(Me and Ichigo both have bruises, and Rukia looks extremely pissed in the corner)
Rukia: Well, I'm back, so hopefully no more concussions will occur, RIGHT ICHIGO?
Ichigo: (whining voice)She STARTED it! I just hit her with my cast a LITTLE BIT, it's not MY fault she has a sensitive head. I always thought she was hard-headed!
Me: I AM hard-headed, your cast is just SO FUCKING HEAVY AND HARD, DUMBASS!
Rukia: (screeching to be heard over us) BOTH OF YOU STOP FIGHTING LIKE DUMBASSES AND SHUT THE HELL UP!
(Camera cuts to Maine, where we see a flock of pelicans and seagulls fly up in a frenzy, dropping their crabs who then cheer Rukia on for letting them live a little longer. It then cuts to Australia, where we see dingos howling on a cliff and shrimp on the barbie cowering in fear whilst being grilled. All in response to Rukia's screeching.)
Me and Ichigo: (currently dazed from Rukia's high voice) Ummm...Enjoy...
It took Peyton a few minutes to realize the lump pressing into her middle was the phone. Curious, she put it to her ear.
"Hello?"
No answer. Huh, guess he ended up hanging up after all. So, technically, I win, 'cause I said he was going to. I'll be sure to point this out, she thought groggily.
She wished she could stay in Sleepy La-La Mode all day, but about the time she and Lindsay got in the cab in Karakura hours later, reality hit her, and it hurt like hell.
So she went straight to her room without another word, and no one bothered her.
As she took the stairs two at a time, Lindsay just nodded sadly at everyone, and they exchanged sighs.
"Dammit. Cameron's always been a lazy deadbeat. He just HAS to be loveable and affect my daughter so strongly," Dad muttered gloomily.
HOURS LATER...
"Peeeyttooon? Are you dead?"
"Yes, Rukia. Go ahead and do Soul Burial now."
But this was Rukia we're talking about, so of course she simply sat beside Peyton cross-legged.
Well, what little bit of Peyton that was visible; she was currently wrapped up in her covers, face-down on a pillow, sprawled out on her bed.
On top of being upset, some old guy on the plane not only sneezed on her, but ended up throwing up due to turbulence, and GUESS who got collateral damage from it?
So yeah. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly the most healthy and happiest kid around at the moment.
Rukia took up residence beside her drawn-up left leg before patting her back not-so-lightly. "Hey, it'll be alright. You can do like Ichigo said, send him a tree. I know where to find one!"
Peyton shifted her head to look at her tiredly. "Really? Where?" She croaked; her voice was surprisingly hoarse.
"Can't tell you. But I brought you something!" She said cheerfully.
"A gun?"
"No."
"Cyanide pills?"
"Nope, not quite."
"A katana?"
"NO."
"A noose and some ninja stars? Acid, perhaps?"
"Okay, your guessing priviledges have officially been revoked."
"Great. Let's add that to my list of reasons to feel suicidal! It can go right below 'I still smell like old-man-barf'!"
"Stop being so dramatic! Just wait till you see this, you're gonna flip," Rukia said excitedly as she tore through her pockets.
"Oooh, oooh, is it chocolate?"
"Nope."
"DAMMIT!"
"Wait, wait, I found a Twix in here!" Rukia said triumphantly before plopping the magnificent bar of happiness in Peyton's lap.
She tore through it like Tom Hanks in Cast Away might've done while Rukia pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper.
Peyton eyed it suspiciously as Rukia dropped it in her lap as well. "What's this?"
"Read it. You won't believe it."
She carefully unfolded it, keeping it at arm's length as if expecting it to explode. "'A Few Reasons I Might, Maybe, Possibly, But Probably Don't Love Peyton'?" She read out loud before eyeing Rukia skeptically.
Was this a joke? No, it was most definitely Ichigo's crappy handwriting.
She read it over, every single one, word for word.
