A/N: I havent forgotten about this story... I've just been deathly busy! It will be updated more frequently from now on... This chapter is short, but the next one will be longer, promise! Please R&R... It's much appreciated!
"It's midnight…" Tohru whispered as they pulled away from each other reluctantly. "I… should call." The moonlit window lured her eyes as she enjoyed the breezy sensation of the night air creeping down her exposed neck. Everything about her position, where she was and the warmth greeted by the breeze felt just perfect, and she wished she hadn't mentioned calling her friends. It meant that she'd have to leave… 'Back to reality…' she thought, feeling an ironic smile cross her face.
Yuki dropped his hand absent mindedly into the pocket of his coat, hardly realizing what he was doing. His gaze was locked on her; and something inside his head wished vaguely that she would look back at him instead of out the window. He quickly blinked and snapped out of it when her head turned suddenly. Tohru's eyes quickly locked with his; granting his wish.
"Here." Yuki handed her his silver cell phone. "I'll take you home," he smiled softly at her, his mind still blissfully blank, filled with nothing but Tohru, Tohru… But there was something funny about his mental image of her… realizing what it was, he thought out loud: "The stroke of twelve… Cinderella escapes…"
Tohru giggled a little and beamed, accepting the phone appreciatively. "Thank you… what is it… Prince Charming?"
"Ah, my old nickname. I used to hate it." Yuki chuckled lightheartedly. He noticed Tohru looked a little worried, like she had insulted him. "Don't worry. I love it if it's from you."
The prince listened serenely as his princess began to dial numbers into the phone. There were seven… each little beep represented a year that he had been forced to live without her. He was still at a loss as to why they were brought together again. All he knew was that he was exceptionally thankful to whoever was ultimately responsible… Some big guy (or girl?) upstairs? Yuki normally would have chuckled at the thought. He would have laughed at the mere idea of destiny even just yesterday. Why was that changing now?
… Tohru …
'I'm dreaming…' he thought; full mindedly raising a hand to his cheek and pinching himself, hard. The resulting pain caused him to jump slightly, and his eyes squeezed closed momentarily, allowing him to cringe as a nasty ache spread across the left half of his face. "God that was a stupid thing to do…" Yuki muttered, briefly forgetting Tohru's presence. "Er…"
She looked up from the ground in surprise, eyebrows raised in amusement. That beautiful smile had once again crossed her delicate face, and Yuki's right cheek had quickly turned red to match his left. He bit his lip self-consciously and grinned back, looking quite goofy.
"… Thought I was dreaming…"
The phone rang endlessly about seven times, until the answering machine finally picked up.
"Hello, you've reached Arisa, Saki and Tohru-kun. We're probably out right now, so if you want us to get back to you please leave a message after the beep! Arigatou!" Tohru heard her own voice answer the call. There was some muffling in the background, and she heard her two friends talking, unaware that the machine was picking up their voices.
"Oh Tohru, you're so polite… isn't she Hana?"
"Dear Tohru…" Hana's voice suddenly became louder as she spoke now to the answering machine. "If you don't leave a message or are pranking, fear not that we shall call you back promptly…" A faint crackling followed, sounding curiously like electricity…
Uo laughed. "Don't scare the stupid children now, Hana."
"Eh?" Tohru heard her voice again, followed by a long –beeeeep-.
"Uo, Hana… We really need to change that answering machine greeting…" Tohru laughed into the phone. Yuki looked up at her, confused. She winked at him as if to say 'I'll tell you later' and continued. "I'm just calling to say I'll be home shortly… I ran into Yuki-kun again… and well… you know. If you've fallen asleep, don't worry about it…But.. uhh…if you're asleep… how can you hear me say it's okay… err…. gomen. Anyway, talk to you later, ja!" Tohru removed the phone from her ear, looking a little frazzled and pressing the 'end call' button. She then handed it back to Yuki. "Thanks."
"I'll take you home, if you want." Yuki reached forward and clasped her hands between his.
"That would be wonderful, Yuki-kun… Thank you." Tohru leaned closer to him, and sensing what she was doing, Yuki did the same. The pair met in the middle, noses touching. Yuki winked, and Tohru smiled, her orb-like eyes fluttering closed. Her lips traced his softly… and a long exultant moment passed as they just enjoyed each other's light touch. Yuki's happy expression finally changed to one of mischief as he kissed her.
Sorry this chapter was so short, the next one will be longer, I promise. It's been difficult to write this thing at all, but I think I know where it's going... The next chapter will be in songfic type format. :) I'll update as soon as I can, probably after my exams are over and I get rid of this MOUNTAIN of English homework... I swear it'll be the end of me...
Thanks for bearing with me this long. Please review, and I'll try my best to get the next chappie up A.S.A.P!
Sahariah