7 Chapter 7: An Unwarranted Kiss

This chapter is set a couple weeks after Mei's assignment was due in, both the girls have handed in the assignments for their respective course and are currently just on their last few weeks of school before the Summer vacation :). I also know it isn't quite accurate, but Yuzu has had her sling and cast removed, It's easier for me to write when not having to take into consideration Yuzu's minor handicap. lol, Hope you enjoy

"Hey Mei, so now that your assignment has been handed in and you don't have anything to worry about, what are you thinking of doing this weekend?" Yuzu asked bouncing on the balls of her heels as she watched Mei unpack her bag. Mei didn't stop as she chatted to her girlfriend, punctually putting everything away, she didn't have any plans for the weekend, but wasn't quite sure why the blonde was asking.

"I've not really got any plans apart from some extra study, why?" Mei proceeded to put away her belongings before turning around, where she was greeted with an iconic Yuzu grin. She adored that smile but something was unsettling about it, not in a way that made Mei feel uncomfortable but one that made her feel the blonde was going to suggest something she wasn't going to be particularly fond of.

"Well I thought we could do something, and seen as you're not busy you don't have a reason to say no," Yuzu continued to smile as she waited for Mei to finish organizing before stepping towards her, lacing her forearms over the small shoulders.

"Okay, we can go shopping if you want, or maybe have a movie day or we haven't been on a date in a while we could go out and do something?" Mei suggested as she leaned in and lovingly kissed the blonde, she loved the idea of spending the weekend together. Yuzu partook in the kiss for a moment before leaning away slightly.

"Well, those all sound great and we can do those another day or at some point this weekend, but I was thinking about doing something new," Yuzu's words were intriguing to Mei as she prompted her to proceed.

"I, ehh... I want to throw a party, you know like an end of term sort of thing. We have loads of friends so guest won't b-" Yuzu was cut off as Mei moved out of her embrace shaking her head.

"Absolutely not, I go to those parties because you like to attend them, but I will most certainly not play host to something so boorish," Mei's tone was firm and resolute, almost enough for Yuzu not to push back, but she had to try. They had been to many parties since they started college but Yuzu wanted to throw one before she was no longer a freshman.

"Why not?" Yuzu pouted, which seemed unbelievable to Mei, did Yuzu really think she would say yes to such a proposal? Mei though slightly irritated by the challenge, arranged her argument without hesitation.

"Do I need a reason to not want a bunch of drunk people in my house? Besides, the apartment is small and would fit like 40 people. We live in a flat and would get complaints from all the noise, not to mention all the mess that I no doubt would have to clean up. I'm sorry Yuzu, but I'm saying no this time," She stood with her arms crossed as she narrowed her eyes at Yuzu. As much as it hurt her to deny the blonde she really didn't want people apart from close friends in her home, especially if they were going to be drunk.

"We can still go to a party this weekend, I don't mind just as long as it's not in my house." Mei was austere but she tried to sound considerate. Yuzu's reply bewildered Mei.

"It's Our house, not your house, so stop saying 'my'!" Yuzu stood frustrated, obviously annoyed at Mei's statements, it took Mei a moment to realise what she had just said before she quickly removed her hands from her hips and waved them in Yuzu's direction, making random gestures to try and convey her point.

"That's what I meant, sorry I didn't mean anything by it. But I still mean what I said, we are not throwing a party, but we can go to one if you want?" Mei seemed slightly flustered however she quickly recovered, trying to appeal to Yuzu who still had a bitter look on her face.

"Hmph fine, dinners ready," Yuzu said in a huff as she walked out of the room, leaving Mei alone. Mei, although she felt bad thought it was amusing that even at 20, she still managed to pull off a tantrum. She soon walked out of the room to find the huffy blonde, Mei didn't want it to be an argument, their apartment was small they had neighbours of all ages and shouldn't be making that much noise, there was no way around it no matter how much Yuzu would have liked it.

"Yuzu come on, you can't be mad at me, smile...please, for me?" Mei said as she approached her grumbling girlfriend, who twisted around at her words.

