a/n: Here's the second chapter. Er... I can't think of anything to say except thanks to all my reviewers! And hey to all those of those who have become my friends! ^_^
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Still fuming, Alex slammed her locker shut before Bakura even showed up. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed out the front doors to the school. She hadn't gotten very far when she heard someone call her name.
"Leave me alone," she snarled as Bakura ran up next to her. "Haven't you had enough yet?"
"I have to talk to you," he said, but she wouldn't stop. "Please! Let me talk to you!" Out of desperation, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him.
Alex grabbed his shirt collar and in one swift move had her fist up to hit him in the face. But this time Bakura wasn't nervous.
"Go ahead," he said, staring her in the eye.
Her teeth clenched and her fist hovering in the air ready to strike, she couldn't make herself move. She seemed to be frozen in that position. Unwilling to let him go, but unable to hurt him. After a few more seconds, she gave a frustrated yell and shoved him backwards. "Get away from me!" she screamed, spinning on her heel.
Bakura grabbed her arm and turned her back around to face him. He grabbed her shoulders and held her in place as she glared at him. "Why can't you hit me?" he challenged.
Furious, Alex grabbed his shirt. She tried to lift her knee, but couldn't get it to move. - What's going /on/? - she screamed at herself. She yelled as she swung Bakura around, throwing him to the ground. She dropped down over him, grabbing his throat. Her knee hovered over him, but she was unable to lower it.
"Would you mind letting go?" Bakura choked, grabbing at her hand. "I... can't breathe..."
"Shut up!" she snarled, jerking her hand. "Do you realize how easy it would be for me to seriously injure you?"
"Yes, but I also know you won't do it... please, let go..." he said, grabbing her wrist.
"How do you know I won't? What in all the time you've spent with me, makes you think I won't do it?" she yelled.
Using all his strength, he managed to rip her hand from his throat and roll over on top of her, pinning her down by her shoulders. Panting for breath, he looked her in the eye. "Because you like me," he said.
"I /what/?" she screeched, her eyes blazing with fury. "You freak...!"
"As a friend!" he interrupted, feeling his face grow warm. "You have no problem pinning me down or throwing me around, but you can't seriously hurt me! You won't let yourself do it! Because we're /friends/."
"What is /wrong/ with you?" she asked incredulously. "What makes you think I want to be your friend after you like a /prep/?"
"All right! So I had bad taste in girls... I'm over her now! And my taste has gotten better," he said indignantly.
"How would you know? Who do you like now?" she snapped.
"Erm... no one," he said, letting her go and standing up quickly. He didn't look at her as she jumped to her feet, knowing he had gone red in the face.
"Just leave me alone," she snarled, straightening her shirt. She turned on her heel, but Bakura grabbed her arm again. "Get off of me!" she screamed, throwing him off her.
He stumbled backwards a few steps, but recovered quickly. "Stop yelling at me!" he cried desperately.
"Why?" she screeched back, her fists clenched.
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. "Because no one likes being yelled at!" he exclaimed. "Especially when it's a friend who's mad at you."
Alex's expression softened slightly. She pushed him away, though less sharply than before. "Leave me alone," she said, turning and starting down the sidewalk.
"Come on, stop," Bakura pleaded, walking beside her.
"I never stop," she replied, staring ahead.
"I hate when people are mad at me," he said.
"Then maybe you should quit following people around annoying them," Alex snapped, looking at him briefly.
"You're the only one I follow around!" he said. She stopped and turned to him, a confused and disgusted look on her face. "You're the only one who I /have/ to follow around."
"You don't /have/ to do anything," she said.
"But I want to! I... I mean... you're my friend, but I've never had anyone who's so... anti-social is an understatement," he said.
"So?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "Why are you following me around and bugging me?"
"Because I see the good in you," he said.
Alex snorted. "You're obviously blind," she snapped, turning and continuing down the sidewalk.
"Alex, all anyone has to do is see how you act towards your brother! I've seen it! You'd never say it, but you care about him! And you'd be devastated if anything happened to him or he suddenly stopped looking up to you," he said.
