CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Mmm, love, why are you mad at me?" He moped and hugged her as soon as she opened the front door.

"Did you have a drink? You reek of alcohol."

"Ye- yes with Ruka. Tiny one, very little, I promise." Evidently, he did not drink very little.

"And you drove? Are you out of your mind? What are you, a teenager?" She said reprimanding him.

"N-no! I had the driver send me home. I have kids, Mi-mi." He said booping her nose, much to her annoyance. "Why are you mad at me, love? I just said your bouquet for the wedding looks bad. It wasn't even your fault." Mikan was trying to control her temper, she realized he wasn't aware of what drove her to ignoring him. "Ruka said, brides get fussy about that all the time, so baby, I'm sorry." He smiled at her, trying to act cute, but she wasn't buying it.

"You're out of your mind." She said leaving him alone in the room as she went back to their kitchen. He followed her around, trying his best to sober up. "Are you seriously still angry about that? I said I was sorry." He asked... kind of irritated, mostly confused.

Mikan scrunched up her nose in annoyance, he knew what that meant. "It's not that, you idiot! You seriously think I'm that unreasonable? What did you say after that?" She said with control.

"I- I can't remember." He's starting to get scared, Mikan's never this mad at him, and there are only a few days left before the wedding. What the fuck did he say?

"Well, since you can't remember... You said, Sumire can make you a better one. She took some classes." She said mockingly. "Why the fuck is she even invited?" She said in frustration.

"Why is it such a big deal? She can't be the only one who can't come to my wedding? That would be weird!" He's starting to sober up.

"It's OUR wedding, you moron! You want me to invite any of my past hookups to our wedding?"

"You have their number? Or I'll invite them myself?" He challenged.

"Invite her, and you might as well call it off." She called his bluff.

"We're just friends! We never hooked up, I swear! She's moved on. Why is this a big deal? I'm marrying you, I love you. I want everyone to know that."

"Because…" Mikan started balling. "Because why would you invite someone who told you right before I was giving birth that you could do better if you'd be with her instead of me?"

"You heard that?" He asked silently.

"It's been eating me up ever since. Could you have done better? She's probably better for you. You'd probably be bored with me in no time." She cried her eyes out, Natsume stared at the ceiling, trying to hold back the tears he felt for her. He knew what that was like, he didn't know that's what he was making her feel.

"You should've told me." He hugged her from the back. She faced him and buried her face in his chest. "I didn't want you to think that I'm this immature. I'm a grown ass adult yet I get jealous over your coworker. That's some teenager shit… I know you love me, I know you won't hurt me, I don't think she's that kind of person, and that makes me feel worse. I hate it, I hate that I'm feeling this way."

Natsume looked at her in the eye. "You know how I knew I can never ever live without you?" He hugged her tighter, making her feel warm all over. Mikan looked at him and smirked. "Because I'm perfect. I'm smart, I'm beautiful, I'm kind. What else can you look for?"

"Try again." He said swaying their bodies lightly while Mikan pouted. She looked back and started to notice the coffee table. "…because you can never keep anything clean, and you always lose things. What the fuck are those?" She said pointing at one unwashed sippy cup.

"Exactly."

"You can't live without me because you want a cleaning lady?" She shouted at him, letting go of his embrace as she immediately headed towards cleaning the cup, consciously controlling the urge to throw it at him with rage.

"I purposely left that there." He said proudly.

Mikan breathed in and out, she counted one through ten. Something she learned from him. "Why is that so?"

"Because…" he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "So long as you scrunch up your nose when I leave one cup unwashed, and you get annoyed once in a while when the car keys I'm looking for is only on yesterday's pants' back pocket. My life won't ever be the same without you. It will be too boring." He said cutely.

Mikan loosened Natsume's hand on her waist, her back facing him as she finished washing the cup. "You know how I knew I can never be bored with you?" Mikan uttered in annoyance.

"Everlasting and unconditional love, coupled with attraction, great sex, my incredible face and personality?" He said condescendingly.

"Yeah… probably just the sex." She ran as Natsume chased after her. She shrieked. "For real, tell me." He caged her in his embrace and pouted. She pinched his cheeks, finding him so adorable. "Do that face one more time, and I'll tell you."