She laughed at #45: She beat the crap out of my Hollow, and he STILL likes her. I know because he told me so a few nights later when I was in my Inner World teasing him about it.
The one about his mom made her throat feel weird and her eyes tear up.
"I do NOT spazz out when I sneeze!"
When she finished, Rukia was grinning like mad at her. "This is basically a confession. You have to tell him you love him too!"
"He never said he LOVED me!"
"Did you even read that thing? It reeked of love!"
"Rukia, you scare me. I'm seriously considering revoking your romance manga priviledges."
They argued about it for another five minutes, then talked about random stuff. But as soon as Rukia left, Peyton snuck the list out from under her leg and read it again.
And again. And again. And then a couple more times.
And then she checked her phone, which had been charging on her bedside table. Ten missed calls, almost all of them from Ichigo (one was a blocked number and the other was some random chick in her chemistry class), sixteen text messages, and three voicemails from Ichigo.
So of course she listened to them.
One in particular made her face heat up and her stomach flip about eighty times. "Okiwura just walked in. He looks hungry, his pot belly's jiggling with anger. Which means he might eat me if he sees my phone just sitting randomly on my desk, so...Yeah, I'll leave you another voicemail or something later. I love you."
She had been grinning about him making fun of Okiwura, but then her face completely fell when the message ended.
The next voicemail was Ichigo spazzing out and trying to say a ninja yell was the cause of it, but it had been clear as day.
He had said The L-Word. Ichigo Kurosaki. Ichigo Kurosaki said he loved her. HER.
So she did the only logical thing to do. She threw her phone across the room and started spazzing out, pacing the room in circles.
"Ohmigod, ohmigod, what do I do now? Should I say it back? Do I love him? Does he even love me? I mean, what if it really WAS just an accident, a horrible mistake, and I go and embarrass us both when he doesn't say it back? Wait, do I even love him? I mean of course I like him- really REALLY like him...But love? RRRAAAAAHHHHH!" She cried out with a groan before screaming into a pillow with frustration.
This was way too much for one day. And, on top of that, it started storming outside, and her hair instantly started popping out in random places.
So she sat up miserably, and was staring out the window when she got an idea.
HOURS LATER...
Ichigo was pretty miffed when he found out Peyton would talk to Rukia and not him. "I mean, c'mon, I ended up having to pay over $80 with Karin's allowance last night! That should count for something!"
"Isn't Peyton's joy and peaceful sleep last night reward enough?" Isshin replied, lifting up a hand dramatically as if he were reciting Shakespeare.
Ichigo sweatdropped. "Well, yeah, but I was hoping I'd get other stuff out of it, too..."
Yuzu and Karin sighed and shook their heads. "You expect way too much. You're not The World's Best Boyfriend, you know!"
He considered hitting Karin with his cast after she stuck her tongue out at him, but then he smirked. They were all going to the store, so it'd be just him and Rukia, but Rukia was "taking a walk". Which, of course, translated into "Going to see Renji, and Filling-Fiction better not get wind of this."
"No wild parties, keep the booze locked in the cabinet," Karin commented before jumping out of his way as he swung his hand towards the back of her head.
He had just gotten a slice of some cake he had stolen from his friend, WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED, and his butt had JUST BARELY touched the couch cushion when there were three quick knocks on the door.
This made him cautiously eye the door, because hardly anyone bothered to knock anymore. EXCEPT...Jehova's Witnesses.
"Ahhhh, crap," he said with a groan of regret as he rose, set the cake down, and headed towards the front door.
"No, I do not care to hear about your religion," he commented as he opened the door, expecting the worst. But it was Peyton.
"Oh. So you ARE back."
It was raining, with thunder and everything, and she was soaking wet. With her hair sticking out in random spots like that, she looked like she had just escaped from a mental ward. But she didn't seem to mind as she bombarded him with a hug, kissing him on his cheek, mouth, other random places.
Obviously he had done something really, really, REALLY good today.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Those voicemails were just what I needed to make me much less suicidal," she said cheerfully against his neck.
