A/N: This one is a doozy! I have so much trouble writing conflict because I, myself, avoid it at all costs. So this was tricky. I'm really happy with the way it came out though. Enjoy the angst!

"I just don't understand why you can't tell me what you and your friends are always up to!" Sissi shouted, folding her arms across her chest.

Odd ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "We've talked about this before," He said, "I just can't tell you what we're doing."

While the first few weeks of their relationship had been mostly smooth sailing, they always hit a snag when Odd had to leave to go to Lyoko. Telling her that he was a hero and saving the day in a virtual reality sounded crazy, even to him, and he was the one living it.

"I just feel like you're avoiding me!" Sissi said, fear creeping into her voice. "Why else would you want to run away so badly?"

Odd shook his head. Sissi continuously convinced herself of the idea that the reason he left with his friends was because she wasn't wanted by Odd. Which was incredibly inaccurate. Out of all the girls he had dated, there wasn't a single one he wanted more than Sissi.

Every time he had to sneak out of class or end their hang-out early to run to Lyoko, Sissi had something to say about it. While it had been difficult sometimes, sneaking by the watchful eyes of the principal's daughter, before their dating, it was almost impossible to catch her off guard when he was her boyfriend.

Sissi was too observant and it was starting to get on his nerves.

"Sissi, there's nothing to avoid. Believe me, I'd rather be here with you than going to- than going with my friends."

Sissi nodded. "Then go ahead. Stay."

Odd wanted to pull out his hair. Sissi wasn't only observant but obnoxiously stubborn as well.

They were standing outside, near the edge of the park and Odd could practically see the covered entrance to the sewers from where he was standing. He was anxious to get around her and make it to the factory.

"I can't!" He said, looking behind her towards the park. "Seriously, bella, if I don't leave soon. I'm gonna get an earful from Jeremie."

Sissi shook her head. "I don't ever run off with no explanation to sneak around the campus."

It was true that they did go to the factory a lot but Sissi loved to go shopping with her friends every weekend. Odd pointed a finger at her.

"You run away with your friends to shop all the time, going to who knows where in town, and you don't hear me complaining about it."

"YES." Sissi burst with frustration. "On a predetermined date. When I set aside time to spend with you I don't randomly decide to run off with my friends."

"This is different. It's something important between me and my friends, not that you'd understand anything about that." He said, muttering the last of his words under his breath.

Admittedly, he shouldn't have said that but Sissi was getting on her nerves and he was running out of excuses to get away from her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sissi said, clenching her fists beside her.

"Nothing," Odd said, waving his hand. "It's just the only people you hang around are your slaves or girls who are just dying to know how the Princess of Kadic is so perfect all the time."

Sissi shook her head. "I do not think I'm perfect all the time. And you're getting off topic!"

Odd had purposely tried to get off topic. Anything that could get her to let him leave. But nothing he did seemed to please her questioning. Odd sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Ulrich was right, you're so nosy."

Sissi flushed in embarrassment. It was a low blow but Odd frankly didn't have time to care. She was quickly starting to piss him off.

"Look," Odd said, feeling a little more than exasperated. "What is it going to take for you to trust me?"

"Psh, trust you?" She said, her face flaming. "I find that a hard concept to follow."

Odd scoffed, remembering her words to him when she had been talking about her mysterious online fling.

"As if." He said, "What happened to the trust you had for me before, hm?"

"When have I ever said that I've trusted you?"

"Before we started dating, you told me you trusted your online boyfriend even though he wasn't showing up to meet you."

Sissi floundered for a response and Odd smiled grimly, feeling like he had won the small battle.

"That-" Sissi said, catching on her words. "I didn't even know that was you at the time."

Odd nodded. "But I was still the one you were trusting."

"That's because I didn't know any better!" She shouted.

Odd put his hands up and moved to walk past her. "Whatever, I need to leave Sissi."

"Absolutely not, Odd." Sissi said, putting her arms up to block his way. Although they were in a fairly open space, she was much larger than he was and her gesture still got the point across.

Sissi crossed her arms. "If I didn't know you and your friends better, I'd say you were sneaking out to see some girl."

Odd blinked. It was a fair assumption that Sissi still felt sour about his relationships in the past but he had tried to prove how serious he was about her. He didn't blame her for being cautious but she was bringing her fears up in the worst possible time.

Odd vaguely wished that the Lyoko fight he was heading towards would result in a return trip to the past, just so Sissi would forget ever having this argument in the first place.

