I'm so sorry this took so long to update, I'm about three weeks away from my A-levels and have been revising like mad for the last few weeks and I reached a major writing block whilst trying to right the next bit (Excuses, I know). Nevertheless finally it is done, apologies for any mistakes this is unbeta'd as I wanted to give it to you guys as quickly as possible!

"OW!" he rubbed his arm, attempting to shield himself from another blow from Ariadne, who for such a tiny girl hit hard "What was that for?"

"Yusuf told me you were being a jerk to Eames" he frowned

"How does Yusuf know anything, was Eames bitching about me?" Damn that bastard "And since when did you care about Eames" the girl fumed

"He wasn't bitching about you, he told Yusuf in strict confidence that he was depressed because he was disappointing you so much" the small twinge of guilt that had been building ever since he'd practically slammed the door in Eames' face made itself known again. Then a thought occurred to him and he narrowed his eyes at Ari.

"How did Yusuf manage to tell you this in the space of last night to now?" a blush appeared on Ari's cheeks, as she suddenly became very interested in the piece of hair she was playing with.

"We might have been IMing for the last couple of days"

"Ari..."

"It's not like that it's for our Biology project!" he raised an eyebrow at her, "It is" she exclaimed, punching his arm again.

"Ow! Rob feel free to help at anytime"

"Ariadne stop hitting Arthur, you know the rules, nothing that could injure the car, when we stop then you can do what you please" Rob called back from the driver's seat, Rob was the only one of them to have a licence since Arthur couldn't afford the test and Ari's last instructor had a meltdown after her 'Inventive driving'. Despite his dad being fifthly rich, Rob didn't have a car yet his dad was saving it as a bride for Rob to get A's in their next exam, despite the fact the guy was already a straight A student with a brain the size of Manhattan was a fact that still confused Arthur. But it meant when his dad was away on business trips and Rob had access to his prized Mustang he would save Arthur and Ari from the bus and give them a lift...provided they not touch anything.

"Fine" she grumbled, settling down in her seat sulking.

"So" he smirked "Yusuf...?"

"Rob!"

"Arthur be nice or I will turn this car around! Or at least leave the two of you on the sidewalk"

"You wouldn't do that to us Rob, you love us too much!" Ari cooed, stretching forward

"I think you overestimate my feelings on you two" he deadpanned. Arthur chuckled and leaned forward too until he was draped behind the driver's seat, he and Ari invading Rob's 'personal bubble'.

"Rob that's the nicest thing you've ever said to us" he teased, the other boy huffed

"Kill me now" Arthur fell back onto his seat laughing, Ari flicked Rob's shoulder.

"Not until we get to school, this skirt wasn't made for wind like this" She sat back in her seat and looked round at Arthur again "Seriously though, why were you such a dick to him?" Arthur felt his good mood darken, tensing up.

"He had crap notes-"

"-Liar! Yusuf told me some of his notes, they were good, plus you've never been as bad to anybody else you've tutored!" he remained silent "Or was it just because it was Eames?" again he just stared straight ahead. Ariadne gave a sigh of frustration

"Look Arthur. Rob and I know that your sarcastic and stoic, we accept that and love you for it. But we're your friends, we just want to help but we can't if you don't talk to us" she shuffled closer "What happened with Eames?" he thought for a moment. Maybe it'd be nice to tell someone, anyone about him and Eames, but even though before this whole tutoring thing started they hadn't talked for over six years apart from barbs and insults, the memory of what happened still felt like an icy hand was reaching into his chest and trying to rip it open.

After a few moments of extended silence, Ari gave up. The car ride got a little awkward after that, when they arrived at school, Ari shot him a sad smile and got out quickly, just to make sure she wasn't angry, just upset. As Arthur was about to open the door, Rob voice surprised him

"She's right you know" he turned to face Arthur "We just want to help, we've all had dark stuff happen to us, trust me it lightens the load when you share it with someone" Arthur opened his mouth but Rob interrupted him

"You don't have to talk about it, but all we want to do is help, if it's bad we're not going to just ditch you, we're friends"

"I know" Arthur spoke quietly. Rob didn't do this kind of thing often. Ariande was straightforward and blunt telling Arthur outright if he was being an idiot, Rob was more quiet and diplomatic. He always liked Rob, having lost his own mother he knew that the last thing Arthur would want was pity or to be petted about his parents or Alex. "Thanks Rob" the other boy smiled, a small quirk of the mouth.

"Also I think you're looking at this Eames thing the wrong way" Arthur frowned

"What do you mean?"

"When my father's company was struggling because of his rivals, he merged with his most hated enemies company, the two became a power house and the rivals toppled in the face of this"

"But Rob, after all that happened didn't your father completely ruin his partner and leave him stone broke?" Rob made a noncommittal noise

"That's beside the point" he coughed "What I'm trying to say is you should look at this whole 'Eames' thing as an opportunity, compared to Marco Eames is built like a brick house, you think he'd cross you with Eames and by default Yusuf and Cobb behind you" He'd never thought about it like that

"But Marco has Nash and Davis?" Rob scoffed

"Nash is about as threatening as a butterfly made of clouds, and Davis doesn't have two brain cells to rub together. Trust me, with Eames behind you life could get a lot easier"

"So your saying I should use Eames as a body guard? Forget it I can take care of myself!" Eames hadn't protected him before, why would that change? once a coward. Rob sighed

"I know you can, I'm not saying as a body guard, more like a, deterrent. Think about it, people are less likely to even begin the bullying if they see you and Eames are hanging out again"

"We're not hanging out—"

"Arthur"

"Ok, ok I get where your coming from" when he thought about it, it did kind of make sense, he was perfectly capable of looking after himself and didn't need Eames to be his rescuer, but it would be nice if he got a little bit of a reprieve.

