OMJ. THE LAST CHAPTER! freaks out I know you're all excited and all, but you have no idea how proud I am that I actually FINISHED THIS THING. I don't finish stories. Like...EVER. So this is a big step. I'm currently wigging out. Yeah. Anyway. I'm sorry about the huge delay. My arm was being really ghetto, and then school started, and there was just never a really great time to finish writing this. I finally decided it just needed to be done.

So yes! This is the final chapter of the story! There will be an epilogue for those of you yearning for a little bit more fluff. It WILL be up next week, I'm actually going to write it right after I post this. I'm really pleased with how this came out overall. I was concerned about the last chapter because I hadn't quite figured out how to end it. I apologize if some of it's a bit rough, I didn't re-read it because I just wanted to post it for you guys and I was afraid I might not like it anymore and change my mind. XDDDDDD

Um...yeah. I apologize again for sucking at updating. I hope you like this chapter. And the epilogue when it gets posted. Kay. LOVE YOU GUYS! YOU ROCK!

Mamoru smiled and glanced at his watch. "You've got just another twenty seven minutes in my closet left."

"Really?!" she squealed delightedly. Mamoru couldn't help being amused.

"I'm almost free!" Usagi cried and he laughed.

"Gee, Usagi-chan, you can't even sit and talk to me for three hours without getting antsy?" he teased.

"Ooh, you're a funny one, aren't you?" Usagi replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mamoru grinned. "I like to think so, yes."

"NYAH." Usagi stuck her tongue out at the door.

"I saw that."

"Liar."

"Prove it."

Usagi made a face. "Whatever Mamoru-kun!"

He laughed. "So when you're finally released from my closet, are we still going to go through with the tutoring for today?"

Usagi groaned and let her head fall against the door. "Why did you have to remind me about that?"

Mamoru smirked. "Well it is the reason you're even stuck in my closet, remember?"

"That just proves studying is bad for me," she replied flippantly.

"Somehow, I don't think our teachers will see it the same way. Tell you what, I'll give you today off for reasons of traumatic events, but tomorrow we actually have to work when we get together. Deal?" he bargained.

Usagi grinned. "Deal!"

"Great. Well, when you're finally released, I should probably take you home…it's already past six," he said, glancing at his watch again.

"Aw, man. Mom's going to KILL me!" Usagi moaned. "I had chores to do!"

Mamoru smiled. "I can tell her we just got so wrapped up in studying that we lost the time, if you want…"

Usagi immediately pressed up against the door, "Really? You would do that for me?"

Mamoru laughed. "I don't see why not. I seriously doubt your mother would approve of the OTHER excuse you could provide."

Usagi blushed and nodded. "Yeah, she probably wouldn't like that one very much. Ooh, Mamoru-kun, thank you!"

He smiled. "It's the least I can do, Usagi-chan."

Usagi smiled at the door and said, "See, I'm always right."

Mamoru quirked an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at the closet door. "What?"

"About people. My first impression of you was right," she said.

Mamoru flushed, remembering what she had said. It seemed like ages ago. He was still trying to decide how he should respond when the doorbell rang.

Usagi gasped. "Is it them?!"

Mamoru smiled slightly and pushed himself to his feet. "I don't know Usagi, I have to get to the door first."

"Nyah! Shut up, jerkface."

Mamoru smirked at the closet. He much preferred this new, teasing tone of voice to the old upset version. He opened the front door and immediately let out a small breath of relief. "Oh, good. You're here. He's here, Usagi-chan!"

A cheer rose up from the closet and Mamoru smiled weakly at the locksmith. "Uh, we had a little mishap."

The locksmith bit back a grin and nodded. "I see. May I come in?"

Mamoru nodded. "Oh right, of course. Please."

The locksmith stepped in and made a beeline for the closet door. After glancing at the lock and then giving the door a once over he turned back to Mamoru looking a little bemused.

"Um, sir? Why didn't you just lift the pins in the hinges out?" he asked uncertainly.

Mamoru stared at him for a minute before clapping his hand to his forehead. "Oh, for heaven's sakes! I can't believe I'm so stupid!"

"Um, excuse me, guys! I'm still in the closet!" Usagi called and Mamoru blushed.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Usagi-chan."

"Come on, just open the door!" she whined and Mamoru could hear her hopping from foot to foot anxiously.

"Excuse me, sir," the locksmith said, gently waving him out of the way as he set down his toolbox.

Mamoru stepped back, eyeing the closet door with a mix of exasperation and apprehension. He and Usagi had forged some kind of new connection while she was trapped in his closet. He wasn't sure how that was going to work, once they could see each other again and after she left his apartment. What if it was just a temporary truce? What if things went back to the way they had been? What if he kept making fun of her and she decided she really did hate him? His stomach twisted, and he felt ill. He couldn't handle it if that happened. Something had changed in the way he would look at her from now on, and he couldn't handle it if it hadn't changed for her as well.

"Wait—hold on a sec—" Mamoru stopped the locksmith as he started shimmying out the bottom pin. The guy looked up at him curiously. "Uh—" Mamoru rubbed the back of his neck. "Would—would you mind just—um, going into the living room for a minute?"

