Vanitas woke up the next day around 7 am, for once not having to get up so early as he finally had the day off. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before turning his head to see Xion's side of the bed empty. He sat up with a jolt and looked around. "Xion?" He called, but the room was dark and quiet. The side of the bed where she slept was tucked in as well as it could be and for a moment he questioned if she even came to bed last night. He felt his chest tighten a bit as he got up to look for her.

'Maybe she's just downstairs.' He thought as he quickly made his way to the kitchen, but she wasn't there either. Just like upstairs the house was quiet and undisturbed. After what happened the previous night Vanitas felt himself starting to worry. 'Relax, no need to get worked up over Xion of all people.' He did his best to calm himself but the small spike in anxiety wouldn't dull down. He checked the back patio, the downstairs bathroom, the living room, and even back on the second level where he knew she wasn't at. He ran his hand through his messy locks and felt his heartbeat grow even more rapid. He thought maybe this would happen, but at the very least he expected a note. He ran back upstairs to grab his phone and quickly dialed her number. He paced the bedroom and cursed when she didn't pick up, same with the second and third time.

"Xion, where the hell are you? Call me back." He demanded, though the worry in his voice was evident. He headed back down into the kitchen where he tried to calm himself once more. He made a pot of coffee and sat at the dining room table staring towards the front door. His leg bounced and he kept his arms crossed over his chest as the pendulum swung back and forth rapidly in his mind.

'She did it, she left. But that's a good thing right?' He chewed on his thumb. 'Of course she didn't leave, she probably just stepped out for a moment.' His teeth mashed down on his finger tip, bending the nail backwards. 'After the way she was acting yesterday, why should I care?'

Of course he wasn't actually worried, he hadn't been worried about her in a very long time. Damn, he hadn't even cared about her in a long time. Did he care about her now? Of course not. She was throwing a little tantrum to get his attention…it's just a different method this time. Of course he was somewhat unsettled…who wouldn't be when someone suddenly disappeared like that? It wasn't because he cared for her in the slightest! She made his life worse by clinging to him all the time, and now she was just in a mood. Her tantrum is throwing off his whole vibe. Any moment she'd walk through that front door to annoy him with forced kisses and terrible banter.

She'd be back in no time…no time at all…..right?

… [The night before] …

Vanitas eventually emerged from the bedroom, feeling somewhat uneasy by his newfound revelation over Xion's diary. He attempted to rationalize in his mind that anything Xion could have possibly written about him was a matter of circumstance or something spurned by her own behavior. However, that excuse was starting to no longer cut it. Vanitas refused to believe he was in the wrong, and having been faced with something that could possibly tell him otherwise made him feel a lot of guilt he was not prepared for. His grip on the situation was slipping, but he knew how to turn it back around in his favor.

Xion was in the living room watching TV. Vanitas passed her but stopped at the kitchen archway, turned to face her, and leaned against the wall. "Y-you hungry?" He attempted to give one of his charismatic smiles.

Xion merely stared ahead at the television, as if he had said nothing at all. The only thing Vanitas hated more than her constantly begging for his attention was apparently being ignored, as he was finding out.

He licked his bottom lip and bit it, looking towards the wooden floor with a soft chuckle. "Well then, I think you'll change your mind once you see what I had in store for dinner tonight." He turned on his heel and went to the fridge. He hardly cooked for Xion but she always loved the rare times when he did. Last time, she went out with her friends but based on her casual crop top and sweatpants she didn't appear to have any plans. 'We'll have dinner together, I will apologize for the other night, and everything will finally go back to fucking normal.' He assured himself.

As he looked around the fridge for ingredients to make her favorite meal with, he realized he was grossly unprepared. Of course he was, he never actually planned to make anything for her that night. But, maybe this was an opportunity in itself.

Vanitas peaked his head back out of the kitchen. "Babe, we seem to be out of some stuff, wanna make a quick run with me to the store?" He asked. Xion loved it when he took her for rides on his motorcycle. She even used to have a helmet. After a certain point, though, he sneakily got rid of it because he got tired of her attempting to tag along with him every time he tried to leave the house. The memory made him grimace.

Xion didn't seem to take her eyes off the screen. Vanitas looked upwards towards the TV, she was watching the local news. It didn't seem like anything interesting as nothing ever interesting happened in that lame ass town, but she seemed more focused on it than on anything he had to say.

