Summary: Being seventeen is never as easy as it appears. Somehow, through trauma and horror, love seems to sprout between the most unlikely of pairs. But it had always been undeniable; the passion between both Lily and James had always been there.

Genre and Rating: Romance and Angst. Rating M, just to be safe.

Disclaimer: For God's sake, people. If I had invented Harry Potter, would I still be writing fan-fictions?

Author's rant: Sorry about the no line-breaks thing. They disappear when I upload it. It's rather strange. Keep readin' and reviewin'.

Chapter 3: I want to tell you.

He felt as though he could skip back to the castle in glee, floating on his own personal cloud. Nothing could break his spirits.

'So, she was looking at you. Big deal.' Caitlin muttered, as she and James walked back up to the Gryffindor Tower, brooms in hand.

'Don't you get it? She never looks at me. Never, ever, never.' He laughed.

She rolled her eyes and stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. 'Treacle Tart.'

The portrait swung open, admitting the two students.

'Are you still going to help me?' James whispered to Caitlin, a glint of red hair by the window catching his eye.

'Help? Help wh- Oh, that. Look, I said I'd help, I'm not going to change my mind.' She smiled, rolling her eyes again as she walked away from James and over to sit by Lily. James sighed and watched her go. He would win her over if it was the last thing he ever did.

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James awoke the next morning, tired as though he had just fallen asleep. Which wasn't true, not at the very least. It was noon on this beautiful, sunny Saturday and he had been asleep for at least ten hours. It was long enough for the teenaged boy. Running a hand through his messy hair, the other palm groped around his bedside table for his glasses, long, pale fingers closing around them. The dormitory suddenly swam into clearer focus, and he saw two taller figures standing over him, holding back the hangings around his bed.

'So, you two woke me up, hmm?' he said groggily, peering up at Sirius and Remus.

'Yeah, figured you'd be hungry.' Sirius snickered.

'And, you have a note.' Remus added, holding out a pink envelope, decorated in flowers.

'And no, Severus didn't send it.' Sirius said, watching James take the note and read his name written in small, curly writing.

He laughed and slid his thumb underneath the flap, pulling out a thin sheet of paper.

'Who's it from?' Remus inquired, looking down.

'Caitlin.' James said simply, reading the letter over quickly.

'Caitlin…I know that name…' Sirius said.

'She threw chocolate pudding at you last year.' Remus reminded him with a sigh.

'Ah, yes. I still don't understand why…'

James looked up for a minute with a smile on his face 'You were staring down her shirt.'

'Oh…' Sirius said thoughtfully, slowly turning on his heel and leaving the dormitory.

'I've always wondered how he dresses himself in the morning.' Remus sighed again, watching him leave.

'I thought Peter helped him.' James said, beaming as he finished Caitlin's short letter and threw it aside.

'What's the note for, lover boy?' Remus asked as the two of them walked down to lunch.

'Leave her a note.' James said simply. 'I'll meet you down in the Hal in a few minutes, okay?'

Remus nodded and walked inside, finding a seat next to Sirius who had his head down on top of his arms.

'Something the matter, Padfoot?' Remus asked, looking at his friend.

Sirius looked up, his face dripping in soggy cereal.

'Just a little flashback from a few years ago…' he sighed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Caitlin, Lily and Tyler walking away from the table. And he could have sworn that he saw Caitlin throw Sirius a dirty look over her shoulder, as she disappeared out of the hall.

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James sat up on his bed, quill stuck pensively between his front teeth, a near-blank piece of parchment in his lap. The only words written were 'Dear Lily' in messy writing at the top of the page. The advice would have been extremely useful, had the letter not been sent to one James Potter. How on earth was he supposed to tell her how he felt in a note? He say it aloud, let alone write in down in some form of poetic mumbo-jumbo.

But, how did he feel about Lily? All he'd have to do is think about what she means to him, and write it down. How hard could it possibly be?

An hour later, James still sat there, nothing more written onto his piece of parchment. Okay, so it hadn't been as easy as he thought.

'What are you doing?' Remus asked, as he and Sirius entered the dormitory again.

'Trying to write a letter to Lily…' he said, looking rather frustrated.

'What kind of letter?' Sirius asked, plopping down next to him and reading what Jaems had written over his shoulder.

