Hey guys! Sorry for the little delay, I've been busy as usual. Anyway, I read my previous chapters, and I realized that I have been inconsistent on a few things. Well actually, one thing ha ha. So I just want to clarify that Mikan's going to college this fall in the story, and not in the next year like I said in the first two or three chapters. :)

Sorry if I got some of you confused, and I hope my correction cleared things!

Anyway here is the latest chapter! Enjoy! xx

"What the hell, Mikan? Where have you been?"

I hardly heard Hotaru's question because I was still in a daze. I was feeling lightheaded and my knees were still literally trembling. That encounter with Natsume was just...wow. Now he was actually hanging out with his little sister, and he was grinning widely, that Aoi's friends were literally drooling. Whenever he caught my gaze, he would wink or just smile at me. It was enough to make my head swirl.

"Hello?" Hotaru snapped in my face. "Are you going to tell me what happened? I assume you already 'talked' with Natsume. Notice how I put air quotes on the word 'talked.' How'd it go?"

"It went... well." We were now seated by the bonfire, since it was already getting a little chilly.

"Well? Could you please elaborate on that?"

I tore my gaze away from Natsume and looked at Hotaru. "Oh. Um, we talked, and then he told me he loved me. And then we kissed." Saying it out loud, it sounded like something from a cheesy romance movie. But I wouldn't want to change a thing.

"That punk finally did it? Thank God."

"Wait, what do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Anyone who has a brain can definitely tell that he's in love you, Mikan."

"So are you saying I don't have a brain?" I said. "And why didn't you mention anything to me? I've been going insane for weeks!"

"It's not that you're brainless, but sometimes you could be a little, um, dense. No offense. And I wanted you to figure it out for yourself. God, it's not like I could just tell you that Natsume has hidden desires for you and that you should go and make him say it."

"I am not dense!" I said, playfully slapping her arm. "And hidden desires? Are we in seventh grade?"

"Well, then how about lustful desires? Does that work for you?" she replied.

"Ha, ha."

"So what? Are you two a thing now?"

I honestly wasn't sure what the answer to this was. I glanced at Natsume one more time, and he was staring at me so I gave him a smile. "I don't know," I said. "I've never been in a relationship so I'm new to this whole thing. Well he told me that he loved me, and I said I loved him back. That... says a lot, right?"

"You are so adorable, Mikan. Thank God you have me as a best friend. You have so much to learn."

I sighed, and glanced at Natsume one more time. He was talking with Aoi animatedly and it looked like his sister was only half-listening. I smiled. "We've known each other for years," I said, after a while, "And I guess it is does sound like us having feelings for each other since we were kids came out from a romance novel."

"These kind of things really do happen," she told me. "That's the thing with love. Most people think it's some cliched phenomenon, but when it happens to you, it feels like nothing you've ever experienced before."

She was right. I finally felt my old self coming back now. No wait, I never did change. I hid under a facade, that was true. I built up a wall around myself, and now, I felt it crashing. I have never felt more of myself than I did right now in this moment.

"Fun night?"

I about jumped ten feet into the air. My mom was sitting in the living room couch, watching t.v. with the volume turned down. I checked the clock above the television. It was only eleven-forty-three. Yet, why was my mom catching me off guard like I was up to my old antics once again? I knew I told her I'd be out tonight.

"I guess you could say that," I replied, warily.

My mom took one look at my guarded expression and laughed. "Oh did I scare you? I'm sorry, you're not in trouble. In fact this is a new record. It's not even midnight yet. I'm impressed."

"Mom!" I breathed a sigh of relief. If before this unaffected me, now I was terrified of getting in trouble again. I flopped down on the couch next to her. "You know most moms would flip out if their daughters came home at this time."

"Oh trust me, two years of coming home at dawn has made me immune to that."

"I'm sorry for that. I really am."

She kissed my head. "I know, honey. It's fine now. Besides, you were with Aoi's friends. I wasn't too worried."

"If you haven't heard most high school freshmen aren't so innocent anymore, Mom. But Aoi's friends were saints, don't worry." I added that last part when I saw the anxious look on her face.