"I can so be mad at you," Although she said this Yuzu was smiling slightly, which relived the other girl.

"Why do you want to host a party so bad, how is it going to be any different from just attending one like always?" Mei asked she wanted to know why Yuzu was so hung up on this idea of hers. Yuzu shrugged, she walked past Mei over to the table settling down with her dinner.

"Dunno, it sounded fun and a change would have been nice, but it doesn't matter any more you said no," Yuzu continued to sulk, knowing all too well that doing so would influence Mei to comply with her. Yuzu sat with her back to Mei who was still standing behind the counter in the kitchen, Yuzu knew Mei was currently contemplating giving in and thought it only a matter of seconds before she would come, sit at the table and say yes to her.

Yuzu didn't like guilt-tripping Mei, but she knew it worked and she really wanted this. A sigh came from the kitchen followed by Mei sitting down at the table with her plate just as Yuzu had predicted, Yuzu tried to hide her smile from Mei as her plan was falling into place.

"I swear you do this on purpose Yuzu," Mei accused which only made the blondes efforts at concealing her smile futile, she was now beaming forwardly at the black haired girl sitting opposite her.

"Well... Maybe I had considered you would say no and thought of a... plan B?" Yuzu chuckled softly, Mei gave another loud exhale before finally giving Yuzu what she wanted.

"Fine, you can host your little party, however! I don't want anyone I don't know here and can you make it more of a get together rather than a party, if you are going to do this, I would rather our 'real' friends come and like I said before I don't want the music too loud, we don't want complaints." When she was finished Yuzu's smile had depleted slightly but she regained her earlier confidence, as she took to the compromise.

"Deal. Only main friends and have the music on low," She smiled and continued to eat the rest of her dinner in triumph, while Mei sat in defeat as she had once again given into the blonde's request.

The last of the week had flown by for the two and before they knew it was Friday afternoon, the day Yuzu had decided she wanted to host her 'gathering'. Yuzu was currently unpacking shocking amounts of liquor onto the countertop when she heard Mei ask the same question she had already asked several times when buying the alcohol.

"Are you sure we are going to need this much, I mean, I thought you had only invited a few people surely you don't think a couple of people are going to drink this much?" Mei queried as she also started unloading her bags of beverages onto the table, she really didn't think they needed 10 bottles of spirits and on top of that Yuzu had insisted on buying more than half a dozen cases of beer. Of course, Mei had said no in the store, but her comments went unnoticed as Yuzu continued to load the cart with booze.

"Yes I only invited like 20 people, but you can never be over-prepared, and anything that's still salvageable we can just drink later." Yuzu replied as she now examined the apartment for anything to tidy up, while Mei looked at her sceptically, she didn't want to challenge her any further but one question had been eating away at her since they had bought the alcohol.

Yuzu had her sling removed a little over a week ago, since then she had been to a couple downsized parties and had drunk a little but Mei had always kept a watchful eye on her, she knew it wasn't quite fair to not trust the blonde but she couldn't help it. Mei, on the other hand, hadn't touched a drink unless it was in her home, even then as she thought about it she could count on one hand the number of times in the past 5 weeks when she had drunk, and every time it was usually just a single glass of wine when relaxing.

Though Mei knew Yuzu probably wouldn't let herself get that drunk, she couldn't help but worry over the blonde, after all, she had said she hadn't even noticed how much she had drunk before she fell. What if the same thing happened to her again.

"Yuzu?" Mei spoke quietly.

"Mmhh" was the response she received as Yuzu continued to potter about the apartment.

"I was wondering... are you planning on drinking tonight?" Mei had tried to make it sound casual but even she could hear the cracks and wavers in her voice, which Yuzu didn't fail to notice either as she stopped what she was doing to walk over to Mei. She looked into Meis' eyes, seeing that they were glazed over in a layer of water, Yuzu instantly knew what she was getting at.