"Tell me."

"Come on, flirt with me more, work with me here Mr. Hyuuga." She said touching his face with the back of her hand.

"Please." He looked at her and smirked, he knew that would make her spill the beans.

"You remember that time you thought you lost your keys?" He nodded. "And you repeatedly swore on our children's lives I was the last one who used it, only to find out, it was just on your pants from yesterday?" He suddenly remembered and buried his face on Mikan's shoulder out of sheer embarrassment. "Sorry about that." He said shyly.

"That stupid face you make, every time you get a mini heart attack when you think you lost the keys again, and you get too scared to ask me, when in truth I moved the keys from where you last left them… That's how I knew I'll never ever get bored with you."

"That was you!" He pointed at her accusingly. She laughed running from his wrath once again. "I love you, Natsume." She screamed.

"No! Not today, psycho! You're fucking insane!" He laughed as he caught her and held her in his arms. His tone went serious all of a sudden. "I felt the way you feel when you were with him… It hurts me knowing that that's how I'm making you feel." He said in a whisper. "I'm sorry for being insensitive. I can adjust, I'm sure she would understand." He continued. Her hands held his for a while, it felt as if the world has stopped. "No… It's okay. Invite her."

"I thought you said-"

Mikan couldn't look at him straight in the eye, she knew she would break. Natsume was on the edge of his seat, curious at what she would say. "She's your friend. Obviously, this means a lot to you." She continued. "And you waited for me, for so long…" She wiped a tear falling from the corner of her eye.

"Hey, I did that not because…"

"I know. But you did it for me." She smiled. "You're asking for so little, compared to how long you waited to be with me. I can adjust." She said looking at him, tears filling her eyes. He looked away, starting to tear up. "You have to stop doing this. Are you crazy?"

"I love you so much, Natsume. You have no idea." She said, wrapping her hands around his neck.

"So tell me." He said closing his eyes, nearing his face to hers. She pinched his nose and laughed. She finds it hilarious how he's always so cutesy towards her and so emotionally constipated towards everyone else. "No."

His lips straightened. "Good luck with your wedding."

"Thanks. You're not invited." She smiled and gave him a peck on the corner of his lips, irritating him on purpose.

"You're gonna miss the star of the show… But okay, I get it… Jealousy is a disease, I hope you don't die from it." He asked, getting back at her. He felt her grip on his neck getting tighter and tighter. "I'm not jealous."

"You sure?" He smirked.

"I've never been jealous!" She cried out in frustration, finally letting it out. "…just with you!"

He grinned from ear to ear. "I could wait an entire lifetime for you, you know that?"

She nodded as heat rose from her cheeks. "You really wanna know how I knew I love you?" Mikan asked as Natsume listened carefully. "Because I choose you, every day. Even when you drive me insane because you ask the stupidest questions when you're taking care of the kids, and you make that stupid face when I berate you for asking your stupid questions… In the moments you try your best to make our kids happy, I know, that I couldn't have made a better choice."

Natsume's heart fluttered, burying his face on Mikan's shoulders because he didn't want her to see how she made him feel.

Mikan laughed. "Maybe this is why our friends cringe at the sight of us."

"I don't care, I'm in love." He said kissing her forehead before they heard a loud cry from the bedroom. "For goodness sake, we're having a moment over here." He shouted back. Mikan gave him a light smack on his forehead. "Should've gotten protection." He joked as he continued to cuddle her, kissing her shoulder. Mikan in turn smacked his forehead a little too strong. "We wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."

"I was just kidding, I love them… sometimes… Don't leave. They have to learn to be independent." He protested.

"They're toddlers!" He pouted, letting her go as he nursed his forehead and got his phone out.

"What are you doing? Go help me!"

"I am! I'm getting hired help. This can't keep going on."

"You want another blow to your head?"

"I want a different kind of blow to my head." He joked.

"Hyuuga, stop fooling around." He knew she was serious, so he put down his phone and looked up at her. "Fine, what do you need?"

END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AUTHOR'S NOTES

The thing is, I lost my password hahaha. So this took a while.

Hope you enjoy it!