*Author's note at end*

Marik followed Rei out of the classroom, the two of them heading straight to the main office to get everything finalized and his needed books they had on hold for him. As this went on inside, Rei stood outside in the hall humming to herself. A smile was permanently stuck on her face as she thought over her luck for the day. She had pegged it as a bad day in all honesty. She had missed her alarm, fell out of bed, the water would not heat up at all when she tried to shower this morning, her toast got burnt, and she had almost spilled water on her homework she had spent a long time working on last night. No, today in her mind was labeled as a terrible day.

Though, now that I look at it, I guess all that negative was to balance out all this good huh? I mean I'm sitting next to the hot exchange student and Terry even knows him, so I can definitely get time to hang out with him eve after he no longer needs my help. He's really open too though. I mean he doesn't hide liking my company…. She felt her cheeks heat up a little as she recalls all his flirting and the smiles. Oh, those smiles that just made her melt. She pressed her hands to her face to try and calm them a bit as she felt her smile grow at the thought.

"Did I miss something funny?" She jumped at the sound of the voice and turned to see Marik standing there.

"O-oh you're done! I didn't see you there!" She quickly answered, her face now red for a whole different reason.

"I noticed, I've been calling your name for a good two or three minutes now. You've just been standing there grinning and giggling. You looked so cute though, I didn't wanna interrupt you, but I figured us standing here would be a little awkward. I mean, I don't mind just watching you smile personally, I'm sure other people would talk though you know?" He chuckled.

Her face burned like lava as she was torn between melting at his sweet comment or just shrinking into nothing to hide from embarrassment. Marik watched as she fumbled to speak up, her head down as she cleared her throat and finally looked up at him again.

"You're totally right, people would say things." She agreed. "You shouldn't just say things like that so freely though, you'll give a girl the wrong idea!" She forced a scowl as she lightly whacked his arm as she finally got her heart to listen.

"Who says it's the wrong idea?" He raised a brow at her, smirking a little as she squeaked in response. The flushed red was a permanent attribute to her face as this moment as she stumbled for words once again.

"Y-you're so cruel! Saying things like that!" She forced herself to laugh off. "C'mon, let's get the tour going!" She turned on her heel to lead but he quickly grabbed her hand and turned her back around.

"I'm not being cruel, I'm being me. I don't hesitate, when I like someone I go for it. Keep that in mind hm?" He whispered in her ear before stepping back as someone comes out of the office. "So, how about that tour?" He asked before the staff member could question them. She quickly nodded her head and turned back around again to lead the way.

"Yes, let's get started!" She squeaked a bit as she walked forward but felt her arm tug a bit. Her heart jumped into her throat as she realized in her frenzy that he had not released her hand. Walking up next to her he turned to look at her with an innocent smile. She glared at him a little as she tried to still her beating her heart. So cruel! Instead of shaking his hand off, she held his back and led the way in hopes to throw him off. He was unfazed it seemed, actually he was quite pleased by her reaction and gave a light squeeze.

Though she rattled off the information of the school, she was unable to remember anything of it. They had started and stopped in what seemed like an eternity that ended far too quickly. She was a mess inside, worried that this was all some sort of trick but the entire time he had not let her hand go even once. Even no, at the end, he held on to her hand. She stood there, holding his hand back as she played his words over and over in her mind. It was all far too good to be true and she was uncertain if her heart could take it if this was all true.

"Thanks again for the tour Rei, it was really helpful. I'm glad I've such a lovely classmate to help me." He brought her hand to his lips once again, grazing his lips over her knuckles as her friends appeared around the corner. He noted them from the corner of his eyes but said nothing.

"Y-you're very welcome, I'm always willing to help you. D-don't hesitate to ask." She managed to stammer out, her heart hammering at her ribs as he held her transfixed with his lavender eyes.

"I'll keep you to that, sadly your friends are here and as much as I want to steal more time…it just means I can steal more tomorrow. See you in class." He winked at her before waving at her friends who failed at hiding behind the nearby lockers. He watched the three leave before making his way to the soccer field where he had seen the boys.

Seto stared at Terry as she handed him the books, that same smile plastered on her face as usual. She had been absent for a while now and he had been a bit restless by the sudden loss of her presence. It unnerved and irked him how this simpleton could worm her way so much in to his attention. To see her standing there now left him speechless. When she finally spoke to him, he found himself even more floored at the write off. He was sure girls freaked out over stuff like that, they freaked out even if he looked at them and yet here she was acting like nothing happened. He watched as she walked out with the new books in hand, staring at the door as he mulled over Terry.

