Chapter 16 : Party favors

My mind was reeling with everything Ichigo had told me last night. I didn't sleep comfortably because I couldn't stop thinking about what Ichigo had said. When he walked me back to my room he didn't ask me if he could come in, he could tell I was thinking about a lot.

"Get some sleep" he had kissed my forehead before he walked away.

I tried to get some sleep but I was too busy picturing Grimmjow as one of those scary thugs. When I did sleep I had a nightmare about Grimmjow holding a gun pointed at Ichigo. I woke up in cold sweat. I got up an hour earlier than I normally would have and took a shower.

"What are you doing?" I said out loud to my reflection. I looked terrible, like a person who hadn't slept all night. I dressed up and packed up my books. I was still so preoccupied in my thoughts I didn't even remember to wake Rangiku up. Was Grimmjow that dangerous? he couldn't be as bad as I imagined it but it still gave me goose bumps to think about it.

I only had one class that day and I had gotten up way too early, I still had about an hour before it began. If I thought more about Grimmjow or Ichigo I'd go crazy.

"This is so frustrating!" I tug at my hair as if that would somehow clear out my overflowing thoughts.

"Why are you shouting so loudly this early in the morning?" Someone says behind me, my breath catches in my throat and I hesitate for a second. I know from the voice that it's Grimmjow but I can't bring myself to turn around to face him. I open my mouth to say something but no sound comes out. If I turn around to face him he'd definitely know that I'm scared to be around him. Instead of answering I walk away without turning back, hoping he wouldn't come after me.

XXXX

"Orihime? Hellooo?" Ishida snaps his fingers in front of me and I blink a few times.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah what?" I smile absentmindedly and Ishida frowns at me.

"What is wrong with you? You're even more distracted than usual. Did something happen?" he asks me with concern in his eyes. I don't know how to answer that. No, nothing happened. Nothing has happened yet, but why do I feel uneasy and frightened?

"I just- had a bad dream last night" I mumble. We were walking back to the dorms from the library, Ishida read from a thick book while I sorted the books on the shelf.

"That's not a big deal right? It's just a dream. Don't worry about it" He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and I smiled.

"You're right, I'm probably just worried for nothing."

Ishida waves goodbye as he leaves me to walk back to my dorms. I hadn't seen Ichigo all day and I sighed at myself. If I see him every day he might get bored of me right? Also I don't exactly look like a fairy princess right now; I look more like the house elf from Harry potter today. It's probably best that Ichigo hadn't seen me today. I chuckle at myself, kicking a pebble on the pathway out of boredom. I bump into someone and I almost fall back from the impact, a pair of strong arms grip my shoulders and hold me upright.

I sigh in relief, when I look up I flinch away from his touch. Grimmjow's face shows confusion for a second but he shrugs and puts his hands into the pockets of his dark green jacket.

"What's wrong with you? You're being weird" he says taking a step closer. I involuntarily take a step back, I can't find the courage to look him in the eye right now. Instead I stare at my shoes as I clear my throat.

"Nothing- I-I'm fine" I don't mean to stutter but my voice is shaky. I try to move away from him but he steps to the side blocking my way.

"'Nothing, I-I'm fine!' what the fuck is that?" he imitates my voice. I still haven't looked up so I can't tell what his expression is right now. He takes a step closer and goose bumps rise on my arm. The nightmare I had flashes in my mind at that moment and I spun away on my heel, I just wanted to be anywhere but in front of him. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Let go!" I screamed the second he touched me. He was taken aback but he didn't let go of my wrist, instead he held tighter. I tried to pull away but he wasn't bothered by my efforts at all.

"Wow, you should see your face right now. You look like a scared little puppy. I wonder what you're scared of?" he grins widely, his eyes are cold as he stares down at me.

"Are you scared of me by any chance?" he says in a sarcastic voice. I try to pull away from him again my heart is beating faster and I feel panic rising up in me. He looked scary right then, he looks the way he did in my nightmare.