"A little bit, but nothing overboard, and you? I don't think I have seen you drink anything since the accident, you don't have to stay sober to keep eye on me ya know, I will watch what I'm doing tonight." Yuzu knew why Mei hadn't drunk when they went out, she was painfully aware that she was being babysat every time she left the house, however she knew it was just because Mei cared and had decided not to say anything.

"If you want to drink that's fine I was just asking, but I think I'm just going to study tonight, I'm not really in the mood for a party, so you can entertain the guests and I will hang out in the bedroom." Yuzu wondered if Mei had planned to do that all along, but nevertheless, she just agreed with the girl as she set up the remainder of the things for tonight.

Before long people had started to arrive and for the first few guests Mei had stayed to say hello, but as the small group of people turned into a slightly larger number she had slipped away into the comfort of her room.

While she sat on her bed she could hear the music bouncing from the speakers in the living room and the noise from the crowd emitted through the walls, she had no doubt they would get a complaint.

Mei was certain that there were more than 20 people in their apartment but chose for the time being to trust the blonde, and let her have her fun. Hours passed and Mei had expected the volume of noise to have died down by now, but as the night grew longer so did the noise from their house. It wasn't too late only half eleven but Mei had said it was supposed to be a few close friends and nothing more, and most of their conjoint friends were all quite serious people who liked to be home at respectable times, of course, there was the exception when it came to some of Yuzus friends but Mei didn't mind.

As she listened there were definitely people she did not recognise, after almost another hour when the noise still didn't settle Mei had decided to go and investigate. She quickly slid into something more respectable to go out in. Quickly checking herself before she unlocked their bedroom door to step into the hall, but was halted by two falling bodies that had been leaning against the door. All three collapsed to the floor and the couple broke their kiss to see the intruder, Mei had managed to squirm out from the two bodies and urged them out of the bedroom.

"Oh the bedroom, do you want to join us perhaps?" The male of the previously kissing couple cradled Mei's cheek in his palm while the girl made no protest as she stumbled to her feet. Mei only scoffed and she pushed the two out of her room and locked the door. When she turned around she was shocked to see the entire hall was packed full of sweating bodies, Mei tried to look over the heard of people but there seemed to be no end to them, flooding into the living room and kitchen.

Irritation and frustration took over Mei, as she pushed past people looking for Yuzu, why couldn't she just do what Mei had asked? She had to go and invite half of the freekin school. Mei was already preparing the lecture she was going to give the blonde. People knocked into her every step she took, and as Mei caught slight images of the apartment she could see things moved or smashed along with the scattering of plastic cups and beer bottles. Infuriated would probably be the most fitting word to describe Mei right now.

In the minute it had taken her to walk from her room to the lounge she had gained several spills on her shirt from drunk students, her irritation only continued to grow as every little bump or push she received added to her anger. She had trusted Yuzu and this is what she got, Mei tried to keep her cool, maybe there was a reasonable explanation for all this, maybe they were uninvited guests that Yuzu hadn't planned on coming.

She eased her way around the room trying to avoid any unnecessary contact in hopes of finding Yuzu. Any composure she had quickly dissipated as she finally found her girlfriend: pushed back against the kitchen counter, lips locked with a figure Mei couldn't identify. Mei stood in shock as she watched her girlfriend being kissed by a tall, muscular guy. Mei couldn't see Yuzu's face as it was shielded by the male's back but it was undoubtedly her.

Moments later the kiss was broken and Mei noticed the blonde say something to the male, he stepped back from her slightly gestured to the room around them before leaning back into the blonde, placing a firm hand on her waist. Mei lost all control as she rapidly approached the pair, wasting no time as she tore his hand off Yuzu's waist putting some distance between the two, Mei eyed the male, he was quite attractive and looked as though he indulged in sports going by his physic. He was tall and loomed over the two of them by at least a half a foot.

"Watch where you're going," his voice was deep as he pushed Mei to the side and attempted to wrap his arm around Yuzu once again. He was countered as Mei again stepped between the two, however, this time she pushed hard against his chest making him take several steps back.

"I think you should leave, right now." Mei's voice rang with authority as she stepped towards the male, who refused to back down.

