A/N: Oh, it's been too long of a time!

I missed this story!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Or...it should be when this comes out.

By the way, this chapter picks up right from where the last one ended.

Enjoy! :3

I can see the flickers

Over me the lanterns raised

Lift me up, lift me over it

Show me what you're hiding

Take me out into the sea

Lift me up

(I hear the singing light)

Lift me over it

Lift me up, lift me up

Lift me over it

And with my opened mouth

I join the singing light

-Son Lux 'Flickers'

Ichigo finally came and got me then we headed to the suite where everyone was staying. It was a large penthouse (most likely paid for by Tatsuki's family) that had two bedrooms separated by a long hallway. It was like a small, one-story house in a way. Everyone had changed into some casual wear (not including yours truly) and the room furthest from the door glowed with the light of the TV. There was a scary movie on (Orphan or something), but no one was really watching it. Most of them were having conversations while eating pizza, and those who were in relationships were snuggled up with their significant other.

God, it looked like it was straight out of some awful teen movie.

I wanted to leave as soon as I walked in.

But these were my friends, and certain obligations come along every once in a while to keep them.

Orihime spotted me and patted a pillow on the floor next to her. I shook my head of the drink I had earlier and carefully tried not to stumble as I walked over. I noticed Ulquiorra in the corner by himself, his vibrant green eyes fixed on me in the darkness. I could never tell when that dude was angry or not. He watched me sit down and I think I saw a small fire light in his eye. Orihime's arm brushed mine and this time it was her who pulled away. I guess I've made such a habit of being uncomfortable, that it's starting to affect others. I don't really want Orihime to be uncomfortable around me. I tried to think of a way to engage in a friendly conversation, but all I could think about was the time I'd spent with Starrk. Everything about him was swarming my confused, buzzed mind. Why did I feel so...odd and comfortable at the same time when I was around him? Thinking about him always created a warm feeling in my chest that traveled up and swirled in my cheeks.

And I didn't know if it was my teenage hormones or the Wild Turkey at work, but I was feeling pretty warm downstairs, too.

Everyone in the room jumped at some scary part, including Orihime. She latched onto my arm and I could feel her massive breasts pressed up against my side.

Aw man, this was definitely not going to help.

I gulped before blushing and moving my hands over my ever-tightening pants. Orihime once again sensed the stiffness in my body and pulled away. Though another scary part made her almost practically jump into my lap. She had a white, low-cut tank top covered by a cream-colored cardigan. Those did nothing to hide her ample bosom. Her red skirt was way above her knee-high socks and barely covered anything; if I had lifted it just a bit, I'd see all her glory. I tried not to stare at her soft-looking thighs that extended into long legs. I tried not to think about the smell of apples and honey wafting off of her and invading my nose. I also tried to keep my hands to myself, but that was getting more and more difficult every time she grabbed me.

Though I failed at everything I tried. But what could I say? Orihime was just...hot. So, I stopped trying to fight it.

My eyes did a thorough exam on what was exposed: cleavage, legs, and then the obvious, like her lips and face. I noticed her mouth moving, but let's be real—I wasn't listening to a single thing she was telling me. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to—

"So w-what kind of girl do you like, Grimmjow?" I heard Inoue ask me. Random question to ask, but I feel like she'd been talking for way longer than I thought and I was probably not listening.

"Why do you care?"

Well, shit. I didn't mean to say that. Maybe drinking isn't for me...

Orihime simply stared at me with those big brown eyes of hers. She tilted her head to the side and looked at me with a nervous expression.

"... S-Sorry..." she shifted about awkwardly and looked to the side nervously. Orihime quickly turned away from me and continued to watch the movie.

When it ended, everyone prepared for bed. As for myself, I stared at Orihime, still trying to think of a way to apologize for being so rude earlier. I headed back towards the front room so that I could sleep alone on the couch. I turned around when I heard something. Orihime was going through her small bag down the hall. She finally stood and turned around to find me staring at her like a dog stares at steak. Inoue's eyes widened slightly before she hardened her face and she started towards me. What was going on?

"Grimmjow! I like you!" Orihime squeaked before looking away.

Oh, shit.

She then focused her eyes upon mine once more as I spoke. "What?"

The young ginger's face burst into a bright red, making it nearly impossible for me to see her expression underneath. I scratched the back of my head. Did I hear her right?

Orihime shifted awkwardly. Typical. "I-I just ...I mean...I-I'm sorry, just please forget what I said." Though Inoue tried to completely evade the topic that she herself had brought up, I grabbed her wrist before she could escape.

"No," I responded firmly. "Say what you said."

She cleared her throat and stared down at her feet, mumbling something that I couldn't hear. Since she wasn't gonna tell me herself, I had to make my mind backtrack on what caused me to do a verbal double take. Then it clicked.

