Thank you for the reviews! There is one more chapter after this one. Fingers crossed it is out next Tuesday, but I am currently sick. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

Winter

The worst part of growing up for Tyson was that he saw his friends less often. The second worst part was the jet lag. New York had been fun, but the days back home always hit different. The depression was hard enough to shrug off, but the added exhaustion made the whole thing a slog.

He figured Hilary was going through the same thing on the second day he hadn't see her. Or heard from her. She was leaving him on read and he assumed she just didn't want to bother him on the off chance he was asleep.

He decided to stop by her office after another training session with no appearance by their coach. The door was closed, to no surprise. Hilary loved her privacy and worked best with no distractions. From a quick glance, he saw a light was on from under the door.

He knocked to no response. He waited briefly before knocking again. Nothing. He frowned.

"Hey Hil, I know you're in there." He knocked again, thinking she was maybe napping. "Wakey wakey."

It was weird for their positions to be switched like this, but in the silence he could hear shuffling from inside the office. The door opened only slightly, enough for Hilary to glare at him.

"Go away."

Tyson was thrown off by her icy demeanour and instinctively shoved his foot in the door's path. It slammed against the side of his sneaker, making him flinch. It worked.

"Whoa, what did I do?"'

Hilary ignored him, giving up on the door ever shutting and retreated to further in her office. Tyson let himself in the room knowing it was never an offer. He quietly closed the door behind him as to not cause a scene. She leaned against the front of her desk, arms crossed and glare still present.

"What?" Tyson repeated, absolutely confused. He tried retracing his steps the last few days for anything stupid he could've done. He knew fully well he was bad at realizing when he was stupid, so he struggled to come up with anything. "Help me out here."

"Go away," she repeated. Her walls refused to crumble, keeping her stance up.

Tyson's confusion washed away to frustration. He huffed, placing his hands on his hips and doubling down on his own stubbornness. "I don't think I actually did anything," Tyson stated boldly, only making Hilary scoff. He shrugged dismissively, staring her down with furrowed brows. "I'm not going anywhere, so might as well tell me."

She stood up abruptly from the desk, momentarily going nose to nose with Tyson in their stare down. She scoffed again when he didn't back down, brushing passed him purposely as she made her way around the desk. His gaze followed her and again they were glaring at each other in silence.

"Can you please say something?" Tyson snapped. He'd much rather they scream at each other than whatever this was.

"Like you don't know."

"I don't know." His frustration was hitting new levels. "Can you please just tell me so we can have a real argument?"

Hilary rolled her eyes. She uncrossed her arms long enough to turn the computer monitor toward him. Tyson's confusion came back full force, temporarily breaking his scowl. He leaned forward on the desk to get a better angle of the screen.

"What's this?"

"You can't read?"

He shot her a look, grabbing the mouse and scrolling to the top of whatever site Hilary was on. He quickly recognized photos of them while on their trip to New York, some far enough away they hadn't realized at the time pictures were even being taken.

"A paparazzi site?" Tyson deduced looking back over to Hilary. She appeared to still be completely over his existence. "What?"

"You still can't read."

He didn't understand what her problem was, but could tell she was growing exasperated. His attention went back to the article and he scrolled again.

"Max gets this stuff all the time. Weird American thing," Tyson tried to reason, still lost about their argument.

"No he doesn't."

She still wasn't having it. He honestly didn't see what the problem was, it seemed to be all dates and timestamps of their trip. Max had even warned them many times previously and Tyson still didn't see how this was his fault. She knew he was famous.

He then scrolled far enough to get where Hilary had left the site originally. His stomach dropped. The comments section was large and mostly about her. He didn't have to read much to get the point. Tyson's face fell when he peered back up at her.

"Not everyone hates Max."

Tyson straightened up, grasping for something to say. Hilary broke his gaze, holding herself tighter with a pained expression.

"Can you please just leave?"

She sounded so defeated.

"It's all bull," Tyson told her. Hilary still wouldn't look at him. "You don't believe all that crap?"

"What? That I'm annoying? That I'm such a bitch I can't even tell no one wants me around? Are the rumours true? You're seriously with me, you could do so much better?" Hilary could've continued, she had plenty of ammo. "Has to be true if so many people think it."

Tyson would've jumped over the desk if it wouldn't have made Hilary more upset. Instead he raced around the desk, startling Hilary. He grasped her arms, grabbing her attention at the same time.

"That's bullshit," he repeated when their eyes met again. "They don't know you."

Tyson hadn't seen her so upset since they were just kids and she thought he hated her. And then it hit him. He felt sick looking at the pain in her eyes.

"I don't think that."

She turned her head away from him suddenly, blinking furiously as tears welled in her eyes. She pulled away from him slightly, dabbing at her eyes with her palms. Tyson didn't want to let go. He reached for her gently, testing the waters to see if she would push him away again. She didn't. He made gentle circles with his thumb on her upper arm in some attempt to calm her down.

"Everyone else does." Her voice was small.

"I don't think that," he said again, this time softer. "I've never thought that."

She gave a sad nod before accepting his embrace. He wrapped his free arm around her tightly. Hilary refused to uncross her arms, instead choosing to bury her head in his chest.

After some time, she said, "I know. It was... just a lot. I tried to avoid the articles but they were everywhere."

He hummed thoughtfully. "We just won't go to the US anymore."

"That's your solution?"

Tyson had been completely serious about the suggestion, but was happy to hear her small laugh. "I'm open to ideas."

"I'll be okay." Hilary took a deep breath, snuggling further into his chest. "I'm sorry, Tyson."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Tyson ducked his head down against hers. He was willing to hold a press conference and announce his feelings, but knew Hilary wouldn't want that. "Let's do something today, get your mind off that crap. Whatever you wanna do, name it. Anything."

She sighed.

"I just want this."