Heartbreak and Comfort

I was sitting in my room running a simple diagnostic on Lyoko when the door to my room was thrown open and slammed shut. I quickly minimised the page and turned round to see who it was. I was surprised to see Ulrich looking both miserable and furious.

"Ulrich?" I asked hesitantly.

He sat on my bed and I was shocked when tears welled in his eyes. I quickly moved to sit beside him and I was hesitant to do anything as social interactions weren't my forte. I gently pat him on the shoulder and I almost fell off the bed, startled, when he grabbed me in a hug. I felt his shoulders shaking and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he cried. When he calmed down he moved back slightly.

"What's happened?" I asked him softly.

"I was walking back to my room and in the hallway I saw Yumi and William together." He said shakily.

I frowned in confusion. "Well he does often follow Yumi around." I said bewildered.

"No! I mean together together. They were kissing." He informed me.

"Oh." I didn't really know what to say. "Well maybe it just wasn't meant to be, you could have anyone you want and you are a great guy so anyone would be lucky to have you." I said quoting something I remembered a girl tell one of her friends after she had been dumped.

Ulrich offered me a weak smile. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he turned to me. "Do you really think so?" He asked.

"Of course! I mean you're sweet and sensitive and a great friend, you just need to find the right person, they're out there somewhere." Again another quote I had found.

"Or maybe they were here all along." He said with a strange look on his face.

I felt relieved that I had managed to do something right socially without too much help and without making things worse. I turned to ask him who he meant and found him really close to my face.

"Ulrich?" I questioned.

He placed a hand on my leg and moved even closer before removing my glasses with his other hand, I gasped as I had a flash back to when the Yumi clone did this and I was startled out of my musing when I felt his lips on my own. I gasped and made to pull away but Ulrich leaned over me pressing me to the bed as he deepened the kiss, after a few seconds more he pulled away.

I sat up and stared at him in astonishment. "W-W-What?" I stuttered out.

"You've always been there for me Jeremy, you've always helped me when I needed it and you are a great person. I like you just as much as I did Yumi." He said blushing slightly. "Will you go out with me?"

I had no clue how to react, I had never even considered dating another guy and the only girl I had ever liked was Aelita. He said that he would give me some time to think it over as he left my room and I just sat there in a stupor. After a while I slowly came round and I was so unsure of what to do, I mean I liked Ulrich but I didn't know if I like, liked him.

I didn't know who I could talk to, Aelita was living a normal life with her father Franz Hopper and I didn't want to disturb her from spending time with him over something like this. I mean she now lived on the other side of the world so the only contact we had was e-mail if we were ever on at the same time.

Yumi was definitely out as was William as I don't think William would understand and Yumi would still be jealous even though she chose William over Ulrich. That left Odd. Well, I didn't know if he would take it seriously and even if he did I still had to go to Ulrich's room to see Odd which could be really embarrassing. I decided that I would have to talk to Odd after one of our classes. I decided it was late and I needed to sleep so I got ready for bed and settled into an uncomfortable rest.

The next morning I was still confused but I was determined to talk to Odd to see if Ulrich had mentioned anything and to see if he had any advice for me. I cornered him after Ms. Herts Science lesson.

"Odd. I need to talk to you." I said with a nervous blush.

"Sure!" He replied easily.

"I-I-I think I might like someone." I told him gauging his reaction.

"And?" Odd gave me a puzzled look.

"I think I like another guy." I said blushing and averting my eyes.

"Oh. There's nothing wrong with that Jeremy!" Odd said with a honest smile.

"I know but I'm just not sure whether I'm a rebound or whether he really likes me." I confessed my secret fear.

"Well has he shown any interest in you?"

"He kissed me." I said turning tomato red.

"What's the problem then?" Odd asked me.

"He only kissed me after he had caught the person he liked kissing someone else." I said miserably.

"I see your problem. Do you like him a lot or just a little?" He asked with a knowing look.

"A lot." I almost whispered.

"Then tell him, if it doesn't work out then you can always remain friends." Odd said comfortingly. "Just out of curiosity who is it?"

"Ulrich." I said softly.

Odd gave me a huge grin and pulled me in for a hug. I accepted the slightly awkward hug before jumping away from Odd when I heard a gasp behind me. Ulrich stood there with a look of absolute betrayal as he shook his head in disbelief. I flushed guiltily and moved towards Ulrich.

"It's not what it looks like." I said but Ulrich turned away from me and ran. "Ulrich!"

Odd stopped me from chasing after him by putting a hand on my arm as he shook his head. Odd gave me a significant look before giving chase to Ulrich. I sat on a bench in the courtyard and I was startled to find a few tears roll down my cheeks. I jumped and hurriedly wiped my cheeks and turned to look at the person standing by my shoulder. I was surprised to see Cissy standing next to me.

"I saw what happened." She said with an apologetic smile. "I'll help you."

"Why would you want to help me?" I asked.

"Because you all helped me so many times and I want to help Ulrich be happy and I realised that we aren't meant to be. Also I'd like your help." She said with a slight blush.

"If you can help me explain to Ulrich then I'll help you with pretty much anything." I promised.

She beamed at me and showed me a tape recorder which she said had been on the whole time as she had been trying to get a secret memory of everyone in our group and that at first she hadn't realised how privately the conservation was and that she was going to delete it later but then Ulrich had turned up. She told me that I could have the disk to give to Ulrich if I'd help her.

"Cissy I swear that I will do anything in my power to help you if this works." I said honestly.

That night I snuck out of my room and walked down to Ulrich and Odd's shared room where I left the disk with a note addressed to Ulrich on the floor by the door, I took a deep breath before knocking on the door and running back to my room hoping that no-one saw me. I lay on my bed and cuddled a pillow to my chest as I prayed that Ulrich would read the note and watch the film. I fell into an uneasy sleep.

ULRICH

I refused to talk to Odd and had demanded that he switch rooms for the night which he did so reluctantly. I was moping on my bed feeling really sorry for myself when I heard a knock on the door. I sat there for a minute before getting up to answer the door surprised when there was only a note and a CD of some sort there. I picked them both up and took them into my room puzzled. I decided to read the note first.

I never meant to hurt you, please just watch this tape so you can know the truth before judging me and Odd too harshly. Yours, Jeremy.

I watched the tape and felt like such an idiot when I realised that Jeremy would never betray me and that he had only needed some advice from a good friend. I had been such a jerk and Jeremy was asking for forgiveness. I decided that as soon as the sun rose I would apologise to both Odd and Jeremy. There was just one thing that puzzled me, how did Jeremy get the tape?