**Author's Note at the end

The chords of the song were so beautiful. It was heartbreaking and wonderful, a laughter that was hollow. The tears hidden behind a mask that was an armor. Looking at the world with such turmoil, it was haunting but resonating as it echoed in the room. The first few chords were slow, like walking steps hesitantly in the dark. Afraid of falling and slowly the notes built a spiraling staircase with no walls. An empty vastness with steps that lit up only after placing a foot on it, but not promise of it being able to hold any weight.

Terry silently watched Atem in silence as he played, his eyes glued to the strings. He was afraid to look up just yet. He knew deep down she would never reject him or this sounds of his emotions, however there still was fear. She was human still and judgement was a nasty habit of every single one and especially when you bare your heart out for someone else to see. Nothing was ever strong enough, nothing was good enough. He was never going to be good enough.

Slowly the last note faded into silence between them, Atem's chest feeling hollow for letting out his caged feelings but it also felt heavy. He fidgeted a bit, tracing the edges of the body a bit as he awaited her response. He flinched a little when he noted her hand moved in his periphery but the sound he heard shocked him. Had he heard wrong? Dare he look up? Biting at his lower lip, he swallowed his fear and looked up and found himself stunned. She was crying.

Terry wiped at her cheeks, silently sniffling in hopes to not be heard by him as her shoulders shook and her chest threatened to shake from the sobs that she choked inside.

"Oh geez, I'm so sorry! I promise it wasn't bad at all! I'm not, this isn't what it looks like!" She smiled through the tears. "It was, I mean it is beautiful. I just...wow...it's so beautiful." She whispered, sniffling as she looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be crying…."

"Then why are you?" His voice was a little rough, dry sounding as if he had not drank in days. Moving his guitar off to the side, he hesitantly reached out to her, his fingertips pressing against the outer edge of her right eye. He watched her flinch a little and he withdrew his hand at first but stopped as she looked up at him. "Why are you crying if you shouldn't be?"

"I… because you won't cry." She finally spoke, looking up at him. "That song is how you feel right? You're afraid to fall… and I'm just left here watching you stand alone." Her voice started off so soft and fragile but it slowly grew to a more firm and to its usual steadiness. "You're stuck, standing still. You just need to be brave Atem… you don't need to be afraid of whatever it is. You're not alone." She smiled warmly at him, grabbing the hand he held in the air and squeezing it tight. "You're not alone at all… I promise you."

He stared at her, blown by her sincerity. She had no idea what he was going through and yet she knew exactly what to say to him. Exactly what he always wanted to hear and feared was a hopeless fantasy. The little voice in the back of his head was screaming for him to ignore her. That she was a liar and she only meant to confuse him more, reminding him that he was wrong to let her into his life. She was such a storm that blew him away, but the more he was with her the more he found himself actually believe. He opened his mouth to speak but she quickly shook her head.

"You don't need to say anything. I understand, and I'll wait for you. I'm okay with being your voice when you don't know what to say." She gave such a brilliantly blinding smile he had no idea what to say. Gritting his teeth, he pulled her towards him and wrapped his free arm around her as he hid his face into her shoulder. Turning the hand she held, he gripped hers back and he shook. She felt him shake and it hurt her. Letting him squeeze her, she placed a hand on the back of his head to let him know he could stay there as long as he needed.

How long they sat like this, neither of them had a clue however when Yugi came barging in the room Terry gave a small smile that let him know to be silent. Yugi stared at them with such wide-eyed confusion but when it dawned on him he nodded his head. Closing the door silently, he made his way over to the two and climbed on to the bed and waited, kicking his legs a little.

Slowly, Atem pulled away from Terry and took a few shaky breaths as he mumbled he was fine. Terry silently let him be, smiling all the while when Yugi hopped up from behind her and threw his arms around her neck as he leaned on to her when she sat up again.

"Way to keep her all to yourself! She's my friend!" He pouted, poking his head out from behind Terry, startling Atem a bit as she laughed and took his weight.

"He came in a few minutes ago and you were sleeping Yugi, what was supposed to do?" She leaned her head back and turned to look at him as best she could, her nose pressed by the younger boy who remained pouting.

"You could've woken me up or something! I've been waiting for hours!" He puffed his cheeks more as he leaned closer and Terry laughed at how cute he is.