Alex stopped, but continued to stare straight ahead, her face looking torn. "You're assuming..." she said quietly.
He stepped in front of her and looked her in the eye. "I'm not. I don't understand you most of the time, but I know that I want to. There's obviously a lot more to you than meets the eye and I want you to trust me with it. You can you know," he said.
Alex stared at him a moment and he couldn't identify what it was exactly that was in her eyes. She pushed by him and started down the sidewalk again. "How do I trust someone I've known for all of about a month?" she asked softly.
"Alex, have I told anyone about Jade being your sister? If I had, don't you think you'd have found out about it by now?" he asked, walking beside her.
"Do you think I'm a mental case or something?" she asked.
"What? No..." he said, confused.
"Because I am," she said. Without looking at him, she jerked her left sleeve up to reveal the cut on her arm.
Bakura stared at her, unsure of what to say. "Um... what are you saying?" he asked.
"I did that you moron!" she cried, turning to him. "Jade's constantly afraid of me because I'm always threatening suicide! When she tries to call me on a bluff, I prove I'm not afraid of it by doing something like this! And if she were to push me too far, I'd probably do it!" she cried.
Bakura stared at her. "Alex... why...?" he asked.
"Because I'm screwed up! Do you realize what you're getting yourself into by hanging around me?" she exclaimed.
"I don't care! But don't commit suicide, I don't feel like going to your funeral," he said, trying to lighten the mood a little. He breathed in relief when she grinned slightly.
"I'm not planning on it, no. Are you on valium or something? Because no normal person would put up with me," she said, staring at him.
He laughed. "No, I don't put up with you. I enjoy being with you, so I can overlook your flaws."
"You're overlooking half my personality then," she said, folding her arms.
- Well, she's smirking again at least, - he thought, very much relieved. "No, I don't think you're that messed up," he said.
"What do you think of me then? If you say I'm nice I swear I'll shoot you," she said.
Bakura laughed. "Erm... I don't think you're /nice/ exactly. I guess... I find you interesting. I've never met anyone like you before."
"Of course you didn't," she said. Despite her harsh tone, her face was lightening up, making her look stunning once again.
They stared at each other for a minute, Bakura's heart starting to race. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her and didn't want to. She didn't notice the way he was gazing at her and once again started down the sidewalk.
"Jade isn't gonna' be home yet. She usually picks David up, so you want to come over? I need help with my math homework," she said, making Bakura smile.
"Yeah," he said eagerly, unable to keep the grin or the blush off his face. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Bakura found his voice again. "Um... I like your shirt," he said, trying to make conversation.
Alex raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed. "Flattery doesn't work on me," she said.
"Uh, no... I was just saying..." he stammered, feeling his face flush.
- Does he have a stuttering problem or something? He can't ever finish a friggin' sentence, - she thought to herself.
- And I told Dad I wasn't obvious when I was around her. Has she really not figured it out yet? That's... surprising! Not that I'm complaining... Oh no, I'm arguing with myself. -
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Alex, you're doing that wrong," Bakura said, looking at her paper.
"Oh, shut up. I know what I'm doing," she snapped, erasing the problem. She redid it to come up with the same answer.
"You're doing the problem wrong. See, look," he said, taking the pencil from her.
"Gimme' that," she said, snatching it away. "You have your own pencil."
Bakura laughed as she glared at him. He was about to show her how to do it when she flopped back on the bed and sighed. He grinned, though he wasn't sure why.
"Eh, I'll figure it out. I'm failing math anyway so it doesn't matter," she said, staring at the ceiling, finding shapes in the ripples. She sighed as she spotted the dagger. Suddenly a sharp pain seared below her shoulder and she sat bolt upright, wincing.
"Are you all right?" Bakura asked, concern spreading across his face. He got up and went to her side as she grabbed a small bottle of pills from her end table.
With shaking hands, she poured two pills from the bottle into her hand and popped them in her mouth, swallowing them. Bakura watched her nervously as she sat there, her hand pressed against the front of her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Alex's face started to ease from being screwed up in pain and she stood. She rubbed her shoulder and took a deep breath. "The pain isn't really there. It's a memory," she said, turning around to face him.
