Ti Amo

A fan fiction by: Mr. Trite

Cerulean scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, sixteen year old Jesse Anderson walked out of the safety given by the comfortably warmed walls of Duel Academy and into the slight chill of a crisp December afternoon. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, a rare and almost unheard of phenomenon. With a slight twitch of amusement gracing the Southerner's face, Jesse chuckled. He had seen plenty of that back at his own school…He hadn't realized how much he had missed it until just now. Pieces of pale green grass stuck out of the feathering at odd angles, breaking like twigs as the blue-haired teen stepped on them, his footprints leaving indents in the snow. He exhaled and smiled. Even as a child he had liked watching his breath evaporate into nothing, a magic show just for his eyes.

His destination was the beach. Not exactly the first place in somebody's mind to go when it was snowing out, but that's the exact reason why he wanted to go. There was no doubt in any of the Academy student's minds that Jesse Anderson loved a good party, this was definitely true. However, on the flip side, sometimes he just needed room to think. And, over Atticus' one-man karaoke shows and Chazz bickering with God-knows-who about God-knows-what, Jesse could barely hear himself think. And there was much to think about. Even if the only thing on his mind was just one person.

Jaden Yuki. At the mere thought of the chipper, brown-haired duelist, Jesse felt a blush creep over the neck of his winter jacket. He tried shaking it away. It was to no avail. It was no deep, hidden secret that Jesse had recently stumbled upon. Oh, no. Ever since the blue-haired Southerner cast those shocking emerald eyes on the softer, chocolaty orbs residing on Jaden's face, he knew he had found somebody special. It had put him in such a fluster that he had even forgotten to properly introduce himself. Even now, Jesse could recall the exact moment he had felt his heart stop.

It had been on mind for ages, and especially now when winter's chill had taken over, seemingly giving everybody that familiar, rosy complexion that came way too close to resembling a blush for Jesse's liking. The smooth, easygoing smile that seemed to be as imprinted on Jaden's face as it was in his mind; the never-failing, optimistic glow of his eyes; Just that positive sense of being…. Jesse sighed yet again, one of longing this time instead of the desire to see his breath float. One could argue to was a desire of a whole different meaning. But not in that sense- After all, Jesse had yet to receive his first kiss. He would much rather get that out of Jaden Yuki before anything more. That, in Jesse's mind, would just be pushing any shred of a chance he had with the brunette duelist. Not like he had much of one, in his opinion- Jaden's probably already got that heart of his set on Blair or Alexis or somethin' the bluenette thought with a frown.

Deeply lost in his thoughts, Jesse stumbled a bit as the bottom of feet hit a different texture, a smoothed stone instead of the beaten path he had been traveling on, worn for the continues thudding of student's feet as they ran to the white-sand shores during their summer or spring vacation. Waking up from his self-induced trance, Jesse noticed the stone steps that greeted him, marking his way down to the beach he knew would be absolutely deserted, save from the scattered rocks and seashells that would act as his company. The stairs were built in a clock-wise spiral; it reminded Jesse of the inside of a lighthouse. The steps had a large stone railing to prevent falls- It was impossible to see anything over the edge. Yet, the blue-haired teen already knew what to expect as he descended down the twisting stair-way; a stone 'pier' so to speak, steps leading down to the beach framed by two walls, flat at the top and easy to sit on, lay on if you wanted to. Jesse smiled a bit as the scene painted itself across his mind. Actually, he intended to get much closer to the water than that. Not too far off from the final flight of stone steps was a large slab of rock, perfect for Jesse to sit on, pull his legs up to his chest, and reflect. So, as Jesse's boot-guarded feet finally graced the final steps and turned onto the smooth stone pier, it was safe to say he wasn't expecting what he saw.

The other person's back was turned to him, yet Jesse would recognize that winter jacket anywhere. After all, it was the same shade of red that represented the school, one of three colors. Jesse swallowed, that all too familiar blush slowly crawling over the bridge of his nose. The figure seemed to be deep in thought, hunched over something Jesse couldn't see. As a matter of fact, it was the only thing truly wrong with the person. After all, Jaden wasn't one to really concentrate on something unless it was a life or death situation. Something Jesse knew was not a figure of speech; he had seen it with his own eyes.

