Heeey, new chapter yay! Urgh this took around two days. I woulda finished sooner but I was lazy and I had stuffs to do, all that crap =A= BTW I put the flash-back with underlines because... yeah... I'm sorry, I'm too lazy ot explain anything right now... Dx Enjoy thhe 11th chapter!

Yue's POV

-While Kyle was at Barrett's...-

I sighed. Hardly anyone came by to buy anything today! I'm such a horrible merchant, why don't people like my items? Am I not friendly enough? Are the prices too high? Maybe I should mark down the rings! Oh, no one's going to buy anything today...

"Yue?" I turned my head around to look at the person standing behind me.

"Mana!" I turn my whole body around and hug her. "You want some rings?"

She chuckled. "No, no, I'm not here for that... I need you to come over."

"Huh? Alright." I let go of her and looked down expecting to see a small child. "Hey, where's Aria? I had a gift for her."

"Oh, she's at home,"

"YOU LEFT YOUR KID ALONE IN A HOUSE FULL OF SHARP OBJECTS?! What kind of mother are you! Poor Aria's probably worried-"

"No, no, it's okay! Max is there."

"Oh. Mr, 'Look how rich I am, I'm better than everyone,' " I said in a mocking tone.

"Don't be so mean, Yue."

I sighed. "Maybe if you bought something I'd be nicer..." I mumbled under my breath.

"What was that?" She asked, a small bit of anger in her voice.

"Nothing!"

"...Alright."

I bet all of my money that Mana was totally thinking 'Bull shit nothing!'

I walked back with Mana to her and Kyle's house. She invited me inside and my eyes were oh so very glad to see Max playing with Aria. Bitch you ain't her father! I should kick your ass right here, right now...

I was so caught up in my anger that I didn't notice Mana was poking my shoulder.

"I'm going to go make some tea. Would you like some?"

"Um.. Sure! Thanks!"

"You can go have a seat at the table."

"Alrighty," I walked over and sat in the chair closest to Max and all of his.. Evil-doings of.. Of corrupting small children! Don't fall into his traps Aria!

As Mana watched the stove, I turned all the way around in my chair and glared at the back of Max's head. Oh how I'd love to kick it. But then Mana would yell at me and I'd get in trouble and all that crap.

"Why don't you like me, Aria?" I heard Max say. Yeah, don't notice that I'm here! Tch, jerk. "Is it cuz I'm prettier?"

Dude. What the fuck?

"Because. You always talk about being better. I want Daddy, not you. Daddy, Mommy, Mr. Barrett, Ms. Yue, and some other peoples. Ms. Yue's been here for a while, and I couldn't give hugs because you're trying to hard to be friendly," She got up, walked over to me, and hugged my leg.

Whoa. Whoa. Did I hear Mr. Barrett? Barrett? She likes him enough to put him right after Daddy and Mommy? Hey... Barrett got in front of me! He's gonna get a stern talking to.

"Hey there kid!" I smiled at her, "Guess what? I got you a present!"

"Oh really? Thanks Ms. Yue! I'll draw a picture of a duck for you!"

I chuckled and went through my bag. Please tell me it's in here! Ah-ha! Found it! I pulled out the pink and white stripped box and handed it to Aria. She took it with a smile.

"Oh, thank you sooo much Ms. Yue! You're gonna get 2 Duckies!" She plopped down onto the floor and tore at the wrapping paper carefully.

"Is everything alright? You're tearing it reaaaaaaallly sloooooowly." I say, my words as slow as her ripping wrapping paper.

"Oh, the paper's reallllly pretty so I'm gonna keep it and put it in my special box!"

"Awww..."

A while later Mana set a cup of tea down in front of me and Aria got the wrapping paper off. She opened the box and squealed.

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou SOO MUCH!" she said, hugging me the best she could through the chair.

"What did you get her?" Mana said with a slight chuckle, sliding her chair out to sit down.

"Oh, just some Chocolate, crayons, and a frilly red dress."

"Really? Any reason?"

"Not because I want more people to buy those things from me-I mean.. Uh... She's my favorite kid in all of the lands. You know that dress also comes in your size, different colors." I leaned in and whispered, "All hand-made too, by me of course."

Mana smiled. "Yue. I appreciate the dress, but I don't really have the money to buy anything right now. Sorry."

"Oh, that's alright. Tell your friends,"

"But you know everyone as well as me-"

"Tell. Your friends. Kay?"

"... Ooookaaay..."

"Thanks for the tea!" I said, picking up the mug and sipping at it.

It was then that Max spoke up,

"Why don't I buy something from you, Yue? I do have the money, after all.." He got up from the floor (He sat there the whole time?) and sat next to Mana at the table.

I held back my urge to slap him across his rich face. If I was lucky, maybe some coin's fall out of his mouth or something. But if I did that Mana would hate me.