"And who the fuck are you, you impudent little bitch. Move out of my way no-," his words were cut short when Mei's small fist made contact with his cheek, he stumbled a bit but didn't fall, he regained his composure and smiled at Mei.

"I'll catch you later okay? I'm not sticking around for this," it was clear to Mei that he was speaking to Yuzu who still stood behind her as he winked before walking away. The small show had caught the attention of a few people, Mei felt she was at her breaking point, she roughly grabbed Yuzu by the arm and tugged her down the hall into their room. Once inside she slammed the door closed before releasing her grasp on the blonde.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Mei's shouts could be heard clearly over the music, her tone frightened Yuzu as she edged back into the room.

"Mei, calm down please, its really not what you think just let me explain okay?" Yuzu tried to calm down a flushed red Mei, she knew how it looked, she didn't mean for the party to get so out of control, as she most certainly didn't plan on making out with someone.

"Calm down? You want me to calm down when my house is overflowing with wasted people and I just found you kissing a random fucking guy, really!?" Mei continued to shout, she would never normally use such crude language but she was livid. Before Yuzu could even speak Mei once again had her by the arm.

"I want you out, I want all of you out, now!" Mei practically threw Yuzu out into the hall, before locking the door. Her heart was in agony, she slid down to the floor, she felt tears well up in her eyes as she pulled her knees up to her chest sobbing uncontrollably.

She sat there unmoving for what felt like ages, she hadn't even noticed that the apartment was now almost completely silent, the music was off, there was no more intense chatting, she could hear a single person roaming around on the other side of the door. She could detect the clanking of bottles and crinkling of cans, she suspected that Yuzu was still here cleaning up the mess.

Checking her phone she realised that it was already past 2 in the morning, she lifted herself from the floor, she wanted to go to bed but she also wanted to speak to Yuzu. Mei had calmed down from her earlier anger, now she wanted to hear what the blonde had to say for herself, she was sure she probably wouldn't sleep tonight if she didn't.

Opening the door she heard the rustling immediately stop, and the sound of footsteps coming down the hall.

"Mei?" Yuzu was cautiously standing at the end of the hall, watching Mei, waiting for what she was going to say. The apartment was mostly clean now, it still smelt of alcohol and the occasional thing was out of place or beer bottle Yuzu had missed but as Mei looked around she suspected the blonde had not stopped since she forced her out of the room.

Mei looked at Yuzu's attire, her originally cream blouse was now covered in stains much like her jeans, while her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. Mei instantly felt guilty, Yuzu couldn't change or shower and had sat in those wet, alcohol covered clothes as she had locked her out of the room. She turned back into the bedroom and returned a minute later holding a set of clothes for the blonde.

"You should go and take a shower and change out of those clothes. Thanks for cleaning up most of the mess, when you get out I want to talk." That was all Mei said as she took the rubbish bag out of Yuzu's hand, replacing it with the clean clothes. Yuzu only nodded as she made her way down the hall.

The hot water felt great against her skin, she felt like she was clearing away the events of the night, she stood under the water for 10 minutes before deciding to get out. While drying herself she had realised Mei had given her a tank top and joggers, cursing at the coincidence, she put on the clothes as she inspected her arm, the bruise was quite visible. She rubbed her arm where Mei had grabbed her earlier, it wasn't really sore but the irritated skin was red and had light bruising on it.

She didn't want Mei to see it, she knew she would instantly feel bad, but at the same time, she didn't want to change clothes and give Mei any more reason to be wary or suspicious of her. Sighing she made her way down the hall, into the lounge, where she found Mei cleaning the table.

"Mei stop, you don't have to clean any of this mess up, I'll do it," Yuzu spoke softly hoping to sound apologetic, when Mei didn't stop she eased her way over to her placing her hands over Mei's in an attempt to get her to stop, the contact was clearly unwanted as Mei immediately pulled back. She stood up and inspected the blonde, her eyes going wide as she saw the arm, she reached her hand out to cress the soft skin.

