Summary: Riven asks Bloom for help with his homework, but he really needs some advice. Girl advice. You see, there's this girl. She's fiery and he can't get her out of his head, and he needs to know how to tell her he's crazy about her.

Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club.
Author's Note: Notes on all of my stories can be found on my homepage, StillsAndPhotographs(dot)webs(dot)com.
Dangerously Genre Savvy

Ring, ring, ring. Bloom pressed the "Talk" button on her cell phone and held it to her ear with her shoulder. She was lying on her bed, propped up on her elbows, reading her Magiophilosophy textbook. "Hello?"

"Hey, Bloom, it's Riven."

The red-haired fairy sat upright, her Philosophy homework happily forgotten. She registered a strange humming in her veins that she usually associated with battles as she answered. "Hey, Riven, what's up?"

"We just started a new chapter on definite integrals in Arithmancy class and I'm..." He struggled for the right words, trying to explain that while he did not need help, per se, the chapter would be much easier to understand if he, well, had help. Words failed him, and the sentence hung like a spiderweb in the air.

"Professor Klaus told us that the Alfean Arithmancy class was ahead of ours," he tried. The next sentence came out like the specialist had been asked to pull his own teeth. "So I was wondering if we could meet up and you could...clarify a few things for me."

Bloom already had her Arithmancy textbook out of her book-bag. "I'd be happy to help," she replied. "Where and when?"

Riven sighed. He thought the hard part would be over once he asked. "I don't know, what's good for you?" (He was trying to be gracious.)

Bloom chuckled to herself. It was so rare to see Riven forsake his pride and ask for help. Honestly, she was flattered. I won't make this any more painful than it needs to be, she thought. "Is the Starlight Cafe, an hour from now, good with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." He just wanted this embarrassment to be over as quickly as possible.

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Thanks," he said grudgingly.

Bloom hung up the phone and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror over her dresser. She groaned inwardly. It was Sunday, and she had lounged around the dorm in her pajamas all morning. She had an hour (minus fifteen minutes for travel) to make herself presentable. The fairy grabbed a towel and prayed that all of the showers weren't in use.

Riven couldn't help but notice that there were a lot of couples inhabiting the tables beneath the Starlight Cafe umbrellas. In fact, as he downed a cup of black coffee and waited for Bloom, he realized he was the only unpaired patron on the cafe's outdoor patio.

He didn't have time to dwell on the observation as the red-haired girl he had been waiting for sat down beside him. The hemline of her denim skirt crept noticeably up her ivory thighs. Her hair was caught up in a blue jeweled clip that matched her eyes. She greeted him with a smile.

The waitress interrupted Riven's hello, refilling his cup. "Anything for your girl?" the blonde asked, pulling a notebook and pencil from her apron.

Riven blushed and mumbled, "She's not my girl." Bloom giggled and said she was all set, thanks.

"So what are you having trouble with?" The fairy scooted closer and peered at his work over his shoulder. The scent of lilacs and strawberries tickled his nose. He took a deep breath.

"I just need you to explain the First Fundamental Theorem of Arithmancy."

"Explain" was an understatement. He had completely misunderstood his professor during class, and Bloom had to reteach the theorem from the beginning. She guided him through a dozen practice problems until he could solve them without her help.

Riven pushed the textbook away from him with a sigh of exasperation, mixed with relief to finally be done. "Thank you, Bloom," he said, gruff but sincere.

"Don't mention it," she replied.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't," he said, affirming her suspicion that he never wanted to speak of this again.

But then he surprised her. "I... have another favor to ask."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I need advice. Girl advice. Not that I can't handle it myself," he rushed to cast away any doubt that he really, truly needed anyone's help. "But since you're here - if anyone would know what to do, you would."

She was elated. It was as if Riven's tough exterior was coming down before her very eyes. The wall of ice he hid behind was starting to melt. "I'll do my best," she pledged, smiling encouragingly, trying to look the part of a confidant.

He hemmed and hawed. He thought asking for help with his math homework was hard, but it was nothing compared to articulating the words that had flitted about in his head for months, since the Day of the Rose many months ago. "There's...there's this girl," he finally forced out.

Bloom's heart soared. She had seen it a million times, in movies and television shows and books, and even a few times in real life! The boy asks his female friend for advice on talking to a girl he likes, and finally works up the courage to tell the friend that it was her all along; it was classic. She couldn't believe it! After months of wistful, half-abandoned fantasies about the moody, mysterious specialist, something had finally pierced his self-erected armor.

Trying hard not to squeal in delight, she replied as calmly as she could. "Who is she?"

But he wouldn't tell her that, not yet. "It's just some girl I know, and I...I really like her, Bloom. I just don't know how to tell her."

"Well," Bloom began carefully, "I know a lot of girls really admire when a guy has the courage to just come out and say it, instead of beating around the bush." Maybe that will make this whole process a bit quicker! She congratulated herself on her tact.

"Well, I can't just blurt it out," he replied scathingly. "She's kind of...fiery, you know? And after the whole mess with Darcy, I think I really hurt her. It was such a betrayal, I'm surprised she even talks to me anymore." It was the smallest flicker in his features, replaced instantly with his casual facade, but the look of desperation that crossed his face nearly made her heart break.

"You were under a spell, Riven. No one blames you for it." She added softly, "I know I don't."

"I almost got her killed."

"You didn't do anything. You were there when it counted."

The pair sat in silence for a moment. "You have to talk to her for me," Riven said. As if as an afterthought, he said, "Please?"

Bloom nodded, biting her lip. His confession...it was so close she could taste it!

"You need to tell her that I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry and...I hate myself for ever hurting her, and...and I would tell her all of this myself if she didn't scare the crap out of me," he laughed.

Bloom laughed, too. "Alright, to deliver the message I need to know who this girl is!"

His face grew deadly serious. "Bloom, I thought it was obvious."

Here it comes...!

"It's Musa. I'm crazy about her."

Bloom blinked a few times; the funny grin that comes after a laugh was still plastered on her face. "Oh."

But...but...Musa? The embarrassed way he had asked for Bloom's help, the way he stared at her legs when she sat down, the deep breath he took to calm himself when she leaned close to him, the vulnerability in his eyes telling her about the "fiery" girl...it all added up, but not to Musa!

"Oh, right. Musa," she forced another laugh. "Of course it was Musa. I was just fooling with you. All of us girls have been wondering when you would finally make your move."

"Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Painfully," she replied. Very painfully.

"So, you'll tell her what I said?"

"Yes. Of course I will." Those words will follow me to the damn grave, Bloom thought venomously.

'Thank you so much, Bloom," Riven said, rising from the table. There was not a hint of irritation in his voice anymore. For the first time in all the time she had known him, Riven was unabashedly happy.

"It's no problem," Bloom said, following suit. "Don't mention it. It's what I'm here for." She hoped her voice sounded hearty and sincere and pleasant. She could feel shame and embarrassment burning on her cheeks and swallowed hard.

"I'll see you around then," Riven called over his shoulder as he mounted his levabike and sped off.

She waved until he was out of sight, and stood there entrenched in thought. She thought it should be raining – it was always raining when sad movies had scenes like this – "but the heavens did not fall for such trifles."

Then her phone rang again. It was a text.

Hey beautiful - happy three month anniversary!
Love Sky

Bloom shoved the phone back into her pocket. His innocent expression of love just made her feel like worse. She trudged to the closest bus stop that would take her back to school. She hoped no one had noticed she was gone.

She kept waiting for it to rain.