My eye twitched. "Yeaaah, of course, you're welcome any time..."

"Is something wrong with your eye?" He asked.

"No. Maybe something's wrong with your eye."

"Tch, I have much better eyesight than you, don't talk to me about my eyes." he sighed.

I scowled and drank my tea. Aria crawled up onto the chair at the end of the table and smiled. She leaned over as close as she could to me, put her hand at the side of her mouth and whispered, "I have a secret I need to tell you!"

I giggled. "Alright" I said, putting my hand as to where it would cover my mouth as well, whispering back.

"Are you guys keeping secrets?" Mana asked, in between small chuckles.

"No!" Aira and I said simultaneously.

"So... Anyway... Why are you doing this, Mana?"

"Doing what?" She said through clenched teeth, glancing at Aria then me.

"Oh. Yeah. Forgot."

"Aria, would you be a sweetie and go up to your room for a bit? We have to have grown-up talk in here."

"Oh, that stuff! I don't like that stuff. Alrighty!" She slid off her chair and went upstairs with her brand new box of crayons at hand.

"Ok, so, anyway," I say, glancing at Max then Mana. "What's the deal? You two are gonna be like this? It's kinda sick, you know."

"Well, Yue, it's how I live my life..."

"Yeah? Well what about Kyle's? Do you know how much this is gonna hurt him, when he finds out that you and Max had sex while you two were married?"

Mana sighed. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well. Go ahead. Talk."

I don't know what I was getting so worked up about. Probably because Max is right there. Yeah, blame him for all your problems, way to go Yue, you go girl! I sigh.

"Well... It's not like Kyle's not Aria's dad-"

"He is. He better be."

"Me and Max only did it once!"

"Once is more than enough, you know that."

"Well, I was... Upset at that time!"

I stood up and slammed my hands against the table.

"You were upset? Please! Upset that you couldn't fuck every guy in town! You just wanted a quick little fuck, you didn't want to wait for Kyle, you didn't want to wait for him to be ready, you had to get a dick shoved up your ass right away!"

"The hell Yue?! Did you forget my child is upstairs?"

I sighed and fell back into my seat.

"Sorry.. I just... I'm just upset about some things, and I took it out on everything but my problem..." I glanced at Max quickly.

"It's... Alright."

"... " Max remained silent and hardly did anything but breathe.

Say something! Urghh! You too rich to waste your... Your words on me?!

Mana put her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand, her tea in the other. She looked down at the table and the look in her eyes told me that she was hurt. I feel really bad now. Like, really bad.

I reached my hand over and pat her arm a bit.

Without looking at him I said, "Max you're not talking at all."

"I know," He replied blankly.

"..."

"Mana, why did you do this?"

She started crying, "I don't know!"

I looked at her and frowned. Fuck...

-Mana's POV-

-flash back-

"Kyle do you have to go?" I asked, grabbing his hand before he walked out the door.

He sighed. "Yeah, I really have to. Don't worry I'll only be gone for a little while, every thing will be fine!" He kissed my forehead. "There's enough crops to live on and when I get back I'll have even more to sell. I'm sorry Mana, I didn't mean to leave this early, but I have to or else we won't have a lot to live on. We need the money."

"I-I know, but, what am I gonna do? I'll be so lonely!"

"It's only for a day or two. Promise. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Tears started brimming at the edges of my eyes. He kissed me on the lips, hugged me, then left.

I sighed and sat down at the empty table. I'm so lonely. There's nothing to do. At least no one's going with him, that would push me off the edge.

I got up. Well, it's a nice summer's day out! I should go and hang out with some friends or something...

I stepped outside, and went to go find Yue. She's my closest friend, I should go talk to her first.

After a while of walking and nothing else, I finally found her.

"Yue!" I yelled, running towards her. She hugged me.

"Heeey!" she said back, smiling. "Sooo, did he leave yet?"

I sighed. "Yeah..."

"Awww, don't worry he's gonna be back soon!"

"Well, yeah.." I grabbed my arm and looked down at the ground. She put a hand on my shoulder.

"Awww, don't be sad! These few days will go by so fast you won't even notice that he was gone at all!"

"I sure hope you're right..."

We stood in silence for a bit, before she spoke once more,

"Come on, lets have a girls night tonight or something! It'll cheer you up."

I tried to force a smile. "Alright..."

I went back home, Yue telling me she'd go get others. I walked inside and sat back down at the table, bored as can be.

Wow, they're taking a while. I stood up and went to go make some tea.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Probably Yue and those other girls with her. When I opened it I was surprised to see Max.

"What?" I asked, a frown on my face.

"Oh, well, you sure do answer the door nicely. Well, I'm here because there is simply nothing else to do. So go make me some tea or something."

I sighed. "Yeah whatever."

