A/N: Since it's already cliché, let me just carry on writing. this is a five-chapter fic. *waves a hand to future haters*

Three months had passed since that nightmare, as what Miku called it. The morning after Miku's birthday, the tealette and the blond woke up with their heads being hammered. Good thing, the curtains were laid down, or else the two would push each other to pull it down. Then, they realized where they were. Miku asked Len what was she doing in Len's apartment, last night was blurry for both of them.

Miku's eyes widen in horror when Len sat, massaging his head because it hurt like hell. This was the first time she saw Len shirtless and she didn't like seeing him in such state - she's too conservative and all. Kicking him out of his bed, Miku felt something wrong. Why is it cold? A screech pierced Len's ears as he scampered wearing his clothes thrown around his room - ignoring Miku's clothes along the process.

The two awkwardly sat across each other in his living room, their eyes never dared to collide. Both of their faces were red in embarrassment. They assured themselves that nothing happened, but who are they kidding when his sheets are stained. Before she left his flat, she told him to burn his sheets to ashes because that would bring bad omen.

Despite their agreement to forget what happened that night, Len and Miku felt uncomfortable around each other. Whenever they will have physical contacts unintentionally such as their hands brushing against each other on the xerox machine, or when Rin passes them tissue papers in a pizza parlor, the two will flinch as the memory of waking up on the same bed haunts them. The two talked less, Oliver and Rin noticed that Len and Miku avoided each other.

Today, Miku is absent in her work. Len isn't attending office works during weekdays because he has his class, so Miku receives no calls from a blond worrying about her. Len never misses a morning without calling her to check if she's feeling fine, but after months that Miku seemed fine, Len stopped calling her. She is slouching in front the television, still in her Wendy night dress - Rin likes calling it that way - while munching on a slice of cake she saw in the fridge earlier. The tealette is not feeling well that morning so she sent her officemates a short notice that she will have her rest day, now. Of course, skipping Len's contact name when she sent the message.

"Miku?" Rin entered their apartment, carrying excess medical supplies from the hospital. She watched her odd best friend eat lazily. Rin's eyes stared on the food Miku is eating. A cake?

The sound of the clattering saucer and fork echoed as Miku dashed to the bathroom, lightning speed. Anxious, Rin followed her best friend and watched the tealette throw up on the sink. She gagged for almost a minute and Rin was scrunching at the sound of her best friend emptying her stomach.

"Hey, what happened?" Rin asked.

"I puked, obviously." Miku washed her face and faced the blonde. "Rin, where was the cake from?"

"Ah, I bought it...last week from Mr. Patsy's Pastry ho-" Rin was expecting Miku to scold her for not sharing the cake, but the mad tealette resumed hurling on the sink.

The whole morning is spent by slacking on the sofa or on Miku's bed, while complaining that she feels so sick that day. Rin assists the freaking tealette when she is supposed to consume the morning to have her rest. Miku cries and throws tantrums and vomits when she smells Rin's oranges. She turns the television on, then off after a minute and rolls over to lie on her stomach. She orders Rin to cook her a stew and specifically says to add something like...leeks. So, when Rin is finally preparing to leave for her work, dark circles hang loosely from her eyes and she blames Miku for being sick today.

"Hey, Rin. Wait a minute, I'm going to a doctor. I might have gotten some weird fever or what, I'm really dizzy." Miku clung an arm around Rin's and off they go. The whole ride to the hospital was a headache for Rin because Miku was so grumpy. Miku refused to let other passengers sit on her side and told them that she was claustrophobic. At first, Rin laughed. But when the bus slowly got crowded, Miku still insisted she wasn't fond of intimacy of distance between her and strangers.

"Miku? Are you drunk or what?" Rin asked as she swapped seats with Miku, so the peevish tealette would be sitting beside the window.

"I was never drunk." Miku replied, wishing that her answer would dismiss Rin's probing.

