappear for a while so we can finish our 'discussion'." Koushiro said, emphasizing the word 'discussion' so she understood that he knew exactly what she was talking about. He grasped her hand firmly, and led her out of the hall.

Apparently Yamato and Jyou weren't the only ones to notice that Koushiro was hiding something from the group. Being a journalist, Taichi could smell the poop from a mile away. Throughout this weekend, Taichi had some of his coworkers dig into Koushiro's life to uncover whatever skeleton in his closet he was desperate to hide. Taichi just got his old fashion from the bartender when he felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket. Taichi pulled the phone out and glanced at the text, reading the two incriminating words. Taichi's eyes scanned the crowd for Koushiro. He finally found him near the entrance, leading Mimi out of the hall. Taichi's blood began to boil as he charged after them.