I've taken this off the kink meme, I thought it was quite an awesome idea. As I know a person who thinks they're asexual so I kind of wrote it in honour of them…

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Pairing: Apollo/Ema (I chose Apollo since he always seems too busy for a relationship)

Kink:Your prompt, anons, is to have an AA character go through a similar experience - discovering that no, they're not asexual like they thought, they just can't be attracted to someone they don't already love.

He was 14 when he realised he was different to the normal people. Well, he felt different to other boys. You see, when he was in the locker room at school he would often listen to the other boys chatting away about the girls they 'like'. At that early stage he didn't feel so bad about it though – he was probably just a late developer.

When he was 16 he started to feel like a social outcast. He never felt so different. He was never a popular kid, but even his friends were starting to get partners. His best friends, James and Alex were the main ones. Apollo cared for his friends, he really did but when he asked them what they saw in their girlfriends they said they just 'felt different'.

He never felt that.

At 20 most boys had lost their virginity and where either turning into true frat boys or settling into a relationship he still felt nothing. He never felt anything different around even the most beautiful of women.

He thought he might have been gay. So he hung about in a few gay bars. Again, even the most beautiful looking men didn't spark any fire in him, there wasn't even a flicker.

He never felt anything. That was why Apollo Justice had labelled himself Asexual. He never felt any desire for sex or attraction to anyone – male or female.

Being Asexual had its advantages. Without the raging hormones charging through his body he found it easier to concentrate on his work. So he always achieved top grades while at school and achieved 99% of his marks in his final law exam. Another advantage was that without the desire towards women he often understood them and cared for them more than if he did desire them.

One particular woman was Ema Skye. He knew she was pretty, other people had said it. But people like Klavier wanted her, they found her attractive.

"Everything ok?" Ema smiled, staring into his dark eyes.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry…just thinking."

"About?"

"Oh no it's nothing." He smiled back. "When's he getting here?"

"Sorry, Max always takes his time." Ema smiled.

Max was Ema's boyfriend. He cared for her, in a way Apollo could not. Apollo was always there as emotional support for her, he understood her on an emotional and intellectual level – although he didn't trust her enough to tell her about the problem he had when it came to love.

"Have you talked to Max about me and you yet?" Apollo asked as he stirred his tea one more time before taking a sip.

"He won't listen Apollo." Ema shook her head. "I tried to tell him you've never shown any desire towards me but he refuses to listen."

"Well I need to be off soon anyway." Apollo smiled softly.

"Sure." She kissed his cheek. "I'll call you tonight, let you know if he has been…well, yeah…"

"Alright." He hugged her gently.

"See you soon honey."

Sometimes he wondered about what he was missing. He wanted to know what it felt like to be intimate with a woman, to hold her all day and all night, to care about her on more than just a friendly level. It didn't help having friends like Klavier – who bragged about his latest 'conquest' as he referred to them.

He was on the forum again. The forum where he read about other people's stories similar to him. Where they too would experience the feelings, or rather lack of feelings towards others. He stumbled across one story which interested him more than others. Inspired a tiny little bit of hope in him. A tiny little flame of hope which he thought had been extinguished long ago.

This woman claimed she had felt no desire in 26 years, she thought it to be more of a blessing than a curse. She didn't have hormones to convince her she was in love with people who would only ruin her life, she had a dream job and amazing friends, both male and female. She, like him kept her secret bottled up, embarrassed by it. Now however, she was with a man, the only man who had ever stirred feeling in her.

He'd met her years ago and only after she confessed her embarrassing asexuality did he do something she didn't expect. He kissed her. That one kiss sparked something in her. She was a rare type of person, she had to be in love with the person and know them inside out before any feeling surfaced.

Her post ended with her urging others to try what she had done.

The post was quite old, in a more recent post she had written that a year after going out with her friend they had decided to get married.

Maybe that was his problem! Maybe he wasn't like Klavier or the others, he needed to know he truly cared and wanted to be in love with a person before he would feel any attraction to them.

At ten at night, a very tired Apollo decided it would be best to get some rest. As he dressed in an old tracksuit after a warm bath, waiting for his kettle to boil he was alarmed by a knock at the door.

"A-Apollo! Will you open the door?" The voice sobbed. He searched for the key as soon as he heard her voice.

After spending more and more time with Ema he realised she wasn't as much of a hardened feminist as he thought she was. Sure, she was a tough cookie who stood up for what she believed in, but she was still human. He had only ever seen her cry once, when Klavier pushed her too far while making rude comments to her.

This would be the second time. When he opened the door she wiped her eyes and wiped them on the white lab coat she wore, leaving black streaks from mascara.

"C-come in!" He stepped aside quickly and allowed her into his warm, admittedly small apartment.

"M-Max! He-!" She choked on a sob.

"He what?" Apollo asked quietly holding her hand.

"He wouldn't believe me! He called me horrible names! He told me you could take me for all he cares!" She threw herself into his chest.

He listened to her for nearly half an hour before she finally simmered down.

"Want a mug of cocoa or something?" Apollo whispered in her ear.

"Please." She whispered back, cuddled in his chest.

"Alright, put TV on if you want." He handed her the remote before heading back into the kitchen to make the cocoa.

All that was on TV was an endless stream of chat shows.

'I can't believe my son is gay!'

'Who's my baby's father?'

"Ugh, how tacky." Apollo groaned as he placed the mug on the coffee table in front of her. She flicked to the next channel as he sat down. This time it was a documentary – one on Asexuality.

"Next…"

"No Ema! Wait!" He grabbed her wrist. "Please, leave this on."

"Um…ok…" She placed the remote down.

"Apollo…have you ever had a girlfriend?" She piped up after a while of being silent. Something about this documentary seemed to be describing some of Apollo's behaviour.

"Me…um…n-no I haven't." He whispered.

"Why not? Are you too shy or something?"

"No, not quite…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "T-the truth is, I'm like the people on here, I feel no sexual desire or attraction to others."

"None, none whatsoever?"

"None." Apollo closed his eyes and flinched, this was embarrassing.

"I…oh Apollo…" She whispered. "I sort of envy you…people always hurt me because I feel attracted to the wrong person."

"It's horrible Ema! I feel like such a social outcast." Apollo whimpered.

"I don't think you are Asexual Apollo. I think you just haven't found the right person."

"I hope you're right." Apollo whispered. "Hey, promise you won't tell anyone about my little problem…"

"Of course not, promise you won't tell anyone about me and Max breaking up." She whispered. "You're a great guy." She kissed him.

He felt something, he wasn't sure what. But he felt it, a fire deep within.

He gripped her wrist to stop her moving away.

"Is something wrong?" Ema giggled.

"I know this sounds weird but…I felt something then…" He didn't know what to do, he'd kissed girls before but never felt anything. He didn't know what to do now he felt something.

"Really? What did you feel?" Ema asked, her breath tickling his skin.

"I dunno, it's just…it's never been there before."

"Well, you know what to do don't you?"

"I…uh…n-no."

"Haha!" She pressed her lips to his.

Now he felt it, he felt that admiration and desire for Ema. To be more to her than a friend.

All he needed to do was find a girl he was in love with, that was all he needed to get that feeling for her. All he wanted now was to push the feeling further as the kissing got heavier, now he only wished he knew how to make her feel good...