Chapter 5: Forgive and Forgot
After a long, exhausting day of searing heat, evening finally brought a comforting coolness to Kurakara town. A tall, dark figure leaned out of a window, watching the summer sun insist on leaving the town to the night with burning kisses of dusk. Large, brown eyes lost themselves in the stars glinting across the dark blanket of twilight, closing with every light breeze that caressed dark caramel skin. All was sweet silence, only broken every now and then by the soothing sounds of crickets, the light rustling of trees---
"WHAT IN BLUE F***ING BLAZES WAS HIS DAMN TONGUE DOING IN YOUR BELLY BUTTON?!"
…and Tatsuki cursing up a lightning storm next door.
Chad groaned, willing away the headache threatening to split him open. He winced lightly when he touched the icepack to his swollen cheek, which still burned from Tatsuki's explosive kick, as well as from embarrassment.
Chad couldn't quite remember what had occurred after he had hit the floor. His ribs ached a bit, so he definitely didn't imagine the kicks to his side. Then there were the girls' muffled voices arguing back and forth above him before unconsciousness took him again. He then found himself propped up against his apartment door, probably dumped there by Tatsuki during her rampage. As the dark-haired firecracker made threats towards his life on her angry way back into Orihime's, Chad groggily dragged himself into his own apartment.
Recalling the havoc, his headache ebbed back into life. Chad shuffled over to sit at his low dining table so the Tylenol could work its magic. After staring at the table for about one minute and 19 seconds, he proceeded to bang his skull on it.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Chad chanted with every resounding thunk.
'How could I just lose control?' He thought, moving the icepack to his temple. All his worst fears had come to be. It had been going so well with Orihime before this madness. He could feel they were gradually growing closer, seeing them build into something more with a solid, trusting friendship as the foundation. Then it was all torn down because he couldn't stop from slobbering all on her like a dog gnawing at a t-bone steak. A devastated grown and another thud as his head connected with the table.
*Knock Knock*
'Back for another run at the punching bag, huh?' Chad thought grimly, waiting for Tatsuki to crash through his door like a one-woman SWAT team.
"Chad? It's Orihime."
He hesitated, thinking that if he stayed quiet she would go back to her place. But he rejected that idea, feeling it a cowardly way to deal with the situation. Chad was ready for whatever awaited behind the door. He made his way to it, hearing heated whispers as he got closer. He opened the door to find Orihime forcing Tatsuki's retractable nightstick back into her pocket before quickly turning her attention to him.
"H-hi, Chad," Orihime stuttered, "Can I come in?"
Chad slowly nodded yes, moving aside to allow her inside. Orihime quickly made her way in, giving Tatsuki's arm a light squeeze to assure her that everything was fine. Tatsuki grudgingly backed away from the door with malice glinting in her eyes.
"You better keep your hands to yourself, Yasutora," Tatsuki growled, pointing two fingers at her eyes then towards him in the classic 'I'm watching you' warning. A lesser man would have cringed in fear, but Chad merely bowed at Tatsuki in respect and closed the door behind Orihime.
Chad followed Orihime to the table where they sat down to the first uncomfortable silence they had experienced together. Chad stared down at the table, his wild hair covering eyes filled with shame. Orihime looked down at her small hands which twiddled and twisted as her nervousness grew. The quiet stretched for eternity, fueling the building tension in the room until it finally choked a sound out of one of the silent occupants.
"So," Orihime started, but was stopped by the sudden movement beside her.
Snapping her head to look at Chad, Orihime found herself looking at empty space where a hulking body should have been. Averting her eyes downwards, they widened to see the usually powerful, grandiose form of her large friend kneeling low to the floor, his head resting on his down-turned hands.
"Orihime, I am so sorry for what I did. To have assaulted you like that when you should be treated with respect and dignity, instead of losing control because of…of," Chad gulped audibly, unable to say the 'B' word lest it conjure up unwanted images. But it didn't stop the words to come.
"I care for you, Orihime. Beyond being your comrade, beyond friendship. You have become the most precious thing to me," Chad continued, clenching his fists.
"But I've done wrong by you and I don't deserve your forgiveness."
Silence filled the room once again as Orihime watched the mass of brown waves covering Chad's head for the second time that day. Did he say what she thought he had said? 'Beyond friendship'? 'Precious?' The insanity of the day blew out of her mind as the meaning of his words hit her. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do next. Taking a deep breath, she made her decision.
"Chad," Orihime whispered, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"I would have never thought in a million years that you would ever, ever do that to me. It was brash, unexpected, even bordering on crazy."
Chad cringed, knowing the worst was yet to come.
