A/N: Thank you for reading this story. And a double "Thank you" for all your reviews, favs and follows. I really appreciate them. Again, my apologies for any grammar/spelling that MS Word and I have overlooked.

' ' denotes thoughts by the character.
Italics denotes dreaming/flashback

Disclaimer: Bleach concept and characters belong to Kubo Tite. The story is mine. This is for pure entertainment and no money is made from this.

Chapter 3

Outside in the waiting area of the wedding dress boutique, her friends and family were each lost in their own thoughts. It could be said that they were all thinking the same thing, "How could Ichigo and Orihime do this to Rukia?"

Matsumoto Rangiku, the fukutaichō of the 10th Division, had become Rukia's friend after the death of her mentor, Shiba Kaien. Rangiku watched Rukia come into her own person as a shinigami, a Kuchiki and now a fukutaichō that was just about to marry the love of her life, Kurosaki Ichigo. But thanks to Orihime, the "happily ever after" came tumbling down.

The long wavy blond hair and blue eyes could not help recalling one of the conversations she had with Orihime about how much she envied Rukia, because compared to her, she was the one that changed his life. Orihime knew that Ichigo risked everything for her, even his own life. Orihime knew then she would never be able to catch Ichigo's heart for it had already belonged to Rukia.

Rangiku wondered if she had said anything to spawn Orihime to do something so rash and with lack of principles that she would hurt Rukia, Ichigo, Ichigo's family, Rukia's family, and all the people that mattered to them, including Orihime herself. While Rangiku certainly didn't disagree with Orihime's assessment, she did tell Orihime that she is her own person, with her own talents and gifts that make her special among her friends. And that Ichigo needs friends like Orihime, Chad and Uryū. 'She could not have misinterpreted that could she?' Rangiku's mind questioned.

Kurosaki Isshin couldn't contain his displeasure at what just happened. His three precious daughters were hurting. He has always seen Rukia as his third daughter from the time he allowed her to live with them in his home. He love her spunk and the way she held her own next to his not so level headed son, Ichigo. She had a way getting him to realize things without pushing him over the top. He noticed right away how Ichigo was drawn to her, even if he would have never admitted it then. She changed his life and changed it for the better. Isshin was proud of both of them and could not have been happier to have them two united in matrimony.

"This changes everything doesn't it?" he broke the silence among them as he contemplated out loud.

Kuchiki Ginrei was thinking about Rukia and how it would be best to get her home, back to Seireitei and back to Kuchiki manor where she can deal with things privately. He knows she's too proud to ask for help and wouldn't want the whole world see her fall apart. And then there was the concern of dealing with Ichigo, her fiancée or in most appropriate term now, ex-fiancée if he has anything to say about this.

"Shiba-san," Ginrei called for his attention. "I believe it would be best for all of us to return to our respective homes. I know there were other things schedule for today; however, in light of this news of Ichigo's fathering a child with Orihime, I do not believe continuing down this path would be wise for both our families," he says in the diplomatic tone that Isshin knew all too well; this was Kuchiki Ginrei taichō speaking in such a tone that left no room for debate, opinion or discussion.

"Kuchiki-sama," Yuzu's timid voice spoke to him. "Are you taking Ruki-nee away from us?" she asked with concern.

Ginrei looks at her kindly and says to her, "Yuzu-chan, I am only taking her home so that she can work through her emotions. If she was to stay here, it would not do her any good to be confronted with Orihime again. Nothing good would come out of this. Not for Rukia, Ichigo and even Orihime."

Yuzu still didn't want Rukia to leave. She knew that Karin and her dad both loved her and was looking forward to her truly being a part of their family. But hearing the slight icy under tones from Kuchiki-sama, it seems Rukia may no longer be a part of the Kurosaki family. She didn't want to see their happy family torn apart over something stupid that Ichigo did with Orihime. She couldn't be mad at Kuchiki-sama for taking Rukia home. It would not be fair to vent her anger on him when the anger should be directed at Ichigo and Orihime.

"Ichigo-nii, why did you have to go and ruin a good thing? Possibly the best thing that has ever happened to all of us,' Yuzu says so softly, that only Karin and Isshin, who were all still in a loose embrace, could hear.

Karin squeezes Yuzu's tightly in an effort to comfort her. She wishes she had answers for her twin. She was hurt and mad too. And if she saw her older brother, she was sure going to tell him how bad he had messed things up.

"Kuchiki-sama," Isshin addresses him, "I understand you want what's best for Rukia as do I and my daughters." He nodded his head towards Karin and Yuzu for emphasis knowing how much the girls love Rukia. "I do wish that they will be able to visit with Rukia soon and that this situation will be resolved quickly so that things can be back on track," he said hopefully.

Rangiku watched and listened to the conversation not feeling it was her place to add her two cents. Her only concern was for her friend, Rukia.

