Chapter 5: Are you okay?

"And you're absolutely positive that Terry won't mind?" said Yuri as she fidgeted next to Rock, her hands fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

'I'm a terrible human being, why do I keep dragging people into my mess? What if Terry sends me home? What if he calls Ryo!' so many thoughts were racing through her mind as she stared intently at her companion.

"For the last time yes he won't mind! I'm seriously starting to reconsider this," came the frustrated reply of Rock, as he and Yuri made their way to the apartment.

"I'm just making sure, no need to growl," she said, the reason she asked him continuously was because she couldn't see why anyone would bother to help her with her childish problems. 'I mean seriously, there was no impending doom. No evil baddie trying to take over the world, it was just Yuri and her sad, pathetic love life.'

"Well stop," he scowled at the constant nagging of his 'new friend' whatever seemed to possess him to be nice earlier was starting to wear off. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

'She needs to relax and just let me handle Terry, I know he won't throw her out of the apartment,' He couldn't help but notice how terrified she was to be walking into what seemed to be another enemy's house. 'Terry and Mai are friends but the chances of him actually calling was low if he explained the situation,' He rationalized.

Yuri tried to hide her obvious fear but it didn't go unnoticed. Whether she knew it or not, she had a terrible habit of biting her lip when she was worried. Rock couldn't help but notice these small quirks immediately.

"Sorry, I swear that's the last time honest." Yuri gave one of her best smiles to the kind stranger turned ally.

God knows she would need an ally to help sort out the crap of her so called life. With the wind blowing softly, she took the time to analyze the stranger once more. Red and white jacket that was form fitting, black shirt and black pants. There was also the trade mark glove he was wearing, that without a doubt belonged to none other than Terry. She could only imagine how he would look after a few more years; would he lose his lean muscular figure and gain a figure that was similar to Terry and Ryo?

From where she was standing she could see the muscles that were hiding under his shirt. They were well defined and a six pack seemed to be hiding under his shirt. She felt slightly creepy for actually noticing this.

'Whoa! Where the hell did that come from?' The blood immediately rushed to her cheeks as she admired his muscles.

'BAD YURI! Stop checking him out! I feel so creepy. Great Yuri, repay his kindness by checking him out,' she thought sarcastically.

"Hey are you okay?" came his voice, it broke her internal rant.

She looked at him and noted his worried expression. She nodded head and flashed him another winning smile, so that he wouldn't worry about her again. But with him staring at her, it gave her the chance to take in the sight of his face.

What stood out from Rocks face? Well that's easy, his ruby red eyes which complimented his tan skin and blond hair. His thin lips scowling, while his eye brows were furrowed together for some unknown reason.

With the wind giving him have a windswept look, he really wasn't too bad looking. Rock stopped walking and gave her a pointed stare; he did not speak and only stared at her, she returned the look right back at him.

The distance between them was small and he began to close the distance between them. One small step closer towards her and soon the distance shortened till there was nothing but a few inches left.

Her heart was pounding like no tomorrow and the blood was definitely rushing to her face. Guys who invaded her personal bubble made her nervous in general, maybe she had developed a fear for guy?

And for a moment Yuri felt like she was in auto-pilot. Mesmerized by the person in front of her.

'He's going to kiss me.'

The seconds passed and finally his ungloved hand rested on her forehead. Time started to move again.

"Your temperature seems high, are you cold?" he asked.

Yuri stared and finally nodded at him stunned.

'He was just checking my temperature! I did not just think that he was going to kiss me. What the hell Yuri! First Kyo leaves you blushing and NOW THIS! Get a hold of yourself woman! I think my imagination just went on overdrive!' She rubbed her head in frustration at her overactive imagination.

In the midst of scolding herself, Yuri felt something being placed in her hands and with her senses finally going back to normal, she noticed that it was Rocks jacket. She looked at him confused.

"Why are you giving me your jacket?"

He looked at her amused.

"To wear what else, you're cold so wear it." he said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"What about you though?" she asked still confused about what he was doing.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I made you walk in the cold?" the smartass like answer left her frowning.

"I don't want it," she said trying to defiant.

"Stop being unreasonable and stupid," he countered with an equally unhappy frown.

She glared at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Yuri, stop being childish," came his exasperated reply. His hand once again running through his hair in frustration.

Her eyes widened at the comment as a memory of Robert saying the same thing to her many months ago flashed in her mind. Her arms immediately dropped to her side as she stared intently at the side walk. There was a small crack and in between little patches of grass were grow, maybe in a few months a dandelion would sprout up.

