Ok, before you all go beast mode on me, I have no excuses to give. So I'm just going to say it. I'm so very very sorry for being away from FF for so long. The past six months have been quite hectic, and yes, they are still hectic now, but I was able to help my sister graduate, I've been financing her studies so had to work lots and lots the past few months, so I've gotten over one hurdle and freed up some of my time. :D

I missed you all and I hope I can squeeze in a couple of stories a week if I can help it. I have a lot of reading to catch up to as well with all the new stories coming out in FF especially in the GA Fandom.

I still stand by what I said that these stories will never get abandoned and though there may be a gap in my updates, rest assured I'm still here, alive and kicking, and these will get finished come hell or high water! ;)

xoxo Lexi1989

Previously:

"We're better staying as friends, right?" She asked, her lavender eyes piercing into his cerulean ones. He nodded, unable to say anything. Then she did what he least expected.

She leaned into him and pressed her lips on to his. He was surprised at first and when it finally dawned on him, he returned the kiss in fervor. Her lips were soft and she tasted like and he couldn't believe he was finally kissing her. Her hands were around his neck, and he caressed her cheek with his. They didn't stop kissing until they had to stop for air.

"Friends?" Hotaru asked him. Her face was flushed, and her heart was pounding. She had kissed boys before, but she'd never felt anything like how she felt when she kissed him. But even then, she didn't want a relationship with him. She liked him too much to actually go out with him and ruin the chemistry they had.

"Friends." He responded before pulling her back against him for another kiss.

CHAPTER 6: FRIENDS?

WEEKS LATER

Mikan furrowed her brows as she watched Hotaru and Ruka from across the cafeteria. She was already seated at their table and was absentmindedly pushing around the food on her plate while observing her best friend. She'd noticed a change in Hotaru's demeanor and it started when Ruka had arrived in town. Not that the change was bad, it was just, for lack of a better word, new. Hotaru was still the same girl, but there was something Mikan couldn't quite figure out. She watched as Ruka teased her best friend and cleverly dodge the punch to the shoulder that was the expected reaction from Hotaru.

"Cut it out Nogi." She heard Hotaru say as they walked together towards the table where Natsume and Mikan were already sitting at.

"I told you to call me Ruka, Hotaru." Ruka retorted while rolling his eyes.

"Your name is boring. Another one comes to mind when I think of you." Hotaru said in a surprisingly sweet tone that nearly half of the student population in the cafeteria heard. It seemed like everything everyone was doing was suddenly unimportant as they strained their ears to eavesdrop on the conversation of the two oblivious, walking teenagers.

"Like what? Honey? Baby? Sweetheart?"

Hotaru slipped into the seat next to Mikan and waited until Ruka was across from her before beckoning to him to lean over so she could whisper in his ear.

"In your dreams, Bunny Boy!" She smiled as he looked at her with mock dejection.

She slipped the plastic off the wooden chopsticks that came with her lunch. The lunch menu had offered sushi which was one of her favorites. But before she could dig in, Mikan's question, which came suddenly out of the blue, made her forget of the platter on her tray.

"Are you two a couple?" Ruka who was already eating his second nigari almost choked at the unexpected query. The rest of the cafeteria waited with bated breath for the answer to what seemed like the answer to the rumors of Ruka and Hotaru going out for quite some time now.

"Mikan, where is this question coming from?" Hotaru turned to face her brunette best friend with a surprisingly calm face. She was aware of the spectacle they were becoming and didn't want to add any more fuel to the undying fire of what she considered as typical high school rumors.

"Why are you answering my question with another question?" Of course Mikan wouldn't back down until she got her answer. She was always like that.

"I'm surprised as to what made you ask that. We've all been hanging out together. " Equally as determined, Hotaru didn't back down as Mikan faced with her with the same determination in her eyes to get an answer.

"It's a yes or no question, Hotaru." The brunette crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, obviously in an attempt to pressure Hotaru into answering.

"We're just friends." The word hung heavy in the silent air. And as if a veil had been lifted, the clink and clanks of utensils hitting plates picked up where they had left off before the offending question was asked by the rumor subject's best friend, of all people. Chatter began in earnest but all of that had gone unnoticed by the two girls glaring at each other at their table.

