UGH, I thought, lying on my bed in the dead of frickin' night. What do I do . . . ?

Okay. We need some back-story. Lately, my best-friend status with Junpei is making me second guess myself. What started out as a simple (not so innocent) friendship is turning into a (still not so innocent) . . . something else.

Like, it was never completely "just friendship" to start with. There were always a few touches out of playful spite . . . and stuff like that. Neither of us thought anything of it. It was just the way we were, y'know?

But lately . . . I've been feeling more than I should. It's like . . . (out of no other way to explain it at the moment) I like him now. A lot.

So now I'm lying in bed, wondering what the hell I should do about it. It's like one-thirty in the morning; thank God tomorrow (err, today) is Sunday.

PLUS I have all these other people after my ass! Akihiko, Aigis probably, Shinji, I'm sure, Theo, even Ken for God's sake! My life's a goddamn mess.

I needed to talk to him. I pulled out my phone and texted Junpei. I was sure as hell he wasn't sleeping. He was probably playing Innocent Sin. I got a reply as soon as I sent it.

What's up, Mina?

Talk?

Doors open.

I sighed. It's now or never, Mina. Grow some balls.

I knew any other girl (save Aigis) that went to the boys' floor in the middle of night would be subjected to Mitsuru's "execution". But I've never been scared of the senior, so I go anyway. I don't think she notices.

I trotted down the stairs to Junpei's room and slipped in with the grace of a cinder block. I tripped over myself embarrassingly and fell on my face with an "Ow, dammit." Junpei got up and closed the door, stepping over me trying to hold in his laughter.

"Haha, Jun. Go ahead and laugh at my failure." I muttered sarcastically, jumping up and sitting on his bed across the room. He only smiled and strode over to sit next to me.

"What's on your mind, Mina?" Junpei asked me, resting his hand on my thigh. I sighed.

"Jun . . . I'm so fucking confused." I groaned and let myself fall back into the comforting smell of his duvet. "There's so many things I'm not sure of . . . and others I definitely am." I looked up at him, my eyes lost. "I don't know what to do anymore."

Junpei's eyes softened and he didn't look away from mine. After a moment of silence, he scooped me into his arms for a warm embrace. My arms instinctively rested around his neck, my hands playing with his short hair.

"That's not the leader I know." He pulled away some to stare into my eyes again. "What's wrong, Mina? Seriously." I hid my face in his neck and sighed deep.

"I've been having . . . err, mixed feelings about everyone around me." I looked around his room as I spoke. It was nothing special; clothes and magazines strewn everywhere (most gamers, a few are skin mags) with a floor you couldn't see—that helped with the fall considerably. "I've noticed a lot of people being friendlier than they should be." I was going on, but Jun pulled back with a hard stare.

"Who?" I almost laughed.

"I don't want you to beat em up or anything; not like you'd be able to." He cringed. "Aki, Shinji, Aigis . . ."

"Yeah, you're right." He chuckled. "What do you mean by 'mixed feelings'? Do you like one of 'em or something?"

"Hell no." Immediate answer. "Even Ken is after my ass! Like, what the fuck?" I groaned. "This is so messed up." The Magician only laughed and pushed me down on his bed to lie next to him.

"So . . . what do you want me to do about it?" He asked. I smiled.

"I just want you to listen to my constant ranting so I don't feel like I'm alone here." He nodded.

"I can do that. So what did you say you were 'definitely sure of'? I guess we could start there." My eyes widened a bit. Actually, I was hoping to get to that last.

"Ummm…" An eyebrow arched my way. I was blushing. I was really hoping he would go into one of his oblivious-idiot stints and not notice the painfully obvious vibe I was giving off in waves.

Someone wasn't answering prayers today, it seems.

"Mina . . . ? What's going on?" See, Junpei's pretty much all talk when it comes to girls. He's never had a girlfriend, never been kissed or anything. Chidori was the closest he got, really; I felt like I was literally nursing him back to health after she died. We got a lot closer then. So any affection from the opposite sex is kind of unbelievable to him; he's been so hung up on the fact that he couldn't save her when there was nothing he could've done. She saved his goddamn life. He should cherish it for that.

Blushing furiously, I did the only thing I thought could get my feelings across with a better chance of not making a dumbass out of myself. I balled his shirt in my hand and pulled his face to mine. We started in each others' eyes for a moment, before I grew some balls and kissed his lips.

It lasted all of a few seconds. But it was enough to get the message across.

He pulled away, sputtering nonsense and face heated red. My eyes averted, and I decided this was a bad reaction. I muttered something along an apology and walked out of his room with the little confidence I had left, a flustered Junpei left behind.

YOU NEVER TOUCHED THE DIAL. NOW I KNOW.

The next day, I lay in bed screaming into my pillow. Way to go, Mina! Now your friendship is ruined forever because of your stupid fucking feelings! I stayed that way for almost all of Sunday. It was noon when I realized I had promised Theo that I would take him to Iwatodai. I had to call him and apologize; I wasn't feeling too well. He only chuckled and brushed it off, saying next time is fine—whenever I have the time.

I only came down for dinner and that was very brief. I got back to my room as soon as possible so I could get back to self-wallowing in my mistake.

I felt Junpei's hot stare on my back as I ascended the stairs. I didn't acknowledge it. I couldn't.

I'M TRAPPED IN AN HOURGLASS, HANDS PRESSED ON THE WALLS. I'VE GOT SAND FILLING TO THE NECK. HOW MUCH LONGER COULD I FALL?

It was late at night once more, and I couldn't go to Tartarus. There's no way I could clear my mind enough to not get killed by one of them. So I just lay in bed and stared at the ceiling out of boredom. I didn't know if I should talk to Jun or not—if he would even talk to me at all.

Arbitrarily, I sent him a text.

I'm sorry. I got an answer after a few minutes—I didn't think I would get one.

4 wut? U didn't do nething wrong. I cringed at the chatspeak.

For . . . what happened. You didn't look like . . .

I wuz surprised! Then you just ran off; I didn't kno wut to do. Like an unspoken invitation, I ran down the stairs to his room and pulled his door open. He was just lying there in darkness. He looked at me, and I saw the purple under his eyes. I sighed.

The door closed softly and I straddled his legs on the bed. I studied his features, so tired and worn, and pulled him into a tight hug. I whispered into his ear. His arms looped loosely around me.

Lord, he didn't even have the strength to keep his eyes open.

We didn't say anything. We just sat together as I felt him drift to sleep. When he did, I laid him down on his pillow and kissed his forehead. I got off of him and left the room quietly.

I smiled. I felt like this had all been resolved.

"Oh, Jun . . . God, I love you."

I swear I saw him smile.

A/N: God I love this :3 I hope you did! It's kind of hard to write Junpei (which is weird, considering how much like him I am) but . . . I don't know XD SONGS: Come Home by Eyes Set to Kill, and Hourglass by Eyes Set to Kill.

I'm listening to their The World Outside album right now-got it for Christmas :D So yeah. Reviews make me write more! *wink wink nudge nudge*