DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor claim Code Lyoko or any of its products as my own.
Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my first attempt at a CL fanfic, so I apologize in advance if the characters of the story are out of character. ALSO I do accept constructive criticism with open arms. As for mindless flaming... bring it on C
Summary: It started out as two good friends hanging out...
He sighed as he checked himself out in the mirror. His chocolate-colored hair was styled how it always was, but he felt that he just had to spiff it up. Wait... what was he thinking? Why was he thinking of dressing fancy? It wasn't like he was going out on a date...
... well sort of. He felt like he kinda was and kinda wasn't. He had been hoping to go out on a real date but his introvert nature stopped him dead in his tracks. He couldn't bring himself to ask her out on a date. But he could bring himself to ask her if she wanted to go grab a few donuts as a sort of date... y'know, a platonic one.
"Sure," she had said with a beaming smile. A smile that just melted him on the spot. And it just wasn't her smile that made him feel like he was on fire. It was just her in general. The mere sight of her made him turn to butter and he could feel a hoard of butterflies flying about his stomach, looking for an exit. Even the mention of her name made him weak in the knees. It couldn't have been helped. He was hopelessly in love with her, his best friend, the only one who could understand him... she was like him, but as a girl.
She was both a friend and a soul mate.
And he wanted her.
Should he be ashamed of feeling that towards her?
No he shouldn't. It was completely natural.
Right?
He couldn't have been the only one. Odd must've (or maybe in his mind or whatever) felt that towards all the girls he went out with and Jeremie and Aelita definitely had to feel this towards each other. And he was sure that all guys felt like this, yet he felt alone. What could he do about it? He was feeling this towards his best friend. It felt wrong, forbidden even...
... was that why it was so intriguing? No use trying to analyze it. What was done was done. They were going to Dunkin Donuts for some... well, donuts. Not the most romantic thing he could think of but that was the only thing he could think up off the top of his head. Whenever he saw her, his mind just went blank and then when his mind wasn't blank, it was just filled with images of her and her only. That's why he was doing poorly in class. He couldn't help it, he was hopelessly addicted to her.
Great now thinking that, he felt like a creep-o.
"Hey Romeo," his roommate greeted as he entered their dorm, a wide grin plastered on his face.
He ignored him, pretending that he didn't exist.
"You ready for your big date with your wonderful Juliet tonight?"
He turned around and faced Odd, his eyes glaring. "First off Odd, she's not my Juliet. Second of all, it's not a 'date'. It's just... two friends..." He pressed his lips together and reluctantly said, "hanging out."
It was obvious that Odd wasn't fooled easily. He grinned. "Ah no worries tiger, you'll know when the time comes."
Sighing to himself, he headed for the door, ready to meet up with her at Dunkin Donuts. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned and saw Odd give him a wink. "And by the way, you look mighty spiffy tonight."
He shook him off but he didn't even make it through the door before thousands of thoughts bombarded him. Maybe I overdressed a bit... nah it's just a platonic date. You guys are friends... I wondered if she dressed up as 'spiffy' as me. He thought of this all the way to Dunkin Donuts where he saw her in her regular attire - a black turtleneck which hardly covered her midriff and black pants. She certainly didn't dress fancy. Now he damned himself for thinking too much into this.
She noticed him and smiled. "Hi Ul... hey, you dressed up spiffy for tonight."
"Uh..." Damn you. Now his mind went completely blank. His mouth was opened and gapping like a fish out of water. He was trying to come up with something to say but he just couldn't find the right words.
She raised her eyebrows and then fanned the palm of her hand in front of his face. "Hello? Ulrich are you all right? You look pale... maybe we should do this some other time."
"NO!" he suddenly blurted out when he came to. She was slightly taken aback, confused by his sudden outburst while he himself was blushing like no tomorrow. He pulled a bit on his collar. Is it just me or is it getting hot in here? "I mean, uh, I hope I didn't overdo it. The attire I mean."
"Oh. No it's all right. I didn't know we were dressing up for this." She smiled and he melted. "So let's go and get some donuts okay? You have money right?"
Damn that's what he forgot! He was so eager to spend time with her that he forgot to bring money to pay for the both of them! He was definitely going to kick himself for that later. "Uh..." He lowered his head to the ground.
He felt a soft hand pressed against his shoulders and he looked up. Their eyes met and he began to feel hot again. "Hey it's no problem," she said to him. "I have just enough for both of us, but for only one donut each." She sounded disappointed, like she had just failed.
He shook his head. "Oh no that's fine!"
"Are you sure you're okay Ulrich? Maybe we should re-schedule..."
He did the bravest thing he could ever do now - he reached out with his one hand and took her's. "N-No, I'm fine. Just a bit, uh, nervous because of this girl I like..."
"Oh?" Her eyebrows arched suspiciously. He knew she was secretly jealous, which he thought was sort of funny since it had been her idea that they should remain platonic.
"Anyways," he said. "Let's not stand here and look out of sorts. Let's go get some donuts."
"Uh huh, okay," she said, still suspicious. He opened the door and let her walk in first. One reason was to be polite. And second because he knew she would be glaring a hole in the back of his head. He didn't like it, nor the tingly feeling he always get that made the hair on the back of his neck raise up.
