Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara! or Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You, which belongs to Diane Warren.

Part Two: Can't Stop My Heart From Loving You

I slide sideways, out of Ikuto's burning grip, and his arms fall to his sides. I slip around him and practically bolt back to the sliding door leading to my room. Ikuto catches my arm before I can get inside and pulls me back. He whirls me around to face him, keeping a tight grip on my wrist.

"Let me go," I say furiously.

"Never," he growls. "Don't you see that, Amu? I love you. I can't."

I struggle against his grip, but he tightens it. "You say that now, Ikuto," I cry, "but what happens when a more interesting girl crosses your path?"

He chuckles once, humorlessly and hard. "More interesting that you? That isn't possible."

I ignore him. "What happens when you get bored?"

"That isn't ‒"

"It will happen! Maybe not now, but in 10, 20 years? Ikuto, you weren't made for a long-term commitment!" I pause, sucking in a rattling breath. I reach my hand up and stroke his cheek apologetically. "The only reason you've stuck around this long is because I'm as good as a mouse for you to chase."

I forcefully twist my arm and Ikuto loses his grip. I yank my arm away and retreat into my room, slamming the sliding door closed and lock it, then pull the curtains closed.

I take a few hesitant, shaky steps to my bed and collapse onto it, bursting into tears, regretting everything I'd said but knowing at the same time that it was necessary. Ikuto makes a great friend, of course, but I know without a doubt that if we were to take our relationship to the next level. . . . I just know I would be the one breaking then.

There has to be a point where you stop sacrificing yourself for others' happiness.

A low, keening sound creeps its way to my ears between my sobs. A soft voice, mournful, singing a slow, sad melody. Ikuto. I stifle my sobs, straining my ears to hear the words:

"You can think that I'm just playing games.

You can think I'll do you wrong.

You can think that I don't mean a word I say.

You can think what you want.

But if you think you're gonna stop

The way I feel about you, baby,

You're just wasting your time,

'Cause I'm not changing my mind."

I slowly sit up, confused. It takes me a while to recognize the song, but when I do I realize it's another old love song, the tempo slowed down, making it sound sad and lamenting.

"Can't stop the rain from falling down,

Can't stop the world from turning 'round, oh,

Can't stop my heart from loving you.

No, no, no, no, no matter what you do, baby."

I stand and hesitantly shuffle to my balcony. I gingerly place my hand against the glass, murmuring, "Ikuto." I take a deep breath and, with shaking fingers, pull aside the curtain. Ikuto looks mildly surprised, but doesn't stop.

"You can trust that I'm gonna stay around.

You can trust I'll treat you right.

You can be sure that I won't ever let you down;

Sure as there are stars in the sky.

And if you think there'll ever come a day

I'll live without you, baby,

You're as wrong as can be.

Can't change the way that I feel."

My fingers fumble for the lock on the door, and after a few seconds of struggling with it, I succeed in pushing it up. I slide the door open and Ikuto's voice cuts out. Silence encloses us.

I breathe in and quietly begin to sing where Ikuto left off. My voice is shaky at first, but grows with every note. After a few lines Ikuto joins in, looking bewildered.

"Can't stop the rain from falling down,

Can't stop the world from turning 'round, oh,

Can't stop my heart from loving you.

No, no, no, no, no matter what you do, baby."

Just as if we're in a movie, Ikuto wraps his arms around me, pulling me close. I close my eyes and let my head rest on his chest.

"Can't stop a river running free,

Can't stop this love I feel in me, oh,

Can't stop my heart from loving you.

No, no, no, no, no matter what you do, baby.

"Can't stop the wind, can't stop the sea.

Can't stop the feeling I feel in me.

Night needs the stars, stars need the sky

And I will always need you here in my life.

"So if you think you're gonna stop

The way I feel about you, baby,

You're just wasting your time

'Cause I'm not changing my mind.

"Can't stop the rain from falling down.

Can't stop the world from turning 'round, oh.

Can't stop my heart from loving you.

No, no, no, no, no matter what you do, baby.

"Can't stop a river running free.

Can't stop this love I feel in me, oh.

Can't stop my heart from loving you.

No, no, no, no, no matter what you do, baby."

Silence envelops us again with the end of the song, but I break it quickly.

"Ikuto," I begin, reluctantly pulling my head away from his chest to look up at him. "I. . . . I can't."