They glared at each other for what seemed like minutes (in reality, it was only a few seconds) before Mikan concluded she was fighting a losing battle. She felt there was really more to it than what Hotaru and Ruka dared to admit, but decided she would wait until they were ready to talk.

"Fine. 'Friends' it is." She emphasized her disbelief by throwing quotation mark gestures as she uttered the word 'friends' but left it at that.

"Even I have to admit that it's quite suspicious, Ruka." Natsume weighed-in his opinion much to Hotaru's annoyance.

"Is it really so inconceivable for me and Hotaru to be friends?" Ruka asked, quite curious as to what brought the topic about.

"Well to be fair, I may be overreacting a bit since this is the first time she's had a real guy friend." Natsume snorted at his girlfriend's comment as Ruka turned towards Hotaru.

"Isn't that guy from Chemistry class, your friend? The one with the glasses?" He asked her.

"Tobita's more of an acquaintance. I told you all that before". She gestured to Mikan who was sulking and taking it out on her jello. "One, this skeptical human being sitting next to me who doesn't believe you and I are just friends is my best friend. Two, I tolerate that human being sitting next to you because he is her boyfriend despite my disapproval. The rest are either acquaintances or people I have to interact with because of class. Now, everyone, have all your questions been answered?" She asked pointedly at the guilty looking trio sitting around her and they nodded mutely, sensing that it wouldn't be smart of them to get on her bad side.

"Good." She returned to her forgotten meal and the matter was dropped.

A FEW DAYS LATER

Ruka pulled up at the Imai's driveway and let the engine idle as he glanced towards Hotaru sitting next to him in the passenger's seat. He had just picked up Hotaru after her shift at the arcade. Since she was so busy, Ruka had offered to pick her up on the days where she had to work at the arcade and drive her home. It allowed him to spend some time with her away from prying eyes and it got her home faster than if she walked or commuted. It was a win-win situation for both of them.

"What?" She asked, sensing his eyes on her.

"I didn't say anything." He said defensively.

"But you were thinking of saying something." She said with an amused smirk.

"How would you know that? Are you a mind reader?" He taunted, a bit embarrassed of being called out of what he really was about to do.

"No, bunny boy, I don't read minds, but going through years of middle school and high school has taught me to observe most people's body language. Don't tell me this has something to do with the conversation we had with Mikan and Hyuuga that day in the cafeteria."

"Why would you say that?" He blushed slightly, knowing she had caught on to what he had been thinking.

"Because, Mister Obvious, you've been slightly off since that day. You purposely avoided me for the rest of that day. And you've been keeping your distance for the past couple of days."

"You know you'd actually make a lot of money putting up your own detective agency." He said, jumping at the chance to distract her from the current topic, but there was no swaying her.

"Nice try bunny boy. Now spill it." She crossed her arms across her chest feigning impatience but she couldn't quite hide the amusement in her lavender eyes.

"Well, I was thinking…." He said hesitantly.

"No." She said in a definite tone.

"I haven't even finished yet!" He exclaimed, taken aback that she had interrupted what he was about to ask her.

"I know what you're going to ask Ruka, but you already know my answer to that is no." She looked at him with resolve.

"And what was I about to ask?" He humored her, half hoping she would get the answer wrong.

"You were going to say.." She raised her hands and made quotation gestures as she said exactly was on her mind. "…I was thinking that maybe we should go out and date." The look on his face was enough to confirm that she was right and she rolled her eyes as he stared at her in awe.

"You know maybe you are a mind reader. Maybe you have mental telepathy like that Professor X has in X-Men have or probably you're a certified Legilimens like Voldemort in Harry Potter!"

"Stop nerding out Ruka. You really are just easy to read." She said with a laugh as she gathered her stuff and closed her coat. Winter was fast approaching and each day got colder than the next.

"But you really won't go out with me?"

"No Ruka. I won't. I like you too much already to consider going out with you." She said seriously.

"What? I don't get it?"

"Well, it's kind of practical really. I mean, we see it everyday in the movies, soap operas, books, and in real life even. When two people of the opposite sex date or get together, eventually one of them or in some cases both, get hurt. Is that really what you want? For one, or both of us to get hurt?"

