Bonjour! Why, you ask? Because my French stinks so bad, I only know one word, that's why.

Anyways, this is an entry to Challenge #3 of 'Another Lovely Contest' set up by Another Artist, whose Amy\Ian ficlets have been my lean-to during these past weeks. Her stories are awesome! You gotta check them out. I repeat. Check. Them. Out. Or you'll be sorry (holds water squirt gun). Anyways, thanks for setting this contest up (Another Artist)!!!

These are the requirements to Challenge # 3:

Challenge # 3

Bringing Down the Walls

INFO: Amy doesn't want to let Ian in…right? This story is all about Ian gaining her trust.

NEEDED:

-Fireflies!

-Use of the quote. "I'm going to need some dynamite for this."

-Some laughter…

NO-NOs

-No use of the word "trust".

-No crying.

-No gifts, especially the showering of roses and all that.

-No deserts either, or candy

This is a bit long for a oneshot... I am so SORRY! I went so overboard…Again, sorry!

Hope you like reading, and please tell me what you think (and if you liked it, please vote) minna!

IAN'S POV:

"I don't know what you find so fascinating about thin air."

I turned to glare at my sister, wondering how someone so pint-sized could be so hugely annoying.

With a huff and a toss of her hair, Natalie opened her mouth and began talking so loudly you'd think the whole world was deaf in several levels.

"Look, brother. It's totally fine if you want to continue to stare blankly at random objects for varying periods of time. It's not very bright, but it's tolerable." Natalie smiled, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"What's not fine, is that instead of thinking about our competition, specifically Amy Cahill in a strictly unbiased way that might prove useful to she and Dan being thrown out of this race, you are evaluating her bodyin a way that is not only perverted —"

"I am not," I interrupted. "Evaluating anyone's body."

Such lies, Ian.

Natalie's 11. She need not know anything.

"—but pointless and disgusting."

"Natalie," I said coolly. "I don't need your psychology talk right now."

"You're right. You don't. You need anti-depressants. Brother. She. Does. Not. Have. Any. Form. Of. Confidence. In. You. Do you need to me to write it down on your forehead? Hang on, I've got a marker here somewhere. It's pink, but you'll live."

I stayed quiet, hoping to block out any more psycho-babble, but the impact of my sister's words still sunk in heavily.

Unusual as it was, what was coming out of my sister's mouth was undeniably, irreversibly true. I had done practically everything to wreck Amy's credence in me…I had tricked her…used her…

But that didn't bother me. Why the hell should it bother me?

I was Ian Kabra. Stunningly handsome, impossibly rich, highly intelligent—

And supremely big-headed, don't forget that one.

"—send her roses, for one, or a necklace encrusted with gems. Or you could send her money. They could use that. My God, do something."

I blinked. "Pardon?"

Natalie raised her eyes upwards, waving a dangerous-looking pink marker in one hand. "Just go, Romeo. The sooner you reclaim your non-rich Juliet's hand, the sooner you reclaim your brain. I'll cover for you from mum."

"Disregarding that insult to my intelligence," I said stiffly, turning around to crack a smile. "You're the best."

"So I've heard," Natalie waved her hand dismissively, grinning.

Automatically, I sprung up, grabbed my grey sweater, then ran out the door.

"For someone "incredibly smart", you're surprisingly stupid, brother. Do you have a plan?" Natalie called after me, and I slowed down.

"Are you a Lucian or what?!" She hissed. I gritted my teeth. She got the point, and started listing ideas.

"Maybe you should write her the giant novelty check. Then she'd take you back."

Seeing as this was Amy, I was pretty sure my signature on a blank check and the words, "I think you need this" would earn me nothing more than a slap.

"I'll…think about that. See you around, sister."

"I'm going to need some dynamite for this," I muttered to myself, crossing the threshold.

*******

(STILL IAN'S POV)

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.

Stop pressing it! My subconscious screamed at me, and I ceased hammering the doorbell with my fist.

Hurriedly, I ran through the hastily-assembled plan in my head.

I was going to ask, no force Amy to go on a date with me now, and then… I wasn't exactly sure where we went from then on, and the craziest things ranging from fireworks to buying her a bookstore raced through my mind.

The door opened and out came—

…Dan. Oh, shit.

"What are you doing here?"

Out of habit, I said the first sarcastic thing that came to mind. "Selling cookies. Would you like one?"

Dan hesitated. I rolled my eyes in frustration. Sometimes he could just be so thick.

"Do I look like a freaking girl scout to you?"

Dan snorted, glaring at me. "Yes. All you're missing is the sash."

A little twitch of the trigger and the boy would be out of my way…

Play it nice, moron. D'you really think Amy's going to be all that eager to take you back once you've killed her brother?

Point taken.