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
Alex sighed. She pulled the collar of her shirt down below her shoulder to reveal a scar.
Bakura stood up at looked at it more carefully. "What happened?" he asked.
She released her shirt and folded her arms.
FLASHBACK...
"You're an awful father! All you ever do is get drunk and fight with mom!" Alex screamed. She stood in the kitchen with her father at the age of thirteen.
"Don't talk to me that way!" her father yelled, his eyes blazing.
"Or you'll do what? Do you realize that you haven't taught me anything? Except not to follow in your footsteps that is! The only thing you care about is your alcohol! You not only have me to take care of, you have a seven year old son! You're his role model! He looks up to you!" Alex screeched.
"Shut up!" Her father cried, clenching his fists. "Watch how you speak to me! I'm your father!"
"And I wish you weren't! I hate you! You chased Jade out of the house at eighteen! I'm not stupid, I know..." Alex was cut off by a searing pain just below her right shoulder. Her eyes wide, she slowly looked down to find the knife that had been on the counter shoved into her up to the handle. Terrified, she grabbed hold of it and slowly pulled it out, blood staining the blade. She looked back up at her father, who's own eyes were filled with fear.
"Oh my God, what have I done?" he whispered.
The knife fell from Alex's hand as she collapsed to the floor.
END FLASHBACK...
"It turned out I had only been petrified and I passed out. The blade only tore my muscle, it didn't hit any bones or anything. But dad really freaked out about it. It scared the living crap out of him that he had done that. He thought he had killed me," she said with a slight laugh.
Bakura stared at her, his eyes wide with horror. His voice seemed to have left and he couldn't speak.
"So, now it just hurts sometimes. But if you tell anyone, I swear you die," she threatened, her eyes growing cold.
"N-no! I won't say anything! I thought you said he didn't hurt you or your mother," he said as she sat back down on the bed.
"I said he /almost/ never hurt us. He really did suck as a parent though. I don't remember what got me started, but every word I said had been true," she said.
Bakura sat down beside her, stunned. "That's..." he started, but couldn't find the words to describe it.
"Shut up, I know what it is," she said softly, rubbing her shoulder. "I never really spoke to him or hung around him after that. Maybe I drove him to suicide," she said, thinking about it.
"No!" Bakura cried. "Don't start thinking you did it! He would have killed himself anyway, even if you hadn't acted coldly to him."
She stared at him. "Bakura, get a grip. I'm not blaming myself. That's just stupid."
He blushed as she fell back on the bed. "Um... right, well, good," he said, feeling incredibly stupid.
She sat back up and looked at him. "I told you I'm messed up."
He turned towards her. "And I believed you," he said truthfully. "But it didn't matter to me. You've been through a lot, but you're not a freak, no matter what anyone says."
Alex stared at him. "Where do you get the idea I'm not a freak?" she asked.
"Because it's like you said. There's really no normal, so there's no freak. You're most definitely not normal, but there is no normal, so," he said, his eyes meeting hers. His heart skipped a beat as she gave a small smile. He felt that this would be a good time to kiss her, but had a sinking feeling she'd knock him out if he did.
"No one's ever reacted quite like that to it before. They all freaked out and stuff," she said without looking at him.
"Well, you obviously never met anyone who understood what it's like to lose family members," he said.
"No, come to think of it. I haven't," she said, looking at him. His heart melted as his eyes met hers. They were no longer cold, but slightly sad. They made him want to hold her tightly in his arms and make her pain disappear. But he didn't make a move towards her. Instead he just gazed at her with longing eyes, trying not to look too obvious.
He didn't really know what to say, so he just put his hand on her shoulder lightly and smiled at her. She lowered her gaze to his hand and he removed it, blushing.
"Well, I don't think there's any more you don't know about my family. Except that I've been in therapy loads of times and it hasn't helped," she said.
"You don't need therapy. You need a friend," he said softly.
"Well, I suppose I have one now," she said, looking at him.