"That's not surprising really, This is how you should have reacted the second you saw me. But here's my question"

"Let me go, Grimmjow. Please?" he laughs humorlessly at my pleas. Slowly, he leans down so that his face is inches away from mine.

"Answer my question first." His light blue eyes are ablaze with anger.

"Why now? You're scared of me all of a sudden. Why?" his voice is calm.

"I-I'm not scared" I laugh in an attempt to sound brave but my voice sounds weak and pathetic. My answer angers Grimmjow more because he let's go of my wrist only to hold my shoulders tightly.

"Why bother lying? It's written all over your face! You're terrified and disgusted by me aren't you?" he yells at my face, his face is twisted into a frown but his eyes show hurt for a second. I try to read his expressions but he turns his face away and let's go of my shoulders.

"It's Ichigo isn't it?" he asks after a few seconds, he chuckles. "He must have opened his mouth and told you a shitload of things huh?"

"No! That's not what-" I shake my head quickly. I don't want Grimmjow to turn his fury towards Ichigo.

"He must have painted himself as a hero, am I right? You think he's a victim?!" Grimmjow laughs. His laughter pierces through me, it sounded a lot like screams of pain to my ears. "What a joke" he says looking at me. He pushes his hands back into his pocket and walks away. I stand there for a while. An hour or two might have passed as I stare at nothing, standing at the same spot. I don't trust my legs to move for a while.

"Orihime-chan! You're back" Rangiku says from the bed. She's painting her nails bright pink. I nod as I kick off my shoes and immediately fall onto my bed. I can't seem to move properly and my head hurts.

"Ichigo came here looking for you earlier" Rangiku says in a chirpy voice and I sit up instantly, I look around the room as if he would suddenly pop up out of my closet.

"When did he come? Did he say anything?"

"Well he's not here now obviously" she rolls her eyes at me and I pout. I have so much on my mind I just want to hold him and forget everything.

"You'll probably see him tomorrow, there's a huge party at Nnoitora's house tomorrow. Oh no wait he might not come though, he fought with Nnoitora and those two hate each other" she shook her head in disapproval and I looked down at my hands.

"Rangiku?" I called out softly, looking down at my hands.

"You're friends with…everyone right? With Ichigo and Grimmjow?"

"Yeah. Why?" she asks blowing on her nails. I think about how to ask her what is on my mind. How do I ask what I'm thinking? My thoughts are a mess of puzzles that don't fit in place. The things Ichigo said last night weigh in my mind heavily but somehow it doesn't feel right. Despite the nightmare I had, I just couldn't think of Grimmjow as a heartless thug. He was definitely unpredictable and moody but he wasn't a bad person, then why did I react that way?. Rangiku looks over at me when I don't say anything.

"What's up? You look tired" she says looking at me with concern in her eyes. I nod and lay back down in bed. I lie there somehow waiting for sleep to find me or for my mind to stop overheating. I hear Rangiku snoring a while later but I still can't sleep. It's only 10:00 pm, I get up and walk towards the door. I step into the hallway expecting it to be empty but I jump when I see Ichigo standing there. He looks surprised to see me too.

"What're you doing up?" he asks after a moment.

"I couldn't sleep" I answer quietly. He looks at me with concern; I slowly walk towards him and bury myself in his arms. He holds me tightly and I breathe in his scent. The headache I had magically vanished, the worries, the concerns I had a second ago leave my mind instantly.

"Are you ok?" he asks after a while. I want to nod and smile at him but right now I just want to be in his arms. "Did something happen? What's wrong?" he asks when I don't answer. He tries to pull me away so that he can look at my face but I hold him tighter and hide my face in his chest.

"Nothing happened. I've just been- thinking" my voice is muffled by his chest but he heard me. Without letting me go he leads me back into the room. He sits down on the bed and pulls me down with him.

"Stop that. Stop over thinking" he says and I peek up to look at him.

"I can't help it" I mumble with a smile. "I always worry and over think. It's what I do"

"If it's about the stuff I told you last night, don't worry about it. I'll protect you no matter what, so forget about it" he looks at me seriously. His eyes are piercing through me, searching for an answer. Like he desperately needed me to believe what he's saying. Of course I believe him and that worries me too, the fact that he would protect me even before himself.