"...You like me?"

Orihime smiled shyly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." She began to leave.

"Wait."

Everything after that almost seemed like a blur. Inoue quickly whirled around and smashed her lips onto mine. The collar of my shirt was bunched up in her small fists, as her legs gently rubbed against mine. Her lips were smooth and sweet, but it was the fact that her teeth slightly grazed my bottom lip that completely sent my hormones out of control. She became so bold all of a sudden...I just didn't know how to react properly towards her. The damn girl made me nervous from the spontaneity that I had no idea about. Finally, Orihime parted from me.

"I'm sorry," she spoke, barely above a whisper.

This girl was just too fucking much.

I placed my hands on her cheeks and lifted her head, so that her eyes met mine. As her cheeks flushed a pale pink, I brought her face closer to mine and pressed my lips to hers. Goddamn, that kiss tasted sweeter than the last one. Orihime pushed me back against the bed until I was beneath her. She crawled on top of me and ran her hands through my hair as she kissed me. My hands explored the soft skin of her thighs and the smooth curve of her ass. A small part of me ached because I knew that I had no feelings for Orihime. But I didn't even care at this point.

I could be a bad person every once in a while, right?

And it's not like I have many options anyway.

Not with Starrk and his girlfriend...

I mean...what?

I slowed my movements when the image of Orihime swiftly flickered to one of Starrk, then back again. My breath caught in my throat.

Why?

"Are you alright?" Orihime panted in her small voice. I shook my head then kissed her again.

I could feel my erection dying, and I was pleading for it not go. Why now? Just because I thought of Starrk? I tried to rush things along. My hands scaled down until I reached her underwear. They were damp and it made me swallow the dryness in my throat. I hooked my fingers on them and she shimmied out of them. My fingers slid into her easily, making her bury her head in my neck and whine. She gently kissed my neck and all I could think about was how much I wanted it to be Starrk on top of me, touching me, making me feel good like this.

Now, I would say that this was the part where we took our clothes off and had awkward-teenage-sex. After all, it shouldn't have taken a genius to figure out what would've happened next. But, I just couldn't. I finished her off, but I wouldn't let her go any further on me. Orihime didn't deserve the treatment I was going to give her. I would've just used her and the thought made me sick to my stomach. That and the thought of doing anything like that with anyone but Starrk. I actually had to run to the bathroom and heave a bit because I couldn't handle what I was about to do.

So for the rest of the night, I had to explain to Orihime that it wasn't her that made me feel sick. That and I spilled all of my feelings to her about Starrk. Surprisingly, she handled it better than I thought. Orihime was actually excited about it and promised not to tell.

We still fell asleep together and to this day our friends still think we had sex.

Maybe that's why Ulquiorra hates me?

But yeah, that's basically how Orihime became one of my best friends. Not the sweetest story, I know, but that's the way it went.

And it didn't help that she still looked at me like she still had feelings for me sometimes.

Like her face would just say, "What does Starrk have that I don't?"

Well, you're not a guy, for one.

God, I still feel like crap because of it.

But it's something I've tried to cope with.

"So...you and Orihime..." Zaraki's face is priceless.

"No," I almost laugh my answer. "But we almost did. I just...couldn't. Not her."

I never told him about my feelings for Starrk. Not ready for that yet.

"Oh...okay." The timer on his desk goes off. "Grimmjow, I know this might be a little hard for you, but we need to talk about...that...at our next meeting. We only have about two more meetings until you go back to school. Then we won't see each other as much."

My heart skips a beat, but I will away the sickness that is trying to take over.

No more of that.

"O-Okay..." I stutter a bit as I agree then stand up.

Maybe if I go to sleep early I'll feel better.

When I get back home, I go up to my room and kick off my shoes. I drift over to my iPod and look through my songs. I smile when my eyes land on Chopin's Best (I downloaded it off of YouTube), a two-hour long song on my iPod.

Just perfect.

I lay down and tried to let my mind drift into sleep. But then my stomach growled.

Great.

I walked downstairs and headed towards the kitchen to fix something to eat. The doorbell rang and I heard Kisuke shout that he'd answer it. I just shrugged and continued to eat. The man came up from downstairs with heavy steps, tired and shirtless from the heat.

He reached the door then opened the peephole to see who it was.

"It's your brown-haired friend again."

I've never moved so fast in my 16 years.

The back door was too far to go around the table so I just ducked underneath and ran.

"I'm not here!" I whisper/shouted at Kisuke.

What I heard in return was the door unlock:

"C'mon in!"

That fucking asshole.

A few minutes pass before I hear the back door open from the house. I close my eyes and breathe because I don't want this to end badly.

When Starrk sits down, the heat from his body makes me tense up.