He couldn't help beaming. She gave a small laugh at his smile and gathered her books together. Bakura watched as she shoved them in her backpack haphazardly. He was about to say something when Jade opened the door. Immediately Alex's smile evaporated.
"What do /you/ want?" she snarled.
"Just to say hi," Jade said.
"Well, you've said it. Good bye," Alex said.
Bakura turned around and smiled at Jade, who felt rather reassured by him. "Alex, Rick is coming over tonight for dinner. Why doesn't Bakura stay too?" Jade looked directly into her sister's eyes and gave a small smirk.
Alex blazed in fury at her sister's inside joke. She didn't respond and didn't notice that Bakura had taken to watching her.
Seeing the look in Alex's eyes, he thought maybe it would be best if he stayed out of this. "Um, no, but thanks anyway. I have to get home," he said quickly.
"Oh, all right then. Maybe some other time," Jade said, watching him quickly gather his things.
He slung his backpack over his shoulders and he and Alex got up from the bed. "Well, I'll see you later then," he said to Alex, smiling.
"Yeah," she replied, following him out of the room.
Before she was able to push completely past Jade, however, her sister grabbed her arm. "Maybe some other time we'll double date," she hissed.
Alex's eyes blazed and she slid her sleeve up to remind Jade of her threat the night before. Her sister stiffened slightly and released her arm. Alex turned away and slid down the banister, her foot stopping her from hitting the knob at the end. Jade smirked as she watched Bakura smile at her sister.
- Show off, - Jade thought with a smirk. Alex showed Bakura out as Rick showed up.
"Oh! Hi Bakura," he said and Alex scowled.
"Um, hi," Bakura replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Hope you two aren't doing anything stupid," Rick said, entering the house. Bakura blushed a vibrant shade of red while Alex clenched her fists.
"Jade!" she screamed, making Bakura jump. She slammed the door shut without a word to him and he figured maybe he should leave.
He turned around and headed down the driveway, trying desperately to make the color drain from his face.
##################################################################################
a/n: Okay, it's nearing the end of this fic, but there is a sequel. Although, that's gonna' be really depressing. heh heh...
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Still fuming, Alex slammed her locker shut before Bakura even showed up. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed out the front doors to the school. She hadn't gotten very far when she heard someone call her name.
"Leave me alone," she snarled as Bakura ran up next to her. "Haven't you had enough yet?"
"I have to talk to you," he said, but she wouldn't stop. "Please! Let me talk to you!" Out of desperation, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him.
Alex grabbed his shirt collar and in one swift move had her fist up to hit him in the face. But this time Bakura wasn't nervous.
"Go ahead," he said, staring her in the eye.
Her teeth clenched and her fist hovering in the air ready to strike, she couldn't make herself move. She seemed to be frozen in that position. Unwilling to let him go, but unable to hurt him. After a few more seconds, she gave a frustrated yell and shoved him backwards. "Get away from me!" she screamed, spinning on her heel.
Bakura grabbed her arm and turned her back around to face him. He grabbed her shoulders and held her in place as she glared at him. "Why can't you hit me?" he challenged.
Furious, Alex grabbed his shirt. She tried to lift her knee, but couldn't get it to move. - What's going /on/? - she screamed at herself. She yelled as she swung Bakura around, throwing him to the ground. She dropped down over him, grabbing his throat. Her knee hovered over him, but she was unable to lower it.
"Would you mind letting go?" Bakura choked, grabbing at her hand. "I... can't breathe..."
"Shut up!" she snarled, jerking her hand. "Do you realize how easy it would be for me to seriously injure you?"
"Yes, but I also know you won't do it... please, let go..." he said, grabbing her wrist.
"How do you know I won't? What in all the time you've spent with me, makes you think I won't do it?" she yelled.
Using all his strength, he managed to rip her hand from his throat and roll over on top of her, pinning her down by her shoulders. Panting for breath, he looked her in the eye. "Because you like me," he said.
"I /what/?" she screeched, her eyes blazing with fury. "You freak...!"