"I heard how much work you put in to this, I couldn't wake you up! I was just so happy and you must've been so tired, I'm sorry." Yugi finally relented as he plopped on to the bed, crossing his legs and his arms.

"I guess I can forgive you...I did do a lot." He nodded his head in stern agreement, Terry trying her best to resist hugging him at how adorable he was being at the moment.

"Exactly, so no hard feelings Squirt." Atem ruffled his hair, Yugi instantly puffed with pride as he grinned at the praise from his brother. Terry smiled at the heartwarming scene as Yugi scooted closer and started to list all that he had done to get all the praise he could from his brother. Atem kept his attention solely on his younger brother, nodding his head while giving occasional verbal responses to let it be known he was paying full attention. "You did all that? I'm impressed, you really are the little man of the household now!" He ruffled his hair once again, much to the younger's happiness.

"Yeah, just like you were right?!" He grinned broadly, leaning forward on his hands.

"Yeah, just like me." Atem nodded and Yugi turned to Terry.

"I'm the little man!" He boasted, puffing out his chest.

"I heard, very nice." She clapped her hands. "I agree one hundred percent, you certainly are the little man! I'm impressed and I can't wait to try all the food you helped make for me." She sincerely said, Yugi's cheeks flushing red at the smile she gave him.

"Y-yeah, well it's not ready yet! I'll call you when it's ready ok?! I gotta help my mom a little more!" With those hasty words, he was out of the room with the door slamming shut behind him. Atem found himself a little conflicted at the fact that his younger brother was showing interest in Terry like that. Of course, he knew it was never any real competition for him but he was more so worried about his little boy heart being hurt.

"Did I say something wrong?" Terry frowned a little at first.

"No, no you did not. More like you said all the right things." Atem laughed. "Me thinks my little brother is growing a little crush on you. Maybe he's the one who kissed you in the library huh?" He teased her, nudging her lightly with an elbow.

"Oh yeah, totally! No way it could be anyone else!" She rolled her eyes and nudged him back. "About that…," she softly trailed off as she shifted her seating on the bed. Pulling her legs out from underneath her she let herself fall on to her side on the bed.

"What about?"

"I think I'm gonna start looking again. I'm finally out of that little funk I was in." She traced the simple pattern on his blanket as she carefully pieced her words together. "I really want to know...who did and why. I just...I guess part of it is that it's my second kiss and well it was done by someone for a reason. I doubt there's someone just kissing girls throughout school… cause there'd been another case by now at the very least." She turned her head to look up at him. "Did you see who it was that day?"

"No, I didn't see who it was." Atem frowned a little as he looked her in the eyes. "However, whoever it was… I got the feeling they'll come out and say it on their own you know? Just give them some time." He moved some of her hair out of her face and gently tucked it behind her ear.

"It wasn't Seto and it wasn't Joey for sure, that just leaves two people...and you said you didn't see who so that really just leaves one person I guess." She mumbled, a slight sinking feeling settling in her gut. Was it really Kyohei? What do I do if it was him? Why did he do it? He's got something up his sleeve...I just know it. She chewed at her lower lip.

"Don't focus on it too much. You're probably overthinking something. You have that look on your face when you're overthinking something and you end up just getting more confused." He flicked between her furrowed brows. "You should keep that foolish grin on you, like I said. It's your best look." He grinned at her as she sat up and rubbed the spot he hit.

"How am I supposed to smile when you do things like that?" She grumbled to herself.

"Easy, just smile because I say so." He scoffed back, Terry raising a brow at his smug response. She was unable to hide the little laugh in response, smiling in the end. "See?"

"Yeah, yeah!" She tried to shove him in response, but he grabbed her hand and pulled it off course with a cocky grin on his lips. He had not calculated what that would lead to, but was not upset with the turn of events as as she was yanked forward and towards him. She pulled her head back a bit to avoid her face crashing into his at the sudden jerking movement, her eyes wide as she stared up at him. A sudden silence fell between them, his hand holding her wrist as his other snaked around her waist to keep her close. The grin on his face slowly fell as a seriousness settled in his eyes as they flickered over her face which was only a few inches away from him, the two of them practically sharing their breath from how close they were. Her cheeks flushed a soft red as he leaned closer, their eyes half-lidded as he moved closer and helped adjusted her seating, her other hand now firmly propped on the bed just next to him.

**Sorry this is so late, I was in a car accident a few weeks back and was in a lot of pain. I'm better now though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for all your support so far.