"You're so infuriating." Odd said with a shake of his head. "I know I've been a jerk in the past and I know I've had multiple girlfriends before but Sissi, you're different. This-" He said, gesturing between them, "is different. Despite your persistence and your annoying headache-inducing shouting," He saw her glare at him before he continued. "There's nobody else I'd rather think about than you. I've never felt this way about anyone before. God, Sissi. I think I might actually-"

Odd caught himself, choking on his last word. His eyes widened and he swallowed around the lump in his throat. His feelings were so incredibly deep for the girl in front of him and now, of all times, he realized just how much she meant to him. Odd Della Robbia was in love with Sissi Delmas and the only thing he seemed to be able to do was make her hate him more than she ever had.

Odd's skin felt warm and prickly so he straightened his shoulders and focused on breathing.

His girlfriend had dropped the hurt look on her face and replaced it with one of cautious shock, or perhaps fear, unsure if she had heard him correctly or interpreted his unspoken words for what they really were.

Odd cleared his throat.

"Never mind," He said instead of the word vomit from his heart he had almost spilled all over her.

Pushing past Sissi, he heard her speak up, her voice cracking.

"What?" She said angrily, unable to give up her defiant stance.

Odd simply shook his head, not daring to turn around. "You know, sometimes you just-" He put his hands up in front of him. "You make me want to strangle you sometimes, you know that?"

Sissi huffed, releasing a little tension from before.

"Like I said. If I didn't know any better." Odd wasn't looking at her but he could just hear the glare in her expression through her words. "What ARE you and your friends even up to?"

For a small moment, he genuinely thought about telling her the truth. It would be easier for the situation he was in and he was almost certain that she'd believe him, especially if he took her with him to the factory. However, when it came to the long run, Odd knew that things could end quite badly if he let her know about Lyoko and Xana. Not to mention how his friends would react.

Odd sighed loudly in defeat, hanging his head.

"You know I can't tell you, Sissi."

Before Sissi could respond, Odd's phone went off in his pocket. Quickly pulling it out, he answered the call he knew would be Jeremie wondering where he was.

"Yeah." He said, turning to look at his girlfriend cautiously. She was silent but had a large frown on her face. "I'm on the way, just dealing with an annoying pest problem."

Sissi narrowed her eyes and turned, giving him the cold shoulder and not dignifying him with a retort.

"I'm on it, Jeremie. I'll be there soon."

Hanging up his phone, Odd opened his mouth to apologize but Sissi just shook her head.

"Just go." She said, her voice broken.

Odd's heart clenched at the sound. He wasn't leaving her on purpose and he didn't know what to do to convince her of that.

"Bella-" Odd said a little hopelessly, reaching for her.

Sissi only turned further away from him, her shoulder out of reach of his outstretched hand.

As he turned to leave, he noticed that Sissi was shaking, as if she was crying and he hoped to god she wasn't. All the way to the factory, all he could see was the shaking of her shoulders and what he imagined her crying face looked like if she had turned around.

Odd was visibly upset during their battle, continuously failing to hit any monsters. It was so bad that the others even noticed, asking him about it. Odd just shook his head, telling them he was fine and inwardly cursed himself for letting his emotions muddle his mind enough to mess up on Lyoko.

It had turned out that nothing significant happened to their world, so Jeremie saw no reason to return to the past.

Odd dragged himself into his shared dorm room and threw himself onto the bed with a flop, letting out a long pitiful sounding groan. Kiwi jumped beside him on the bed, licking him on the face.

"Hey buddy." he said softly.

Odd's roommate had walked in behind him and was silent as he changed into his sleepwear. When he finished, he moved to sit on his own bed.

"What the hell was wrong with you today?" Ulrich said with a frown. "We had to carry you the whole time."

Odd spoke into his pillow. "Nothing, I'm just not feeling good. That's all."

Not buying his sad excuse, Ulrich spoke again. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your girlfriend, would it?"

The way his friend had said 'girlfriend' had been so dismissive and condescending it made Odd bristle defensively. He sat up in his bed, putting a hand on his dog, who had now turned over to show his soft belly.

"And what if it is?"

"I told you getting involved with her was a bad idea." Ulrich said, leaning back on his palms.

"Sissi and I are just having a little fight." Odd said, not liking the fear that crept into his voice as he tried to convince himself more than his friend. "Couples fight."

Ulrich nodded. "But couples usually don't have someone who has an important job to focus on, like saving the world."

"Oh don't be so dramatic. I wasn't that bad today." Odd said, laying flat on the sheets and putting his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, you were. What is it she's even upset about, huh? Did you forget to message her good morning?"

Odd shook his head.

"No, I didn't." He said, missing the sarcastic tone in his friend's voice. "She just- she just wants to know what I'm doing when I get called off to Lyoko."

Ulrich almost looked scared, his eyes widening slightly.

"You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Of course not." He said, shaking his head. "That's why she's mad."

He was a little insulted when Ulrich sighed slightly as if he thought Odd would actually betray his friends and tell her about their secret.

"You know," Ulrich said cautiously, laying down on his bed. "I wouldn't be surprised if all she wanted was to find out about us. I mean her going after me is one thing but she's always been nosy when it comes to our friend group."

