Title: Living in a Romance Novel

Chapter 7: Runaway Writer

Authors Note: Now that school is done with and I am on summer vacation – expect updates to be closer than before!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of the characters. Evalena White is my own creation however, and belongs solely to me.

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Lena could remember the first time she had contacted Mii, after digging through buried family history and seeing a glimpse into her family. It was a kick in the ass that the one family member to care about her, showed it in passing Shigure Sohma off on her.

"Dear Lena, went away for the weekend. Don't try and find me. With love, Shigure." Lena read over the short letter four, maybe five times before it finally hit her.

She had been ditched, stood up, left behind, discarded; the bastard had left her hanging. He owed her a manuscript.

"We'll see about that," Lena thought bitterly as she began to work the lock on the front door. A broken hang nail, bent hair clip, and a crooked old credit card the door swung open. Lena immediately went to Shigure's contacts list on his computer.

"Let's see here…" she hummed a bit as she flipped through who seemed to be the most recently talked too, and who showed up the most. It was pretty obvious, whoever Ayame Sohma was, he called Shigure nearly every day.

Without hesitation, Lena pulled out her cell phone and began to dial one of the numbers he had recorded. Hopefully it wasn't a private cell phone, that could be slightly uncomfortable.

"Hello, Ayame Sohma speaking, brilliant creator of special one of a kind design. What fantasy can I make come true for you?" His voice was loud and boisterous, Lena liked him immediately.

Her lips flickered into a smirk, "Mr. Sohma, this is Lena White speaking. You can help me track down Shigure, as his editor I have a bone to pick with him," the voice instantly began to gush on the other end.

She caught a few words, Lake House, Hatori left without him…who the hell was Hatori?

"Well it sounds like you've been cheated out of a wonderful weekend, …Ayame?" he already asked her to call her by his first name, which made it easier for her to offer a plan. "Let's say I pick you up and we go together? You give the directions and I can take care of the rest….ten tomorrow? Perfect. Thank you Ayame, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow."

Guess what Shigure; she was going to follow him. She was going to find him…and then, she was going to wring his neck.

Besides, she already had an invitation; Tohru had offered dinner one night. It wasn't Lena's fault that the girl had never specified.

Ayame was a joy in the car, under most circumstances and normal people, Lena figured a sane human being would find him annoying and a distraction. She found him original and a fresh breath of air compared to all of the stuffy people dominating the world.

He also loved Prince.

"I'm going to make you the most desirable pooch on the block!" he cried and began to explain the manifested idea from little dog booties to a complete sweater set with matching collars and pants.

Lena knew Prince would rip through the fabrics as soon as it touched his fur, but the pictures would last forever.

"Turn right up here?" she asked as she looked ahead for the lane that branched off to the Lake house.

"Hmm, yes that's it! Right there, soon I'll be bonding with my little Yuki. Did I tell you about him? he asked, for possibly the fifth time in the car.

Lena laughed and nodded, "You talk very highly of him, keep at it Ayame. There's something to say about persistence. Sooner or later, as long as you keep at it, he'll forgive you," she had gotten their full brother history in less than five minutes.

"I do hope so, there it is!" he clapped his hands as they rolled to a stop in front of the house. Ayame swung out of the car dramatically, "Shigure, my lover, I've arrived!"

Lena stepped out of the car, "Allow me," she offered and strolled up to the front door. Without knocking, she swung it open. "Honey, I'm home," she called in a sweet voice that it verged on making her sick.

From the corner, she spotted Shigure, and saw him cringe in fear at her voice. Yes, that's right Shigure. Be afraid, be very, very afraid.

From her heels, Prince yapped and flew through the door and into Shgiure's lap. She couldn't explain it, but her dog had grown quickly attached to him. She noticed Shigure sigh as he ran a hand through her German Shepherds thick coat of fur.

"Miss me suger?" she asked sarcastically as she slipped off her shoes and walked in, "I hope you have a welcome present for me, or your life may be in serious jeopardy."

"Isn't she just a gem?" Ayame chimed in from behind her as he scuttled through the door way. Hatori sighed from the couch and shot Shigure a long 'I blame you' look.

"Aya, what a pleasant surprise…." He sprouted up and cheered before giving Lena a long look, "Lena."

"I got your note," she smirked, "Unfortunately I don't take orders from irresponsible writers who can't understand the simple concept of a deadline."

"I was just having a little fun," Shigure whined, not liking how easily Lena managed to kill any attempt of the word fun. She stood there with the cross look in her eyes and her small mouth in a firm little line. He couldn't help but loose his train of thought.

"Not at my expense you won't," Lena warned. She was a New Yorker; he'd have to up his game if he wanted to get the best of her. She had street smarts, which she doubted the boy that had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth had.

Hatori gave a long stare at Shigure and then finally broke down, "Shigure, what have you done?" he accused.

"Nothing, Nothing," Shigure waved his hands in defeat, his eyes attempted to portray innocence. "I just happened to leave Lena a note which gave her very direct details…how did you run into Ayame?" he frowned and gave Lena a long stare, unable to put two and two together.

"Why don't you try your hand at mystery and figure out the ending for yourself," Lena suggested as she took a seat, might as well get comfortable. "So…where's my manuscript?"

It was later in the day when the kiddies came back. Lena was having a pleasant chat with Hatori while Ayame and Shigure horsed around, doing everything possible to break the conversation between Hatori and Lena.

"How do you stand it?" Lena had asked more than once.

"Family," he had unhappily replied.

Because Lena understood how deep the scars could run from family, she nodded and didn't question him any further. Family was private; their matters were sacred – though the idea that they were distantly related caused her to smirk a little at her own private amusement at how deeply set he was in family.