"Do you love me?" he asks quietly.

I ignore him, my face heating up. "I'm just a game to you. Something tantalizing, dangling right in front of you, but just out of reach. You love the challenge of getting me." I force myself to pull out of Ikuto's embrace, knowing it's for the best, knowing it'll hurt much more if – when – he breaks my heart. I take a few steps back. "But you don't love me."

Ikuto's silent for a few moments. Then he says quietly, "Stop. Just . . . stop, Amu."

"Stop what?" I ask, caught off guard. I'd been expecting . . . I don't know what. But certainly not this nearly silent pain.

"Stop lying to yourself."

"What?" I say, incredulous. "I'm not lying-"

"Yes you are," he interrupts. "You're telling yourself I'll hurt you, but you know it's not true. You just don't want to face the truth: you're too weak to go against what's expected of you."

"What's expected of me?" I repeat. "That's ridiculous. There's nothing expected of me!"

"Isn't there?" He takes a step closer to me, saying, "You're with Tadase because everyone expects you to be. You had a tiny little crush on him that got blown way out of proportion and now you don't want to go against it because it's too inconvenient to explain why the princess doesn't want to be with the prince anymore, when everyone expects them to end up together. Happily ever after," he scoffs.

I shake my head, understanding where he's going with this. "No."

"But you don't want the prince. You want me. The villain. The traitor."

"I look down. "No."

"But you can't disappoint everyone, and they wouldn't understand, anyway. So you lie to yourself because it's easier than facing the facts: that you're a spineless, nonconfrontational, selfish princess," he spits.

Slap!

I stare at my raised hand in shock. I don't even remember lifting it. But the red hand-shaped mark appearing on Ikuto's cheek proves that I did.

"I am not," I begin, my voice shaking, "spineless, nonconfrontational, or selfish. And I am most definitely not a princess."

"Prove it," Ikuto says. "Because you will be if you don't stop worrying about what's expected of you, and start worrying about what you want."

Ikuto turns to leave, bending down to pick up his violin, and in those few seconds I realize that he's right. About everything. Of course he is. He knows me so well, how can I not know that he's right?

"Ikuto, wait," I say just as he's climbing over the ledge of my balcony. I grab his arm and spin him to face me, just as he did to me twenty minutes ago.

It's time to face myself. To stop lying. To make the right choice, even though it seems like it will be painful.

Because I was wrong before. It won't be more painful to have Ikuto break my heart. It'll be more painful to never know what we could have. To never know what we will have. And in the end, if I'm right, at least I'll be a tougher person for it.

And if I'm wrong, I'll have the love of my life with me through all the hardships. And that's some pretty damn good company, if you ask me.

So instead of pleading with him, like he did with me, I make the decision of my life and pull his head down to mine and kiss him.

Ikuto wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. My arms snake around his neck and one of my hands finds its way up to Ikuto's soft hair. He's holding me so tightly that his violin case begins to dig into my back. I pull my mouth away, grimacing.

"What?" he asks, looking nervous – a sight I've never seen.

I laugh, realizing that my pained look is probably making him self-concious. Then I stop, deciding that my laughter probably isn't helping the matter. "Oh, it's nothing," I answer. "I just . . . sort of feel like you're trying to stab me in the back with your violin."

Comprehension floods his face and he grins his special grin. The one I know he saves just for me. "What? Didn't you like it?"

I lightly smack his chest. "Pervert."

"How was that perverted?" Ikuto asks innocently.

"With you, everything is perverted." I can't help but smile at being sucked back into our familiar "argument".

His grin turns into a familiar smirk as he says, "You love it."

My smile drops, my expression turning serious. I look straight into Ikuto's sapphire eyes as I say, "I love you."

Ikuto's smile softens and he looks right back into my honey-colored eyes. "I love you, too."

Our lips meet and we kiss softly, sweetly, and I can't help thinking that this is definitely worth a little pain in the future.

So, yeah. Just a little fluff for everyone at the end there. What did you think? Leave comments, please! I always appreciate constructive criticism!

By the way, for those of you Harry Potter fans, I'm working (slowly) on a long fic for that. With some romance between characters that I've never seen with romance in any other fanfic before. But I'm not going to say who! You'll find out! If I ever finish it between college, two jobs, and homework...

Thanks for reading, guys!