He's too close to me. I want him to leave.

"Why are you here?" I speak to him but don't take my eyes off of the water.

"I..." It sounds like he doesn't have a reason. "I just...wanted to see you."

"I thought I made it clear that I don't want that," I snap.

A sort of airy chuckle came from him. "And I thought I made it clear that I don't care."

I don't have anything to say back to that so I just lay down on the grass.

I've come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as Starrk-repellent. No matter how mean I am or how much I express that I don't want him around, he keeps coming back, as if he hasn't heard any of what I've said.

"You can't get rid of me y'know," he says.

"I know," I respond annoyed.

"So why do you keep trying?"

"...I don't know."

"Just stop then."

It's my turn to chuckle. "I can't."

"Why not?" I feel his eyes on me but I keep my eyes on the sky.

Why can't I stop pushing him away? How bad could Starrk possibly be for me?

"I don't know."

"You don't know a lot of things," Starrk says with a sigh as he lies back beside me.

"Shut up."

For the next few minutes, we just lay there. The silence is nice, but I can't seem to fight the urge to talk to him.

"So...what do you want?" I ask.

"I told you. I just wanted to see you."

"Well, you've seen me, so why won't you leave?"

I keep forgetting that it's useless to talk to him like this.

"I haven't seen enough of you." His statement is a double-edged sword, polished and sharpened by his smooth, deep voice. It cuts through me, and slices my nerve-control center into pieces. There are two possibilities as to what he meant, but I'd rather not think about either them. I swallow the dryness in my throat for the umpteenth time and breathe.

"Great," I mumble, eliciting another laugh from him. It rumbles from his chest, into the ground, and into me. Chills.

"I like you, Blue. Like, a lot." I sigh again.

Starrk has absolutely no fucking idea how annoying he is.

I tense up when he grabs my hand. It's warm and I don't pull away for some reason. Though I should have.

"It's not your fault, Blue."

Yes, it is.

"I know you think it is, but it isn't."

Shut up.

"I don't blame you." He moves closer to me.

Don't say it.

"I don't hate you."

I feel like I'm going to cry, but I don't want him to see it.

"Please, don't..." I say as I try to push out the memory that brings up all the rest. He places his hand on my cheek and makes me face him.

His lips gently meet mine, and I don't know if I feel good about it, but I grip his shirt and kiss him harder. Starrk's lips are warmer than I thought. He kneels over my waist and laces his fingers between mine. I let him slide his tongue in my mouth and this prompts him to kiss my jaw, and then move down to my neck. Starrk's breaths are heavy and mine stop all together. I begin to grip and pull out the grass as his movements send shivers through my body. He begins to rock his hips into mine, and I can feel his growing hardness.

"I..." I don't finish the thought, as it is interrupted by a moan.

The noise was caused by his curious hand that had grabbed my jean-clad ass firmly. He squeezes, eliciting a nervous whine from me. Starrk is making me feel like a scared little kid again. Unfortunately, the feeling is spreading through my body, and I feel myself shrinking.

I am small, helpless under the weight of the one above me.

My vision flickers, and I no longer see the bright blue sky dotted with clouds.

I see the rickety, broken ceiling-fan from my old room. Instead of the whistling of the grass, I hear the fan creaking as it tries to still do its job. I hear the dull buzz of the television in the next room, poorly covering my mother's sobs. Starrk's hands grow larger and rougher on my rear, sneaking into my pants and kneading the flesh there. The long, brown locks that tickle my nose turn blue, a shade darker than my own. His steely eyes go cold in an instant, suddenly the color of icicles. The soft pecks on my neck turn to harsh bites.

This isn't right.

I close my eyes, trying to tell myself it's not real. Deep down, I want this, and I want Starrk to want this, but my body betrays me. The thing I want most becomes my greatest fear. Even though I convince myself that this is all a bad dream, the illusion won't shatter. Though my mind does when someone speaks.

"I love you so much, Grimm. You have no idea how much I need you right now."

It's not Starrk that says it.

It's a monster.

My throat fills with fear. "STOP!"

Starrk gets off of me and looks at me like I fell off a bike. My breath is uneven and I grip my chest to try to slow down my heart. Starrk tries to wipe away the tears streaming down my face but I flinch from his touch.

"Hey...what's—" He begins, his voice filled with concern.

"Just...stop." I pull myself away from him then stand. "Leave my fucking house." I walk away after that, ignoring the sound of my name.

That's why I can't stop pushing him away.

He reminds me of...damn near everything.

And it hurts too much.

He can't be good for me.

It was so hard writing this chapter, and I hope I did it justice.

Next chapter, all will be revealed! Well, maybe not all...but Grimm's big secret will be brought to light!

R&R!

~EMAE