"What happened to your arm?" Mei questioned her voice laced with concern as she inspected the skin, however before she could get a proper look, Yuzu tugged her arm out of her grasp, Mei looked her in the eyes, but her gaze was not met as Yuzu looked away from her.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it, now will you stop cleaning?" Yuzu tried to sound nonchalant but Mei knew her better than that.

"Yuzu don't lie to me, I've had enough of that for one night," Mei's tone was sharp as she turned Yuzu to face her. Yuzu although cautious at first, knew it would only result in more conflict if she didn't tell Mei the truth.

"You just grabbed me a little too hard earlier, it's no big deal really," although she attempted to sound relaxed, it didn't surprise her when she heard Mei gasp at the realisation of hurting her girlfriend.

"Yuzu I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you I just... I'm so, so sorry," Yuzu had expected this kind of apology from the girl but she really didn't want it, she knew she was in the wrong. She brought Mei into a tight hug, not caring for the slight resistance.

"Don't apologise, it's okay," she gave Mei a reassuring peck on her forehead before breaking the embrace.

"Now will you put down that rubbish and come and talk to me, you have to let me explain, what you saw earlier wasn't real, just let me give my side of the story before you make any rash decisions. Okay?" Yuzu pleaded as she held Mei's hand firmly, when she received a small nod from Mei she lead them both over to the couch placing Mei down before plonking down next to her.

Yuzu looked at Mei's hand, she quickly exited towards the kitchen, returning with a small ice pack. She handed it to Mei as she sat down again, gesturing to her girlfriend's hand. Mei's knuckles were slightly swollen and red from hitting the guy earlier.

"Okay so before I start, just so you know I really had planned on things staying quiet with just a few friends, I didn't want to go against you... No matter what you may think." She got another nod from Mei as she sat still clasping the cold hands between hers, she could feel the frail hands shaking slightly, it crushed Yuzu to see Mei in such a state. She could feel her trembling hands, her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy indicating that she had been crying for the past hour and worse of all, Mei wasn't looking at Yuzu, her gaze was fixed on their hands.

"Okay so you were there until about ten guests showed up before you left to go to the bedroom, I guess I'll start from there then," Yuzu gave a soft smile but her tone was serious, she knew the severity of the situation she had gotten herself into.

Flashback: several hours ago

"Bye Mei, see you soon, or you could stay with us and have some fun?" Yuzu tried once last time in attempting to get Mei to participate in the party, which Mei shot down quickly, she laughed lightly leaning in and giving the blonde a sweet kiss.

"No thanks, I'll see you later, have fun...but not too much," Mei smiled giving Yuzu one last kiss before heading to the bedroom. Yuzu turned to the guests while turning up the speaker slightly, there were currently only people from Yuzu and Mei's inner circle of friends here. They all happily sat, chatted and danced while several of the other guests started to trickle in.

Yuzu only noticed something was off when she saw one of her friends welcome some people she didn't know into the house, some of whom were carrying their own alcohol. Yuzu approached her friend, trying to sound as welcoming as possible but she knew her promise to Mei.

"Hey, Tyler, who are your friends?" Yuzu asked as she pointed to the group of half a dozen people who were emptying into her kitchen.

"Oh sorry, Yuzu I didn't know you didn't want us to invite other people to the party, they are just some of my friends from my design course, they are quite chill people, but I can ask them to leave if you are uncomfortable with them being here?" Tyler smiled at Yuzu, he was one of her closest friends, and Mei trusted him as well as Yuzu.

"No it's fine don't sweat it, just make sure to let me know next time and if Mei asks I knew nothing of it kay?" Yuzu gave him a cheeky grin and winked before walking back over to her original group.

Yuzu had noticed several unfamiliar faces but decided against telling them to leave, she didn't think one or two random people would make much of a difference, but as the night went on one or two slowly started to turn into a dozen, then a few dozens. Before Yuzu could blink her original 15 friends were out of sight and she had no idea who was actually in her house.

