A/N: it's kinda long but read it please? Its got uh… IMPORTANT stuff in it =)

I know I promised you guys Chapter 13 of ULS after I got back from my long, long, long hiatus. I haven't finished Chapter 13 yet. I'm going to put it on hold for now.

Boo~~!!

I'm mean, I know. I really don't want to finish it now (as in like right now, now). Because then, it'd be forced. And when my stories are forced I stray from the plot and the chapter would probably come out—no pun intended—so bad. I owe it to you guys to give you a chapter that's ACTUALLY worth reading :)

Anyway, I came up with this fiction instead. It's either going to be a 3 or 4 chapter story, depending on how long the ending's going to be. Long story short: as compensation for the delay of ULS, I'm posting this fiction.

Big ups to ALEX :))) for giving me the idea for this story as well as giving me permission to post it here for all the reader's to well, READ… and review ;) ily!

Oh yeah…

CONGRATULATIONS are in order you guys! Big ups to pearl4eyes my beta reader for this fic… yeah. Anyway, you did a really great job with the draft I sent you. great working with you :))) thanks for suggeting the title too! :)))

Oh, and I hope whole "tami-chin to jace-san" hasn't caused any confusion. But it's fine if you guys call me tami-chin or tami. I'm still the same person :) After all, my email address won't change regardless of the pen name I use here on FF.

The song is THE MESS I MADE by PARACHUTE. Sadly, the usual disclaimer applies. :0 Well, enough of my rambling; on to the story…

HAPPY READING! (I hope :3)

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Of Broken Bones and Promises

A fiction by Jace-san

Tuesday morning…

I leaned on the bathroom sink and stared at my face in the mirror. Shit, even my eye bags have eye bags! I raised my arms in annoyance, accidentally tipping my weight to the right.

"Ow!"

Did I mention that the side of my foot was swollen?

Sprain.

Yeah, I know. It sucks.

Leaning on the frame of the bathroom door, I glanced at the made-up—empty—bed beside mine. It has been three days since she last slept on that—her—bed. She hasn't come back to the—our—dorm room either… all because of a stupid argument.

I heard my phone ring from the other side of the room. I walked—limped—over to it and read the message.

Congratulations Fate, you're in the team!
-Ginga

I sighed to myself. After what happened three days ago, making the team doesn't seem as appealing anymore.

--

Three days ago

"I can't believe you went to school and tried out, the day after you got a sprain no less," Nanoha screamed.

I carefully sat on my bed, holding the ice pack against the swollen ankle. I sprained my ankle when I lost my footing while going down the stairs yesterday. Thank god i didn't break it! I would've died if I fractured my ankle.

"Would you look at me Fate-chan?" She held my chin tightly around her fingers, forcing me to look at her. And I did.

The expression on her face was of pure anger.

But me being… well, me I didn't care.

"What did you want me to do? Sit there while the others were playing? You know how much I've wanted to play college volleyball, Nanoha! The try-outs are held only every other year!" I yelled back.

I don't think it fazed her. Yeah, not really... after all, I was sitting on the bed with her towering over me. Not really an ideal position when you're arguing with your girlfriend.

"Well, excuse me for caring."

"Oh please. Don't pull the caring thing out again, Nanoha," I warned her. She's always been overprotective of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with that. I think it's sweet, endearing even. But right now... it's getting on my nerves.

"What did you say?!"

In the seven months that we've been together, Nanoha has never raised her voice, not once. Well she has, but not like this. Nanoha was caring and thoughtful, not cold and hotheaded. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and tell her I was sorry. But the thing was, I had no reason to apologize. All I did was try out for the team. Was that so wrong?

No.

"You always, always overreact when I get injured. Look," I lifted the ice pack and revealed the swollen, purplish expanse of flesh that was my ankle. It wasn't a pretty sight, but what could I do about it now, right? "I. Have. A. Sprain. I'm not disabled. My leg wasn't amputated. And I am not dying! So stop being an idiot and calm down. I'm fine!" I waved her off.

"Fine?! The side of your foot looks like raw beef steak for crying out loud! And you're saying you're fine?" she said, throwing her arms up in the air.

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Why are you so god damn worked up about it?! It's my foot that's sprained, not yours. I'm the one with raw pork chop for a foot, not you. Geez!"

"Beef steak, Fate-chan! Beef steak!" she corrected me.

"Fine! Beefsteak! The point is my foot might've worsened but only by a bit. No big deal," I said, slowly placing the ice pack back on the swollen ankle. "Ah!"

Seeing me wince, she averted her eyes and instead, stared at the bedside drawer as if it were the seventh freaking wonder of the world.

"I see that," she said in a calmer voice.

"Then why the hell are you so mad at me?"

She whipped her head and looked at me, her eyes aflame. "You tried out for the team after I specifically told you not to! That's why I'm mad!"

"So?!"

Her jaw dropped. "I did not just hear you say that."