He swallowed and his face briefly contorted. He was trying to be nice, why wasn't she responding to it? She could at least tell him no. Vanitas wanted to march over to her and do something about it but he'd rather not add a new entry to her journal. 'I need to burn that fucking thing.'

'Be nice.' He reprimanded himself. The faster he apologized to her and made amends, the sooner she would go back to normal and he could move on with his life. Unlike before, he didn't stop to wonder if "normal" was any better; as he knew that right then anything was better than the way she was currently behaving. Without another word he grabbed his helmet and put his shoes back on before heading out.

As he rode to the grocery store he did his best to keep himself calm, but the dull pain in his chest refused to subside. He felt like a bug under someone's heel, squirming to be set free. Vanitas hated this powerless feeling.

The man scurried down the various aisles to grab pasta noodles and ground beef. He debated picking up a bottle of wine but decided to spring for it anyway as well as a small bouquet of flowers. Once he was wrung up he rushed home, trying to think of what to say. His speedy trip was halted by the longest red light known to man and Vanitas took the opportunity to rehearse. He was very much still resentful of the way she behaved around him and he didn't want to sound too corny or grovel to her. Still, Vanitas knew he had to bite the bullet somewhat.

"Xion, I'm sorry…." He muttered under his breath. "I'm sorry for….acting… for being a…. for…"

It was then an SUV pulled up beside him in the next lane, he turned and saw a little kid in the back seat placing stickers on the interior of the window. Vanitas stared at the kid and the boy eventually stared back at him, probably entertained with the reflection of Vanitas's helmet.

'I wonder…is THAT what's bothering her?'

Vanitas watched as the SUV drove away and he remained there for a long time. Even as the light turned green and then yellow again he stayed still, his mind quiet for the first time in a while.

"If that's the case," He mumbled. "There's nothing I can say."

…

Once home, he entered the abode with little regard from Xion; she didn't even notice the flowers. 'That's fine,' He thought. 'I'll display them on the table, she won't be able to ignore them when we eat.'

Unlike before, Xion came around to peek her head into the kitchen once he got going. The smell of meat sauce was a strong one and captured most hungry appetites. The man smirked to himself as he finally won over her attention. It was time to work his magic and demonstrate just how much leverage he still held over her, even if she wanted to pretend the opposite was true.

"Hey baby," he spoke rather smoothly as the sauce was stirred. "Hungry yet?" Spaghetti was one of her favorite dishes, she always said something about it reminding her of her childhood. See? He listened occasionally. He couldn't be that bad.

Xion spoke up rather quickly, "That smells good."

He nodded and gave a longing sigh. "Well, I figured it's been a rough few days for the both of us. I thought some quality time over dinner would be nice, ya know?"

Xion didn't respond but kept her eyes on the pot, eventually she looked towards the table and saw the bouquet sitting in a freshly set out vase and some water. She tilted her head. "What are those for?"

Vanitas lowered the temperature on the pot once the concoction began to simmer and he stirred the noodles. He then made a motion as if to wipe his hands and looked her in the eyes, though she was not looking back. 'Here we go.' He thought. "They're to apologize…for the other night."

"The other night?" Xion's eyes were trained on the flowers.

"Yeah," Vanitas took a few steps towards her and made his move. He hugged her from behind, snaking his arm around her exposed midsection and placing his chin on her shoulder. He could feel her stiffen from this act but he knew she was easy to convince when he showed her affection like that. He spoke low into her ear. "You know, when I threw the bottle? It was so awful of me and I've been thinking about it this whole time. You were just concerned about me but I was so stupid and drunk, I couldn't see that. I was embarrassed to even mention it but that's not fair to you." His words sounded like the devil himself with how amorous his tone sounded.

His breath played on her skin and his smirk grew bigger when he heard her soft exhale. To hell with feeling guilty, and so what if he was in her book? He could easily worm his way back into her good graces with some effort and sweet words. He knew that, he just needed to remind himself of it.

"I love you, Xion." His fingers caressed down her bare arms where he could feel goosebumps forming. He leaned in and kissed her shoulder gingerly. "And I have been doing a horrible job of showing that. But I'm willing to be better, I'm willing to try and be what you deserve."