"You were, once. On your birthday. You went home walking like a zombie, if I'm not mistaken." Rin reminded. Miku felt like she needed to throw up again - this time, it's because she remembered sleeping with her best friend, Len. If there's something Miku had in mind, that would be the idea of liking Len. She surely like him - or love him, maybe - after that night when they graduated in high school. Their conversation made Miku realize that she feared what Len feared, although it wasn't as severe as Len's dread. But sleeping with him accidentally was entirely a different issue. Like, who on earth would sleep with their best friends? She was more worried if ever she told something she shouldn't tell Len - that hazy night they slept - which hastened Len's shunning attitude to her. Even she reciprocated that. Still, she feared what Len feared, so Miku knew that it was hard for both of them to be so distant because of one taboo of a night. They feared being alone.

Summer finally came, announcing the graduation ceremony. Rin, Len, Oliver and Miku were excited to finish the graduation rights. Soon, the commencement exercises were done and the four were officially high school graduates. Since Miku's parents were so grateful to Len, Rin and Oliver being Miku's first friends, the Hatsune couple organized an out of town trip. Of course, they talked about this with Len's parents. Miku's mom and Len's mom had a mutual understanding. If Len wasn't mistaken, the two were secretly shipping him to Miku.

That night then, the Hatsune and Kagamine family, together with Oliver, went to the country side to celebrate the youngsters achievement. It was nightfall when they arrived on a wooden house standing before an endless farm. The said vacation house was owned by the Kagamine family. Len had never been in the country side, hadn't known that they have a vacation house. There were horses and cows, and goats wandering on the pastures. Rin disliked how it smelled like cow shit, but she was the only one to complain about it. Oliver said that this was the smell of nature. When the adults prepared their dinner inside the wooden cabin, the adolescents set a fire camp about fifty meters from the wooden house. The boys build the tent, arguing on possible ways how to make the tent straighten, while the girls collected woods scattered around the farm.

After their cozy dinner, the adults were left inside the house to have their drinks and the teens ran to begin their camp. Orange to yellow flames flickered and wavered as Oliver began telling scary stories. Rin and Miku were side by side, wrapped within a stripped blanket. Len was seated beside Oliver, throwing pebbles to the narrating blond.

"What's scary with a spider in a microscope? I bet that was just your lashes." Len interrupted Oliver when he was amid of his third not-frightening story. "Come on, don't tell me you believe this jerk, Rin."

"Len! Stop killing the mood - ah! Why? Do you have a better story, hn? Something scary? Something that will keep me up the whole night?" Rin dared to say.

The four kept quiet. The three waited for Len to say something as he kept on tossing small chunk of woods to the bonfire. Miku stared at Len, she saw something in his eyes. She saw something more than the reflection of the flames on his eyes. Len tossed again, the fired crackled.

"No. I have none. Good night," with that, Len left and crawled inside the tent. The other three sighed. They decided to rest as well, because Rin kept on complaining with the cow poop. She said that this was the reason why people love playing virtual farm games - it smelled awful on actual farms.

"You, alone, think that way." Miku said as they went inside the tent.

The four didn't expect that the tent was smaller than it seemed. The lads laid straight and couldn't make any other movement. Sardines packed, Miku commented as she laid down her hair and lied beside Rin. The bubbly blonde just laughed and hugged Miku and went to sleep.

2:30 AM

Len jolted to sit, breathing heavily as he calmed himself. Another bad dream lingered in his slumber. He turned around to see Oliver and Rin snoring while his cousin's leg was on Oliver's stomach. So ungraceful, Len thought.

"Are you alright?"

Then he noticed Miku sitting on the opposite corner, reading a book while a flashlight lit her reading material.

"Bad dream?" She prompted.

"Nightmare," he corrected. He watched her shrug as he pulled the folded blanket he used as a pillow and hovered over the two blondes that separate him from Miku.

"You want to talk about it? I read from a book that it feels better with that." Miku closed her book when Len reached her side. Len nodded and unzipped the tent and went out. Miku followed him.

The bonfire was nothing but soot and ashes when they went out. Len shivered when the cold summer air embraced them. He unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around him and Miku as he led the two of them farther from the tent - basically in the middle of the field. She just followed him and tugged the blanket tighter around her, ignoring his arm that kept her close to him.

"Where are we going?"

"There."

"I thought you're going to tell your dream," Miku sighed when he stopped. They sat in the middle of the grassland, their heads tilted up to the sky. Millions of stars beautified the dark sea of the outer space, creating illusions of inanimate objects from various mythological characters.

