**Author's Note at end

Time seemed to slow as their hearts pounded against their chests, blood pumping to their faces. His eyes flicker to hers for a brief moment, not expecting to catch her gaze in the process which only made his face heat up more if possible. Swallowing his inhibitions, he leaned a little closer and watched as she closed her eyes. The flush on her cheeks and the obvious nervous and confusing energy making him feel a little lighter about his own erratic emotions. She flinches a little when his nose touches hers, earning a chuckle from him.

"Are you afraid of me?" He whispered, the thought of her scared of him making his chest squeeze with pain.

"N-no, not you!" She quickly answered, her eyes opening a little when he squeezes her hand that he was still holding. "Just...this is all new to me...I don't know what to do. I think something is wrong with me." She frowns.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" His thumb grazed over the back of her hand, the soft gesture calming her nerves a little.

"I don't know...I might have a fever or something? My heart is pounding and I have elevated blood pressure probably. My face is hot, my throat is dry, my palms are a little sweaty, and I'm having a little trouble breathing...I mean my chest feels tight." She listed and Atem tried not to laugh, but it was too cute to not.

"You're such a foolish girl," he mumbled as he gave her hand a squeeze.

"I'm not foolish! What did I say is foolish?" She argued, about to pull away but is held in place as his other hand combs some of her hair back. A small shiver ripples down her spine as his nails rake against her scalp, the warmth of his palm calming her erratic heart at the moment. She had no idea what to do right now and it only made her all the more nervous.

"You're always foolish...you're my foolish girl." He whispered, resting his forehead to hers. "Leave everything to me. Just close your eyes." He coaxed her, lulling her eyes shut with his hushed tone as he banked on her trust in him. He is a bit stunned by how easily she listened, the amount of trust she had in him heartwarming. Just as he was about lean in closer, his door is slammed wide open and they both jump and turn to see a broadly grinning Yugi.

"Food is ready!" He shouted but stopped and stared at the two of them. "Why are your faces all red? Are you sharing secrets without me?! That's not fair!" He huffed, jumping to his own conclusions as he bounded over to the blushing teenagers.

"W-what? N-no, not at all! We're not sharing any secrets!" Terry quickly answered as she tried to pull away but Atem only pulled her closer and gave a playful glare to his brother.

"What if we are? I can't have a secret between me and Terry?"

"What? No fair, Terry is my friend too!" Yugi pouted grabbing Terry's hand. "Tell me too!"

"Yeah, so? You can have secrets with her too. This is a secret between just me and her. You'll understand it when you're older." Atem chuckled, able to feel the heat radiate of Terry's face as Yugi whined a little at the lack of being told but begrudgingly gave in as Atem ruffled his hair. "You'll know it when you're older, promise."

"Well I hope my face won't be as red as your two then! I'm gonna be so adult I won't be red faced at all!" He crossed his arms as he stood his ground, the two only going redder at the mention of how red they are at the moment.

"Y-you said food was ready right?" Terry finally spoke up again, side tracking the conversation easily as Yugi jumped and nodded his head.

"Oh yeah, food is ready! C'mon, let's go!" He grabbed her hand once more and Atem's as well, tugging them to get off the bed.

"Yeah, yeah we're coming! Just give us a moment!" Atem chuckled as he retrieved his hand. "Go let mom know and make sure gramps is there too ok?"

"On it!" Yugi saluted Atem before he ran out of the room and left the two in silence once more.

"He's quite the ball of energy, huh?" Terry cleared her throat, sitting up again and adjusting her skirt to make sure she's properly covered and just to avoid looking at Atem who was also looking around his room with new found interest.

"Y-yeah, always running around and barging in." He cleared his throat, it looking like he was fascinated with the moulding of the windowsill. Fucking terrible timing too! Dammit I was so close! He internally groaned, unable to erase the cute face of hers from moments ago and how close he was to kissing her again and not get hit by her for being a jerk. "We should start to head down though or he'll come running in again."

"Yeah, definitely should start heading down or we won't hear the end of it." Terry snickered as she got on to her feet but found herself nervous for a whole different reason now. I'm gonna have to actuallys it and talk to his mother won't I? I mean I don't plan on ignoring her...but I can't just avoid conversation either...that'd look weird. What if she doesn't like me after talking to me? My own mother didn't even stick around for me. She chewed at her lower lip nervously, repeatedly dusting and fixing her clothing. Atem watched as she slowly lost herself in her own thoughts, it very clear what she was thinking about at the moment.

"Oi, what have I told you? Just keep that stupid grin on your face." He flicked her forehead once again, making her jump from her thoughts at the sudden sting of pain. She scowled at the rude call to attention, rubbing the spot.

"Keep flicking me like that and I'll end up hitting you!" She grumbled to herself.

"Yeah, yeah, you've hit me before already." He placed his hand on her head and mussed with her hair a bit. "Just relax ok? I'm telling you my mom is going to love you. She's not as scary as you're making her out to be, I promise." He whispered, letting her fix her hair. "Plus, I'm here for you remember? You're not just sitting there alone...just treat her like you would your dad just with a 'she' instead a 'he'."

"You're right, you're right." Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves a bit. "I just need to...I don't want to screw up." Cause if she dislikes me because of me then it just means I'm the problem and my mom was right to leave.

"Oi, I told you, smile." He pinched one of her cheeks. "Don't make me make you, you know I will just like you made me that one time. Actually," he smirked as he pinched her other cheek as well and pulled them apart and up. "Ah, revenge can be so sweet!" He laughed as she glared at him but ended up smiling genuinely after a good laugh as she recalled how she had just gone up to him and told him he should smile more one lunch. Fighting to speak, she managed to get him to let go and rubbed her now red from pain cheeks.

"I got it, I got it! Smile, I will!" She mumbled, Atem grinning a little at her agreeing to do so.

"Good, now we can head down. C'mon," he walked head of her as he led her through the house. He pointed out different rooms here and there as they passed, a mini tour of sorts that helped distract her just enough until they reached the table where everything was set and the three of them are just settling into their seats.

**Happy New Year's to everyone. Thank you for you time and support. I hope you have a wonderful new year and continue to enjoy my stories. Please do comment if possible, I'd love to hear what you think so far and you would like to see in a story.