She pulled out a black wallet (no surprise) and began to scope out the donuts there. She looked at him. "Which one do you want?"
He pulled up alongside her and closely examined his choices. "Oh definitely vanilla with sprinkles," he said with a grin. "You can't beat the classics." He turned to her and felt his heart race, felt himself having trouble gulping out his own salivia. "And what 'bout you?"
"Um..." She examined her choices until she came to one where she couldn't help but grin like a little kid. "Oh definitely that one."
"Which one?" he asked with great curiosity.
"Next!" the man at the counter said.
They both stepped forward. "Hello," she said to him. "Um, I'd like a vanilla donut with sprinkles and a chocolate custard donut, no sprinkles."
Custard? She liked custard donuts?? Well that was something he didn't expect her to choose. The man got the donuts and placed both in a small paper bag. "Will that be all?" he asked her.
She nodded.
"That'll be 4.25."
She reached into her wallet and pulled out €5. Watching her money being placed in the hands of this man made him feel sick. No, not because his dearly beloved's soft, delicate skin was brushing up against some stranger's but because she paid for both him and her. He invited her out, he should've been the one to pay. Oh stupid, stupid, STUPID!
"Thank you," she said as she took the bag.
"Have a wonderful day," he said to her.
"You too," she returned. She snatched a couple napkins before they walked outside.
He licked his lips nervously. "Let's head over to the park," he suggested, "and eat our donuts there."
She shrugged. "Okay."
As they walked over to the park, he rehearsed the entire scene in his head. This was it. He had to tell her. He didn't want to keep going on with this lie anymore. He didn't want to be just friends, he wanted to be more. He turned his attention to her when they arrived. A gentle breeze blew past and her raven-colored hair flew in the wind. His heart began to race. Oh dear god she is beautiful...
They sat down on a bench where she took out his donut and handed it to him. "Thanks," he said. He stared at her as she took out her donut and bit into it. "Curious question but why custard?" he asked her.
She looked at him and gulped. "What, is it illegal for me to have a custard-filled donut?"
He shook his head wildly. "No, no! I was just wondering. Never really imagined you as the type to like that kind."
She shrugged. "You learn something new everyday I suppose. I've just always liked the flavor." She smiled warmly at the thought. "But since you asked me, now I'll have to ask you. Why the regular?" She pointed to his donut.
He looked at it, then at her and grinned. "I guess I'm an old fashion guy."
She smiled back. "Maybe." She bit into her donut again while he watched. He couldn't imagine anything more beautiful than her and seeing her eating her donut was just... it made his heart twist itself in tight knots.
She pulled back, chewed and swallowed her piece and saw that he was staring at her. "What?" she asked.
"Uh, you have, uh, something..." He pointed to her chin where there was some custard about. He took the bag and pulled out a napkin. Leaning over he took the napkin and wiped her chin clean of the custard. He felt so nervous being so close to her. He hadn't been this close since their kiss... well almost kiss, on Lyoko. His heart was racing and he wondered if she felt as nervous as he did.
He pulled back once it was gone and she smiled. "Thanks Ulrich."
His cheeks burned a light pink. "Uh n-no problem."
He took a bite of his donut and as he chewed he watched her go back in for another bite. Watching her beautiful lips pressed against the sweet coating of the donut made him feel envious. He wished he was that donut right now. He wanted their lips to meet, to feel sparks fly, and to feel the ecstascy of it all. She pulled back with more custard on her face. This made him a bit suspicious. Was she doing this intentionally or did she always do this with custard donuts?
He didn't think much of it as he laughed and seized the napkin again. "Can't get enough of that custard huh?" He got halfway there when he couldn't resist anymore. It was so tempting... he just couldn't control himself. He wasn't thinking, his brain had shut itself off at this point and his body was just basically acting on its own. He lowered the napkin and leaned in and kissed her on the lips. He felt her jolt from his surprise 'attack' and pulled away quickly even though he didn't want her to. They stood there trapped in their current position with their heads only a few millimeters away from each other.
He was in a daze. Feeling her lips pressed up against his was the most wonderful feeling ever. He felt himself yearning to touch them again. But he studied her. She was in shock. He was unsure if it was a good kind of shock or a bad kind. He was hoping for the former.
"Uh... uhh..." he stuttered, sweating a bit and feeling multiple emotions at once - embarrassment was definitely one of them but he was also feeling... what's the right word for this?... He couldn't think of it right now; his mind was blank. "S-Sorry Yumi..."
She stared at him a bit longer and then placed her half-eaten donut down on her lap. She still had custard on the side of her face, which she still did not remove. She didn't need to say a word. He knew what she wanted. Little by little she leaned back into him and pressed her lips gently against his. All at once both their bodies ignited like a volcano. Pulling away from her gorgeous lips slightly, he turned his attention to the custard on the side of her face. "You missed some," he said and with a flick of his tongue, he licked it away.
She giggled as he continued to lick away some of the custard before she gently pushed him off and dove for the napkin. He sadly watched as she wiped away the rest of the custard. Once the last remnants of the custard disappeared, they both stared at each other, yearning to say something but finding no words coming to their lips. Instead of saying something, they went back to eating their donuts.
He never knew custard could taste so beautifully.