DISCLAMER: I own nothing other than the fanfiction itself

A/N: This one is shorter than the rest, and there is little to no Royai in it, but I felt like it needed to be posted in order for the story to progress. Just a short chapter about Riza's hesitance and getting past it.

If you don't like this chapter, I plan on making it up to you by posting a chapter I personally love in just a couple of days :)

Chapter Nine: Confidence

"I just don't know what to do." Riza sighed as she pulled her shirt over her head. She tossed it aside before turning to examine, with the aid of the mirror, the intricate design inked in red across her back – it made her ill every time she saw it. Shaking her head, she turned back to the task at hand, pulling a shirt off of a wooden hanger. "I'm really confused." She admitted, speaking through the door of the dressing room.

"Yeah, I see where you're coming from." Jessica's voice came from the other side of the dressing room door. "Here." She draped several more articles of clothing over the door, which Riza grabbed and hung up to try on. "Roy's not exactly making things easy, either."

Riza nodded her head, even though Jessica wouldn't be able to see the gesture. No, Roy wasn't making things easy. She had known for over a year how she felt about him, but she had long since accepted that they were just friends. But now, all of a sudden, Roy was sending her different signals. She was thrilled, but at the same time she was afraid. Ever since her mother died when she was young, she had shut herself away to keep from getting hurt by anyone or anything.

The problem was that Roy saw the walls she put up around herself, and started beating them down with a sledgehammer. He was making her take risks she would never take, and each time she was playing closer and closer to the edge of the cliff she feared. What if she fell off and hit the ground? Could she recover?

Despite these fears, she was finding that she was willing to take more risks. She knew that she would throw herself off that cliff if Roy asked her to, and that was what scared her most of all.

"You all right?" Jessica asked through the door.

"Yeah." Riza said, thankful that there was a door between them so Jessica couldn't see how red her face had gotten.

"Anyways, the way Roy acts around you makes it perfectly clear that he likes you." Jessica continued. "But Roy can be pretty dense. You have to be direct about liking him, otherwise he'll never know."

Riza pulled on a pair of form-fitting jeans Jessica had picked out for her. She adjusted the black top she was wearing before stepping out of the dressing room, heading for the large mirror.

"I don't see why you don't show a little more skin – this top would be prefect." Jessica grabbed a shirt with spaghetti straps off the rack.

"I don't like to show my back." Riza admitted, adjusting the high collar of the turtleneck she was wearing.

"Why not? Do you have a scar?"

"Something like that." Riza had to fight to keep her expression neutral. She turned around, examining her reflection in the mirror. Jessica was right – she did look good in these types of clothes. As she gazed at her reflection, Riza was able to believe for the first time that she truly was beautiful. She turned back to Jessica, saying "The problem is that I don't want to risk anything by taking a chance. What if he shoots me down? We live in the same house – that would be terrible." And, most of all, she was afraid of having her heart broken.

"Trust me, Riza, the boy's head over heels for you. And what's life without a little risk? No one can know exactly what's going to happen, but that's where the fun lies. You never know unless you try." Jessica smiled at her. "You need to be more confident. You're a gorgeous and strong person – there's no reason for you not to be. You'll get walked on in this world unless you show that you can fight back." She advised, and Riza had the feeling that Jessica was speaking from experience.

Riza knew there was truth in her words – she had been thinking the same thing more and more lately. She wasn't the soft-spoken little girl she was before. No, Roy's presence in her life had changed that drastically. She couldn't even imagine what her life would have been like had she never met Roy or his sisters or Madam Christmas. There was even a visible difference in the way she carried herself – she was far more confident than she used to be.

Perhaps now it was the time to put this confidence to the test. She had to be prepared to take a leap of faith and be ready to come crashing to the ground – and she was oddly okay with that. She wouldn't – couldn't – spend the rest of her life in that run-down house just outside the town. If she did, the odds were high that it was going to kill her. Riza had to start taking chances at some point, and perhaps now was better than later.

A/N: Rate and Review!

I promise the next chapter will be longer and have enough Royai to make up for it lacking in this chapter!

Up Next:

Chapter Ten: Acting On Impulse