Hi all! You might recognize me as the prolific reviewer AM. I've been reading a lot of good fanfics that inspired me, and I finally figured I would give writing a shot. Please review! Tell me if you notice any errors, and definitely give me your opinion on the story and characterization. This fic will only be one or two more chapters. It's already all planned out, but I haven't finished drafting. I would love to hear what you think!

-AM

"This—sleeping together, dating, whatever it is that we're doing—it needs to stop."

No sooner had Mamoru opened the door than Usagi had blurted out her thoughts. The tall, black-haired man stared down at the small blonde, his eyes unreadable. He turned, walked back into his living room, and sat down on his couch.

Usagi took this as her cue to follow him, slipping off her boots in the doorway and sitting down on his recliner.

"When you texted me to say you were coming over for 'serious talk' on a Wednesday evening," Mamoru said, punctuating the phrase with finger quotations, "I figured it wouldn't be fun."

Usagi had briefly practiced what she was going to say on the subway ride over. Mamoru said nothing further, so she launched into her explanation, unintentionally examining her fingernails.

"Well, these last four or five months have been fun. You know I like you a lot and I've come to consider you a good friend. I care about you, so I want you to be happy. But I don't think this is working for me any more."

She finally looked over at Mamoru, but he was not looking at her. He was fixated on his plain white walls.

Usagi continued. "I'm already 27, and at this point in my life I'd like to start looking for something a little more serious. I met this nice guy at work, his name's—"

"Don't tell me his name—I don't want to hear about it!" Mamoru's sudden outburst threw her off-guard.

"What are you getting upset about? We both agreed from the start that this…'thing' wouldn't be serious," Usagi said, beginning to feel indignant. "And especially coming from the guy who claims monogamy is a social construct…"

"Don't you think I have a bit of say in this? I mean, we met first; shouldn't you consult with me before running off with someone else?" His tone was now acrimonious.

"Whoa, consult with you? Don't get me wrong, I knew you weren't going to be all sunshine and roses about this, but I figured you would understand. You're being hypocritical. I don't know who else you might be sleeping with, but I haven't bothered you about it. And now I want something different," Usagi finished.

Mamoru remained silent for what felt like minutes. When he spoke again, his tone was more calculated and calm. "I suppose it is inevitable that spending this much time together resulted in emotional attachment and dependency, despite our prior agreement."

"Emotional attachment? I guess that—" Usagi's train of thought was broken by her phone alarm alerting her to take her birth control pill. She had started the pill while seeing Mamoru; she supposed she would be continuing to use it with Seiya. Usagi stood up automatically and walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As she stood at the sink she heard his footsteps coming up behind her, but she chose not to turn around.

Mamoru pressed himself up against her back and she felt his mouth hovering just over her right earlobe. "Do you really think anyone else can fuck you the way I do?"

He trailed his lips down the side of her neck, while his left hand moved in slow, tantalizing motions just under her waistband. "I know just the right angle to make you come all over my sheets. It's almost too easy."

Usagi stiffened but involuntarily clenched her legs together as she felt his erection pulsating on her lower back. Mamoru reached his other hand under her shirt and began to cup her breast, and she knew she had to do something before they ended up on his bed.

She pulled his hands off her body, stepped away a few feet and took a deep breath. "That's not fair. I wasn't complaining about our sex life. Stop trying to distract me with your prowess in bed; it's irrelevant to the issue at hand."

"Ah, so you want a serious, monogamous relationship. Want me to tell you I love you? Want me to get on one knee and propose? I'll become a salaryman, and we can have two cute kids." Mamoru smirked and continued. "It's human nature; women always want a relationship. They always want more than I can give them."

"Stop being such an arrogant prick! Fine, yes, I'm the female stereotype: I want a serious relationship. But I'm telling you that I want to pursue one with someone else! Do you think me breaking it off is a manipulative ploy to get you to confess your love for me or something?" Usagi glared at him; his silence answered her question.

Inflamed, Usagi kept going. "Do you really think I want to be with someone like you and expect a life of constant infidelity? I'm not even sure you're capable of romantic love. You have so much baggage. I don't know if it has to do with your parents' accident, your experience in foster homes, or—"

"That's enough," Mamoru cut her off. "This conversation is over." He began walking back to his front door.

"God, I'm sorry," Usagi sighed. "I shouldn't have brought that up. Look, I was hoping we could end this on relatively okay terms, but I guess that's not possible. I'm sorry that it has to be like this. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You should go," Mamoru said, now gesturing at the door. He had turned ice cold, and she knew that any further conversation attempts would be futile.

Usagi put on her boots, re-wrapped her scarf around her neck and turned back around to look at Mamoru. "Bye," she said, but he again avoided eye contact. She walked out the door.

As she was standing in the elevator on the way down, she thought back to what her best friend Minako had said to her during last week's gossip session with her friends.

"Usagi, you guys are spending a lot of time together. Are you sure something isn't developing? You know, presence makes the heart grow fonder, or whatever."

"Minako, that's just completely...that's not..." Ami stuttered.

"There is absolutely no way he's in love with me, or even close. I guess we both have some feelings for each other, but it doesn't run very deep. He's too self-centered, and he's got too many issues," Usagi said.

"Yeah, Mina," Rei said, "have you ever spoken with him? One of my friends at JX went on a few dates with him. She said that under his delicious exterior, he's just an egotistical bastard."

"But the sex still sounds great..." Minako sighed.

"Okay, moving on, it's time to hear about this new blossoming romance with your coworker, Usagi. Spare no details!" Makoto changed gears, and the subject was abandoned.

Mamoru had certainly been more upset than she had anticipated; however, that could be attributed to his emotional attachment to her. Usagi regretted hurting Mamoru, but she knew she had done the right thing considering her own desires and expectations about relationships.

Usagi walked out the door of Mamoru's apartment complex and headed toward the station, trying to dismiss a niggling feeling in the back of her mind. Was it merely guilt for hurting Mamoru, which was unfortunate but acceptable in the grand scheme of things, or was it something more? She could not answer her own question, and instead switched her thoughts to her dinner date with Seiya the next day.