OMG, four reviews! K.C.M.O (Thanks again),

ronniieroxxx (I updated! XD),

riahsparks (I'm glad you're following this story, I remember you enjoyed the other Grimmjow oc story I posted) ,

and last, but definitely not least, OliviaLaura (aww, thanks, that's probably one of the sweetest reviews yet .).

Your kind words made me feel so loved and motivated!

A question had been eating up Grimmjow for a while now, and today he was finally going to ask Nicara. They were both in the living room, sitting on the couch. He made sure she was comfortable and in a good mood before he brought up the subject, just in-case it was sensitive.

"So," he awkwardly started, "Who's Kaede?"

Nicara stiffened on the spot, that wasn't a good sign. "How do you know about him?" she questioned cautiously. She didn't remember mentioning him to Grimmjow before.

He shrugged, keeping a laid back attitude. "You kept mumbling his name in your sleep when you were drunk."

That explains it. "Oh..." she muttered, biting her lip. She always had her own room, so she never knew she talked in her sleep. Hopefully she didn't sleep talk too often, otherwise who knows what else Grimmjow's heard.

It didn't look like Nicara was going to say much, so he pressed on. "Someone important?" he asked. He wanted to know just how special this boy was.

Nicara took a deep breath, and decided to tell him. "Kaede, he was my boyfriend."

Grimmjow wasn't surprised by the news. He already guessed it, since she did say she loved him in her sleep, and afterwards kissed him. "Boyfriend huh? Kinda figured. Where's he now?"

"He's dead," she muttered, eyes looking down.

Now this startled Grimmjow. "Dead? How'd he die?"

Nicara shook her head, face glum. "I don't want to talk about it."

Grimmjow wasn't happy with her response. He still had so many more questions about Kaede, but none of them were going to get answered. "So the guy died, Why are you so hung up on him?"

Anger began to rise in Nicara."Excuse me? Who ever said I was hung up on him?"

"Well you fuckin' act like it. Isn't he the reason why you don't go out with other guys? Well get over him. He's dead and never coming back!" Grimmjow spat.

"How do you know?" she countered. "Maybe he's still alive, not a human, but perhaps a shinigami or hollow now." It was possible, but very unlikely.

"He wouldn't remember you," he said, his voice softer than before.

"Then I'll make him remember."

"You can't fuckin' do that, it's impossible!" The woman obviously didn't know how the afterlife works. You don't have any memories of your human life.

"You probably don't believe in love, but I do. And I think if you love someone enough, anything can happen." It sounded a bit cliche, however true.

Grimmjow growled, "Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Why do you care?" she retorted.

Honestly, he didn't know why he cared. He just wanted Nicara to open up about herself a little more. However, he didn't want her to think he'd gone soft and cared about her feelings, so he quickly yelled, "I don't!"

"Then leave!" If he didn't actually care about her, then she wasn't going to waste her time telling him about herself.

"Fine!" he shouted, stomping out of the living room, and across the hall to his room.

"Fine!" she yelled back.

Nicara crossed her arms, sinking into the cushions of the couch, flustered. Why did Grimmjow want to know so much about Kaede? It was none of his business. And why did he wait so long before bringing this up? She got drunk over a month ago and never said anything. How dare he think Kaede was nothing; just a boy she needed to get over. He was everything, her everything.

Later that day, Nicara went to work. She was having trouble concentrating because her mind was still so frustrated with Grimmjow. A customer came in, taking a seat at one of her tables. Hoping to clear her head, she went to take his order.

"Hey there handsome." she greeted. He was handsome, very handsome, but probably a hooker. His looks practically par with Grimmjow.

"Hey beautiful, " he returned. "The name's Ken, you're Nicara right?"

Nicara nodded, taken aback. How did he know her name? "Yeah, have we met before?"

"Well, I've been keeping an eye on you the last few times I've been here. I was told that you're single. Would you go out with me sometime?" he asked flashing a dashing smile that would probably win any girls heart.

Now that she thought about it, he was probably that guy Amelia was talking about. The one that kept leaving his number. "Look, I'm really honored that you like me, but I'm just not looking for a relationship right now."

Ken looked surprised, taken aback with Nicara's answer. "Wow, I think you're the first girl that's ever rejected me," he muttered.