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Nanoha… Sweetie, I'm sorry okay?" I tried to reach for her hand, but the constant pain in my foot made it difficult. Seeing me struggle, Nanoha took the initiative and sat beside me on the bed. I continued, "I didn't try out for the team to spite you, you know that. Besides, you weren't supposed to know and—"

Oh Shit.

Did I just—

"What?!"

Yep. I did.

"Did I say that out loud?" I said, closing both eyes for fear that Death was staring at me right in the face.

"FATE. TESTAROSSA. HARLAOWN!" I felt the bed shift the moment she screamed my name. There's just something frightening about your girlfriend calling you by your full name… angry voice included. Okay, it's mainly the voice, but the whole 'full name' thing does add to the effect.

I squirmed uncomfortably from my position on the bed. "S-see! You're overrea—"

I barely finished my sentence. I was honestly scared out of my wits… sort of. Her brows were scrunched together, face visibly fuming. She clenched her jaws, her lips were drawn in a thin line. With the way she was glaring at me I could have sworn she was trying to burn a hole through me!

Oh god. She was so scary, but damn it!

My girlfriend looked hot… really, really, really hot. Okay, here I was looking at Nanoha—who I'm sure was repressing the urge to kill me—and all I could think about was how hot she was.

There is something seriously wrong with me.

"I don't give a damn!" Her voice pulled me back to reality. "'Wasn't supposed to know'? So you were hiding it from me?"

Wait… huh? Wha—

My eyes looked up at her face. She's…

I looked away.

"It…It doesn't matter anyway." I closed my eyes tightly, trying to forget the look on her face. "You've found out."

She looked… what's the word?

"That's not the freaking point! Did you know how I felt when Hayate told me you tried out this morning?! I was hurt."

Yeah. Hurt. That… that was the word I was looking for.

"And who wouldn't be?! What if you told me not to drink but then I did. Would you be fine with it?!"

"…" Drop it.

"Would you?!"

"…" Drop it please?

"Well… answer me!"

Fine.

"No."

"Exactly! And then you tell me you were hiding it from me? How am I supposed to trust you now?"

I looked back at her, shocked.

"What?! Wait… Nanoha, that's just stupid. It was one little thing!"

All I did was try out. I might not have told her about it, but what harm could it have done? And for her not to trust me because of that?! That's just… stupid! That's what it was! Stupid!

"If I can't trust you with one little thing, how am I supposed to trust you when it comes to big things, Fate-chan? We promised to tell each other everything."

"We did. I don't—"

"What else have you been lying to me about huh, Fate-chan? Let me guess, Aunt Lindy didn't really visit you two months ago… on the same day my family had the reunion. You just made up an excuse so you wouldn't meet my parents."

I felt my heart leap into my throat. How did she—? I couldn't answer her. It'd only solidify the fact.

That I lied…

To her…

To Nanoha…

"Well? I'm waiting!"

"I-I… I…"

She brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god. I just made that up. Fate— you... y-you missed it on purpose…"

It was a statement, not a question.

I panicked. "I-I was nervous! What did you expect?" I reasoned.

"I don't know... tell me the truth?! That seems pretty logical." She took a step back.

Then another.

And another.

Towards the door.

"Na-nanoha, where are you going?" I attempted to stand up, not caring about my raw beefsteak of a foot. As I took the first step, the pain that shot through my foot was too much for me to take. I fell back on the bed albeit unwillingly.

"I-I don't know…" I heard her whisper to herself.

Another step.

Something gripped at me. It felt like I couldn't breathe for some odd reason. Then, the words just came out of my mouth.

"You don't know what?"

"…if I can trust you anymore!" she screamed as her back finally hit the door.

"Wait. Nanoha, no. You can trust me. I love you!" I said desperately.

"No. You don't lie to someone you love. You just… you don't," she said, tears forming in her eyes. Her left hand was feeling the door behind her.

She was looking for the doorknob.

No.

I stood up.

I wasn't sure why I wanted to cry. Was it because of the throbbing pain from my swollen foot? Was it the thought of Nanoha breaking up with me?

Fuck the questions! Nanoha was going to leave.

I took a step. Oh god, it hurt like hell! I can do this. As I took three more steps, Nanoha stopped looking for the doorknob. My resolve grew.

"It was just a one time—" She looked at me incredulously. "Okay… a two time thing." The pain was gradually becoming unbearable and I was still a long way from her. I leaned on the back of the couch. "It won't happen again. I promise."

An eerie silence followed.

I waited for her to say something… anything! After what seemed like an hour, she opened her mouth.

"I can't trust you or your promises anymore, Fate."

I couldn't believe it.

Creek... Bang!

I slumped down on the floor. No one—not even God—could've stopped the tears that cascaded down my face.

Then it hit me.

"I can't trust you or your promises anymore, Fate."

She didn't use the honorific.

I cried even harder.

--

That's it :) Well, please review. Oh wait I forgot 3 more things…

1) Thanks Lex!! :)))

2) Thanks pearl4eyes… again :)

3) Shout out to xYuki too!! Thanks for helping me :))

-jace-san