A/N: Yes, I finally updated. Dunno why, though. Seeing as how I only have a pathetic 9 reviews. Was it that bad that you guys didn't review? I guess it was. Well, nevermind me. I'm just in a self-loathing state right now. So just read on and enjoy, I guess! It's kinda really long so don't hate me! Besides, don't you guys like long chapters? ~_~ Oh and by the way, it's kinda OOC.

...okay, really OOC. Please don't shoot me!

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

"Ichigo…" I stammered. "Wh-What are you doing here?!"

"I came for your performance, duh."

He was trying to act nonchalant, but I could tell that he was hiding his anger. With what, I did not know. As I turned to face him, I couldn't help but blush. He wore a fitting white T-shirt and black pants, tapered at the bottom. A single slim black tie was wrapped around his neck and a black leather jacket was in his right hand, thrown over his right shoulder. All in all, he was hot. As usual.

His amber eyes were staring right into my own, and I couldn't help but feel lightheaded. I rubbed the soft cloth of the robe over my skin, trying to get rid of the goose bumps that covered my body. It didn't work.

"I'm not gonna ask you again, Rukia. Who are you in love with?" His eyes were smoldering, and they seemed like they were trying to get an answer out of me. I felt my lips open involuntarily.

"Yo-"

Hey. Hold on a second there. Was I just going to confess to him? And in front of my friends nonetheless?!

"Yoshita Takashi!"

Good job Rukia. Great cover up.

"Who the fuck is that?!" It seemed as if he was on fire. His face was a canvas of red, so deep that it put the colour of tomato sauce to shame, not to mention his determined eyes were turning into a lighter shade of golden. It sort of scared me, how he looked slightly wild. "How come I've never met him before? Rukia, I swear, if you ever go near him again, I'll lock you up in your room and kill that bastard if he comes even within 10 metres from you. Wait. Screw 10 metres! I'll kill him as soon as I see him! I swear I will. Don't doubt for a second what I'll do to that poor asshat of a per-"

"Shut up! Why the hell do you care anyway?! It's none of your beeswax! You have no right whatsoever to have a say on who I am or am not in love with!"

His eyes hardened and I was suddenly suspicious of what was going on in his brain. It was times like these that I cursed myself for not being able to read his mind when he was mad. Though it wasn't often that he was angry around me. More like irritated.

Voice strained, he said, "I'll be seated on the right side of the judge's table. Good luck." With that, he turned and walked away towards the exit. It was not until then that I realized he held something in his left hand. A bouquet of roses with a single white rose in the middle.

My eyes started brimming with tears, and to hide it, I turned and faced away from his retreating back. Rose, who was still in her chair, touched my shoulder sympathetically.

"It's okay, Rukia. I'm sure he's not that mad." She gently removed the compact eye shadow that was clenched tightly in my fist and continued. "I'll ask Mary-Jane to do this for me. Go ahead and sit down for awhile."

All I could do was nod dumbly. Rose knew better than to try and comfort me when I was as distressed as I was then. From the corner of my eye, I saw her throw me a worried glance as she backed off towards Mary-Jane, another dancer, who was talking animatedly on her phone. As soon as I saw that she had turned away from me, my silent sobbing started, causing my body to tremble slightly from trying so hard to keep them in. After not seeing him for so long, we had to get into a fight immediately after we reunited. Ah, this was so frustrating! Suddenly, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and the scent of roses suddenly engulfed me.

"I-Ichigo…"

"God, Rukia. I-I'm so sorry! I mean it's your big day and all and I just had to come along and ruin it. Argh! I'm sorry! Don't cry…"

I twisted around to face him as I laid my palms on his chest. He was looking down at me with a pitiful expression. Despite the sadness that was overwhelming me, I couldn't help the small smile that escaped me at the sight.

"Idiot," I managed.