'Whatever kind of letter it is…you haven't gotten very far.' Remus remarked.

'Okay, look. I didn't get far before, and with you here distracting me, I might as well try and use telepathy to communicate with Lily.' James said, rolling his eyes.

'You can do that?' Sirius asked, lifting an eyebrow inquiringly. The other two boys rolled their eyes.

'Why don't you go outside then? There's practically no one out there.' Remus noted, ignoring Sirius, just like they always did.

'Thanks for the idea.' James smiled, gathering his things into his backpack and walking out of the dormitory.

'What, is it easier to mind-connect outside in fresh air?' Sirius asked, watching James leave with a puzzled look on his face.

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Ah, now this was much better. The fresh air, the crisp breeze, the chirping of the birds. It was wonderful. But it was doing absolutely nothing to help him along with his letter writing. He pulled his quill out of his bag, and pressed the point to a new piece of parchment, moving the point to form the words 'Dear Lily' once more. It was then that he felt a tap on his shoulder, and he quickly turned the parchment over, looking around. Tyler was standing right behind him.

'Oh, Hi Ty.' James said, smiling lightly.

'What are you up to, Mr. Mystery?' she asked, swinging her golden hair away from her face as she took the vacant seat next to him.

'Writing a letter.' He sighed. 'Trying to, anyway. It's not going very well.'

'Letter to Lily, lover-boy?' Tyler asked, quirking an eyebrow with a smirk stretched across her face.

'How did you know that?' James inquired, nervously.

'Relax. Caitlin told me this morning.' She told him 'So, let's see what you've got so far.'

James handed her the letter, scratching the back of his head lightly.

'That's it?' Tyler asked, looking up in disbelief.

'Writing the letter isn't as easy as it sounds.' James scolded, snatching the letter back.

'Alright. James, how do you really feel about Lily?' Tyler asked.

'Well, I like her. Obviously. I really like her. Hell, I love her.' He said 'But I don't know how I'm supposed to tell her that…'

'Write that down.' Tyler said, japing the parchment with an inch-long nail.

James hastened to do as he was told, and scribble a few words down.

'Now, what would you do without her?' Tyler asked, a finger placed at the corner of her mouth in thought.

'I dunno. Lie in my bed and stay there 'till I die?' he said.

'Good answer. Write that down…'

'Bu-'

'Write. It. Down.' She repeated.

James sighed, but wrote it down, nevertheless.

'Now sign your name. Sincerely, whatever…whatever…' she said, waving her hand impatiently.

'And…?' James said, looking up from his newly finished letter.

'Go leave it in her backpack, she left it by the window this morning.' Tyler said.

'Bu-'

'Go.' She said, poking him hard in the shoulder.

-+-+-

'Have a decent day, Lils?' Caitlin asked, as the three girls were sitting on Tyler's bed that night, after dinner.

'Decent. Sure.' She said, pulling her backpack towards her. Caitlin and Tyler fought hard to control their giggles.

'What?' Lily asked, looking up at both of her friends with a suspicious look on her face.

'Nothing, I think I had too much pumpkin juice today at dinner. I'll be right back.' Caitlin said, her voice low from suppressed laughter.

'Yeah, me too.' Tyler mumbled quickly, leaping after Caitlin and they both bounded down the stairs into the common room before Lily could open her bag.

Shaking her head, and muttering something like 'Stupid kids' she unfastened the buckle on her backpack and emptied the contents onto her own bed. She sorted through her books and quills and ink bottles, separating them into piles on her pillow. That was when she noticed a small, green envelope with her name written on it. Curiosity shone in her eyes as she slid her finger beneath the flap and pulled a rather crumpled piece of paper out.

Dear Lily,

I really, really don't know how to tell you this, so I apologize in advance if it sounds stupid. I really, really like you, Lily – Love, you, actually. I honestly don't know what I would do if you weren't around. Something like, lying around in bed till I die…I don't know.

Sincerely, James Potter.

It hadn't been a letter she had been expecting. It hadn't been the most beautiful, romantic poem she had ever read. But there were still butterflies soaring around in her stomach.

She felt better than she had in days; she didn't want the feeling to go away.

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A/N: Yeah. Thanks for all the reviews guys. I need at least another review before I add the next chapter. So, if /anyone/ out there wants me to update, you know what you've got to do. Hehe.