Going Up

Rating: Um. I do cuss a little. Not like a lot, though. So, um. Don't read it if you're against cussing?

Pairing: Amuto! xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara. This was a birthday present for my friend Wren.

She stumbled as she trudged up the sidewalk, carrying her heels in one hand and her purse in the other. She used the back of her hand to wipe away some of the tears that were mercilessly falling down her face. She couldn't shake her enormous feeling of stupidity and grief and everything that could possibly go wrong would go wrong and did go wrong and it just had to all happen today.

"... it just had to be today." She sniffed, stumbling again as the tears clouded her vision.

He'd picked her up. Of course he had. It was in his goody-two-shoes manner, the stupid little no-good, awful, disgusting LOSER. She had refused to ride home with him. If she had to march a good 7 miles back to her apartment, so be it. That jerk got what was coming.

She let out a sigh of relief as she leaned against the marble pillar in front of the elevator. She had walked too far to use the stairs like she normally did. She wiped a few more tears away as she jabbed the up button repeatedly, impatiently. She rubbed her hands across her face and entered the elevator quickly as soon as the doors opened. She forcefully mashed the "7" button then the "Door Close" button. Releasing one last depressed sigh, she sagged against the elevator wall and tried to make herself invisible to the man standing opposite her.

He was watching her, absolutely shocked. His jaw hung open a bit, but he quickly snapped it shut. He moved his gaze from her to his bag to the lights of the elevator buttons.

How was he to have known she'd live her? Ikuto ran his fingers through his hair, letting his gaze drift to her again. She looked absolutely devastated. He would have said something to her, but he doubted she'd even remember who he was. He figured her with that disheveled look she'd already experienced an extremely shitty day and didn't need the thought of some elevator stalker-pervert distressing her even more. He shifted his balance from his right foot to his left foot, trying the best he could to ignore the girl as she desperately attempted to keep her sobbing as quiet as possible.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the elevator made a loud creak and jolted, tossing him forcefully against the back wall. The girl collapsed to the ground and hit the wall as well.

The elevator moaned and slowed to a halt, the lights on the buttons dimming quickly.

Ikuto let out a sigh, looking down at the pink-haired girl of his past.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

She looked up at him surprised, her bright hazel eyes connecting with his dark orbs. Ikuto winced at the glare he was sent.

"D-do I LOOK o-okay to y-you?!" She croaked, wiping away a fresh batch of tears.

Ikuto frowned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his handkerchief.

"Here." He passed it down to her and let out a soft smile when she loudly blew her nose into it.

"Don't worry, you can keep it." He joked, joining her on the floor.

His grin grew when he saw the trace of a smile dance across her lips.

"So, um... It normally takes them about 30 minutes to fix this type of thing, right?"

"Y-yeah. That's why-y I take the s-stairs. I hate e-elevators." She sniffed, still with her face buried in Ikuto's handkerchief.

Ikuto bit his lip when he saw her shiver. "You're cold."

The girl turned to him again with a nod. "Can... Do you mind if I hold you?"

She looked alarmed then appalled, and then a fresh batch of tears hit her hard and before he knew it she was sobbing into his shoulder.

"Hey, it'll be alright." He rubbed her back gently as he rocked from side to side. "It'll be okay, Amu-chan."

The girl pulled away abruptly, giving him a curious glare. "H-how do you know my name?"

Ikuto mentally cursed. "Well, um... I don't think..."

Amu raised her brow. "What's your name?"

"Ikuto."

Her eyes widened as she remembered and she looked down at the ground surprised. "Wow. I haven't seen you in forever."

He nodded stiffly. "That's why I didn't want to say anything. I thought you didn't remember me."

She shrugged, glad his distraction had finally made the tears stop. "What are you doing here?"

He grinned cheekily. "Well, you see, Amu, if you didn't know, the parking garage is actually under the building and that's why I was on before you and —"

She shoved him lightly. "I know that, stupid. Why are you here as in you live here?" She motioned to the suitcase.

Ikuto nodded and reached for his suitcase. He unzipped it, dug around for a moment, and pulled out a huge black sweatshirt. He tossed it her direction. "Put it on. I'm here because of my job. There's a place here willing to pay me good money if I play for them. I figure there's gotta be some other bars or joints I can finds gigs as well."

"Why this apartment building?"

Ikuto laughed. "It's the cheapest. What are you doing here?"

Amu looked puzzled. "What do you mean? I live here."

"Yeah, I know that. You're still in school, right? A senior this year. Going to graduate and get a job soon, huh?" He laughed at her blush. "And you and that boy king are still dating, huh?"

He instantly regretted ever mentioning the subject. She was on his shoulder crying in less than fifteen seconds.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he rubbed her back with the other.

"What happened?"

Amu turned her head. "H-he... I t-thought he was g-gunna purpose and n-no it.. h-he... he..." She buried her head into his chest and continued to sob.

Ikuto frowned. That munchkin boy hurt her. "I'm sorry he didn't purpose. Maybe he's just not ready? You might have to give him some time..."

She pulled away again, staring at him teary-eyed. "Y-you don't get it..."

"What don't I get?"

"H-he said it was an i-important date and that i-it was going to be f-fancy and so Miki dressed me up really p-pretty but... but..."

"You do look pretty." He smiled at her and fingered the hem of the ruffled black dress. "What did he do?"

"H-he dumped m-me, Ikuto-kun... W-why?! Aren't I p-pretty and I l-loved him and... and..." Her eyes welled with tears as she collapsed against him again.

"Wow. I'm really sorry, Amu. I am." He knew he was being ignored; the poor girl was hysterical. Who wouldn't be after being lead on so falsely for so long? He ran his hands through her hair and subconsciously took out all the pins and bands keeping her hair in place. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry the hurt out.

"It'll be okay. There's other guys. You deserve better anyway." He pulled her closer, thinking somehow that would stop all her pain.

She pulled away from his chest a bit and looked up at him, her teary eyes locking with his again. She tilted her head backwards as he let his eyes close and his lips fall downward to meet hers.

The elevators jolted, breaking the kiss apart swiftly. Ikuto jumped back, a bit uncomfortable at what had just occurred. Amu slowly got up and began to take his sweatshirt off.

"No, don't worry about it." Ikuto said casually as the elevator opened on the seventh floor. "Goodnight. I'm on the 9th floor, 918, if you need me."

Amu left the elevator with a slight nod, waving back at him as the elevator doors closed. In a daze, she walked down to room 707. She entered her apartment, locking the door behind her. She flipped down all the pictures of Tadase she could find and tossed every belonging of his she had into a giant cardboard box in her living room.

Exhausted, she finally collapsed onto her bed. She nuzzled into Ikuto's sweatshirt and couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe things are looking up..."