"As a friend!" he interrupted, feeling his face grow warm. "You have no problem pinning me down or throwing me around, but you can't seriously hurt me! You won't let yourself do it! Because we're /friends/."
"What is /wrong/ with you?" she asked incredulously. "What makes you think I want to be your friend after you like a /prep/?"
"All right! So I had bad taste in girls... I'm over her now! And my taste has gotten better," he said indignantly.
"How would you know? Who do you like now?" she snapped.
"Erm... no one," he said, letting her go and standing up quickly. He didn't look at her as she jumped to her feet, knowing he had gone red in the face.
"Just leave me alone," she snarled, straightening her shirt. She turned on her heel, but Bakura grabbed her arm again. "Get off of me!" she screamed, throwing him off her.
He stumbled backwards a few steps, but recovered quickly. "Stop yelling at me!" he cried desperately.
"Why?" she screeched back, her fists clenched.
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. "Because no one likes being yelled at!" he exclaimed. "Especially when it's a friend who's mad at you."
Alex's expression softened slightly. She pushed him away, though less sharply than before. "Leave me alone," she said, turning and starting down the sidewalk.
"Come on, stop," Bakura pleaded, walking beside her.
"I never stop," she replied, staring ahead.
"I hate when people are mad at me," he said.
"Then maybe you should quit following people around annoying them," Alex snapped, looking at him briefly.
"You're the only one I follow around!" he said. She stopped and turned to him, a confused and disgusted look on her face. "You're the only one who I /have/ to follow around."
"You don't /have/ to do anything," she said.
"But I want to! I... I mean... you're my friend, but I've never had anyone who's so... anti-social is an understatement," he said.
"So?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "Why are you following me around and bugging me?"
"Because I see the good in you," he said.
Alex snorted. "You're obviously blind," she snapped, turning and continuing down the sidewalk.
"Alex, all anyone has to do is see how you act towards your brother! I've seen it! You'd never say it, but you care about him! And you'd be devastated if anything happened to him or he suddenly stopped looking up to you," he said.
Alex stopped, but continued to stare straight ahead, her face looking torn. "You're assuming..." she said quietly.
He stepped in front of her and looked her in the eye. "I'm not. I don't understand you most of the time, but I know that I want to. There's obviously a lot more to you than meets the eye and I want you to trust me with it. You can you know," he said.
Alex stared at him a moment and he couldn't identify what it was exactly that was in her eyes. She pushed by him and started down the sidewalk again. "How do I trust someone I've known for all of about a month?" she asked softly.
"Alex, have I told anyone about Jade being your sister? If I had, don't you think you'd have found out about it by now?" he asked, walking beside her.
"Do you think I'm a mental case or something?" she asked.
"What? No..." he said, confused.
"Because I am," she said. Without looking at him, she jerked her left sleeve up to reveal the cut on her arm.
Bakura stared at her, unsure of what to say. "Um... what are you saying?" he asked.
"I did that you moron!" she cried, turning to him. "Jade's constantly afraid of me because I'm always threatening suicide! When she tries to call me on a bluff, I prove I'm not afraid of it by doing something like this! And if she were to push me too far, I'd probably do it!" she cried.
Bakura stared at her. "Alex... why...?" he asked.
"Because I'm screwed up! Do you realize what you're getting yourself into by hanging around me?" she exclaimed.
"I don't care! But don't commit suicide, I don't feel like going to your funeral," he said, trying to lighten the mood a little. He breathed in relief when she grinned slightly.
"I'm not planning on it, no. Are you on valium or something? Because no normal person would put up with me," she said, staring at him.
He laughed. "No, I don't put up with you. I enjoy being with you, so I can overlook your flaws."
"You're overlooking half my personality then," she said, folding her arms.
- Well, she's smirking again at least, - he thought, very much relieved. "No, I don't think you're that messed up," he said.
"What do you think of me then? If you say I'm nice I swear I'll shoot you," she said.
Bakura laughed. "Erm... I don't think you're /nice/ exactly. I guess... I find you interesting. I've never met anyone like you before."
"Of course you didn't," she said. Despite her harsh tone, her face was lightening up, making her look stunning once again.