"Well, okay then. Good."

"Why are you still up? Couldn't sleep?"

She nodded. "Remember when you and Tsubasa would watch movies late at night on a school night then I'd chew you out for it, but then ten minutes later I'd be watching with you guys?"

I smiled at the memory. Any random day of the week, Tsubasa would always make me watch movies with him in the den. Most of the time it would be at around 10 p.m. then we'd be staying up all night watching several movies. It was another few of our things. At first it was just the two of us, but then Mom found out, but she ended up watching with us as well. We never mentioned this to Dad, since we knew he would freak out, but I think he sort of knew a few months later but didn't say anything about it.

"I remember," I said.

Mom let out a rueful sigh. "I miss him that it literally hurts. Being in this house, it feels like he's still here."

"Yeah, I miss him too. A lot. I think about him every single day."

She held my hand and squeezed it tightly, but didn't say anything. It was a simple gesture, but at that moment, I felt even closer to my mother. After a while, she kissed my forehead. "Well, I better go get some sleep. You should too."

"Okay, I will."

She patted my knee, before standing up and heading towards the stairs. I was about to follow suit when she suddenly stopped and looked at me.

"Oh honey, I almost forgot," she said. "Sumire called. I had a little chat with her for a while, and she sounded... distressed? I don't know. Are you two still talking?"

Sumire. How could I forget about her? God, I was such an awful friend. "We are," I said. "But sometimes it's hard to reach other because of the long distance thing. What did she tell you?"

"I asked her if she was doing fine, and she said she was. Then she told me that you call her back. I'm sorry I should have texted you, but it completely slipped my mind."

"It's okay, Mom. I'll call her back now, is that okay?"

"Of course. Just try not to stay up all night chatting. I know how you girls can be." She gave me another kiss on the forehead, and proceeded upstairs.

I didn't bother taking a shower the moment I reached my bedroom. I immediately called Sumire. After three failed attempts, she finally answered.

"Mikan?"

Her voice sounded so small, so distant, that I thought at first that it wasn't her. "Sumire? God, I am so sorry that it took so long for me to call. I know these stupid timezones aren't an excuse but I'm so glad to hear from you. Are you okay? Mom said you called earlier and you sounded distressed."

Silence. "Sumire? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice cracking. I immediately knew something was wrong. She sounded like she was crying.

"Sumire, what's wrong? Please tell me. Did something bad happen?"

There was a pause, and then, I heard sobbing. "M-m-ikan... I... I... I made a m-m-istake."

"What is it?" I asked softly. I started pacing around the room.

"Oh God, I can't even tell you," she sobbed. "I hate myself for it."

"Tell me," I pleaded. "I'm going insane here. What happened?"

"I-I-I'm... pregnant."

I immediately froze. My entire body went limb, and it felt like someone dropped ice-cold water on me. Sumire couldn't be pregnant. She told me she'd been taking the pill since she was fourteen. This had to be some kind of sick joke. But judging from Sumire's tone, there was no way in hell she kidding.

"Oh my God." My voice was barely above whisper, but Sumire heard me.

She continued crying. "I know, I am such an idiot. Please don't hate me, Mikan. I don't have anyone to help me but you."

"How did this happen?" I managed to choke out. "Weren't you on the pill?"

"I was, but then I changed pills last month, and I guess the effect took some time. God, I don't even know. What am I going to do?"

"Have you told your parents?"

"No way. I can't tell them. My mom is going to kill me. I'm still at my grandparents'. I was going crazy being away from all the action in the city, and then I met someone and he invited me to this party, so I immediately went. Then..."

"Wait, so you just met this guy? Does he even know?"

"No." Her voice cracked again. "We were both drunk that time. The next morning, I left right away."

I couldn't believe it either. "How long?"

"Three weeks," she whispered.

"Sumire, do you want to... do you want it?"

"God no! I'm only seventeen. I can't have a fucking baby! I have to get rid of it. I don't know a nearby hospital, and if I ask my grandparents, they would find out, and they'd tell my parents. I don't know what to do."