"Well, no…" He was about to refute but he felt her hand stroking his cheek.

"Neither do I. I meant what I said Ruka. I like you. A little too much already. And I don't want to get hurt or to hurt you." Little did he know it took much out of her to admit her feelings to him in such a manner. What he could only think of in that moment was that her face was only inches away from his. He closed the gap and once again, they were kissing in the dimly lit car.

"I like you too Hotaru. Maybe a little too much as well. And I will never hurt you." He said and she smiled at him. She kissed him softly on the lips.

"Friends?" She asked.

"Friends." He responded. If they stayed that way, maybe she would change her mind in the future. And he decided he could live with that and wait rather than pressuring her to date him and pushing her away.

He watched as she slipped inside her house after waving goodbye before backing out of her driveway and driving home.

"Well, well, well…" Hotaru jumped as she heard a voice from behind her.

She had just gotten in after Ruka drove away. She was rarely caught off guard but after having that moment with Ruka, her head was in the clouds and she didn't pay attention to her surroundings. She turned to find Mikan standing just a few feet behind her, cellphone at hand with what looks like a video on the screen. She paled as her eyes sought out what Mikan was trying to show her.

The captured video was grainy, but upon closer inspection, there was no denying what the brunette had managed to capture. She paled as she saw herself locking lips with Ruka inside his car.

"Care to explain this to me, Hotaru?"

END OF CHAPTER 6

Okay. Soooo hopefully my writing skills haven't rusted yet. Haha

Let me know how my comeback to FF did. How about a welcome back gift of reviews minna? XD

xoxo Lexi1989

newroz – hey sweetie! I hope you are doing fine! And thank you for your review!

N. Risa – Hey girl! I missed you. I have some catching up to do on your stories and I plan to catch up on them on my vacay time this coming week. And yeah, I agree with you, Ruka is Hotaru's b**ch from day 1. Haha and although Hotaru's rejection from chapter 5 does appear to be a tad cowardly or arrogant, with all the heartbreak she's seen in her life, it isn't unusual. Let's see how she gets over it (if she ever will) and how it affects her and Ruka eh?

Seraina-chan – Well, based on this chappie, I think it's safe to say that Hotaru does like Ruka. But will she stay behind the friend-zone forever? Or will she take a risk? I'm glad that I was able to stir that kind of reaction out of my readers like you and I hope after my 6 month hiatus you will still read and like the story. :D

And I know I would want to get rejected like that. Well, an acceptance would be better but that kind of rejection would hurt a lot less than being rejected out right ;) hahaha

Guest – Hey there! Thank you for your review and I'm glad you liked the twist. Stay tuned for more!

Derp1Derp2 – Yeah well, you know how I like to twist things up a bit ;) and who knows, maybe they will remain friends, maybe they won't? It's all on how Hotaru and Ruka play things out as things unravel. And I know this may come as a bit late, like 6 months too late, but enjoy this update! XD

Lychiis – Thank you! And yeah I believe Hotaru may be hiding behind that wall for now. Hopefully it will turn romantic soon. Not that it's not yet already romantic but you know what I mean.

And a sidenote on that trip, that ended up as our last beach trip in like 6 months. We're due for another one this Tuesday the 6th if you ever read this before then. Haha. Things have been so busy after December that I really haven't gotten a moment to myself to write again until now. Hopefully I won't be as busy as I was the past six months. I've gotten into a groove at work so I'll be able to crank out a couple of chapters each week or more (I hope)

SuzuwakoFurika – Thank you for your kind words. I try to make my fics as relatable as possible. I'm a fan of books and movies that make me feel like I'm in it and I hope to do the same for the readers.

YoNaMe –Gurl, I think I owe you a lot of chapters on this one now. Haha. She kissed him because she felt like kissing him? Hahaha well, she likes him, she just doesn't want to date him. That kind of scenario. Because she doesn't want to get hurt or hurt him. Hopefully, this chapter brings clarity to that question. XD

Hn victuuri – Hi! :D thank you for your review!

Story cycle:

Fairie Tales - Starting Over Again - The Scam - Probability - Philophobia

Secrets (ON HOLD)

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Ja Ne!

xoxo Lexi1989