Odd felt himself grow cold at the idea. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about that before. Perhaps it had been her plan all along to infiltrate their group and find out about Xana, going to tattle on them to her father.

Before Odd's mind spiraled further, and before his breath became too shallow, he reminded himself that they had been dating long before she even knew who he was, therefore knowing who his friends were.

"Yeah, I mean," he said, trying to calm his beating heart and rationalize the strange relationship he had with his girlfriend. "I think she just wants decent friends."

Ulrich laughed like Odd had made a joke.

"True, I don't think she's actually got any real friends other than Hervé and Nicolas. And they're more like lost little puppies."

Odd would have laughed at the expense of the two nerds who always followed his girlfriend around if not for the fact that Ulrich seemed to think it was funny to joke about Sissi's loneliness. There had been a time Odd would find any excuse to torment the girl he now called his partner, but now the thought left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Lay off, will you." He said.

Ulrich turned his head and looked at him with a frown.

"Oh, are you the only one who's allowed to make fun of your girlfriend?" he said.

"No, just-"

The thought that Sissi was just lonely made Odd's chest ache. When it came to sticking her nose in their business, maybe all she wanted was to be a part of something more. Odd could understand that.

If this were the case, the best thing to do would be to invite her to hang out with them, maybe join them in the cafeteria. Now that he thought about it, she seemed to always gravitate towards him and his friends, even if Ulrich wasn't around.

"Maybe," he said slowly, as nonchalantly as he could, "we should invite her to breakfast tomorrow?"

Ulrich sat up in his bed. "Are you nuts?"

"What?" Odd said defensively, his shoulders coming up to his ears.

"Sissi is already mad at you, what makes you think she'll want to join us tomorrow?"

"She might." He rationalized. "You never know it's not- it's not completely over, is it?"

Odd had asked himself more than his friend because there was no denying the absolute heartache at the idea that the argument they had earlier could mean the end of their relationship.

Odd swallowed the lump in his throat and looked over at his friend when he heard him talking again.

"You can't fuck around, not with Sissi." Ulrich said, holding his hand over his palm in a chopping motion. "She's beyond nosey and is bound to find out about Lyoko eventually if you keep this up."

Odd's head snapped up. "Keep this up? You mean this once-in-a-lifetime chance at finding a meaningful relationship?"

Ulrich scoffed. "Give me a break. This is Sissi, we're talking about. And since when have any of your relationships been serious?"

Suddenly Odd realized his friend didn't think anything he had said about Sissi was significant. Ulrich most likely thought it was just a one-off fling, like most of his relationships were and, honestly, it was completely understandable since Odd had never been this crazy about a girl before.

"There's a first for everything." He said sitting up slowly.

Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"You know this could be a trick." He said cautiously. "She could be using you to try and make me jealous."

"Are you?" Odd choked out. The words of his friend scratched at a fear that had been in the back of his mind since he had found out who he had been dating in the first place.

Sissi had always been incredibly vocal about her admiration for his best friend and even though Odd knew there was no way Ulrich had any sort of feelings for his girlfriend, the fear still remained.

"Of course not! I don't even know what you see in her."

"Well everything isn't always about you, Ulrich. I like Sissi and I'm not afraid to admit when I'm in love with someone." Looking down he then mumbled, "Unlike some people I know."

Ulrich crossed his arms "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing nothing." Odd said, putting his hands up defensively with a frown.

"Wait-" Ulrich said, only just processing the words his friend had said to him. "Did you say- Odd, you can't be serious?"

"What are you talking about?" Odd said, looking a little confused.

"There's no way, it's been a few weeks and now you love her?"

There was a warm flush that rushed across Odd's face and chest. He hadn't meant to tell Ulrich just HOW serious he was about Sissi. He hadn't even had time to process it himself. The admission that he was in love with her was just so natural, he said it as easily as he almost had to his girlfriend earlier.

The heat in his chest spread across his body.

Odd was silent as he simply looked down at his hands.

"God, you're serious." Ulrich said, a little stunned. "Man, this isn't good."

"Why not?" Odd said suddenly, the flush still evident on his face as he looked up at his best friend. "Is it so hard to believe I could fall in love?"

Without even missing a beat Ulrich laughed lightly, sounding more panicked and less mirthful than anything.

"Honestly? Yeah, it kind of is."

Odd frowned but didn't say anything.

"Odd," Ulrich said after a moment, "this is dangerous."

"What?"

"You may, by some miracle, love her but that doesn't mean she loves you back."

The warmth in Odd's chest turned sharp and he flushed at his friend's words in both anger and embarrassment.

"You don't think she can like me?" he said coldly.

"We all know that she's been in love with me for so long." Ulrich tried to rationalize. "Now she suddenly likes you?"