He grinned in relief and slapped his palm on the top of my head. He always used to do that, just to emphasize my shortness. From the other side of the room, I could see Rose give me a knowing smirk through the mirror as Mary-Jane did her eyes. I smiled weakly back. He stepped back, held out the bouquet in front of me and looked off to the side.

"F-For luck."

I touched the petals of the single white rose in the middle and smiled at the way his cheeks were tinged with the slightest shade of pink as he said this.

Suddenly overwhelmed, I let the bouquet drop down beside me and threw my arms around him.

"Thanks for coming, Ichigo!"

...

Whooooa. Pause. Rewind!

I drew back abruptly and felt like melting into the floor. Where the hell did that sudden braveness come from anyway?! I bent down, grabbed the bunch of flowers from the floor and concentrated determinedly on arranging the bouquet that had come a bit undone in an effort not to look up, and see the smirk that was bound to be present.

"Hey! You're Ichigo, right? Your girlfriend told me you weren't going to be able to make it," said Jared, who'd just entered the room.

I so, so wanted to punch him at that moment.

"Shut it, Jar-"

"Took a week off. What's it to you, ballerina?"

Jared, in true Jared fashion, breezed it off. He sauntered over to me and draped an arm over my shoulders.

"C'mon, Rukie-baby. The dance floor's waiting for us."

"Don't call her that," snapped Ichigo.

Surprised, I looked at him. He usually never lost his temper over something so minor. Not that I minded though.

"Why?" Jared smirked. "What's it to you?" he quoted.

Ichigo growled at him and turned to me.

"I've gotta go to my seat now. Good luck, midget." He strode over in between Jared and me, bending down to wrap his arms around me. The arm that was around my shoulders fell as Jared was pushed away from me. I blushed and gave him a one-arm hug back. I still had the flowers in one of my hands, after all. If I dropped them again, I knew they wouldn't hold together. He pulled away until he was a little above the top of my head. He gave me that oh-so-sexy smirk of his and my heart literally skipped a beat.

Seriously, how did I become such a sop in love? It even sounds cliché in my head!

I blinked when he stepped out of my personal space bubble, suddenly feeling the loss of his warmth. He stepped back once more, and lifted his arm and waved once, then turned and made his way out towards the seating area. At the door, he turned once and gave me a smile, which I returned. He then twisted his head towards Jared and gave him a once over. He smirked and began walking out again. I stared at his withdrawing back for a few seconds, my fingers dancing over the petals of the white rose. As soon as he was out of earshot, Rose came bouncing over. Jared shrugged and walked away to do whatever he usually does.

Was it just me, or was Ichigo being possessive just now?

…

Nah, that couldn't be true.

I was suddenly jolted out of my reverie as a feminine voice entered my ears.

"I told you, I told you he liked you!" Rose sang. "And, oh my god, he is gorgeous,Rukia," she firmly took hold of my shoulders. "Listen to me. He is totally into you!" she practically howled out the last part. "It was so obvious I could have cried." Somewhere, deep in my brain, I had registered that possible fact. I couldn't help the stupid smile from forming on my face as I thought about this. Rose smiled and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so happy for you, Rukia," she squealed.

I smiled up at her. "Thanks Rose. You're an awesome friend. I really don't know how I would have survived these past few months without you."

The sound of Jared clearing his throat loudly from the doorway broke us out of our moment. We both rolled our eyes at him and together, followed him out the door.

The last rehearsal done, we paced nervously backstage as our performance time drew nearer. I was trying not to think about him, however futile that may be. It was causing my brain to go into overdrive, and I couldn't afford to screw my up choreography and embarrass myself in front of him. God, it was going to be bloody hard though, seeing as how I almost always manage to humiliate myself. As the sound of applause reached our ears, Rose and I looked at each other in silent horror. Then, almost simultaneously, we drew in a deep, calming breath.