They stared at each other for a minute, Bakura's heart starting to race. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her and didn't want to. She didn't notice the way he was gazing at her and once again started down the sidewalk.
"Jade isn't gonna' be home yet. She usually picks David up, so you want to come over? I need help with my math homework," she said, making Bakura smile.
"Yeah," he said eagerly, unable to keep the grin or the blush off his face. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Bakura found his voice again. "Um... I like your shirt," he said, trying to make conversation.
Alex raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed. "Flattery doesn't work on me," she said.
"Uh, no... I was just saying..." he stammered, feeling his face flush.
- Does he have a stuttering problem or something? He can't ever finish a friggin' sentence, - she thought to herself.
- And I told Dad I wasn't obvious when I was around her. Has she really not figured it out yet? That's... surprising! Not that I'm complaining... Oh no, I'm arguing with myself. -
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
"Alex, you're doing that wrong," Bakura said, looking at her paper.
"Oh, shut up. I know what I'm doing," she snapped, erasing the problem. She redid it to come up with the same answer.
"You're doing the problem wrong. See, look," he said, taking the pencil from her.
"Gimme' that," she said, snatching it away. "You have your own pencil."
Bakura laughed as she glared at him. He was about to show her how to do it when she flopped back on the bed and sighed. He grinned, though he wasn't sure why.
"Eh, I'll figure it out. I'm failing math anyway so it doesn't matter," she said, staring at the ceiling, finding shapes in the ripples. She sighed as she spotted the dagger. Suddenly a sharp pain seared below her shoulder and she sat bolt upright, wincing.
"Are you all right?" Bakura asked, concern spreading across his face. He got up and went to her side as she grabbed a small bottle of pills from her end table.
With shaking hands, she poured two pills from the bottle into her hand and popped them in her mouth, swallowing them. Bakura watched her nervously as she sat there, her hand pressed against the front of her shoulder.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Alex's face started to ease from being screwed up in pain and she stood. She rubbed her shoulder and took a deep breath. "The pain isn't really there. It's a memory," she said, turning around to face him.
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.
Alex sighed. She pulled the collar of her shirt down below her shoulder to reveal a scar.
Bakura stood up at looked at it more carefully. "What happened?" he asked.
She released her shirt and folded her arms.
FLASHBACK...
"You're an awful father! All you ever do is get drunk and fight with mom!" Alex screamed. She stood in the kitchen with her father at the age of thirteen.
"Don't talk to me that way!" her father yelled, his eyes blazing.
"Or you'll do what? Do you realize that you haven't taught me anything? Except not to follow in your footsteps that is! The only thing you care about is your alcohol! You not only have me to take care of, you have a seven year old son! You're his role model! He looks up to you!" Alex screeched.
"Shut up!" Her father cried, clenching his fists. "Watch how you speak to me! I'm your father!"
"And I wish you weren't! I hate you! You chased Jade out of the house at eighteen! I'm not stupid, I know..." Alex was cut off by a searing pain just below her right shoulder. Her eyes wide, she slowly looked down to find the knife that had been on the counter shoved into her up to the handle. Terrified, she grabbed hold of it and slowly pulled it out, blood staining the blade. She looked back up at her father, who's own eyes were filled with fear.
"Oh my God, what have I done?" he whispered.
The knife fell from Alex's hand as she collapsed to the floor.
END FLASHBACK...
"It turned out I had only been petrified and I passed out. The blade only tore my muscle, it didn't hit any bones or anything. But dad really freaked out about it. It scared the living crap out of him that he had done that. He thought he had killed me," she said with a slight laugh.
Bakura stared at her, his eyes wide with horror. His voice seemed to have left and he couldn't speak.
"So, now it just hurts sometimes. But if you tell anyone, I swear you die," she threatened, her eyes growing cold.
"N-no! I won't say anything! I thought you said he didn't hurt you or your mother," he said as she sat back down on the bed.
"I said he /almost/ never hurt us. He really did suck as a parent though. I don't remember what got me started, but every word I said had been true," she said.