"It's not sudden." Odd said, putting a hand on his chest. "And you're not giving my charm enough credit here. No girl can resist The Della Robbia effect."

"I'm serious, Odd. This is weird. I don't trust it. I don't trust her. She can more easily hurt you this way."

"Well, I AM serious." Odd practically shouted. "And I DO trust her."

The fact that Odd trusted Sissi so deeply with his feelings and the fact that he knew she would never do something like that to him really proved how in love he was with his girlfriend.

Sissi could be manipulative at times when she wanted something and while she was a decent actress, not even the best actress in the world could fake the looks she gave him. Or the absolute fireworks that sparked between them when their hands touched. It hadn't been fake when they were both unaware of the identity of their online partner and it certainly wasn't fake now.

Whether Odd knew he was doing it or not, he convinced himself it wasn't just a fling. It was love. On both sides.

"Fuck you." He spat, gripping the sheets beneath him. "She can like me. It's possible. Just how it's possible that someone like me could fall in love with her."

Odd heard himself saying the words as if having an out-of-body experience, only just realizing that he had admitted his love for Sissi out loud for the first time, even to himself.

"ME! In love!" He laughed a little too wide-eyed and too vulnerable. It felt nice admitting it to his friend. "Have you ever known me to do something like this? Have you heard me talk about any other girls lately? It's weird, it's new, I know, but it's not impossible. It's different with Sissi."

Odd almost choked on his words. His girlfriend knew just how to infuriate him like no one else, she could be overdramatic and nosey to no end but even with all of her faults and complexities, Odd was in love with Sissi Delmas.

"I like her." he said more to himself than his friend. "I love her!" He reiterated again, a smile creeping onto his lips.

Odd was scared. Absolutely terrified. He knew the things Ulrich had said to him made a lot of sense but he truly trusted her and trusted the relationship they had built with each other.

Ulrich looked a little awkward, not used to seeing Odd so passionate about something so serious. He fiddled with his hands for a moment before speaking up, wanting to help his friend in anyway he could.

"I mean-" He said slowly, "I kind of know what you mean. You love her so you trust her and you'd do anything for her. She's the one person that matters to you."

Odd quirked a smile. Ulrich was his best friend and while he was loyal to no end, he wasn't the best at expressing emotions. In fact, he was quite shit at it but Odd could see how much he wanted to understand and connect with what Odd was going through.

Odd leaned back on the palms of his hands. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you actually say you love Yumi."

Ulrich sat up straight, pointing a finger at him. "Don't breathe a word of this to anyone, you hear?"

"Yeah yeah!" Odd smiled, putting his hands up defensively. "You ever tell any of that to Yumi?"

"We're talking about you, here, not me." Ulrich said, picking up his pillow and throwing it at Odd.

Odd deflected it and it landed next to Kiwi, who looked up, momentarily disturbed from his sleep.

It was like all the tension from before, the hostile feelings about Odd's new relationship melted away. Even though he hadn't meant to admit his feelings about Sissi, he was glad he did.

Sissi was incredibly important to him and now that his best friend knew how much, Odd felt a little giddy.

"Have you ever known me to flip over a girl?" He said, tossing the pillow back to his roommate. "Like really flip over her. Fully upside down, head over heels, going off the deep end, getting lost in the digital sea-"

"I get it! I get it!" Ulrich said laughing.

Odd looked at Ulrich expectantly.

"I guess you've finally lost it." Ulrich said.

Odd bristled a bit, his back straightening. "Dude, it's not that far of a stretch to believe I like her."

When he had left Sissi, she had been so defeated. Again, that creeping fear that he might have ended their relationship before he even had a chance to tell her how much she meant to him returned and he swallowed hard.

"You don't think-" He started, cursing the way his voice wavered. "You don't think it's over, do you?"

Ulrich thought for a moment, a hand on his knee.

"No." He said honestly. "I don't. It's not over just because she's mad at you. You have to work through things like that."

Odd nodded, taking in the information. Ulrich may not have had as many girlfriends as Odd, but he knew how to keep the one that was important to him.

"If it is over, then it wasn't a very strong relationship in the first place."

Laying down across the sheets, Odd put his hands behind his head and Ulrich did the same on his respective side of the room.

Odd needed to apologize to Sissi. Even though he couldn't give her what she wanted, he would do anything to see her smile again. Looking out the window, he saw the moon shining brightly in the sky, not a cloud in sight.

Odd began to smile. He knew exactly how he was going to do it.

All Odd had to do was wait for lights out to be issued, and he would sneak out to Sissi's dorm room.

Odd turned his head to look at his roommate, his best friend who, despite his distaste for Odd's romantic partner, managed to connect with him about their shared love for each of their girls.

"Thanks." Odd said softly.

Ulrich smiled, his eyes closed. "Don't mention it."