Should he make his presence known? It was the question that bobbed between the sides of the teen's mind for seemingly forever, as frozen to the spot as the white particles falling from the sky. There was a few things the duelist could do in this situation, none he found all too appealing. One option would be to take the stairs back up and head back to the Academy, which would have made this trek, along with the already nipping cold gracing the tip of his nose, worthless. Of course, he could always go to one of the other many different beaches dotting the island's shoreline, however Jesse would rather not make his walk even longer, which would chill him to the bone and cause him to catch a cold before he even made it to his destination. Run past him? No, that wasn't it, either- Jesse was likely to slip and fall in this weather, thus catching Jaden's attention in the worst way, making him feel even more awkward than he already did. Or… "Hey, Jay…?"

The figure sitting on the ledge slowly turned his head, brown doe eyes blinking once or twice before a large grin split onto his face. "Jess!" the young man cheered, his excitement clearly evident. "Nice to see you, man!" Turning his body, Jaden slid himself off of the stone ledge, freeing himself from his previous, monk-like pose. He approached Jesse with the same grin on his face, not fading once since they made eye contact. "What are you doing out here, man? It's pretty cold out." The Virginian chuckled.

"I could say the same to you, Jay." Jesse could feel himself relaxing by degrees. That was the thing he liked the most about Jaden- How, even with this secret, he could feel some sense of inner peace around his best friend. Jaden barely seemed to acknowledge the cold. "It is kinda cold out. Didn't expect to see you out here." Glancing over Jaden's shoulder, the bluenette eyed the ledge that the apple of his eye had been sitting on. "Mind letting me take a peek at what you're workin' on over there, partner?" Following Jesse's emerald-encrusted gaze, Jaden's mouth formed into a slight 'O' shape- Had he forgotten why he was out here in the first place?- and nodded.

"Sure, come see." Jaden invited, turning on his heel and walking back over to where he had originally been sitting. Jesse was left to follow. "Although," the brunette said with a chuckle, "It's not all that interesting. But, you can see if you want. Maybe try to help me out a bit?" Bracing his hands against the flat part of the wall, Jaden scrambled up, sitting Indian-style on the flat surface once he found himself settled. He patted the place next to him, an invitation. With the grace of a gymnastic athlete, Jesse swung himself up upon the stone wall, careful not to squish Jaden's welcoming hand in the process. Jaden gave a low whistle.

"Wow," Jaden said, nodding his approval, "Nice technique you've got there, bro. I forgot about your obsession with working out." Jesse managed a chuckle.

"Yeah, you could do things like that to, if you worked out instead of sleeping and eating all day. " Jaden rolled those beautiful brown orbs of his.

"Oh, whatever." he scoffed, obviously teasing. Leaning to the side a little bit, Jaden plopped what appeared to be a textbook into his lap, a deck of flash cards pressed in between the pages. Jesse's eyes widened in the shock of seeing something he had never seen before.

"Jaden Yuki, are you…studying?" Jaden gave a laugh.

"Yes Jesse," he replied, "I'm studying." Cracking the book open, Jesse cast his gaze over the twin pages and frowned. The text was foreign to him, the occasional accent mark decorating the page. Jesse blinked. "Jay…" he drawled, confusion present in his green eyes, "What is this?"

"Italian." Jaden groaned, rolling his chocolate brown eyes. "It's the worst." Meeting Jaden's eyes curiously, Jesse tilted his head.

"Then what are you studyin' it for, then?" he asked, his integument obvious. "I mean…I've never seen you study, not even when it comes to thinks you like. So, what's the big deal?" Jaden smiled a little bit and scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. And cute, Jesse's mind emphasized. He tried to shake the thought out of his mind in order to focus on what his friend was saying.

"Well, you know how I normally fall asleep in class?" At Jesse's nod, Jaden continued. "Well, as it turns out, I totally wound up sleeping through some announcement about some huge test coming up. And if I fail, I'm seriously screwed." Jesse couldn't help but smile at his friend's almost child-like ignorance. The Academy students had been hearing about that test for a month now. And it was in two days.

"So, who finally told you?" Jesse asked, stifling a laugh and replacing it instead with a polite chuckle. Jaden flustered.

"Alexis." he said, laughing lightly. Jesse expertly disguised his disappointment at the girl's name. "She said if I screwed this up, she was going to make sure I never screwed up again. Dude…I think that's a threat." The two chuckled, and Jesse prayed his didn't sound as forced as it actually was. Suddenly, Jaden beamed. "Say, Jess…" Picking up the fat pile of index cards from the crack of the books binding, he waved them in front of his blue-haired best friend's face. "Wanna be a pal and help me study?" The thought of Alexis pushing out of Jesse's mind the minute he saw that dazzling smile, the teen nodded, his green eyes alive and bright.

