Something Borrowed, Something Blue (Takao Maruyama)
Summary: You were happy together, or so you had thought. One day, out of the blue, Takao drops you off at home and tells you it’s over. Just like that, no explanation, no answers, it was just over. He avoided you like the plague: no phone calls, texts, or emails. Only radio silence. Not even the guys could get through to him. A person could only take so much though. Dumped by two fiances in less than 2 years had to be a record of some kind. Having sworn off men, you poured yourself into your craft.Another two years go by in the blink of an eye, and you find yourself back in Tokyo again. Back in your old stomping grounds, things have changed, and so have you. Will old flames rekindle even when they’re not meant to?
Part 2: Sudden Reunions
For other parts: Masterpost
Your head throbbed. It was like every time your heart pumped, the blood rushed into your skull, making it worse. Groaning, you reached over to the nightstand for your glass, only to find it wasn’t there. Great. Now you had to drag your abused body all the way to the kitchen for some water. Why did you have to drink so much? There was only one answer.
Takao.
It had only mere hours ago.
You could feel all the blood leave your face. A myriad of emotions swamped you. First it was shock, then heartbreak, then anger. It stirred bubbling in your chest after all this away.
The entire family stared at you mouths gaping. Wonderful way to reunite your ex-fiance’s family after two years. Not to mention how you never said goodbye to them since he was the one who broke it off in the first place. How were you supposed to greet them here? Did you pretend you didn’t know them? You could feel your professional smile slipping at the edges. Consciously you tugged the corners of your mouth back up. Strained or not, this was work, and you had to smile. The bride finally tore her eyes from her groom long enough to realize that this was not how meetings normally went. But it was Tatsuki that broke the silence.
“_________?”
“It’s been a long time.” You bowed to everyone politely.
“Tatsuki, do you know this girl?” The bride asked puzzled.
“Yea. She was Takao’s---”
“She’s Kuni’s niece,” Takao interrupted. You bit your cheek to keep your expression from slipping. So he wouldn’t even give you that. Had he even told his new fiancee about you? Or did everyone pretend you didn’t exist? Your smile felt strained on your face, pulling at the muscle unnaturally.
“Oh how nice!” the bride beamed. “It’s like keeping the planning in the family.” In the family. If only the girl knew how “in the family” this whole mess was. But, you reined it in, this was your job, you reminded yourself. You had your professional pride. Clinging to the thought, your hands clenched the file too tightly.
“I aim to make this as memorable for you as possible.” The words came out rehearsed. Pleasantries aside, the job itself wasn’t too difficult. The bride had a clear idea of the colors she wanted: pink and green. Something as fresh as spring, and green because it was the groom’s favorite colors. Green for growth, renewal, and life. You fought with every ounce of self control not to remember that you had once been in that seat, picking out flowers for yourself. You would not cry. You would not scream. You’d smile, bid them good day, and plan the flowers for your ex-fiance’s wedding
At the end of the day, all you wanted to do was collapse into your futon, curl up with an entire tub of ice cream, and bawl out your eyes. But ice cream wouldn’t help you forget, and what you wanted to do was forget.
You couldn’t let yourself go to Kunian. If she knew who Kuni was, good chance, she also frequented Kunian. And you couldn’t face your old friends. You didn’t want to see how easily she had replaced you in their lives. God, when did you become so insecure? A part of you shook your head as you toss back another shochu. At some point, you ceased to taste the liquor. Anything you drank tonight would only be bitter.
Why hadn’t anyone warned you? Even if Lilly was in too much pain, Takenouchi was the one who prepared the file. It wasn’t like he didn’t know who Takao was. Or why hadn’t Uncle warned you when you told him you’d come back to cover for Lilly? You deserved that much! Instead his engagement was sprung up on you, as unwelcoming as slap in the face.
Now that morning arrived, and another day had started, regret was starting to creep in. No matter how upset you were, it was no reason to get piss faced on a weekday. As your head ached, you draped an arm back over your eyes. This was not how you wanted to meet clients today. Reluctantly you groped around for your alarm clock because if you didn’t do it now, the resulting splitting headache would make you wish you swore off drinking. You frowned when your hand only met a smooth surface. Did it already ring, and you chucked it across the room? Blearily opening your eyes, you looked around for the offending object. Where was that darn thing? As you shifted around, you finally noticed that the blankets next to you were moving independently.
‘Oh no, you didn’t…’
“What time is it?” an unmistakably male voice groaned. The body it came from was equally masculine. Broad shoulders and a sculpted back...Wait now was not the time to be ogling! There was a stranger in your bed! As he turned around, time seemed to slow, your breath catching in your throat.