I let him inside and closed the door behind him. I went back to the stove and heated up the tea again. I got out another mug and then poured the tea into both of them. I then put one in front of Max and sat next to him.

"Why are you here?" I asked, sipping my tea.

"Because I heard that your wonderful hubbie left and took someone with him,"

I almost spit my tea out all over the place.

"WHAT?! WITH WHO?"

"I don't know, I just know he was talking to someone and asked for their help~" He grinned a bit.

"What? You think this is fucking funny? As soon as he gets back I'm gonna kill whoever went with him! I should be the only one allowed to be around Kyle for that long-" I was cut off by Max's laughing.

"You get so jealous. I know I could never get like that. Hmph."

"S-shut up! I do not get jealous..." I blushed and crossed my arms across my chest.

"Well I think it's cute, that you care about him that much,"

"What?"

"Nothing." He didn't look at me and just continued to sip at his tea. I felt frustrated but at the same time I was also feeling weird. Like, really weird. I don't know what this feeling is, it's just... Too freaky. Waaay too freaky.

Max scooted over to me a bit more. I blushed and looked away. What are we, a bunch of 3rd graders? Why don't you trade me some animal crackers for a kiss?

Wait what?

I was clouded up in so much thought I didn't even notice that Max hand an arm around my shoulder.

He kissed me on the cheek. I looked at him. Why didn't I feel bad? I didn't feel anything at all. I just needed someone, anyone. He leaned in for another kiss and this time it was on the lips... Then after a while... We..

"Mana," Yue said, taking me out of my thoughts.

"H-huh?" I said, feeling a little drowsy.

"Well... Hey, you guys can go take a walk or something if you want... I'll watch Aria for you,"

"Oh... Thanks, Yue..."

"No problem!"

I got up from my seat and walked out the front door, not looking back. I really need to clear my mind for a bit. I need to be alone...

-Yue's POV-

As soon as Mana left I stood up. Max stayed seated.

"You're not gonna follow her?" I asked.

"No... Well, maybe... She looked like she wanted to be alone.."

"Oh... Ok... Whatever.. Well, I'll be upstairs with Aria..."

I left without another word being said between the two of us, and walked up stairs. I went into Aria's room.

"Hey," I said, peeking my head through the door way.

"Ms. Yue!" She said, running over to me for a big hug with a piece of paper at hand. I picked her up and spun around a few times before setting her down.

"Here!" She said, handing me the paper.

"Oh, how cute! Thank you!" I folded the picture of the colored-in duck and stuck it in my bag.

"You're welcome!"

I walked into her room and we sat down and played with blocks. After a while she got up and started looking around the room. I got up and followed.

"Did you loose something, Aria?"

"Nooo... Go sit back down, I need to tells you something!" She continued looking around the room and I went back to the area we were both sitting in before.

Soon enough, she came back and plopped down in front of me. She had the biggest smile on her face than any of the other smile's I've ever seen her, well, smile.

"I have a secret to tell you," she said in a whisper, crawling to my side then cupping her hands around her mouth to my ear. "You know Mr. Barrett?" I nodded. She lifted herself up on her knees and looked to both sides before going back to the previous position and whispering, "Daddy loves Mr. Barrett and they had mommy and daddy kissies!" She sat down on her legs and smiled at me.

"... WHAAAAAAAT?" She just nodded her head rapidly. I burst out laughing.

"Huh?" Aria didn't know why I was laughing, but she laughed with me, and when I fell on the floor clutching my stomach she did the same. We must have laughed for about a half hour!

I sat up and tried to catch my breath.

"But but but!" Aria placed a finger on her lips, "They said not to tell. Don't tell Ms. Yue, or else!"

"Or else what?"

She got this serious look on her face, the kind of look someone would give you right before they were about to kill you, and said, "... I'll make people not buy anything from you ever again!" She then went back to a smile and I almost pissed my pants. I looked at her horrified. All she did was let her head fall to one side and look at me like she couldn't understand why I was scared out of my wits.

"Oh, did I give you the scary look? Sorry! I only use that look when I'm serious! " She made the face again. "See? Serious."

"Y-yeah I see!" I chuckled nervously and soon enough her smile was back.

"Ok, now, lets build a castle with blocks!"

"heeheeh, alright."

We continued to play with the small wooden blocks. Kyle, cheating on Mana? You bastard! But... But Mana cheated too! But.. But... URRRGH! I'll try to not let them know I know... This is so hard! So many secrets! Well, don't worry Yue, you'll find a way around this!

Yay. : D hope yall like it Oh, and I'm thinking about doing something for this fic... You know those audio book thingys? Well, I sorta wanna do something like that for this. Like, I wana read it and put it up on youtube so you can follow along. Oh god it's elementary school all over again for me Xp Pfft. Well, I dunno, I thought it'd be cool, maybe even animate some of the fic. Any one interested?