Xion's hands reflexively opened and closed as she wrung at the fabric of her sweat pants. Vanitas swayed the couple back and forth a little as he spoke sweet apologies into her ear. "I love you so much, and I was thinking… to make it up to you I would make you a nice dinner…share a bottle of wine…and then carry you upstairs and.." His seductive voice trailed off as he leaned in to bite her earlobe.

Suddenly Xion ripped away from his grasp. Her head slowly hung lower and her shoulders shrugged upwards, as if she were curling into a ball…or shaking with rage.

Vanitas looked shocked at this sight with his hands hanging in the air. It was rare he failed at seducing anyone-let alone Xion. As irritating and as shocking as it was, he could rationalize the change in dress and going out with her friends, wanting to sleep in more, etc. but Xion outright rejecting his affections when they were so rare to begin with was far from what he had known her character to be. His briefly inflated ego came crashing down and the squeezing in his chest became stronger than before. He must have really fucked up.

Xion then stood straight up and turned to face him. Her violet eyes followed the floor up his body and finally to his own stare, her expression was solemn and empty. "No thanks." She said simply and went back to the living room.

Vanitas slowly lowered his hands to his sides and watched her leave, he turned to face her direction but said nothing for a long time. He didn't know what to say or do, he had never been in this position with her before. Without fail Xion would always come crawling when he showed her attention, they were even intimate fairly recently. But right then not only did she reject her husband, but she didn't even say thank you or acknowledge his apology. He wasn't sure what to do, but he felt angry, bitter, and even…nervous?

Vanitas stepped out for a cigarette and to get some air, but he couldn't outrun the squeezing feeling around his heart. For days now he had been bolstering the idea that Xion would come to her senses and stop acting so ridiculous, or, he had been relishing in the 'freedom' he felt. Well, he didn't want it anymore. She was acting too weird, and any control he had over his horrible life was fading fast. If she was just acting independent that would be one thing, but she was actively ignoring him and patronizing his efforts to reconcile. He didn't even really believe he was at any fault, but he felt like shit.

'This is her plan, to worm her way into my head. She's doing this on purpose.' He gritted his teeth, but his chest only hurt even more. What was it? Was it guilt? Were the consequences of his actions finally rearing their ugly head? Was it just the bottle or was this about more than that? Did she know about his infidelity? How much did she know? Was he about to become homeless and on his own? As much as he fantasized about leaving he wasn't actually prepared for something like that. He had no one to actually turn to, and no friends he could confide in. Simply starting over after 10 years wasn't an easy feat.

Eventually Vanitas made his way back inside and sat on the couch beside Xion. He attempted a conversation. "I, uh, smoked again. Sorry. I know you want me to quit." He chuckled awkwardly.

Xion did not respond.

He swallowed and bit the inside of his cheek. His posture was at a tension and his hands lay robotically in his lap, he couldn't relax. Being ignored really got under Vanitas's skin, even though he ignored lots of people on a daily basis. That included her.

"They were almost out of ground beef at the market." He said, a bit louder than before. "I almost had to plan something else to make."

Xion did not respond.

"I… had an interesting convo at work-" He tried, leaning closer to her. Just then, Xion cut him off.

"Vanitas?" She spoke.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I'm trying to watch TV."

Vanitas was quiet for a long time, "...right." He mumbled bitterly before getting up and heading upstairs for the night. Once again she entered her own world, only this time she made it clear he was not to be a part of it.

…[present]...

It felt like an hour later when the front door finally swung open. Vanitas perked up at the sound of shuffling in the living room and he let out an audible sigh of relief on impulse. His eyebrows twitched when he realized he managed to get so twisted up with worry over Xion of all people, but nonetheless he felt she had some explaining to do.

Vanitas stood up from the dining chair and crossed his arms, unsure of what he would say but he knew he had a few choice words for her. He figured he would start with questioning why she never answered or returned his calls.

"Xion!" He called out in a somewhat angry tone. However, when she walked into the kitchen Vanitas's jaw almost dropped to the floor. Xion was only wearing sneakers, a sports bra, and the tiniest pair of shorts he had ever seen. They were running shorts, of course, but still. Her body was blushed from the apparent exercise and misted in a thin layer of sweat. A few of her bangs stuck to her forehead and she was still panting just a little. It was obvious to him now that her absence was due to her 'going out for a jog', but he still felt thrown for a loop. For some reason he found the sight of her absolutely alluring. It didn't make sense! He figured his attraction for her had long since died, and it wasn't like it had been that long since their last roll in the hay. Yet for some reason seeing her in any sort of lingerie, any one of his shirts, or even nothing at all didn't feel as sultry as the sight before him did. Why was that? And why the hell did he feel his own face heating up? Vanitas desperately wanted to bite down the reaction he was having and recall the reason he was so heated in the first place, but he could barely even muster up his irritation after seeing her. He didn't even know she went for jogs, let alone so early in the morning!