'Why am I like this? I'm so feminist to a fault that I start acting like this, maybe that's why Robert left me. All this mess I've created is because every time something gos wrong, I run away or stomp my foot and throw a fit.' Deciding to just listen for once, she slid the jacket over her shoulders and began to walk ahead of him at a brisk pace.

She didn't want to look at him and instead focused on the street lamps that they were walking under. The orange tint that it was giving the environment made everything seem more lonely and desolate. Graffiti were spray painted onto the walls and dumpsters that they walked by. Stores of course were barred shut and the open signs were turned off for the night. Yuri did her best to keep her face emotionless about the whole ordeal; she didn't want to argue with him over something stupid again. She didn't want to worry him over her thoughts about Robert again, and how she seemed to just argue for the sake of arguing.

'Stupid pride,'

Rock quickly caught up to her pace and gave her a worried look. He noticed how her eyes refused to meet his and they darted to look at anything on the street except for him. She was clutching the jacket close to her because of the strong wind that night, the jacket was too big for her so it practically wrapped around her like a big blanket. Rock had only gotten to known her for a few hours but something told him that something was wrong. Usually there was some sort of smartass reply or arguing coming from her. Yuri not being difficult about what she did was just weird and it worried him.

"Are you okay?" he finally said after debating whether or not to ask.

Yuris eyes immediately narrowed at him and she felt her blood go on fire; she was mad, not at him but at herself.

'Was she that obvious? Here she was trying to do him a favour by shutting up and just going over her thoughts to herself and here he was picking up on her emotions. Why couldn't she do anything right?' She just wanted to scream out in frustration and felt the tears pricking her eyes again; she growled in frustration and bit them back.

"I've only just met you tonight and I swear you've asked me that question multiple times already. I swear the only reason I'm in this situation is because I'm immature, spoiled, selfish, stupid, headstrong and and and..."

Her breathing was erratic as she mulled over everything once more. Both of them had stopped walking and here she was blowing up at the one person who has been one of the most understanding people, she had ever met. She looked at Rock and noticed that he was about to speak but she beat him to the punch.

"Maybe Robert did the right thing, as in leaving me. The cheating part was still uncalled for but everything else about me. Up until now all I've ever done is cry, complain and bitch like a child because everything wasn't going my way. And I don't want to be that girl, not anymore because no one likes her, actually I don't know how anyone puts up with her at all because I certainly hate her. The person who makes life seem so horrible because because because..." Yuris voice began to rise slowly as she rambled. The tears she was fighting finally started to stream down her face.

She tried to wipe all the tears away and put on a strong face because all she'd done today when she was alone was this, cry. Cry like a little baby because nothing was going right for her imaginary perfect world but tears just kept falling down no matter how many times she wiped them off her cheek, more just kept falling down.

"And look here Yuri's crying again. I'm so pitiful and useless all this mess because the person I thought I would marry, the only person I cared for all my life has left me for another woman." She buried her head in her hands, not to cry but to stop the throbbing pain in her head.

She finally looked up again at Rock and her speech became more heated, as she started to walk quickly towards a random direction.

"And you a total stranger, who has been nothing but kind and understanding with me has asked me multiple times 'Are you okay?' because I'm such a mess right now. You ought to leave a cry baby idiot like me right now because I don't deserve this much kindness. It's like I'm a volcanic eruption of emotions one moment I'm nice to you and the next I'm crying, no one deserves to deal with that shit!" she exclaimed.

Her breathing was rapid, her vision blurred; everything around her was getting difficult to see due to the tears she now refused to wipe away. The graffiti looked like a colourful blob to her for Christ's sake! and she still had no idea where in the world she was walking too.

"Here we go again, Yuri making another mess." she mutters to herself as her fingers curled up into a tight fist.

All the while Rock listened to the ranting girl. A thoughtful expression on his face, as she broke down.

Yuri being unaware of his emotions and thoughts, took this silence as his agreement to her words.

'God, just walk away Yuri and fix everything already. Stop making a mess with every single person you run into.' Her head felt hot from all the tear but nothing was going to stop this woman from fixing this. She was going to free him from any obligations to her, she would march back to Mai and make everything better. Make peace with the people she ran away from and just deal with it like an adult without the help of anyone.

"Thank you for everything Rock but I refuse to drag you into my stupid mess, I'm going to make everything right again." she said quickly and tried to walk away.

She only managed to take a few steps until his hand grabbed her wrist.