"I mean, belly-button piercings? Is there even a word for that type of...whatever it is? And if I had known an obsession like that would have made you practically jump me…"
Orihime cupped his chiseled face in her hands, gently lifting it up to sweep aside his bangs. Then she leaned in close to his ear, her light breathe tickling his lobe.
"I would have shown you my piercing a lot sooner."
Chad froze in place, not quite sure if what he had heard was the affect of a concussion or wishful thinking. He slowly pulled away to look at Orihime, who had an impish grin on her face.
"O-Orihime," Chad choked out, stopped by a cold sting as Orihime placed the icepack to his cheek.
"Forget it, Chad. Don't be so hard on yourself," Orihime said, dabbing at his face lightly, "Besides. How could I not forgive the one most precious to me?"
Chad felt the air stick in his lungs, almost unbelieving of what he had just heard. He finally let it out in a long gust, letting the stress slide away from him along with it. He ran his fingers through his hair, giving Orihime a breath-taking view of his delicious brown orbs swirling with so much emotion it left her speechless. Seeing her stare, Chad looked away abruptly, his eyes once again shadowed.
"Thank you, Orihime," then with a blush surging over his face, "Though I wouldn't call feeding a fetish the most effective way of getting feelings across."
Orihime giggled, a slight redness coming to her face as well.
"Well," she said, "I think that depends on the feelings, the person, and--"
The pause made Chad look at her, to find a dreamy faraway look in her eyes.
"And?" He asked patiently.
"The fetish," Orihime breathed, hesitantly reaching over to touch Chad's collar bone.
Chad froze as her hand trailed down to his shoulder, where he was able to watch her caress his rose tattoo. She bit her lip, the dreamy look turning into a smoldering gaze that seemed to bore holes into his arm. She sat forward onto her knees, placing her free hand onto Chad's shoulder for balance. Her hair fell across his chest as she began to kiss and gingerly nip at the tattoo, completely lost in the beauty of the inky design against his chocolate skin.
"Tattoos?" Chad asked breathlessly, letting a hand move to her flat abs to caress the jewel sitting in the center.
Orihime kissed the rose one last time, before putting her arms around Chad's shoulders.
"Only on the right person," she said seductively before Chad's lips caught hers in a sensually gentle kiss.
Orihime scooted up into Chad's lap, causing soft curves and taught muscles to clash into a tangled heap on the floor. Chad licked at Orihime's bottom lip, causing her to shyly comply by rolling her tongue against his. His calloused hands gently massaged along her hips and thighs, while her hands made their way underneath his shirt, her fingers running over the solidness of his abs. Orihime moaned as Chad landed kisses on her neck, causing her to slightly dig her nails into his rose. The feeling of the sleek, sterling silver metal of her piercing against his bare skin pulled a rumbling groan out of him as well. So strong and burning was the passion between them that only the promise of an otherworldly invasion would stop them from their almost desperate need to release their pent-up desires.
"He did WHAT?!"
Orihime and Chad paused their heated embrace when they heard the two familiar voices outside of Chad's apartment.
"Was that…Ichigo and Ishida?" Chad asked quietly.
Orihime huffed and laid her head on Chad's shoulder.
"Oh, Tatsuki. She must have told them everything the second they came up the stairs."
"Chad! Orihime! Are you in there? Open up, we gotta talk!" Ichigo hollered as he banged on the door.
"I'm quite surprised. I would have never thought of you two," Ishida muffled comment came through.
"You've been in there too long, Orihime! You better not be up to anything, Yasutora!" Tatsuki warned.
"What do we do?" Orihime whined.
Chad thought for a second then looked at Orihime.
"Do you still have the key to your old apartment?"
"Um, yeah. I have it until Monday since I still need to move the bed, but I don't see why…Ooooh," Orihime said, seeing the deliciously rare dimpled smile that spread across his face.
Quickly getting to their feet, Orihime ran to Chad's bed and grabbed his blanket and pillows while Chad pulled a couple drinks from the fridge before finally making their escape. A split second later the door swung practically off its hinges as Ichigo, Ishida, and Tatsuki burst through.
"Where'd they go?" Tatsuki questioned, as she and Ichigo zipped through the apartment looking in every possible hiding spot for them.
Ishida leaned against the wall, watching their madness with vague interest. Then he happened to glance over at the wide open window that led out onto the fire-escape, a random pillow out of place underneath it. He adjusted his glasses and grinned, sure in knowing the new lovers were running towards something that wasn't about feeding the needs of the flesh, but the needs of the heart.
END
*Oh man, remind me to stick to one-hits. This full-blown story stuff is exhausting. Big up to all those hard-core fanfic authors.
Thank you all for being so patient and reading this fanfic. It was only my second one, and I hope you enjoyed.
Thanks again, and I look forward to writing another fanfic soon, and reading all of yours as well! ^_^
Cheers! FQ