Ichigo grinned at her as she pulled away. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
She simply handed him two pieces of paper. He eyed her suspiciously. "What're these?"
"Just read them."
He unfolded the one on top, then looked at her in horror. "How'd you get this?"
"I'm not at liberty to say."
"Rukia?"
"Yep."
Ichigo sweatdropped, then looked at the second one. "A Few Reasons I Might, Maybe, Possibly, But Probably Don't Love Ichigo'?"
She just shut the door behind her and headed for his den. "I'm hungry."
"Ha!" Was his reply. This list was interesting. A sampling:
1. He wrote down a list just like this one. About me of all people.
6. When he looks at me, just looks at me, it makes my stomach all flippy.
12. If I ever need a break from him, I can just make sure he's struck by lightning again. It shouldn't be too hard.
15. He made a tampon run for me. And bought them with his own money. And apparently didn't say anything smart when the clerk looked at him weird!
16. He probably made up the story above, about not saying anything smart. He lives off of being a smart-ass. Which is good, 'cause so do I.
19. The way that when he's pissed off or annoyed (or jealous), he always stabs the hell out of Rukia/Matsumoto's juice boxes with the straws, then denies it ever happened.
25. He got me a gold necklace for my early birthday, JUST because he thought Keigo got me the other one.
26. You'd think the above story would just mean he's extremely competitive, but the point is that I did the same thing. He'll find out come Christmas.
27. After he reads #26, he'll annoy me to no end trying to guess what I'm talking about.
31. He really does care about his family a lot. If you don't believe me, I've got at least eight incidences in which you can clearly see he does.
34. He makes me even more spastic than usual.
39. He's easily impressed by my COD skills. Even though I do so totally OWN that game...
46. He's seen all of Kevin Smith's movies, so he's pretty much the only one who gets my references to them. Tragic, really. They should have a Kevin Smith Ed in Karakura schools. Although...they'd have to do a lot of censoring...A LOT of censoring.
52. I found out yesterday my godfather would spend more-or-less the rest of his life in prison. Instead of continuing to mope about it, I'm writing this list about my boyfriend. Does that tell you something?
56. Even his Hollow side still has a heart. Scary, isn't it?
57. Speaking of Hollow Ichigo, apparently he still likes me. Ichigo insists his Hollow is his perverted side, but to be honest, I think their perverted levels are equal. His Hollow's just more blunt about it.
62. My mom would love him, too. She'd probably be like Isshin and be making baby charts. In fact, they could've worked on them together. It'd be horrifying, but it's true. Don't believe me? Ask Lindsay about Devon, and ask Seth about Madison.
65. I'd be willing to change the lock combination on our gun safe, unleashing the full wrath of my dad, just for him. How bad would his wrath be, you ask? Let's just say he'd start hunting redheads instead of deer.
67. I've sat a whole day in Animal Kingdom, watching his body while he battled a Hollow, and accepted every single comment on how "We're so sorry your boyfriend died out of the blue like that. It's all over the parks!". And helped him lug home every single shrine item and souvenir. How good am I?
69. Heheheheheh, I'm on #69! Anyway. He's let me cry on him on more than one occasion, he's killed a giant spider for me, he's fended off Hollows, almost died for me, taken all of Isshin and his sisters' teasing and such, stayed on the phone LONG DISTANCE all night for me, saved my life at least twice, and a couple days ago, he said he loved me via voicemail. Need I go on?
70. Well, I'm gonna go on anyway. He had 115 reasons on his list, so I'm gonna have 115 on mine.
115. Well, that was a lot easier than I thought. I don't even know why I had to write this list to convince myself. Although, I guess it's only fair. He didn't need to write his list either, apparently.
Oh, and also? I'm hungry.
"Told you I was hungry," Peyton commented after sneaking a few bites of the cake. "Hey, where'd you get this cake, anyway?"
"...Um...Nowhere..." He said mysteriously, shifting his eyes around suspiciously. Peyton shrugged, and he sweatdropped. "I love how you just eat that cake without even asking."