The guy's eyebrows went up slightly, but he nodded and got to his feet. "Yeah, sure."

"Thanks," Mamoru nodded gratefully and watched as the man made his way into the living room.

He was still looking in that direction when Usagi called from inside the closet, "What's going on? Why am I not out yet?"

Mamoru couldn't resist a small smile. "I asked him to stop for a second Usagi-chan."

"What?! Mamoru, I've been stuck in this closet for HOURS. Let me out of here!"

He swallowed. "I wanted to talk to you first."

"You've been talking to me for hours! You can continue talking to me when I'm NOT INSIDE THIS CLOSET!"

"Look, I don't think I'll have the guts to talk to you when you're not in there, so just give me a minute, would you? What's five more minutes?" he pleaded.

Usagi huffed irritably and said, "Oh, fine. Talk."

"Thank you." He paused for a second and then said quietly, "Things are going to be like this from now on…right, Usagi-chan?"

Usagi stared at the door. "What? Like what?"

He grimaced. "You know…pleasant. You'll still…like me after this."

"Of course I will. Stop being silly, Mamoru-kun, and get me out of here," she said exasperatedly.

"No, Usagi-chan, please. You have to promise me things won't go back to the way they were. I don't think I could deal with that," he said.

Usagi softened. "Mamoru-kun, I don't things could go back to the way they were even if I wanted them to."

"So from now on—we can be…friends?" he said tentatively.

"Yes. Can I get out of the closet now?"

Mamoru smiled. "Yeah, okay, Usagi-chan. Just a minute." He went into the living room and waved the locksmith back in. "Sorry."

The man shrugged and smiled slightly, "No problem." He quickly shimmied the two pins out of the hinges and he and Mamoru wiggled the door out of the frame. They leaned it against the wall, and Mamoru smirked as Usagi blinked in the bright hall light. She was adorable. He held out his hand for her to take and she stepped uncertainly out of the closet.

"My eyeeeeesss," she moaned and Mamoru and the locksmith laughed.

"Just give them a couple of minutes, Usagi-chan. They'll adjust," he said, amused.

The locksmith smiled at them. "I'm going to remove this key and then I'll put the door back on its hinges. If you want a new key, you can come down to the shop. Until then, I recommend staying out of the closet, sir."

Mamoru grinned as Usagi blushed. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

As the locksmith went back to work, Usagi and Mamoru stood there, staring at their hands and the floors, fidgeting uncertainly. It was a little more difficult now that they really were face to face. Finally Mamoru spoke quietly. "Um, when he's finished up, I can take you home, if that's okay."

Usagi nodded vigorously, glancing up at him. "Yeah, that would be great!"

"Okay. Great." There was another brief silence. "Do you want me to pick you up after school again for tutoring tomorrow?" he asked uncertainly.

Usagi nodded again. "Yeah. Let's not go to your apartment though. It's dangerous."

A small smile flickered across Mamoru's lips. "Okay. Is Crown Parlor okay? Will you be able to focus?"

Usagi blushed. "I think so. As long as you're there."

Mamoru's cheeks warmed at the thought of his presence being her control. He kind of liked the idea of being Usagi's stabilizer. "Okay. Great."

They fell silent again and stared around the room, nervous, but not quite uncomfortable. Finally the locksmith finished up and he announced, "All done. That'll be a hundred and thirty-six dollars and twelve cents."

Mamoru cringed and pulled out his wallet to hand the man his cash. There went the money he was planning on spending on books. "Thanks," he muttered to the locksmith.

He flashed him a smile. "No problem. Don't forget to have a new key made."

"Thanks." Mamoru led him to the door and tilted his head at Usagi. "Get your stuff, Usagi-chan, we can go now."

Blushing, she grabbed her things and pulled her coat from the closet, careful to keep the door open. "Thank you, Mamoru-kun. I'm so sorry," she said breathlessly as he locked the front door behind them.

He shrugged and shot her a quick smile. "Ah, what can you do? It's okay." He headed down the hallway, and Usagi tagged along behind him nervously. He seemed a lot handsomer when he was being nice to her.

A few feet ahead, Mamoru was thinking along the same lines. 'She's always been cute…but why didn't I ever notice how big her eyes are? Isn't that something kind of hard to miss?' he wondered. 'This is weird. I can't be thinking about her like this. She's way too young for me. We don't have anything in common!'

Usagi noticed the increase in tension. She nibbled on her fingernail nervously. 'I hope he's not regretting this. What if he starts being mean again? I like him nice like this… Studying might not be so bad…' When they had gotten downstairs and Mamoru was only becoming tenser and tenser in the quiet, Usagi finally decided she couldn't take it anymore. "Mamoru-kun, is everything okay?" she blurted as they headed outside.

Mamoru glanced back at her in surprise. "What? What do you mean?"

She looked up at him anxiously. "You've been getting tense. Are we…okay?"