"Nice talking to you, Daniel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and apologize to your sister."

Dan looked doubtful. He opened his mouth but someone else's voice rang out.

"God, dweeb, shut the door. Whose dog pooped on the doormat now—"

Everything seemed to be in slow motion. Amy's green eyes spotted me, standing there on her doorstep, staring at her. Her face turned red, and then—she was gone up the stairs in record time.

"Wait!" I called, and pushed past Dan.

"Hey!" Dan said angrily. "No ID no entry, dude! We don't let cobras in this house!"

I ignored him, running up the steps. I couldn't make sense of things. My world, my perfectly planned out world, was spinning out of control. I suddenly didn't know what was going to happen next. (A\N: The horror.)

Hurriedly, I opened and shut a few doors. Finally spotting something promising, I walked quickly over to the last door on the left side, and—

"Go away, Ian."

I hung back a bit on the doorstep, uncertain whether to proceed or to back out.

…Full speed ahead.

******

AMY'S POV:

"What kind of greeting is that?" Ian said smoothly. He entered my room, and sat down on a chair in front of my desk, surprisingly knowledgeable despite the fact that he had never been in my room. As far as I knew.

"What do you want?" I muttered, running my hands nervously across the embroidery on my pillow. What was he doing here?

Anyway, I told myself sternly, I just don't care.

I don't care if Ian Kabra is here, I don't care how good he looks right now. I don't care that he's actually here in my room.

I simply wouldn't react to whatever he was going to say. Ian meant nothing to me anymore. He couldn't be relied on. Half the words that came out of his mouth were lies, the other half was about how great he was.

"One afternoon. That's all I ask."

"One afternoon to show you I won't hurt you anymore."

******

IAN'S POV:

"Where are we going?" Amy grumbled softly. The light of the sun chose this particular moment to make her hair glow. I answered without thinking.

"Honestly?" I said darkly. "I don't know."

We had been walking for about fifteen minutes along the sidewalk after Amy (hesitantly) agreed to come with me and I still had no inkling as to where our destination would be. I thought of my Lucian ancestors, tossing in their graves.

Amy stared at me with big, brilliantly green eyes. "You don't know?"

I cringed. "Well, don't rub it in."

To my surprise, Amy let out a laugh. I was captivated.

"What's so funny?" I asked in a disgruntled tone, as the melody stopped.

"It's just that I've never seen you—" Amy shot me a look mixed with disbelief and amusement. "Not know something, Ian. You should do it more often. It feels good to know you're kind of human."

"I'm human," I said quietly. Oh, how I'm human.

Amy looked stricken, as thought she was afraid she had insulted me. "I was just kidding! I know you're human, it's just that you don't act like it. You're always so perfect—and they say that to err is—"

"Human," I finished, a smile on my lips. She was cute when she started freaking out. Maybe I should let her think she insulted me more.

"I can't blame you," I smirked. "What with me being ravishingly handsome, supremely intelligent and insanely rich…"

"You forgot to add ever humble," Amy pointed out.

"Error. My system can't process modesty."

Amy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "You could be an alien," She suggested jokingly.

"You're thinking like Dan," I frowned. "He asked me that once, too. He also inquired as to when my mother ship would land and take Natalie and me away."

"Yeah…he does that." Amy grinned.

"Have you ever thought of shipping him out to a mental center?"

"My brother's too crazy for mental centers."

"So is Natalie."

I could hardly believe I was laughing.

*******

AMY'S POV:

Amy. Amy—you're losing it girl. What happened to the 'I don't care' cover-up, eh? Oh, that's right. It was a COVER-UP.

Frantically, I tried to remind myself that this was Ian Kabra I was walking along the street with. Ian Kabra, betrayer of minds and breaker of hearts. Ian Kabra. I had made it a point to forget about Ian a couple of weeks ago.

Progress point zero.

"I do think Teabings would have made a better possessor of the secret if he had been given the chance. An opportunity to let the whole world know what the church has keeping silent for the last thousand years…I would have given everything to attain that secret."

I sighed. Ian looked at me curiously. "What?"

"You Kabras are all the same…" I muttered. "Driven by this mad obsession of winning in every thing."

Ian chortled. "That's us. Life's a game we plan to win. Okay, then. What would you have done if you were in Robert's position?"

"I would do what he had done. Some things you just don't flaunt for the whole world to see. Secrets aren't like limos, and polo ponies," I grinned at Ian, who scowled. "There's beauty in silence too, you know."

"Indeed, there is," As he said this, Ian's eyes stayed on me. I flushed red and averted my eyes.

The sun was setting. I marveled at the different hues of orange, red, and pinks that shaded the sky.

"Oh, look." Ian pointed.