"I'll protect you too" I say seriously and his eyes widen for a second. He didn't expect that answer.

"You should get some sleep" he moves to get up but I hold him.

"Can't you stay?" I ask and he raises his brows at that.

"To sleep I mean, just to sleep" I add with a blush on my cheeks.

"I'm not the one having dirty thoughts here" he scoffs and I blush harder.

"I wasn't thinking anything! But if you don't want to stay then-"

"Fine! I'll stay! Since you insist!" he smiles widely as he kicks off his shoes and pulls the blanket over both of us. With his arms around my waist and my head on his shoulder I feel so safe and warm. I bite my lower lip, it's dark but I can clearly see him looking at me too.

"This is nice" I smile but I don't know if he can see the smile.

"Close your eyes" he whispers.

"But I like you" I smile wider and he chuckles and holds me tighter.

"Sleep" he says in a stern voice but I can still feel his laughter vibrating in his chest. My eyes slid shut but I don't remember at what point I fell asleep or if I even fell asleep at all. My dreams were exactly the same as the reality I dreamt of being in his arms as I slept in his arms.

XXXXX

"Awww! You guys are so cute!" I woke up to the sound of Rangiku's squealing. I opened my eyes to see her waving her phone over Ichigo and me as she took pictures of us. Ichigo groaned next to me and without opening his eyes he threw a pillow at Rangiku which amazingly hit her right in the face. She didn't stop laughing though and with a click sound she took one more photo. Ichigo glared at her and I blushed slightly.

"Would you please delete those?" I mumble and Rangiku laughs louder.

"Yeah send them to me" Ichigo says and I sit up and look at him with wide eyes. He grins at me with his hair a mess and my heart swoons. It's too early to have my heart skipping because of Ichigo I think to myself.

"You two cuddling is going to be my profile picture" Rangiku says and I shake my head at her in panic. She just winks at me which I hope means she was only kidding.

"Ichigo, you going to Nnoitora's party today?" Rangiku asks, looking up from her phone.

"Nnoitora? Hell no. Why would I go to that creep's house willingly?" Ichigo sits up on the bed and casually wraps his arm around my shoulders.

"Orihime is going though" Rangiku adds and I look at her in confusion. She gives me a meaningful look and Ichigo turns to me.

"You are?" he asks and I hesitate before I nodded.

"Yeah! You see? She is coming, so you should probably come too" Rangiku says smiling widely.

"Don't go." Ichigo says with a slight pout, my eyes widen at how cute Ichigo looks. I haven't seen that look on his face before and it makes my heart race.

"She is going she promised, right?" Rangiku says emphasizing each word with her eyes wide in a manner both pleading and threatening. I look at her and then back at Ichigo's pout. How am I supposed to pick?

"Don't go, let's go somewhere else together. Just the two of us" Ichigo says in a low voice, he brushes his fingers through my hair and I cave in completely.

"Ok" I say with a dazed smile and Rangiku groans throwing a pillow at me. Ichigo roars in laughter and throws the pillow back at her. I smile apologetically at Rangiku but she rolls her eyes at me and Ichigo laughs louder. He gets up and picks up his jacket from the floor.

"I'll pick you up later" he says to me with a lopsided grin before he opens the door and leaves. I stare at the door he left from for a few seconds and then turn to Rangiku who shakes her head at me with a smile on her face.

"Ugh you're so in love with him. Gross" she says making a face and I laugh. "You're going to regret skipping this party though, it's not just a party. Nnoitora isn't a very likable person but his parties are epic. It's a pool party and everyone is coming, he even gives out party favors" I shrug at that, I don't tell her that I would definitely have more fun doing nothing with Ichigo than I would at a crowded party without him. Even if the party favors were bags of chocolate, I'd still rather be with Ichigo.

"Now I have to tell everyone you and Ichigo aren't coming"

"Who else is coming?" I ask as I tie my hair in a messy bun on top of my head.