At some point, she had realised someone had turned the speakers up to the point she could see the liquid vibrate slightly in her cup, this was growing out of control but she was uncertain of how to tell a bunch of randoms to leave.

"Hey, what's your name?" Yuzu turned to see a tall dark haired guy standing next to her, his shoulders were broad and his voice deep, his chiselled face held a cheery smile as he waited for Yuzu to reply.

"Yuzu, what about you?" She had to be polite even if she wanted to tell everyone to leave, she wouldn't be rude about it, she smiled back.

"You can call me Kaz that's my nickname, what is a stunning blonde like yourself doing wondering a party alone?" he asked as he moved forward toward Yuzu, who in turn took a small step back.

"Oh actually I'm the host, but at some point, my friends left and now I don't think I know anyone here." Yuzu tried to sound casual as she sheepishly scratched the back of her neck, trying not to let her cheeks flush in embarrassment. He laughed wholeheartedly at her statement.

"Really you're the host and you don't even know who is here? That doesn't seem very wise to me," he continued to chuckle lightly at Yuzu's expense, Yuzu joined in at laughing at herself, she knew how ridiculous it sounded.

"But right now I'm currently trying to figure out a way to get all these people out of my apartment, so I should probably get going," Yuzu tried to excuse herself but he continued their conversation, as he leaned in closer.

"Awe come on, no ones doing any harm and besides you can just hang out with me for the time being, I mean until your friends show up again," he pulled Yuzu over toward him, placing one hand on her waist, the other on the crook of her neck.

"So just relax, have some fun," He leaned in quickly pressing his lips to hers, he didn't waste any time as he brushed his tongue along her lips asking for entry. Yuzu really didn't expect this, she didn't want it or did she have the time for it, lightly pushing him off her she wiped her lips with her thumb,

"Sorry but I have a girlfriend, I'm not interested in you like that, you really should leave," Yuzu tried to sound polite, but his bold actions had irritated her somewhat. He didn't seem discouraged as he extended both his arms.

"I don't see a girlfriend, so let's not worry about her," he gave a dubious smile re-placing his hand on her hip as he lent downward towards Yuzu again.

End of Flashback

"And well I guess you know what happens from there, see the kiss was totally unwarranted and the number of people just got out of control, I just didn't know what to do...Mei?" Yuzu had revealed the entire events of the night and not once had Mei said anything, and now that Yuzu was finished she remained sitting in silence.

"It meant nothing to you...whatsoever?" Mei looked into Yuzu's eyes for the first time since sitting down, and she could see the tears welling in the blonde's pools, she had acted so brutally towards her earlier going far enough to hurt the blonde, accident or not, now she was finding out she hadn't even given the guy permission.

"Absolutely nothing, Mei please believe me," Yuzu pleaded as tears ran down her cheeks unable to control them. Mei couldn't sit and watch as her blubbering girlfriend pleaded for her forgiveness, it was just too painful to bear. Mei feeling guilty pulled Yuzu into a soft kiss, feeling horrid for acting so brashly and for making Yuzu feel so dejected.

"Okay Yuzu I believe you, please stop crying. I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier and for hurting your arm, I would never purposely hurt you, and I know you wouldn't either, I'm sorry." At Mei's countless apologizes Yuzu felt her chest grow lighter as relief washed over her, she pulled Mei into a hurried embrace, tucking her head into the curve of Mei's neck. She laced kisses on Mei's neck relieved that Mei had believed her.

"I love you Mei, sorry for not listening to you when you said it was going to be a bad idea," Yuzu continued to hold Mei tight as she too, apologised.

"Don't be sorry, I love you too," Mei pulled away enough to give the blonde a long passionate kiss, it was simple but it conveyed thousands of feelings for the girls, hot sparks seemed to emit from the kiss as it slowly morphed into a fervent make out neither wanted to end. When it came to a finish, Yuzu enveloped her arms around Mei not ever wanting to let her go. Placing endless kisses over Mei's head Yuzu whispered countless words of love to Mei hoping to convey how much she cherished her.

The two didn't budge from the embrace, falling asleep in the others grasp.