"Sure, partner!" Jesse exclaimed, enjoying the thrill his body received when Jaden's eyes brightened. "Although, I'm takin' something else…What are you working on?" Leaning closer, Jesse attempted to get a better look at the book Jaden had perched on his lap. Their shoulders brushed. Jesse tried to ignore the heat of Jaden's skin under his red jacket.

"Oh, just some basic sayings and stuff." When Jesse looked at him, Jaden blushed a bit, still grinning. "Did I forget to mention I slept through that, too?" Jesse couldn't help the laugh that rolled out of his throat. Jaden Yuki was easily the funniest guy he had ever met. The bests part? He wasn't even trying.

Looking over the flashcards, Jesse nodded, smiling. He knew how to say most of these things. "Alright, Jay." the Southerner agreed, a steady smile on his face, "Let's rock." Still sitting next to each other, Jesse flipped the first card in the pack he had received so that the Italian version was facing Jaden, and the answer looking Jesse square in the eyes.

" Buona sera." Jesse said, waiting for a response out of Jaden. When he got none, the blue-haired teen allowed his eyes to look over the edge of the card. "Jay?"

Jaden seemed stumped. "Well, I know the first word means 'good'." Jaden muttered, clearly deep in thought. "But what about the other one…?" Jesse laughed.

"Well, that's kind of important to know." The teen joked, rolling his eyes as Jaden stuck his tongue out at him. "Well, let's see…You know what 'Notte' means, right?" Jaden nodded. "Good. So, you know that's night. Now, think of sera like stella, which means 'star'…"

"…Evening?" Jaden's curious, unsure eyes became excitable as Jesse nodded. "Sweet!" the brunette cheered, pumping a fist into the chilly air. "That's pretty helpful, Jess. Bet you'd be a good teacher." Jesse smirked.

"Sorry, Jay, but I think I'll be sticking with the other kinds of cards." Flipping the flashcard over, Jesse showed Jaden the next one. "How about this one? Salute." Jaden blinked.

"Is that like salute?" he asked, raising a hand to his forehead in a military-like sign of respect. Jesse again howled with laugher.

"No, Jay, Salute. Strong E. It means…" Unable to come up with a clever solution to explaining it, Jesse buried his nose into his free hand, looking up at the brunette. He gasped.

"Bless you!" Jaden answered, resulting in another proud cry once Jesse nodded into his hands. The two slapped each other a high five, and Jesse flipped the next card, both of their spirits high.

Their game went on like this for quite some time, Jaden slowly gaining vocabulary with Jesse's hints. Sometimes he didn't even need them. Jesse couldn't help but feel at least remotely proud- The test was in two days, and he had full confidence in his brown-haired companion. They were flying; Truthfully, Jesse was having a lot more fun doing this than he would have in his original plans, just thinking about Jaden's company. Just in another way. That's why Jesse couldn't help but feel a slight sense of disappointment when he realized he was holding the last card. "Alright, Jay." Jesse said, changing his vocals to mock that of a television announcer "That final phrase is…" He froze, eyes captivated by what was written on the index card. Oh, no.

Jesse swallowed, unsure what would happen: Him actually getting the phrase out, or passing out before he got the chance. He never knew two words could bring somebody so close to a heart attack. It wasn't even ten letters. Jaden seemed to notice this.

"Everything okay, bro?" His friend asked, looking truly concerned. Jesse nodded, albeit a little too quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. " was his answer, wondering if his face had paled in the slightest. He wouldn't be surprised- Given his sudden flare of nerves, that seemed most likely. Looking down at the card again to make sure he hadn't misread it, Jesse made an inward moan. Sucking in his breath a little, Jesse avoided eye contact as he read off the final phrase. "…Ti amo."

He could practically feel Jaden's excitement; He knows this one. Daring to lock eyes with his bubbly, brown-eyed friend, he couldn't help but give into the slight twitch that his lips turned into a smile. God, he was perfect. Stunningly perfect. " I love you!" Jaden chirped, grinning with the knowledge he'd be praised yet again.

He wasn't sure what made him do it. That's right, partner! Jesse believed he would be saying; the words were practically in his mouth. However, they were never released. Jesse watched, an almost out of body experience, as his hand traveled out of his lap, across to Jaden's, and down, resting on the brunette's hand like the sheets on a bed. Looking up with confusion, Jaden blinked into Jesse's eyes. Was that a smile? Finally, the blue-haired teen spoke, finding just the right words.

"I love you too, Jay."