"I think that you should ask for this guy's help. I don't want you doing this by yourself."

"I never saw him again after that night. Do you think my grandparents would keep this from my parents? I am getting rid of it after all."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

She let out a deep sigh. "Do you hate me, Mikan?"

"Never," I answered. "I know you can get through this. And if you change your mind, I'll still be here to support you. You know that, right?"

"I do. Thank you. God, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too. If you ever need me just give me a call, okay? Let me know how things turn out."

"I will. And Mikan?"

"Yeah?"

"You are the greatest friend I've ever had."

"I know," I said in a light tone, to brighten up the mood a little bit.

"I'll call you soon. I hope you're having an amazing summer. Bye."

I flopped down on my bed, immediately exhausted. I felt a little guilt crawling up to me since I was having a way better summer than she was. It also pained me that I wasn't there with her. I now only realized, that even if we didn't have that bond Hotaru and I have, I still cared for her deeply as a friend. Two years was a long time after all.

The next day at work, all I could think about was Sumire. She still hasn't called me back, and I was beginning to get worried. I couldn't stop looking at my phone throughout the day.

"Whoa there," Hotaru commented, during lunch break. "You've only been away from Natsume for like what, ten hours?"

From all everything that has been going on, I completely blanked out about last night. Natsume had just confessed his undying love (yes, that is how I want to put it) for me, and I hadn't seen him since.

"No it's not him," I said. "I'm, uh, waiting for my friend's call. From Japan."

"Oh. Everything all right?"

I couldn't exactly tell her about Sumire, because obviously it would seem wrong. "Yeah. We just haven't talked in ages, so..."

God I hated lying to her. Hotaru wasn't looking directly at me, and I wasn't sure if she could hear it in my voice. But if she did notice, she didn't mention anything. Instead, she just nodded.

As we were closing up for the day, the bell on the door rang, signalling that there was a customer. God, it said perfectly well on the sign that we were closed.

"Sorry, but we're closed for today," I said automatically, without looking up from the counter I was wiping.

"Oh I didn't come for the ice cream," a voice replied.

I immediately looked up and saw Natsume, grinning at me. He looked amazingly attractive today. He was wearing a simple white flannel shirt with a tank top underneath, and some khaki pants. But then again, he did look attractive all the time. His hair was damp, so I assumed he just got out of duty. He also had a giant grin plastered on his face, clearly amused of my surprised reaction.

I hadn't realized I was staring at him the entire time, when Hotaru came out from the employee's bathroom. "Oh hey, Hyuuga."

Natsume nodded back at her and turned to me. "So, how was your day?"

"It was fine," I said. "You know, work-y. Yours?"

"Slow. I couldn't wait to see you."

This made my cheeks flush while Hotaru cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt you two lovebirds over there, but Mikan and I have to close up first. Then you can do whatever."

After finally closing up, Hotaru left first, obviously leaving us some time alone. "So," Natsume said, taking my hand then kissing it. "I think I should ask you out on a proper date."

I smiled. "But we already went on one, remember?"

"I believe that was a 'gathering-of-two-people.' And besides, you totally bailed on me at the end of the night."

I groaned in embarrassment. I was trying hard to keep that memory under wraps. "I told you! I was sick." Okay, so maybe that last part was a lie, and I did realize that I have to tell Natsume about my fear sooner or later. Telling Hotaru was a big relief for me, and he had the right to know.

"So I assume you're not sick now?"

"No. I'm not."

A smirk appeared on his face. "Well then, I guess this just calls for a date."

"Right now?" I asked.

"I was thinking tomorrow night? Should I pick you up at seven?"

"Where are we going?"

"You'll find out tomorrow," he said, winking at me.

Okay so I finally put in here the deal with Sumire. Were some of you expecting it? Or did you think she was sick or something? Let me know in your reviews because I really love reading them :)

MikanxNatsume moments in the next chapter! I haven't finished writing it yet, so I hope you guys will still be patient with me x til the next update! Ciao!~ xx