I stared at the direction his finger was pointing at. It led to a huge, empty lot with a sign that read, 'for sale'. I looked at him in disbelief. "What, you're going to buy that lot?"

He chuckled. "No. Look harder."

I squinted. Little balls of light were zooming across the fields, in all different directions, like some sort of crazy firefly rush hour. I laughed in delight. I had never seen so many of them all in one place! The fireflies scattered as I joined them.

Gingerly, Ian walked towards me. He stared cautiously at the insects, but since not one seemed to touch him, he strode confidently towards me. A firefly accidentally bumped him on the nose. He looked stricken. I couldn't help laughing at him.

"You insult my manliness," He said in a mock-hurt tone. I rolled my eyes, plopped down on the grass, and then motioned for him to join me.

"What, rich people don't sit down on grass?" I teased. He scoffed, then sat down gracefully next to me. "No. See, we've got this thing called chairs…"

I snorted, and watched the fireflies for a moment longer. They looked busy, flying here and there, alighting on leaves. The light of the setting sun made their glow all the more…

"Beautiful."

"I know, right—" But Ian wasn't staring at the fireflies, or the sunset. He was staring at me.

"Look, Amy," He began. My breath caught on my throat. Here we go.

"I am human." He said seriously. Then he grinned. "No matter that I'm more handsome, richer, more talented, infinitely smarter than any other guy you've met, I'm still normal underneath all of…these." He gestured to his designer jeans and white polo. I rolled my eyes at his smirk. Then he turned serious again.

"And you said, to 'err is human'. Well, I err. I made mistakes, things I'm not proud of. And I'm sorry."

I could hardly believe my ears. Was he actually saying the 's' word, now?

"I can't say I didn't know what I was doing to you. I did. But I realized after, that what I did was wrong. I don't want to hurt you. I'm sorry, Amy, I really am. And I ask you to put your faith in me again." Ian finished. I noticed he was staring at the grass, instead of me. This would have seemed comical, if I didn't feel like crying and if I had not been doing the exact same thing.

"Well?" Ian asked tentatively.

"There's one thing." I began. Well, a couple of million of things that all come back to one thing.

"What is it?" Ian asked eagerly.

"Those—betrayals you did. Will you do them again? The next time your mother forces you…will you fool me once more?"

BREATHE AMY, YOU ARE NOT SUPERHUMAN.

"No." Ian said firmly. "She won't be happy, but I can deal with that. Amy, I will never do anything to hurt you ever again,"

"And why should I believe you?" I asked, a tone of defiance creeping in my voice.

"Because…because I can't stand it. I can't be when I know you're out there, somewhere, mad at me. I don't know why, but it makes me…tense. Incomplete. What'd you call it?" Ian paused. "Sad."

I chewed at my lip. "But will that be enough? What about the next time me and Dan are obstacles to you winning? What'll happen then, Ian?"

"I'll give you a state-of-the-art machine gun, so the next time I betray you, you can shoot me." Ian said sarcastically. "Amy. I will never, ever, do anything to hurt you again."

His eyes were sincere. I had never seen him look so vulnerable.

I breathed. "You're forgiven."

"Thank you," He grinned at me, his cheeks flushed red, causing a similar effect to take place on my cheeks. I realized we were sitting kinda close.

I was silent again, contemplating everything. "Amy?" Ian stared at me questioningly. The rays of the sun danced on his amber eyes, on his hair…and I was once again falling into Ian's pit.

But this time, I took with me the laughter, the smiles, the short time we had spent together…a time littered with secret glances and stutters from both…

I took with me Ian's promise…

He hesitated, this once. "This is not just about guilt, actually. It's about how I feel. About you."

I waited, hardly daring to breathe.

"I think…I might actually…like you." Ian whispered, eyes wide.

"Hands down, you beat Shakespeare." I grinned weakly, my heart thundering.

"But…same here. I think…I like you too, Ian." Same here. Nice.

Ian laughed, eyes twinkling. We were silent for a few minutes. He held out his hand for mine, and said in a reluctant tone.

"I better take you home, or Daniel's going to think you got abducted by the aliens,"

I shook my head. "I don't care. You can take me home after midnight. As long as you take me home, I'm fine with."

Ian laughed, and we stayed there. And you know what? I didn't worry that I was alone with him, and that it was getting dark, or that we were in a deserted place with no people around.

Simply because he promised.

Because now, I had complete, and utter faith that Ian Kabra would always look out for my safety.

And it didn't hurt that he couldn't take his eyes off of me, either.

Aw…Well, that's it! What do you think of the ending...? Hope you liked reading, minna! And please review! We have a test later on, so I'm a bit depressed. I fear the worst. Just yesterday, I cried. Over Math. Again. Shows just how much I suck, number wise.

Review, minna!

~Miyu