A/N: Hi everyone! This is Hana-chan! Welcome to Chapter 6 of A World Apart. Wow. I never thought I'd end up posting this story. Go figure, eh? Anyway, I found the rest of the story (over half of it fell out of my spiral notebook) so I have a few more chapters than I thought. Oh yes, if there are a few grammatical errors or misspellings, I apologize; I am talking to my friends online as I type. Oh yes again, this chapter is supposed to be happening at the same time as Chapter 5. so if it confuses you, I'm sorry. And now, on with the story!

MEANWHILE:

Pie grabbed Lettuce's arm as the left Ichigo's room. "We need to talk. Now."

Lettuce turned sadness-filled eyes towards him. "No we don't."

"Yes we do," Pie insisted. "Please just come with me for a few minutes. I need to explain something."

Lettuce relented. "Fine."

Pie pulled her down an empty hallway. He found an unoccupied room and pulled her inside. "I need to talk to you about what happened earlier.'

"There's nothing to say.

"Yes there is. I know why you're angry with me, and I understand. But you misunderstood the situation."

"Oh really."

"Yes really. See, the reason I didn't kiss you back earlier wasn't because I don't love you. It was because I was stunned. I didn't think anyone would ever love me. Especially you. I'm so plain, so boring, and so stupid. But you... you are kind, and so beautiful. I always figured that Ryou or somebody interesting would win your affections. Not me. But when you said earlier you cried for me, I found that you could love me, and you did. Lettuce, I have loved you since the first day I saw you, and as much as I hate to admit to doing this, since the first time I tried to kill you. "This got a small laugh out or Lettuce. "I have loved you and I always will. But I still don't think I'm good enough for you."

"Pie, don't you see, you are! I love you so much and to me, you are perfect and I am boring. So don't ever think that you're not good enough for me, or I will be thinking the same thoughts about me. You are good enough for me." And with that, Lettuce kissed Pie again. This time, however, Pie reacted and kissed her back. His hands fell to her waist as hers twined around his neck. They deepened the kiss but finally broke away. "Thank you," Pie whispered in her ear.

"For what?" asked Lettuce.

"For loving me," he replied as he kissed her one more time.

TO TART AND PUDDING:

Pudding and Tart followed what was left of the group (Pie and Lettuce had disappeared somewhere a moment before) to the waiting room. Pudding collapsed into a chair and closed her eyes. Tart, afraid she was going to end up like Ichigo, grabbed her hand and squeezed. She squeezed back as he said, "Maybe I should take you home. You look exhausted, and if you're not careful, you'll end up like Ichigo. Besides, I wanna talk to you."

Pudding slowly picked herself up, acting as if she was...pudding. "That's fine. I don't think Ichigo will need me tonight. I have a feeling a certain green-haired alien will be here to keep her company."

Tart smiled and put his arm around her to hold her up. "Well, let's get you home. Where is that exactly?"

"Oh... I'm living with Ichigo right now actually. And Lettuce. We have our own place. We kind of... bonded, I guess you could say, after the three of you..."

"After we left," Tart said, pain evident in his voice. "Which is actually what I wanted to talk to you about. But anyway, just tell me where to go as we walk."

Pudding started off the conversation. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye?"

"Well, honestly I knew that if I came back and said goodbye, I would never be able to leave you here."

"Turn here. But, you still could have left a note or something. I was miserable when I found out you had gone. The only thing I had to remember you by was my memories of you. Actually, I cried for you. Sometimes things would get so hard, and I would cry. I really missed you a lot."

"You did? I would have thought you would have been glad to see me go, considering how I kept treating you."

"No! I could never be happy that you left me! And I knew, even when you were mean to me that you were really sweet underneath. Especially that time you saved me even though I was your hostage that you were going to kill. The truth is, I wanted to know more about you. I wanted to get to know both sides of you. And as I slowly got to know you- turn right- I realized that..." Pudding trailed off.

"That what?" Tart asked, hope in his voice.

"That I love you. I have since I met you and I always will. Turn." Pudding looked down at the sidewalk and blushed.

Tart didn't know what to say. "Pudding..."

She looked up to find him in front of her, his face inches from hers. "What?" she whispered.

"I love you too. I thought about you all the time. I was a walking depression without you," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

The kiss was short. Neither knew what to do. They smiled at each other as they broke apart. It was the first kiss for both teenagers.

A/N: wow. Chapter took me forever to type up. sighes and now I have a one-shot I need to type up. grrrr. Anyway, please review, and I might post another chapter.