Nicara made a fake coughing sound before regaining her composure. "Sorry to ruin your record," she apologize. She didn't really mean it, but she was trying to be polite. In fact, she was glad she rejected him. He was probably one of those guys who brags to his friends that he can get any girl by flashing a smile.

"No, it's alright, but if you don't mind, I still want to know you better. If you have time tonight will you go for a coffee with me? As friends?"

"Umm..." She didn't want to. She'd rather go home and do homework, but saying no would sound rude. He did say 'as friends.'

"Please?" he begged, giving her the puppy dog face. "I promise I won't try anything."

She gave up. "Fine," she sighed. A little coffee date couldn't hurt, could it?

During this time of the year, business slows down. Everyone broke from spending all their money on Christmas and New Years. Nicara got off work at eight thirty, an hour earlier than usual. As she stepped out of the staff room, she saw Ken waiting patiently, ready for their coffee rendezvous. He told her that she could pick their destination. She choose McDonald's; A perfect, causal, non dating spot to have coffee with someone you just met.

"So, ..." he began as he sipped a cup of coffee. " Are you in college?"

"I'm still in high school," she stated.

"Oh," he said, feeling slightly dumbfounded. "I didn't know you were so young, since you work at a bar and stuff."

"And stuff?" she questioned, raising a brow.

"Well you look more mature."

"You think I look old?" she exclaimed, taking it absolutely the wrong way. This friend date was going downhill pretty fast.

Ken immediately leaned back, hands flaring in front of him. "No, that's not what I meant. I was trying to say independent. You live by yourself right?"

"Oh, yeah," she muttered sheepishly. "I've got a roommate now, but it's only temporary."

"Really? Your roommate, What's she like?"

"Actually, my roommate's a he. His name is Grimmjow, light blue hair, six foot one, kinda hard to miss."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I think I've seen him around before. You two looked really close, are two dating by any chance?"

Nicara choked on her coffee. Why did everyone think they were dating? Have people never heard of two friends, opposite in gender, living together in the same house? "No, not at all. We're just friends," she boldly stated. She wanted to make sure it was clear that her and Grimmjow were not in a relationship.

Ken chuckled at her reaction. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were, he does have quiet the looks."

"Says you," she countered immediately. Ken was just as handsome as Grimmjow, and he had much better manners.

He grinned, obviously taking in the compliment. He took a few glances at his phone. "It's getting late, let me walk you home," he offered.

"No it's alright, I'll be fine."

"I insist, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

Eventually Nicara accepted Ken's offer, for he walked her home. She figured he was just trying to be polite and it was kind of late. Most people thought she looked like some weak, fragile daisy. Too bad they don't know she practically had a black belt. She, of course, didn't mention her fighting background to Ken. She didn't trust him yet, and wasn't going to let him know everything about her.

The walk home was quiet. Several times, Ken tried to hold her hand, but she kept them deeply nestled in her pockets. He also asked if she was cold, a classic move, and wanted to wear his jacket. Nicara frankly said no. Finally, they arrived at Nicara's house. They stood just outside the front door on the porch. It was kinda awkward since they weren't dating, yet it felt like they were just on a date.

"So um, thanks for walking me home, it was nice getting to know you."

"No problem, It was my pleasure."

He leaned in and opened his arms wide for a friendly hug. Nicara was stiff at first, but slowly loosened up, resting her arms gently around him. They stood there for a while, unsure who should let go first, only pulling apart after hearing someone clear their throat.

Grimmjow was standing in the doorway, arms crossed. "So you two going out or somethin'?" His face had a small scowl, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Nicara whipped around, face flustered. "No, we're just friends." she yelled quickly.

Sensing some tension in the air, Ken knew it was time for him to go. "Well I guess I'll be leaving now, bye" he waved to Nicara as he left.

Grimmjow waited until Ken was out of earshot before growling, "Just friends? You two looked like you were getting pretty cozy to me."

To Nicara, Grimmjow almost sounded angry. What for? She had no idea. She hadn't done anything wrong and didn't want to stick around to find out. "I feel really tired right now, so I'm going to sleep now. Talk to you tomorrow." she quickly scurried off to her room, locking the door behind her.

Waking up, Nicara felt groggy from last night's sleep. Slowly she walked to her bathroom and looked in the mirror. Like every morning, her hair was a mess; however, it could easily be fixed by combing. She looked in the mirror again, her hair was fine now, but something was off, something was missing.