What level of stupid is she? She makes no sense, she can't be that naïve. No one in this day is that…but she clearly is, what else could it be? Is this what gets to him? This is ridiculous, no woman has been so infuriatingly under my skin since Mazaki and that's a whole different pain in the ass. He sighed heavily and shook his head to discard any thought of Terry but she lingered there in the back of his mind and he knew it.

Terry sat off to the side on the grass, watching as they team practiced plays and ran drills, the sight of them giving their all kindling the fiery spirit in her once more. How long has it been since she last been outside? Running and enjoying the wind against her face? She looked up at the bright blue sky above and smiled. Inhaling as much air as she could, she let in the sunshine as she expanded her body until she could take in no more and expelled everything that had been making her feel so muddled and down.

That's right, this is all a whole new world for me…and I got lost in the minor details. Her gaze instantly fell on Atem and a sudden warmth grew in her chest as she lightly touched her forehead where he kissed her. I'm not alone…I have everyone here. I'm not as lost as I thought…thank you, for saving me from being confused. She silently said to Atem, waving to him and Jonouchi when they looked her way. The whole team turned to see her. "You guys are doing great, keep it up!" She shouted as loud as she could, the little cheer bolstering the team a bit as they all puffed their chests a bit and attacked the grueling drills with new vitality.

"Hey Terry, mind if I join you?" Marik's voice caught her ear and she turned to look up at him, squinting against the sun.

"Go right ahead, I there's enough grass around." She grinned, and he plopped on to the ground next to her. "Did you finish all you needed to do?"

"Yup, got my books and got the tour." He nodded his head, a smile plastered on his face like one had been on Rei's.

"Oh, is that so? Was the tour really that fascinating? I mean it's really just an empty school building. The way you're grinning, it looks like you got some super special look at some secrets or something." She snickered as she nudged him.

"No, no secrets…but I did have the best tour guide. I think I'll have a great time here at this school with her nearby." He chuckled as she tried to tease him, but his cheeks did turn a little pink. "It's weird, I really didn't expect I'd ever meet someone who got me interested enough to actually take a chance." He mumbled as he laid back on to the grass.

"Yeah, I'm actually surprised you've been so strong right out of the gates. Though, I can't say I'm not happy for you. It's good to see you interested in someone for a change. I was worried you'd end up marrying a rock or something just for the sake of saying you're married."

"Oi, that rock has a name! It was Layla and you know as well as I do that was a stupid phase! You're never going to let me live it down!" He grumbled at the memories of how he had been attached to some stupid rock he thought was fated for him to find while Terry laughed heartily at the memories. She fell on to her back, curled up at the slide splitting laughter which only made him scowl even more. "It's not that funny and you know it!" He huffed and tugged at some grass, tossing at her childishly as she only laughed more.

"Oh geez, I can't breathe! I can't, oh man! I, you, that was just…you're so adorable!" She laughed, trying to stop. "I'll stop, I'll stop! I promise, I'll stop!" She repeated the words, but she laughed on still until her body could handle no more and she heaved for air.

"Ya good there?!" He scowled at her as she lay there breathlessly but smiling her usual carefree smile. As much as he wanted to be angry at her, he was glad she was back to being herself and is grateful she could have a good laugh.

"I'm good, I'm good, oh man! I won't tell her about your past escapade of almost eloping with a rock." She snickered, unable to laugh any harder. "Hooo, man!" She blew out a forced breath as she finally could breathe mostly regularly again.

"You better not tell her! That would be mortifying!" He scowled as he laid back down on the ground and looked up at the tree that shaded them. "I'm glad you're back to normal Terry…I really am. Just know you have a lot more people with you than you realize. This life is new to you, but that doesn't mean you're lost." He turned to look at her. "You have us." She turned to look at him and smiled.

"Yeah, I got caught up in everything and got a little blinded…thank you."

"Any time for you." He turned back up to the sky before they both sat up and watched as the soccer team split up and played a game.

*To all my reviewing followers and especially the guest accounts I can't respond to directly, thank you for taking the time to send me what you think. I really appreciate them. They motivate me to push through this little block.