'Just how would things be resolve amicably between Ichigo and Rukia? There's no way that Rukia will be able to simply stand back, forgive Ichigo and still marry him knowing Orihime will have his first child. It would be an emotional nightmare and dysfunctional drama in the long run. It won't be the fairy tale ending with the happily ever after,' her mind tells her.

And if she knows anything about the Kuchiki clan, between Ginrei and Byakuya alone, hell will have to freeze over before they will allow Rukia to marry Ichigo.

'Just wait until Kuchiki taichō hears about this,' Rangiku says to herself as she imagines Byakuya's reaction to the news.

"Kuchiki taichō…Rukia…is his pride," she mentions absentmindedly. A shiver runs down her spine as cold sweat begins to form on her forehead. The image of slight upturned lips mimicking a tiny hint of a smile just before Byakuya deals out his final blow using his bankai to vanquish his enemy.

Ginrei's and Isshin's eyes meet as soon Rangiku mentions "Rukia…is his pride." Both men's eyes had the dangerous glint in them knowing exactly what that meant.

"Rangiku-san, what does it mean when you said, "Rukia is his pride?" asked a confused Yuzu.

"Does this mean that someone is going to get his butt kicked?" Karin asks.

"F-FU-FUCK!" Ichigo yelled in frustration, guilt and nervousness as he stared at the text message from Rukia. He didn't care who had heard him. He didn't care that the wandering people around him talked about his "bad" behavior. He was reeling from the shock that deflated his balloon that was filled with happiness and love. Part of his brain was telling him, 'Shit! Shit! This can't be happening; this can't be real.' The other part was saying, 'Did you honestly think you'll get your happy ending with Rukia when you slept with Orihime?'

Eyes still wide as saucers, his hand gripping his phone and legs refusing to take another step he tried to think what he could say to her to rectify the situation. Ichigo's mind and heart was racing at 161 kmph (100 mph) with a million thoughts trying to make things right with Rukia.

'I love you so much Rukia. I don't want to lose you,' was all he could think. 'Fuck, what do I do now?' He was mentally lost. He didn't know what he should do first. Standing in the same spot since he saw the text from Rukia, he contemplated his options.

'Should I just call Rukia? But what do I say? "Hey, we need to talk." Duh! That's a given idiot. Just say "I'm sorry." No, that seems so generic and contrite now that Orihime told her. F-fuck! Orihime…shit shit shit!' his mind wages a silent war as all the love, hurt, remorse, anger and hate course through his system. He closes his eyes as wish with all his being that this wasn't happening to him and that it's all a bad dream.

Just then his cell phone rang. Opening his eyes he looked at the caller ID and read the one person's name he didn't feel like talking to right now. He hit decline on the phone as he decided he should talk with Rukia. With some sort of resolve, he called Rukia and prayed that she would answer. He listened as it rang and when he heard the line pick up he thought it would be Rukia herself not the auto voice messaging system. "F-fuck!" he exclaimed in frustration at himself. Either way he had to do the right thing now; he had to find a way to make things right.

His phone beeped letting him know another call was coming in, he looked at it for a second hoping it was Rukia calling him back. Seeing it wasn't her, he chose to ignore the person again. 'I'll deal with her later,' he thought to himself as he only wanted to focus on Rukia right now.

Hearing the beep, Ichigo takes a deep breath before saying, "Rukia, I'm sorry. I'm so very very sorry. I…I love you very much. Please, please let me explain. I'm almost home…please, come home. I'll wait for you." He pauses as he lets out the breath he's been holding before continuing, "I love you Rukia," and with that he disconnected the call still gripping the phone as if it was his life line.

Praying silently with his eyes closed, he hopes to Gods that she will come home so that he could explain to her and she'll forgive him. 'Please forgive me Rukia,' he prayed as he finally manages to take a step forward heading towards his home.

His phone rang and he looked at it. The caller ID displayed, "Inoue Orihime." He hit "reject" again. 'I don't want to deal with you now. Not after what you did to Rukia,' he silently says to himself as he makes his way home to wait for Rukia.

Rukia sat silently as her tears didn't stop flowing down her face no matter how many tissues she used to wipe them away. She looks at the phone as it beeps letting her know that she has a voice message. She didn't trust her voice to answer the phone when she saw that Ichigo was calling her instead of texting back.

She didn't know if she was scared of the truth or that she simply didn't want to confront Ichigo, she just simply could not find her voice or the strength to speak with him. She silently debated with herself if she wanted to listen to his voice message; part of her is afraid that it was the truth and that he didn't love her any more. But the other part was holding onto the hope that Ichigo still loves her and didn't betray her.

With trembling hands, she played the voice message. After listening to the message again on speaker, she was even more confused, hurt, and insecure. Rationally, if felt like he admit to betraying her even though he loves her. But it did not make sense to her, not when her thoughts and feelings were chaotic.

"What do I do now?" she whispers softly to the empty dressing room as she continues to shed tears of pain.

A/N: Chapter 4 will be released over the weekend. If you want to know when I update, check out my update status at the bottom of my profile page for more information on when I will update my stories. Thanks for reading!