We took our places and as the curtains opened, my eyes automatically darted around the audience for a sign of orange. As my eyes settled on Ichigo, sitting just where he said he'd be right beside the judges table, all my nerves disappeared in an instant. He was here. He'd come down to see me. I smiled. With that, I let the music envelop me and launched into the routine.

Backstage, the excited, congratulatory atmosphere was enough to lift me out of my nerves which had returned full force immediately after the recital. People were running around and hugging each other; and friends and family had sneaked backstage too. I grinned at the sight of Rose and her boyfriend, who I finally got to see. He looked like a rock star, with his dark hair with red highlights spiked right down the middle. He was attractive, nonetheless.

Then I noticed Jared chatting up some girl who really needed to invest in a shirt that actually served its purpose. He caught my eye and I gave him a scoff. He just responded with a wink and pulled the girl off to god knew where.

"Pervert," I muttered to myself.

"Where do you think you're going?" growled an apparently annoyed Ichigo. He caught my arm and pulled me to himself with my back against his chest.

Crap.

"Err…nowhere?" I tried, looking up at him standing behind me. In truth, I had been spending the after party at the concert hall trying to evade him, for fear of the awkward silences that were bound to be present. I mean, you just didn't have moments like those everyday with someone who was supposed to be your best friend. It'd been relatively easy enough, avoiding him, that is, thanks to his orange head which I could spot from a mile away. With the help of the flashing lights, it was even easier than normal to spot his luminous hair.

"Don't lie to me Rukia. You've been avoiding me since-"

"Oops, sorry Ichigo. I'd love to stay and chat but I really gotta go pee."

"I just saw you going in 15 minutes ago."

"Yeah, well, I gotta go again. I'm a girl you know." I struggled against his vice-like grip.

"Oh no, you don't. You're not getting away this time." He dragged me out of the hall to a bench in the brightly lit walkway around the corner.

"Sit," he ordered.

"No," I answered indignantly. "What am I, your dog?"

"Sit," he ordered again. "Or I'll make you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Okay," he shrugged with an evil smirk. I really didn't like the look of that. It was defiantly not gonna be good.

…

I was right, I realized, when I suddenly found myself on the ground with him on top of me and my ass hurting. A lot.

I scowled up at him. "What the hell Ichigo!"

"I win," he grinned mischievously.

"Whatever. Now get off me, you pervert." His knees were on either side of my hips which prevented any escape plans I might have had. As I wondered what the hell he thought he was doing, I felt my cheeks heating up at the close proximity. I really hoped Ichigo wouldn't notice. I was attempting to rearrange my face into a pissed off expression when he started laughing.

"What are you laughing at," I grumbled.

"You." At his response, I sighed exasperatedly.

"Are you going to let me go and tell me what the hell you're doing?"

"Are you planning to run off if I do?"

"Uh…no?"

"Right. That was so convincing. Hence, sorry, you aren't going anywhere."

"Asshole."

"You know you love me."

I swear, my heart stopped beating for about 5 seconds.

"…What?!"

"You love me," he said smirking now.

"Wha-What gives you that idea?" I replied, trying not to stutter.

"Well, for starters, Yoshita Takashi doesn't exist." I wondered how he'd figured that out. I had a feeling Rose had something to do with it. His smirk was turning into a full blown grin of self-satisfaction by now.

"Who says he doesn't exist? You saying that doesn't mean a damn thing," I refuted stubbornly. I really didn't know why I was behaving like this. I should be jumping for this opportunity to tell him my feelings for him by now and agreeing whole-heartedly! He sighed in frustration and stood up, pulling me along. He bent down slightly and drew me as close to him as possible, until I was totally enclosed in his warmth. I flushed when I felt his breath on my ear. Even in this dire –yes, dire- situation, I felt bliss.

"Stop lying, Rukia," his husky sing-song voice whispered into my ear.

Goodbye, bliss.