Bakura sat down beside her, stunned. "That's..." he started, but couldn't find the words to describe it.
"Shut up, I know what it is," she said softly, rubbing her shoulder. "I never really spoke to him or hung around him after that. Maybe I drove him to suicide," she said, thinking about it.
"No!" Bakura cried. "Don't start thinking you did it! He would have killed himself anyway, even if you hadn't acted coldly to him."
She stared at him. "Bakura, get a grip. I'm not blaming myself. That's just stupid."
He blushed as she fell back on the bed. "Um... right, well, good," he said, feeling incredibly stupid.
She sat back up and looked at him. "I told you I'm messed up."
He turned towards her. "And I believed you," he said truthfully. "But it didn't matter to me. You've been through a lot, but you're not a freak, no matter what anyone says."
Alex stared at him. "Where do you get the idea I'm not a freak?" she asked.
"Because it's like you said. There's really no normal, so there's no freak. You're most definitely not normal, but there is no normal, so," he said, his eyes meeting hers. His heart skipped a beat as she gave a small smile. He felt that this would be a good time to kiss her, but had a sinking feeling she'd knock him out if he did.
"No one's ever reacted quite like that to it before. They all freaked out and stuff," she said without looking at him.
"Well, you obviously never met anyone who understood what it's like to lose family members," he said.
"No, come to think of it. I haven't," she said, looking at him. His heart melted as his eyes met hers. They were no longer cold, but slightly sad. They made him want to hold her tightly in his arms and make her pain disappear. But he didn't make a move towards her. Instead he just gazed at her with longing eyes, trying not to look too obvious.
He didn't really know what to say, so he just put his hand on her shoulder lightly and smiled at her. She lowered her gaze to his hand and he removed it, blushing.
"Well, I don't think there's any more you don't know about my family. Except that I've been in therapy loads of times and it hasn't helped," she said.
"You don't need therapy. You need a friend," he said softly.
"Well, I suppose I have one now," she said, looking at him.
He couldn't help beaming. She gave a small laugh at his smile and gathered her books together. Bakura watched as she shoved them in her backpack haphazardly. He was about to say something when Jade opened the door. Immediately Alex's smile evaporated.
"What do /you/ want?" she snarled.
"Just to say hi," Jade said.
"Well, you've said it. Good bye," Alex said.
Bakura turned around and smiled at Jade, who felt rather reassured by him. "Alex, Rick is coming over tonight for dinner. Why doesn't Bakura stay too?" Jade looked directly into her sister's eyes and gave a small smirk.
Alex blazed in fury at her sister's inside joke. She didn't respond and didn't notice that Bakura had taken to watching her.
Seeing the look in Alex's eyes, he thought maybe it would be best if he stayed out of this. "Um, no, but thanks anyway. I have to get home," he said quickly.
"Oh, all right then. Maybe some other time," Jade said, watching him quickly gather his things.
He slung his backpack over his shoulders and he and Alex got up from the bed. "Well, I'll see you later then," he said to Alex, smiling.
"Yeah," she replied, following him out of the room.
Before she was able to push completely past Jade, however, her sister grabbed her arm. "Maybe some other time we'll double date," she hissed.
Alex's eyes blazed and she slid her sleeve up to remind Jade of her threat the night before. Her sister stiffened slightly and released her arm. Alex turned away and slid down the banister, her foot stopping her from hitting the knob at the end. Jade smirked as she watched Bakura smile at her sister.
- Show off, - Jade thought with a smirk. Alex showed Bakura out as Rick showed up.
"Oh! Hi Bakura," he said and Alex scowled.
"Um, hi," Bakura replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Hope you two aren't doing anything stupid," Rick said, entering the house. Bakura blushed a vibrant shade of red while Alex clenched her fists.
"Jade!" she screamed, making Bakura jump. She slammed the door shut without a word to him and he figured maybe he should leave.
He turned around and headed down the driveway, trying desperately to make the color drain from his face.
##################################################################################
a/n: Okay, it's nearing the end of this fic, but there is a sequel. Although, that's gonna' be really depressing. heh heh...