A knock on the glass made him jump "Are you guys coming?" Ariadne called impatiently, suspicion written over her face. The two got out of the car and headed towards the school, Ariadne in the middle looped her arms through theirs "What were you guys talking about?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

"We debating how someone so tiny can eat so much and hit so hard" Arthur swerved before a swift kick could reach his shin.

By the time they'd got in the bell had already rung for first period, Arthur and Ari waved goodbye to Rob heading into his advanced calculus class and continued chatting till they reached their History class. Mr Charles had just finished writing the first few notes on the board when they scuttled in, hurrying to their favorite seat by the window.

They sat down and Arthur began writing down the questions on the board and their answers, which Ariadne then preceded to copy from his paper. He nudged her elbow at one point causing her pen to shot across the page, she glared at him.

"You should really do your own questions" he teased, she poked him with the end of her pen

"I do them in my head, then look at yours to check I'm right!" she insisted, he rolled his eyes and went back to listening to the lesson. About ten minutes in, they were told to separate into threes, because of the odd number and the fact that Ari and he were social hermits they promptly formed a pair. Mr. Charles handed out the sheets and gave them an introduction to it.

"So write down in the sections provided, the reasons the Cold War ended" Mr Charles began "As we know there were several factors that contributed to the end of the Cold War, one in particular being popular protest from Communist countries and—"

"Sorry I'm, late sir" Eames puffed as he opened the door "Coach was giving us a talk" Mr. Charles nodded and pointed to the only available seat, which was conveniently- because the universe hated Arthur- in front of him and Ariadne. Eames caught Arthur's eye and tensed a little. Sheepishly, he made his way over to where they were, like he was approaching a wild animal. When he sat down giving them both a tentative smile, Ariadne immediately gave one back the betrayer, Arthur...might've scowled.

"Hey Eames" Ari chirped brightly, he looked a little relieved

"Hello Ariadne" he turned "Hi Arthur"

"Eames" he replied tonelessly, the tension was palpable. When Eames bent down to retrieve his books, Ariadne nudged him and mouthed "Be nice"

"So" Eames leaned back up "What did I miss?" Ari leaned forward

"Nothing much, in groups we've got to fill out these sheets on the end of the Cold War, and then debate a bit about it" she filled him in, pointing out page numbers, whilst Arthur sat watching them in silence. Eames looked tired, he noted, there were dark circles around his eyes and his shoulders were slightly slumped, not that. He was proven right when Eames gave a long yawn.

"Tired?" Ari asked a lilt of concern in her tone, Eames shot her a reassuring smile

"Just a late night" he rolled his shoulders "Y'know practise, school work and stuff like that" Arthur narrowed his eyes, they may not be friends anymore but he could still tell when Eames was hiding something.

"You shouldn't kill yourself over this stuff" Ari chastised, Arthur rolled his eyes muttering something about 'Mother Hen'.

"It's really nothing" Eames insisted "Just up had to make some extra notes last night" guilt twisted in Arthur's gut, Eames eyes were flicking to anything but Arthur. Ariadne looked between the two of them and cleared her throat

"I'm just going to talk to sir for a bit" Traitor! He thought as she left the two of them together. For a few minutes they just listened to the classroom chatter around them, Arthur too stubborn to begin mind still thinking over Rob's advice. Eames shuffled nervously.

"Arthur—"

"—Ariadne's right you shouldn't kill yourself over something like this" he could feel Eames' giving him a pointed look

"Someone said I'd better have good notes next time" This time Arthur did look at him, saw the flicker of humour behind his expression and softened slightly

"I'm sorry" Eames blinked for a moment

"Sorry, could you repeat that. I think Arthur Reyes-Holmes, you just apologised to me, clearly I'm hearing things" Arthur couldn't help the small smile that grew on his face

"Careful or I'll take it back" he threatened, the tension lifted slightly as Eames chuckled

"Oh no love, anything but that" he thwacked him lightly on the arm

"I was serious though. I'm sorry about the last time, I...had a bad day" Eames face darkened slightly at that.

"I can't even apologise enough for those twats" Arthur, not wanting to get into a discussion on that topic just waved it off

"We're getting off topic, anyway like I said, I'm sorry and your notes, may..um..not have been as bad as I said they were" Eames smiled the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly.

"It's fine Arthur" the smile turned into a grin "So does that mean you'll still tutor me"

"Of course, I've never failed yet and I'm not about to start with you" Eames lit up at that

"I run track tonight" he continued "But if you're free on Monday we can do some more work then?" Eames nodded eagerly

"Sounds great love" A comfortable silence settled between them, promptly broken by Ariadne who plonked back down in her seat and gave Arthur a look that roughly translated into 'You owe me'.

It was only after the lesson was over and he and Ariadne were walking to their next lesson that Eames had called him 'love' not once, but twice and he hadn't picked up on it.

At last! I'm sorry again, I can't promise I'll be good about updates for the next couple of weeks cause of exams but I'll give it a go! Thanks so much for review, they really perk up my day! (Which mainly just consists of Fanficition reading and revising, because having a life is overrated...I imagine). Thanks guys!