Len decided to begin telling his nightmare, along the process of lying them on the ground. It's much easier to stargaze when you lie on your back. "I have a bad dream,"

"Nightmare." She corrected.

"Yeah. Do you want to do the talking?" Sarcasm rolled smoothly from Len's tongue. When Miku shrugged, he continued. "I have a nightmare, fine. The most dreadful possibility always haunts me in my dreams. You know that I was homeschooled, right? I enjoyed solitude before. And still now. But I couldn't stop being skeptical about the latter one - that I enjoy it still today. The moment I met Oliver, then you, and enjoyed Rin's company, I began doubting whether loneliness is as comfortable as it used to be." Miku kept her eyes on him, whilst he stared on the sky while narrating. "I am familiar to being alone. But I don't like the feeling anymore. It's not the same feeling when I met you. I hate this feeling. It isn't solitude."

"I know what you feel." She told him. Their eyes clashed - the feeling of mutualism existed in their shared gazes. "I'm feeling the same way lately."

Despite their coldness to each other, Len and Miku knew that such coldness wasn't the feeling of repulsion. It was the kind of coldness that was comfortable for both of them. A mutual bone-chilling treatment that made them feel warm.

"Tonight, I dreamed about the people dear to me - my parents, some close cousins, Rin, Oliver, your parents, and you. I dreamed that you left me because I never let you feel you were important to me. I was afraid. I was helpless when I watched you all leave me. I was scared. I feared to be alone - not for my sake. It's because I know that I'll not be able to go back to my old life.

"Being alone is fine, but after you departed from such state, you'll consider it as a stranger. It's a foreign object lurking around you...it's nostalgic but it isn't familiar. It rings a bell, but again, you're no longer acquainted. And it's not solitude anymore. It's uncomfortable. It's sad. It's depressive. It's... weird, I don't know. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Len's eyes reflected his baffled thoughts inside him. These were the hesitations Len was suppressing for all the time, when he was with his friends, when he stopped smiling when he was supposed to.

"It's sadder. It's eating you. It's killing you. Yes, I know the feeling, Len." Miku answered, moving closer to him because the air became heavier and colder, damping their cheeks with the tears of the stars.

"I'm afraid to be alone when I invested so much with my non-hermit life. I'm afraid to lose every precious people in my life." He murmured as they stared at the bright star there - the North star, Polaris. "Can I ask you a favor, Miku?"

"This is the one of the rare moments you called me by my name, and that sounds like loneliness. I'm not used to it," she chortled. "Sorry. Why, yes."

Len showed her his palm, fingers quite spreading to offer spaces in between his fingers to be filled by someone else's hand. "Can you promise me one thing? Don't leave me alone."

Miku interlaced her fingers with his. She showed him one of her smiles that she rarely display and said, "I promise."

"Whatever happens?" He countered.

"Whatever happens." She assured and squeezed his hand lightly. They continued their stargazing and felt the effect of waking up early exhaust them.

"Why are you awake, by the way?" Len asked, resting his head atop of hers. She sighed, her warm breathe was blown against his neck.

"Your cousin is kicking me all the time."

It was summertime when she concluded that stars hold their fate. The cold air wasn't as bothering as it used to be earlier. "What are you planning to study in university?"

"Medicine. What do you think?'

"Suits you well. You'll be a good pediatrician." Miku moved away from him and traced Cassiopeia with a finger. She couldn't reach the stars yet, no way for her to handle her own fate.

"What makes you say?"

"You love kids, don't you? Last summer, Rin told us that you volunteered in an orphanage. Plus, you get along with the kids in the day care, remember?"

"I see. That's one of my choices in reality - pediatric or cardio, thanks. How about you?"

"Secret." She answered and closed her eyes with a smile on her lips. "Achieve your goals, okay? And I won't leave you until the day came I would call you Doctor Kagamine." Her grip on his hand loosened, he let her fingers slipped away from his. Though the action was shallow and needed not to be taken in a deeper way, he felt the sting as he observed her soft hand slink from his impervious hold.

