"I... I want to tell her how I feel, no... she needs to know. I can't keep putting it off anymore - it feels like I've already been doing that for, well, forever. I can't keep pretending this doesn't exist, and it's blatantly obvious enough to everyone else... apparently..." Helia rants as he can't help but overthink the situation.

He really wants to tell Flora how he feels - he's been wanting to do so for a long time - but he can't help but be worried about how she'll react.

Will she accept his feelings? Will she return them? Will it damage their relationship? Will it improve it? Will he regret it?

There are copious questions flooding his mind as he begins to doubt his decision once more.

"Helia, I'm your best friend. I've known you pretty much all our lives and it's so, so obvious how much you like her. You need to ask yourself how much longer you can realistically keep this a secret from her. But as a side note, we've all been waiting for the two of you to get together." Timmy responds calmly and responsibly, his logical approach always balances out his best friends approach of 'lead with the heart and think it through later'.

Timmy has rarely seen Helia so panicked, his usual calm composure has completely vanished. Timmy is accustom to seeing Helia jump straight in to follow what his heart - his emotions - are telling him that it's almost painful to see him try to repress his emotions so much, in fear of losing the one he cares so deeply for.

Helia has always been there for all of them - especially through relationship problems - he deserves his own happiness in such a way.

"Is it fair for me to force her into a position where she feels that she has to choose between her real feelings and our friendship? I don't want to make her feel compelled to lie about returning my feelings out of fear, or feel that because she doesn't that we can't be friends and she can't come to me for support anymore. I love her too much to lose her Timmy."

"Helia, it's also not fair for you not to give her the choice. Don't make the decision for her. Don't assume she'll reject you and refuse to give her a choice based on that. For the record, I don't think she'll reject you at all and I don't think she'll fake her feelings - I think she truly likes you the same way."

Helia takes a deep breathe, forcing himself to calm down and listen to his best friend knowing that he's right. There's a reason Timmy is the smart one in the group, he is always able to see things logically - even matters of the heart (he can get into trouble with Tecna for that at times).

"So, are you going to tell her?" Tommy asks anxiously, hopeful that he's been able to persuade his friend on what he thinks is the right decision for him.

Helia nods slowly.

"I'm going to tell her, but I want it to be special. I don't want to randomly throw this at her. But I think I'm going to need help to make it happen..."

A/N Hey guys! Chapter 18 is now up. I've written the past two chapters on my phone so I'm not sure if there are any issues with line spacings, if there are I will fix it when I log onto my laptop so it shouldn't be up for long :)

Thank you to all of you who have left reviews on the previous chapters - it means a lot to me - and please leave some reviews on this chapter too!

I hope you all enjoyed it!

- Mae xxx