"Gin, Renji, Nel, Grimmjow, literally every is coming except you two" she says. She doesn't notice how my body tenses at the mention of Grimmjow. I sit down on my bed and bite my lip nervously, my stomach feels queasy and I know why. The way I acted towards Grimmjow is bothering and I can't let it go. I want to ignore my uneasiness and just enjoy going on a date with Ichigo today but I know the guilty feeling at the pit of my stomach won't leave me alone till I make things right.

"Maybe I could come too? For a little while?" I ask Rangiku and she looks at me excitedly.

"Really?! You'd ditch Ichigo for me?!" she held her hands over her chest as if she was touched. I smile back.

"I'm not ditching him, I'll just stop by for a little bit" Rangiku jumps up and down excitedly.

"It's a pool party! You're going to love it. I could even lend you a swimming suit! This is going to be amazing"

"Really I'm just going to stay for a short time! I'm not going to swim or anything." I wave my arms and shake my head but Rangiku is already too excited to respond to me.

A few hours later we had finally reached the party in Renji's car. Renji complained about how long it took Rangiku to get ready and Rangiku argued that it took a lot of effort to select the right bikini set. I couldn't pay attention to the argument though because my mind was trying to come up with what I'd say when I saw Grimmjow. 'I'm sorry I was so rude? I had a nightmare about you being a dangerous killer which I don't really think you are?' Rangiku glances at me and notices my discomfort.

"Don't worry too much, you'll still make it back to meet up with Ichigo on time, besides this way you get to keep the party favors!" she reassures me and I smile back even though that's not what I'm worried about.

Inside the huge house there are a lot of people. The music blaring so loud I can't even hear my own thoughts, it's the first party I've been to in the afternoon and everyone here is holding a red plastic cup. Rangiku expertly threads through the crowd somehow managing to greet everyone she passes. Gin popped up out of nowhere and silently slid his arm around her waist. I don't want to waste any time chatting here so I immediately look around to find Grimmjow. It's so crowded I start wondering if it will be possible to find him in this herd of people swaying to the loud music. I push my way through people but it's a lot harder to navigate through the crowd without Rangiku who I had left chatting with Gin in the kitchen. I look around for Grimmjow for almost half an hour and I'm standing in the backyard ready to give up.

The pool is surrounded by people dipping their feet in and a very few actually swimming, it seems almost everyone preferred to stand around drinking than actually swimming. I spotted Nellilel laughing by the pool and I considered asking her if she's seen Grimmjow but I decide against it because she might ask why I'm looking for him and I wouldn't know how to explain that. When I turn away I catch a flash of electric blue hair. My palms start sweating when I spot Grimmjow leaning against the wall by himself. I walk towards him slowly and he doesn't turn to look at me. He has a cigarette between his lips and he's staring at the ground. He doesn't even look up when I reach him or when I clear my throat to get his attention.

"H-hi Grimmjow!" I say smiling widely even though he isn't looking at me. He doesn't answer me, he takes the cigarette between his fingers and blows out a stream of smoke. I wait a few seconds for him to say anything but he continues smoking without paying me any attention.

"So I- I wondered if I could… talk to you?" My voice is shaky and it's very obvious how nervous I am. I expected him to ignore me again but he laughs humorlessly.

"You want to 'talk' to me? Aren't you scared I'll do something to you? I might attack you" he finally looks up, his eyes are cold and a bit angry. I bite my lip taking a deep breath, ok I deserved that.

"I'm not-" my words trail off because I don't know how to explain, I had treated him like a dangerous animal yesterday and now I'm here to apologize? Who would believe such an apology? But I still felt horrible and I couldn't leave things the way they were. "I came here to apologize to you" I say looking at him in the eyes seriously, hoping he'd believe me. He laughs louder than he did the first time.

"Apologize for what? Do you think you hurt my feelings?" he stands up straighter so that he towers over me, I know he's trying to intimidate me, to scare me off but I stand firm. He throws his cigarette on the floor and stamps it out a bit harder than was necessary.

