Author's notes: This was for a community on LJ called 30romances. Of course, I claimed Jounouchi X Mai for my pairing. Because. Yeah.

So yeah. It's just a quick little story. But I thought it was cute :3 Enjoy.

Jounouchi Katsuya was very much on edge. Being in Mai's apartment was something he'd never expected, and he found himself unable to keep his eyes from looking at the blonde goddess on the couch next to him, flipping through his Grammar textbooks.

She'd done him a favor and offered to study with him to bring up his grades. Otherwise he wouldn't pass for the year.

But now he couldn't focus. He'd always had a little crush, but ever since Mai moved back to Domino City and they'd begun to see each other on a fairly regular basis, Jounouchi's feelings got deeper and more intense. He was at the point where he could hear her name and his heart would beat a million miles a minute. Being around her made him stiff…emotionally.

So now, in Mai's apartment he sat a mere 2 feet away from her and felt like he was sweating bullets. Maybe…maybe he should tell her. Maybe he should tell her how he thought of her when she wasn't around, and how he dreamt of her at night. Maybe he should tell her that his daydreams of her were the reason he was failing.

Her melodic voice broke his thoughts. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be READING that book and not keep glancing at me?" she raised her eyebrow skeptically.

Blushing furiously, Jounouchi took a slight gulp and waved his hands defensively. "No, I'm reading! Really!"

"…" Mai paused, studying his awkward smile and quick response. He could tell she didn't buy it for a minute. "Jounouchi Katsuya, you have been acting weird ever since you got here. Now either you tell me what is wrong with you or I'm kicking you out," she demanded.

God. She was pretty when she was frustrated.

Jounouchi blinked, and then turned his head to the ground before him. He was arguing with himself.

Tell her, damn it!

No! She'll think you're just some pervert trying to get in her pants just like every other guy!

But you aren't! You're not like them!

I know that! But will she?

Only one way to find out.

He took a deep breath. "Mai? Do you…do you know what it means to be…in love?" he stammered a bit, feeling like he could kick himself for sounding like such a dork. This was the kind of crap you read in bad romance novels, only the guy is way more confident…and Jounouchi didn't even want to think about how he knew that.

Wait. That wasn't important right now.

When he looked at Mai's face, all he saw was a blank, emotionless expression. Not angry like he expected. Not happy like he hoped. Just…blank. "…Mai?"

She slowly reached over to the table in front of them, picked up a dictionary, and plopped it in his lap. "Look it up," she said to him.

"…What?"

"You asked what it means to be in love. Well, there's a dictionary. It has every definition in the world. Look it up," Mai instructed quite calmly.

Jounouchi wasn't sure how to react. Should he OPEN the book and actually look, or just…do something else. "Mai, I-"

"If you aren't going to look it up, I will," she said, taking the book from him. She flipped through the pages till she found the right one, scrolled down the page then stopped and began to read aloud. "Love. Verb. To experience deep affection or intense desire for another. Includes wanting to be with that person at every opportunity, wanting to see them happy, wanting to show them how much you care about them, wanting to give them everything you have and more no matter what, and knowing that know matter what goes on in your own life that just seeing them and knowing they are there will make everything ok if only for a moment, and you're willing to give up everything you've every believed in and completely change how you view life just to be with them forever," she said monotonously.

Jounouchi froze in…not shock, but just surprise. That didn't sound like Webster's work.

"Did you really read that out of there?" he asked.

"…I put my own spin on it," she smirked a bit, then tossed the book to the floor, leaned over, and pressed her lips against Jounouchi's. Okay. NOW he was shocked, but he didn't pull back.

Mai ended the kiss, her cheeks almost as red as Jounouchi's. Suddenly, they were both completely silent. What could be said after something like that?

Jounouchi cleared his throat. "Anyone tell you that you're… really good with words?" he said, his voice wavering a bit.

Mai blinked. "I've been told," she smiled softly. "Now maybe we should try Math? How are you with equations?"

THE END