I sputtered indignantly. How dare he accuse me of lying?! Fine, maybe I was lying, but he shouldn't go around accusing me like that! I glared at him as I tried to come up with something for a retort. I sighed and closed my eyes briefly when I realized I didn't have anything to say up my sleeve. What perfect timing I had to forget all the snappy come backs I had memorized! I did, after all, have a notebook with everything written down. Hey! How do you expect to win arguments if you aren't prepared?!

Anyway, back on track.

I groaned when I realized what I had to do. I figured, what the heck, might as well tell him, now that he has me cornered. I took in a deep breath and opened my previously closed eyelids to stare into his beautiful amber eyes. They seemed anxious, pleading almost. Now more apprehensive of the outcome, I mentally prepared myself for the worst and opened my lips.

"You're right Ichigo…" This statement brought a sharp intake of breath from Ichigo.

Looking up to him, I continued. "I love you… like a friend."

…I know, I know. I'm such a chicken.

I broke out of my self-loathing state when I noticed that my statement had brought on a variety of reactions from the man across of me.

He stared at me in disbelief for two seconds, before slamming his palm on his forehead. He turned with his back facing me and lifted his fist, cursing the heavens loudly. He then grabbed a fistful of his hair in both of his hands and spun back around to look towards me, a crazed look in his eyes.

"You love me, as you would love a friend?! Seriously, Rukia? Seriously?!"

I stared at the floor, unable to comprehend what was happening. "Uh…"

"No! You don't! Unless… unless, you have someone else you love? Like… that Jared guy, was it? Or even… Yoshita Takashi? He exists?! But that friend of yours told me he didn't! I can't believe this! I t-thought you loved m-me! Argh! How c-could I be so s-stupid?!"

He was stuttering, and it was only when I looked up at him when I realized that he had tears running down his face. The Kurosaki Ichigo was crying. Actually crying. The same person who had never cried a day in his life after the death of his mother 9 years ago. And I was the one who made him after another 9 years of his life had passed since then.

My self-loathing state came back full force.

Before I knew what I was doing, I had both hands holding his cheeks, rubbing his tears away.

"Shh, Ichigo… why are you crying? You're not the one that's supposed to be crying, I'm the only crybaby in our lives! C'mon, please? For me?" I whispered softly, and he slowly brought his eyes to meet mine. We remained staring at each other for a few minutes, neither of us moving away from the embrace. Ichigo's tears had stopped flowing, but it was still obvious to me that he was feeling broken. Could he really be in love with me? It was close to impossible, seeing as how I was a complete plain-Jane, with nothing to compare to with other more beautiful girls.

The silence was slowly but surely beginning to turn stifling, so I finally decided to speak.

"Are you gonna answer my question?" My voice was still low.

"What question?" He murmured back. His voice was raspy, an indication that he had been crying.

"Why were you… crying?"

There was a pause as he regarded me carefully. His eyes swiftly seemed determined of something, and he pulled away from me. He stared at my confused eyes before answering.

"Let me go to the washroom first. I'll… be right back." He looked at me for a second longer before striding towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway. He soon disappeared from my view as he entered through the door. I gradually made my way towards the opposite wall of the door and slid down to sit down on the floor. My legs were stretched out on the floor, and I clasped my hands together and placed them on my lap, staring at them.

Was he in love with me? I still couldn't comprehend the fact that there was a possibility that he could be. I mean, I've seen girls throw themselves at him, and they were so pretty, with their huge bust size and their long legs. Granted, I too had long legs, but they were hidden by the shortness of my body. Why would he love me, when he could get a supermodel as a lover? I knew he had never had a girlfriend either, from the day I met him when we were both 10. It didn't make any sense…

I don't know what took over me, but I did something then that would greatly affect my life from that point on.

I looked up towards the ceiling, closed my eyes, and said in such a faint voice that I knew no one could hear me from down the hall, "I love you… Ichigo…"

A sudden clearing of throat alerted me of someone else's presence in the vicinity, and my eyes flew open. It was Ichigo, staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Too shocked to do much, I immediately opened my mouth, to contradict what I said.