"I'm not Ichigo, I don't need you to cuddle me, and I don't need to live up to your fucking expectations and I definitely do not need your pity!" he growls at me dangerously taking a step closer. His eyes are burning through me and I can't help looking down.

"That's not how I meant it" my voice sounds so soft I don't know if he can hear me, "I'm sorry because the way I acted was wrong" I finally look up and his eyebrows are raised in confusion.

"You're sorry?" he asks a bit incredulously.

"I really am! You've mostly been a friend to me and I shouldn't have-"

"Are you serious?" he interrupts me. "Are you so fixated to keep your saint-like image, the good girl persona that you came all the way here to say all this?" he doesn't look angry anymore but he looks baffled.

"I'm not just saying it. I mean it" Grimmjow steps back looking at me for a few seconds with an expression I haven't seen on his face before. He turns away without saying anything else and I follow behind him.

"Wait!" I call after him but he doesn't turn to me until I grab his wrist to get him to look at me.

"Do you forgive me?" I ask pleadingly and Grimmjow looks at me with the same confused look on his face and he shrugs before pulling his arm away.

"Whatever" he says and I can't help smiling widely. The relief that washes over me is startling, I had no idea how much his forgiveness meant to me. I hated the thought of hurting one of my friends and I'm not even sure when Grimmjow had made it onto that list of friends. Grimmjow walked back into the house and I followed behind him, I wanted to tell Rangiku I was going back to the dorm to get ready to meet up with Ichigo.

Rangiku was still in the kitchen where I had left her but I could tell she had already had a few drinks, she was laughing louder than normally as she sat on the large counter of the kitchen, Renji, Nel and Ikaku were laughing with her. When Rangiku say me and Grimmjow come up she pointed at us.

"Oh! You guys come play too! We're playing spin the bottle!" she giggled patting my shoulder when I came up to her.

"No, I should get going" I smiled at her.

"Go where?" she asked incredulously as if I hadn't already told her a hundred times I would only stay for a short while.

"I'm going to meet up with Ichigo remember?' I said loudly over the music but Rangiku shook her head.

"No need! He's coming here" she wiggled her eyebrows at me and then held her phone at me. I looked at the text message displayed on the screen.

Rangiku: I have your girlfriend, shut up and come quietly

Ichigo: Damn it! Rangiku wtf

There was a photo attached of me in the car looking out of the window. Rangiku laughed and then winked at me.

"So let's get back to the game while you wait for your prince charming to join us!" Rangiku says and beside me Grimmjow rolls his eyes and reaches for a bottle of beer on the counter. Renji reaches for the bottle and spins it, it lands on Nel and Renji dares her to chug an entire bottle of bear. She shrugs and downs the entire bottle without pausing even once. My attention drifts away from the game to the direction of the door as I wait for Ichigo to come. I don't want the bottle to land on me because I'm scared of whatever I'll be dared to do so I turn away from the door each time the bottle is spun and then turn back when it doesn't land on me. Rangiku spins the bottle and it slows down dangerously close to me but I sigh when it lands on Grimmjow instead. My eyes shift back to the door as I wait for Ichigo.

"I dare you to…" Rangiku says giggling, Gin whispers something in her ear and then she nods excitedly. I'm only half listening, as I wait impatiently for Ichigo. "Grab any girl and just kiss her" This wasn't an unusual dare, they had dared Rangiku to do the same thing the last time we played truth pr dare.

"You want him to get slapped don't you?" Renji said and Rangiku laughed maniacally. I frowned at the door as if that would make Ichigo show up magically but then I felt someone turn my head quickly. My eyes widened when I saw Grimmjow holding my face with both hands and before I could react he had crashed his lips onto mine forcefully.

My whole body froze and my eyes widened even more. I was so shocked and confused I couldn't move my body. Grimmjow was kissing me in front of everyone.

A/N: I'm back after my hiatus! Why was i gone for so long? i had 2 round of tests (failed the first round) so yay! here's an update and hopefully i will be a proper student and stop failing and rewriting tests. I hope you guys enjoy this story because i really enjoy writing it and your reviews really make me so happy.