Amidst a serene summer midnight, a pair of best friends laid on the grasses, showering themselves with the tears of the stars. That's how they moved closer to each other - Len shared his dreams to Miku alone. Miku listened to him even he bothered her reading routines that day. Some of her books were left untouched because she was there, on her room, listening intently to his weird dreams. Amid his prattling, she remembered that summer midnight, they laid side by side, and partook all their outlooks in life. It's a surprise how one simple night changed them - drew them closer to each other.

Even so, he regretted his mistake of not holding her hand as firm as her clutch. If he only showed that such action meant a lot to him, maybe, just maybe... She wouldn't let her own fingers slip through him.

"Ah, Miku. Have you decided already? You know, the letter you received from a publishing house in Europe? Today is its due, isn't it?" Rin asked as they walked along the pavement that will lead them to the hospital where Rin works.

"I will decide once I obtained my findings today," Miku answered. 'Because I'm having a unlucky guess,' she told herself. The tealette and the blonde stopped on the outpatient department with Rin ranting Miku's do's and don'ts.

"I have to go now. I'll call Oliver to give you company, Len's busy today. Take care, Miku." Rin ran away, and Miku was left waving a hand to her. Now, back to reality. Miku turned around and entered the building, quickly vanishing on the pool of people inside the lobby.

[Miku's in a hospital for a checkup. Give her a company, I'm on a duty. The lass was really dizzy.]

Oliver's eyes raked on his phone screen, shocked. He was off duty from his work today, fortunately. Without any second thoughts, Oliver got up and dragged his coat with him to aid Miku.

[Bahn to give thee some company. Rin told us, on mah way.] Oliver sent Miku a message as he hurried to ride a bus and left to be there as soon as possible.

The blond knew what happened between Len and Miku, but Miku didn't know about that. That morning after Miku's birthday, Oliver dropped by Len's flat to invite him to watch a football game. What he didn't expect to see was a drunken Len slouching on his living room, hugging his sheets. Wailing like a wolf. The room smelled like someone just puked or whatever, but Oliver ignored that.

"By gum! Len? Wha' happened?" He shook the guy by his shoulders and Len stopped bawling in tears and explained everything. Oliver's life color washed-out as Len told him what happened last night, that he took everything away from Miku. They were drunk - but he wasn't as tipsy as Miku to lose straight thinking, Len admitted. Miku told him she loved him and he was such a jerk to take advantage of her just because she said that three-word sentence.

"I'm afraid to lose her, Oliver. I don't want to lose her. I should have not done that. I messed up." Len's fingers buried itself on his scalp as Oliver watched him to weep. Len was terrified of losing people in his life, nevertheless he never showed that he cared...a lot. Oliver knew that Len was somewhat autophobic. That's why Oliver didn't approve Miku and Len's way of pretending like nothing happened, which led the two distancing themselves from each other. Oliver wasn't worried if ever Len impregnated their best friend. He was sure Len would be a good father for Len loves Miku more than she knew. Or, even she didn't know.

The bus stopped and Oliver hopped out of the vehicle. He ran towards the OPD of the hospital where Rin worked and ignored the weird glances he received from the bystanders along the pavement. He pushed the glass door open and saw Miku seated on the waiting area, she might be waiting for her results already - whatever examination the doctor did to her.

"Miku!" Oliver called and waved a hand, the tealette did the same.

"Oliver, thanks for coming." She said softly and motioned him to sit beside her. He asked how was she and she told him how weird she felt lately, and that made Oliver jump to a conclusion. He was about to message Len about his good news when a doctor approached them.

"Are you Ms. Hatsune?" The woman asked as she held the clipboard against her chest.

"Yes."

The doctor looked at Miku with a smile, then to Oliver, and said, "Congratulations. You're three months -"

Miku ignored the doctor's statement as she quickly stood and walked put of the hospital. Her thudding steps resonated as she tried to find a taxi or a bus just to get away from the freaking hospital. She knew it, she knew it! She should see this coming! Miku didn't know what to feel as of the moment, but right now, she should get away from Oliver. What would he think of her? Miku was embarrassed.

"Miku! Hold on! Ah know wha' happened! Us knows it's Len's child!" That stopped Miku from waltzing away from him. "Come on, let's have a tea."

Miku and Oliver had their tea peacefully somewhere in the city. The tealette never spoke a word since they entered the café. She kept on averting Oliver's eyes, she's still mortified with the thought of Oliver knowing her and Len's one-night stand.