Mamoru couldn't help a hot flush from spreading across his face. Here he was debating whether or not he could, in good conscience, date a fourteen-year-old girl and she was wondering if everything was okay between them. "Yeah, everything's fine. I was just, um, thinking."

"Oh, okay," Usagi said nodding in understanding, even though Mamoru was fairly certain she really didn't understand. The rest of the walk to Usagi's house, just a few blocks away from Mamoru's apartment complex, was quiet. They tried starting up a conversation a couple of times, but forcing it didn't seem to help and they quickly fell back into silence after each attempt. When they finally reached Usagi's house, they paused out front, unsure of how to end things. After several minutes of standing there uncertainly, eyes roaming everywhere but the other person, Mamoru cleared his throat and spoke.

"So…um, I'll see you tomorrow after school then?"

Usagi nodded, her relief apparent. "Yeah!"

"Okay. Great."

Usagi fidgeted a little, and Mamoru's inner-battle continued furiously. 'Just ask her to do something! It doesn't have to be a big deal! But you're tutoring her, you idiot! If something goes wrong, you're BOTH screwed!' Unfortunately, they were interrupted before the debate could be settled.

"MOM! Usagi's home!" a boy shouted from the porch. "And she's with a BOY!"

Usagi groaned and put her head in her hands. "Oooh, SHINGO! You little brat! I'm going to kill you!" she shouted.

"Tsukino Usagi! You were supposed to be home two hours ago!" her mother shouted, joining a smug Shingo on the porch. "You have chores to do!"

Usagi sighed. "Mom, it wasn't my fault!" she protested.

"Don't you start making excuses, young lady. You just march your little butt inside and get to work!" she replied angrily.

Mamoru followed as Usagi began approaching the house and he cleared his throat, speaking up. "Um, Tsukino-sama? It's actually my fault she's late—"

"And we're going to be having a talk about THAT too!" she said, glaring pointedly at Usagi, who blushed furiously.

"MOM! It's not like that! He's my tutor!"

This statement stopped Ikuko in her tracks. "Your what?" she said, flabbergasted.

"My tutor. We were assigned tutors today in school, Mom," she said, rolling her eyes.

Ikuko looked at Mamoru. "Is this true?"

Mamoru nodded humbly. "Yes, ma'am. I go to the KO University. We were all assigned tutoring buddies from Juba."

"Well, then," she said, suddenly calming down considerably. "If that's what you've been doing I suppose I can let this one slide."

"What?" Shingo howled. "No fair, Mom!"

"Get back inside, Shingo, you're not finished with your chores!" she snapped and Shingo headed back inside, grumbling mutinously.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, Mom," Usagi said, slathering it on. "We were working really hard and I lost track of the time."

"I'll try not to let it happen again, Tsukino-same," Mamoru added sincerely, smiling inwardly at how conniving Usagi could be.

By now, Ikuko was completely softened up. "Oh, that's all right dear. If it's got you studying, then I don't care how long you're out." She leaned toward Usagi and muttered, "And how can I blame you when your tutor looks like that?"

Usagi's face turned bright red and she squealed. "MOM!"

Ikuko grinned mischievously and said off-handedly, "Well, I'll go inside and let you say goodbye to your new tutor. Just don't stay out very long. You DO have chores to get done, Usagi-chan. And your grades had get better after this young lady. I won't accept any more C's and D's if you've got a tutor."

Usagi's face flushed in embarrassment. "Okay, thank you, Mom," she said pointedly. She chuckled and headed back inside, leaving Usagi and Mamoru alone again. "Oh my gosh, sorry Mamoru-kun. My family is totally wacko," she said apologetically.

Mamoru smiled. "I don't know, I kind of like them."

Usagi smiled too. "They grow on you. Thank you for walking me home." After a moment's hesitation she added, "I'm really glad you're my tutor."

Mamoru's cheeks warmed slightly. "Me too. I'm glad you got stuck in my closet, too," he said in a stage whisper.

Usagi grinned. "Me too." They stood there, looking at one another for a minute before she said reluctantly, "Well, I really better get inside."

"Yeah. Um, bye Usagi-chan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she said. They both smiled hesitantly and then Usagi turned to go inside.

She had almost reached the door when Mamoru put a foot on the first step and called out, "Wait—Usagi-chan—just a second."

She turned and Mamoru was surprised to see something like hope in her eyes. "Yes?"

He licked his lips and then said quickly, "Do you—maybe want to, you know, do something with me sometime?"

Usagi could barely suppress an elated grin. "Sure, that sounds great!"

Mamoru looked up at her, his eyes going wide. "Really?"

"Yeah!" she nodded vigorously, her eyes glittering in the dusky light.

A grin slithered its way across Mamoru's face and he looked down, trying to contain his own elation. "Oh, okay, great. We…we can talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Usagi-chan!" came Ikuko's warning voice from inside the house.

"I really gotta go Mamoru-kun. I'll see you tomorrow though."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Usagi-chan," he said earnestly and watched as she bounced to the door and slipped inside. His face was starting to ache from how wide his grin was. Now this was how things should be. Thank God for his stupid closet. The hundred and thirty dollars were more than worth it for this.