"Stop being stupid," said Rock in that smartass tone again.

Something snapped in her head again and the tears were not helping at all. She scowled at his contempt, at the way he was acting superior. With one fluid motion she whipped around and her fist went flying at him.

Rock easily caught her fist with his free hand.

'Oh course he would catch my punch' she thought grimly, she tried to wrench her wrist away from his tight grip but he held on tight.

"Can't you see I'm trying, trying, trying not to be stupid" she growled in frustration, finally deciding to give up trying to free her wrist from him.

The punch had no force to it and Rock had finally let go allowing her hand to fall to her side.

Rock who had done nothing but listen to her noticed her rant had finally come to an end. Taking this opportunity to do something, he drew the angry, confused girl into an embrace. Which many would say was out of character for him.

"Have you cried since you and Robert broke up?" he asked.

The small girl shook her head, not trusting her voice at that moment. All that emotion was really stunting her speech.

"It's okay to cry and if he really was everything to you then no one will think less of you for shedding tears for him," He said finally.

He looked down to see the small girl in his arm bury her face into his shirt. Her whole being shaking and uncontrollable sobs escaped her mouth. He tightened his embrace around her and for once in a long time Yuri let all her tears fall.

Yuri in turn let her arms slip around him as she cried.

'When was the last time she let herself cry fully over this? King and Mai had tried to give her this moment but she simply brushed off the offer and insisted that Robert was not worth the tears but in reality he was everything to her. Tough on the outside but soft on the inside, that was what she wanted people to see.'

The sobbing came to a slow stop and they stood there in an embrace.

"I'm sorry," her soft voice breaking the silence.

Finally she pulled away from him. She couldn't look at him for too long because of the tantrum that she had just displayed.

"Stop apologizing," he said firmly, pointing to a build, he nodded his head at that direction. They both started walking together; this time in a comfortable silence between them.

"Explain to me why you're so nice to me again?" she asked laughing out loud at the predicament.

'Who would have thought Rock Howard was such a softy?' she snickered quietly.

"I don't like it when girls cry;" he said a small smile on his lips now.

The pair had finally arrived at the building, it was worn looking and looked like it was falling apart but they ignored it and walked in. They walked straight into the building and started to make their way up a dirty looking stairwell. After walking up a few flights of stairs, they entered a wooden door and started making their way down the hallway. Rock finally stopped at a door, the now silent blonde pulled out a key and unlocked the door.

Click! he pushed the door open and they entered the tiny apartment.

"Rock, where the hell have you..." came the angry voice of Terry as he paused in the middle of the sentence to realize he brought someone with him.

To his surprise it was Yuri Sakazaki of all people, after that escape trick she pulled today he thought he wouldn't see this girl in a long time. But here she was and looking at her face he knew that something was not right.

"Yuri, are you okay?" Terry inched closer to the phone so that he could call Mai.

She laughed tiredly at the question and surprisingly Rock joined in as well.

"Yeah, I am now." she said smiling. Exhaustion was slowly taking over her body that she allowed herself to lean on Rock for support.

Rock realizing how tired she was, placed his hand on her lower back led her to the couch. Sitting down she felt her muscles relax; drawing her legs up to her chest, she stared at the television.

Rock and Terry had entered into the kitchen to talk, she would trust Rock to handle the situation as promised.

Yuri was too tired to even try and focus on the conversation that was happening in the kitchen. Their voices turned into a faint buzzing and her focus on the tv began to fade as she found herself fighting off sleep.

"Hey," her attention immediately shifted to the owner of the voice.

"Hi," she said, standing up from her comfortable position.

"Lets get you something to wear to sleep," Rock motioned for her to follow him. Following him into another room with a bed, Rock began to rummage through the closet till finally he seemed to find what he was looking for.

"Here," Handing to her a large black shirt and grey track pants, she nodded her head at him.

"The washroom is over there and you can have my room for the night," he said before heading back into the living room.

Like a zombie she made her way into the washroom, she began to change, taking this chance to look in the mirror.

The person on the other side of the mirror look terrible, puffy eyes, tired looking, hair was in disarray. No wonder people kept asking if everything was alright. Splashing some water on her face did not felt with the puffiness, she sighed in defeat at her appearance and settled with taming her hair. Undoing the scrunchy that kept her hair in a braid, her long brown hair came undone.

Taking a brush that was on the counter, she set herself to undoing the annoying tangles. Humming softly to a tune that her mother used to sing when she was younger.