"So, what are tha' plannin'? Will tha' tell Len or will I?" Oliver broke the silence as he brought down his cup. He looked at her reddening face, and he was sure that he needed to say something to assure her that the life she's carrying in her wasn't bashful. "I hope this isn't as awkward it is already, but...I know what happened between you and Len. It's not a dotty talk he made, okay? He told me that you...did it."

"He told you!?" Miku's voice raised a tone as she gaped at him.

"N-no! It's not like wha' tha' thinkin'!" Oliver's genuine accent kicked in instantly. "He's mopping on his sheets that morning and us asked 'im what's the matter! He told us that he was afraid to lose thee because of his...actions?" He was relieved when Miku sighed and leaned back on her seat. Miku stared absentmindedly again, debating whether she should tell Len or not.

"Ah, I think it wasn't a bad thing after all." Oliver quietly commented, trying to hide the blush on his face because they were talking about something that was not supposed to be talked about in public, though they don't have any audience.

"How come it wasn't a bad thing at all, Oliver!? Aside from Rin and I, do you have any other girl best friends? Have you imagined doing...ah!" Miku hissed at him, unsure if she's mad of what he remarked or because she's moody since the past months.

"I have none. But hey! It isn't as bad as that! It's better losing your celibacy to your best friend than some random guy - or some random stripper, in Len's case. Such dork felt so reserved..." Oliver grumbled the last part and sipped on his tea again. If Miku's could blush more than she does now, she could. She would. The talk was already embarrassing, and the airhead tealette was so coy to survive such kind of topic.

"What? Hello? I'm not planning to marry and I want to spend my whole life glued on maidenhood. Thanks to your best friend, it's gone!" She regarded Len as if he wasn't her best friend as she held her cup close to her and downed it as if it's beer. Oliver wanted to laugh at her stubbornness, Miku was yet uninformed of Len's suppressed being.

"Well, he's your best friend too. Don't worry, his virginity was taken by you already. You'll call it quits." He saw the tealette coughed after hearing that she took Len's precious first. Now, Oliver hated the idea of opening the topic. He just remembered that he was talking to a girl, to a sheltered Miku who always avoided below-the-belt topics. "Oh, let's move on. So, what's the plan again? You talk to him, then he'll jump in joy, marry you, etc. etc."

"That's so cliché, sorry but, I won't tell him. I can't, let's keep this between us, for the meantime. Don't tell Rin, either. I think I'll move to Europe now,"

"Nah! Tha'll accept the job offer? What about thy child and Len's? Won't tha' tell 'im, at least?"

"Oliver, I can't! We both know that he'll try to be heroic. He won't finish his proper med schooling if he heard about this. I can't take that, I want him to achieve his dreams first."

"He surely will," Oliver agreed. She's baffled, didn't he protest just a while ago? "He loves you truly." The air was dead serious as it enveloped them with such thickness. Miku didn't know if her ears were just playing with her, but chose to ask him repeat what he just said.

"Sorry, come again?"

"Len loves you more than you know." Oliver confirmed.

"Len does feel the same to you and Rin." Miku argued.

"It's more than a friendly love he feels for you, he told me. If you won't believe me, ask him. Let him tell you, but I doubt he will. He's such a coward, he restrains himself from letting people know he cares, you must have known that." He stared on the greenish liquid that filled his cup. The water trembled inside such ceramic as he lifted it so he could eye it. "So, I think if you tell him that you have a life in your womb, and obviously he is the dad, he'll beat the crap out of cowardice."

"But that's not the issue. I shall take care of it." Miku retorted. She's quite not sure if she what he feels is as strong as her affection, or the other way around. This is a serious matter, she knows it well. They're dealing with life and yet, she won't watch him fail in achieving his goals.

"Did Len tell you that we have a celebration tomorrow?" Oliver changed the topic, deciding to leave the issue to the soon-to-be couple. "He's hosting a little party in his flat for the four of us. He passed his exam to proper medicine. He'll be Doctor Kagamine after four years."

