Yumi lay on her futon, replaying the day's events, over and over. A part of her felt happy, relieved that she had told him. But the other part of her was scared. What if he didn't like her anymore? What if all that he said to her, was a lie? She shook her head, trying to make the thoughts go away so she could sleep.

After Yumi had stopped crying, Ulrich asked if she wanted to go home, she nodded her head. She remembered the strange feeling that went through her when he held her hand and the equally strange, cold feeling when he let go. Inside of her, she was having a battle with her emotions. She knew that he liked her and now that she had told him, he was ready to start a relationship with her, but was she ready? Hearing him say that he liked her made her decide that she did like him back but was she ready to be in a relationship with him? She wished she was; he was perfect. He made her feel comforted and safe when he held her. He let her cry without questions or mocking. He made her smile, the first real smiles she wore for a long time. He was everything she wished for when she was little, a Prince Charming, ready to rescue her from the dragon and ride off into the sunset on his white horse. But she wasn't a little girl anymore, she had her childhood ripped away from her, but still she always hoped that Prince Charming would appear- and now he did.

Burying her head into her pillow, Yumi let out a small scream. Why was it so hard? She liked him and he liked her, what else did she need? Yumi felt her eyes flutter close, all of the crying making them sore and her body tired. Letting out a deep breath, Yumi pulled the covers tighter to her body and prepared to fall asleep.

Ulrich stared at the item in his hands, contemplating his next action. It was now Saturday morning and he was fiddling with his phone in his right hand, not knowing whether to press the call button or not. He didn't even know if she wanted to speak to him, let alone see him.

Sensing Ulrich's hesitation, Aelita reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Ulrich, just call her."

Ulrich turned around her met the eyes of his three friends. He had forgotten that they were going to spend the day hanging out at his place until Clarita came up to his room and told him that they were waiting at the door. They had suggested that Ulrich invite Yumi. He hadn't told them, not even Odd, about what Yumi had confessed to him, he wouldn't until she wanted him to- if she ever wanted him to.

Sighing, Ulrich pressed the green button and left the living room, heading straight into the large kitchen, placing himself on the counter. Twirling a random pen he found lay on the counter next to him, he waited to see if she would answer her phone or not.

It rang four times and Ulrich began to wonder if Yumi didn't know her phone was ringing or was ignoring him.

At the fifth ring, Ulrich was prepared to press the 'end' button.

"Hello?"

Ulrich felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of her voice, but then felt it ache at it. It sounded tired and upset- something he hated hearing from her.

"Hey. It's Ulrich."

"Yeah, I know."

Ulrich frowned, not knowing why she said 'Hello?' but decided that there were important things then why she said one simply word.

"How are you?" How are you? Ulrich could have kicked himself at his words, instead, he resorted to banging his head against the cupboard behind him.

"Fine... I guess."

"Yumi, I was wondering if you wanted to come to mine today. My friends are here and well, they want to meet you."

He heard Yumi take in a sharp breath. The line went quiet, Ulrich felt too nervous to speak.

"Okay."

Ulrich smiled to himself. She actually wanted to meet his friends, at least she wasn't too scared to meet new people anymore.

"Great!" He exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically, causing Yumi to let out a soft laugh. "Um... do you want me to come to your house and bring you here? Or..."

"My dad will drive me."

Ulrich nodded his head, even though he knew that she couldn't see him, "Okay, guess I'll see you soon."

"Yeah. See you soon."

She was the one to hang up first, but that didn't concern Ulrich. He admired her. If he had confessed something like that to someone, he knew he couldn't come to their house the next day and meet their friends.

Less than ten minutes later, Ulrich heard the doorbell ring. Without saying anything to the other three, Ulrich stood up from the couch and went to open the door. Swinging the door open, Ulrich smiled softly at the black haired girl stood in front of him.

Yumi glanced up at him, then returned her gaze to her black boots. Ulrich's smile faltered and took her hand in his. "Yumi?"

Yumi stared at their joined hands, feeling tears build up in her eyes. "Have you told them?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ulrich shook his head, "No, Yumes." His smiled returned as he saw her smile at her nickname. "Come inside, they're really excited to meet you."

Yumi never let go of his hand as he guided her into the living room. She grasped his hand tighter as she saw the three people sat down on the couches.

"Guys, this is Yumi. Yumi, this is Odd, Jeremy and Aelita."

They all greeted her, and Ulrich squeezed her hand gently when she muttered a hello back to them.

Aelita jumped up and practically skipped towards Yumi, embracing her in a hug. Ulrich felt his heart start to race, not certain to how Yumi would react to Aelita's upfront gesture. His body relaxed as he saw Yumi return the hug, gently wrapping her arms around the girl's petite body.

Aelita pulled back and smiled brightly, "It's so nice to finally meet you. You have no idea how much Ulrich has been talking about you."

"Aelita!" Ulrich snapped, a blush rising to both his and Yumi's cheeks.

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes, "What? It's true!"

Ulrich shook his head and glared at Aelita, Yumi laughing at their banter.

"She's right." Odd said from his place on the couch, Jeremy smiling as well, "He doesn't shut up."

Yumi know he was exaggeration, but it was nice to hear that Ulrich thought about her.

"You can shut up too, Odd!" Ulrich replied back, walking towards the two-seater couch and sitting down, gesturing for Yumi to sit down beside him. She slowly walked and took her place by him.

"Come on Ulrich, you can't really deny it." Jeremy added in, causing a shocked look to appear on Ulrich's face, and a giggle from Aelita, who took her place back on the large couch.

"I thought you were on my side, Jer?"

Jeremy shrugged, "I'm just stating a fact - ow!"

Ulrich had picked up a nearby cushion and threw it at Jeremy, his great aim causing it to collide with Jeremy's head. Yumi laughed along with Ulrich, Odd and Aelita. She looked at them all, feeling relaxed and happy that Ulrich's friends were so nice, and even funny. It had been a long time since Yumi had friends like Ulrich did, and was happy that she could be a part of his circle of friends.

Glancing at Ulrich again, she finally came to decision. She knew where she wanted their relationship to head, and hoped that he would happy with her choice.