"I-Ichi- No! I don't-! That was-"

I couldn't even complete my sentences; my mind wasn't functioning properly! How could I be so stupid as to say something like that right in front of the door of the room that he was inside of?! Ah, stupid Rukia!

But what he did next made me not feel sorry for what I did.

He silenced my thoughts which were going into overdrive as his lips pressed against mine. I was so shocked at first that he would be so bold. It was only when I felt him pulling me to my feet and nibbling on my lips when I realized I wasn't responding. I immediately started to, and an almost feral growl left his lips when I did. He was being firm, but gentle at the same time. He grabbed my hips and pressed myself against him, while totally devouring my lips.

Motherfucking euphoria. That was all I could feel. Well, okay. Maybe not. I did feel the hand that was creeping down my spine towards my ass. He grabbed it and squeezed it lightly, causing a whimper to escape my lips. Before we knew it, he had me up against the wall.

We broke apart when it became clear that we wouldn't be able to stop ourselves from taking it further if we continued with the making out. When I had finally caught my breath, I stared up at him in total shock.

"I love you, Rukia."

And, as we stood under the fluorescent lights of the walkway, I knew that it was all right, that there was no need to run away from anything. I pecked him on the lips once again, before smiling shyly up at him.

"Fine, idiot. I love you too."

It was safe to say that I had never seen a bigger smile than the one he had plastered across his face.

Ichigo and I had just reentered the hall when I heard a familiar voice.

"Rukia!" squealed Rose as she dashed towards me like a hurricane. "We got in!"

"What, seriously?! That's awesome!" I rushed forward and hugged her. I was going to Shirayuki Ballet School! Finally, after so long, my dream was going to become a reality, and I would have Rose with me. Plus, it turned out that Ichigo had a job offer near the school, which he was only planning to accept if I had been chosen, so we'd be able to see each other. It seemed like everything was going to work out so well.

"Seriously, you two look like you're going to hug each other to death."

Nope, it looked like Jared was still an idiot.

On the way back to our hotel, where Ichigo had been conveniently informed by Rose that he would be staying with me at, I sat in the passenger seat of his rented black BMW M6 convertible Neiman Marcus Edition car (yes, he's rich) while he drove. An awkward silence ensued for a few minutes, before Ichigo decided to break the ice.

"So… we're together now right?"

I seriously wanted to smack him right then. After making out for at least ten minutes and confessing our feelings for each other, you would think he got the picture that we were, in actual fact, dating.

We stopped at a traffic light.

I started rambling. "Yes, you idiot! Of course, we're dating! Unless you lied and only wanted to make out with some girl and I happened to be nearby and the only way for you to kiss me was to confess to m-"

He leaned over and claimed my lips briefly before pulling back with a smug smile on his face.

"Silly. That was my first kiss ya know. I wouldn't just give that to anyone." He reached his right hand toward me, keeping his left hand on the wheel, and stroked my cheek. "I really do love you, Rukia." He smiled and brought my face towards his and feathered my face with light kisses. We jerked apart when the sound of an insistent horn reached our ears, and without delay, Ichigo sped off.

The blush that hadn't left my cheeks since getting into the car grew as I stared out at the passing buildings.

"It was… my first kiss too."

I didn't look up at him when he answered, since the blush had instantly become redder as all the blood rushed to my face and ears.

"And I'll be the only one to give you any kisses from now on, seeing as how you're gonna be my wife soon."

I could tell he wasn't joking, even though he said it in a very arrogant voice. And you know what?

I couldn't care less.

All I knew was that I was going to marry the man of my dreams -literally- and the years we would spend together were going to be magnificent.

And to think, it all started with the slip of the tongue under the fluorescent lights.

A/N: It's over! Yup, it's only gonna be a two-shot, but maybe if I get more reviews, I might write an epilogue or something. Well, the point is, REVIEW!! Just click that button and say hi!