"Ichigo, can I have some of your cake?"
"Why, of COURSE, Peyton."
"See? THAT'S why, I already know the answer," she said cheerfully before eating another bite.
He watched her, thinking. That was some list. She even admitted he had a hot bod in there! He had also noticed a couple wet marks by the one about her mom, #62.
"Hey Peyton?"
"Hmm?"
"Guess what?"
"Oooh, Oooh, chocolate?"
"No. I love you."
She was so caught off-guard she dropped the fork onto the plate not-so-gracefully. She looked over and up at him, as if making sure he was serious. "...What did you just say?"
"I. Love. You."
"What?"
"I love you?"
"Hold on, say it one more time."
"I love you."
"Oh. Okay. Sorry, just checking to make sure I heard you right," she muttered while pinching her arm a few times.
Ichigo was trying really hard not to laugh. "..Uh...Peyton? What're you doing?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just checking to make sure I'm not hallucinating. I've done that before."
She stared down at her pinched arm in amazement. "Ichigo, you just said you loved me. Again. And you didn't blame it on a ninja this time!"
"There's still time to do that if you want."
"No thanks, I'm good. Are you sure I didn't just imagine that? You'd tell me, right?"
"Yes, Peyton. You imagined that."
She drooped, the background turning depressing. "Knew it!"
Ichigo sweatdropped, laughed, and pulled her closer. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You didn't imagine it. I love you."
She rested her head against his collarbone. "Wow. I never thought we'd be like this. Y'know, touching without harmful intentions. Or this sappy. Kind of creepy, isn't it?"
"Kinda."
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER...
"Ichigo?"
"Huh?"
"How about now?"
"How about now what?"
"Do you still love me now?"
"Yes, Peyton. Just like the last three times you asked me that. And in the next five minutes, just a guess, but yes, I'll still love you."
"Oh. That's good, 'cause I love you too."
That made both their stomachs flip for some reason, even thought they both knew she was going to eventually say that.
"You know, I was serious about my mom. She'd really love you."
"I was serious about my mom, too. She'd really love you and humiliate us too," Peyton replied sleepily. "Seriously, Ichigo, where'd you get this cake? I feel drugged."
"I think that's called drowsiness."
"No no no, I feel drugged. I know it!"
"Trust me, if you were drugged, you'd know."
"I do know, were you not paying attention?"
Ichigo laughed and shook his head. "You're not drugged, you're just tired and don't wanna admit it."
She huffed. "..Well, MAYBE."
He tilted her head up by her chin, and they had just started kissing when they heard a very formal voice say, "Well. I do hope we aren't interrupting something."
Me: (points at Ichigo and laughs) HA! SO BUSTED!
Ichigo: Oh, shut the FUCK UP! (plops onto the ground and crosses his arms like a toddler. sighs and uses whiny voice) I never get to kiss her anymore, someone's always interrupting! Dammit!
Me: (narrows eyes) It's karma for stealing MY CAKE! As revenge, Rukia and Renji's makeout sessions have now found their way on "Filling-Fiction", as you can see. Byakuya's gonna beat the shit out of you! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Ichigo: HEY, PEYTON ATE IT!
Me: Yeah, but i like Peyton. Everybody likes Peyton! Well, except for the bad guys. Wherever they might be. They're not very common lately, are they?
Ichigo: (whacks me with his cast) DON'T JINX IT! FUCK!
Me: (wobbling, about to pass out) Owwww...I'm telling on you!
Ichigo: (suddenly really nice) I'm sorry...It was an accident! Hollow Ichigo did that!
Me: (evil grin, background turns evil, creepy organ music plays) Well, then. I'll just have to beat the shit out of BOTH OF YOU AND HOPE HE GETS THE MESSAGE!
Ichigo: HELP! REVIEW AND HELP! AHHHHHH!
Hollow Ichigo: (thinking) That chick scares the shit outta me, man.
Ichigo: I know! Fuck!