A little fluff I'm writing to introduce you to my next story after I finish Life of a Lyoko Princess. Until someone says "I love you" in the show then keep an open mind. Please review afterwards. Criticism is my best motivation.
(Ulrich's POV)
I sat on the bench in the middle of the campus, watching everyone that passed by. Odd was by the tree, trying to impress Sissi by bouncing a football off his knee. Aelita and Jeremie sat under the tree, their eyes fixed on the computer screen, and Yumi and William were under the shade of the arches, giggling despite William having asked her for help with math. I didn't mean to feel alone, I knew everyone was happy and I should be happy for them, but I wanted to be happy too.
My mind flashed back to my last conversation with Yumi.
"I…I really like you," I stammered. Yumi's face was turning red. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"I'm sorry Ulrich, but William asked me first."
William asked me first. The words echoed in my mind. Yumi really didn't want me, and I wasn't going to waste my time with her any longer. "Never love anything that can't love you back," I muttered out loud, quoting one of my father's rules for life. I rarely listened to him, but it seemed to be the only thing he ever said that made sense.
I got up and walked towards the dorms, not caring to fry in the sun any longer. There wasn't any class today, it being Sunday, so I figured I'd spend my day trying to catch up on some long-overdue homework. My mind didn't want to focus though, and the physics homework seemed impossible. "I'm never going to pass the ninth grade," I thought hopelessly. I abandoned my homework, popping a Rammstein CD into the player on my desk.
"Hey, Ulrich, you in there?" Odd's voice called from the other side of the door. "I forgot my key, man, I need in!"
"Go away Odd," I called back. I knew it wasn't fair to turn him away, it was his room too, but I just wanted to be alone. Odd obviously got the message, as there was no wise crack reply.
Everyone has someone except me, I thought sadly.
"Ulrich?" It was a different voice this time. Aelita's.
I didn't want to turn her away as I had Odd. Aelita could be incredibly sensitive to stuff like that, and I liked her enough to care about her feelings. I slowly got off the bed and unlocked the door. Aelita stood there, her green eyes meeting mine. "What's up?" I asked casually. It was odd for her to be the one to come to me when I was in a mood.
"You wanna go get dinner?" she asked quietly. She was always so quiet.
"No thanks, I'm not really hungry."
"Oh…" She seemed disappointed. I was curious as to what was going on.
"Why don't you go eat with Jeremie?" I asked, stepping back so she could step in. I wasn't asking if she was going to eat, I was more curious as to why she wasn't with Einstein.
"He's too busy playing with his computer. I'm not really hungry anyways," she added quickly. "Odd and Yumi are both sitting with someone and I was just wondering if you'd sit with me, but if you aren't hungry then it's okay."
I shrugged. "I was going to try and get some homework finished."
"Want some help?" Aelita asked, her face lighting up. Ulrich laughed. Aelita loved doing homework more than anything. Such a cute little nerd.
"Sure. You're good at physics, right?" I opened my book. She sat down next to me on the bed, looking at the work.
"It's pretty simple. Here." She took my pencil, drawing out a chart, and in less than a minute she was done. She smiled at me, brushing her pink hair from her eyes. "Easy."
"Uh-huh.." I muttered, not really caring about the homework anymore. My attention was more on Aelita. She really was beautiful, I didn't know why I never saw it before. "Aelita, what exactly is between you and Jeremie?"
Aelita's pale cheeks flushed red. "What do you mean?"
"Well, are you guys friends, a couple, what?"
Aelita looked at her boots. "Well, I would like to think we're more…I mean, everyone looks at us like that. But since I've been on Earth, I've learnt so much. I like to go out and have fun, I like to do things, and all he does is sit at his computer, he doesn't get me at all. When I try and talk to him about it though, he looks at me like I'm stupid. I don't know. I'd like to be a couple but sometimes the only thing we have in common is Lyoko, and that's just not good enough."
I didn't know if I should be sympathetic or incredibly happy. "Have you ever thought about anyone else?"
Aelita shurgged. "I don't know. I never really gave it another thought. Everyone expects me to be with Jeremie."
I gulped. "What about me?"
Aelita gave out a little laugh. "Ulrich, who at this school doesn't think about you?"
I couldn't help but laugh. I knew it was true, though I never understood why. Aelita's laugh died down and she sat on my bed. I didn't want to get to the awkward silence stage. I had to make a move. I reached my hand out and brushed back a bit of her pink hair. "What if…What if we were a couple? Yumi chose William over me, and Jeremie is always picking his computer over you."
Aelita seemed surprised by the remark, but the fact that she didn't immediately turn me down made my heart skip a beat. "Us?"
"Yeah. I mean why not? I'm supposed to be the hottest guy around, you're the prettiest girl in my opinion—"
"Ulrich we can't just suddenly jump into a relationship like this!" Aelita jumped up. I was almost afraid she would leave, but she just stood there, confusion etched on her face.
"We aren't though. I mean, we've known each other for two years now. I've protected you countless times, and I know Odd kinda had dibs after Jeremie but he seems pretty content with Sissi. I care about you Aelita, and I know it may seem like we'd be jumping into it, but we can grow together. I'll spend all the time I can with you, get to know you, make you happy the way Jeremie never even tried to."
Aelita bit her lip. "I just don't know Ulrich."
I sighed. "Alright. At least think about it."
Aelita continued to stand there, feeding my hope that she wouldn't turn me down. "Maybe…maybe we can try something. But we have to take it slow. And can we keep it a secret?"
"Why?"
"I just don't want things to get around, and I want to break it to Jeremie gently. I mean, you have to admit, this is pretty spontaneous."
"Spontaneous as fuck," I mumbled, laughed at the little inside joke. Aelita looked at me in confusion and I shook my head. "I'll tell you later. So, you really want to try this?"
Aelita bit her lip again and nodded. "It'd be nice to see what a real relationship is like anyways."
I smiled, feeling happy for once. Keeping to the promise of taking it slow, I didn't kiss her like I wanted, but instead took her hand in mine and led her out of the room. "How about some dinner."
Aelita smiled, and my heart skipped another beat. She really was beautiful, and I was stupid for not seeing it before. I was going to try my best to make it work. She was my pink haired angel now.
