It's my first attempt at a romance, so please try to be a little understanding if it sucks. If you have any advice for me that might help me improve in this area of writing, I'd love to hear it.

Alexis was the untouchable Obelisk queen. Sure, she was friendly (to a certain extent), but as far as relationships went, none of the guys at Duel Academy could capture her heart. The only guy she ever really talked to other than her brother was Zane Truesdale. That all changed the day that she first saw Jaden Yuki duel.

He duelled with such passion, it was so intoxicating to watch, that Alexis soon found herself entranced. His cute brown eyes burning with excitement, his somewhat corny catchphrases, and his skill. Jaden was the only one who ever made Alexis feel like she was in love.

But despite Alexis' feelings, Jaden was obnoxiously oblivious to her hints. Every time she wanted to talk to him, Jaden thought that Alexis wanted to duel again. Every time Alexis said something that hinted that she liked him, Jaden interpreted it as a friendly comment. Jaden was in love, but not with her. His heart lay in duelling, and nothing else.

For several years, Alexis suffered painfully over her heartbreak while pretending like nothing was wrong. It became enough to just be around Jaden, to bask in the comfort of his confidence and blissful ignorance. Things were definitely never boring with Jaden around. The world always needed saving, and Jaden was always there to save it. Alexis allowed herself to get swept along with it all, because it was all fun when Jaden could handle it.

Then it happened. Jesse Anderson was left behind in the Duel Dimension. Jaden was crushed. He felt so guilty. After all, it was his duel monster that had caused his friend to suffer. He began to do crazy things, and it only went downhill when he slipped back into the duel dimension.

Alexis and all of Jaden's friends followed, but all Jaden cared about was getting Jesse back. He didn't seem to care if Alexis or any of the others got in trouble or not. Alexis' heart broke all over again. It killed her to see Jaden like this rather than his usual goofy self. And, if pressured, Alexis would admit that she was jealous. Of Jesse. It made her wonder that if she was the one who had gone missing, would Jaden search for her as desperately as he did Jesse?

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, Alexis realized that Jaden had hit rock bottom the second that he put all of their lives in danger. She was dissolved into the stars, painfully and slowly.

The next thing that Alexis knew, she was back at Duel Academy. One minute, she was dissolving into stardust in another dimension, then she was just back at Duel Academy, as if it was all a bad dream. But Jaden was gone.

He wasn't with her when she woke up with the others. He wasn't on the grounds, he wasn't at the academy at all! He wasn't even in the same dimension. It seemed like he had exchanged himself for Jesse. And in that moment, Alexis hated Jaden.

Jaden betrayed all of his friends. Not only that, but he apparently went evil in the duel dimension and dissolved a bunch of innocent people because of his anger. What happened to him? What had snapped in him that made him lose control? Alexis didn't care. She was blinded by her sadness and she needed someone to blame.

Time passed, and Jaden still didn't show up. Alexis eventually re-thought her opinion. She didn't hate Jaden anymore, but she didn't love him like she used to. All she felt was pity. Jaden was always hit the hardest, and he just snapped. It didn't make the things he did forgiveable, but it did make him pitiable.

Life moved on for the most part. Almost everything went back to normal except for those who still mourned for Jaden. It was like he had died, and maybe he had. That's what everyone thought until Syrus found the brunette in the middle of the forest outside of the academy. He even greeted the little blue-haired boy in a seemingly normal way. "Isn't it fried shrimp day today?"

But after that, Jaden withdrew from the whole world. It was like he didn't have friends. Or a life of any sort. The only time that the last remaining Slifer left his solitary room was to avoid contact with anyone who tried to approach him.

Alexis thought that he was just avoiding them out of shame, or even an obscure hatred. Otherwise, why would he go through so much effort to try to avoid his 'friends'? She hated this. She wanted to go back to the old days when Jaden was as friendly as humanly possible and always played the good guy. She wanted to go back to the good old days when she still loved him. Now, she wasn't sure how she felt. Alexis wanted to love him, but her shame towards him was just too great.

Everyone eventually stopped trying to talk to Jaden. It was clear that he didn't want their company, so they stopped wanting his.

It was purely on accident that Alexis stumbled upon him sitting on the cliff one night. She just wanted to go for a walk because she couldn't sleep, but when she reached the cliff, Jaden was already sitting on the edge, feet dangling over the side.

Alexis was about to turn around and leave before he noticed her, but it was too late. "Please don't go." She wasn't really sure if she heard him say anything, so she paused. Sure enough, the same whispered line drifted back to her again.

Jaden sounded so broken, like he had been crying every night since he had gotten back from the duel dimension, but didn't have anymore tears left to cry. Alexis couldn't force herself to leave after hearing him like that and sat down right by him on the ledge, watching the ocean below churn with the tide. It was so beautiful in a dangerous sort of way. Kind of like Jaden. Even though she knew that she'd be in trouble if she stayed too close to Jaden, Alexis couldn't help but be drawn in to him anyway.

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the tide crash upon the cliffside. Alexis didn't know what to say, but her prescence alone was enough to make Jaden feel better. And once Jaden felt slightly less depressed than he was before, he got up to leave, but Alexis snagged his wrist. There was no way that she was just going to let him walk away without any explanations this time.

"Why have you been avoiding us, Jaden?" she asked angrily. "First you go crazy in the duel dimension, and now you completely shut out the world? Didn't all those years we were friends with you count for anything? Or was it all just a big waste of time for you?"

Tears were clouding her vision, and Alexis realized what a low blow she had just released. She hadn't meant to explode on him, but she really wanted answers. She really wanted to know who was the real Jaden so she could finally decide whether she should love him or shun him.

Seeing her tears, Jaden snapped out of his own depression. "That's not it at all, Lex! I miss being able to hang out with you and Syrus and Hassleberry and...Chazz even! But I can't. Please understand, Lexi. Please," he pleaded, his warm chocolate brown eyes begging her to understand. She wanted to, but she couldn't.

Alexis was about to speak again, but Jaden silenced whatever was about to come next. He suddenly leaned down, cupped her chin in one hand, and pressed his lips against hers. To say that Alexis was surprised would be an understatement, but she liked it so much that it didn't matter. She allowed herself to float on a wave of pure bliss in those few seconds that their lips were in contact.

Then Jaden pulled away, way too soon for Alexis. But she was still in shock and couldn't force herself to move or even speak anything else. Jaden gave her one last little smile before disappearing into the trees.

At least now she knew who the real Jaden was. It wasn't the cold-hearted bastard everyone thought he was. It was the one who was scared and hiding underneath a cold shell.