Moments later she emerged from the washroom holding her clothing from earlier in the day. Walking back into the bedroom she placed them by the bed and decided that it was only polite to say good night to both Rock and Terry.

She found them on the couch watching tv, she stood there awkwardly biting her lip in a nervous manner for a few seconds before Rocks and eventually Terrys eyes finally shifted to her.

"Hey guys, I'm just going to heading to bed now. Thank you again for letting me stay the night." she bowed respectfully to them.

"No problem Yuri," came the understanding voice of Terry. He smiled softly at the tired girl; she would have to remember to cook something in morning for them.

She smiled at both of them before turning around and heading back into the room. She was sprawled on the bed reflecting on the events of the day when there came a knock on the door to break her train of thought.

In entered her knight and he smiled sheepishly at her.

"I need clothing," he explained.

She smiled and nodded her head. Grabbing what he needed, he started to make his way out the room, what stopped him was the expression on Yuris face. Deciding against leaving immediately, he settled for sitting on the bed.

She glanced at his sitting form and realized that he knew that she was thinking about the day, did she make a specific thinking face or what? She would have to remember to also ask King about that when she saw her again.

"And here I thought you would be sick of me after today," she grins at him, knowing she found a good friend today.

"Extremely," he smirks.

"Just thinking about how I'm going to fix the mess," she groans quietly as she covers her face in frustration once more.

"I'll help you; don't worry about it." he said waving his hand in a dismissive manner as if it were no big deal.

"No Rock, don't, after everything you've done for..." she argued, suddenly laying up from her confortable position.

"Stop right there, why can't you accept the help anyways?" He also mutters for her to relax and stop giving him that look.

'Do I honestly have a look!' she thought comically.

"Because I made this mess, so naturally I have to deal with it." Throwing her hands up in the air in an exasperated manner.

"Stop trying to do everything on your own and let me help. Besides you let Mai help why not me?" Rock was rubbing his temple by now. 'Why did she have to be so damn difficult sometimes? No scratch that all the time.'

"I suppose and for the record, I was forced into that by the way." finally giving into his logic.

'Damn was this guy pushy.'

"Tomorrow we'll talk to Mai first then after that's all cleared up we'll talk to your brother. He must be worried about you." He reassured.

'Oh my god, I am the worst sister in the world. I just up and left my home all because of one stupid guy. Ryo must be worried about me; I mean, I practically ran away from home! Damnit why is Rock right about me not thinking things through?' Biting her lip at the mention of her brother she began to worry about him.

'Has he been eating properly? whose doing the chores?' So many questions were going through her mind. Her eye brows furrowed together as she imagined her brother half starved, wearing a dirty uniform. The image was horrifying and it made her sick in the stomach.

Standing up from the bed, Rock walked over to her side and ruffled her hair in an affectionate manner.

"Stop thinking about it and stop worrying about everything. Just go to sleep already, you had a long day."

She nodded her head and watched him exit the room silently.

The door closes and as Yuri finally allows herself to lie down on the bed. Today had really been one long day. Tomorrow she would have to deal with psycho Mai, unhelpful king and Ryo. Falling asleep was easy but she couldn't help but think of tomorrow.

I'm going to fix it, no more running away, no more being immature.

A note from the bipolar authoress:

I had this typed up for a bit and hid it away because I hated it so much. Blah! there are some problems with it but oh well here it is. Yeah I know, everyone probably thought I was dead or something along that lines. Or that this story was abandoned but it's not, I'm just a bit susceptible to getting tired of my work but I came back didn't I? Schools almost finished and I actually have an idea of where this story is going. So anyone still reading just keep that in mind.

There are probably some grammatical errors but I just wanted to get this out, when I saw it one of my folders. I would like to hope I improved maybe even just a little! ^^; if anyone has any ideas for the story feel free to share with me as a review or as pm what ever you want. I might have to look for a beta-reader? I've never had one before anyone willing to guide out a noobs like me?

As for the story itself, I know some people are probably crying out what is this crap with Rock! honestly in my head I can see them being friends, although it's a bit ooc but hey this is fanfiction world so oh well. No worries people there are going to be more appearances! Apart of me is stoked to write about Joe, man is that guy jokes. Did you see what I did with the title guys! Har har little Terry reference, I hear it all in Engrish lols. Man love Kof. But yeah, I tried to give you guys a nice long chapter but it seems like 3,000 was my limit for a scene.

Anyways thanks for all you guys who bother to read this!

With all my love,

Amelia Bennet