Title: Accidental Declaration
Details: Set in Canon Universe
Warnings: Angst.

"I love you."

~o~

Her vocalized confession not only shocked him, but her too.

It was an accident, she hadn't meant to let that phrase slip her lips; and the gasps uttered from both of them signified that it was too late for her to brush it off as an "I love you" said merely to friends in a completely platonic way.

"I...I..." Téa trembled staring at the expression of Yami's face. He was known for his poker faces, concealing his true feelings until the very last moment when he truly wanted to let them be known. This time however, Téa had no trouble at all reading his face.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Horror even...

She cringed, her face turning pink quickly, heat rising to her cheeks. She didn't understand...

She wanted to cry.

"Téa..." He murmured, gently grabbing her wrist. She sucked in a breath as he vocalized words. "I'm sorry."

'Sorry for what?'

"You are...You are... the most wonderful..." he was the one stuttering now, and that was so peculiar of him. He continued, "wonderful girl I know...but...I do not... do not feel the same way." His eyes flickered to her as if waiting for a reaction, but for a brief moment Téa did not feel any sadness or grief at all. She felt anger- great, great anger.

She had never seen Yami so vulnerable, so uncomposed...and he was an open book right now. Her heart churned and herother hand fisted into a ball. "You lie." She bellowed.

"I..." Yami opened his mouth to say something else, but the words couldn't quite manage to come out and he stepped back, letting go of her wrist. Immediately, Téa grabbed the wrist of the hand he let go in an iron hold, fixating him to the spot.

"Don't. Lie. To. Me." She widened her eyes and stressed every syllable. She had completely forgot about her inner sadness and now her eyes narrowed. "Don't... lie... to... me." She repeated, her blue eyes piercing into his own amethyst ones threateningly. Her voice softened and then her voice cracked into a whisper. "You owe me that much..." Tears began to pool out of her eyes.

Yami bit his lips. "Téa, please..." The poor girl was crying in front of him and it was all too much. She was the girl he had vowed to protect from the very beginning, before he even was aware of his own existence, before he mended his ways of engaging in dark games...she was crying-and it was his fault. She hung her head down, choking a little.

"Téa...Téa..." Her name was all he managed to croak out. The look in her eyes, when she lifted her head nearly broke him. "I can't...It would... Don't make this anymore harder than it already is..."

"Just say it...Please." She pleaded with him.

He grabbed her in his arms, shaking a little while embracing her, gently passing his hand over the back of her head. "I love you too." He whispered in her ear finally.

Hearing his confession, she sniffed and closed her eyes, letting the tears she tried to keep in drip from her eyelashes.

She didn't need to hear the rest of what he was going to say, she knew what it would entail. She tried to understand, she really did. In all due honesty, she did understand his reasoning, but what she didn't understand was why she would have to go through the pain of heartbreak when the man she loved, loved her back in the fullest extent.

It would never be good enough that he only got to hold her that one time, and that one time before he left this world... or the fact that she only got a brush of the lips from him, never a real kiss.

But every painstaking moment, every stab of the heart, every tear... the hurt, the confusion, the ache, was worth it, because each of them knew that the other felt the same.

It was love worth holding on to.

I've been itching to write for these babies for a while. School and obligations have been keeping me busy, but I couldn't resist. Unfortunately I think my fics and drabbles are bleeding into each other and making them all too similar. I'm going to try to lay off the angst for while unless I can write something radically different.

Thanks for reading and please review!

~Startistica