Author's Note: And here's Part 2! Part 3 will be posted next Friday.

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Two: Julie

With Bakugan Interspace up and running, Julie was seeing more of her three favourite guys. Sure, Shun and Marucho lived in other parts of the world, but they both visited her as often as they could. Like today, for instance. Julie had shown up at work around noon to find Shun sitting at one of her tables. He was fiddling with one of the loose strings on his purple shirt.

He smiled when he saw her, a quiet thing that made her grin back at him with all the force of the sun. A Shun smile was a rare thing, and she always felt rather privileged to receive them.

"Hey Shun, what can I do for you?" asked Julie, bouncing on her heels toward him. He watched her with that distant and thoughtful look of his. One that made him seem far older than his sixteen years.

"Just… wanted the company," said Shun simply.

Julie raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "Ya know, I know I'm not a genius, but that seems totally unlikely."

"Why do you say that?" asked Shun.

"Other than the fact that you live halfway across the world?" asked Julie.

Shun sighed, so quiet that Julie barely heard him. "I'm visiting Dan," he said.

Julie dropped down into the chair across from Shun and grinned. "See, that I believe." She looked around. "So where is Dan, anyway?"

"Around," said Shun, waving one hand vaguely.

Julie looked at him. She raised her eyebrows and made the same non-committal wiggly hand gesture he did. "Around?"

Shun grimaced, obviously realizing she wasn't going to leave him alone. "He's in Interspace," he said. "With Jake and Marucho and-" Another grimace. "Ren."

Julie frowned. "You really don't like Ren, do you?"

Shun opened and closed his mouth several times. Julie watched him try and find the words. Watched him try and phrase things in his usual elegant and non-confrontational way. Then,

"No. I don't."

Julie's eyebrows shot up again. She could feel herself getting a face work out from the surprises Shun kept throwing at her.

"Wow."

"What?" asked Shun.

"I just… didn't think you'd be so, like, blunt," said Julie. She twirled a strand of hair around her ear and pursed her lips at him. "How come you don't like him?"

Shun shrugged. It was the furthest thing from casual, but she let it slide. Shun always started closing up when she asked too many questions. She didn't want to upset him before she figured out what had already upset him.

Julie tried changing tactics. "So… you sure you don't want anything to eat? Or drink? You always liked the smoothies here." Shun's gaze flicked from the table back up to Julie at the mention of smoothies. She fought the urge to grin. When her mom said the fastest way to a guy's heart was through his stomach, she didn't think her mom was talking about this.

Julie hopped up, gave a quick salute and a "be right back" and headed for the kitchen. She called out for the chef, that day a woman named Mel, to make a strawberry and raspberry smoothie. It appeared on the counter shortly after and she headed back to Shun.

"Ta-da!" she said, setting it down with a flourish. Shun stirred the drink with his straw, seemingly absent-mindedly. But nothing he ever did was absent-minded, so Julie sat down across from his again and waited. She could be patient when she had to be.

"Do you ever get the feeling that people are lying to you?" asked Shun.

Julie frowned. "Yeah, sometimes." She thought about Billy. About the girl on the phone that hadn't been a friend and how he'd called her a friend instead. She thought about the break-up. The anger. The screaming. She shook it off. "It sucks."

"It does," agreed Shun. He sighed. "Ren is hiding something. I don't know what it is, but I don't like the feeling. He's not what he seems."

Julie bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from responding.

"What?" asked Shun, obviously picking up on it.

"It's just…" she trailed off, hesitating. Then, taking a deep breath, she plowed ahead. "It's just that you hide things too. You aren't nearly as stoic or as mean as people think. I know you're keeping secrets. I see it in the way you talk." She bit her lip. "So like, you can't really talk."

Shun blinked. "Julie. There is exactly one thing about myself I keep secret."

"Really?" asked Julie. Her eyebrows shot up again. "Just the one thing?"

Shun nodded. He picked up his smoothie and sipped it. "I might not disclose everything about myself at all times, but when asked a direct question I will answer it truthfully." He glanced at her through his bangs. "Omission is not a lie if you're private to begin with." He shrugged. "And besides, people believe what they want to believe, who am I to stop them?"

Julie sighed and slumped forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Yeah, that's true." She bit her lip. "So what do you hide, anyway?"

Shun gave her a flat look.

Julie pouted. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

Shun smirked, his eyes lighting up in exasperated amusement. "I suppose not," he agreed.

Julie thought about it long and hard, studying Shun for several minutes to try and figure out what it was Shun kept from them. She knew his grandfather and mother were gone, that Shun was alone in terms of blood. That Shun had a couple good friends, but kept to himself otherwise.

Then, something dawned on her. "Why don't you have a girlfriend?" asked Julie.

Shun sipped his smoothie. "Because I'm gay?"

Julie blinked. "Oh." Then, "Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

Shun gave her a flat look.

"Oh my god you like someone," said Julie with a wide grin. "That's what you're hiding, isn't it?"

Shun rolled his eyes and said nothing. But Julie knew he didn't like lying, which made it even more likely she was right.

"Let's see," said Julie. She leaned back in her chair and tapped one finger against her lips. "You only have a few friends, so it has to be one of them. Which makes, like, total sense, because that's probably why you're hiding it."

She thought about it. And thought about it.

"Jake?" she guessed. Shun rolled his eyes again. "Ren?" Shun made a face.

Julie frowned and tried to think about it logically. About people Shun dedicated his life to. People Shun cared about beyond his surface apathy. And then, it dawned on her.

"It's Dan," she said, eyes wide and voice full of wonder. "You're in love with Dan."

Shun tensed. The milkshake glass cracked from the force he held it with. He stared at Julie with wide eyes and parted lips and pale skin.

"I'm right," said Julie, grinning. "Woo-hoo!"

Shun lunged across the table and slapped a hand over her mouth. His milkshake toppled and hit the ground. It shattered in an explosion of glass and foam.

"You can't tell anyone," hissed Shun. Julie blinked. Why was this so bad? But she noticed he was shaking. Noticed his eyes were wide and wild. Noticed the flush on his pale skin.

"Please," said Shun, and it sounded more like begging than anything else.

Slowly, Julie nodded, and Shun removed his hand. He looked down at the milkshake as he returned to his seat. Grimaced at the mess. The café was empty on this side, so it hadn't drawn attention. But still, he seemed embarrassed.

"I'll get the mop," said Julie, quietly.

"Julie," said Shun, and she'd never heard him sound so small. "I mean it. He can't know."

And she didn't know why. Because they'd be great together. But she knew what it was like to have people make decisions for you, and for those decisions to scare you. Knew what it was like for people to hold your heart – your fate – in their hands and let it crash into the floor.

So she nodded, and she smiled. And she said, "Of course Shun. I promise."

He relaxed, offered her a tiny Shun-patented smile, and Julie hoped someday he'd get the courage to tell Dan himself.