Xion removed an ear bud from her ear upon seeing him and responded in a rather breathy tone, small beads of sweat trailed down her curves as her chest rose and fell rapidly with each harsh exhale. "Y-yes?" She asked.

Vanitas 404'd and merely stood there with his mouth agape, his golden eyes scanned her face and her body as his brain tried to come up with something to say. Xion raised an eyebrow and waited for him to speak. Inside Vanitas's mind were 3 parts of him all fighting for dominance on where the situation should go: one that wanted to yell at her for simply disappearing without warning and dressing so skimpy, one that was trying to imagine what those sweaty curves felt like, and one trying to actively deny the feelings of attraction and jealousy to begin with.

After a few more moments of silence Xion put her earbud back in its place and turned her loud music back up, as if to imply he lost the chance to say whatever it was he was trying to say. She then made her way past him and towards the fridge, she opened the door and leaned in to grab a drink. Vanitas couldn't help but notice her shorts rode up even further from her bending over.

She grabbed a water bottle and stood up, leaned on the refrigerator door somewhat and enjoyed the cool air momentarily escaping from it. From the corner of her eye she noticed Vanitas's stare and seemingly tried to ignore it, but after another uncomfortable minute she turned to him. "What is it?" She asked, scowling just a bit from the awkwardness. He couldn't tell if her face was red from her run or from the embarrassment.

After being brought back to earth, Vanitas finally managed to rip his gaze away from the Woman's body and suppressed his perverted thoughts. Though, the image stayed in his head. He sneered just a bit and stared at the wall, a blush on his own face. "What!?" He responded.

Xion looked a bit taken aback and she blinked a few times. "What do you mean 'what'? You called ME when I walked in." She raised an eyebrow and then looked at the kitchen clock. "Also, aren't you going to be late for work?"

"I don't work today." He spat back, still not looking her way. He was being rather petulant but he was admittedly annoyed with how embarrassed he was.

Xion seemed to change her tune a bit from this retort and her confusion slipped away. Instead her voice quieted and she had an unreadable expression. "Oh, I thought you did." She mumbled.

"No, not today." He huffed.

There was yet another awkward silence in the room but for a different reason this time. Finally, Vanitas got to the point. He sighed and looked at her begrudgingly.

"Why didn't you answer my phone calls? I was worried like hell."

"Worried?" Xion tilted her head. "For what?"

"The fuck you mean 'for what'? How often do you just disappear in the morning without a trace like that?" He scoffed.

Xion thought for a moment and gave a slight pout and a shrug. "Sorry, I guess I didn't think the call was on purpose. I thought maybe you butt dialed me on your way to work or something. You're usually out by this time anyway."

Vanitas was about to respond when her last sentence gave him pause. 'Wait a minute, was she deliberately timing her run so she left before I got up and wouldn't be back till I left the house?' But before Vanitas could ask, Xion closed the fridge door and left the kitchen with her water. He could hear the sounds of her footsteps running up the stairs.

Vanitas was left speechless once more, and the aching in his heart returned. If the night before wasn't enough, he was just then presented with irrefutable proof that she was actively avoiding him. All of the anxious feelings flooded back up like thick bile and stung the back of his throat.

"H…"

…

Chapter 4 Complete!

Sorry this took a bit longer, the holidays and all that. I have had a creative streak lately but this has jumped beyond just writing so I had to focus and bring myself back. I have another story I want to work on that's vastly different than this one but I want to focus on making sure this story comes to a conclusion, that is my main goal. School starts again soon and I want to get as much done before then. So for now, the new story will stay on the back burner.

I unfortunately do not have a new chapter title for you! Sorry! Though I am grateful to the new readers and followers of the story. One of my new friends has also read this and it's a bit nerve wracking knowing there's someone I know reading this. Well, maybe I can run ideas by them, haha.

Happy holidays everyone and I can't wait to see what the new year has in store.

-Toast