And Hatori, nor anybody else for that matter had a clue who she truly was. By her father's name, she was a Sohma.

"Lena!" Tohru cheered with surprise as she was the first to walk in and spot her on the couch.

"Hello Tohru," Lena replied polity from the couch, her eyes traced over the familiar three heads of youngsters that lived with Shigure. Funny, he didn't really seem the parenting type.

"What a cute doggie, what's his name?" she knelt down to play with Prince and instantly captured his attention.

"Prince," Lena replied, and didn't miss the shadow of annoyance that passed through Yuki's eyes or the snort that fell from Kyo's lips. Why the hell did they care what she named her dog? He was sweet and gentleman like, a prince.

"What is that idiot here?" the light silver haired boy muttered darkly when Ayame flew at him for a big brother hug.

It might have been endearing and sweet if Yuki hadn't punched him in the gut, sending him back.

"Don't touch me," he hissed, while Ayame begged to be given a second chance and to have a brotherly bond once again. Lena supposed it was her fault for bringing him, and encouraging the persistence, but it seemed rather pointless to hold a grudge against Ayame, who had still been a child himself at the time.

He hadn't understood the consequences of his actions, as Sora hadn't when she ranaway from home and fell into shameful love.

"How about a walk?" Shigure offered as the room continued to fill with more noise. Now the orange head and started in on all the arguing, Tohru didn't help matters as she pleaded for everyone to stop. Only Hatori sat on the couch, two fingers pressed against him template as he restrained the headache.

"Why not?" Lena slipped on completely inappropriate heels to go marching around in the woods. She whistled for Prince to accompany them and headed outside.

Outside it was deathly silent, there was almost an eerie feeling compared to how alive and loud the noise had made inside feel. Prince fell between the two, covering the ground lightly as Lena fought with every step not to fall flat on her face.

"Much better," Shigure approved of the nights silence, the soft moonlight that fell down on their bodies as they wondered deeper into the woods. "You do have persistence," he noted. Not even Mii would have known to contact Ayame to follow them up here.

"When I do a job, I don't half ass it," she replied and shot him a dark look.

"I'm hurt," Shigure whined at her accusation, "I'm a very popular novelist, I have fans."

"Oh the writing you do fine, I'll give you that Shigure. Even if some might consider your books lewd, and verging on pornography," she didn't condemn him, because Lena had read books like that before she had ever met Shigure. "When it comes to finishing the job and sending your editor her manuscript, you fall short…way short."

"So…you like my books?" he asked in a teasing tone, and Lena knew they weren't talking about his style of writing or way of setting up a story line.

"Pervert," she muttered, hating the silence with each and every step. In New York there would be more than a million different sounds and lights going off.

She missed home.

"But you admit, you've read books like mine before," because if she hadn't, she would have condemned it, and she wouldn't be at such ease to read his books.

"My reading preference is none of your business," she replied stiffly, and managed to walk in her heels while still carrying her nose in the air.

"Ah, but my dear, you are always of my business," he disagreed with a mock smirk on his lips.

"I am of no such thing!" Lena argued back, she felt a furious blush rise into her cheeks, and she wasn't quite sure why.

"Are too," he replied, much like a five year old would on the playground.

She was not playing this game, "I'm going back," she snapped and twirled around too fast in her high heels. She clipped Prince's body and fell over him. She was aware of two hands around her waist, and what sounded like a tiny explosion, but then everything went black.

There was a rough but wet substance slapping against her cheek. She blinked slowly and looked into a pair of bright golden eyes before mumbling and cursing her fate.

Prince wagged his tail at her show of life and began to lick her more enthusiastically until Lena had to push him off her.

"Damn it," she gathered her prada shoes and whimpered at the sign of a broken heel. The emotional pain took away from the physical pain in her head. When she numbly touched her forehead and winced from the stinging, she saw fresh blood on the fingers.

There wasn't a lot though, and Lena could see the source being a flat, but hard rock, her only question that remained was, where did Shigure go?

"Some gentleman he is!" She hissed as she struggled to stand up straight. "He better have gone off for help," or else she was finding the nearest cliff, binding him and dragging him to the top where she would shove him over the brink.

There, problem solved.

After sitting on the wet ground for several minutes, Lena had to face the truth. Her coward of a date for the night had run away from her. He was going to die, a drawn out painful death or a quick and easy one, she had no preference. The cold abandoning heart of his was going to stop beating one way or another.

"Come on Prince," she began the slow and tedious way home. Not too later, when she had made it about half way she heard fleeting footprints in the dark and long gasps. Shigure was attended by Hatori.

That was right, he was a doctor. Lena struggled internally for a minute and finally decided all was forgiven. She had been passed out on the ground; Shigure had done what was best.

"Lena, are you hurt?" Shigure asked as his hands quickly brushed her forehead, around the cut and bruise.

A sarcastic smirk fitted snugly onto her lips, just because he was forgiven, didn't mean initially, she couldn't give him a hard time, "You would have known if you had stuck around instead of letting me wake up alone," she snapped.

"It isn't too deep," Hatori mumbled, "We'll have to watch for infection."

"She has a thick head," Shigure joked, and got a rightful slap on the head for it, "Hatori…Lena hit me, and besides, it's true."

"Now really isn't the time Shigure," Hatori warned as he offered Lena an arm to stable her and take her back to the house, "Try to take it easy for a few days with the blood loss, I recommend staying away from Shigure."

Lena shot Shigure a long glare, somehow even in the dark she knew he could see her furious face, "I want…" she began to hiss, and her tone deepened and become far more pronounced, darker and demanding, "my manuscript."

"Persistent little one," Shigure replied with a trickle of laughter that fell from his tongue.