It was nine in the morning, Grimmjow had just woken up, when he heard loud shuffling noises coming from the woman's room. Lazily, he crossed the hallway to find a frantic Nicara rummaging through her bedroom.

"What the fuck is going on?"

Nicara didn't seem to hear him, she continued tossing her blankets onto the floor and looking through her laundry hamper. She was looking for something, but what?"

Finally, she ran into Grimmjow, as if she didn't even know he was there. He took the chance to grab her by the shoulders, and force her to make eye contact, as he ordered, "What 's going on?"

Her heavy breathing slowed down, but then salty liquid trails fell from her eyes.

"I...It's gone," she stammered.

"What's gone?" he demanded, his patience growing thin.

"My necklace." she sobbed. His eyes flickered to her collar bone, it was bare, without the usual locket.

Grimmjow hated watching people cry, especially Nicara. He'd never seen her act so weak and helpless. Usually she'd put on a brave front or act neural.

"Quit yer crying, woman! Crying only makes you weak. Just where the fuck did you lose it?"

"I don't know," she sniffled. "I still had it yesterday morning, so maybe during work."

"Then why the fuck are you looking in here?" he questioned. The woman must've been too upset to be thinking straight. If she lost her necklace between going to work and coming home, what was the point looking through her room?

"Thank you," she managed to whisper, for she understood it was Grimmjow's way of saying he wanted to help.

Instead of replying with a 'you're welcome,' he clarified his reasoning. "Just so you know, I'm only doing this so I don't have to hear you balling your eyes out all day."

Nicara stifled a laugh. Grimmjow just couldn't give up his bad boy reputation, could he?

For the rest of the day they both looked for the necklace together. Probably the most teamwork they've done since the school project. They started out by retracing all of Nicara's footsteps; first from home, to work, then McDonald's and back. She looked through the lost and found, and asked any staff members if anything had been turned in the day before. Unfortunately, everyone said no.

Nicara's hopes of finding her necklace faded, second by second. They already looked through every corner, sidewalk and under every chair, but their was nothing. It hadn't even been twenty four hours since she lost it, so if it fell off, they should've found it by now. Unless someone else already picked it up, then she'd likely never get it back.

However upset, Nicara was still determined, so for the fifth time that day, she looked through her laundry. Making sure it didn't fall off her neck while she was changing her shirt.

Grimmjow walked by and saw her searching again. He already helped all day, was this girl really going insane for a piece of metal?

He walked in the room and leaned against the door frame. "Give it a rest, would ya?"

She shook her head. "The necklace is really important to me, it was from Kaede!"

No wonder why she's so obsessed. "We already spent the whole fuckin' day looking and didn't find anything! For all we know it could've fallen into a drain and into the ocean."

"You think it would wash up on the beach?" she asked with hopeful eyes.

That was the last straw, Grimmjow couldn't take it anymore."Let it go, Nicara! Maybe losing the necklace is a sign telling you to move on!"

Move on? Kaede was one of the most important person in her life, and Grimmjow wanted her to move on? The heart pendant was the only thing she had to remind her of him, and now it was gone forever.

It was silent in the room, but Grimmjow could tell a blur of emotions were going through Nicara's mind. Finally, she spoke, "Please leave, I just want to be alone."

Grimmjow abided Nicara's request and left the room. It was already six o clock, so he made himself something to eat. Nicara didn't come out for dinner;it was a quiet night.

Usually he'd pester Nicara, or watch TV, but tonight he didn't feel like doing anything. He was in his room, lying on the his bed, when he heard a small knock on his door.

"What?" he growled, obviously in an angry mood. He was still pissed off that he spent his day helping Nicara find her necklace and he never got some sort of appreciation.

"Can I come in?" He didn't answer, but she took it as a yes. "I'm sorry Grimmjow, you're right, I need a clear start and move on." she looked at the floor as she spoke. " But, I've been wearing a necklace all these years so I fell like something's missing from my neck. So would you help me put this on?" She held out a royal blue box, containing none other than the pendant Grimmjow bought her for Christmas.

Grimmjow slowly got up and helped place the necklace around her neck. Gently brushing her jet black hair out of the way. He would never say it out loud, but the necklace looked perfect on her, and he was pretty sure she thought the same.

The next few chapters are going to be pretty big, so it's going to take me a little longer to write/edit. Chapter 13 should be finished, give or take, around mid March.