"I'm not sure if I'll attend, you know. That bloody place holds a bloody memory -"

"Don't say that! Is your child a disappointment to you? Are you regretting the child?" He was angered with her way of describing Len's flat, that's inevitable. But it wasn't indifferent from saying that her child was unwanted.

"Who wouldn't, Oliver?"

"You made love, why would you say that?"

"I find it a one-sided affair. I can't even remember what happen before! Do you think if I'm thinking straight, I'll do that?" Miku was slowly loosing hold of her emotion. Even she liked him - loved him - she wouldn't give herself to him if ever he asked.

"Why, yes! You're just like him - keeping your real say to anything, to anyone. That's why, the two of you settle in such misunderstood path!" Oliver hissed. He's dealing with two butterfingers who don't have ideas what they are letting go. And Oliver is idolizing cupid because it's a hard job to make people realize that they fit each other, love each other, without an arrow pierced to their naïve hearts. Keep loosing chances, Oliver sighed.

"Ah, okay." She replied. Miku stood and grabbed her purse. "Thanks for the tea. Let's see, see you tomorrow." The tealette left Oliver as she dialed Mikuo's phone number.

Mikuo was working on the European publishing house that sent her the job offer. He was a bookworm like Miku, probably a hard core one. He had been living in such country governed by the Queen for almost a decade now, and had published at least seven books of his own. When he heard that the company sent Miku a job offer, he quickly gave her a call and expressed his excitement seeing his younger cousin. Miku, that time however, was still undecided and told him that she would respond to the letter once she understood herself. Mikuo happily reminded her to decide whenever she wasn't emotional - because the job was a stable one, and it's in Europe. It was her dream place, and dream job. If she passed by this, she'd regret.

"Mikuo? This is Miku. I'll accept the job. Gonna send an e-mail to your company later," Miku left a voice message and hailed a taxi. What she had in mind now was to write a resignation letter, write a letter that approves the job offer, attend Len's celebration tomorrow, get a passport and visa application and leave her life here and move on. She also planned everything well: give birth to her baby, don't tell Len as long as he isn't finished with his studies, cease communicating with them...because she is angry. Now, she has the stars on her hands, and won't let it ruin Len's fate because they are having a kid. Mikuo will help her, she knows that.

Oliver watched the taxi - where Miku was - drifted away. "She couldn't be serious."

Oliver was astonished when Len's party came, because there was no Miku there. Rin told them she already left, whatever connection Miku had - that made the tealette get her passport and working visa as soon as possible (overnight). "She has the thing pending since five months ago, I didn't know." Rin told them as she hogged Len's couch with oranges. Oliver just realized that Miku was serious in accepting the job. Like what Rin told them, it was her dream. Miku only delayed deciding because she didn't want to leave her best friends.

"I'm happy for her," Len said. Oliver just groaned and rolled on the carpet as he muttered an objection with Len's statement.

"What's wrong?" Len's icy gaze froze Oliver. Oliver put a hand on his forehead and told him that he shouldn't be happy. He stretched an arm and grabbed a can of soda. Tell him or not? He was sure Miku told him not to tell these two.

"She will be sick...for...six months?" Oliver chose his words prudently, words that only he and Len would understand.

"What sickness could have a duration?" Rin laughed and kicked the cans of soda that hindered her way to the restroom. When Rin closed the doors, Len quickly pulled Oliver up, his blazing stare melted Oliver's white lies formulated ahead.

"Is she...?" Len trailed as he collared Oliver and impatiently waited for a reply. Oliver nervously laughed, how could he get out of this, and tapped Len's shoulder, saying,

"She is! Poor thing, she won't let you see her until you become a doctor." Oliver dropped on the ground with a loud crash. Len dialed her phone number but the line was unattended already.

"Oliver! I want to talk to her!" Len hovered over the poor blond on the ground. "We should talk about this! When did she know? Did she see a doctor? How is she? Is she suffering from morning sickness? Tell her I have a lot of things to remind her, she should take care of our-"

"Len?" The two looked at Rin who came out of the restroom, she stared at them agape. "Who's suffering in morning sickness? And, are you about to say 'our child'? Do you have a girlfriend? - speaking of which, Oliver, how was Miku's checkup yesterday?"

Oliver harshly closed his eyes, slowed down his breathing and pretended that he fainted.

"OLIVER!"